On Sept. 21, 2004, California’s Governor Schwarzenegger signed Cal. Penal Code § 653aa [PDF format]. That new law criminalizes the unauthorized electronic distribution of a sound recording or audiovisual work by a sender who fails to disclose his or her valid email address and the title of the work. If laws were meals, this one would rank with Thanksgiving Dinner at the Salvation Army: A largely symbolic gesture, well-intended but poorly executed, to temporarily satiate the beggars at the door. In other words, California lawmakers have given a big fat turkey to the Hollywood lobby.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.