IICA hearing: the next day article deluge

There are lots of new articles concerning Thursday's IICA hearing. It appears that many in the press are convinced that IICA is a threat to technological innovation (which it is, but that message wasn't gauranteed to get out during the hearing). The coverage is altogether quite positive for those opposed to the passage of IICA.

Washington Post: Senator Induces Support for Piracy Bill

"The architects of file-sharing piracy make millions of dollars while attempting to avoid any personal risk of the severe and criminal penalties for copyright infringement," said Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I believe we can and must find a solution in this session of Congress."
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But Kevin McGuiness, executive director of NetCoalition, a group that represents Google, Yahoo and a handful of other Internet firms, said the bill puts too much power in the hands of copyright owners. Calling the Internet a "big copying machine," McGuiness said lawyers could use the measure in a way that would "jeopardize the essential architecture of the Internet."

InfoWorld: Tech groups fight copyright infringement bill

"I can't find any technology company that supports this legislation as written," Shapiro testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "This bill is, by far, the biggest threat to personal creativity, new technology, and innovation in 20 years. I urge you to consider the harm it will engender."
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While Shapiro and other technology groups said the bill goes too far, committee chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, challenged the groups to come up with alternative legislation to curb the unauthorized trading of copyrighted material online. The bill is not targeted at makers of legal technologies, Hatch said.

WIRED News: Techies Blast Induce Act

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony about the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act -- otherwise known as the Induce Act. In its current form, the bill proposes to slap technology companies for making any device that could "induce" or encourage buyers to make illegal copies of songs, movies or computer programs. The bill, introduced by Hatch (R-Utah) and Leahy (D-Vermont), has garnered strong support from Hollywood and the music industry. But technology companies say the bill would kill innovation and potentially outlaw some of the most popular devices, including Apple's iPod.
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While all panelists expressed interest in working with the committee to halt piracy, four of the five panelists rejected the bill in its current form. The lone supporter was Mitch Bainwol, head of the Recording Industry Association of America. Observers said it was rare that on a panel of five invited witnesses, four would oppose the bill proposed by the committee chairman.

The Inquirer: Incitement to piracy

And the bad intellectual property laws just keep coming...

Computer Weekly: Tech groups fight copyright infringement bill

The legislation, which does not exempt makers of technologies with substantial legitimate uses from lawsuits, would discourage the creation of new products such as the iPod or TiVO, or home video and recording equipment, Shapiro said.

MacWorld: Induce Act 'could kill media players'

Kevin McGuiness, executive director and general counsel of NetCoalition said that promise was not enough. "It's a little disconcerting for those of us in the Internet community to sit idly by and watch this legislation go forward based on presumption of good intentions forever on behalf of lawyers for the entertainment community," McGuiness said.