davidvanwert.com

Speaking today at a Senate hearing on copyright issues, Orrin Hatch suggested that technology should be developed to remotely destroy the computers of people who illegally download music from the Net. Destroying someone’s computer “may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights,” the Associated Press quoted Hatch as saying.

Orrin Hatch is a composer himself and earned about $18,000 from his music last year, so I guess it’s personal. “There’s no excuse for anyone violating copyright laws,” Senator Hatch added.

That might be true, but there’s really no excuse for punative action without due process. It’s explicitly forbidden by our Constitution, a document which Hatch has sworn an oath to uphold every time he’s been elected. To hear a U.S. Senator, the head of the Judiciary Committee no less, argue for a “shoot first, ask questions later” approach is sickening.

Given the extraordinary ease with which identities, headers, dns addresses, etc. can be forged (or stolen) under current technology, Hatch’s idiotic suggestion would certainly result in punishment of the innocent.

But hey… punishing the innocent is what our current administration does best, with ignoring the Constitution running a close second.