FC: Senate Democrats love SSSCA -- but GOP says not so fast

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Politech archive on Sen. Hollings' SSSCA:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=sssca

Letter from SSSCA opponents:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/sssca.opponents.letter.022702.html

Intel letter to Hollings:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/intel.hollings.letter.022802.html

Draft text of the SSSCA:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/hollings.090701.html

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http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50754,00.html

   By Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com) and Robert Zarate
   
   2:00 a.m. March 1, 2002 PST
   WASHINGTON -- A Senate debate over embedding copy protection controls
   in all consumer electronic devices took a sharply partisan turn on
   Thursday.
   
   During a packed hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee,
   Democrats appeared far more eager for the government to intervene in
   what has become a highly visible tussle between Silicon Valley, which
   advocates a laissez-faire approach, and the Hollywood firms lobbying
   Congress to step in to prevent piracy.

   "When Congress sits idly by in the face of these activities, we
   essentially sanction the Internet as a haven for thievery," committee
   chairman Fritz Hollings (D-South Carolina) told a panel of witnesses
   that included Walt Disney chairman Michael Eisner, News Corp.
   President Peter Chernin and Intel Executive Vice President Leslie
   Vadasz.

   [...]
   
   "We might need to legislate," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts),
   though he emphasized that he would prefer the private sector reach an
   agreement on how to protect copyrighted electronic content.
   
   "Unfortunately, one issue seems close to an impasse -- how do we keep
   files from being illegally shared and distributed over the Internet?"
   complained Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California).
   
   Republicans appeared much more skeptical of the SSSCA -- which is,
   after all, championed by a Democratic committee chairman -- and argued
   legislation would be too interventionist.
   
   In the 2000 election cycle, the entertainment industry gave Democrats
   a whopping $24.2 million in contributions compared to $13.3 million to
   Republicans, according to figures compiled by opensecrets.org.

   [...]



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