FC: Hollywood lobbyists laud SSSCA as "exceedingly reasonable" bill

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46671,00.html

    Hollywood Loves Hollings' Bill
    By Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)

    2:00 a.m. Sep. 11, 2001 PDT

    WASHINGTON -- Entertainment industry lobbyists say programmers and
    open-source activists should not be alarmed by a controversial
    proposal to embed copy-protection controls in nearly all PCs and
    consumer electronic devices.

    In interviews Monday, representatives of the Walt Disney Company and
    News Corp. defended a draft of the Security Systems Standards and
    Certification Act (SSSCA) as a reasonable compromise that will spur
    high-speed Internet access, boost hardware and thwart piracy.

    "This is an exceedingly moderate and reasonable approach," said
    Preston Padden, executive vice president of the Walt Disney Company,
    which helped to craft the legislation.

    Wired News has obtained a draft of the SSSCA, which Sen. Fritz
    Hollings (D-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Commerce
    committee, plans to introduce this month.

    "We think it's likely to jumpstart the broadband revolution, because
    entertainment content will create consumer demand," Padden said. "If
    you're a computer company or if you make hubs and routers or if you're
    trying to build a broadband network, you want this bill."

    [...]




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