GREAT editorial by Eric Hellweg for Business 2.0 on the SSSCA:
Memo to the Record Companies: Downloading Can’t Be Stopped

–The recording industry is feeling the heat after years of technophobia and abusive behavior toward consumers. Can it muster the strength to try something new?

To make matters worse, the industry is turning to Washington for a bailout. Most absurd among its proposals to Congress is the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA), sponsored by Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), which would force computer equipment companies to install government-sanctioned copy protection on all hardware and consumer electronics devices. Does Hollings really believe consumers will let the government decide what kind of hardware goes into their PCs and iPods? Such a move would, as Intel (INTC) executive vice president Leslie Vadasz said during a preliminary hearing on the matter, “substantially retard innovation, investment in new technologies, and … reduce the usefulness of our products to consumers.”

Instead of trying to rewrite copyright law, the labels should instead brush up on the laws of supply and demand.