Not that gamers pay close attention to things that go on in Congress, but we thought you should we aware of a bundled law that is about to hit the floor for a vote. The bill, HR2391, includes two (or more) major pieces to which you might want to be aware (from Wired News):
The bill lumps together several pending copyright bills including HR4077, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act, which would criminally punish a person who "infringes a copyright by … offering for distribution to the public by electronic means, with reckless disregard of the risk of further infringement." Critics charge the vague language could apply to a person who uses the popular Apple iTunes music-sharing application.
Under the proposed language, viewers would not be allowed to use software or devices to skip commericals or promotional announcements "that would otherwise be performed or displayed before, during or after the performance of the motion picture," like the previews on a DVD. The proposed law also includes language from the Pirate Act (S2237), which would permit the Justice Department to file civil lawsuits against alleged copyright infringers.
You can download the proposed bill here (from PublicKnowledge.org).
1. In recognition of all people who vote, the power of the furture is yours, the current system is no longer in the position of creating a benevolent system for the benefit of the people to create, grow and thrive. In stead it is creating laws whose purpose is to dictate to the people their limited view of life. This is why under a dictatorship, freedom is reduced to zero, amazing we have volutarily moved in this direction!
Little is it known that all your expreiences day to day determine what is created in the furture and thus brought to market (ie what you dreamed in the past becomes the products today) These are voluntarily created for the client who is you. The rights are held by all people for a created object, this is why life is one and cannot be destroyed or manipulated by a few. People vote! Use the networking system to create the vision of a system of laws that truly support you! Balance is always in effect. I fpower is weak in authority then it must be strong in its opposite!
Posted at 5:39AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Roy