I find this just a little disturbing. Fast-foward about 10 years. There's a show on TV that I enjoy watching, but will be missing because of a prior engagement. I used to be able to tape it and watch it later. Now? Tough luck... Will this also kill the Tivo market as well as the VCR market? If my VCR can't transmit to HDTV.. can I rent movies still?
-- {} ------
When I think of a good sig, I'll put it here
If you haven't already done so...
by
mav[LAG]
·
· Score: 5
...join the EFF. If you live outside the US, then do whatever you can to make sure that your government doesn't bow down and accept any stupid IP recommendations from the US.
And if you're a pissed-off journalist, attend Sony press conferences and tell them they can shove their products up their corporate backsides. It make not make much difference but it _will_ make you feel better. Nothing better than seeing the grin freeze on some smart lackey with all the Playstation buzzwords after you tell him his company can go fsck themselves.
And if you're a pissed-off techie and you work for anyone of these scum-buckets then I have just one question: WHY? Don't give me that "well I have to earn a living" shite. Go and work for someone else and get a clear conscience.
The rant hits a few important points, but i think the most important is this: The media giants don't want you to be able to be a content provider. Not only do they want to put out their music on uncopiable formats, they don't want you to be able to use your own 'free mp3/get paid touring' business model because it could prove to other artists that the record companies are squeezing them dry. If they can keep you locked out of portable music players, home stereo components, and desktop software then their monopoly is assured.
-- e x p e c t d e l a y . c o m
Jargon file says it best!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5
copy protection n.
A class of methods for preventing incompetent pirates from stealing software and legitimate customers from using it.
Considered silly.
Just treat any modern form of IP (DVD, software, music) like you would old world IP, a book.
Can I make copies of my book for myself? Yes.
Can I take my book apart? Yes.
Can I modify my book? Yes.
Can I loan my book out? Yes.
Can I read my book in any order? Yes.
Can I read my book when I want? Yes.
Look at all the HORRIBLE things I can do with books, and yet I dont see people claiming that modern copy machines are hurting book sales.
FunOne
-- FunOne
This all leads to mono-culture technology.
by
crovira
·
· Score: 4
Ask the Irish about the dangers inherent in mono-culture.
They became dependent on a single kind of potato even though the new world had dozens of them.
The end result was the famine, the death of millions, economic disruption Ireland still hasn't recovered from and some stern lessons which are being ignored at the peril of those who would repeat history in technology instead of agriculture.
Mono-cultures are forever poised on the knife edge of catastrophy. One slip leads to oblivion.
Has anyone noticed that infection incidents are becoming more severe? Melissa is spawning faster and spreading much wider using ruses programed into it.
Changing the vector from diskette to e-mail is part the reason. Using larger 'active' content is another part. Now imagine a exploit of content files, infected media. I'm sure someone's already getting hard at the thought.
One particularly complex and capable computer virus which could be carried over the expanded communications channels in place now could conceivably wipe out everybody without a set of uninfected backups.
The Luddites would win. But at what a cost...
-- MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own.
If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
All CDs have "no copy" bit. Why no DMCA lawsuit?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5
Check the redbook format for audio CDs. It actually defines, on a track by track basis, a "no copy" flag. Naturally this bit is set for all commercial audio CDs. It's also set by every CD burning program I've seen.
Yet all CD ripping software, including that made by "big name" companies ignores the no copy flag. And the CD reader hardware happily extracts digital audio from tracks with the flag set too.
How come no one is getting sued for circumventing this copy control? I think this should qualify as abandonment of the DMCA or selective enforcement. Take your pick, either is sufficient to have the DMCA stricken from the lawbooks.
One point about this whole thing that I haven't seen mentioned:
The MPAA/RIAA and other "big media" "content owners" are operating under the assumption that their content is their's into perpetuity. This is wrong, per the Constitution which only grants "limited time" ownership. By behaving in a manner which assumes that content can never fall into the public domain, perhaps the EFF can seek to overturn all Copyright Extentions back to the original 14 + 14 year one.
None of these players takes into account "content protection" expiration, and as such should be forced to include such features.
Why would anyone buy a VCR/DVD-R which didn't allow them to record from the TV? DVDs sell because the consumer rarely feels the effect of multiple regions, but if they cannot record Friends while out at a party, they will stick to non-protected VHS. I can't see the manufacturers that were burned by the DAT fiasco wanting a repeat performance with digital video devices.
If you can show me one person who has not been able to pursue legitimate recording activites because of copy protection I will eat my words. Otherwise I stand by what I say.
Not to slam you for what you think, but here is my example:
I copied a CD which I paid full price for several years ago onto.wma format on my 400Mhz PII computer last year because the CD was starting to get a little scuffed up and hard for CD players to read due to some scratching that had occurred on its surface (I loved that CD and listened to it A LOT!). I then bought a new PIII 500Mhz computer with an even better sound system attached to it. I transferred all my music files, including the.wma files, to the new computer. Well guess what, now I'm not allowed to use them because I, quote "didn't purchase them", when in fact, I did. I would rather listen to the.wma files on my computer and let them get corrupted, than further scratch up a now out-of-print CD that can be copied over and over. Let me reiterate this: I CANNOT RE-PURCHASE THIS CD! The band has more or less broken up, and no longer puts out this CD. How else am I supposed to listen to these songs once my CD finally bites the dust?
P.S. - As indicated in my sig, the 77's are the group I am referring to, and Pray Naked is the now out-of-print album.
There are no consumer or civil rights representatives in the SDMI consortium.
The problem in a nutshell, and a signal of an alarming trend not only in consumerism but in politics also. Although these practices violate the concept of a free society by keeping the ways and means of electronic discourse (free speech) in the hands of the 'landed gentry' (corporate monoliths), governments around the world allow this to happen because they have been corrupted. At least this is the only plausible explanation I can find. That plus the possibility that they are just a little too stupid (actually even smart people don't have time to keep up on these things) to understand how the technology is being used to disenfranchise people.
Fact is, rights are being curtailed in many (all?) areas of daily life and we allow it. Why? Because we are used to being disenfranchised and powerless and our rage is almost always impotent. Rage cannot sustain itself for a long time, but lawyers and judges can file briefs, torts, and rulings forever.
I imagine that this feeling I am getting deep inside can't be much different than that which ignited the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution. Not quite a "Bastille Day" level of angst, but sufficient to call to action at least one Patriot who waits patiently for the General Alarm to be sounded.
This is a lot like Taxation without Representation.
People ask me why I get upset about such things. What should I tell them? They seem blissfully and willfully ignorant of such matters, happy with their little SUVs and yes, DVDs... What watershed event could possibly provoke Them (about 95% of this country) to action? Can anybody help me here?
-- SDMI: Finally! Music that won't rip or burn! Brought to you by the fine folks at RIAA.
Everyone is missing the real problem.
by
tgd
·
· Score: 4
The problem isn't that laws are being passed that are stealing our rights and selling them to corporations. The problem also isn't that manufacturers are building hardware to do what the laws aren't able to do.
These are all things that are easily under control of the people. We like to believe in these conspiracy theories that secretive business and government agents are developing these laws and technologies, but the fact is these businesses have money to do this because consumers buy their products, and these government officials are elected.
The true problem is twofold -- lack of understanding on the part of the general public, and a lack of caring on the part of many who do understand it. Does anyone on here think more than 1% of the population is aware of the DeCSS case? That's probably high by an order of magnitude! Does more than 1% of the population even know what DMCA is, much less how it affects them? I doubt it. And 99% of the people you could ask about restrictions like not being able to copy digital content at better than VHS quality wouldn't care, because they neither appreciate or have equipment capable of the higher quality.
Public ignorance and apathy are the reason we're losing these freedoms, not corporate greed and governmental corruption. Neither of those would have any power at all in a world of educated people who care about their rights.
Yes, in fact, there is book piracy. Lots of it. I used to work for a bookstore across the street from a major engineering company. Every week, eight or ten engineers would come in and _each_ buy $800 or so in mechanical engineering, programming, UNIX administration, and database books. The following week, they would return all those books, having freshly photocopied them, and purchase more. We had a three-ring binder full of names of people who were never allowed to return books at our store for this reason.
Do I think there should be more legal restrictions on book piracy? No. I think, for example, that teachers should be able to make copies to distribute in classes, especialy for book excerpts. You want to keep a photocopy of your book to read on the bus and not risk ruining the original? Go ahead. Want to type up an HTML version of your book and read it from any of your computers? Just don't advertize it to the general public. Loan your book to a friend? Feel free. Copying books is not much more difficult than copying software.
And book publishers don't labor under the delusion that they still own the book after you buy it. Copyright doesn't work that way, contrary to what music and video publishers would have you believe. You buy the *right* to view/listen to/read the material packaged in the media. The media itself is irrelevant. If I buy a book, I simultaneously buy the right to put that book's text on audio tape, CD, DVD, mp3, video of me reading, other paper, transparency, braille rock carving, and whatever other media I find convenient for getting that text into my head. If I buy a DVD, I buy the same package of rights, but the manufacturers and publishers have decided that I can't be trusted to have the tools to exercise those rights.
I have a DVD of a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert. I bought it. Legally. In a store. The right to consume that content is mine. And it's damn cool to see the way his hands fly over the guitar. But I'd like to take the audio portion, put it on CD, and listen to it in my car. Law lets me do this. I'm not selling, renting, giving, loaning, etc. this material to anyone else. I'm taking audio that I have paid for the right to hear and putting it on another medium that is more convenient for me. Nothing is wrong with this, except that companies won't make hardware that does it for fear of getting their asses sued off for selling something that *could* allow someone to make illegal copies. Time to ban Xerox machines. Throw out the pencil, you could transcribe the lyrics to a Popular Band(tm) song with that. It's dangerous!
--
To go outside the mythos is to become insane...
Important Point: This is Just the Beginning
by
burris
·
· Score: 4
John Gilmore drives home a very important point in this essay that is easily missed even though most of us are quite familiar with nanotechnology.
What is happening now to the movie and music industries will soon happen to EVERY industry. When we can build universal assemblers (matter compilers) that can turn dirt into nourishing food at the push of a button, will we mandate copy protection to save the farmers? Will we ban these machines to protect the jobs of carpenters, skilled laborers, machine tool manufacturers, etc ad nauseum?
John Gilmore is one of the few people who truly understand what is happening and where this is all heading.
Burris
But eventually your OWN content will be restricted
by
Frank+T.+Lofaro+Jr.
·
· Score: 4
Read the article more closely. With MiniDisc the author could not make copies of HIS recording of a wedding. Even though HE owned the copyrights to it.
If he were to circumvent the protections, would he be violating the DMCA. Maybe not, since the circumvention would be "with the authority of the copyright owner".
If he made a tool to do it, would that be a violation? Maybe, maybe not?
If he were to distribute that tool, intending it to be used only to allow use by a copyright owner to circumvent protections to their own content? Likely to be treated as a violation since it could be used for bad purposes, in spite of the exemption for use with "authority of the copy right holder". THe judge would likely assume the intent was not for a legal purpose. Look at Judge Kaplan in the DeCSS lawsuit - he ruled against the defendants, saying that the intent of DeCSS was bad, and even if it was good he STILL would have ruled against them, saying it would STILL be a DMCA violation.
If he were to distribute it, intenting it be used for any "fair use" reason, the would very likely be a DMCA violation. Heck, even if he crippled his tool in such a way that it COULD only be used for a "fair use" reason, it would still be likely to be illegal. Judge Kaplan would rule it so, for example. We will see what happens to an open source LiViD DVD player for Linux without copy ability, whether it is ruled illegal. If Kaplan gets the case, it will be. Then people can see that exercising "fair use" rights is illegal.
Maybe the best we can hope for is things get bad enough, fast enough to wake people up and make them fight back. Throw a frog in boiling water and it jumps right out. Put it in cold water and heat it and it will stay until it dies. People and their rights are like that too. Take rights away slow enough and they won't notice until it is too late. It seems fast to us, but it is slow enough to trick the public.
Perhaps Bush, unlike Clinton, will be so aggressive and fast at "protecting" industry, and so inept at doing it and making it look good, that the people will notice.
Anyway, anyone care to comment on which of my scenarios above would be safe, which ones would get one sued, but one would win, and which ones would get one sued and where one would LOSE? Any coments on what we can do? Anything an independant content producer should know or do to protect their right to release unprotected content?
-- Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
Birthday parties and copyright
by
yerricde
·
· Score: 4
If proprietary formats are going to "prevent" people from copyright their own creations (such as the example "birthday party" video)
<IANAL>
At most birthday parties, the copyrighted musical work "Happy Birthday to You"[?] is performed. Thus, Warner-Chappell Music (a division of AOL Time Warner and the "Happy Birthday" copyright owner) has the right to claim your birthday party video (which includes a performance of "Happy Birthday") as a "derivative work" under copyright law. And no, the copyright on "Happy Birthday" hasn't expired; because it was copyrighted on or after January 1, 1923, it's under perpetual copyright in the US and WIPO states.
</IANAL>
[[Ordinarily, I don't feed the mentally-handicapped trolls, as it rewards the wrong kind of behavior, but there are certain misconceptions being thrown around that, alas, are mistakenly taken as axiomatic by far too many people, and need correction just on general principles.]]
Your homework is as follows. Answer the following questions. Be specific; give examples. Points are not given for bombast or ad hominem attacks.
Economics: Explain the fundamental difference between transfer of a resource and duplication of a resource.
Ethics: In a world where it is physically possible to copy anything, what is wrong with copying anything? (You may assume the existence of either Star Trek-like (energy-based) or nanotechnologically-based matter replicators.)
Mathematics: Since, by law, it is the responsibility of a publisher to ensure their work does not infringe against any other copyrighted work, the new work must be searched and tested against every existing work to assure non-infringement. Assume, either by law or by technological operation, copyrights never expire. Plot the curve of the search/test time as the number of already-copyrighted works increases. At what point does the curve exceed the physical ability to conduct the test?
Social Studies: In a world where a creator's artifacts can be duplicated by anyone anywhere, what intangible property or concept will still be crucial to reward jobs well done?
Politics: A dozen or so entities tried to provide input to the drafting of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but only two actually had any meaningful effect. Name them.
Computer Science: You attempt to write a block of data to a hard disk, but the operation fails. Describe the steps that can be taken to determine with 100% certainty if the failure is due to a flaw in the drive (necessitating replacement), or due to properly operating copy control measures.
Answers (ROT-13):
Genafsre bs n erfbhepr vf gur onfvf bs gursg, naq vf n pevzr jura cresbezrq vaibyhagnevyl. Qhcyvpngvba bs n erfbhepr vf gur onfvf bs qvyhgvba, juvpu vf abg n pevzr (gubhtu terrql, guvpx-urnqrq crbcyr tehzoyr nobhg vg).
Abguvat. Fvapr rirelbar jvyy unir npprff gb gur fnzr novyvgl gb pbcl, gurer jvyy or ab fbpvny arrq gb pbafgenva pbclvat, fvapr gur "nttevrirq cnegl" pna fvzcyl znxr gurve bja pbcvrf bs jungrire gurl arrq.
Vg nyernql unf.
Gur pbaprcg bs erchgngvba jvyy or prageny gb gur shgher vapragvir fgehpgher. Juvyr pbcvrf bs negvsnpgf jvyy syl nebhaq yrsg naq evtug, gur perngbe'f erchgngvba jvyy or jryy-cebgrpgrq ol ynj naq fbpvny pbairagvba.
[[Concerning his pooh-poohing of DeCSS's legitimate uses, it would be nice to mention that I'd rather like to write an OpenGL screen blanker that takes whatever DVD is in the drive, maps the movie on to a sphere, and bounces it around. It would be nice to point out that such use of a DVD is perfectly legal -- even cool -- but utterly impossible without DeCSS or something like it. But somehow I doubt he'd be able to grasp the concept.]]
Slashdot Mirror
I find this just a little disturbing. Fast-foward about 10 years. There's a show on TV that I enjoy watching, but will be missing because of a prior engagement. I used to be able to tape it and watch it later. Now? Tough luck... Will this also kill the Tivo market as well as the VCR market? If my VCR can't transmit to HDTV.. can I rent movies still?
{} ------ When I think of a good sig, I'll put it here
And if you're a pissed-off journalist, attend Sony press conferences and tell them they can shove their products up their corporate backsides. It make not make much difference but it _will_ make you feel better. Nothing better than seeing the grin freeze on some smart lackey with all the Playstation buzzwords after you tell him his company can go fsck themselves.
And if you're a pissed-off techie and you work for anyone of these scum-buckets then I have just one question: WHY? Don't give me that "well I have to earn a living" shite. Go and work for someone else and get a clear conscience.
Aah - I feel better already...
--- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
The rant hits a few important points, but i think the most important is this: The media giants don't want you to be able to be a content provider. Not only do they want to put out their music on uncopiable formats, they don't want you to be able to use your own 'free mp3/get paid touring' business model because it could prove to other artists that the record companies are squeezing them dry. If they can keep you locked out of portable music players, home stereo components, and desktop software then their monopoly is assured.
e x p e c t d e l a y . c o m
copy protection n.
A class of methods for preventing incompetent pirates from stealing software and legitimate customers from using it. Considered silly.
Just treat any modern form of IP (DVD, software, music) like you would old world IP, a book.
Can I make copies of my book for myself? Yes.
Can I take my book apart? Yes.
Can I modify my book? Yes.
Can I loan my book out? Yes.
Can I read my book in any order? Yes.
Can I read my book when I want? Yes.
Look at all the HORRIBLE things I can do with books, and yet I dont see people claiming that modern copy machines are hurting book sales.
FunOne
FunOne
Ask the Irish about the dangers inherent in mono-culture.
They became dependent on a single kind of potato even though the new world had dozens of them.
The end result was the famine, the death of millions, economic disruption Ireland still hasn't recovered from and some stern lessons which are being ignored at the peril of those who would repeat history in technology instead of agriculture.
Mono-cultures are forever poised on the knife edge of catastrophy. One slip leads to oblivion.
Has anyone noticed that infection incidents are becoming more severe? Melissa is spawning faster and spreading much wider using ruses programed into it.
Changing the vector from diskette to e-mail is part the reason. Using larger 'active' content is another part. Now imagine a exploit of content files, infected media. I'm sure someone's already getting hard at the thought.
One particularly complex and capable computer virus which could be carried over the expanded communications channels in place now could conceivably wipe out everybody without a set of uninfected backups.
The Luddites would win. But at what a cost...
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Yet all CD ripping software, including that made by "big name" companies ignores the no copy flag. And the CD reader hardware happily extracts digital audio from tracks with the flag set too.
How come no one is getting sued for circumventing this copy control? I think this should qualify as abandonment of the DMCA or selective enforcement. Take your pick, either is sufficient to have the DMCA stricken from the lawbooks.
One point about this whole thing that I haven't seen mentioned:
The MPAA/RIAA and other "big media" "content owners" are operating under the assumption that their content is their's into perpetuity. This is wrong, per the Constitution which only grants "limited time" ownership. By behaving in a manner which assumes that content can never fall into the public domain, perhaps the EFF can seek to overturn all Copyright Extentions back to the original 14 + 14 year one.
None of these players takes into account "content protection" expiration, and as such should be forced to include such features.
Why would anyone buy a VCR/DVD-R which didn't allow them to record from the TV? DVDs sell because the consumer rarely feels the effect of multiple regions, but if they cannot record Friends while out at a party, they will stick to non-protected VHS. I can't see the manufacturers that were burned by the DAT fiasco wanting a repeat performance with digital video devices.
Not to slam you for what you think, but here is my example:
I copied a CD which I paid full price for several years ago onto .wma format on my 400Mhz PII computer last year because the CD was starting to get a little scuffed up and hard for CD players to read due to some scratching that had occurred on its surface (I loved that CD and listened to it A LOT!). I then bought a new PIII 500Mhz computer with an even better sound system attached to it. I transferred all my music files, including the .wma files, to the new computer. Well guess what, now I'm not allowed to use them because I, quote "didn't purchase them", when in fact, I did. I would rather listen to the .wma files on my computer and let them get corrupted, than further scratch up a now out-of-print CD that can be copied over and over. Let me reiterate this: I CANNOT RE-PURCHASE THIS CD! The band has more or less broken up, and no longer puts out this CD. How else am I supposed to listen to these songs once my CD finally bites the dust?
P.S. - As indicated in my sig, the 77's are the group I am referring to, and Pray Naked is the now out-of-print album.
There are no consumer or civil rights representatives in the SDMI consortium.
The problem in a nutshell, and a signal of an alarming trend not only in consumerism but in politics also. Although these practices violate the concept of a free society by keeping the ways and means of electronic discourse (free speech) in the hands of the 'landed gentry' (corporate monoliths), governments around the world allow this to happen because they have been corrupted. At least this is the only plausible explanation I can find. That plus the possibility that they are just a little too stupid (actually even smart people don't have time to keep up on these things) to understand how the technology is being used to disenfranchise people.
Fact is, rights are being curtailed in many (all?) areas of daily life and we allow it. Why? Because we are used to being disenfranchised and powerless and our rage is almost always impotent. Rage cannot sustain itself for a long time, but lawyers and judges can file briefs, torts, and rulings forever.
I imagine that this feeling I am getting deep inside can't be much different than that which ignited the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution. Not quite a "Bastille Day" level of angst, but sufficient to call to action at least one Patriot who waits patiently for the General Alarm to be sounded.
This is a lot like Taxation without Representation.
People ask me why I get upset about such things. What should I tell them? They seem blissfully and willfully ignorant of such matters, happy with their little SUVs and yes, DVDs... What watershed event could possibly provoke Them (about 95% of this country) to action? Can anybody help me here?
SDMI: Finally! Music that won't rip or burn! Brought to you by the fine folks at RIAA.
The problem isn't that laws are being passed that are stealing our rights and selling them to corporations. The problem also isn't that manufacturers are building hardware to do what the laws aren't able to do.
These are all things that are easily under control of the people. We like to believe in these conspiracy theories that secretive business and government agents are developing these laws and technologies, but the fact is these businesses have money to do this because consumers buy their products, and these government officials are elected.
The true problem is twofold -- lack of understanding on the part of the general public, and a lack of caring on the part of many who do understand it. Does anyone on here think more than 1% of the population is aware of the DeCSS case? That's probably high by an order of magnitude! Does more than 1% of the population even know what DMCA is, much less how it affects them? I doubt it. And 99% of the people you could ask about restrictions like not being able to copy digital content at better than VHS quality wouldn't care, because they neither appreciate or have equipment capable of the higher quality.
Public ignorance and apathy are the reason we're losing these freedoms, not corporate greed and governmental corruption. Neither of those would have any power at all in a world of educated people who care about their rights.
Yes, in fact, there is book piracy. Lots of it. I used to work for a bookstore across the street from a major engineering company. Every week, eight or ten engineers would come in and _each_ buy $800 or so in mechanical engineering, programming, UNIX administration, and database books. The following week, they would return all those books, having freshly photocopied them, and purchase more. We had a three-ring binder full of names of people who were never allowed to return books at our store for this reason.
Do I think there should be more legal restrictions on book piracy? No. I think, for example, that teachers should be able to make copies to distribute in classes, especialy for book excerpts. You want to keep a photocopy of your book to read on the bus and not risk ruining the original? Go ahead. Want to type up an HTML version of your book and read it from any of your computers? Just don't advertize it to the general public. Loan your book to a friend? Feel free. Copying books is not much more difficult than copying software.
And book publishers don't labor under the delusion that they still own the book after you buy it. Copyright doesn't work that way, contrary to what music and video publishers would have you believe. You buy the *right* to view/listen to/read the material packaged in the media. The media itself is irrelevant. If I buy a book, I simultaneously buy the right to put that book's text on audio tape, CD, DVD, mp3, video of me reading, other paper, transparency, braille rock carving, and whatever other media I find convenient for getting that text into my head. If I buy a DVD, I buy the same package of rights, but the manufacturers and publishers have decided that I can't be trusted to have the tools to exercise those rights.
I have a DVD of a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert. I bought it. Legally. In a store. The right to consume that content is mine. And it's damn cool to see the way his hands fly over the guitar. But I'd like to take the audio portion, put it on CD, and listen to it in my car. Law lets me do this. I'm not selling, renting, giving, loaning, etc. this material to anyone else. I'm taking audio that I have paid for the right to hear and putting it on another medium that is more convenient for me. Nothing is wrong with this, except that companies won't make hardware that does it for fear of getting their asses sued off for selling something that *could* allow someone to make illegal copies. Time to ban Xerox machines. Throw out the pencil, you could transcribe the lyrics to a Popular Band(tm) song with that. It's dangerous!
--
To go outside the mythos is to become insane...
What is happening now to the movie and music industries will soon happen to EVERY industry. When we can build universal assemblers (matter compilers) that can turn dirt into nourishing food at the push of a button, will we mandate copy protection to save the farmers? Will we ban these machines to protect the jobs of carpenters, skilled laborers, machine tool manufacturers, etc ad nauseum?
John Gilmore is one of the few people who truly understand what is happening and where this is all heading.
Burris
Read the article more closely. With MiniDisc the author could not make copies of HIS recording of a wedding. Even though HE owned the copyrights to it.
If he were to circumvent the protections, would he be violating the DMCA. Maybe not, since the circumvention would be "with the authority of the copyright owner".
If he made a tool to do it, would that be a violation? Maybe, maybe not?
If he were to distribute that tool, intending it to be used only to allow use by a copyright owner to circumvent protections to their own content? Likely to be treated as a violation since it could be used for bad purposes, in spite of the exemption for use with "authority of the copy right holder". THe judge would likely assume the intent was not for a legal purpose. Look at Judge Kaplan in the DeCSS lawsuit - he ruled against the defendants, saying that the intent of DeCSS was bad, and even if it was good he STILL would have ruled against them, saying it would STILL be a DMCA violation.
If he were to distribute it, intenting it be used for any "fair use" reason, the would very likely be a DMCA violation. Heck, even if he crippled his tool in such a way that it COULD only be used for a "fair use" reason, it would still be likely to be illegal. Judge Kaplan would rule it so, for example. We will see what happens to an open source LiViD DVD player for Linux without copy ability, whether it is ruled illegal. If Kaplan gets the case, it will be. Then people can see that exercising "fair use" rights is illegal.
Maybe the best we can hope for is things get bad enough, fast enough to wake people up and make them fight back. Throw a frog in boiling water and it jumps right out. Put it in cold water and heat it and it will stay until it dies. People and their rights are like that too. Take rights away slow enough and they won't notice until it is too late. It seems fast to us, but it is slow enough to trick the public.
Perhaps Bush, unlike Clinton, will be so aggressive and fast at "protecting" industry, and so inept at doing it and making it look good, that the people will notice.
Anyway, anyone care to comment on which of my scenarios above would be safe, which ones would get one sued, but one would win, and which ones would get one sued and where one would LOSE? Any coments on what we can do? Anything an independant content producer should know or do to protect their right to release unprotected content?
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
If proprietary formats are going to "prevent" people from copyright their own creations (such as the example "birthday party" video)
<IANAL>
At most birthday parties, the copyrighted musical work "Happy Birthday to You"[?] is performed. Thus, Warner-Chappell Music (a division of AOL Time Warner and the "Happy Birthday" copyright owner) has the right to claim your birthday party video (which includes a performance of "Happy Birthday") as a "derivative work" under copyright law. And no, the copyright on "Happy Birthday" hasn't expired; because it was copyrighted on or after January 1, 1923, it's under perpetual copyright in the US and WIPO states.
</IANAL>
Like Tetris? Like drugs? Ever try combining them?
Will I retire or break 10K?
[[Ordinarily, I don't feed the mentally-handicapped trolls, as it rewards the wrong kind of behavior, but there are certain misconceptions being thrown around that, alas, are mistakenly taken as axiomatic by far too many people, and need correction just on general principles.]]
Your homework is as follows. Answer the following questions. Be specific; give examples. Points are not given for bombast or ad hominem attacks.
Answers (ROT-13):
[[Concerning his pooh-poohing of DeCSS's legitimate uses, it would be nice to mention that I'd rather like to write an OpenGL screen blanker that takes whatever DVD is in the drive, maps the movie on to a sphere, and bounces it around. It would be nice to point out that such use of a DVD is perfectly legal -- even cool -- but utterly impossible without DeCSS or something like it. But somehow I doubt he'd be able to grasp the concept.]]
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions