I've noticed you keep things along the lines of "Well, SOMETHING has to be passed, so what should a 'good' law have?"

And really, nothing has to be passed.

It's not like this is some issue that's tearing at America. There's a reason that none of the proponents of this bill were calling attention to it, campaigning on promises of stricter copyright and Internet regulation.

The reason these bills have appeared is because the world of media and content is changing, and big, 20th century institutions (like the MPAA, but really any giant content provider) are having trouble adapting. And instead of trying to adapt, they're scared, and fighting.

This isn't a particularly revolutionary statement. When was the last time you went to the movies? Or bought a movie? For me, between TiVo, Netflix, and streaming content online (from official sources), the answer is almost never.


So, this isn't some titantic moral battle between the forces of the Fair and the Just and the forces of Evil Hackers. It's not about the US correcting a great injustice in the world.

It's an economic issue. It's like a pager manufacturer trying to introduce some desperate legislation against cell phones.