EFF: Senate hearings this week on SSSCA

This Thursday, February 28th, the U.S.
Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation will
hold hearings on draft legislation, the Security Systems
Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA). Sponsored by U.S.
Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) and Ted Stevens (R-AK), SSSCA
would require government mandated copy prevention technology
in future digital devices that would give Hollywood control
over how consumers can use digital content.

Senate hearings
had originally been scheduled for October 25, 2001, but were
indefinitely postponed after much public opposition to the
proposed legislation. Thursday’s re-scheduled hearing will
allow testimony only from major copyright holders and
electronics companies no public interest or consumer rights
groups have been invited to provide input on the draft
legislation on how information may be used in a digital
environment.

Witness List:

Panel I Mr. Michael D. Eisner, Chairman and CEO, The Walt
Disney Company

Mr. Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer,
News Corporation

Mr. Leslie L. Vadasz, Executive Vice President, Intel
Corporation

Panel II Mr. Andreas Bechtolsheim, General Manager/Vice
President of the Gigabit Systems Business Unit, Cisco
Systems Inc.

Mr. James E. Meyer, Special Advisor to the Chairman and
formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer,
Thomson Multimedia

Mr. Robert Perry, Vice President, Marketing, Mitsubishi
Digital Electronics America, Inc.

Info on hearings: Chair: Sen. Hollings to preside Feb. 28,
2002 9:30 a.m. “Protecting Content in the Digital Age”
Hearings are held in Room 253, Russell Senate Office
Building (unless otherwise noted), Delaware and Constitution
Avenues, North East, Washington, DC 20510

U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation
announcement of hearings:
http://commerce.senate.gov/press/107-159.html

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression, privacy, and openness in the information
society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
maintains one of the most-linked-to websites in the world at
http://www.eff.org/.