Just a quick follow-up to my previous post about the INDUCE Act. The esteemed Lawrence Lessig has provided some commentary on the situation and added a little more information in the form of Senator Hatch’s floor remarks regarding the bill. His statements are worth a read, assuming you are up for translating politician-speak.
Mr. Lessig, also notes that “there is talk that this massive new layer of federal regulation of technology will happen without hearings — indeed, that it will be passed in the next weeks.” So, not only are we at risk of losing our rights to use media that we own in a manner we so choose, we may lose it by the whims of a small group instead of Congress as a whole. But hey, the bill is bi-partisan! We can blame these members of both parties for bowing to the will of the media industry instead of the people the are supposed to represent:
- Senator Orrin Hatch (R- Utah)
- Senator Patrick Leahy (D – Vermont) – Ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Senator Bill Frist (R – Tennessee) – Senate Majority Leader
- Senator Tom Daschle (D – South Dakota) – Senate Minority Leader
Senator Bob Graham (D – Florida)I listed the wrong Senator Graham. My apologies.- Lindsey Graham (R – South Carolina)
- Barbara Boxer (D – California)
Isn’t it good to see our tax dollars at work…?