I'm Speechless

Via Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing:

The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to "national security" concerns, has leaked. It's bad. It says:

* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn't infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.

* That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.

* That the whole world must adopt US-style "notice-and-takedown" rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused -- again, without evidence or trial -- of infringing copyright. This has proved a disaster in the US and other countries, where it provides an easy means of censoring material, just by accusing it of infringing copyright.

* Mandatory prohibitions on breaking DRM, even if doing so for a lawful purpose (e.g., to make a work available to disabled people; for archival preservation; because you own the copyrighted work that is locked up with DRM)

14% of America is Retarded

Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish posted the results of a Pew poll on the public's perception the biases of the major U.S. news organizations.

For the most part, as you can see, there's little surprise. Fox is seen as pretty right, the rest appear left (click the image for the full poll):


Quick question: How in the fuck do 14% of the respondents think Fox is "mostly liberal?"

CHECKPOINT ALERT

From the Sun-Sentinel:

Hallandale Beach police will conduct checkpoints targeting drunken driving on Thursday and Friday.

The checkpoints will take place throughout the city from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30., according to the Hallandale Beach Police Department.

The Politics of Fine Print

As with all government interaction, love it or hate it, one must follow procedure quite precisely. Three representatives want to hold America's first citizen to the same standard.

Via the Volokh Conspiracy (no relation):

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Rep. Cliff Stearns, and Rep. Ron Paul say “no,” and have sent a letter to the President asking him to request congressional consent, which they expect would be speedily given. They point to the example of President Theodore Roosevelt, who created a committee, including the Chief Justice, to hold Roosevelt’s Nobel Peace Prize money in trust until he left office...

Article I, § 9, clause 8, of the Constitution states that “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

When Roosevelt won the Peace Prize, there was apparently no controlling statute. Today there is: 5 USC § 7342 (titled “Receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations”) sets out the conditions under which foreign gifts can be accepted without a separate action of Congress. The statute applies to an “employee,” which includes “the President and the Vice President.”

While we all know this is little more than a combative gesture, perhaps Congressional approval may be worth pondering. After all, if you or I miss one line on a DMV form or fail to submit a single item of a building permit, we will be denied automatically.

Why should the President be any different. I couldn't imagine George Washington would have wanted it any different, seeing as he refused to accept noble titles, and seeing as the writers of the Constitution felt it important enough to include in the once-pithy prerogative.

Looking Toward 2012

Looks like we have our token quasi-libertarian in the works. Via Race 4 2012:

Gary Johnson is preparing to launch his Our America PAC shortly, as soon as he gets all of his legal ducks in a row. He will be hitting the trail hard soon, traveling the country to speak in support of issues and candidates, re-immersing himself in the public policy debate.

His campaign site, Gary Johnson for America, is already up.

So what do you think loyal readers? Cause for celebration or yet another pro-liberty non-starter?