FC: More on Orrin Hatch, his plans for anti-piracy legislation

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[The first two articles are spoofs -- I hope! --DBM]

---

From: [deleted per request]
To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declan () well com>
Subject: REMOVEEMAIL: Hatch goes even more nuts!! When's he up for 
reelection???
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 10:20:49 -0400
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.3416
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X-Priority: 3


    Senator wants copyright "kill switches" in PCs
    Thursday, June 19, 2003; 10:12 AM

    WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said
    Thursday that future personal computers should be required to sport
    "kill switches" that could be remotely activated in cases of
    peer-to-peer piracy.

    Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, said he was drafting legislation to require
    devices in PCs permitting the destruction of hardware used for
    widescale copyright infringement by sending a secret command to the
    remote computer. A copyright holder would be required to offer two
    warnings before the "kill switch" was activated and the computer
    destroyed or permanently disabled, Hatch said.

    "That may be the only way you can teach these people about copyright
    infringement," Hatch told reporters in the Hart Senate office building
    before a meeting of the Judiciary committee. "Requiring kill switches
    is an extreme step, but if the private sector can't stop piracy on its
    own, the government will."

    On Tuesday, Hatch came under fire for saying that he favors developing
    new technology to remotely destroy the computers of people who
    illegally download music from the Internet. Hatch's latest remarks on
    go even further, representing the most dramatic escalation to date in
    a battle over Internet piracy that has pitted copyright industry
    executives against peer-to-peer users and the technology industry.

    "The kill switch would necessarily include an audit trail and some
    sort of way to prevent it from being abused by people other than
    legitimate intellectual property holders," Hatch said on Thursday.
    "While there are no simple solutions, this is a reasonable proposal
    that will help preserve the health and vibrancy of one of America's
    most important industries."

    Hatch said that in addition to technological protections against
    misuse of the "kill switch," anyone who activated it who was not a
    legitimate copyright holder would be subject to prosecution by the
    U.S. Department of Justice.

    A senior executive at Intel Corporation, who spoke on condition of
    anonymity, called Hatch's comments "nutty, ludicrous, and beyond the
    pale."

    "Our job is to make the best products for our users, not create
    backdoors in microprocessors that will melt them down to a molten heap
    of slag because someone on the Internet gets peeved," the executive
    said. "There's no guarantee that copyright holders won't make a
    mistake, and what if a hacker bypasses this supposedly secure
    authentication mechanism? Senator Hatch would be responsible for melting
    down most of the Internet overnight."

    In May, the Recording Industry Association of America acknowledged
    that it erroneously sent dozens of copyright infringement notices that
    threatened legal action. The trade association blamed its errors on a
    temporary employee.

    Rep. Rick Boucher, D-VA, who has been active in copyright debates,
    said that Hatch should reconsider his proposal for legislation. "I can
    understand Senator Hatch's frustration, but we have to make sure the
    cure is not worse than the disease," Boucher said. "Requiring kill
    switches is a last resort, not something that should be on the table
    yet."

    Hatch is an amateur songwriter who has recorded religious songs
    including, according to HatchMusic.com, works titled Our Gracious
    Lord, Climb Inside His Loving Arms, and How His Glory Shines.

    Hatch's proposed legislation represents a kind of melding of two other
    proposals from the last session of Congress. In one, Rep. Howard
    Berman, D-CA, ignited a firestorm across the Internet over his bill
    that would give copyright holders the power to disable, divert or
    block computers used on peer-to-peer networks. The second bill, backed
    by Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-SC, would require computer and
    consumer-electronics companies to build copyright-protection
    technology into future products.

    One technology lobbyist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, offered
    a tongue-in-cheek suggestion. "How about if we implant 'kill switches'
    in politicians so we can blow them up when they say anything this
    stupid?"

---

From: "Xeni Jardin" <xeni () xeni net>
To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declan () well com>
Subject: Hatch introduces legislation to burn peoples' eyeballs out
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 18:35:57 -0700

[you've prolly already seen...--XJ]

<<Journalist Declan McCullough, whose articles helped kill the first
Hatch bill, wrote yesterday that "while there is some potential for
damaging private property when burning someone's eyes out--what about
the contact lenses, for instance? I mean, it's not like you can sell
your eyeballs, but you can get a a buck or two for the contact lenses on
the grey market. But that's a minor quibble--after all, it's not
authoritarian, big-brother government blinding people, but the good,
mostly unconvicted, free corporate citizens operating freely under the
free enterprise system to protect their valuable freedom.

"And their stuff," McCullough continued. "But not their eyeballs. So
this technology is here to stay.">>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

http://www.jzip.org/jzip/archives/000573.html#000573


Senator Hatch Introduces Bill to Burn People's Eyes Out

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today introduced legislation authorizing the
use of high-powered microwave lasers to burn out the eyes of non-paying
viewers of copyrighted material. "If we could develop technology which
just burned out the parts of their brains where the illegal memories are
stored, that'd be fine with me--but we can burn their eyes out right
now!" said Hatch, while introducing the Hatch/Hollywood Eyeball
Evisceration Act.

Hatch's previous legislation authorizing the remote detonation of PCs
used, or potentially used, or thought to have possibly been used, or
potentially able to be used after some jumper cables and soldering,
assuming a radically defective new security model, to access copyrighted
material was defeated in the Senate on a 51-49 vote last week.

"I understand why the Senate was hesitant to pass a bill that authorized
the destruction of personal property," Hatch said. "But this doesn't
destroy any property. It just turns your eye sockets into puddles of
bubbling goo. Okay, you might get some melted eyeball on your shirt, but
only if you panic. Keep your wits about you and you can get those
eyeballs to dribble into your cupped hands."

Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA),
welcomed the announcement. "For too long, our valuable intellectual
property, such as Encino Man, Citizen Kane and Girls Gone Wild on Geek
Cruises, has been stolen. When you watch a video at your neighbor's
house that your neighbor rented, you are nothing but a thief who
deserves to have his--or her--eyeball fluid pour down your cheeks like
the crododile tears you shed for the plight of impoverished Hollywood
executives. We know who you are, you thieves, all 157,872,548 of you in
the United States alone--and we're going to burn your eyes out!"

The technology, which uses Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags, smart radio,
and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to turn healthy eyeballs into
lumps looking like burnt marshmallows, has also been licensed to the
Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA) to explode eardrums.
When reached for comment, Hilary Rosen, former head of the RIAA under
whose administration this system was initiated and funded, said, "We
have always considered this to be a reasonable, least-harmful method of
stopping the massive, Enron-style fraud perpetrated by song traders and
multi-billionaire corporate crooks. Remember--Enron sold broadband to
the song traders.

"Besides," Rosen continued, "while the sales of some minor independent
artists may suffer, we have reason to believe that sales of artists like
Britney Spears, Shania Twain, and Linkin Park will not drop simply
because those who listen to them have had their eardrums shattered.

"That is, as long as their eyeballs haven't been burned out."

Comment on the new system has been mixed. Former listener Stacey
Bristol, 25, spoke from her hospital bed about her experience: "I was
standing outside this sold-out Widespread Panic show, asking around for
a ticket. When I couldn't find one, I decided to wait around, see if
they opened up the doors at intermission, maybe listen to a song or two
from outside. They'd just started playing when I felt this pressure
build up in my sinuses--the next thing I knew, there was blood in my
ears and I couldn't hear anything!"

Jeff Williams, 48, had a similar impression: "I was in a bar--you know,
the kind with a bunch of televisions tuned to different sports--watching
the Phillies and the Cubs when the announcer said, 'Unauthorized viewing
of this broadcast is prohibited--' but that's all I heard, 'cause my
eyeballs were starting to melt."

Journalist Declan McCullough, whose articles helped kill the first Hatch
bill, wrote yesterday that "while there is some potential for damaging
private property when burning someone's eyes out--what about the contact
lenses, for instance? I mean, it's not like you can sell your eyeballs,
but you can get a a buck or two for the contact lenses on the grey
market. But that's a minor quibble--after all, it's not authoritarian,
big-brother government blinding people, but the good, mostly
unconvicted, free corporate citizens operating freely under the free
enterprise system to protect their valuable freedom.

"And their stuff," McCullough continued. "But not their eyeballs. So
this technology is here to stay."

Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford University, took a
different tack. "Clearly, the patents on this technology are invalid. In
1904, groundskeeper Roy McTuggle took a sharp stick and poked it through
the eyeholes at Ebbets Field during 3-2 counts with men on base.
McTuggle successfully blinded seventeen children and a scout from the
Browns--that constitutes prior art.

"Once we can get this technology out into the open," Lessig continued,
"we'll find some way to fight it. Possibly we can use the Commerce
Clause, if we can show that the microwave laser beam crosses state lines
on its way to an eyeball. That might've convinced the court in Eldred,
so surely it'll work this time."

Posted by adamsj at June 18, 2003 02:34 PM

---

From: "Xeni Jardin" <xeni () xeni net>
To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declan () well com>
Subject: one more on Hatch...
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 20:12:30 -0700

http://boingboing.net/2003_06_01_archive.html#200437506

Hatch using pirated software on his own website?

Oh, the irony. In this lengthy, amply-footnoted post on Amish Tech
Support blog, Laurence Simon does some HTML sleuthing to reveal that
Sen. Orrin "Destroy Infringers' PCs" Hatch may be illicitly using
copyrighted material from Milonic Software on his own website. If
hatch.senate.gov were in fact in violation of Milonic Software's License
agreement, and the senator's latest proposals became law, would Hatch's
web server be eligible for destruction?
(...)

---

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 18:24:54 -0400
From: Jack King <jns-jking () comcast net>
Subject: Orrin Hatch, Recording Artist!
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>

Declan,

You are aware, of course, that Orrin Hatch is a prolific composer and 
recording artist, featured on many Mormon (Latter Day Saints) websites. He 
even has his own website:   http://www.hatchmusic.com/songs.html

Samples are available online.  Just don't pirate them or his agents will 
corrupt your hard drive.

-- Jack
=====================================================================
  Jack King
  gjk () well com
  jns-jking () comcast net
  "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachments
   by men of zeal, well-meaning, but without understanding."

                           --Justice Louis Brandeis
                           Olmstead v. United States (1928) (dissent)
=====================================================================

---

To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Orrin Hatch: It's OK to destroy P2P pirates' computers
References: <5.2.1.1.0.20030618174240.0448c030 () mail well com>
From: Rich Wellner <rich () objenv com>
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 17:15:52 -0500

> "I'm interested," [Orrin] Hatch interrupted. He said damaging someone's
> computer "may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights."

Damn right.  I'm working on a program today that will warn a studio twice
about their prevention of fair use and then proceed to insert a worm into
their render farm which will make all future characters look like cartman. :-)

rw2

--
http://poliglut.org
Because the oval office has no corners

---

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 15:26:42 -0700
From: Robert Honan <robertus () harbornet com>
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Orrin Hatch: It's OK to destroy P2P pirates' computers

Declan,
I wonder how much support Mr. Hatch would give to a bill that required the 
immediate, total, and
permanent dissolution of any publicly traded corporation found to be 
violation SEC rules: without
the benefit of a trial?  Personally, I think that's the only way these 
CEO's will ever learn that
the public does not exist for them to fleece.

---

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 15:37:47 -0700
From: "Da'ud X Mohammed" <webmaster () ocnsignal com>
Reply-To: webmaster () ocnsignal com
Organization: Oregon Coast News Signal
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Orrin Hatch: It's OK to destroy P2P pirates' computers
References: <5.2.1.1.0.20030618174240.0448c030 () mail well com>

Hullo Declan,

This is a great story, and typically a pre-emptive sign of the times. I 
wonder if Hatch really wants more of what we've see lately to be a way of 
life around here, and around the world. While the idea of crashing 
someone's computer can be troublesome, I am also concerned that 
assassinating troublesome people has become the way of governments. Hatch 
and his likes apparently don't see the big pic as fodder for late night 
comedians. On this one, I'm not sure I do either.

With peace

dxm

---

To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: Re: FC: Orrin Hatch [Comments From Hatch's Office]

Declan,

I just called Hatch's office and was told by one of his staffers (in UT)
that he "retracted and 'qualified' his comments" of yesterday as
seen/quoted here:

http://www.senate.gov/~hatch/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=205147

- - - - - -
June 18th, 2003         Contact: Margarita Tapia, 202.224.5225

HATCH COMMENTS ON COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT

Washington . Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, today issued the following statement:

.I am very concerned about Internet piracy of personal and copyrighted
materials, and I want to find effective solutions to these problems.

.I made my comments at yesterday.s hearing because I think that
industry is not doing enough to help us find effective ways to stop
people from using computers to steal copyrighted, personal or
sensitive materials. I do not favor extreme remedies . unless no
moderate remedies can be found. I asked the interested industries to
help us find those moderate remedies..

Full Committee Introductory Statement Text:
[http://www.senate.gov/~hatch/index.cfm?FuseAction=Statements.Detail&PressRelease_id=205148&Month=6&Year=2003]

- - - - - -

I find his "qualifying" comment, " I do not favor extreme remedies
. unless no moderate remedies can be found." to be very interesting,
esp. in light of the comments from the staffer: She also pointed out,
that the Senator added to the Patriot Act the ?clause(s)? making
destruction of a computer (system) a federal crime and an act of terror...


Just an FYI...

Cheers!

/robert/

P.S. If you post this, please delete eMail addy - thanks!

---

Subject: Re: FC: Orrin Hatch: It's OK to destroy P2P pirates' computers
From: Steve Withers <swithers () mmp org nz>
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: 19 Jun 2003 12:04:10 +1200

On Thu, 2003-06-19 at 09:46, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> ---
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6241-2003Jun17.html
>
> Hatch Takes Aim at Illegal Downloading
>
> By TED BRIDIS
> The Associated Press
> Tuesday, June 17, 2003; 5:22 PM

> "If we can find some way to do this without destroying their machines, we'd
> be interested in hearing about that," Hatch said. "If that's the only way,
> then I'm all for destroying their machines. If you have a few hundred
> thousand of those, I think people would realize" the seriousness of their
> actions, he said. "There's no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws,"
> Hatch said. [...]

No excuse?

The fact they have been extended from 14 years to 75 years in the US is
an excellent excuse.

Rule of law?

Take your lead from President Bush:

Law doesn't matter if you think you're right.

-- 
Steve Withers <swithers () mmp org nz>

---

From: "L. Gallegos"
To: declan () well com
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 23:22:36 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: OMITEMAIL Re: FC: Orrin Hatch: It's OK to destroy P2P pirates' 
computers

Declan,
I've been reading a lot of forum boards lately regarding Sen Hatch's 
statements and
the proposed bill.  Let's just say it would be a mistake to allow the 
hacking law to be
amended in this manner and allow the destruction of computers in favor of IP
interests.  Aside from the devastating effect it could have on innocent 
people (we've
seen the errors that can be made), the cracker community would wreak havoc in
retaliation from all over the world.

I don't know what Senator Hatch is using for a brain, but if he thinks any 
US law will
prevent P2P networks and downloading of files, he's dreaming.  If the RIAA 
thinks
their website was hacked and didn't care for it, just imagine what would 
happen if
there were a concerted effort to destroy others' machines.  How hard would 
it be for
a cracker to booby trap the attacking computer?  I'm no hacker, but if I 
were, I would
defend my network against attack and, in this case, would return the favor.

This is so outrageous a concept, I don't even want to think about it.  It's 
rather like
saying "I don't like your dog barking, so I'll just shoot him."  This 
actually happened
here in VA.  The shooter will most likely go to prison.  What's next, cut 
off the hands
of thieves?  Cut out the tongues of liars?  What are we coming to?

The man has a screw loose.  He's starting a cyberwar with people who are 
far more
capable than he is.  I hope he re-thinks his position.

Leah G.

---

Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 00:43:45 -0700
From: Robert Schlesinger <mathtech () earthlink net>
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 [en] (Win98; I)
X-Accept-Language: en
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: declan () well com, mathtech () earthlink net
Subject: FC: Orrin Hatch: It's OK to destroy P2P pirates' computers

Hi Declan,
A couple of brief comments regarding the proposal of Sen. Orin Hatch:
1)   Would the destruction of computers also include government and 
military computers that violate copyright laws?
2)   Who would be permitted to use these "IP Infringement Bombs", any 
"music company" or recording artists, or any copyright holder?
3)   Would trademark holders be permitted to also use this destructive IP 
Infringement Bomb?
4)   What would the consequences be for such a destructive policy?   Can we 
then expect more individuals using these "bombs" to maliciously destroy 
computers?   Will music traders and hackers retaliate against the music 
industry with computer viruses and the like?
5)   What counter-measures may a music infringer use to copy music, and not 
get caught with these proposed IP Infringement Bombs?    Being in the 
patent field, and having monitored software, signal processing, and 
electronic music patents and technology for some years, I can think of 
several counter-measures, off-the-cuff.
Best regards,
Robert Schlesinger

---

Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 04:13:10 -0400
From: Nick Bretagna <onemug () bellsouth net>
Reply-To: afn41391 () afn org
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Orrin Hatch: It's OK to destroy P2P pirates' computers
References: <5.2.1.1.0.20030618174240.0448c030 () mail well com>


Declan McCullagh wrote:
> ---
>
> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6241-2003Jun17.html>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6241-2003Jun17.html
>
>
>
> Hatch Takes Aim at Illegal Downloading
Considering the nature of this concept itself, Hatch displays an utterly 
**amazing** level of sheer, unbounded stupidity to promote this notion.

Lessee, how might this be fraught with problems, the five minute thought 
ramble:
1) Who gets to decide what is fair use and what is copyright violation? 
Certainly not the courts.
2) What of those individuals who are unaware, in one way, or another, that 
they are actually in violation of copyright...?
3) I claim copyright to the pages from the NYTimes website, and threaten to 
destroy the machines of anyone caught accessing said material... **who is 
going to take the chance**?? (OK, not something as obvious as the NYT -- 
but some smaller venue?? Ah, what then?)
4) Define "two warnings" -- suppose I set up my machine to d/l something 
innocently, if it comes up, via a specific venue... then I go away on a 
vacation, only to come back and find my machine has been destroyed because 
I was not around to receive said warnings...?
5) What if said violation occurred solely because of some software mixup, 
like I said download "daisies" because I want a picture of daisies as my 
wallpaper and it (multiple times) downloaded the soundtrack from 2001 with 
HAL singing "Daisies"...?

OK, five minutes are up, someone want to produce the problems with this 
whole that you actually might miss if you WEREN'T a complete frigging 
BONEHEAD? Or a member of Congress... but I repeat myself....

I'd also point out, as an aside, directly to the senator:
Trust me -- YOU DON'T WANT A WAR WITH HACKERS. They will screw up the RIAA 
and the MPAA so bad they won't know what hit them. Whatever techniques you 
grant to these clotheads in the RIAA/MPAA you can count on hackers 
subverting for their OWN purposes -- and some of those who may misuse this 
power may not be AMERICAN hackers, *either*, I'd point out.
In short, sir, demonstrate that you DO have two brain cells to rub together 
and let this imbecilic notion die the quick death it deserves.


-- 
------- --------- ------- -------- ------- ------- -------
Nicholas Bretagna II
<mailto:afn41391 () afn org>mailto:afn41391 () afn org

---

To: declan () well com
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 09:42:04 -0400
From: "Peter Sanderson" <pbyaga () lycos com>
Message-ID: <OEKCOKHPEKKJPDAA () mailcity com>
Mime-Version: 1.0

Declan,

Thought you might be interested in this thread from Amish Tech Support; a 
blogger with some free time discovered that Sen. Hatch's website may be 
using software illegally:

"Senator Orrin Hatch's website uses a very impressive set of Javascript 
code for its menus, developed by Milonic Software.  A professional 
developer's license is $34.99, and a corporate side-wide license goes for 
$899.00. However, non-profits seems to have access to the code for free as 
long as a license number is obtained... So, does Orrin Hatch and his web 
support staff have a license number, or is he guilty of using unlicensed 
software himself? There's a "* i am the license for the menu (duh) *" 
comment in the View - Source, but no license ID number..."

http://amish.blogmosis.com/archives/012511.html#012511

Please feel free to forward this to Politech if you feel it is 
relevant.  The comments on that blog entry are typically inflamatory, but a 
few are of relevance.

Sincerely,
Peter Birch






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