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The MPAA's Lobbying-Fu is Stronger Than Yours
georgelazenby writes "The Frisco Chronicle reports: While the music industry has been clumsily bullying its way through the federal government, the movie industry has taken a more subtle -- and more effective -- approach. The MPAA has been lobbying individual state legislatures to pass laws reaching far beyond the original DMCA. The proposed laws would permit cable TV companies to 'limit subscribers to using only certain brands of VCRs and could ban TiVo in favor of their own proprietary PVR technologies.' According to one expert, the bills are 'tremendously open-ended and create theoretical and potential criminal liabilities for just about anybody on the planet.'"
First a quote from Dinsdale "DVDs are protected to the hilt," he said "It plays by the rules and ends up being a great consumer experience."
My ass. It makes it a way for me to have to sit through a FBI warning, and as is the case from some of the newer DVD's to have to watch trailers, (read commercials). I dont want that in something I have bought, or rented.
So what can a legal owner or renter of a DVD do? Play it with Linux? Yeah, but then I break the law.
These folks gotta get with the program (pun intended) I want to watch the damn movie!
As an aside: I have not been to a movie theatre in 5 years and I am not about to go anytime soon. When all of them became tiny little multiplexes I just couldn't enjoy it anymore.
Screw you MPAA.
Actually, that's just what it will take if media corporations expect to survive.
There are two futures:
1) Corporate IP dies and we move to a gift economy.
2) We have to be able to prove ownership every binary string we control on demand.
I vote for a gift economy.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
As with everything in life there are exeptions but as far as the general impression I get from USA these days..I'm simply disgusted.. disgusted in that the american people let Bush steal the election (YEA HE DID!!).. disgusted in how the american government has abused the WTC catastrophy to get all sorts of severely abusive laws in place and how the public has let them.. disgusted at how fucked up the american so called justice system is, they call it justice but it does nothing but fulfill a lot of triggerhappy gunslinging angry revengeful peoples thirst for blood.. America has gone from admireable to just downright disgusting.. I pray and hope that the majority of the American population will see the light soon and DO something about the situation instead of just sitting idly by. I get blased with ppl telling me that the general american population does NOT agree with what the government is doing but until all those who claim to be part of that need to GET OFF THEIR ASSES and DO something about the situation and then you need to come join the rest of the world instead of seeing yourself as superior to everyone else, as history proves over and over and over again.. whenever someone think they're better than anyone else.. there will be revolution. I feat that WTC was just the start of that.
Please dont ruin the world and freedom for the rest of us.
Back in the day, the commoners were only allowed to read the bible. People were persecuted for writing books with "subversive" or "heretical" thoughts and others for reading them. Scientists and scholars alike lived under the yoke of the church.
:)
Fast forward back to today.
We are on the precipace of a technological dark age.
Basic freedoms are being summarily dismissed when it comes to anything "technological" under the guise of "Intellectual Property and Copywrite Protection" as well as "Security Considerations"
Think I'm paranoid?
Maybe, but here's a couple quick comparisons:
1600AD: All one has to do is cry " Witch!!" and the accused was immediately persecuted.
2003AD: All one has to say is "MP3 Pirate!!!" And that person is immediately subject to persecution.
1632AD: Galileo's The Dialogue Concerning the Chief World Systems was printed -- The ideas in this book leads to his arrest/trail/imprisonment
2001AD: Dmitry Sklyarov arrested for writing software that was alleged to violate the DMCA
Ironic ain't it
Now that presupposes that the decriminalisation of cannabis will lead to increased drug exporting. On the contrary, I personally expect that it will increase tourism. Why would someone risk getting arrested for transporting pot across the border when they could simply smoke it in Canada?
Walters said a flood of Canadian pot moving south becomes an American problem, meaning increased border patrols.
Increased border patrols? Moreso than they already are, what with the terrorist attacks and general threats that the US always seems to be coming up with, I don't see how they could increase border patrols, or even security at border crossings!
If we were sending toxic substances to your young people, you would be and should be upset.
Now this begs the point be made of what a toxic substance is. THC bonds naturally to receptors found in the brain--a perfect fit. Other drugs (the more 'serious' drugs) do not fit perfectly with the genetic structure of the human body, but pot does.
If the American government wants to, they can certainly exert pressure on other governments into changing their laws
Again, this is untrue. When was the last time that Canada changed their laws, simply because the US wanted them to? Canada is a free country and our Government (which, unlike the Bush administration was elected) is fully able to hold their own in any battle with the US government. Right now International sentiment is against the US, particularly the Bush administration, and I don't think that the US gov't has any effect on Canadian laws, be it either digital media laws or drug laws.
In order to be immortal you must be organize