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Alan Cox Attacks the European DMCA
forged writes "The Register already reported Alan Cox's involvement against the proposed European Union Copyright Directive before. Today, Alan Cox has issued a wake up call to the Linux community amid concerns that the pending EUCD could stymie open source development.
"The directive, which was approved last year, extends European copyright legislation so that it is even more restrictive than America's controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)."" If you haven't joined the EFF (or the equivalent in your country) , now might be a good time.
is there a UK wing or something similar I can give my support to?
dave
How is this news? About every person and slashdotter I know hates any form of the DMCA anywhere.
I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
the DMCA isn't about freedom. If I'm going to attack someone for a word, my word is POONTANG.
from the alan-cox-is-xoc-nala-spelled-backwards dept.
shouldnt that be:
from the xoc-nala-is-alan-cox-spelled-backwards dept.
???
At least OURS isn't as BAD as YOURS!
Well if this passes in Europe I wonder where Alan Cox will move too. South America. Pretty soon he might have to consider the moon...
:)
The Anti-Blog
can we consider this as bad as that law? Analysists have said that Europe is headed towards a left wing bend, but yet those amongst the right wing are rising, (ie: france). This law would be something the left would devise, but yet some Europeans are feeling reactionary now, so would this law even come to pass?
If ordinary Europeans don't, then its up to us then
Slashdot Hypocrisy at work?
Maybe I should put my money where my mouth is and join the EEF Europe or some similar organisation.
The EU is trying to take away a very good reason to live in Europe...
And after seeing what the DMCA has done to the US...
Time to get on the barricades I guess.
"First lesson," Jon said. "Stick them with the pointy end."
Umm, like, where is this Europe people keep talking about? Is that like near Canada or something?
For the record I'm totally against the DMCA and this similar abomination in the EU.
That said, would not overly restrictive legislation like this provide strong incentive for consumers to adopt freely available formats that are not encumbered?
If all the big-name commercially-produced for-pay video and audio comes locked up with so many chains, and I can produce my own audio and video in an open format that gets distributed for free without restriction, won't people naturally want viewers for the free formats and content creators for the free formats (a la home movies, etc?)
I mean, a free open standard has worked pretty well for HTML.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
I was suprised that they require a donation to become a member. I realize they need the money, but it seems to me they would have more political clout if their total membership tally were much larger - and making donations optional would certainly accomplish this. People who will give money would do it anyway, people who are too broke to pledge monetary support might still like to be counted as against draconian measures like the DMCA...
Murphy was an optimist.
everttime something like this happens, everyone calls for us to petition our leaders - however it really bothers me that they never consider the promoting the most obvious alternative - civil disobedience (of copyrights). It is easy to do, hard to get caught, and sends a message loud and clear that people are not going to take it anymore
You can't get it off the Google list, but you can get it from their cache of the copyright directive.
"Anonymous Coward" is for whistleblowers, not unpopular opinions.
Okay, so anybody care to list some equivalents? I think Electronic Frontier Canada is about the closest we have up here in the frosty north. There's also Electronic Frontiers Australia, and the Global Internet Liberty Coalition. Anyone know any others?
- This sig for sale or rent...cheap
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
...Should Alan Cox start a fight in all countries, or should he just deal with Linux and let the fights go on with diplomats and politicians?
Besides, how much power does he have outside the internet? Leave the fights to the popular, not the techies.
Go up to a non-techie type and ask them about "Alan Cox" (they'll probably giggle for reasons you'll find at score:-1).
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Well, after the highly offensive campaign to force Americans to say they were not Americans before they could see the kernel changelog for security issues, should we turn about and do the same to Europeans?
I canceled my EFF membership. I want a group that supports the core liberties of the internet, ones that everyone can rally around. The EFF has become the shrill plaything of a few. Supporting spam, calling anti-spam lists a form of censorship. I've been a long time ACLU member, but the right to spam me on my own nickle does NOT count as free speech.
Take a look at the articles Timothy has posted here on slashdot. Plenty of them are far far out accusations of censorship, and often factually incorrect. "Censorship" in timothy's world often turns out to be simply a private business refusing to serve a customer rather than the goverment supressing the ability to say something. I have the right to prevent porn, hate speech etc on MY servers, just as they have a right to say whatever they want to me when I walk by them on the street.
We need to fight the DMCA, holling's bill etc. We need a powerful and effective force then can build a BROAD BASED coalition of people, not just rabid idealoges.
I wrote an article summarising the issues discussed at the talk if anyone's interested here.
that we stop worrying about what is legal and just worry about doing what is right.
If you haven't joined the EFF (or the equivalent in your country), now might be a good time.
It's definitely a good idea to join the EFF, and to be active against this kind of thing. But an even more effective action is to let mainstream folks know about this problem. The DMCA and whatnot is as grave a concern for clueless newbies as it is for hardcore geeks.
The best way to make your voice heard on this matter is to find a way to get the general population knowledgeable about what's going on. As long as this is seen as mainly an activism issue for nerds, we're in trouble.
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
You sir, are one of the least clever trolls ever.
This law would be something the left would devise
How is catering to corporate interests at the expense of the citizens a left-wing trait?
*** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)
Well if this passes I have ONE single POSITIVE thing that will come from it.
All the EuroSlashdotters will have to shut the hell up about there being NO freedom in the USA, "Just look at the DMCA"
The difference I might add that in some European countries it will be Illegal to speak out against it to ANY extent they want ( Not talking about violent action, talking like that COULD get you in trouble even in the US). Here we can bitch and moan to our hearts content, and actually DO something about it. There, once its law forget it.......
The DMCA isnt really that bad in itself, I am serious, the problems are simple and 2 fold, 1 its open to interpratation by people (judges) that dont have a clue about IP or technology issues. 2 The way it is being used as a tool of greed. Not one of the damm DMCA letters I've seen would hold a grain of salt. But people are afraid, its not the law its the way its being weilded.
Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
This democracy thing isn't working... If people were intelligent and understood computers they would not support this... but because people purchase all this crap from corporatations, it is assumed that this is what they (the majority)want, so corporations lobby for it, but little does the comsumer realize that the stuff they are buying is supporting the demise of the freedom that has brought everything they use and buy.
What would Brian Boitano do?
From the article:
If it goes through unmodified, the EUCD would make it a criminal offence to break or attempt to break the copy protection or Digital Rights Management systems on digital content such as music, software or eBooks. As it stands, the EUCD may lead to a rerun of Dmitri Sklyarov's prosecution, prevent teachers copying materials for their students or other legitimate uses of copyright material, opponents believe.
...
Since it is illegal to circumvent copyright protection, developers would be forced to sign licenses with the creators of a format in order to develop playback tools. This means that a creator could control the market, Cox warned, creating antitrust concerns.
It never ceases to amaze me how companies who claim to be technology companies, or corporations who adopt technological representations of their media cry when all of a sudden they have to deal with a new set of rules that comes with the new medium. If you're unprepared to deal with the ramifications of the technology, then don't invent/publish/distribute using it. Period. End of story.
If you're concerned about copy protection, invent something that works. If you don't have the resources to do that, then investigate new paradigms of reimbursement. The fact that corporations are lobbying for regulation this strict is a clear admission of failure on their part to be smart enough to add value to a huge demand already presented by end consumers.
Thank God for the almighty dollar!
In the end, I hope OpenSource technologies and licenses will be continue to be developed, published and used by individuals. If it is prohibitive to use a particular proprietary file format, then we as consumers should demand that it shouldn't be used, and alternatives be made available instead.
moto411.com
Oops...I meant to say "From the summary:" not "From the article:"
To quote Cher (and with luck, to never quote her again), "If I could turn back time..."
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
http://uk.eurorights.org/
We have about 6 months before the EUCD becomes law in this country to try and mitigate it as miuch as possible, and try and stop all the massive loopholes that the media industry is going to exploit in it. Any help we can get is alway appreciated!
OK Chris, the bill is the European Union Copyright Directive. You got that right. It can be (and has been) abbreviated as the EUCD. Do you HAVE to dumb-down the article and call it the European DMCA? /. readers can understand that. Why can't you?
It's not the European DMCA, it's the EUCD. It's a different bill with similar aims. I'm sure the
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
Isn't that an offshoot of Logged-in Anonymous Bunch of Internet Abusers (LABIA)?
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Remember that the next time someone looks down their nose at you for being an American. *eye roll*
-----------------------
You are what you think.
Cry you babies and then keep on surfing. I think that most of the idiots (see any post above or below) put down a basic "This is wrong" argument and then keep clicking to forget. It makes me tired. Maybe just tired of all the bullshit that keeps happening because so few actually do anything and so many just pander to the crowd. So cry you bitch, but I know they aren't real tears and I won't count on you for help.
Sir Humped-a-lot
For some reason when I read the title it made me think of one of those cheesy Fox Specials.
I find it very interesting that when all of the DMCA stuff went down in the US, most kernel hackers and other non-US people said, "Ah, stupid Americans. Oh well, we'll keep working outside the US." Alan Cox even went as far as censoring the Changelogs as I'm sure everyone remembers.
Now, a similar law is popping up elsewhere, and everyone is up in arms. Why is it that the European version of the DMCA is going to stymie open-source development but not the US version?
It is precisely because the matter was left to the diplomats, policitians, and the large corporate interests that fund political campaings that this directive was passed in the first place!
Besides, how much power does he have outside the internet? Leave the fights to the popular, not the techies.
Who did you have in mind to lead the charge? How many people who are "popular" are also sufficiently well informed about the issues and able to speak coherently and intelligently about the issues. Surely the people who attract the public eye have already been co-opted, or at least see this legislation in their own best interests too. For example, I do not imagine that Brittney Spears would ever argue against these sorts of laws. I doubt that she understands the implications - and even if she did, it is in her record company's best interests to make sure that everyone who wants to listen to her music pays for it, and her best interest because a portion of those royalties go to her
Sure, the average person on the street does not know who Alan Cox is, but amongst those who are technologically aware, he is known and his opinion carries some weight.
Who do you think would be a better candidate?
*** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
Alan Cox fights war
Against Uber-copyright
No chance to survive
Where in the world is Carm^H^H^H^HAlan Cox? doop di doop be bop
The trap has been set. The stage has been prepared. The audience waits its final few. Let the endgame begin
Not that I think the U.S. shouldn't be bashed, and in fact, I agree with lots of the international criticism of U.S. policies. But the fact of the matter is that this sort of insidiousness happens everywhere, so next time some harebrained senator tries to slide through a despicable law in America, don't just snicker and shake your heads at the stupid Americans. Start looking around for the traitors in your own government who would sell you out to the highest bidder. I guarantee you'll find one or two if you look.
I'd like to help fight this EUCD, but I'm too busy keeping my own government out of my private life. Good luck, Europe. Hope you're more successful fighting this than we Americans were with the DMCA.
I mean, a free open standard has worked pretty well for HTML.
Yes it has... but I worked as a <shame>webdesigner</shame> for a (short) while at the end of the browser wars.
And let me tall you.
For the longest time html was a mess! They (the w3c) even canned the 3.0 version and went to 3.2 because things were so confused. And 4.0 and CSS took years before most browsers implemented it in a reasonable way.
You can still run into issues created by Netscape and Microsoft in the browser wars if you don't watch out...
But you're right about things turning out ok in the end.
Html is good, css is ok, the browsers conform better to the DOM every day, and xhtml is a true blessing!
But it sure was a rough ride!
"First lesson," Jon said. "Stick them with the pointy end."
Sooner or later they will argue that they are fighting the Cybercrime for whatever reason they dislike, supported by big software companies (ie. Microshit) with incredible amounts of money and of course backup from the government.
This'll leave an 'open door' to *easy* corruption cases (they can buy almost anything, included the air. Microsoft can also sell it, just make the proposal to Mr. Gates, probably he'll like the idea).
This is the way that governments and companies are outlining world's OS future, they will intimidate everyone everywhere that has an open source mind.
This is not a paranoid case, just give them some time, and I'll prove it. This future sucks, companies (like MS) & governments should be stopped.
jc.
The difference I might add that in some European countries it will be Illegal to speak out against it to ANY extent they want ( Not talking about violent action, talking like that COULD get you in trouble even in the US). Here we can bitch and moan to our hearts content, and actually DO something about it. There, once its law forget it.......
Some European countries? I don't suppose that you could provide us with some details to back that claim up, could you?
*** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
A: They use the internet!
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Well, well, well....old Coxy ran off to the UK because he was afraid of the big bad DMCA. So where can he run to now to bad mouth the USA? I suggest China or North Korea, maybe one of those 3rd world countries that have no knowledge of Microsoft (or phone lines).
...is on their web form, when you're filling out the membership information, they don't have a radio-box selection for Mr/Miss/Mrs/Dr/etc. They just have a text field called "Saluation" and you can fill in whatever title you want.
So I plan to give them my preferred job title of Programmer-at-Arms. If I convince my girlfriend and fellow geek to join, I hope she'll choose something like Dangerous Felon[*] or Dictator For Life.
[*] Some friends and coworkers went to one of those job fairs where you can fill out "send me free magazines which are vaguely tech-related" cards, which also have fill-in-the-blank Title lines. One of them convinced his supervisor to use Dangerous Felon in the field, and apparently the guy still gets an occasional freebie magazine addressed to Dangerous Felon Joe Public (with Joe Public replaced by his real name).
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
There is an online petition, privatkopie.net, that you might want to consider signing. Of course, since online petitions aren't the most effective tool, you'll also want to think about sending a personal letter to your representative.
Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
Looks like his highness will have to drop the foolish holier than thou attitude now huh?
The problem as I see it is that laws are subjectively enforced.
Apparently I have been a criminal since I flew a kite in chicago at age 6. I see kids using motorized scooters below age 16 all the time. Etc Etc Etc.
If all laws were enforced equally, we the people would realize just how restictive all governments really are and perhaps do something about it. Instead people just ignore the laws they don't agree with, law enforcement included. Just as they did when they tried to outlaw alchol.
I remember reading sometime ago about the Canadian government working on something similar to the DMCA.
I was wondering if anyone had more information or could point me in the right direction to find some information.
Is the pain worth it, just to see defeat in the eyes of your enemy?
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.
Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
I am very much interested in fighting this legislation. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find an organisation in my home country that seems willing to lead the fight.
If necessary, I'm willing to put in the work to set something up, or help an existing organisation. If any slashdot reader in the Netherlands knows more or wants to help, just drop me an e-mail. Any readers who already have an organisation running in other countries are free to contact me for help and tips.
Mart (e-mail on my userpage)"I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
The directive is made up of two parts. The first part defines copyright in general, and the second part is the DMCA equalent.
The directive has a list of exceptions to copyright that each country can optional implement. One of those is the right to copy digital content for private purposes. The country I live in, Denmark, already allows this. It it is the equalent of fair use, except it is spelled clear out in the law.
The DMCA part is confusing. It is required that the copyright holder makes it possible to copy in the circumstates where those exceptions apply. So in Denmark, the copyright holder needs to make it possible for me to copy the content for private purposes??
Looks to me like the different interrest groups in EU could not agree on if they wanted freedom or the DMCA nightmare from USA. So they tried to do both, which will not work.
Unlike Linux; development continues strong with a STABLE release every 4 months.
And FreeBSD 5.0 is due out in 6 months. Oh, you're right, linux has
more users. And 95% of them can't program "hello world". What if I
told you that all the linux guru's are migrating to BSD because linux
has gained a rep as the newbies UNIX? Would that scare you? How about
if I told you about FreeBSD's release engineering team or the tight
organization of the project? Linux is a "throw your shit in the pile"
OS whereas FreeBSD has clearly defined project goals. Developing a
complex system requires organization and FreeBSD has that. And since
FreeBSD is Open Source, I don't see how it can die... You're just
jealous because KDE isn't installed by default and you can't do
anything without it. FreeBSD is growing and growing fast my friend!
-jkh
This petition is directed to the European Parliament. Its goal is to warn European Authorities against the dangers of software patents. This petition is supported by the EuroLinux Alliance together with European companies and non-profit associations. http://petition.eurolinux.org/index_html?LANG=en
you going to leave Europe if this passes? maybe you shoulnd't be such a smart ass about American politics.
bc
You were free to post the changelog yourself as an American citizen. But you would risk prosecution under the DMCA. So, where's your mirror?
Become a FSF associate member before the low #s are used
Actually, it was not fear of the DMCA, but no desire to go to the trouble of hosting a mirror. However, had I obtained the changelog through the publically available site, wouldn't I have had to have lied?
I Told you Dumb Mother-Fuckers!
And you stupid fucks already gave up your guns also! No hunting, no computing, no defending yourselves.. HAHAHAHAHA your all going to be a bunch of LAMBS now. Better practice saying, "BAAA, BAAAA"
No, another European could have reposted it.
Become a FSF associate member before the low #s are used
So, basically you have let me off the "moral" hook of having had to repost to prove my courage in the face of the DMCA. I am American, so you do not expect me to lie. Only a non-American (you are very Euro-centric in your response) could have taken the courageous role you propose.
(Posted anonymously for obvious reasons)
If you work for a company who relies/supports the DMCA and similar, which is better - resign and get rid of the personal issue, or try and work from within and persuade people of the faults?
This is a serious question I struggle daily with. In my position, I may have influence, but if I leave, I have none.
To paraphrase Daneel Olivaw in "caves of steel", is it better to turn Evil into Good, than to just focus on destroying evil?
- Anyone in the US who emails me gets a bounced reply saying their message won't be accepted without encryption.
- Anyone in Britain who emails me gets a bounced reply saying that British Citizens' e-signatures cannot be trusted.
- Anyone in China, Korea, or Taiwan just gets deleted, period.
Try it sometime, it'll cut-down on all the crap you get. Until you post the address to slashdot.
UK residents can contact their MP by first looking them up and then emailing them using this page. It uses a god awful web form but at least you can make your views known.
I've emailed my MP Paddy Tipping (What a name!)
As always, be polite but be firm!
You could have lied -- I don't think it would have been immoral. Or you could have waited until some European reposted it. Your choice. But I don't think you can say that Cox was trying to "force" Americans to lie. He was trying to cover his ass so he could travel to the US in the future w/o fear.
Become a FSF associate member before the low #s are used
Cox's wife is the poster child for why geek-girls are just not attractive compared with a REAL WOMAN.
Jail...wife....jail....stay home....fly to USA...
The EFF is a good organization and they do good things but, if you are in the US and want to join an organization that really has an impact on the legislature and has done more than the EFF and all other similar organizations combined, you should check out the US Internet Industry Association. This is the only organization that Congress really listens to.
--
If I actually could spell I'd have spelled it right in the first place.
The May-day riots are about to start here in London, After reading this story I feel like joining - well, you get free McDonalds (happy meal toys are subject to availability - i.e. who evers first behind the counter when the glass breaks:). Everyone says that you should just watch it on TV 'cos they get the best shots and do re-plays and commentary and stuff, but I think you just can't beat being there, with the atmosphere, smell of blood and cheap spray paint.
The best part about this new law is, that people who wouldn't normally waste their time cracking some protection system, will now devote _all_ their time just to make a point. Wow, i feel like smashing stuff "Down with the corporate pigs!!!!!!"
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Really most people who are _very_ one way or the other are simple minded. I've not met an intelligent person who was not left wing one one issue yet right wing on another. Both wings support some _really_ stupid idealogy if you look at all of their stances. To cite a point, if the left is so free thinking and open minded, did the California left recently try and ban all .50 caliber rifles? These had never been used in a crime, yet they were saying that this would help the public good. Doesn't sound like a free thinking group to me ;-)
:(
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Please stop insulting our intellegence by Americanising the issues that appear on Slashdot.
If I can understand what the European Union Copyright Directive is about, I'm sure that anyone can. It's not like the term is vague and incomprehensible.
When compared to the DCMA, the issues are similar, but the stakeholders and the implications to them are different.
I guess that it is only a matter of time before China's long standing censorship practices are simply referred to as the "Chinese DCMA".
"The big question in our lives is how to be at the same time a hedonist and in a hurry" - Alain Ducasse (?)
Well it looks like the MPAA and the government are succeeding in enslaving the masses doesn't it. Write your congressmen, write your president, prime minister, representative, premier, mayor, hell even your second cousin twice removed (whatever that means anyway) to get the DMCA repealed and region codes illegalized as the trade restriction they are! no more ads you can't fast forward through, no more FBI warnings in countries where the FBI has no jurisdiction anyway and no more inflated prices on the european market. Tell them off for making it illegal to watch encrypted DVDs on Linux too. Down with the DMCA!
This isn't just a response to the above post,
.
:)
:)
but the ones in this thread, and other ones like it...
You're caught up in saying "he's left" "he's right" "define left" "define right" "good" "evil", whatever...
don't get so carried away assigning labels that you miss the point of the act.
Whatever you decide to label Hollings as (assuming some concensus was reached),
it won't have any effect on what it is he's actually doing. If he calls himself a Democrat,
that doesn't mean his actions will by default be "left wing", same if he calls himself a republican.
Fact is, that's why bills like his have a chance. Government isn't a simple single-axis thing.
Just because something is or isn't left-wing doesn't mean it's ring wing, or center or whatever.
(I'd call attention to US History... the meanings of the labels Democrat and Republican has literally reversed meaning a number of times).
There can be, for instance, acts of total absorbed self-interest.
The SSSCA, whatever, benefits only a section of businesses.
Let me take two extremes. Call them what you will.
One side is pro-individual freedom over government.
They think the government should butt out where it isn't invited.
To these people, I say... the SSSCA DMCA, etc, should frighten you to your very soul...
this is the government beginning to say what you can read, think, do.
Then there's the other extreme, which thinks the government should be there
to help people, protect and support them from their own follies and from each other.
To them, I say... the SSSCA DMCA, etc, is an attempt to subvert the government so that the interests of the few (RIAA, etc)
are enforced upon everyone, to the deteriment of many and the benefit of few.
Who cares which side is which? Both viewpoints are in the end just methods of analysis,
points from which you are viewing a topic, not separate spectral ends of the range of responses
IMNSHO, (In my not so humble opinion) a good Representative Government isn't about the will of the majority or a minority.
Nor is it about their best interests. It's about the best interests of the WHOLE. The majority and the minority.
That is, all the people to whom the law is applied. (No Taxation w/o Representation and all)
From this viewpoint, a law is bad when it damages the whole of the people, no matter how few or how many it may protect or help.
The *CA, whatever copyright interests they may protect, serve to diminish the
creative drive of all the people, howsoever subtly or slowly:
Say I sat down, and had a thought. To me, it might be revolutionary.
Say it was some kind of algorithm. Maybe someelse has patented it,
so I can't commercially profit from it.
The intent of these laws is to deny me the freedom to even use this algorithm
ONLY ON MY OWN COMPUTER, ONLY FOR ME. An algorithm like, say, a non-drm OS
Just because we can only think of one thing to fix a problem, doesn't mean it should be done:
Cutting off the arm to cure gangrene used to be an acceptable idea.
Nowdays, we use antibiotics. At the time, it was acceptable: nothing at the time was likely to replace it within the (short) expected life-span of the patient.
But laws are different. They endure, (at least in the US) long past the time they have been forgotten,
long past the time that common sense has moved on, and found a better solution.
What we set into law now will linger on, and not be so easy to tear down.
It's force will remain, even when other options exist. And the nature of the *CA laws is such that they will themselves prevent
any such options from ever seeing the light of day, mutally exclusive memes, much as the ideas open-source- and drm- OSes.
Whew. Sorry bout the rant
-Slackergod
Why bother? Linux is dying out anyways. It's a crappy OS that ignores the last 30 years of OS technology.
American /.ers might finally stop hearing the snarky comments from the European /.ers about how enlightened their copyright rules are every time the DMCA is mentioned.
Our governments are all beholden to corporate greed, it's only a matter of degrees - not orders of magnitude.
It may be an alien concept to the modders, but I think the parent to this post was meant to be humourous, rather than a troll.
:)
I thought it was funny anyway
Hmm, maybe you should move to South America, Alan.
Push the button Max!!!!
And their helpers get roped in as 'accessories'
So we are saying all the digital media proimised in five or so years, willl not be available/ or prohibitly expensive RELATIVE to offerings available to the normal population.
And you need permission to try to read - off each and every publisher, and new technological frustrations will be added to blind / disabled folk, that may also be expensive.
Good one.
Th two links to "The Register" don't say much.
I've read the EUCD several times.
I realy see no point why that should be bad to you, to me or to open source software.
It would be nice if one could bring some arguments and foundate them with the articles of that EUCD in question.
I mean: that braille example for eBooks is rather lame isn't it?
Why should the EUCD prevent one to translate a work into braille script? I can not see an article in the EUCD preventing that.
Regards,
angel'o'sphere
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
You fucker! You didn't include the disclaimers about the acid and caffeine! I'm fucking disfigured for life now!
Considering the fact that a majority of these anti-patent punks are Euro-commies and total deadbeats, I feel obliged to vote *for* DMCA...
There should be a general strike of IT workers.
The producers of information technology are always being oppressed by the luddite consumers of information technology. The irony is that the luddites comfy little status quo fiefdoms largely depend on earlier technology advances. All of humanity is being held back by some crusty old politicians collecting big bucks from crusty old CEOs getting paid big bucks to run corporate behemoths into the ground while crushing individual expression. I think it is about time to stop getting Pimp'd by the luddites.
Go Here!
http://www.thelinuxshow.com/otc.htm
RMS wrote this in 1997.
I think it goes to show that no matter how hard headed and inflexible Mr. Stallman may sometime apear to be, the current events are starting to show that the reasons behind that have more to do with his far reaching sight and less with personal character.
Do we really have to wait for Moon colonies to regain the right to read? :-(
Gilad.
I like the final statement he makes:
I would love to take him up on that, except I'm not a member state, just a citizen.And I thought we were going to get out of these stupid laws in Europe.. and then they go and propose it.
The thing that frustrates the most, is that the people who try and introduce the bill obviously have no interest in the technologies that laws like this affect - so why on earth do they get involved? *cough* cash bribes *cough*.
B*stards.
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
After Alan Cox's FUD about the DMCA barring him from listing security fixes in changelogs (which would only be true if Linux had built-in copy protection mechanisms), he no longer has much credibility on this issue. So is he telling the truth about the scope and impact of this bill, or is it just more AC FUD?
http://www.odl.qmul.ac.uk/eucd/
I'm Dutch. I never could protest the DMCA because it was American, and I have no saying in what Americans do with their country, of course.
Now the DMCA comes to my country and it seems like there's no organized protest beyond Britain. Please point me to any organisation that bundles individual efforts of this matter and supports my country in that...
"We can confirm that Debian does *not* ship the version with the trojan horse. Our version predates it." [CA-2002-28]
Well, it's a nice thing that he calls on us to react, but he personally probably carries as much clout as all of us together. We can be conveniently ignored, painted by copyright lobbyists as fringe elements and pirates. Alan Cox himself is another matter. He's too famous, even outsiders will have heard of him. The kind of people who appear on the front of Time can't just be ignored...
xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
It's nice to discuss this subject on slashdot. It's very nice if you support the EFF... but there's something else you can do if you're from europe: your country has representatitves in the European Parliament. Let them know what you think! Their job is to represent you and they can only do this if they know what you think.
You can find the members of the European Parliament on http://wwwdb.europarl.eu.int/ep5/owa/p_meps.short_ list Just choose a country and press on search. Most of them don''t have an emailaddress so you have to search a bit with google to get it.
There are also some lists on the internet, for example
here but they are not always complete and up to date.
If you're from belgium: i've got an almost complete list on http://dries.ulyssis.org/eucd/belgium.html
Post 223.
No, there is no 224.
Bow down before my lost prasting skillz!