The Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (IICA, née INDUCE Act) is getting a lot of attention recently and there are many stories of interest.
There are a passel of stories discussing the Don't Induce Act.
The Register notes the narrowly drafted alternative and then goes after Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) (Major telcos and device makers go after Induce Act):
So what made Hatch turn against the technology crowd?
Well, in 2001, the RIAA managed to convince Natalie Grant to belt out one of his self-penned religious tunes called "I Am Not Alone." A short while later Hatch moved to the music labels' side. (Hatch has since gone on to sell tens of thousands of dollars worth of his songs every year.)
As usual,
Techdirt is succinct as well as accurate in description and analysis (
Time For The Don't Induce Act).
WIRED gets reaction from a representative of the American Library Assoc. (Copyright Bill Needs Big Changes).
Slashdot has a typical discussion (Alternatives To The INDUCE Act).
USA Today publishes an AP wirestory that quotes Sarah Deutsch, associate general counsel for Verizon a bit (Tech firms craft alternative to anti-piracy bill).
In other news...
Last week, playlist guru Lucas Gonze surprised me by coming out in favor of the INDUCE Act, then I read what he actually wrote (Mainly I like the INDUCE act):
The copyright extremists have made a big mistake in writing down their goals in such clear language. Ordinary people are horrified, as they should be, and as they weren't before. For the first time since the Napster panic mainstream journalists are recognizing that copyright law is not a simple issue of stealing. If the act is passed and goes to court, courts are very likely to further clarify that point, eventually creating a body of law clear enough for technologists to make it through the day without a bail bondsman. INDUCE is extremism in the service of moderation.
In the short term, though, programmers would obviously have to follow the biologists overseas, since our field would be temporarily against the law.
WIRED, discussing the pressure to pass some bill in these final weeks of the Congressional term (
Induce Act Draws Support, Venom). Read the whole thing.
TechNewsWorld has somewhat good news, quoting Senate aides as saying the bill is unlikely to pass this year (War Over File-Swapping Continues):
"Senate aides said the letter doesn't mean that the senators have given up on their bill, although final passage this year is unlikely given that it is an election year and Congress has much unfinished work left to do. 'This was a step contemplated from the beginning,' one aide said. 'It's another step toward getting a bill through Congress'."
Want to know more about the INDUCE Act?
Please see
LawMeme's well-organized index to everything I've written on the topic:
The LawMeme Reader's Guide to Ernie Miller's Guide to the INDUCE Act.
Ernest Miller pursues research and writing on cyberlaw, intellectual property, and First Amendment issues. Mr. Miller attended the U.S. Naval Academy before attending Yale Law School, where he was president and co-founder of the Law and Technology Society, and founded the technology law and policy news site LawMeme. He is a fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.
Ernest Miller's blog postings can also be found @
