http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/001631.phphttp://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5238140.htmlhttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=INDUCE+Act+EFF&btnG=Google+Search (for more on this... the zdnet article is underplaying the scope of this.)
It stands for "Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act" though it has nothing to do with pornography. Orrin Hatch devised it, but websites all over the place are adding in Fritz Hollings as he's rabid on destroying consumer FREEDOM in the name of corporate control.
This is very serious stuff, folks. If a product that's made has the potential to be USED in a criminal act, it is then illegal.
Also note, this applies only to technology. It's still okay to make guns, big knives, and other weapons.
America the Hypocracy. (don't give me bunk on the name, it's "hypocrisy" + "democracy", that's what people mean when they say "Hypocracy". It is a valid epithet.)
The proposal, called the Induce Act, says "whoever intentionally induces any violation" of copyright law would be legally liable for those violations, a prohibition that would effectively ban file-swapping networks like Kazaa and Morpheus. In the draft bill seen by CNET News.com, inducement is defined as "aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures" and can be punished with civil fines and, in some circumstances, lengthy prison terms.
The bill represents the latest legislative attempt by influential copyright holders to address what they view as the growing threat of peer-to-peer networks rife with pirated music, movies and software. As file-swapping networks grow in popularity, copyright lobbyists are becoming increasingly creative in their legal responses, which include proposals for Justice Department lawsuits against infringers and action at the state level.
Originally, the Induce Act was scheduled to be introduced Thursday by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, but the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed at the end of the day that the bill had been delayed. A representative of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a probable co-sponsor of the legislation, said the Induce Act would be introduced "sometime next week," a delay that one technology lobbyist attributed to opposition to the measure.
Though the Induce Act is not yet public, critics are already attacking it as an unjustified expansion of copyright law that seeks to regulate new technologies out of existence. (that's thanks to Unkie Fritz Hollings (D)...)
"They're trying to make it legally risky to introduce technologies that could be used for copyright infringement," said Jessica Litman, a professor at Wayne State University who specializes in copyright law. "That's why it's worded so broadly."
(more from the zdnet link up top...)