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JumpTV Hopes to Succeed where ICraveTV failed.
SubtleNuance writes "32BitsOnline is reporting in this article that a Montreal, Canada startup called JumpTV.com will launch a service similar to the foiled ICraveTV.com. Using BorderControl.com, a more robust -and controversial- system of assuring a users geographical location, the startup is hoping to succeed where its predecessor failed." It figures out where you are (based on your IP) and then gives you television from you area (if its got it) in the form of a an online VCR. How long will this one last?
Considering the fact that you can tunnel packets through a host in another geographical location using SSH or other methods, this method is inherently flawed.
Why does nobody on Slashdot get it? Border Control isn't to block Americans from using JumpTV. It's to stop JumpTV from getting sued in the US (or at least, losing a lawsuit in the US). If JumpTV can demonstrate that they took reasonable measures to block Americans from using the service, they're homefree legally, and all that Big Media can do is go after American individuals who use the service (which they probably won't do, and may not even be able to do legally).
:-)
Is Border Control reasonable? Conceptually, it's a reasonable comprimise between usability and security. Anybody who knows what they're doing can use it, but then, I would hope that the more computer-savvy among us would be using their time more productively than TV. The implementation may suck, but that's probably mostly irrelevant legally (it will probably get fixed up with time).
We're now in a world were companies are forced to take measures they know will be ineffective, in order to satisfy legal requirements. It's not just the law that's moving too slowly (although it scares me even more when it moves too quickly)--society as a whole hasn't adjusted to the net. I can effectively "be" almost anywhere in the world in just a few seconds, at least to the extent that I can be doing things that are subject to the laws of different countries. The result is the vast number of logical inconsistancies and flaws in our social fabric.
The mess with intellectual property is one example. We've created an artificial scarcity of an unlimited resource (information) so that information will fit into traditional markets, which are the most efficient way of allocating scarce resources, but aren't so hot with unlimited resources.
It's funny that watching JumpTV from my place in Canada could be perfectly legal if I'm dialing into a Canadian ISP, but, if I forget to change my settings after a quick trip to the States, I could be committing a crime.
Just as a little tweak to all those Slashdotters south of the 49th parallel, have you noticed the recent trend towards greater 'Net freedom in Canada and less freedom in the US? I totally admire the US Constitution, and wish Canada had something just like it, but your government seems to be ignoring it more and more. By contrast, the Canadian government seems to be fairly with it when it comes to the Net. Here are some examples of Canadian freedom: the ruling that the CRTC (our FTC) can't regulate the 'Net, Ontario's encouraging citizens to use strong crypto, the CSE's Public Key Infrastructure project... The US has DMCA, COPA, COPPA, UCITA, and is also the home of the RIAA, the MPAA... Too bad about our taxes... Oh well, I guess you can always Blame Canada for all those copies of DeCSS hosted up here.
To all the nitpicky karma whores: if you find some minute flaw in my post, please don't flame the hell out of me for it--use your imagination to figure out what I meant, and just read things that way. I am so bloody sick of getting a billion replies because some inconsequential detail of my post was slightly wrong. Show some adaptability. And yes, I know about the Canadian Charter of Rights. Not quite the same as the Constitution. The charter starts by saying "The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society."