The Worst Proposed Internet Legislation In America

from the iAwful dept

Tue, Jun 9th 2009 1:13pm — Mike Masnick

NetChoice has put together "iAwful," a site tracking the worst proposed internet legislation, ranked by the seriousness of the threat (both the amount of damage the laws can do, and the liklihood of them passing). Some of the proposed laws on the list you'll recognize, as we've discussed them here. Overall, though, this looks to be a great source if you're worried about politicians passing innovation-destroying laws:

Knee-jerk, overly prescriptive laws can destroy whole business models or stifle innovative new forms of communication before they have a chance to emerge. Too many laws are proposed without considering unintended harm they may cause to thousands of Internet companies and millions of Internet users.

NetChoice is dedicated to fighting these attacks on core Internet principles. Through this site, the Internet Advocates' Watchlist For Ugly Laws (iAWFUL) will track dangerous legislation and mobilize citizens to defeat bills and proposals that threaten the future of ecommerce and online communication. The list will be continually updated to reflect the most immediate dangers, based on regulatory severity and likelihood of passage.

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Filed Under: bad laws, iawful, internet, laws, netchoice

8 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2009 @ 1:15pm

Apple going to sue them, i-anything is a bad idea!
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Nitrous, 9 Jun 2009 @ 2:09pm

Re: i awful
That's funny, I was going to leave a comment saying the same thing. How long before Apple sues for that?!
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2009 @ 2:11pm

mm hmm -- that's why Wii is not iWi
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TheStupidOne, 9 Jun 2009 @ 3:08pm

Re: Re: i awful
my first thought too
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DJ, 9 Jun 2009 @ 4:28pm

Re:
Hell, before I read what the acronym stands for, my first reaction was "So this site is all about how awful the iPod/iPhone is?"
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Glenn, 9 Jun 2009 @ 5:28pm

It's a pity legislators (aka politicians) can't take a doctor's view toward laws: first, do no harm. Unfortunately, most of them are lawyers... so what do you expect.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2009 @ 8:31pm

Re:
Apple doesn't have any rights to the i-prefix. Note the iGoogle homepage...not owned or sued by Apple.
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Azrael (profile), 10 Jun 2009 @ 12:23am

This whole site starts with a wrong premise: that lawmakers will think about what their actions will do to all of us instead of what they, personally, will gain(unfortunately mostly monetary)from it.
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