Linspire CEO comments on IICA

Linspire CEO Michael Robertson is asked about the Induce Ace and other copyright legislation:

Q: In your column, "Michael's Minutes," you wrote: "Since the courts have ruled that file-sharing software is legal, media companies have been desperately looking for a different way to halt P2P (peer-to-peer). But since P2P is now in a wide range of products and using P2P requires hardware and software, it's impossible to outlaw P2P devices or software without also outlawing the wide range of products that have legitimate uses." Senate Bill S. 2560, known as the "Induce Act," died in committee. Do you think it will rise from the grave in another form? Why is there such a big effort to halt P2P?

Robertson: For sure we have not seen the last of media companies pleading with Congress to get laws passed that protect their business and lock down innovation and new technology. Remember, this is the same group that went to court to ban all MP3 players and VCRs. Fortunately, they lost both cases and their business is better because of it. It's easier for them to pay for lobbyists and buy politicians to get laws to stop competitive threats then it is to alter their business to take advantage of new technology.

For the rest of the interview - Linspire CEO: Linux to yank cloth from MS table, part 1