September 9, 2003

Digital Freedom Update

The folks intent on making it legal for the cable television industry to control what digital video recorders you connect to your cable outlet, and bar you from using a wireless hub to share your cable Internet connection with more than one PC in your house, are still trying to pass their lousy legislation in Tennessee. Sidelines, the student newspaper at Middle Tennessee State University, has the details

The penalties for stealing Internet service will be debated in a joint committee of the Senate and House of the Tennessee General assembly, at their first meeting Wednesday. The special study committee was formed after House Bill 457 and Senate Bill 213 received more criticism than expected.

Much of the controversy surrounding the bill comes from its ambiguity. Its opponents have said that in its original form, it specifically limited the types of devices one could use to connect to the Internet. Even the amended bill allows Internet service providers to specify what devices can and cannot be used with the Internet service, according to its opponents.

'It's not about theft of service, it's about control,' Jay Kosturko of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network said.

Advocates of the bill say the opponents just don't understand the purpose of the bill, but they have been quick to offer amendments to satisfy these opponents. "We're trying to protect communications service providers," said Stacey Briggs, executive director of the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association. The intent of the bill has been misunderstood, and there is a lot of misinformation about the bill, Briggs said.

"It's a felony to use an unauthorized access device," Kosturko said. The service provider could make virtually any device unauthorized and therefore dictate what hardware the user connected to the service and what software they used over that service, he said.

I'll keep you posted, as I did earlier this year on the progress of the same freedom-destroying legislation. You can find a complete list of all my earlier coverage of HB 457 and SB 213 here, courtesy of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network, which is leading the good fight against this very bad legislation. TDFN guys: If you're reading this, please keep me posted on developments and I'll be sure to link to them here.