Interview with EFF's Fred Von Lohmann

scubacuda writes "Tech Focus has an --> interview with EFF's Fred Von Lohmann, Senior Intellectual Property Attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Covered in the interview: Kazaa, commercial skipping, DMCA, 802.11b networks, congressmen friendly to the idea of "fair use", and how to "make a difference"." Update: 01/08 17:42 GMT by M : Link changed to reduce the load on Techfocus.

Comments

Re:How do you feel about Lindows?

[no reason to be here]

It's one thing to not read the article, but now we have people who aren't even reading the post about the article. ;)

actually though, why hasn't /. interviewed someone from EFF?

Wow...

[Sheetrock]

I'm kind of surprised that the approach towards Kazaa is that it's the 'right idea but wrong horse'.

We all agree that piracy isn't a good thing, but I'd like to think the P2P is viable even without copyright infringement. There was that innovative mechanism a while ago where you could download a file and other people could share the pieces they've already downloaded with you, distributing the load on-the-fly. And there's the unique streaming audio solution that works similarly. Just because some folks throw away the tags on their pillows doesn't mean we don't need a place to rest our heads, right?

There's a lot of interesting stuff coming out that's dual-use, and no doubt that'd be the motif of the interview if it didn't die before the second frigging comment was posted. Why aren't the links cached on here, again?

Re:How you can *really* make a difference...

[-dhan-101]

DON'T download their music. find independents. DON'T rip their DVDs. That's just advertising for them. It's one thing to "vote with your pocketbook", it's another thing altogether to then turn around and quietly support the crap that they put out.

Killing the market

[phorm]

Oh, and by the way, once you've busted all the "Sopranos" sharers, don't be surprised if you see a drop in new HBO subscriptions, as you've ended up killing off a free, viral marketing channel that most consumer-products companies would have given their right arm for. But hey, it always pays to ignore your marketing staff and let the lawyers run the show, doesn't it?

That about nails it right on the nose, doesn't it. If one doesn't hear/see/notice a product, then a sale is lost. If somebody notices the product, even if it's pirated, but then gets a legal copy or related merchandise, then the company benefits.

It makes me wonder about the attempted increase on taxation of recordable media in Canada. If the media becomes too expensive, what happens to companies like Sony who not only sell the original discs but also recordable media and the devices which use them (mp3-disc players, etc). Killing one's customer base off is rarely a smart move. Of course, how a private industry gains a tax is beyond me anyways

hyperlinks

[asv108]

For more examples of the chill imposed on legitimate activities by the DMCA, see EFF's white paper, "Unintended Consequences: Four Years Under the DMCA" (google: "DMCA unintended consequences").

Pretty soon, people are going to stop using hyperlinks all together and just use google keywords. Maybe there should be a google:// .. I know if I'm in a conversation and someone wants a hyperlink, I say "google for (keyword) instead of using a url.

BTW, here is a link to the paper.

Optimism: The Media Monsters Will Lose

[MrCode]

Like most of you, I've been a bit worried about the way things have been going lately in regards to copyright and "intellectual property." I read all the stories related to this, and try my best to keep up to date on the issues. At Christmas this year I discussed these topics a bit with my family, to try and educate them on issues they may know nothing about.

But lately the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized the media monsters are fighting a losing battle. They just can't win (in the long run.) Here are reasons why I think this:

• They are getting more and more brazen as their fear mounts. At some point the crap they pull will be noticed by Joe Public and that is when they will be in trouble. Once Joe can't use his CDs where he wants, or record his favorite show on his VCR, there WILL be an outcry.
  
• The old die. YAY! This is an obvious fact of humanity of course, but its significance is in the fact that the legislators and judges who are currently working against us on these issues will die one day. The entire generation currently running our government, which in large part seem to support the media monsters and their agenda, will one day be completely replaced by new blood. This new blood will have grown up in this information age we are now in, and won't be so friendly to those who seek to limit our intellectual rights. When myself or my 8 year old cousin (who teaches his Mom how to use the computer) are in a senate office or a courtroom as judge, the media companies won't fair so well.
  
• Most people aren't theives. Despite what the media people think, we are all not thieves. If given a good product at a fair price people will pay for it. I think the issue that they fail to notice is that the people who download music instead of buying it do not think that the better quality audio and cover art of the CD are worth the $16+ price. This is simple economic theory. There IS added value in a CD versus a collection of mp3s gotten from Kazaa. It just isn't worth $16. As an example I recent bought a CD for $10. For the past few months I've been listening to a few mp3s from the album, and I have really enjoyed them. When I saw the album for $10, I snapped it up, and have been very pleased with it. I've probably listened to it 10 times in the past week, and I feel I've really gotten my money's worth. But there are many other cases in the past where I've bought an album based on one song heard on the radio and I've been very disappointed. I'm sure we all have these kind of stories. But now we have the option of trying an album first before buying, and if the media companies think this is a bad thing, maybe they should consider offering music that is actually good.
  
• The nature of capitalism will ensure that alternatives will eventually develop as people see markets. There WILL be a market in non-restrictive media. Those that choose to embrace this versus trying to control everything will succeed and eventually overrun those who don't.
  

So overall I think we, the people, will win in the long run. But it won't happen overnight and in the meantime we may be in for some rough times.

Changing attitudes

[Kaimelar]

Quoth the article: Second, tell 5 of your non-technical family, friends or acquaintances about EFF issues and about why they matter.

I find this interesting. In my experience, it's often those who are comfortable with technology that have attitudes which, IMHO, are counter-productive to intellectual property and copyright concerns. For example, I was recently talking with a friend (who happens to be in a very technical graduate program), and mentioned some CD that I was thinking of buying, but that I wasn't sure if I was going to have the cash. And my friend says, "Why not just download it?" I didn't want to get into an argument, so I made an excuse about wanting the better sound quality of the CD, knowing that it was ripped to MP3 by me and my standards, wanting the liner notes, etc. But I was taken aback that downloading the album seemed to be the default to my friend, and that paying for the album was more of a last resort option. And despite my views on record labels and price-fixing and DRM legislation and such, I don't think that violating current copyright law by downloading an album instead of buying it is the way to go.

So what's the point in all of this? I'm wondering how much the technical people need "told about EFF issues and why they matter" vs. non-technical people. My non-tech mom would be outraged if she suddenly couldn't record an episode of Babylon 5 from the TV -- as well she should be. But if this happened, I'm sure she would switch cable companies, buy a non-DRM recording device, or whatever would be required that would send a message to those who want unfair controls on intellectual property. But my tech friends would just find a way to download the material from somewhere. Perhaps technical and non-technical people alike need told about why these issues matter, and how the actions they take (for those who choose to download CDs, or share TV shows, or whatever) or don't take (like my mom not being concerned about the issues because so far, they haven't affected her) have an impact on all of us.

Food for thought. Hopefully I won't be marked as a troll or start a flamewar.