PreviousNext…

Get a grip 19 Jun 2003

Senator Orrin Hatch: prick. Sorry, I don't normally "do" politics, least of all US politics (studied American government for too long). But, well, you know!

Senator Orrin Hatch: would you trust this man? With ANYTHING?

It's nice to know that we in the UK aren't the only poor saps having to deal with politicians who have extreme reality distortion fields. Jesus wept. This twonk is trying to get computer manufacturers to agree that any machine receiving dodgy music downloads from the web should then somehow destroy itself. Hello! Clearly you're in the pay of the music corporations! Get a grip, and start legislating for good! The good old US of A has a lot of problems, as do all countries. Time to re-prioritise.

Filed under,

Comments

  1. It is probably just posturing to force a better solution, but with Mr. Hatch, you can never be quite sure. I would be interested in the political discussions if a person in the UK or France were to have their machine and data destroyed due to a US law.Ben Langhinrichs#
  2. And as bad as this is, I find it even more appalling that the act of destroying computers would be illegal under current law (probably approved and passed by Hatch), and that the law would have to be rewritten to allow this "exemption"…

    I normally try to steer clear from these types of discussions, as they often generate more heat than light. But this one has left me speechless…Thomas Duff#
  3. It's just so not going to happen. The insurmountable practicalities aside, I can't see anyone going for legislation like this… and there would be a lot of litigation arising from any concrete systems that saw the light day I reckon!

    The real "gah!" for me though isn't the preposterousness (is that a word?!?) of the proposal, but the fact that this senator feels moved to enact such a thing in the first place. "Bigger fish to fry" and all that…Ben Poole#
  4. reminds me of that scene in the first Austin Powers movie where Dr Evil is going to hold the world ransom for "1 million dollars", and then everyone has to explain that a million bucks isn't a lot of money any more. the more he talks, the more he realizes he's missed a lot being in a time capsule.

    this fellow is living in a Dr Evil dreamworld, clearly he has no idea what he's talking about.jonvon#
  5. I often make fun of the voting public, which of course includes me…I just vote more intelligently than some :-)

    Anywayyyy…Hatch is a nut. I read a great little piece suggesting we extend this 'logic': Break the driving laws and we destroy your car; make a photocopy in violation of copyright laws (I know I've never done that, but someone might :-) …blow up the Xerox machine….this can be carried as far as one cares to if it's not immediately obvious that Mr Hatch MUST have been offering his suggestion tongue-in-cheek. I mean, c'mon, what rational person with half a brain could possibly concoct such a ridiculous idea?

    Oh, wait. I forgot the gentleman about whom we're speaking.Joe Litton#
  6. You better be careful, they have already implemented that feature for pirated AP photos. ;)Niel Revelle#
  7. I know! I'm going to have to type this quick before my machine explBen Poole#
  8. See http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59305,00.html for a nice twist on this one …Chris Molloy#

Comments on this post are now closed.

About

I’m a developer / general IT wrangler, specialising in web apps, the mobile web, enterprise Java and the odd Domino system.

Best described as a simpleton, but kindly. Read more…