INDUCE vomiting

June 23, 2004 11:04 AM

Orrin Hatch thinks of the children. As a convenient lever for shutting down P2P networks.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders (13 comments total)

The text is not yet available, but there are some details on THOMAS.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:03 PM on June 23, 2004

I have to agree with what our fearless leader wrote on the subject. I'm not necessarily for gun control, but I'm certainly against further attacks on the first amendment under the guise of copyright protection. There's a weird kind of cognitive dissonance going on here.
posted by revgeorge at 12:05 PM on June 23, 2004

"U.S. techno-industrial is hardcore, and it must stay hardcore," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). "Would Al Jourgensen wear a T-shirt depicting smiley aliens telepathing 'Love' to their baggy-pantsed children? Techno should be about hate, not love."
posted by Fenriss at 12:07 PM on June 23, 2004

Go ahead, ban P2P. All the good eMule servers are in Korea anyway.
posted by spazzm at 12:20 PM on June 23, 2004

The best part about linking p2p to child porn is no politician would dare vote against it. Imaginge the ads of their opponents: "John Kerry voted against protecting our children! Why does he hate freedom? I'm George W Bush and I approve of this message"

Don't forget Orrin is a musician so he's trying to protect his music from piracy.
posted by birdherder at 12:46 PM on June 23, 2004

*sigh*

My senator is a loon.

*hangs head in shame*
posted by silusGROK at 1:22 PM on June 23, 2004

Write to your senator. I am, and the last time I did they listened, or at least wrote me a letter saying they did with their signature.
posted by Keyser Soze at 2:26 PM on June 23, 2004

My hardcore conservative senators of Texas responded to my concern over the USA PATRIOT Act with a form letter saying just how wonderful it was and how it was helping us win the War On Terrorism™.

Living in Texas means not having any cred in DC for those who aren't part of Team Bush. Unless I had a shitload of money.
posted by birdherder at 2:45 PM on June 23, 2004

> Its supporters include ... Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; ... and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
posted by dand at 4:01 PM on June 23, 2004

We live in mad times...and our rulers are getting loonier by the day. And I'm disappointed to see Dems lining up to goosestep our liberties away, but I'm not terribly surprised. Th

That said, bringing guns into the argument about p2p is absurd. One has nothing to do with the other.
posted by dejah420 at 7:53 PM on June 23, 2004

Next up: procreation becomes illegal, because it "induces" children to carry copies of their parents' genes.
posted by WolfDaddy at 9:22 PM on June 23, 2004

dejah420, it's not absurd: it's all about the nature of tools --- you tool! :)

Y'know ... tools - a tool can be used for pretty much any purpose - the nature of the tool (rarely) has little to do with the use it can be put to. Knife - butter spreader or human filletter - same tool.

P2P tech - basically just a data transmitting tool - for good or ill. And when there are tools that are designed for killing, and really nothing else (even though there's self-defence as a mitigating factor) - and one which kills a sickening number of perfectly innocent people every year - they're trying to ban a tool because some of its potential uses are copyright infringement which affects the wealthy corps. that can buy politicians and laws.

Actually it's a law which threatens a huge range of tools - from email to newsgroups, to ipods, to media burners and VCRs.

Metafilter today was brought to you by the word "tool" and the letters D, M, C and A.
posted by Blue Stone at 5:22 AM on June 24, 2004

I sent a note to my Senator, Senator Leahy, who is a co-sponsor of this bill:

I am very sad that you are co-sponsoring Hatch's bill. Most of the current copyright infringement cases going on today do NOT put money in the hands of artists, they put money in the hands of big recording industry executives. Ever since 9/11 the Department of Justice has been taking aim at our rights, and getting more and more tools to supposedly make us a safer nation. Instead it has been using those new powers against ordinary citizens, and Americans do not feel safer. Copyright infringment is a confusing issue and making it easier to prosecute without making it easier to understand, and claiming that you're doing it in the name of "artists" is disengenuous at best. Please reconsider your co-sponsorship of this bill.

posted by jessamyn at 10:23 AM on June 24, 2004