Digital Freedom:

Offline Bloggers Face FEC Regulation, March 14, 2005
Reuters:Internet bloggers should enjoy traditional press freedoms and not face regulation as political groups, lawmakers and online journalists say.Non-Internet bloggers, on the other hand will have their First Amendment rights abridged just as if they were political groups......

A Bite of the Apple, January 12, 2005
My first computer was an Apple Mac. My second computer was a Mac. My third computer was a Mac. I love Macs. But my fourth computer had to be a Compaq laptop due to Apple's outrageously hugh prices. My fifth computer, the one I have now, is a Gateway PC - again because Macs were overpriced - and now that I'm shopping laptops I'm thinking of getting a Dell Inspiron 700m notebook. You just get...

Kerryesque, October 06, 2004
Lookin' for Lambert Field. [Photo Credit: AFP/Luke Frazza]...

Digital Freedom Campaign, March 26, 2004
The fine folks over at the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network are planning an email-athon targeting the members of the Tennessee legislature's House Judiciary Committee, urging them to vote against House Bill 3391, an absolutely atrocious piece of legislation that is bad for Tennessee residents and bad for Tennessee business. You can read more about the email campaign - including a well-written letter that explains why HB3391 is so bad, here. Here are a few portions...

Digital Freedom Update, February 27, 2004
In the Tennessee legislature, SB 3101, a piece of legislation that will reduce your freedom to use digital devices and digital services as you see fit, even though you paid for them , has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with some amendments. See the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network for details. I'm assuming they'll post an analysis of the amendments soon. Meanwhile, don't miss this page exploring whether SB 3101 violates the federal constitution by pre-empting...

Secrecy, Lies and Legislation 3, February 25, 2004
I have - finally - received a response from the Tennessee General Assembly's Office of Legal Services regarding a lie one of its deputy counsels told in an email to the president of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network, regarding a hearing on a piece of controversial telecommunications theft legislation. (Background here and here.)...

Secrecy, Lies and Legislation 2, February 19, 2004
Two days ago I sent Thomas Tigue, a deputy legislative attorney in the Tennessee General Assembly's Office of Legal Services, an email asking why he lied to the president of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network about a Jan. 26 hearing on Senate Bill 3101, a bill that purports to address theft of cable television service. I was seeking his explanation in response to this investigative piece I published here on Tuesday. That article documents the...

Secrecy, Lies and Legislation, February 17, 2004
Did a Tennessee legislative committee deliberately keep its meeting secret from opponents of a piece of controversial legislation involving the cable television industry? And did a state official then lie to the opponents of the bill? It looks that way. And I've got the official's email and the audio recording to prove it......

Anonymity At Risk, February 16, 2004
Do you publish a blog or website at a domain name you registered? Are you an entrepreneur who plans to start a business, and you'd like to have a website - but you don't want all your personal information made available to spammers and online fraudsters? Then you need to pay attention to a bill pending in Congress called the Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act, or FOISA......

Internet Anonymity Threatened, February 05, 2004
Somewhat related to the anonymous blogging debate raging in some parts of the blogosphere (see the posts below) - there is a potentially dangerous piece of new legislation in Congress called the Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act, or FOISA. Naturally, it's backed by the entertainment industry. Read this post at Free2Innovate.net, and then the next more recent post for comments from a law professor in why it is dangerous. According to Free2Innovate.net, FOISA "would mandate...

A Secret Hearing on Bad Legislation?, February 02, 2004
Tony Campbell of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network writes regarding activity in the tennessee legislature on a bill that may threaten your freedom to use cable TV service you purchase in the way you see fit. (Several posts involving last year's debate over similar legislation are now archived in my Internet & Technology section....

Your Digital Freedoms Are At Stake, January 29, 2004
New legislation has been filed that would rewrite the offense of communication theft, punish offenses as theft, provide civil remedies and statutory damages, and include the present offense of cable television theft. It is sponsored by a different group of legislators than last year's onerous legislation - written by the Motion Picture Association of America and backed by the cable television industry - that would have given the cable industry the authority to ban you...

Digital Freedom Update, October 29, 2003
Tony Campbell, webmaster and forums administrator for the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network, sent the following email to myself and Glenn Reynolds, providing a recap of yesterday's Tennessee legislative hearing on proposed legislation that would give the cable industry the power to control what devices you connect to the cable plug. (For background click here and follow the links):Dear Sirs: Jody Leavell suggested that I forward my notes from today's Joint Committee hearing to you. I...

Like a Bad Penny, October 28, 2003
Those folks who want to give the motion picture and cable TV industries the authority to outlaw digital video recorders like TiVo and control what devices you plug into the cable outlet haven't given up. The Tennessee Digital Freedom Network has the details on Tennessee legislative hearings scheduled for today and Wednesday. If you want to see everything I've written about the subject - and it's a long list - go here and scroll down...

Digital Freedom Update, September 10, 2003
Jody Leavell files this report from today's Tennessee legislative hearing on legislation that will limit your digital freedoms. Here it is:...

Digital Freedom Update, September 09, 2003
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...

Digital Freedom UPDATE, May 16, 2003
From Instapundit:FREEDOM TO TINKER has a table showing the status of state "super-DMCA" bills. I don't think they're so super, though....

Digital Freedom UPDATE: Unintended Consequences, May 15, 2003
The big newspapers in Tennessee continue to ignore the story, but NashvillePost.com, an online business news service that tends to break a lot of stories in advance of local daily The Tennessean has published an excellent story on the controversial cable industry-backed legislation making its way through the state legislature. NashvillePost.com is a subscription-only site so I can't give you a link to the story. But you can sign up for a free 30-day trial...

Digital Freedom Update: It's a Person-al Thing, May 15, 2003
Glenn Reynolds wonders if there's a connection between the cable companies that are pushing the privacy-destroying, freedom-curtailing legislation known in Tennessee as HB 457 and SB 213 and the newspapers across Tennessee that are ignoring the story. Well, there's certainly a connection between the cable companies and the sponsor of the legislation in the Tennessee state Senate....

Digital Freedom Update, May 14, 2003
Here's the latest news on the cable industry-backed anti-consumer legislation known as HB 457 and SB 213, courtesy of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network:The House Budget Subcommittee hearing on HB457 has been deferred until next Wednesday, May 21st. Quite a few members of our group showed up for the hearing, and soon after it began, [Rep. Rob] Briley requested that his two bills be rolled for one week, and that was granted. So, it looks...

Digital Freedom Update, May 13, 2003
Why is the cable industry pushing legislation in Tennessee and other states that will give the cable industry the power to control what kind of devices you hook to the cable outlet in your home? Because they want to be able to force you to rent their devices. Soon, if HB 457 and SB 213 become law in Tennessee, the cable industry will be able to declare the TiVo digital video recorder an "unauthorized" device...

Digital Freedom Update, May 12, 2003
The Tennessee Digital Freedom Network has the latest schedule of legislative committee hearings on HB 457 and SB 213, the legislation pushed by the Motion Picture Association of America and the cable teevee industry that will, if not stopped, severely curtail your freedom to use digital media - hardware and content - in the way you see fit. It's a developing story that one of Nashville's two daily newspapers has chosen to ignore, even though...

Digital Freedom UPDATE, May 08, 2003
The Tennessee Digital Freedom Network has posted an update on HB 457, the bill pushed by the Motion Picture Association of America and the cable industry that seeks to exert extreme control over how you use digital media and digital media devices:Flash News - House Judiciary Committee Approves HB0457! HB0457 has been "recommended for passage if amended" and referred to the House Finance, Ways & Means Committee. Luke Kanies, one of several technology activists at...

The Internet Wants to be Free, May 08, 2003
The New York Times has an interesting report today on how more and more retail establishments are using free wireless Internet access to attract customers."It remains to be seen how many users will be willing to pay the $30 a month being charged for Wi-Fi access at places like Starbucks, given the monthly communications fees many people already shoulder. In a growing number of places, an alternative is available - at no charge. Internet access...

Digital Freedom UPDATE, May 07, 2003
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a bad law that's going global....

Digital Freedom UPDATE, May 07, 2003
I noted yesterday that I attended a meeting hosted by state Rep. Rob Briley, sponsor of the MPAA-drafted legislation designed to severely hobble your rights to use digital media and the Internet in the way you see fit. So did several folks with technical expertise that far surpasses mine. Tony Campbell of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network, which is opposing HB 457 and its companion SB 213, posted the following analysis of the legislation, which...

Digital Freedom UPDATE, May 06, 2003
NPR has covered the controversy over "super-DMCA" legislation that the Motion Picture Association of America and the cable industry is ramming through state legislatures coast to coast, including here in Tennessee. The brief story - the audio is available by clicking a link at the top of the NPR web page I linked to - gives a good explanation of how this horrible legislation is managing to move through the legislative process. Basically it is...

Digital Freedom Update, May 05, 2003
Here's the latest from Nashville City Paper, which continues to do a far better job than its local competitor in covering the issue of whether the state legislature will passed legislation on behalf of a single special interest - the Motion Picture Association of America - that will take away many of your basic digital content usage rights. "You hear things about getting government off your back … this is getting government not only on...

Digital Freedom Update, May 02, 2003
Here's a good piece from eWeek explaining why the DMCA-like legislation being rammed through the Tennessee legislature is not a good thing. Excerpts:One of the common aspects of these laws is that they make illegal any device or program that can "conceal or to assist another to conceal from any communication service provider or from any lawful authority the existence or place of origin or destination of any communication." ... This makes a whole set...

Digital Freedom Update: Legislator Responds, May 02, 2003
A reader of this blog has forwarded the text of a letter he received by email from state Rep. Rob Briley, a key sponsor of legislation pending in the Tennessee General Assembly that would abridge many of your digital freedoms. He received the email from Briley after writing Briley to urge him to pull HB 457. Here is what Briley wrote:There has been much misinformation spread about this bill, my intent in sponsoring it (contrary...

Digital Freedom Update, May 01, 2003
I'm a bit late with this, but the Knoxville News Sentinel carried a perceptive column about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The column was written by Diana Holden, a graduate student in the University of Tennessee's School of Information Sciences. It doesn't mention efforts to enact a state version of the DMCA, which I've written about extensively below. (Start here, follow links.) Also, here's a story from Information Week about the negative impact of state-level...

Digital Freedom: Stop the Mini-DMCA, April 30, 2003
If you're here from the link at Instapundit, and looking for how to help stop the mini-DMCA in Tennessee, please be sure to visit the website of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network as well as reading the rest of this post and following my links. The TDFN is leading the fight. I've got more on that at the end of this post. If you're from Tennessee, PublicKnowledge.org has provided the text of a letter that...

Tennessee Digital Freedom Network, April 29, 2003
I've mentioned before the really lousy legislation making its way through the Tennessee state legislature that would establish a state version of the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The legislation is being pushed by the Motion Picture Association of America. Sen. Curtis Person and Rep. Rob Briley are carrying the industry's water (and I'd sure like to know how much Hollywood PAC money they're gonna get in their campaign coffers for doing so.) Good news:...

State DMCA Update, April 25, 2003
Today's Tennessean has a good op-ed by the operator of a local Internet cafe/coffee shop regarding the truly horrible legislation moving through the state legislature that would create a state version of the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Finally, opposition to the legislation appears to be getting some traction in the press. Writes Joe Dougherty:Do you enjoy taping Tennessee-Florida football? Under this law, your cable company could decide you may not do that unless you...

Stop the state DMCA!, April 24, 2003
Rich Hailey has some comments on my post yesterday about efforts to pass a state version of the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Says Hailey: If you use a firewall, if you archive music, if you listen to CD's on your computer, if you time shift shows off cable or satellite, if you think you have the right to watch what you want, when you want, and that it is nobody's business what you watch,...

Assaulting Your Digital Rights, April 23, 2003
Here's an update on some truly lousy legislation making its way through the Tennessee legislature. The legislation - which I wrote about here and here in the last month - would create a state version of the controversial federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Unfortunately, this bad legislation is moving rapidly through the legislature without press scrutiny or the public outcry it deserves. The Tennessean finally covered the legislation today, in a story that seems to...

Update on Legislature's Attack on Internet Privacy, April 01, 2003
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...

Tennessee Lawmakers Threaten Internet, March 31, 2003
For years, Tennessee has taken pride in being proactive in wiring the state and its schools and libraries for Internet access, and millions of dollars of state funds have been expended for that purpose. Now, Tennessee lawmakers are putting much of that at risk with silly legislation that could render the Internet useless in Tennessee by outlawing "firewalls" and other software and hardware that are crucial to the operation of the Net. Several other states...