More on copy-protected music CDs.

More on copy-protected music CDs.

Useful round-up article in today’s New York Times. The story, however, underplayed the computer industry’s hostility to the demands of the copyright thugs. Basically, they are demanding that Congress legislates to ensure that every computing device sold conforms to their requirements — that, in effect, we should have to get a government licence to own a general purpose PC — just as you have to get a licence to own a gun in the UK. The Intel rep (the only tech spokesman available, it seems) pointed out mildly that this would, er, slow down innovation in the computing industry. What he ought to have pointed out to the somnolent legislators is that the computing and technology industries are orders of magnitude more important to the US economy than the recording industry. So legislators will have to decide where their priorities lie — crippling a huge strategic industry in order to feather-bed a smaller one.

Footnote: according to figures published by Salon, the computing industry dwarfs Hollywood in size — US domestic spending on technology goods and services totaled $600 billion in 2000, according to government figures, while Hollywood receipts equaled $35 billion.