Declan McCullagh on politics and DMCA

[Nomen Nescio]

Congratulations to Declan McCullagh for two recent articles which
challenge the conventional wisdom of the cyber rights crowd.

Last week it was http://news.com.com/2010-1071-949275.html?tag=politech,
arguing the futility of political participation in a world where
government is dominated by powerful economic interests.  Instead he
quotes cypherpunks Adam Back and Lance Cottrell to the effect that a
better approach is to change the terms of the debate by writing code
that creates technology.

(Bizarrely, he refers to "the motto of the Cypherpunks" while managing
to actually avoid saying "cypherpunks write code".  Maybe we can blame
the editor for that omission.)

Now at http://news.com.com/2010-12-950229.html?tag=fd_lede, Declan steps
into the viper's nest by coming out against DMCA sensationalism on the
part of the EFF.  He refers to "overly aggressive advocacy" by the EFF,
and provides quotes describing their efforts as "fear-mongering".

He quotes Orin Kerr, law professor at GWU:

"Opponents of the DMCA want to dramatize its effects, so they want people
to believe that the law is incredibly broad," Kerr says. "If the public
believes that the DMCA is stopping Professor Felten and other researchers
from conducting legitimate research, then that is a major victory for
opponents of the law."

All this is anathema to the slashdot crowd, of course.  The last thing
they want to hear is that DMCA isn't as bad as they've been told.

Again, kudos to Declan for taking a stance which is sure to be unpopular
and controversial among his supporters.  I may have to take back all
the nasty things I have said about him over the years.  Now let's see
what he has to say about Palladium...