This is something that I wrote up a few years ago

Subject: Privacy Issues...Freedom Issues...
Sent: 10/10/01 1:50 PM EDT
By: tj1037

How many people are really concerned with the privacy and freedom related issues that have been in the news the past few months. Freedom issues which seem to really come to light after all the drama with Napster. Yet people weren`t really for or against Napster for what it was actually doing, helping distribute copyrighted music, everybody was basicallly indifferent. What most people were angry about was the fact that it took away from a lot of freedoms we might have enjoyed before MP3s became commonplace; Fair use is one. Issues against the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which brought the whole online music scene to life, were being fought out by only a few. Now a new bill is headed our way the SSSCA, which basically says that new technology will begin to be made with copy protection controls to prevent anymore illegal copying. This includes any digital content or consumer electronic device, and any violations could result into 5 years in prison or $500,000 in fines. But hey if you don`t watch bootlegs or even burn your own CDs, you might not find any of this scary.

After the Sept. 11th attacks issues related to online privacy have begun to resurface. Such as talks against Americans to have in their possession any type of strong encryption programs. Or even the fact that the government has begun to monitor emails even more than before. As before you might not even shop on websites that use the encryption to process your orders and it might not bother you to have God knows who else reading your emails.

What are your own personal views on this or other subjects like this?

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46747,00.html

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46655,00.html

http://www.msnbc.com/news/TECHPRIVACY_front.asp

http://www.google.com/search?q=dmca