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BusinessWeek on Open Source and Copy Protection
prostoalex writes "An article starting with the words "Forget about Bill Gates, folks. The biggest enemy of free software may be Senator Ernest F. Hollings" historically had a little chance of being published in a recognized business publication. In this case, though, Business Week (no registration) runs a detailed but straightforward explanation of how the new copyright bills could threaten free software and open source movements."
Looks like Senator Hollings (Disney) triumphs in crushing free speech and criticism of his bill again!
Video Game cheats, hints a
there is software development and usage outside of the USA; the USA isn't the whole world. Free software won't just die out because corporatelisimo senators ban it in the USA. Besides, what geek is going to stop using Linux on his home boxen because of some dumb law?
It would seem very hard to take back something that is out and freely available. There will allways be a place where it is legal and a site to download it. Certainly an act of Congress isn't going to stop the worldwide development effort. It has kind of a parallel to the attempt to ban crypto outside of the US. It just won't work and basicly for the same reasons.
Open-source software could find itself locked out of a whole industry if the entertainment giants get their way on copyright protection
Forget about Bill Gates, folks. The biggest enemy of free software may be Senator Ernest F. Hollings. Legislation introduced in March, 2002, by the South Carolina Democrat to require that copyright-protection software be embedded in PCs, handheld computers, CD players -- and anything else that can play, record, or manipulate data -- could make open-source software such as the Linux operating system illegal.
Initially, the Hollings bill provoked a huge outcry mainly from consumer groups, plus makers of PCs and electronics gear (see BW Online, 3/27/02, "Guard Copyrights, Don't Jail Innovation"). Now that the measure's full implications have sunk in, the usually vocal open-source community is starting to react as well.
Linux guru and Hewlett-Packard consultant Bruce Perens says Hollings-style copyright protection schemes are "a high-level concern" for open-source advocates, a point he has made to Hollings' aides and to protechnology Representative Rick Boucher (D-Va.). Consumer-advocacy groups such as San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation also are defending the open-source concept in negotiations between electronics manufacturers and entertainment companies that could result in new standards that outlaw the use of open-source components in new digital TV sets and tuners.
KEY ISSUE. Here's the crux of the issue: Hollywood studios and record labels want to encrypt their products with an algorithm of some sort, for which every piece of hardware or software that plays or displays their material must have a corresponding electronic key. (If the algorithm or the key is missing, the content won't play -- thus thwarting pirates.) For added protection, the established entertainment companies want Congress to pass a law requiring technology companies to build the key into their products. Thus, no DVD players, PCs, CD players, or operating systems would be legal without Hollywood-designed copyright protection.
The problem is, in their zeal to dictate how hardware and software makers build their equipment, the movie and music moguls would mess with matters that are none of their business, critics say. Embedding copyright-protection mechanisms into new PCs and other digital devices would mean inserting pieces of software code that are hidden, or locked down, and couldn't be altered. That would amount to nothing less than an assault on the open-source religion, which advocates sharing, collaboration, and free access to code.
A crucial feature of the Linux operating system -- the basic software that controls a computer -- is that any part of it can be modified by its users, as long as they agree to make the modification available, for free, to the world at large. Locking down Linux could destroy this dynamic, on which plenty of corporate software developers now depend, and also bar open-source programmers from the $80 billion consumer-electronics market.
SCRAMBLED AND UNSCRAMBLED. The Hollings bill's vague language makes it difficult to predict specifically how any new legislation would affect open-source software. Even so, the fears of the movement's junkies reflect more than paranoia. Just look at the controversy surrounding the encryption that's already embedded in DVD players. Six years after DVD players were introduced, no legal, "pure" (free of proprietary components) Linux DVD player is on the market.
The reason: Each approved DVD manufacturer has to sign a licensing deal with the DVD Copy Control Assn. It requires that each player contain the Content Scrambling System (CSS), which prevents, say, a French citizen from watching a Hollywood movie before it has been released in France, as well as inhibiting unauthorized copying and distribution (see BW Online, 1/16/02, "The French Have a Word For It: Hacking").
Since the licensing goes against the most basic open-source ground rules, no company that used Linux signed the license. Thus, Linux users are unable to to watch DVDs on their computers. "Hollywood doesn't just make movies, it controls how consumers can watch the movie," complains Larry Rosen, a Silicon Valley attorney and executive director of the Open Source Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting open-source software. "They make it impossible for a movie to be legally viewable on Linux -- or on any machine they don't approve of. Does that hurt Linux? It hurts everyone."
CRACKED CODE. The DVD example also illustrates something else: that even the best copyright-protection plan isn't foolproof. In mid-1999, 16-year-old Norwegian hacker Jon Johansen started to distribute a software program called DeCSS. It unscrambled the CSS encryption so DVDs would run on Linux. Once that was accomplished, DVDs could also be copied to hard drives and shared with Internet users, à la Napster.
Since then, five or six Linux DVD players have come to market, all of which Hollywood claims are illegal because they don't contain the CSS. So far, U.S. courts have backed the studios, though several cases are still pending. There's only one "approved" Linux player, LinDVD, from a company called Intervideo. But it contains some proprietary code -- and has received lukewarm reviews from Linux users.
Despite the breaches in CSS, copyright owners continue pursuing the idea of embedded copyright protection as a key weapon in their fight against piracy. They're now trying to create standards that could restrict the use of open-source software in the delivery of digital TV. Members of what's known as the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (BPDG) confirm that closed-door talks between copyright owners and makers of consumer-electronics and PCs are focusing on securing veto power for Hollywood over technologies that could be used in future TV sets -- and open-source isn't on the O.K. list.
BAD CALLS. The BPDG's recommendation, which could be announced as early as May 17, outlines two possible approaches, according to the group's members. Either Hollywood studios will have to approve which technologies can be used to encode and decode digital broadcasts, or they'll be allowed to construct a list of criteria that technologies must meet to be considered for use. That list would then be used by an arbitrator to decide if a technology is secure enough to entrust using with digital content.
"No matter what, Hollywood has some control over the technologies manufacturers are allowed to support," says Seth Schoen, who is attending the BPDG meetings as an Electronic Frontier Foundation staffer. "And that limits consumer choice." A lawyer who works on behalf of the studios counters that Hollywood's position is right, adding: "It's their content that's at risk."
Granted, but Hollywood has proved uniquely unqualified to decide which technologies will benefit consumers -- even in its own industry.
THE VCR SCARE. In 1982, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, famously proclaimed that the videocassette recorder was as threatening to the movies as the Boston Strangler was to a woman walking alone. Twenty years later, video rentals account for 46% of studio revenues, vs. the 24% collected at the box office.
Open-source advocates say that's proof enough the market, not the entertainment industry, should decide which technologies prevail. But Hollywood's voice -- and dollars -- carry more weight on Capitol Hill than ideological arguments about the best way to develop good, cheap software. So, for now, open-source advocates face a tough battle just to make themselves heard.
You forgot to cite your source.
This one could change everything. Please, everyone, write (not email) your senator! It's easy to find out who your senator is if you don't know already. This one is too big to be hacked around. The political process is our only hope.
Once again...... ..... some people complain about corporations..... but it's always the govt that you have to be really afriad of.
Some people complain about Microsoft
--
Buggy outlook never threw anyone in jail!
but something you should know: Information on Senator Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina
A while back, the USA had a 'war' against communism. Today there apparently is one against software communism.
/me relaxes in Europe
Hollywood needs to learn that in order to survive it needs to change their business model so that it adapts to changes in technology, rather than change/control technology to suit aging business models. A perfect example of this is the following paragraph taken from the article in regards to VCRs.
THE VCR SCARE. In 1982, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, famously proclaimed that the videocassette recorder was as threatening to the movies as the Boston Strangler was to a woman walking alone. Twenty years later, video rentals account for 46% of studio revenues, vs. the 24% collected at the box office.
Sounds like history is repeating itself and the MPAA hasn't learnt anything from the past. The MPAA needs to stop being stubburn about changing their business model and start adopting new technologies rather than fighting them off. People like George Lucas have the right idea, as I hear he makes most of his profits off the merchandise.
aus.music.scrapbook
Sometime soon, CPUs may enforce a Copy Protection compliant OS to run on them.
It is possible - yes, it will be hackable, but forget about any opensource OS wide spread adoption when it happens.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html
Great, and because of all us Bill Gates bashers, we can't really turn to him and beg him to "perswade"(sp) anyone on Capitol Hill. All he'll do is look down at us from his office 70 floors up and close the shades. Of course there's a slim chance to none that he'll actually care about what they do to open source, it's jsut more money for him.
Anyone out there know any other VERY rich geeks that are willing to lend a couple billion bucks to the open source cause?
ban commercial copywrites on movies - decommercialise movie production.
As CMOS limits in 2012 makes clear, Bloat will have to be removed in ten years in order to continue increasing the power of computing...
Perhaps Hollings thinks he can stop such a machine? Hmmmm.......T3????
Yes MS fate is sealed!!!!!
This article may be the best answer yet for why Linux and Free Software community members should care about adaptation by the community at large.
Two things struck me:
1. Linux has enough mind share and has been adapted by enough businesses to solve real business problems that a threat to Linux is a threat to many businesses, which is why a mag like BusinessWeek is interested.
2. Did you notice the way they referred to Hollywood? Hollywood will this, Hollywood wants that. Sounds very much like a dark force and I think that's the effect it will have on readers, especially those who wonder what in hell Hollywood is doing in the middle of what ought to be governmental functions.
The article did a great job linking to other articles in the text, one of them explaining how region coding DVDs forces regular customers to become criminals in order to watch the movies they've bought. A pleasant breath of fresh air from a more mainstream niche media player.
I spent a year in Iraq looking for WMD and all I found was this lousy sig.
So easy to please - keep on keeping on.
They want to make Linux illegal? Well we can still build the biggest dosnet in the world.
You want to say goodbye to Linux? Well fuck you and say goodbye to internet senator!!!
Once again, and this is serious.
1. Free/Open Source software WILL DIE if this get's through.
2. It WILL spread to other parts of the world, especially Europe.
3. Yes, with present hardware, you will still be able to use Free/Open Source software, hiding in your basement, but the harware copyright protection will become standard, so unless you will be making your own illegal hardware, you'll be stuck with outdated hardware. This will surely be enforced on motherboard/cpu manufacturers.
If you really want to keep using/developing Free Software, tell other people about how much it will take away their freedom, spread the word.
I've never understood why these sorts of publications should not care about anti-Linux issues. Any *good* business publication will realise that their readers *do* want to know about things that save them money. If you had to pay for air, do you really imagine a savvy business paper wouldn't discuss a new possibility of getting air for free. Why should they believe in commoditisation of everything, rather than acknowledge that businesses with lower overheads get higher profits...?
or fired, voted out of office, people like that should be restricted to flipping burgers at McDonalds...
Another reason why Hollywood and Co. need to look into changing their business model is that sooner or later any copy-protection gets cracked. It may not be legal, it may not be right, but let's face it - it always happens! And when it does that copy-protection system is instantly worthless. Apart from annoying open-source fans like us they are just wasting their own time and money developing these things! I wonder sometimes if it has ever occured to them to combat piracy by just charging less for DVDs, CDs Videos etc. We all know it's costing them coppers to make so it's hardly surprising that people get tempted by pirate copies. If a brand new DVD was, say, 5 quid instead of 25 I think more people would go for that rather than a pirate copy which may still be cheaper but probably has inferior quality and lacks extras and a fancy cover.
I think that this article pretty well proves how stupid people in our government can be. They always seems to make these little interjections of "communal well-being" at such crucial points. And what happens in the post-bill world? The encryption will be cracked (DeCSS anyone?) AND one of the best things for computing will be severly hurt. Quite frankly, Linux would be hobbled in the process by such inept technology. People are always going to try to obtain certain things illegally, but why should the vast majority of Americans be punishedin the meantime? Maybe we should ENFORCE the laws that are currently on the books instead of making new ones that will just make matters worse.
Naughton is also the author of A Brief History of the Future, which is an excellent read.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
Yep, I can see all the little kids lining up at Toys R Us for their Hannibal Lecter action figures, complete with muzzle and fava beans.
"Copyright 2002 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved"
Following the available link to their main page... and a bit further, we arrive here . I seriously doubt there are any of us who haven't come accross a McGraw-Hill textbook at some point in time during our "career".
I'm certainly not saying this isn't a good article... it is... one of the best I've read on the topic so far, but it is also interesting to note we are watching major industries trading body blows with the press as their gloves. Rest assured, if the industries didn't have anything to loose from such legislation, we sure wouldn't be reading articles like this.
Attack of the Clones DVD came out the same day here in Asia as the movie hit the theaters in the US. Hollywood execs are idiots if they think that any move with US law will thwart piracy overseas. As long as there is a market, there will be ways around. IF they were actually to get this bill passed the following would happen:
The first business to pop up will be graymarket chips that break the encryption. The algorythoms used for encryption will be either reverse engineered overseas, or will be walked right out the back door of some hollywood firm or hardware manufacturer by a disgrunted employee or director.
The second thing is what is already happenening now, pirated flicks hit the streets overseas in DVD format well ahead of when the hit the stores in the US.
It just sends chills down my spine thinking if these laws get passed, because they won't stop any piracy, they will just kill open source. And that is NON CONSTITUTIONAL. Please, write your senators and congressman and President Bush.
Real men don't need signitures!!!
Hardball Politics by Bill Gates. Ethics Committee please Senator Butter His A$$ Hollings got paid off and is selling is vote to the highesst bidder. Bill Gates knows how a little diversion could help him right now so he throws some money at the Capital Whores and of course they byte. Politics yes but it also happens in other places. Americans although slow to take action because while they have to finish watching the Simpsons will get up and piss and moan to their Elected Whore who goes to Washington and remind them if they want to continue to hang out with the rest of the Whores they had better not vote for that piece of $hit legislat$ion. This usually straightens the little prostitute$ of Capital Hill and they vote down the piece of $hit legislation. Although the system is not perfect we do have checks and balances built in it to redress wrongs suffered by those who would have Bill Gates trunk up their A$$. Every Country has their Senator Holling$. Boris Yeltsen drunk as shit while he was President of Russia and Bill Clinton doing Monica in the Oval Office. If it can happen in America it can happen in your country too so you better be concerened about what happens in America. Now do what Homer Simpson does point finger at Senator Butter A$$ Hollings with Bill Gates long trunk up his A$$ and SHOUT HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!B ILL GATE$ $ENATOR HOLLING$ B$A MICRO$FT $UCK DDDIIICCCKKK$$$ EAT $$$IIITTT FFF$$$CCCKKKIIINNNGGG $$$$$$IIIIIICCCCCC!!!!!!
The first clue that Black has none is her assertion that "consumer groups, plus makers of PCs and electronics gear" were the first to sound the alarm. That may have been her first notice, but others have been thinking about such things and publishing it for much longer, like this man, back in 1983. The whole free software movement is a reaction to OTHER PEOPLE REMOVING YOUR CONTROL OF YOUR COMPUTER AND MEANS OF PUBLICATION, the reasons for it and the evil things required to accomplish that goal.
Jane then goes right back to things that must be nearer and dearer to her heart, Hollywood profits. She's swallowed the lie, hook and sinker, that this is about entertainment and a eighty billion dollar consumer electronics market.
Though confused and rambling, Jane manages to be smug and insulting. Check this out:
Embedding copyright-protection mechanisms into new PCs and other digital devices would mean inserting pieces of software code that are hidden, or locked down, and couldn't be altered. That would amount to nothing less than an assault on the open-source religion, which advocates sharing, collaboration, and free access to code.
That's all I can stand folks, let me set this ninny straight.
It's about freedom, stupid. I don't care if I can watch a movie on my computer. I don't care that a set top box runs propriatory software. What I do care about is some idiot telling me that I have to have a program installed on all of my computers that effectivly makes OTHER PEOPLE ROOT. THAT GIVES OTHER PEOPLE CONTROL OF MY COMPUTER AND MEANS OF PUBLICATION.
Don't get confused. Telecomunications companies, entertianment companies and your federal government are afraid of freedom. That's why someone else controls the wires that go into your house. It's why a 69 channel TV tunner will only pick up 4 or five stations owned by three or four companies. Hollings stuff, however, has the potential to control ALL forms of publication and must be stopped.
A supposed friend that trivializes your issue and get's it all screwed up is not a good advocate. Thanks for looking into it Jane, but keep digging. There's truth at the end of your quest, but you will have to stay away from entertainment pimps, their attorneys and other people only interested in extracting money from you.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Because those who would be providing the air for free wouldn't advertise in business magazines as much as those those who distribute air for cash.
It seems like the whole problem is the recording industry is based on a model in which the average consumer does not have the means to reproduce music with good fidelity. Since that has changed with the convergence of CDs and PCs, the obvious solution is to introduce a new format that is incompatible with existing cd-rom and cd hardware.
If I were in the recording industry, I would work with the electronics industry to create a new recorded music standard and by patenting the technology, they could block any third party from building hardware that could allow ripping of the music to a computer.
Since there is no compeling reason for people to move to a new recorded music format, they could introduce the new disks and price them 3 dollars less as an incentive to move to the new format. And sell all new players with backward compatibility for the old disks. They could also allow trade-ins of old cds for the new format.
I'm not sure anyone would swallow this, but it seems like their second option if they can't get widespread adoption of a DRM system.
"I'm nobody suspicious... That makes me sound even more suspicious, doesn't it?" - Spike (Cowboy Bebop)
how about organising a huge million geek march on Washington D.C? That'd be a blast. Placards of Bill Gates as the Borg saying "resistance is futile, you will use Internet Explorer", Penguins everywhere, and generalisimo Linus leading the troops. hhehehe
Deck the walls with bowels of Hollings
Fa la la la la la la la la
Engage in DMCA maulings
Fa la la la la la la la la
Go to EFF fundraiser
Fa la la la la la la la la
Zap Valenti with a taser
Fa la la la la la la la la
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
Now, on the other hand, screw with my computer? Force me to buy hardware that has been "Hollywood" approved? Sun, IBM, HPQ, and Intel will *all* buy into the "Hollywood" approved hardware? I don't think so. These companies serve a much larger market than just the end-user consumer. That will start the revolution.
P.S. - To Jack and Hilary: When you get your "Hollywood" hardware, your protected DVDs, and your protected CDs, watch what happens to your market share. The public is not going to buy new hardware to play your "anti-pirate" movies and music. Basic economics: the cost of entry will be too high.
before the libertarians mouth off, please not that this is private industry pushing hollings for this law. bad gov't typically gets bought by "free enterprise" when people don't pay any fucking attention to their gov't.
too many people in america complain that their gov't doesn't work right, maybe they should get off their ass and vote a better one in.
ah, rant done, feel better.
hey, go visit fairvote.org
US Citizen living abroad? Register to vote!
Well, this looks like a hair brained scheme by a senator that has been in office for so long that he has no idea about what is going on in the real world. Some statistics:
Party: Democrat
Year of Birth: 1922 (That makes him 80 years old)
First time in office: 1966
Political career started: 1949
He also graduated from The Citadel, which has it's own problems.
All the MPAA's crusade against "piracy" is doing is crippling legitimate users of their "product". They're not stopping piracy at all (search on any popular filesharing service for "dvdrip"). But they do prevent there being a legitimate player for linux (LinDVD hasn't been released, has it?) such that someone who has *already* paid for an "approved" DVD drive (and thus paid the DVD-CCA tax on that) as well as (most probably) a bundled "approved" player app (without which the drive is basically useless for playing DVDs) has no choice in what OS they run, unless they want to become a "criminal".
Think of Joe. Joe is a linux user, and a movie fan. He sees a movie about every two weeks, and enjoys himself. He buys DVDs of the movies he likes. He's the model customer of the MPAA. Until he wants to play his DVDs, that is. See, Joe doesn't have a dedicated DVD player - he instead has a DVD drive for his computer, as it will also allow him to use DVD-ROM discs that hold a lot more data than normal CDs. He has a nice big monitor, and a surround sound system. Joe paid a bundle for this hardware. The MPAA says that since Joe doesn't run Windows, he shouldn't be able to play a DVD, regardless of the fact that he's already paid the DVD-CCA for an approved player. For Joe to use DVD player software capable of playing his legitimately purchased DVDs on his legitimately purchased hardware, on a legitimate free OS, he must use an illegal piece of software. Why? Because the MPAA says that Joe is a pirate. And pirates are bad, evil people that loot and pillage. THe MPAA says that Joe (who really only wants to watch his copy of "The Matrix") will willfully copy and distribute his legitimately purchased DVDs, simply because he isn't using a "blessed" OS.
The real "pirates", however, don't care whether they use "illegal" software to get their dvd-rips -- they already know that what they are doing is illegal, so who cares what they use?
Joe, however, is trying to be a "good" person -- he buys his stuff legitimately. He doesn't make copies (except for personal backup purposes as dictated by "fair use") - he encourages his friends to see movies he liked, and to buy DVDs of the movies they enjoyed.
What has Joe done wrong? Nothing - unless he wants to watch his DVDs. Then the MPAA would brand him a criminal - even though he's pretty much their ideal customer.
Someone needs to set up a fax-your-congressmen site for this issue like the following one designed to help save Internet radio.
http://broadcastpromotions.net/carp/
It's the new era of web activism!
i had found the section containing this article and other related Linux ones yesterday. i think it's really interesting to see a businessweek view of linux.
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[insert funny
If you search E-bay for 'democracy', you will see votes on sell from Senator Hollings. Get 'em while they're hot!
Lord, bless my users that they may stop being such fucking idiots!!
Hollywood is doing just fine the way they are.
R IAA/DVD-Association-endorsed reel of advertisement-laden "entertainment".
The thing is, Valenti's rantings aside, they have a killer business model - no matter how nazi-ish their percieved business practices are, people still flock to the theatre to see whatever crap they decide to spoon down our throats.
(think Matrix, LOTR, Crouching Tiger et alia, Star Wars, and so on...)
I mean, COME ON!?!? This is perhaps the one place on earth where people actually are aware of what is happening with this industry and yet every other story lately seems to be about how we should all flock to the next MPAA/Time-Warner-AOL-Disney-CocaCola/Scientology/
If you don't support what they are doing, Don't Go:
Don't go to the theater. Don't rent the DVD. Don't buy the Harry Potter Happy Meal. Don't buy the T-Shirt...
If you can't do that much, then you are showing that this tiny minority has absolutely no hope of making the slightest impact on how Hollywood operates.
Why don't we all just officially give up on this topic?
We're the only ones who claim to care and we don't seem to care enough to change our habits.
Whatever...
Jim in Tokyo
-- My Weblog.
If this law passes, could I migrate to Europe as a political refugee?
Hollywood will this, Hollywood wants that. Sounds very much like a dark force and I think that's the effect it will have on readers, especially those who wonder what in hell Hollywood is doing in the middle of what ought to be governmental functions.
Time to dig up 'ol Tailgunner Joe to deal with these Hollywood types.
But seriously, we're all in a tizzy right now about the bill's implecations. Yes, they're bad. Still, I don't think so long as the Democrats control the Senate (at least through January unless a Democrat Senator in a state with a GOP Governor assumes room temperature in the meantime), that this'll ever get to the floor.
Still, my two senators, a few of my local reps (I live in Va....drop Boucher's name in the letter "Dear Rep. So-and-so...talk to Rep. Boucher about this bill...it's worse than kiddy pr0n.") have gotten calls and e-mails, and will get letters soon as I get a printer (damn $50 printers don't last too long).
The Industry is shooting itself in the foot. No one is going to buy the new shit when they can go to ebay and get the old shit. By the way I can see Radio Shack and Circuits Are Us making a killing as people learn how to to their own breadboard and make their own hardwarwe like they did in the good old days. Remember in the 70's you got the parts and assembled it yourself. Open Source Hardware Yes! we want our hardware to be free from copy protection. So start posting some good sites were geeks can learn how to build their system from scratch down to making there own pci cards or dvd players with off the shelf parts. I can see America losing its best and brightest as they leave America to take their talent elsewhere. You have a choice if they pass this crap! Give Uncle Sam the finger and tell him he can keep it but your not staying. I can see the Technology Companys moving their operations to Europe, China, India and Russia plenty of great programmers their too. America does not own the world even if it thinks so and if it continues its arrogant ways other countrys are going to go about their business and tell America to go to hell. America can go to hell if it thinks that programmers are going to stay while they oppress them and pass laws that jail them just because they use Linux and GNU. Do Not Laugh imagine Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman sent to prison because they broke the law using Linux and GNU Software. Could be you too! So you better care or you better start looking for another Country if you are living in America and this crap becomes law. By the way no programmer who is smart is ever going to step foot in America if these laws pass. Alan Cox is smart, very smart! Thanks Alan I think the rest of the world is finally getting it! http://www.linux.org.uk/diary to be enlightened!
People keep missing this fundamental point because it's buried under all the rhetoric about Asian pirates and multi-billion dollar 'piracy losses', but they stand to gain far more from having granular control over everything you do than they do from 'stopping piracy', because there are so many potential revenue sources they can create by setting arbitrary restrictions on things we were always able to do.
Example: a subsidiary of Sony creates a copy-prevention scheme for European music discs. (Incidentally, this scheme crashes Macs, but who notices?) The whole point of this scheme is to prevent copying music using a computer. Then, they create software that will permit you to potentially stream or download the music off of the website of the record label that makes that CD. They probably haven't stopped piracy, because we all know you can just feed the shit into your computer over a digital cable, analog cables, or holding it up to the mic, but that's not important. They have now created value by turning the disc you plunked down $17 for into an advertisement you must view if you want to play the music on your computer.
Again, they're not trying to control the copy; they're trying to control you.
They do, howerver, care about their own freedom. I know at least one business man who is not very happy about what computer records the federal government can demand since septemeber 11th. When it comes down to competitive advantage and secrecy, businesses clammer for their own freedom to use encryption. Do you know anyone who trusts secrets to a M$ OS? Business will work to at least make exceptions to this goofey law for their "business systems" opposed to "consumer devices" It will be in everyone's best interest to show that will not work.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
and go to hell.
All these new technology laws out there (except anti-SPAM laws) suck, but do they really have any statistical impact?
The rulings against Napster hasn't put a dent in file-sharing. No legal actions ever will, especially now with completely decentralized services, like LimeWire, which are open-sourced and who's development can never be stopped, due to it being open-sourced.
The ruling against DeCSS hasn't put a dent in its distribution or use.
Quite frankly, courts or government's don't have the power to regulate the internet. For one thing, there's jurisdiction issues: simply distribute from Russia, for example. For another, they can't necessarily hold anyone accountable for developing such (say Open-DVD players or file-sharing) software, because people can collaborate and contribute anonymously, from public computers, using a "handle".
Of course, this is a threat to open (that is, non-anonymous) development of OSS of FS, but big deal. If developers are really that eager for recognition, they can move to a country with no prohibitions on the software and openly develop there.
This doesn't mean we shouldn't fight against these laws. In fact, its a good reason to advocate not passing these laws: because they just don't work.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
TIVO!... how the hell are they going to stop people from using linux anyways?... it's not like they can just delete every copy of the source that someone has burned onto a CD.... and it's not like people are going to just uninstall it from their running servers... if this legislation gets passed I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of linux geeks will export themselves, or just ignore the legislation and continue doing what they've been doing all along.
You've lost the DVD. No matter what you do, the pirates got you on that one. It won't be until the next major technology update that you get to enforce anything. So here's my plan for you. Forget trying to control the entire tech industry.
Since people might copy those files they download
online, don't make anything available online. Yes, that could be a viable market in the future, but since you're so worried about piracy, simply don't use it.
Don't allow any manufacturers to create a drive that can read your next incarnation of the DVD. Yes, a lot of people have computers, and a lot of people will want to use those computers, and their lack of ability to watch movies on that medium might result in fewer sales for you, but that's a risk you have to take.
You have no right to control an entire industry just because you're concerned that your outdated business strategy might fail as a result. And be careful. You're stepping on a lot of toes here. You might end up alienating a significant percentage of your market, far in excess of the perceived damage that piracy might cause. I for one have almost completely stopped watching movies. It used to be I'd go to the theatre at least once a week, and I'd rent movies several times a week, I had cable, I bought tapes. Not anymore. I canceled cable, I never watch TV at all anymore. I saw episode 2 last thursday. I will probably not see another movie until december. I've chosen a new form of entertainment and it doesn't involve you in any way. Mostly I do this because I want to avoid addicting myself to a medium that someday might be restricted for me. That way, when you finally let the hammer drop, it won't make a bit of difference to me.
But getting inside my computer WILL make a difference to me, especially if I don't ever watch your crappy movies. There are a whole lot of people that will accept substandard, inconvienent, expensive ways to watch their movies, in the name of preventing piracy. But once you reach into someone's computing experience outside of movies, you're going to piss people off. And you will not benefit from it.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
Today America was sold to Microsoft and Disney. Bill Gates said this is best for America and America is now safe and secure from Virus GNU Linux. Eisner said we both agree that by taking consumer choice away we are protecting America fron the big bad world. Americas new name is MicrosoftDisney and we welcome the world to have a look at the Black Magic Kingdom. America bought and paid for by corporate weenies selling their own people out. Richard Stallman is believed to be in an undisclosed location happily hacking away at his GNULinux box. Instead of being assimilated into the MicrosoftDisney Network Millions of Americans have joined the resistance and are now underground hacking away at their GNU Linux Boxes. Linux Users Groups the World Over Pledged to help the resistance in there struggle against MicrosoftDisney. The United Nations has called the security council to a speacial meeting to urge sanctions against MicrosoftDisney also known as America"
That is a very good point -- the public is not going to put up with (at least not for long) being told that they have to buy all new hardware every couple years, since it will all have to be replaced every time DRM gets sufficiently cracked.
:(
A solution to that upgrade treadmill is if DRM winds up being handled by a little settop box, call it a DRM Decoder. ALL your consumer electronics (including your computer) would perforce plug into it, and you buy an updated chip (or download a patch similar to a BIOS update) every couple years as the DRM is updated to catch up with last year's hacks. This would make the economics palatable to average folk, especially if it's primarily wireless so they don't have a mess of cables all over the house. (Gad, imagine the potential for 3rd-party snooping!)
If I can think of this solution, I'm sure the DRM advocates can as well. This Is Bad.
Personally, I'll do without DRM-crippled media, thank you very much.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Okay, I've been reading this article and the posts and one thing strikes me - does this mean that I will have to replace ALL devices that fall into the "illegal" category ?!?!
What I read here suggests that it might be that my old CD and DVD players will not play new encrypted CD's / DVD's, my old TV will not show encrypted transmissions !
Is this a way of creating a new under class ? Only those people who can afford to replace an entire housefull of media equipment will be able to join in the new elite ?!?!
I for one could not afford to replace 2 PC's, CD player, DVD player, 2 TV's, Hi-Fi etc. which have all been built up over the years (some of my Hi-Fi is ten years old !).
How may of us would go to WalMart if, in the name of preventing shoplifting, we were subjected to cavitity searches everytime we exited the store?
On another note, everyoneknows someone with a room full of VCR tapes. We still go to BlockBuster!!
Regards,
Why not? Saddam Hussein already kills millions of his own children by saying "NO!" to US grain imports that are due under the oil-for-food programme. Saddam has $10billion of grain ready and waiting for shipping under this scheme but he's saying, "NO! Don't give me the grain, let my children starve so the US will lift Iraqi sanctions, making America look weak so that binLaden will gain supporters and attack the US again."
Therefore in order that binLaden doesn't attack the US again, America must look strong, and maintain Iraqi sanctions at all costs, killing Iraqi children.
This is not even a credible argument. What does any of that have to do with the right to kill thousands? Are you implying that the US is killing Iraqi children, and is therefore hypocritical (i.e. killing our own citizens is bad, killing Iraq's citizens is fine)?
The blame for Iraqi's starving children lies solely on Saddam Hussein's pride. If he cared for his people, he would stop constructing his billion dollar palaces and spend the country's money on health care and food. There are few restrictions on importing basic humanitarian items like food or medicine, and a lot ($21 billion) has been delivered. For a better report on the import/export restrictions, check here.
People die, dude it's just the way the world works, that's why elections are such a big deal.
People also commit adultery, rape children, and murder innocents. Just because it HAPPENS does not mean we have the right to do it.
They realize that the revenue stream for movies is there. They also realize that those DVD's aren't just being bought for the TV-Connected DVD players. They're being bought for the Imacs and the laptop DVD's and for people like me who don't see the point in purchasing two DVD systems. They also know about the high number of people using KaZaa over broadband connections.
Hollywood knows about the revenue stream. They also know that digital data can be copied and stread (faster than tapes) and they are taking steps to assert their control.
History is repeating itself but Hollywood's one step ahead this time. They couldn't kill the VCR. Now they squeeze it for every cent that they can while installing copy protection. New VCR's made for the U.S. market all include copy protection built in that messes with the signal from other VCR's or DVD's that are connected to them. Thus necessitating that you patch the VCR through the DVD and into your TV.
Hollywood figures that they got lucky when it came to VCR's but whyt risk it? Jack really needs that 347th ferrari. And let's not forget the "implicit contract" that we all signed to do whatever the greedy bastards tell us to.
This is one issue that doesn't seem to fall into the normal party stereotypes. It seems that Democrats are actually the ones driving these bills.
Who'd a thunk it?
If we really want to win the battle, we've got to provide a solution that works for everyone: it's got to prevent napsterization (which for all the rationalizations, is clearly wrong if the artist doesn't want it copied), while still allowing people to listen/watch what they've paid for when and how they want. And there's only one way to prevent napsterization: a hardware decrypter in the video/sound card. This does not prevent an open source driver --- rather it requires encrypting content to the set of devices you own, which is primarily a key management problem. Maybe you have to register DVDs/CDs to obtain the media keys encrypted to your hardware (which wouldn't require personal information, only the public keys of your devices). This would have the side effect of letting them say "people who like x also like y", for what that's worth. We need better connectivity before this will fly, of course, and the end result needs to be simple enough for grandma to use, but it's an example of solving the problem in a way that satisfies everyone except those whose primary motive really is ripping off content or those who simply *must* say "NO! You can only watch this from 8-9 Tuesday night!". Does anyone else have another solution?
Send this to your Senator or Representative (Don't forget to put your name and address at the bottom.)
a il form2.cgi?distcode=SCJR&site=congressmerge
Here is the mail form:
http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/cgi-bin/m
Overview:
Issue:
-Senator Hollings' copy protection bill outlaws legitimate software
development methods such as Open Source projects.
Solution:
-Oppose Senator Hollings' bill.
-Oppose any new bill that does not protect software developers' rights or
attempts to regulate or restrict what a developer creates.
Background:
Senator Hollings' bill attempts to protect the Movie and Music industries.
The Movie and Music industries want to encrypt their products with an
algorithm of some sort, for which every piece of hardware or software that
plays or displays their material must have a corresponding electronic key.
(If the algorithm or the key is missing, the content won't play -- thus
thwarting pirates.) For added protection, the established entertainment
companies want Congress to pass a law requiring technology companies to
build the key into their products. Thus, no DVD players, PCs, CD players,
or operating systems would be legal without Hollywood-designed copyright
protection.
Issue:
In their zeal to dictate how hardware and software makers
build their equipment, the movie and music moguls would mess with matters
that are none of their business, critics say. Embedding copyright-protection
mechanisms into new PCs and other digital devices would mean inserting
pieces of software code that are hidden, or locked down, and couldn't be
altered. That would amount to nothing less than an assault on the
open-source religion, which advocates sharing, collaboration, and free
access to code.
A crucial feature of the Linux operating system -- the basic software that
controls a computer -- is that any part of it can be modified by its users,
as long as they agree to make the modification available, for free, to the
world at large.
Summary:
Locking down Linux could destroy this dynamic, on which
plenty of corporate software developers now depend, and also bar
open-source programmers from the $80 billion consumer-electronics market.
Sincerely,
You Name Here
I hope that pig fucker dies in a very painful, slow gruesome manner.
Perhaps we should start a fund to hire an assassin? Really. This piece of shit has no business calling himself anything but a dishonest, for sale crooked slimeball. Senator? His very presence muddies the so-called hall of democracy.
This piece of crap needs a beat down. And now.
All technology companies and open source people need to do is to carry along as they always have and ignore this stupid shit.
They can't arrest everybody.
Time to start resisting.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
Yeah, I know I saw a Sony-distributed movie recently, but I intend to be more vigilant in the future.
If you really need your corporate media, buy it USED. Half.Com is a good place to start. So is Second Spin and Powell's.
Stop buying new DVDs and CDs. Stop going to movies. Maybe even get rid of your cable service, because the cable companies pay their tribute to the MPAA and the RIAA too. Take the money you would have used on new DVDs, new CDs, movie tickets and cable bills and donate it to the EFF.
And for crissake FAX YOUR CONGRESSCRITTER! And like Zappa always reminded us, Don't forget to vote.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Let's see how happy you are when you're facing 10 to 20 for possession of devices designed to circumvent copyright protection (i.e. anything not sanctioned by Hollywood). The solution is not to attempt to work around these laws. They'll just keep tightening them and throwing offenders in jail. Our government doesn't seem to have any aversion to imprisoning a large percentage of its population, as the drug war has amply demonstrated. As long as the rich and powerful get to stay that way, they'll do whatever it takes. Most people are too stupid, ignorant, or apathetic to take any action against these kinds of actions by the government. They just believe what they're told.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
The lifting of sanctions would allow importing of dangerous materials so the US cannot lift them. One of the first guys Saddam would sell weapons to is binLaden.
This makes it necessary for the US to maintain sanctions against Iraq despite the fact that Iraqi children are dying. I don't have a problem admitting that I am indirectly murdering thousands of Iraqi children to safeguard myself from binLaden getting nukes. I don't have to live in a dream world or invent a convoluted excuse that Saddam is killing them, if I wanted to lie to myself I would have taken the blue pill.
A caveman dreams of being us, the incalculable power and riches. We dream of being Q, then what?
The tech industry needs to adopt the Microsoft 'innovation' of influence peddling. Entertainment is a tiny industry by comparison, but they have been buying whatever legislation they want.
- Let's get all the entertainment software developers get together and cut out anything controversial from the games? Sounds like PBS on a CD. Everyone would be buying a competitor's game with more action. Make that illegal.
- What are all those bits inside electronic devices doing? Your pocket calculator could be secretly copying Fantasia while you're alseep! Just to be safe, we'll stick a digital mark on all data and devices with data, then imprison anyone who doesn't use it. It's of no concern that every 1 bit of data and on/off switch will now require a 40 bit certification code. Who care's that we're regulating another industry 20 times bigger that we don't understand. We bought more congressmen!
- That piece of paper you have might contain that source code to DeCSS - the DVD descrambler program. We'll pass a law requiring all paper to have a mark of authenticity and arrest those with illegal pieces of paper.
- Hey you're not paying a subscription service for the right to use that wrench. Make a new law for that one.
- See that scientist? His research has just threatened our income source. We'll hold an inquisition and punish him for his crimes.
- Where did you buy that item? You might have made a business deal with a criminal. Just in case.. you'll get this special skin graft and you'll need it to buy any stuff.
- What's on your mind? You could be thinking about politically incorrect things. Fortunately we'll be scanning your thoughts with a new tool called Carny Me.
- That history book you're reading might give you some bad ideas.. better give it to me and i'll store it in a nice pile of other books along with those illegal fireworks.
- Yes we know about that new medical stem cell breakthrough, but we can't allow you to sacrifice one cell to save the life of your child. Wouldn't be prudent.
- Capitalism? Why? We can force people to buy our inferior products! That way we can fire those expensive engineers.. all they do is just tinker with things.. how anti-social! Our corporate image is so more important and people should feel priviledged to buy from us.
Just as in the Soviet Union, there was not much point in trying to be innovative or come up with good ideas, the IT industry in the US would suffer from laws that constrict what you can devise and what you can't. If there are laws inhibiting small firms (which are in general more innovative than larger ones), the OSS movement and the hardware industry from coming up with newer products the market in the US would possibly stagnate because there just wouldn't be any motivation to work on somthing new (P2P for example) if one has to fear legal presecution for developing a new technology.
As someone further down posted, I doubt that other countries will follow the US' example to the letter (although you can be sure that some US governments will try to force this onto some other countries). This would mean the at least a portion of the innovative edge will move outside the US and the US would fall behind because every technology would have to be "approved" by some body in the US. And you can bet that some countries and blocs will make as much PR capital out of this as they can ("US oppression etc"), and it would possibly make the current tension between the EU and the US worse than it is.
The larger corporations would not initially be hurt that much as they could attempt to pass the price rises entailed in developing and implementing DRM-compatible hardware and software on to the consumers, who would more than likely respond by buying less than they had before (The Napster example again, wrongly interpreted by the MPAA and RIAA). As is usual with seemly blind official organisations such as those mentioned above, they would in turn respond by trying to turn the screws even tighter than before claiming that piracy is growing (which it possibly very well could, considering that people who would copy their media would be labeled as criminals and be forced underground -as in the prohibition era in the US). It would, in other words, simply be a vicious circle and would probably, in the end drive the RIAA and MPAA into bankruptcy (Could those be voices saying "I told you so" in the background?) and certainly hurt the US economy.
Another good example would be Microsoft's attempts to raise prices with it's new licencing scheme - It simply drives more companies to seek cheaper alternatives.
they've also portrayed open sourcers as junkies and religious fanatics. I'm sure my mom and dad are at home right now saying oh well, those dirty open source junkies are only getting what they deserve serves them right!
Thus, I'd like you to take that into consideration next time, and if other folks would moderate your post into oblivion right now, that might be the best thing that could happen to it. Sorry.
Bruce Perens.
i'm defecting
Special encryption software for the financial benefit of Hollywood enshrined in legislation? Perhaps Hollywood should start paying some tax instead of dodging it, sometimes entirely (eg. Forrest Gump) before they have the hide to try and push legislation like this through.
I will gladdly go to prison for involvement in the open source movement. This is the right fight just as the civil rights movement in the 1960's was the right fight. We may not be able to bibe enough politicians, but we can pave thier way with enough blood so that the won't get away cleanly. Do not stop development. Those who go to prison will be the equivelent of martyrs. Do not give in. Ultimately money is meaningless, I would rather live on garbage then be a corporate executive. Free software and open source are the pinicle and the springboard of our God given creativity and no one I MEAN NO ONE! can take that away from us.
Fuzzy Kitty
See the above peer rated post. It has a better chance of being read than one of hundreds of pieces of paper shoveled through the mail. I'll bet Jane sees it, and hope that it helps. I'm a little embarassed of calling her a "ninny" for insulting my "religion" but, oh well, such is publication.
Further reflection demands this clarification:
Sharing, openeness and collaboration are good, natural and to be encouraged. They are necessary conditions for their goal: freedom and control. Without knowledge of the workings of your computer, you have no control. Without a community of honest programers sharing code you can have no practical knowledge of those workings. You will either build everything yourself and lose the advantages of peer review, or you can find a reasonable community of users to join. The four simple software freedoms are designed to give users knowledge and control of what their computers are doing. Senator Hollings bills, the DCMA, and other bad laws are diametrically opposed to this goal as they are designed to give control to unknown third parties.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
that it would be legal for the copy protected OS or CPU to report you if it noticed any changes in it's files.
No appologies needed, Mr. Perens, I'm happy to have your input. Indeed, you have helped form my thoughts on such matters.
We do need to explain the issue and we do need brave people like Jane. I'm embarrased to have called her a ninny and admit I was angry when did it. I fear that equating software freedom to embeded consumer devices and watching movies trivializes the issue and makes it less important to the very people we need to influence.
The core issue is simple: with free software, the user understands and controls the computer they own. All other software encroches on this ownership and control to one extent or another. Jane, a journalist, understands the importance of free speech and she should understand the implications of government mandated software on all tools of publication.
The readers of Business Week should also care about the implications of Holling's work. Free speech and privacy have very real practical effects on business. Without free speech, there can be no real journalism. It's hard to make plans without an accurate view of the world. It's also hard to do business without privacy. Business men, more than others care that third parties may monitor their communications and other information that would put them at a competitive disadvantage.
I have not seen others voicing these concerns on this thread. Hopefully, someone will do so more politely and forecfully.
I commend your efforts to educate the world. It is obvious that Jane learned much from you. It is also obvious, howerver, that our enemies are loud, missleading and painting themselves as victims as they encroach on our rights.
My message is simple and I will repeat it as clearly as I can in the face of numbing details. DRM is un-American. In real life, I'm just a simple but more polite.
I wonder if Jane might speak up for herself. Are you out there? My appologies for rudeness, arrogance and what not.
-Twitter, one of 500,000+ slashdotters reading and commenting this little article.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
At least credit Ballard if you're going to post stuff from Crash, a terribly disappointing book from someone whose sci-fi short stories I had quite enjoyed.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
flock to the next MPAA/Time-Warner-AOL-Disney-CocaCola/Scientology/R IAA/DVD-Association-endorsed reel of advertisement-laden "entertainment".
You just had to bring Osama bin Laden into the equation somehow, didn't you?
-- PinocchioYour comment betrays the sort of fetishism of press that makes market of man and is endemic to the American cult of lucre, counter to the progress of the truth of our position. Sometimes you got to whip the dogs that get you there, Bruce.
Twitter's critique is right on and there is no reason not to lead a rational individual to a more correct understanding of just what's at stake here, particularly one engaged in the noble devoirs of the fourth estate. The mealy-mouthed caterwhauling with which you chide twitter is just what brings us to this pass, eh? It *is* the principle of the thing, Bruce, not the position of it.
illegitimii non ingravare
Something tells me a lot of tech companies are *drooling* to adopt this crap. "Buy the new Dwell Expiron DRM-PC, and you can watch new movies that will never work on your old PC/DVD player." Gak.
Click here if you just like to click on shit.
Thanks
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
Thanks
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
The cameras and microphones are on. Your correspondence will be violated by your government, as will your phone calls without judicial supervision. Your XP EULA gives Microsoft rights to search all of your documents. Recent legislation gives the governemnt unprecedented ability to collect computer records, most damningly they lay claim to all computer records collected by the above mentioned spyware.
Senator Holling's bill, obsensibly to "protect" music and movie publishers, is the final piece of the above puzzle. It gives government the ability to make good on their claims correspondence and information that might otherwise get away from them. It is the ring that binds all of the above and places control firmly in the hands of those who create and approve of the "security" software.
In a fourth amendment framework, you will NOT be secure in your home and personal effects. The government is able to search said effects WITHOUT reasonable cause presented before witnesses in a court of law.
Under such a coercive environment people will obviously NOT be able to say what they think and free speech is lost. Senator Holling's bill has the potential to further that goal by installing censor ware on all digital devices. Why not? Protect music today, public decency and order tomorrow. A little optical character recognition software is all it would take to apply this to photocopiers and other devices in the future. All other rights are lost when the first amendment is thus destroyed.
You can't do this kind of thing to an educated population, so propaganda is pouring forth to reduce privacy expectations of an increasingly ignorant population. Particularly sinister is the notion that somehow digital comunications are insecure and will be monitored. Beyond that, knowledge itself is under attack. What better place to censor things than the local library? Publishers hate libraries too these days. According to the last article, sharing information without paying is a violation of copyright, even reading the book out loud. If you have enough money to buy your own books, you are still out of luck as copyrith law treatens your ability to use your books when and how you please. What, you think publishers will continue the vastly expensive practice of printing on paper? The MPAA has shown them the way to pay per play and shifting formats will insure that you won't be able to access the work later anyway even if you are a very clever lawbreaker. Is that dumb enough for you? I don't need to prove the well known continued decline of national test performance or the lessing expectations of privacy that have been foist on us by the regulated public shcools. It's working!
Whew! That's a lot of reading, but you have to admit that it encompasses much more than pop music, "Plannet of the Apes" and other disposable entertainments. The pieces of the puzzle are all there. We can see where it's going and what's driving it without understanding programing concepts. Just imagine your paper books, TV, and pencil behaved as your DVDs, digiCam and word processor do. Then imagine it getting much worse.
When it all get's too much for you, just comfort yourself with the somewhat archaic, and disregarded text of the Bill of Rights. You don't think I'm sitting here at three AM becuse I don't have anything better to do, do you? I'm doing this because I love my country. OK, I am insane and I can't think of anything better to do.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
To prevent copyright piracy, the solution is a lot easier than building special chips to include in every devices...
The solution is to sell stuff at a decent price.
Just look at an album (CD) price! Not even 10% of it goes to the artist! And they wonder why people make copies??
This copy-protection system will only be a good thing for fat companies, not to artists. It will allow them to make hundreds of billons of benefits instead of a couple of billions only.
People behind this do not care about piracy. They care about their own benefits.