Digital Refugees from America?

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Tuesday September 28, 2004 14:50 by digital dissent

Ian Clarke is right but Ireland could also be a refuse for programmers - might even revive the software side of teh celtic tiger

Copyright Bill to Kill Tech? 
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,64297,00.html
Jul. 22, 2004

The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a bill Thursday that would hold technology companies liable for any product they make that encourages people to steal copyright materials.

Critics say the bill would effectively outlaw peer-to-peer networks and prohibit the development of new technologies, including devices like the iPod. The Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (S. 2560) was introduced last month by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The legislation would hold a company liable that "intentionally induces" a person to infringe copyright.


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Dear Home Secretary,

It is well known that the United Kingdom is keen to attract skilled workers to the UK, particularly those involved in the software industry.

The United States is poised to pass legislation, known as the "Induce Act", which will dramatically increase the risk of innovation in the software industry in the United States. If passed, this legislation is likely to prompt a large number of the United States' most talented software engineers to consider relocation to another country.

The United Kingdom is well suited to provide an alternate base for these displaced software engineers, where their innovations may benefit the UK's economy, not to mention the economy of the European Union.

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Kind regards,

Ian Clarke
Cematics Ltd.
http://slashdot.org/~Sanity/journal/85077

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Cory Doctorow Replies....
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/09/27/ian_clarke_uk_govt_s.html

Ian Clarke, the creator of the P2P Freenet system (an anonymizing, attack-resistant system designed to let dissidents speak without fear of retaliation) has written a letter to the UK Home Secretary.

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Clarke himself left the US in the wake of the PATRIOT Act (as did I), realizing that the US had created a system of law that routinely fingerprinted and photographed visa'ed immigrants, and subjected us to secret arrest without counsel or charge, said arrests possibly leading to indefinite detention.