Slashdot Mirror

Both the linked article and the /. story has it wrong.

If you doubt me compare this with this.

I just think the error shouldn't be allowed to propagate.
Besides, I woke up this morning and found out I had mutated into a spelling nazi. I just hate it when that happens...

No, it's not.

Oh wait, my mistake, this topic must not be about Dmitry Sklyarov, the Russian software developer. It's about a totally different person, named Skylarov, who happens to be a big fan of online casinos, and wants to be free!

Sklyarov v. Skylarov
69800 - 3250

Sklyarov wins!

Besides, you should note the difference between thisand this

• Don't just tell your friends, though that is an OK start if that's all you feel comfortable with. I think you should seriously lobby the person(s) who you know (or have some sort of access to) who:
• Have influence over more people than you do. This could be your boss, your Mayor, your Bartender. Choose someone who can affect the habits of more people than you can with less effort.
  
  
  • As an example, I sent the link to Lessig's site plus information on his books, a link to the EFF's whitepaper Unintended Consequences: Three Years Under the DMCA, information about the Skylarov Case, and links to Lessig's other speeches to the VP of Information Technology at my University.
  • I sent this same information to one of my former professors who teaches classes in leadership for a Masters program that churns out upper-level managers for technolgy and telecommunication firms. He in turn will probably (knowing him) make his students read it. I have suggested Lessig's books as textbooks for his class. He also teaches classes in public policy... which is right up this alley.
  
  
  
• Work to raise the level of outrage in your local and national politicians. Seriously... one hand written letter a week will get noticed. Even better, form collectives with Geeks in your area and create letter rings. One person in the group writes a letter and a SASE, then mails it in a larger envelope to another in the group. That person can read the letter for inspiration, writes his or her own, includes more postage, and sends it on. After it gets to the last person, the letters are put into their respective SASEs and mailed off. In the end, how ever many letters (equal to the number in your group... the more the better) lands in the inbox of your Rep roughly once a week. It WILL have an impact. No Rep will ignore 40 letters on the same topic a month (assuming you have a group of 10 writers and that the month has 4 weeks... more is always better). Make sure to always tell how many voters you have influence over. My wife once included the fact that she worked with a couple of hundred voting age students on a questionaire that we recieved from a Rep. Not long after, we got a personal letter that addressed some of the concerns that we had raised.
• Other examples of Highest Order of Power are welcome

I used to think that too. Before the Skylarov case, I thought that copyright law was fairly straightforward. If you claimed that someone else's content was yours, you were in violation. And it used to be a civil law too. Now after the DMCA (Digital Mind Control Act), copyright is apparently a criminal matter (one were you enjoy no constitutional rights at that) and apparently ANYTHING can be claimed as a copyright violation. Copyright law has gotten way out of hand with the DMCA.

The type of complaint I thought they'd use here is the "Interference with contract" lawsuit (a tactic commonly used in SLAPP suits).

But I wouldn't even understand the basis for that claim. AFAIK, ReplayTV doesn't "edit" the commericals out of live TV for you (otherwise you'd be looking at a black screen for 2 minutes). It edits commericals out of taped shows. But this is something people do anyway. Most people who tape a show and watch it later, will fastforward through the commericals, intros, outros, credits, etc. And if they happen to be watching the same show they're taping, then most just "Pause" the recording during the commercials. There's an old legal saying that goes: "Unless you defend a right, it doesn't exist." Well these networks have never sued VCR manufacturers in the past 20 years for allowing people to edit out commericials on their own. I don't think the networks have the right to challenge it now.

Actually I was thinking that after the second trip bringing in a laptop would be great here. Preferrably one that has Linux running on it. Then you can offer to play any other CD in the store (they tend to have open CD's that they play on the local stereo system). Betcha they work. Heck, install Mandrake 8 and they'd likely not even notice that it was a Linux box.

Also, is it such a waste of part of your day when you aren't the one being jailed for a month and a half? Sure, he's out on bail now but he's trapped in the "Land of the Free" until he runs through the legal mess that is the US Justice System.

Consider it your duty as a pissed-off geek.

The MPAA, RIAA, and closed source software houses have their customers over a barrel. For many of us, going to the movies, buying or renting a DVD, getting a CD from your favorite band, or buying a computer game is a way of getting a source of entertaiment. Unfortunately, purchasing these products gives companies the ammunition they use to pass laws such as the DMCA. These companies can then use these laws to beat us (the consumers) over the head. Why do we let them continue? What can we, as consumers, do to keep our money from being used against us?

A possible solution is something you can do every day, starting right now. Every DVD you buy, every game you purchase, every visit to a movie theater, every CD you buy, add $5 to the cost. In many cases, this amounts to between 10% (a $50 game) to 50% ($9.99 DVD) of the cost of the item you purchases. Given the way prices work, the original price from the manufacturer is about 50% of the price you pay, so a $50 game is sold initially for about $25. Once you pay licenses, royalties, production, etc. there probably is not much left over that goes to lobbyists or legal. Thus, you are giving a larger amount of money to defeat these laws than you are "giving" to get them enacted.

What do you do with that $5? Donate it to the organization of your choice. Currently, the Electronic Frontier Foundataionis in the forefront of these kinds of issues, but you can choose whomever you like.

What good will your $5 do? Simply put, the EFF needs money. Money to pay for lawyers, money to educate people why these laws are wrong, money to defend those accused of crimes that violate the first amendment of the US Constitution. Since it is effectively increasing the cost of DVDs, CDs, etc., it will also make you think twice about your entertainment choices and maybe even save you money over the long run.

Okay, I have $5. Now what? Save it up. Make a notation somewhere. At the end of the month, end of the quarter, whenever, add up the notations and send the appropriate amount of money to the organization of your choice. In many cases, the money you send is tax-deductible (consult your accontant blah blah)

For those that dont know, check out freskylarov.org , it has some information about the protest and about how the case of Skylarov is going on.