perhaps i'm being overly cynical, but Rep Howie Berman's plan to give Big Content a "License to Hack" (draft legislation is expected sometime this week) isn't just about what Big Content plans to do in the future. i'm guessing he's trying to grandfather in a bunch of borderline-illegal activities that the labels and the studios are already engaged in. given what Big Content's willing to admit to in the mainstream media -- namely, flooding networks with bogus files -- it's not hard to imagine that the labels have been trying to employ far more aggressive -- and illegal -- measures at the same time.
the corporate vigilante mentality's certainly there:
Those countermeasures could cross "into a gray area as far as legality," admits another record executive who asked not to be named. He said frustrated record label employees could resort to such measures as propagating viruses, rationalizing "'Hey, if you don't mind stealing my career and livelihood, I'm sure you don't mind if I destroy your hard drive.'"and there's no end of willing co-conspiritors. companies like Ranger, Overpeer, Vidius, NetPD, Media Defender, and MediaForce are willing to do Big Content's dirty work for them. any or all of them could be poking around your hard drive right now.
whether you see them as private vigilantes, uninvited guests, or virtual private dicks, allowing these companies (and their employers) to operate without scrutiny is placing an awful lot of trust in an industry that routinely calls its customers "thieves".
