tilly, thanks. You're right to bring it up.

The SSSCA is horrible public, private and science policy.

From reports I've read, the SSSCA also contains or mandates:

• that industry groups have a year to agree on a security standard;
• if they don't agree on one, that the Commerce Dept will assume control and create or arbitrarily decide on one for us;
• that Sunshine Laws would not apply to meetings concerning this law - (closed-door, private meetings could be held to make this policy/law);
• industry organizations will be immune from anti-trust prosecution.

Several interesting and related sites: StopPoliceware.org, (contains links to the bill, new articles, representatives and a petition), another petition is here, some independent writings discussing how the law may backfire on the content providers pushing it are here.

Red Hat details their opposition to the bill, and mentions the bill's threat to all Open Source technology.

For those interested (and you should be), there's much more literature available by searching.

It's difficult to conceive how far-reaching and intrustive this legislation is and can be. There must be huge contribution$ and other political lever$ being pushed...

and Main Street won't notice that a few more rights simply disappeared late one night.