davidvanwert.com

Two days ago, Orrin Hatch suggested that technology should be developed to remotely destroy the computers of people who pirate music on the Net. Destroying someone’s computer “may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights,” the Associated Press quoted Hatch as saying.

If that same suggestion applied to software, Hatch’s own website servers would be destroyed. The senator’s website uses a JavaScript menu system by Milonic Solutions, a software company based in the UK. The copyrighted code has not been licensed for use on Hatch’s website. The software’s license stipulates that the user must register the software to receive a licensing code, as well as provide a link in the source code to Milonic’s website.

As of today, Hatch’s site met none of Milonic’s licensing terms. They even removed copyright notices embedded in the code itself. I’m sure Hatch (meaning his webmaster) will hurry to comply with the license terms since being exposed, but here’s the piece by Laurence Simon that uncovered Hatch’s software piracy.