There will be a new group of lobbyists where the US congress will have to listen to, the Linux Lobby. Spooked by Hollywood-backed legislation that seeks to regulate technology, Linux geeks plan to launch a political-action committee that fights back.
Jeff Gerhardt, host of "The Linux Show," and Doc Searls, senior editor of the Linux Journal, are forming a lobbying group called GeekPAC that would try to convince lawmakers to consider developers when they draft laws concerning technology. |
The goal is to ensure that legislative attempts to protect the interests of companies such as Walt Disney and the Baby Bells don't stifle technological development.
"We have witnessed a slow and steady erosion of the ability of Internet and IT developers to freely develop innovative products," states a draft document proposing the formation of GeekPAC.
In recent years, attempts to crack down on illegal copying by outlawing some technologies have outraged developers, but few technologists have had the time or political wherewithal to challenge proposed legislation. The most high-profile law so far has been the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which has landed one developer in jail and led to countless threats of enforcement against other programmers.
It seems like there are more and more people who want to resist against the power (money) of the US Entertaiment Industry.
Source: ZDnet.com
