This is BrainLog, a blog by Dan Sanderson. Older entries, from October 1999 through September 2010, are preserved for posterity, but are no longer maintained. See the front page and newer entries.

October 1, 2001

Congress Plans DMCA Sequel: The Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA). (See also this Wired article.) This early draft of the SSSCA calls for digital rights management to be required by law in all personal computers. Imagine if all computers everywhere could only use data certified by a third-party company. Imagine if all non-compliant technology (regardless of how it is used) was outlawed.

Assuming writing letters to congresspeople is still an effective way to communicate public interest (is it?), the time to write those letters is now, while this threat is still being drafted.

Thankfully (and predictably), the PC industry doesn't like it.

How to lobby effectively for your Constitutional rights.