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And, just what hardware can you buy at $99 that grants you the ability to play every PS2 game?

Not even a PS2 can play every PS2 game. Unlike PCs, PS2 consoles have region lockout. One would need either three PS2 consoles (one each for Europe, USA, and Japan) or non-US citizenship to defeat this region lockout.

Look into the underground GBA development market sometime. You may be surprised at what you find.

Yes, I'm part of the thriving GBA scene, but you seem to forget grandparent's "1. Graphics are inferior" complaint. PC graphics even on a laptop beat GBA graphics because the GBA is a 2D system and does all 3D in software at 120x80 pixels. In addition, it costs an extra $100 for a flash cartridge to be able to run full-size homebrew programs on the GBA.

Look at what came of the Dreamcast.

I'd get into Dreamcast development, but the amateur development kit for the Dreamcast (KOS) isn't well documented. Neither is OpenXDK.

Neither consoles nor PCs are the best thing since sliced bread.

IIRC, it wasn't so much the patch itself that was in violation of the DMCA (Dilbertized Merkin Copyright Anomaly) as the description of the problem. So I can't describe it to you, but if you *aren't* American, you can safely click on this link, which will tell you. (Read & click-through the licence/disclaimer, then pick it off the drop-down menu thingy. Yeah, it sucks, but so does a copyright law that prevents people from fully documenting software bugs. Sorta like the evening news in some places--"Scientists think this common household substance could kill you! We'll tell you more on Channel 11's News at Eleven!")

Of course, just like the new music services, this is also only available to US residents.

The rest of the world is still able to use p2p networks to grab whatever they want therefore no need for web-ppv service for non-us people. Yay for the free world!!

If Microsoft makes a serious effort to make Windows easy to use, they could theoretically win the TCO fight, or at least beat the penguins.

The alternative is that Microsoft will try to raise the TCO for open source, by buying laws that criminalize open-source development, by turning the personal computer into a locked box that dispenses pay-per-view content to consumers, and by threatening "intellectual property" lawsuits against companies and individual developers.

Of course, that's just a paranoid theory. I mean, if things like that were happening in real life, people would do more than just whine about it on Slashdot, right?

As I write this the top story is this one.

The site receiving the poinding (www.thefreeworld.net) is down so you could check with them after the dust settles and find out what it was like... ;)

No bother, just put the code where the free world can read it, but satisfying the American governments need to protect its citizens from themselves and go on laughing up our sleeves about how the Bush administration loves to suck corporate cock.

Yes you should. By the way, I (disclaimer: I am European) don't think Alan not publishing information that might get him into legal trouble in the US was offensive. It probably was more about publicity than about actual legal issues, but offensive? Not really.

But Europeans often do have that attitude of pointing at the US and wanting to show them how they're not that free any more. Take a look at thefreeworld.net. Now that's offensive.

Make sure we get to know that we aren't better.

Wrong paperwork, sorry.

Blizzard doesnt claim that bnetd infringes its copyright. Instead they claim that the bnetd application is an illegal device under the DCMA:
it circumvents the copyright protection build into a game developed by them.

I think the only chance is leaving the country, unless you have a few million dollars for the lawsuit.

What about something like thefreeworld as a new hosting site? Im sure sourceforge will be down soon, too.

This has far-reaching ramifications, as it opens up anyone publishing anything on a web-site (and also Usenet) in America to the more restrictive domestic laws of other countries ...

Yes, I am free. I live in the free part of the world, and there's no tax over MY CD-Rs.

If you can't take criticism of your government then I suggest you lock yourself in your basement and never leave again. Big BIG news flash for you : not only are lots of people criticising the governments of China, SAudi Arabia and the Taliban, there are also lots of people criticising the governments of France, the UK, Canada, Australia.... doubtless the Vatican too.

Sure, intelligent people can find something wrong with every government, but we're talking about geeks. These fucking morons act as if America is the only country with problems, and that is bullshit!

WHAT is this problem that some Americans have taht they get so defensive when they're the ones being criticised? GROW UP. Learn to deal with it.

I can deal with intelligent criticism, but not this moronic biased bullshit. Doublethink is my kryptonite.

If you can't take criticism of your government then I suggest you lock yourself in your basement and never leave again. Big BIG news flash for you : not only are lots of people criticising the governments of China, SAudi Arabia and the Taliban, there are also lots of people criticising the governments of France, the UK, Canada, Australia.... doubtless the Vatican too.

Sure, intelligent people can find something wrong with every government, but we're talking about geeks. These fucking morons act as if America is the only country with problems, and that is bullshit!

WHAT is this problem that some Americans have taht they get so defensive when they're the ones being criticised? GROW UP. Learn to deal with it.

I can deal with intelligent criticism, but not this moronic biased bullshit. Doublethink is my kryptonite.

Maybe it's only me, but I don't see this "school" giving real hackers a good name.If anything, it'll validate the notion that hackers are malicious losers.

On another note, if this school is shut down, I am sure that the readers of Slashdot won't mind, while if it was in America and was shut down, people would be crying: "America is evil! Burn it! Save the Taliban!" Seriously, people would be taken more seriously if they didn't act as if America was the evil Babylon while condoning the governments of China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and of course, the Taliban.

Although initially Mr. Cox's censorship affected all Linux users around the world equally, he and kernel developer Rik Van Riel hoped to establish a non-US website, somehow inaccessible to US readers, where uncensored changelogs could be posted in the future. (This can be found online at http://www.thefreeworld.net/non-US/.) He said that until the DMCA is overturned, "US citizens will have to guess about security issues [in the Linux kernel]."

The reference to the DMCA being overturned is revealing. Mr. Cox wants this to happen, and his little tinpot emperor censorship game is intended, in his apparently delusional mind, as a powerful political statement toward that end. It does not seem to have occurred to him, in his current seemingly megalomaniacal state, that members of the US Congress probably do not use Linux, and even those few Congressional staffers who might know what Linux is probably don't build their own kernels, and so will never know about Mr. Cox's protest. The only thing Mr. Cox has achieved, or has any chance of achieving, by his action is to annoy US-based Linux users -- which is probably quite all right with him, safely out of reach in England, with his typical English resentment of the former colonies who have long since outstripped England in world influence.

Mr. Cox has attempted to support his ridiculous and obviously politically-motivated censorship with the claim that his decision was based on legal advice (implying that he fears that documenting security-related kernel fixes places him at risk of being prosecuted under the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions), but this seems highly unlikely to be true.

For one thing, Mr. Cox has refused to identify the person who gave him this alleged advice, or even to provide any details of their reasoning (or, for that matter, their qualifications). The statement that he was acting on a "legal opinion", vague as that is, is absolutely all he has been willing to say, although he was asked for clarification by several readers of the linux-kernel mailing list.
Furthermore, adequacy.org has consulted with a senior official of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (who are quite active in DMCA-related litigation, contributing both to the defense of Dimitry Sklyarov, and Dr. Edward Felten's suit against the RIAA) and two Silicon Valley-based attorneys with experience in copyright litigation. All three of these well-qualified sources laughed at the idea that Alan Cox could be prosecuted under the DMCA for providing Linux kernel changelogs; furthermore, not one of these sources was inclined to believe that Mr. Cox seriously believed himself to be risking prosecution. One of the sources, who is a Linux user and is familiar with Mr. Cox's history, said with a chuckle, "Alan's just having his fun, trying to make a statement."

What amazes me most is that Mr. Cox is willing to abuse his authority as the maintainer of the Linux 2.2 kernel in the service of his political goals. As one of the most significant kernel developers, he should see himself as someone working in the interest of all Linux users to improve the kernel. Concealing important security information from US-based Linux users is simply incompatible with responsible professional conduct for someone in his position. Mr. Cox is entitled to his political views, but he should find appropriate occasions to express them.

Hi Ludvig,

I'm not sure whether or not there would be any issues with patent infringement, but it might be a wise idea to host the iMuse file on thefreeworld.net as a precaution. This way, Americans would be prohibited from downloading the file, which would help to avoid problems from US patents.

Best Regards,
Peter Knowles

P.S. I look forward to giving ScummVM a test sometime. I've got a whole box of LucasArts games just waiting to be played. Thanks for giving me the opportunity.

OTOH, the US outlawing something shouldn't mean that all these good things are suddenly no longer available to the rest of the world. We need a place to publish the things which are outlawed in the US, without getting prosecuted for publishing these things to the US.

Such a site has been started (well, not quite, but we're busy getting it up and running) and we hope there will soon be a place to publish crypto research, security information and other useful tools which are not allowed in the US. The only small gotcha is that in order to publish it legally, some kind of access controll will have to be put in place so US citizens cannot get at the archive. Unfortunate, but so be it.

The site? http://thefreeworld.net/