[KLUG Advocacy] Here's a Frightening One: Michigan to Outlaw VPNs?

[Andrew Thompson]

I'm about to turn in, so I don't have time to delve deeply into this
one, but seeing as it apparently goes into effect _today_, I thought
some of you might want to be aware if you aren't already. I was alerted
to it from a Slashdot article at:

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/03/30/0524244&mode=thread&tid=158&tid=103&tid=193

Apparently, Michigan just recently passed a law, going into effect today
(31 March), that essentially makes it illegal to "conceal the existence
or place of origin or destination of any telecommunications service"
(subsection 1b), among other things. The Slashdot poster is taking this
to mean that it would outlaw such things as NAT/MASQ and VPN's, although
to be honest, I can't quite see it managing this except in the broadest
terms. From the look of it, if this does outlaw VPN's, it might outlaw
dialup ISP's and corporate intranets as well...

I'm not a lawyer, but anyone who is or has the patience for it can check
out the law itself at:

http://www.michiganlegislature.org/mileg.asp?page=getObject&objName=mcl-750-540c-amended

It appears there are a couple of related laws to watch out for as well.
Freedom to Tinker (http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/) links to them from
its main page. Look for 'Super-DMCA Already Passed in Michigan' under
March 29, 2003.

I really don't have the time to figure out tonight how much of a problem
this is likely to pose, but under the circumstances, it looks important
enough to bring to folks' attention. Thoughts, anyone?

-- 
Andrew Thompson <apthmpsn@imagerie.com>
The Imagerie