I have an admission to make. Until about 5 minutes ago, I had never given money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Although I have advocated their support for years, encouraging others to donate — even on Gizmodo — my cheap bastardness kept me from digging out my wallet, which is terribly lame, and I apologize. Now, though, I’ve cleared out my Paypal account and joined — and I didn’t donate a lot, either. Just $25 — but now I feel like I can go ahead and write the rest of this post without being a total hypocrite.
See why the sky may actually be falling after the jump.
Ernest Miller brought to my attention something called the INDUCE Act, a bit of proposed law spearheaded by Senator Orrin Hatch that could possibly be used by record companies to sue companies that “induce infringements of the Copyright Act,” meaning portable music stalwarts like Apple and Toshiba could be penalized for providing iPods (and the drives that power them) because they encourage users to download music. If by my description the proposed act seems too vague and indefinable, that’s because, basically, it is. The INDUCE Act would be another weapon in the music industry’s fight against its own customers — you and me.
Anyway, the EFF, as usual, does as much better job explaining the cause for alarm, including a mock complaint against Apple and Toshiba that the INDUCE Act, if passed, could make possible. If you think they maybe have a point, you should throw them a little cash, too. Think of it as a tax on all that free music you’ve downloaded or traded with your friends (don’t tell them I said that, though).
Read [EFF]
