April 1, 2003

Update on Legislature's Attack on Internet Privacy

Respected technology journalist Declan McCullagh, who writes for CNET News, has been following the troubling trend of legislation proposed in several states that would criminalize key privacy tools now embedded in and and a key foundation of the operation of the Internet. I wrote about Tennessee's version of that legislation here on Monday. McCullagh says the proposed legislation is, essentially, a state version of the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and is being pushed by Hollywood. Here's another good story on it from McCullagh. Also see this. And there's much more here at LawMeme, a blog connected to Yale Law School. The legislation would make it illegal to, among many other things, encrypt your email.

I've also written about this issue over at PolState.com

UPDATE: Blogger Larry Kestenbaum reports at PolState.com that Michigan has already passed this ridiculous legislation. A version of that report also appears on Kestenbaum's blog.

UPDATE #2. According to Declan McCullagh's invaluable Politech blog, the Colorado senate has delayed action on final passage of similar legislation there:

Thanks to the publicity on the politech list over the weekend, a couple of state senators heard from their constituents yesterday, and the Colorado version of the legislation (HB1303) was laid over for a week. It had been scheduled for final passage in the State Senate today. Of course now the folks who raised the issue in the first place have to finish the job. It isn't dead, merely delayed.