Well, I suspect that you have a better feel for general sentiment given that you ran Politech.
I was sitting with folks that had been making chips and systems which were compatible with other systems. They pretty much all recoiled in horror at the implications the moment they found out about the DMCA. It was clear that anybody who made a computer system was going to wield this to prevent compatible competition (our own management even proposed it for our systems, too...) irrespective of how big or small that computer system was.
As for coordination, I was thinking more along the lines of 1996 rather than 1998. In 1996, broadband communication was just starting to hit general availability (1996 Telecom Act) when the WIPO treaties originally were signed (late 1996).
The big problem was just that there was so much money being thrown against so few who actually understood the implications.
20 years later and we still haven't unwound all the damage. :(
I was sitting with folks that had been making chips and systems which were compatible with other systems. They pretty much all recoiled in horror at the implications the moment they found out about the DMCA. It was clear that anybody who made a computer system was going to wield this to prevent compatible competition (our own management even proposed it for our systems, too...) irrespective of how big or small that computer system was.
As for coordination, I was thinking more along the lines of 1996 rather than 1998. In 1996, broadband communication was just starting to hit general availability (1996 Telecom Act) when the WIPO treaties originally were signed (late 1996).
The big problem was just that there was so much money being thrown against so few who actually understood the implications.
20 years later and we still haven't unwound all the damage. :(