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DeCSS, From the Beginning
An anonymous reader sent in a link to a presentation given by Tom Vogt at HAL 2001. He reviews the whole CSS/DeCSS mess from the beginning, which makes a it a nice backgrounder for people who are wondering what the Sklyarov, 2600 and other cases are all about.
I don't even have a DVD player, but that hasn't change the current state of affairs any.
Ever wonder if there's any connection between these virus outbreaks and the issues the RIAA nad MPAA hold dear? Maybe I'm starting to sound like one of those "conspiracy theorists", but it seems funny that when an issue such as the fundamental loss of freedom presented by the DMCA is before us, it is eclipsed in the media by these horrible nasty internet worms and viruses. And at the end of the day if there is any mention of Skyarlov, it's "Oh...he's one of THEM!" (a hacker) and he's immediately equated with the authors of Code Red or Sircam and immediately he's views (and those of others like him)are invalidated, and he and all the other hackers should be locked up and the key thrown away, and humanity will be able to breathe easier and all will be well in MPAA-land!
You're using her as bait, Master!
There were dinosaurs. But they all died and turned to oil. The the Arabs came along and drilled that oil. With oil-based products we could make plastics and vinyl records. But we could record these vinyl records to tape and listen to them in our cars because of fair-use laws.
Then things like intellectual property rights were invented. Next was the digital wonder of DVDs but you can't record them to anything else because they're encrypted. Laws were passed to protect the MPAA's IP rights. Someone discovered the keys to the MPAA's magic kingdom. Smarter people made several software programs to copy the DVDs so we could do whatever we wanted to with them.
And then there were no fair-use laws.
While I agree with this legal brief, which argues that outlawing DeCSS is unconstitutional; I do not understand how Article III applies, nor how the ninth amendment would apply. I also do not understand how Article III and the ninth amendment apply to your general statement, that it is unconstitutional "to restrict a tool because it is used to commit illegal acts".
The ninth amendment vaguely states that we retain rights above and beyond those which the Bill of Rights explicitly mentions. Certainly, this must have limitations. Are you claiming that congress can not take away any rights unless the constitution specifically grants them the power to? If so, note that Article I, section 8, clause 8, indeed grants congress the power to craft copyright law. So, why would the ninth amendment apply?
I have no idea what the heck you're referring to in Article III.
I do not see the constitution making this issue at all clear.
Sadly this story does not get the attention in the media that it really should. Yes there are a few blurs about 'Fair Use' here and there, but nothing that really that is open in the public forum. The only problem is that this is not some simple story, it's a rather hard and complex issue, one that the avg. American wouldn't know about or really give a fuck about. Public apathy will doom us in the end.
Frankly if Sony and Paramount, etc. want to encrypt their media offerings then the should be forced to give a copy of the decrypting key to the Lirbary of Congress to held in escrow. The day that the copyright ends, those keys become public domain. End of story. No endless extentions to the life of the copyright either.
I also feel that copyright should move to be more like patents, 20 years to explot, then 'The End', public domain.
III.IIVIVIXIIVIVIIIVVIIIIXVIIIXIIIIIIIIVIIIIVVIII
I have now taken down the link. Will shut down webserver in a while as well.
Hello, my name is Robert Lerner, and I pronounce Lernux as "99% cpu"
This is done in the district court. That trial is over. In that trial, Universal Studios was unable to provide a single example of DeCSS being used to pirate movies.
3) That it is legal and Constitutional to restrict a tool because it is used to commit illegal acts. (Example: People commit murders with hammers. Should hammers be made illegal?) The Constitution clearly says otherwise.
Where, exactly, does the constitution say that? If you are refering to the second amendment, why would it apply in the DeCSS case?
Also remember that, at least in America, the burden of proof is on the prosecution. The defendant doesn't even have to open his mouth.
That may be true in criminal trials, but you do not have the right to remain silent in civil trials (like DeCSS).
What happened to 2600's appeal of the court decision about DeCSS? Last time I heard from it, the judge had asked some questions about different forms of free speech, which they answered a long time ago.. and then, no news at all, not on slashdot and not on 2600.com..
Did all media totally lost interest in the case and forgot mentionning the outcome? Or is it really taking so long for the judge to decide?
If you're not a locksmith, it's illegal to posess lock picks in many jurisdictions. The analogy to debugging tools is left as an exercise for the reader.
I heard at one point that it was a voice vote. Now, I would hope that Congress wouldn't be so irresponsible to pass such huge legislation in a way that didn't leave us with any record of who voted for and against it, but if they were responsible, we wouldn't have this damn thing in the first place. And it does serve as an explination as to why it's so hard to find a voting record.
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
There was a debate in Harvard - I can't recall the URL, but both of theses questions were answered by Jack himself as, 1) Yes - and they claimed the DMCA does nothing to change his and 2) No - because the DMCA makes this illegal.
Ahh, spoken exactly like one who doesn't have a clue what they're talking about.
Would you describe to me how DeCSS can be used for "stealing"? It's just as easy -- easier, even -- to make a bit-for-bit copy of a DVD. Sure, one can use it to bypass region coding, but that can be done via simple hardware mods to many commercial DVD players, or downloading the right software for DVD-ROMs...
For that matter, how does DeCSS have anything to do with Napster? I think you're getting your FUD mixed up.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
They have one. It's called a lockpick, and it's perfectly legal. Locksmith's use them all the time. And it's also perfectly legal for you to pick the lock on your own car or house if (say) you locked the keys inside.
B5 DVDs (Score:-1, Offtopic)
by Anonymous Coward on 11:40 AM August 12th, 2001 EDT (#44)
Anyone know if they're gonna release the series on DVD? That's one boxed set I'm gonna buy no matter how much I hate MPAA and WarnerBros/TNT.
When "additional digital encrypted inputs to the ears and eyes" are possible, there will be no need for laws making them mandatory. The content providers will release only for those inputs and the sheep will rush to the surgeons.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
To understand the DeCSS issue you have to understand the deeper issue of media control. The Internet is a communications media much in the same way that the air is a communications media for voice communications.
To see what is really going on in attempts to control the Internet are substitute the word air for the word Internet in the following headline:
Internet control necessary: predators using the Internet to go after YOUR (Children/Money/Identity (choose one))
If anyone tried to use the above in an attempt to control the air it would be obvious to anyone with the snap of the village idiot that they were trying to get a strangle hold over everyone. That is what the battle is over. DeCSS is a test case: One in which people can be easily confused with plausible lies into misunderstanding. This is NOT just about money - it IS about obtaining a strangle hold over humanity.
If they took the money they spent trawling fserves and used it to lower the price, maybe people wouldn't bother. That has to be _incredibly_ time consuming. OTOH, is it possible that someone in the channel was pissed at you and sent the DCC log to the MPAA?
Another proud carrier of the $rtbl flag
I'm not saying that the above is practical. I simply lack the knowledge to know why the above might be impractical. Any enlightenment on the issue would help me greatly. Because, if there are legal reasons why they can create CSS breakers and I can't, I'm getting the scary feeling that I'm also not legally allowed to know what those reasons are (NDA's and such). What I guess I'm really failing to grasp is how the movie industry major players can have this kind of control without being considered a Cartel. And aren't cartels illegal in the United States? Can anyone alleviate my confusion?
www.anti-dmca.org
eurorights.org
Every bloody emperor has his hand up history's skirt [Peter Hammill/VdGG]
email is ignored by senators and congressmen. i know because i used to work at the capital in ney york and got to talking with a lot of the reps. ok, actually i was a janitor, and i mostly told them to watch out because the floor was wet
Ok, I located the missing tarball, so go get it while you can. Also, the DeCSS mp3 is available :-).
Hello, my name is Robert Lerner, and I pronounce Lernux as "99% cpu"
Simple solution: Because the DMCA is now law, we know that the majority of congresscritters voted for it. Therefore, if they were in office at the time, odds are they voted for it and it's safe to vote against them next election.
Sure, maybe you'll vote out somebody that actually voted against the law, but it's their own fault for not speaking up more loudly against the law and generally help the law come about through their inaction.
All I can say to everyone complaining about the whole DeCSS affair is: DON'T BUY ANY MORE DVD'S. Send money to the Electronic Fronteir Foundation (www.eff.org). Voting with your wallet is the most effective thing you can do, aside from being the subject of one of these lawsuits, which most of us do not have the $$ to do.
CSS was cracked at MIT a while before this whole mess. They neve published it 'cause the student responsible were afraid of legal problems.
For the record, I'm 33, and I think your coworker is a closed-minded imbecile. Anyone who isn't even willing to discuss the issue deserves scorn, IMO, regardless of their age.
You can have my keyboard when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands.
Cliches aside, I have been thinking for a while that geeks and the NRA now have a lot in common. The key to the issue is an interpretation of the constitution. Many of us believe that the DMCA is an abridgement of our first amendment rights. Let's do what the NRA does, let's lobby. Maybe we don't have the time or money to go to Washington, but we U.S. citizens can slashdot our senators and our representatives. My one e-mail may not make the difference, but if we all send a polite e-mail expressing our concerns, we can make a difference. Contact your senators and representative. Let them know. They are becomming aware that there is a growing population of the technologically savvy. If they hear from enough of us, they will listen.
You got something wrong. If it is the local authority to restrict the use of something locally, than it may be bad for you, but it's something completely different if you cardealer or the car manufacturer writes in your contract, that he doesn't like California for some reasons and therefore forbids you to drive there.
I have to agree with shanek. If there is no EULA-style "You Must Agree To/Not To..." before opening a DVD, then use of ANY tool to decrypt DVDs IS not and CANNOT be made illegal.
I mean, a precedent was set last month or maybe even earlier involving the Netscape license: they had a license posted for downloaded software, but they didn't MAKE anyone view it -- they merely linked to it on the download page or something, from what I understand. The judge ruled that a license that the user doesn't have to SEE can't be legally binding -- what about one that the user doesn't even know EXISTS (except in the MPAA's (legal dept's) heads, of course)?
Pity, though, I was hoping the MPAA and the ignorance of our gov't would cause a revolution during which most things would be made kick-ass...open up source code, freely distribute all kinds of media/art forms...
Emacs: for people who just never know when to
Would you describe to me how DeCSS can be used for "stealing"?
I've been seeing "DVDrip" copies of movies for download long before DeCSS ever hit the net, and I doubt the pirates even paused in their ripping efforts to read about DeCSS, notwithstanding your falling sky "arguments."
Also:
For that matter, how does DeCSS have anything to do with Napster?
I'd like to know this as well. Perhaps you could make the argument that Napster is used for stealing music, but that hasn't got the slightest bearing on the matter at hand, which is DeCSS. Thanks for playing.
-Legion
Where, exactly, does the constitution say that? If you are refering to the second amendment, why would it apply in the DeCSS case?
Hmmmm. "The right to keep and bear arms..." - does US Government, Inc, still classify encryption as "munitions"? Maybe the 2nd amendment can be made to apply after all...
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
Hmmm...the setting for Fight Club 2?
Insightful?
/.?
Christ, is it moron day on
I am not in favor of DeCSS, or in favor of the way the MPAA has hounded people for using it. I am very much in the middle on this subject, thinking neither side is truely right, but neither is truly wrong. One thing I have noticed is that the pro-DeCSS side continually focuses on the "pirates" duplicating and sell DVD movies for profit, but completely ignores the people trading DVD movies on the internet. If you check any of the major file-sharing services (Morpheus, Gnutella and any of it's "front ends", etc) you will see hundereds of movies being traded every day. This piracy is completely different than the "pirates" selling copied DVDs as the real thing, and is also what the MPAA is focusing on. By ignoring these pirated copies (which do benefit substantially from DeCSS) you are fighting the wrong war. While the MPAA points this out, the pro-DeCSS forces point to other pirates and say "Well, we aren't as bad as them! Go after them instead!". This is a sure way to lose the war. This subject needs to be addressed in one way or another, and not just ignored. DeCSS can (and is) used for piracy, and just ignoring that fact will guarantee a lose in court. This si a subject that needs to be discussed, and either an explanation, or reason, or way to avoid it has to be found if you want any chance of coming out on top. Just pointing out that their are worse forms of piracy going on won't make any think that your's is okay.
"Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
Thank you sir. I jope this will be the beginning of a data sheet that will grow over time, with addiional details about this matter. I will try my best to add something.
I'll be 33 next month and I'm not expecting to suddenly go all pro DMCA on my birthday :)
Seriously, although your coworker is presumably intelligent that's not incompatible with being close minded. Telling you that a conversation is over because you refer to free speech doesn't suggest he's preprared to even consider viewpoints other than his own, he clearly doesn't want to discuss them. Dismissing someone's viewpoint on the grounds of their youth is even worse.
Just hope that when you're 33 that whatever you have come to believe you won't be so arrogant and dismissive.
Oh, last point, the world (or at least society) works the way that we collectively make it work.
IP law is a system of law describing what people can and cannot do over Internet Protocol-based networks. The MPAA and RIAA (Motion Picture Associaton of America and Recording Industry Artist's Association) decided that IP-based networks were a bad thing, since it became possible to transmit files over the networks containing copyrighted materials (data) without authorization.
The problem is that you can't really state that something like that is illegal, without making IP itself illegal. Take voice over IP (voIP) as an example. You could theoretically say something, a catch phrase, that is well known from a movie that the MPAA would consider copyrighted - would that then make voIP illegal ? No, of course not.So the RIAA and MPAA are really fighting a losing battle here. Even if they ban IP-based networks entirely, what about BBSes? Or even if they banned electronic communication entirely, what's stopping you from cutting CDs with copyrighted materials on them and swapping them with other CD cutters? They could try and ban CD-Rs, but there'll always be SOME way of getting information to people without paying the corporation which holds the rights to that information.
Cedric Balthazar Rotherwood
Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform +
System Admin. for Solaris
Region coding is a "feature" designed solely to restrict use of DVDs to particular parts of the world (or in reality, to particular players).
NTSC and PAL are different TV standards. They were not designed to restrict distribution. The reason why studios probably didn't complain about VCRs that playback NTSC videos in PAL is that they play them back in a degraded format somehow... don't ask me what though...
Firstly, if such a thing were possible, then would it not be better for it to be out in the open, so that the car manufacturers could improve their locks, rather than only criminals having the knowledge?
Secondly, DeCSS is used to break the region-lock on DVDs that people have bought honestly. The only way this could be compared to "breaking in" is if someone broke into their own car after it was declared illegal to open the car in countries other than the one it was originally purchased in.
No decision has yet been rendered. I'm sure Slashdot will cover the result, even if CNN and MSNBC don't.
Whatever the result, expect an appeal to the Supreme Court.
I don't need large brains to have a good time.
No, Microsoft will pour money onto lawyers to reach and agreeable settlement, as rich corporations can fork out lawyers as FreeBSD can spawn new jobs.
One of the (many) problems with the DMCA is that 99% of the consumers out there do not have the legal resources to defend themselves from the chilling effects of this twisted law.
I hope it hasn't come to this. A speedy revelation of who voted for what and an explanation of how this happened would make me feel a lot better
definately not in the netherlands, seeing that that was a lockpicking workshop on HAL2001...
//rdj
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
--Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
Someone using DeCSS never agreed to that license, so the license for them would be invalid. The law in question prohibits circumvention of an access method.
I wonder how all you who support this and the similar BS would feel if someone put out simple instructions for a tool to unlock and start any car, especially yours. Sure it could be defended as a tool to help drivers who locked their keys in their car, but obvisouly is a tool for theives. I don't think you'd be out supporting the right to published the instructions so the thirteen year old next door can build the tool in their bedroom.
One thing difference in my picture, stolen cars would help the auto makers sell more cars. But tools like you're talk about, Napster and others take sales away from the maker, but more importantly they take the royalities away from the writers and artists who have to make their living from the pennys the get per sale. In reality tools ike this just drive up the prices of products to make up for the pirated copies. It's a vicious circle, the more people pirate/steal the high prices go, the higher prices go the more people steal. In long run everyone loses.
2600 says it was a voice vote, as well as unanimous.
In 10 years I hope to get artificial vision implants, because of my poor eyesight.
Imagine, I can watch something, then use my built-in TiVO in my bionic eye to watch again and again.
Think the DMCA means I can't go to a movie theater or watch a DVD?
"So it begins... The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
It's high time for a raining storm of fire and brimstone to cut down corporate lawyers a few notches. Their IP content just isn't in need of that much protection. And penalties for violations cannot justifiably be greater than those for rape, second degree murder, etc.
Why should copying a CD for someone other than yourself receive any greater penalty than stealing that CD from a store?
Copying for other than personal use is petty theft at best. AT BEST. I say that because in rality, it's LESS harmful than petty theft because the copying does not deprive anyone else, NOT ANYONE ELSE, of their copy of whatever. How can it be "theft" if nothing is missing? Yes, I'm trotting out the movie theater example. Unsold emtpy seats in a movie theater are not called losses or criminal theft. Yet if some kids sneak into those seats and watch the movie, a loss is declared of n kids * full fare ticket dollars? "Oh but what if kids sneaking in fill seats so paying customers can't find a seat". Well, if I make 50,000,000,000 copies of Win XP CDs, that doesn't block you from buying one, does it? Next question please?
Note also that Microsoft does not report even one bleeping cent in lost revenue to piracy on their annual shareholders report. NT ONE CENT! Um, doesn't the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) require full disclosure of all profits, losses, expenses, etc. in that report? Don't people go to jail for long periods of time if they fudge numbers on this report? Not one cent reported lost to piracy.
I guess piracy is a "loss" everywhere except where it counts, on financial reports, on tax documents, on investment prospectus, on insurance claims covering loss, etc.
So do I think piracy is wrong? Yes! I do! I just think it's "seriousness" is way too exaggerated. And it becomes a more evil crime with harsher penalties every year to the point where it belittles the seriousness of other more real crimes. Beat up and fuck your unconscious girlfriend? Get a three day trial, zero dollar fine, three years in jail, and be able to go out with women again once you're out. Crack copy protection schemes? Get a 3 YEAR trial, a 5,000,000 dollar fine and 10 years in jail, and a ban from ever touching or getting near a computer ever again.
Piracy: Bad, but not that bad.
A DeCSS Gallery. Enjoy DeCSS in Traditional Haiku.
For more information, here is the main page. E
'nuff said....
Today is day one at SIGGRAPH, and there has already been a course on Public Policy issues, including mentions of Sklyarov, DeCSS, the Felten case, and others.
During the presentation, USACM co-chair Barbara Simons announced that tomorrow ACM is going to release a "declaration" strongly in Favor of Felten, and that ACM is going to take a strong stance on the Felten case. The group is starting to worry that the anti-circumvention provisions are getting close to "criminializing" a lot of work being done by ACM members, and they think that some of the papers being submitting for an upcoming conference are close to doing the same thing Felten did and that there could be trouble. They said that ACM is going to take some strong anti-DMCA stances.
Check out the web site in the morning for the declaration. It's not up yet, but it will be up at http://www.acm.org and/or http://www.acm.org/
"Yes.. no matter what the culture, folk dancing is stupid." -MST3K
I'm just waiting until somebody arrests somebody from M$ under the DMCA.
The law is a nice lad donkey with a ribbon around her eyes. While its okay when she's just holding some scales, (who knows what she's weighing?) I KNOW I wouldn't let my kids swing a double edged sword around blindfolded.
Somebody will get miffed and being reverse-engineered and take M$ to court. Then the DMCA will be quickly made un-enforcable.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
greets- Any one who favors dmitry/kevin/2600/other crap is a socialistic pile of trash. Hurray for capitalism and critical thinking. Do yourself a favor and pick up a book called Atlas Shrugged. Also, stop supporting causes for your own loss of emotions. Start thinking for yourself and stop riding the crowd--hrm...this sounds like a familiar argument.
I'm not sure how hard it is to get the actual code these days, but I thought this might be a good opportunity to spread it a little. I'll put a tarball up on my machine for a couple of hours. Don't wanna get sued ;-).
Hello, my name is Robert Lerner, and I pronounce Lernux as "99% cpu"
It looks like all those cyberpunkers were right: the fight of the 21st cen. is between the big evil corporations and the hackers.
And I mean `hackers' in the Steven Levy sense, ie programmers building free software, not those lame script kiddies and their worms.
RMS is correct: it's about *freedom*.
Of course, thanks to _Shadowrun_, _Netrunner_ and numerous other simulations we are *honed*.
I just bought a new Linux PC as my main desktop machine. Nice box: and it even has a DVD drive. Finally, I can watch the DVDs I bought (and paid for) in my office.
Not. I found a DVD player alright (xine), but all it will play is one DVD, that is not encrypted (ghost in the shell). I have watched it twice already.
Now I'd really like to watch the others that I bought. But the suits say I cannot. Worse, the American suits - I am neither American, nor living in the USA. And yet, I cannot find a downloadable player anywhere that works.
Another issue: my DVDs are also a mixture of regions 1, 2 and 3! I know the suits will say that this is bad of me, but I live in Canada and work in Hong Kong and London (UK). So naturally I do not restict my buying behaviour to the time that I am home.
It's not FUD. Sowing FUD is "creating unreasonable fear of what might happen". This is annoyance at what HAS happened..
Michael
---
BDOS ERR ON A:>
In Argentina the copyright law doesn't even allow making copies for personal use of anything.
You cannot make a tape from a CD you bought so you can listen to it in the car.
The industry doesn't care about that kind of copies, but they are illegal.
Just FYI.
> Upon reading of the 100+ page license for CSS
.pdf files available with procedures, but not the
You read a copy? Is the following author's allegation true?
> The CSS License
> Is only available under NDA, or so it seems. The DVD CCA website makes a few
> license itself. There are a number of references to NDAs on the DVD FLLC website (FLLC is the Format Logo Licensing
> Corporation, which apparently licenses the DVD logo you see on every player and DVD disc).
> In a presentation, John Hoy, president of DVD CCA, mentions that the CSS license consists of "218 carefully crafted pages",
> and until someone violates the NDA and leaks the actual document (both Lemuria.org and Cryptome would surely be
> happy to publish it) . . .
It's hard to obey the rules when there are barriers to learn what they are.
Geoff
I think I see a trend here. Maybe for them it really would be easier to muzzle the entire internet than to produce p
OK, we have DeCSS... do we have code that actually ENCRYPTS stuff with CSS? What if people widely started encrypting their own works with CSS, (not as secure encryption, just as slightly-better-than-ROT13) then there would be an obvious reason to have it.
Could decrypting your own work actually be illegal?
sig fault
We can have the internet or we can have digital intellectual property-- but not both. Though many of us are middle-of-the-road in our opinions, the nature of the technology makes the issue fundamentally bipolar: there is no middle ground.
If citizens are allowed to automatically send and receive encrypted messages over the internet, then there is no way to enforce digital intellectual property laws. Unless we start executing copyright infringers, the 0.0001% enforcement that might be possible against a Freenet-type system isn't going to alter behavior. Digital IP is dead.
On the other hand, if citizens are not allowed to automatically send and receive encrypted messages over the internet, then the internet is dead. Yes, you can still dump your money into corporate web sites and post your baby pictures. But many potential applications are ruled out. And, more importantly, the internet is destroyed as a free speech medium: no longer can one use it to routinely circulate documents against the wishes of the usual elites.
Digital people are typically too prone to see issues in black and white. In this case, however, the issue really is black or white: we can have the internet, or we can have digital IP. Probably a lot of us wish that the choice weren't so stark, but it is.
Use VHS.
It's a law written by corporate suits and bought congressmen, not techies. Therefore it supports the interests of the corporations.
The kicker? RIAA and MPAA are constantly saying "were protecting the artists" - which is funny because with DVD, most of the people who worked on the film (Screen Actors Guild [SAG], Writers Guild of America [WGA] and the Directors Guild of America [DGA]) were fighting with the producers (represented by Jack Valenti and the MPAA) because they weren't getting residuals on DVD or Internet. Aka, the only people making money were the producers. Who have too much already. And trying to sway public opinion by saying "we're working for the artists". Same thing with the Napster suit.
The problem is this:
Who controls the copyright?
If it's an artist directly controlling it, then he/she has the right to license and/or give it away for free. With music, if you walk into a bar and hear "Hit me baby one more time" that bar is paying royalties to ASCAP/BMI/SESAC to play that song. Same with radio. If they don't and an ASCAP laywer hears it? Slapped with a hefty fine.
This doesn't happen on the internet because of it's transient and anonymous nature. I am all for protecting artist rights, but it needs to benefit the artist. Not some jacka$$ in a board room in new york who pays the artist 5 cents per record sold or the producers that make money while the crew doesn't (my sister's workin for her DGA membership, so I hear about this crud *daily*.)
Down with the man. yeah.
// john athayde
# x@boboroshi.com
# http://www.boboroshi.com/
Does anyone have a list of which senators and representatives voted for the DMCA? I tried the LOC, but all I got was when it was passed, not the voting records.
I have it documented here. It is my first and only 'cease & decist' letter. I can't say that what I did wasn't wrong, but it sucks that my DSL had to go away for a while...
When will they bow down gracefully and let me watch the DVD I purchased regardless of my location.
Upon reading of the 100+ page license for CSS, I had a thought- DMCA isn't protecting the encryption; it's protecting the license for CSS. Wrap a weak encryption around a product, and only allow legal decryption if you agree to an onerous license. It doesn't matter how weak the encryption is, that's not the point. The point is to force agreement to the terms of the license. This seems to have legal ramifications, since if the purpose of the encryption is not to encrypt, but to activate the DMCA and thereby force the licensing terms, then it's not really encryption; it's a licensing ploy. So perchance then it doesn't fall under DMCA anymore, since the intention of the scheme isn't really encryption but licensing?
Curtains for windows?
Since we have the DMCA and the Berne convention does this mean that the author of the Code Red virii can now report symantec, microsoft, etc for a DMCA violation of their software?
So it looks like out chief criminal in charge out of all this stuff is "John Hoy". This is important. One of the things that a criminal mind hates is exposure, especially of their crimes.
Sounds like a job for some someone out there skilled in investigation. It _is_ important. As it is noted:
Judging from the history of these organisations, and the extreme care everyone has shown to make the various arrangements as complex and bullet-proof as possible, the main reason is almost surely an attempt at exploiting the law and legal system to the fullest extent, and the avoidance of cartel and anti-trust investigations.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Your coworker just fears that his beliefs may be threatened. That is why he reacted so strongly. It has absolutely nothing to do with age and everything to do with a persons state of mind.
Gross Universal Cash Heist
High end video stores even sell multistandard units in the US. Who sells region free DVD players IN THE US?
While at work, I took it upon myself to educate some fellow employees about what's going on in the DeCSS / Dmitry case, etc. While talking to someone who I thought was one of the most intelligent people I worked with, I explained the case, and he thought 2600, Dmitry were wrong. I proceeded to use the example: "If I broke Windows 2000 Password Encription, and I told the world about it, should I go to jail", his answer was 'yes'. I told him that I was protected under freespeech. At that point he told me that the conversation was over. He turned to another worked and said '..to be young again'. For the record, he's 33, and I'm 19. My basic concern is: how old are the people who are fighting this now, and will they still feel the same at age 33? Later he told me that he used to feel the same way, however that's not how the world works.
"On FUD Today[1] 12 AUG 2001, we present a completely one sided view of why no one should have the right to protect their own property while trying to earn a living from it."
Middlemen and cartel behaviour aside, this kind of attitude embarrasses the FSF and the like. No wonder businesses are afraid of the GPL and no wonder Microsoft is happily capitalizing on that fear.
[1] What Slashdot should be called.
Use Evolution instead of Outlook? Bewa
Mod, parent up!
Never argue with an idiot, he'll just lower you to his level and beat you with experience.
One line of questions I'd like to see MPAA answer would be:
1) Do they believe in the fair use rights for consumers?
2) Do they believe in the right for anyone to reverse engineer any technology.
If yes, that would imply that any user or group of users would be allowed to playback any DVD's in any ways they (the consumer) see fit?
How would MPAA suggest a consumer to exercise their rights to create a tool to playback a DVD without infringing on the DMCA?
And how would said tool not end up being a tool for copying as well?
Second: Did this piece of legislation get any media attention before we figured out what a crock it is? My guess is that no one figured that it was that big a deal, and very little attention was placed on the wording. Very few pieces of legislature are closely scrutinized. You might be surprised how much is passed with this little effort.
Yes, you realise some stuff along the way. Maybe my opinions are even better considered now than they were 20 years ago. But that does not mean they have changed.
Michael
---
BDOS ERR ON A:>
Are you suggesting we blow up the MPAA HQ?
(Actually, not a bad idea. Just be sure to do it at night, when there are no people in the building)
(Posted anonymously because I'm seriously considering it now...)
Offtopic? How is that? Its obvious that Michael is trolling. Slashdot does not provide a forum allowing members to discuss issues of obvious editor incompetence. If they have please direct me to the appropriate section.
Otherwise can it. With a name like Trollificus you have LITTLE room to talk.
Gam
"Flame at Will"
I love idealists not because I am one, but because they make life bearable for pragmatists such as myself.
It's just amazing what people will say to try to justify that they are stealing other peoples hard work.
We all have the right to free speech. These people are bastardize that right to commit crimes, I really can't feel sorry for them.
In the Beginning and The Gathering are slated to be released in December. Presumably they'll sell well and Warner will start releasing the series. The main problem I forsee is the first season sucked so it will have lower sales than the later seasons, hopefully Warner won't have a problem with this...
So, if the DMCA had been in place 20 years ago and IBM had decided to encrypt their BIOS, how would the world look today?
Publish something either as a staff member or a student of a major university and you've got lot less to be afraid of than if you do it all alone.
1.The MPAA and movie industry. They wanted to get all of the good things of DVD (such as interactivity) but needed a way to stop piracy. So they made CSS to stop it. They knew that someone would probobly crack CSS eventually so they lobbied congress to make it illegal to do so. 2.The RIAA and recording industry. They are loosing (or so they claim) millions of dollars to pirates. So they want to create schemes that will prevent digital duplication of their CDs. They realized that, since their methods allow CDs to be played on CD players but not read out via CD-ROM drives using data (which is how CD rippers work) that someone would probobly write a program that "emulates" the error correction. They lobbied for the DMCA so that they could have legal back-up behind them to stop such programs. 3.The TV industry. They were already loosing advertising/subscription money because of people hooking their TVs to their TV in cards in their PCs, ripping the signal to video files and distributing it. They were also loosing money because of illegal cable descramblers that allow you to watch cable for free. So they wanted a law that allows them to protect their new digital transmissions and make them harder to digitally duplicate and then sue anyone who finds a way around it. They also wanted the DMCA so that they can sue anyone that breaks the encryption/protection on the cable signals. and 4.The software industry. The Software industry is loosing lots of money from software piracy, even when they introduce copy protection it gets cracked. So they need a law that allows them to sue the distributers ofthe anti-copy protection devices which they hate so much (including software cracks, unprotectors for cd based copyprotection such as cdilla safedisk, mod chips that allow burnt disks to be played on games consoles and cartridge copiers for cartridge based consoles). Enter the DMCA. I totally aggree with those that say that the anti-circumvention provisions in the DMCA are bad but when the enemy has the 4 largest entertainment industries on their side it makes the fight a lit harder to win. Thank god I live in australia where the DMCA cant touch me.
Latest info. on Dmitry: http://sjrally.n3.net