Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

John Perry Barlow On The Dangers of DRM

Posted by timothy on from the self-destruct-buttons dept.

D4C5CE writes "In an extensive interview with one of Europe's most renowned IT publishers, EFF cyber-rights activist John Perry Barlow speaks out against attempts to bring the entire planet under the control of dangerous Digital Restrictions Management schemes overprotected by clones of the dreaded DMCA (Dumbest Mistake on Copyright in America, or something). Barlow is one of countless critics of DRM and the DMCA, including Lawrence Lessig and many other Professors of Law as well as Linux Kernel Guru Alan Cox and the Internet Society. Now, are you mailing, faxing and reading these views to all of the many misguided opponents of the BALANCE Act?"

4 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Re:i think i found a new sig by DataPath · · Score: 4, Interesting

    nuh uh. Not politics. DRM is an industry lobby-child. What industries? Media industries. Yeah... MPAA and the RIAA controlling media content on our PCs. The biggest step is getting DRM legally mandated. With that done, anything they do after that is just a small step. A simple thing. No... I think scarier than having government control our digital content is the media industry.

    --
    Inconceivable!
  2. DRM is fine, as long as I hold the keys. by gpinzone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I like the idea of DRM. I'd love to register every piece of software on my hard drive. If a virus comes through my email filter, it can't run. That's the promise of DRM. The problem is that's not how it's going to be implemented. Someone else is going to hold the keys to my software for my own good.

  3. Re:i think i found a new sig by Ears · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm a libertarian (small "l" for me, please).

    In my philosophy, the entire purpose of government is to protect individuals' rights. For example,

    • Protect its citizens from foreign threats
    • Prevent its citizens from using force on one another.
    • Prevent its citizens from defrauding one another.
    • Prevent its citizens from enslaving one another.

    In my view, a "corporation" should have no rights of its own. (I'm not even that crazy about the idea of liability avoidance that's supposed to be the whole idea of incorporation, but that's another story.) So it goes without saying that the government should be in the business of preventing corporations from screwing individuals.

    I'm not a huge extremist, but I do become disgusted with the extent to which the US government, far from protecting its citizens from mega-corporations, eagerly helps them exploit its citizens.

    --
    Happy Premise #3: Even though I feel like I might ignite, I probably won't.
  4. Job Op by ainsoph · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hey folks, market is looking up. Look whats available in the Redmond Washington area.

    Role: Testing enterprise applications / products built using DRM and Anti-piracy technologies and SQL Server.

    Required Skills:
    Strong knowledge of Digital Rights Management and Anti-piracy

    SQL Server (ver. 7.0 or ver 2000) a must. Strong understanding of stored procedures, triggers, T-SQL.

    Application testing methodologies and writing Test cases and scripts

    Overall understanding of Microsoft technologies including Windows 2000, Windows XP, IIS, Vbscript, HTML, JavaScript, and ASP.

    User Interface development and/or testing. Working knowledge with test automation tools such as WinRunner, Rational, etc. will be considered a plus.

    .Net Technologies understanding is a plus.

    Good communication skills

    Experience:
    2+ years of experience in development or testing of DRM and Anti-piracy related porducts/applications.
    2+ years of SQL server developing and testing.
    2+ years of experience in Microsoft technologies.

    Description:
    Responsible for defining and implementing application/product testing. This includes product enhancement as well as migration and regression testing for product patches and bug fixes. Develop test plans, conditions, and scenarios in support of ongoing business system operations, enhancements, and development (per request). Define and maintain a repository of test plans, cases, and scripts. Definition of performance and stress testing requirements. Understand and document key functional dependencies between supported applications. Maintain test plans based on changes due to design, delivery, and/or change control. Develop and review test cases and test scripts. Develop and review test data requirements. Developing automated and manual testing procedures.

    This is a contract job.
    OK for recruiters to contact this job poster.
    Please, no phone calls about this job!
    Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
    Reposting this message elsewhere is NOT OK.
    this is in or around Redmond WA