The Old Man's iPod

Via BoingBoing, I love to see metion of recent discussions on the hill about the broadcast and audio flags. To sum it up, the 80-plus year-old senator Ted Stevens (R - Alaska) got an iPod for Christmas and discovered the joy of time-shifting some of his favorite radio programs. Armed with this simple experience, he asked the RIAA if the legistlation being proposed would make this illegal: would it make the senator a criminal? How about that! The RIAA lawyer had to answer truthfully that, yes, this would become illegal. Or at least manufacturers of these devices would have to make such activity impossible.

This is great stuff. Maybe they’ll finally realize that this isn’t a war on pirates. It’s simply an industry that doesn’t know how to handle an evolving world trying to hide behind laws. I hope the Senate figures it out and becomes actually insulted by what the RIAA is trying to do to normal citizens.

Update (February 1st, 2006): Sometimes I love the internet.  Think maybe more senators could learn the same lesson?  Well, heck, why not buy them all an iPod?!