What is Hatch's Hit List? Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has introduced the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (IICA, née INDUCE Act) in the Senate. The bill would make it illegal to "intentionally induce" copyright infringement, but is worded so broadly that it would have all sorts of unintended consequences, one of which is to severely limit, cripple or kill innovation in many different fields. Hatch's Hit List is a daily exploration of some of the technologies and fields that the bill would likely affect. See also, Introducing Hatch's Hit List and the Hatch's Hit List Archives. Send list suggestions to ernest.miller 8T aya.yale.edu.

Today on Hatch's Hit List: TiVo to Go

Lo, and the multitudes were amazed that the high priests of innovation, the FCC, did anoint TiVo to Go with the permission of the broadcast flag (FCC Bestows Its Blessing on Technological Innovation). And thus, did bureaucratic blessings bestow upon the people the ability to copy a television program on up to 10 separate devices that shall have a reverent (and registered) dongle.

But the FCC was not reading from the book of INDUCE, whereupon the NFL trembled with a mighty wrath, and spoke thus: "TiVo to Go is the whore of copying devices, for it doth seduce the consumer into making copies for friends in the blackout zones without our express written consent." And the MPAA said "Cursed be TiVo to Go, for their monetary success is based upon offering infringing functionality that other companies do not. Let their executives crawl upon their bellies and eat dust all the days of their lives." And the other copyright industries saw that the wickedness of TiVo was great, for it encouraged consumers to think of content as theirs (sort of). And the copyright cartels vowed to blot out unauthorized copying, and distribution and fair use, for they were sorry that they had been permitted.

Want to know more about the INDUCE Act?
Please see LawMeme's well-organized index to everything I've written on the topic, including Hatch's Hit List: The LawMeme Reader's Guide to Ernie Miller's Guide to the INDUCE Act.