Then you also have to consider international law. Senator Hatch can think what he wants, but if his draconian counter-hacking system started erasing the hard drives of computers around the world he might find more than just his constituents mad at him and give the United States a bad name (even more so than what George W. has managed to do).
On a similar note Senator Brownback (R-Kansas) withdrew a proposal after Senator McCain (R-Arizona) agreed to hold hearings into the current power being wielded by the RIAA. The RIAA recently won an appeal in a court case against Verizon compelling Verizon to disclose the customer information of four users the RIAA had evidence of serving or downloading illegal software. Verizon is still appealing the case, but handed over the names and the RIAA has sent cease and desist letters to each of them.
Senator Brownback wants the RIAA and other copyright owners to have to file a formal lawsuit like anyone else rather than only having to get a court clerk to sign off on their request to obtain personal customer information. The existing setup could allow for spammers and telemarketers among others to use copyright as their motive for obtaining information they have no business seeing.
Senator Brownback said “I support the protection of copyright, but this is a big privacy issue.”
If you watch enough C-Span you know that the government already wastes a huge amount of time on ridiculous petty issues and silly pomp and circumstance. You can watch as each senator or congressman gets up to “thank the distinguished gentleman” from XYZ state for their support, blah, blah, blah- thank him on your own time, we’re paying you to run the country.
Senator Hatch can do us all a favor by focusing on what matters to this country and his constituents rather than what gets him the biggest donations from the RIAA and MPAA for his next presidential bid. He would also be doing himself and the country a huge favor if he would actually consult some information security and technology experts before making public statements like the one that sparked this little controversy.
We have an economy that has been dragging pathetically along for years. We have real terrorism and enemies to deal with. We have issues to deal with regarding the invented, "wag-the-dog" terrorism and ghost weapons of mass destruction. There is enough on the plate of our government representatives that actually matters. Whether the recording industry is allowed to gouge the American public for another bubblegum CD with only one or two good songs and a bunch of mediocre filler is hardly a matter of national security.
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