Saturday, January 18, 2003

Rosen Floats ISP Fee Idea -- Charge Everybody!Hillary Rosen of RIAA wants to impose a type of fee to ISPs which in turn will be passed to all their customers indiscriminately to recoup supposed damages done by file-sharing. [Slashdot] So, if the RIAA gets their way and tacks this fee onto ISPs, does that mean we can download all the music we want from the free file sharing services? Obviously, the answer is no, and so this proposal is just as unfair as the fact that the RIAA tacks on a fee to all CD-Rs, regardless of whether it is used to burn music or not.   8:40:43 PM

How Much Proof in Iraq Is Enough for a Strike?. The Bush administration seems to have already made up its mind. As Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told foreign reporters this week, "We believe that a persuasive case will be there at the end of the month that Iraq is not cooperating." [New York Times] Another example of the Bush administration using war as a first resort. While they talk about going through the UN process, in reality it seems that they made up their mind that they were going to go to war against Iraq, and are using inspections as a way to support their position. What would be the harm in letting the inspectors continue their work? Why is there such an urgency? If in the end, several months or even a couple years of inspections have the same impact as a war, that is, disarmament (and hopefully, regime change by the Iraqi people), why not wait?   10:13:20 AM

Anti-war protesters take to the streets. Protesters in Washington were planning to march to a naval base to demand to inspect US weapons of mass destruction [BBC News] The problem with the anti-war movement is that they make no distinction between Saddam Hussein, who has gassed his own people, committed atrocities against the Kuwaitis, and used chemical weapons against Iran, and the United States, which last I checked has done none of those. Not to mention the fact that he is committed under UN resolutions to allow inspections. This alienates moderates around the world who might otherwise support them, and makes them look like a fringe group who should not be taken seriously. If the peace movement is to have any chance of success, they need to start calling things as they are. Saddam Hussein is not someone to be embraced by people desiring to become human shields. He is one of the worst dictators of the 20th century, who oppresses his people to an incredible degree, and has been a tyrant in the region for decades. Only by calling black black and white white will the movement have any credibility at all.   9:17:32 AM

S. Korean: U.S. Spoke of Attack on North Some high-level U.S. officials last month discussed the possibility of attacking North Korea because of its nuclear activities, but later decided to seek a peaceful solution, South Korea's president-elect said Saturday. [AP World News] The frightening thing about the current US administration is that there are elements within it who view war as the first response to any crisis, not the last. It is those elements which pose a much greater risk to peace than Saddam Hussein, North Korea, or even al Queda. Fortunately, we have Colin Powell, who at times seems to be the only voice of reason which keeps the Cheney-Rumsfeld war machine in check. It is never acceptable to send thousands of people to their death without pursuing all diplomatic avenues. And while I have questions about whether any war can truly be just, going to war without pursuing peace first is without question unjust.   8:49:34 AM