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Alan Cox Attacks the European DMCA

Posted by chrisd on from the alan-cox-is-xoc-nala-spelled-backwards dept.

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.

26 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. An European DMCA, the last thing we need... by danro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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."
  2. Restrictions Create Pressure by 4of12 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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."
    1. Re:Restrictions Create Pressure by Bouncings · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That said, would not overly restrictive legislation like this provide strong incentive for consumers to adopt freely available formats that are not encumbered?

      No. The goal here is to attack freely available formats and formats that don't restrict user access. Do you think the RIAA would like to ban mp3? This is just one step closer. With this kind of legislation, before long, there will be no free formats, as they are tools only a "pirate" would have reason to use over the proprietary tools.

      I can see it now. RIAA whore: "With the RIAA's secure file format, the only reason you could want to use a format like mp3 is to steal. Banning mp3 is just common sense."

      There is no positive side of laws such as this.

      --
      -- Ken Kinder ken@_nospam_kenkinder.com http://kenkinder.com/
  3. EFF Membership by Fig,+formerly+A.C. · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.
    1. Re:EFF Membership by asv108 · · Score: 5, Insightful
      but it seems to me they would have more political clout if their total membership tally were much larger

      If this were true most political organizations would offer a free membership but there are probably two reasons why they don't:

      • Money Talks..
      • Less people would pay because they could get the same "inner reward" by joining for free.
      If a political foundation had to choose between a million free members, or a million dollars, they would probably choose the latter because the fact is money will bring you more influence. The free membership option would cannibalize their lower value donations which the EFF depends on. For example, the NRA counts on having gun-toting hicks send in their $25/year do you think the hicks would still pay if they could say they are an NRA member and not pay a dime?

      There is nobody, I mean NOBODY here who can't spare $25 bucks for the EFF. I'm sick of hearing sob stories on here about poor students who can't spare a dime yet they probably spend 20 hours a week trolling slashdot. Go work at McDonald's for a day, quit, and then send your paycheck to the EFF.

  4. Actual Text of the Copyright Directive by Lothar+0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.
  5. Equivalents... by Rary · · Score: 3, Interesting
    If you haven't joined the EFF (or the equivalent in your country) , now might be a good time.

    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

    1. Re:Equivalents... by a_n_d_e_r_s · · Score: 3, Informative

      Here are some organisations to join:

      EF Sweden www.efs.se

      EF Norway www.efn.no

      EF Finland www.effi.org

      --
      Just saying it like it are.
  6. Re:uk eff? by thebowery · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk and
    http://uk.eurorights.org/ are good places to get started

    --
    "It's better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done" - Orbital
  7. So, should we force Europeans to say they are not? by budGibson · · Score: 3, Informative

    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?

  8. Cox downplayed the risk to Free Software by Telex4 · · Score: 5, Informative
    I attended the mini-conference, and The Register is actually a little off in suggesting that he talked about the threats of the EUCD to Free Software development. His central concerns, shared by Martin Keegan, the director of the Campaign for Digital Rights (http://uk.eurorights.org for those in the UK who want an EFF), were that the EUCD could create a new dark age, where digital rights management could see large amounts of information simply disappearing when the format becomes too old, and that minorities such as disabled people would suffer the most because it would not be profitable for companies to produce software to decode the DRM into a format suitable for them.

    I wrote an article summarising the issues discussed at the talk if anyone's interested here.

  9. News for nerds. And that's the problem. by Schlemphfer · · Score: 3, Insightful
    From the article:

    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?
  10. Article is WRONG on DMCA exemption for blind by Seth+Finkelstein · · Score: 5, Informative
    The article says:

    The DMCA grants limited permission to circumvent copyright protection in order to make braille copies of eBooks for use by the blind, for example, but the EUCD makes such exceptions optional for member states, so they need not be implemented.
    This is WRONG. There is no such permission in the DMCA. The writer has apparently confused it with a copyright limitation:
    Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement of copyright for an authorized entity to reproduce or to distribute copies or phonorecords of a previously published, nondramatic literary work if such copies or phonorecords are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities.
    Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. I do, how ever, know the DMCA very well, since I've been worried for many years about being sued under the DMCA for my anticensorware work

    Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

    1. Re:Article is WRONG on DMCA exemption for blind by Seth+Finkelstein · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Further on this point, the example of eBooks for use by the blind has been argued specifically as an instance of what's wrong with the DMCA. From EFC/EFF Comments on Canadian "DMCA" (CPDCI) (Sep. 15, 2001):

      Perhaps the most troubling application of the DMCA is the recent criminal prosecution of Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov. Sklyarov's employer, a Russian software company known as Elcomsoft, produced and distributed software that can be used to convert digital books from Adobe's eBook format into Adobe's PDF format. In the course of the format conversion, the use restrictions imposed by the eBook format are stripped away. It is undisputed that the Elcomsoft software can be used to facilitate noninfringing uses of eBooks (e.g., fair use excerpting, or to facilitate automated translation into Braille for blind readers). Sklyarov himself was never accused of infringing a copyright, or assisting in the infringing activities of any third party. Nevertheless, for his part in developing the software, U.S. officials arrested him and held him in custody for 3 weeks.[17] He and Elcomsoft were recently indicted by a grand jury in San Jose, California. Based on the indictment, Sklyarov faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and a fine that could exceed $2 million.
      Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. I do, however, know the DMCA very well, since I've been worried for many years about being sued under the DMCA for my anticensorware work (I should further note that I have talked much more with EFF these days about my particular legal problems, but I shouldn't talk about that here. Do Join EFF!)

      Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

  11. The UK Campaign for Digital Rights by An+Audience+of+One · · Score: 5, Informative
    The conference that Alan Cox spoke at yesterday was organised by the Campaign for Digital Rights - we are trying to do something about this, and other similar laws. Anyone in the UK, or Europe in general, who wants to help fight this, should consider at least signing up to our mailing list.

    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!

  12. Bad example by danro · · Score: 3, Informative

    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."
  13. For Germans by j7953 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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)
  14. Where are the organisations? by mvdwege · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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'?
  15. Fair use by bbn · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  16. Re:So, should we force Europeans to say they are n by prizog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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
  17. What is the "European DCMA"? by dann0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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 (?)
  18. Re:MODERATORS: A PLEA by Permission+Denied · · Score: 3, Funny
    Dude...what the hell are you doing?

    20:01 Tuesday 30 April 2002
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    You have done absolutely nothing but post to Slashdot all day. This is a Tuesday for Christ's sake. Slashdot karma should be the least of your worries. Get a job, go to class, do some homework or read a book - you went to Columbia, you won't find sufficient intellectual stimulation reading slashdot all day. Seriously, turn off the computer. If there's something wrong, you're not going to find any answers on slashdot.

  19. Re:is it as restrictive as SSSCA? by joss · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What the hell is the point of trying to classify policies as left or right ?

    There are a million issues, even if they were all simple binary choices, there are 2^N different opinions a person could have. Sure, there are certain correlations between issues. If you believe in death penalty, you are more likely to believe in corporal punishment, but are not certain to.

    Since you only get to choose between two options at election time, it suits people to pretend that everything is either "left" or "right". Then they get confused about whether a policy is left or right. It's an extraordinary mass psychosis.

    --
    http://rareformnewmedia.com/
  20. An expert opinion by Pascal+of+S · · Score: 3, Informative
    According to this publication: Why the Copyright Directive is Unimportant, and Possibly Invalid, dated 2000-something, the directive is not a clear (surpise, surprise) directive *at all*. It basically fails to do what they intended it to do: harmonize copyright law (which is basically a good thing).

    I like the final statement he makes:

    The European Court's decision raises the intriguing prospect of one or more disgruntled Member States challenging the validity of the Copyright Directive. Wouldn't that be the perfect way of getting rid of this monstrosity? I hereby offer my services to any Member State pro bono.
    I would love to take him up on that, except I'm not a member state, just a citizen.
  21. Audio from Talk by thick_sliced · · Score: 3, Informative
    You can listen to the audio of the talk:

    http://www.odl.qmul.ac.uk/eucd/

  22. Re:UK residents, contact your MP by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 4, Informative
    UK residents can contact their MP by first looking them up and then emailing them

    No, don't do this! Why? Simple, it doesn't work. MPs, as a general rule of thumb, are very busy and therefore pay more attention to messages from their electorate when more effort has been put in. An email, in the mind of an MP, requires zero effort. And they are right. A fax requires a bit more. A letter is the gold standard. Preferably hand written (as long as your writing is neat). Don't simply bash out a 5 minute email, write your MP a letter! It'll have more effect.

    Fax is tempting, but last time I sent a fax to my MP I never got a reply :( This time, I'll write on paper with my hands. They'll pay more attention, and let's face it, the extra effort is worthwhile.