Possibly OT :-) New Canadian Voice in Digital Rights Issues

[Evan Leibovitch]

Walter Dnes wrote:

>Disney, and various other interests would love to see the personal
>computer as we know it outlawed, or at least castrated to being nothing
>more than a WEB-TV dumb terminal.  Seeing the success that du Pont and
>Hearst had with outlawing hemp in the 1930's, I am fearful of the same
>happening to linux today.
>  
>
It would not surprise me at all if a concerted effort were made in that 
direction, in the US or elsewhere in the English-as-primary-language 
world. However, the further you get from there the less likely such 
attempts would see the light of day. In countries such as Brazil and 
China, open source methodologies are becoming part of public policy.

I would note that US backwardness in some areas has led to the 
competitive advantage of others. Canada profited well from US 
prohibition, and we may yet reap some rewards from disparities over 
issues such as gay marriage and MJ decriminalization. If the US takes a 
step back in certain areas of technology (and cannot force the rest of 
the world to step back with it), the only losers will be US IT 
competitiveness.

Even Massachusetts isn't a foregone defeat even despite what's lined up 
against it. Having said that, things are indeed going to get worse 
before they get better.

- Evan
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