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Copyright Defeats?

Posted by Cliff on from the finding-the-silver-lining-in-numerous-black-clouds dept.

Uruk asks: "Over the last few years, we've seen what looks like the victory of copyright and business interest at the expense of the consumer. There's been The DMCA, the UCITA, all of the legal wranging over DeCSS, and so on. Copyright holders can even shut your website down without doing the research about whether or not it was appropriate. Johansen did seem to be acquited of some of what was brought against him as a result of the DeCSS situation, but that was in Norway. Does anyone know of any copyright or consumer victories on the net in the last few years? Something that limits the abilities of these laws, or otherwise acts in the copyright spirit of free use? My hat is off to GNU and EFF, even Project Gutenberg. What is the status of this ongoing battle? I'm looking for the sunny side to a situation that seems littered with defeat."

5 of 285 comments (clear)

  1. the DMCA by GoatPigSheep · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Maybe the US government should spend more time fixing the high unemployment, school-funding crisis, and widespread drug problem and less time helping rich hollywood hacks line their pockets with more dough.

    --
    GoatPigSheep, the 3 most important food groups
    1. Re:the DMCA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Don't be stupid:

      high unemployment == high crime rate == more jobs && easily controlled population
      drug problem == high crime rate == more jobs && easily controlled population
      school funding crisis == lower standard of education == easily controlled proletariat

      Why would they want to fix any of these things?

  2. Starbucks by stephanruby · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    While this is not really a copyright issue, now we're allowed to take pictures of Starbucks. Before this, most Starbucks managers used to politely ask you to put your camera away, and it's rumored that at least one stupid manager tried to confiscate the camera of someone who had taken the picture of a friend inside his Starbucks. http://emergentreport.com/dj/archives/000360.html

  3. Project Gutenberg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    Gutenberg can burn through near as much time as can Slashdot. Though so many of us are avid readers, probably too few of us take time to read the occasional classic; Gutenberg is well stocked, and with a selection of texts that will have you quoting circles around pretentious arts majors.

    Slashdot humor is more often more similar to humor of days past: word play, teasing, rabid character assassinations. Many of these classics are authored with the intent of communicating new found theory and thought- things that we'd like to think are right up our way.

    Beyond the intrinsic value of this sizable collection, reading texts that are in the public domain, thereby avoiding those that are not, is a most Excellent ***FINGER*** for the dip-shits who would deny us OUR rights to information that our ancestors would have rather have published for all.

    Progress requires that we build on prior works. If reading old literature helps get the message across that we've enough with excessive copyright... /me breaks into song.

  4. Martha Stewart by pommiekiwifruit · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Doesn't she make cake-mix or something?