Inducement Act

Noted software pirate and senator, Orrin Hatch is sponsoring a new bill named the Inducement Act. It's poorly written, short and linked here. I recommend reading it. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has some press about it and what not. If you care about information access or independent music go to the U.S. Senate page, find your senator, and send him an email or give him a phone call. If you're interested but don't feel like actually writing a letter I've pasted mine at the bottom of this message.

Senator,
I urge you to oppose Senator Hatch’s Inducement Act (S. 2560). It is an ambiguously written act that will encourage a surge of litigation. This act could be used by the major labels to attack anyone with a computer that has an internet line, modem manufacturers, portable music player manufacturers, blank CD or tape manufacturers, internet radio stations, satellite radio stations, and websites that simply describe how these items or services function.
The act could be used by one label against another, Warner Bros could sue Bertlesman for funding the new Napster. Bitter musicians could use it maliciously against their former label; a failed band could sue Sony for making Mini Disc Players and the Vaio computer line.
The most important reason to oppose this act is the chilling effect it would have on the development of new technologies. So many new technologies, satellite radio and smaller dimension higher capacity storage, could be adversely affected. The founders provided constitutional protection of copyrights “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts,” in Article I Section 8 Paragraph 8. The inducement Act does not promote science or the useful arts. It hampers ingenuity and is un-American.
Unambiguous laws can open the litigious floodgates if a group can abuse it for their advantage. The RIAA has shown that they are more than willing to abuse the courts. Giving them an ambiguous law is not a wise use of judicial resources. Senator Hatch writes law but he had trouble complying when he ran an unlicensed version of Milonic’s Software. How can regular people be expected to comply with a broader and more ambiguous law if even the Senators can’t?