You sound correct, noddin0ff. The important point is that all digital information will be "protected" in some way and "fair use" goes away completely. As I read it, DMCA was written to make anything and everything related to digital encryption illegal. Something will have to give.

Here is where I see a huge problem coming: In the end, the only way to enforce these laws is for the copyright holders to be able monitor use of their content.

Devices designed to defeat encryption are wholly illegal. Disseminating information related to defeating encryption is wholly illegal. Dual-use devices and/or services, those that might or might not be used to defeat encryption, are not exempt from scrutiny. Copyright holders can argue to have them banned, shut down, filtered, or otherwise monitored in order to satisfy copyright obligations. Gnutella-based servers and several ISP's recently lost such arguements. This is also the probelm with HD format DVD's, the copyright holders are now playing hardball with copyright laws and the big stick of DMCA. How to make them comply? Make no mistake, under DMCA, CD-R and DVD-R technologioes probably would have never been released. Seriously, both are poster children for dual-use technology and the entertainment industry was asleep at the switch. Recall also, the same debate with the release of VCR's.

I see all future digital devices somehow plugged into the mother ship, with some sort of traceability to the copyright holder. Media married to only certain players. Serial numbers assigned. You have to call some office somewhere if you buy a new car so you can have the MP3 player registered. A gaint copyright network. Sounds like a bunch of crap to me.

Far fetched? I don't necessarily think so. That is precisely what the law requires and the copyright holders are pushing the issue. Court precedence is already headed in that direction. Where else can it go?

Extreme? Take a look at the originals in the world digital code and how they handled copyrights over the years: PC software. Everything feared above is already in place, much to the demise of the consumer. God, I don't want my music system to become like that. Maybe they can sell antivirus for our televisions? Streaming audio-pop-up ads when we play an album. Say it ain't so, Joe!

jocko