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Senator Pushes Bill To Limit Anti-Copying Schemes
Brushfireb writes "Republican Sen. Sam Brownback is pushing a bill that will limit the ability of record labels, movie studios and others to use anticopying technology on their products. Most notably, this is important because it states that people will be able to resell their used DVDs, along with putting a concrete limit on this behavior of DRM/anticopying schemes by the RIAA and MPAA."
I tried 5.1-BETA2 on my Thinkpad and it wouldn't even install or run the generic kernel. I guess that's why they call it beta :)
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
The release schedule had this release planned for may 30, and the release of 5.1 set for June 5. Is it just me, or is 6 days between first release candidate and final release cutting it a bit fine? I know that 5.1 is not -STABLE (which is why I'm using 4.8, and looking forward to 5.2), but even so...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
It is official; Netcraft now confirms: *BSD is growing
One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Windows community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has risen yet again, now up to more than 30 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has gained more market share , this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is sending other OSes into complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by topping the charts in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Daemon to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a long and prosperous future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Windows Server because *BSD is growing. Things are looking very good for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to gain market share. Red ink flows from Redmond like a river of blood.
FreeBSD is the most loved of them all, having gained 93% more core developers. The sudden and pleasant release of the long developed 5.0 only serves to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is growing.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 70000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 70000/5 = 14000 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 7000 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (70000+14000+7000)*4 = 364000 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the release of OSX, cool new technologies and so on, FreeBSD is expanding into more desktops than ever. FreeBSD has become more than the sum of its parts.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily gained in market share. *BSD is very powerful and its long term survival prospects are very bright. If Windows is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to improve. The progress achieved is nothing short of a miracle. For all practical purposes, *BSD is alive and kicking.
Fact: *BSD will kick your ass
For tradtitional reasons, it is still called the i386, even though by default it won't run on a real 80386. The source code is compatable, with either chip. (Except the SMP stuff, but that is off by default). Note that the option to compile for the 80386 is not compatable with the option to compile for the 80486 and latter chips. Those who wish to use a i386 have to go through some effort to make it work.
5.2 is due to have 3.3.something. 5.1 will still use 3.2.2.
Support for i386 was removed in order to reduce bloat of boot media and gain the advantage of a very useful instruction introduced in Intel's 486 chip. cmpchg or somesuch, feel free to search the mailing list archives if you're interested, the thread went on for a good month or more.
You can of course rebuild everything on your own and have it run on a 386, but personally I feel most anything prior to PentiumII is wasting more electricity than it's worth. Only places you'll find this is in embedded systems, and they're not directly supported by FreeBSD.
scott
A Elected Offical trying to protect consumers as opposed to corp. rights. what a nice idea
What groups are lobbying for this stuff? I can't imagine a politician pushing for stuff like this without someone with money lobbying for it.
After all, these days, politicians care more about compaign money than actually pleasing the people who do the real voting; enough compaign money, it doesn't matter how much of a bastard you are. ~,^
Seriously, tho, who are the backers of this bill?
The same senator is trying to push through a bill demanding that hell freezes over sometime in the near future. Sources say he has much more chance with the second one.
Perhaps with Rep. Rick Boucher's DMCRA bill in the House, maybe our government isn't being as shortsighted as they have been in the past. Maybe the rumblings of consumers (read, voters) will outweigh the cash in the pocket from the **AAs.
Mike
I am in total disbelief. Did they do a DNA check to make sure he isn't a replicant replacement?
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
Unfortunately, our congress has been known to pass bills that sound strong but are actually crippled. I am wondering how this bill will be crippled in conference comittee if passed. Hopefully the EFF's lobby can at least moderate the MPAA/RIAA lobbying machine.
I applaud the congressman for taking such a bold step. I guess it is time for the all of us to get out a pen and write some letters of support. Can everyone please write in support of this? We all know that email is mostly ignored, while they actually have to carry the weight of our letters.
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
I think this bill may actually be his more creative way of saying he will not run for another term.
"It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
It's about time for the Republicans to wake up and realize that they have so few friends in Hollywood that a scorched-earth policy on the entertainment industry is in order. It would be sweet to see the left coast starved of money.
This is extremely good news....
It's also our big chance. Take the time to write a polite letter, encouraging your Senators and Congressman to support this bill. Then print it out, sign it and MAIL it (that's right, snail mail!).
Things are still very early. There's plenty of time for it to die in committee, or be riddled with amendments (some irrelevant, some helpful, some counterproductive). Your job, if you care, is to express your support for this bill-- and those who support it.
If you're from Kansas, you should be especially supportive of Senator Brownback's position in this-- even if you disagree with him on other issues, you should take the time to publicly agree with him on IP reform.
This is a great first step. We need to remember that it isn't the only step, and there's work in here for us to do, too.
Forget DRM, the most important thing in this bill : requiring a judge's authorization to use the DMCA to shut down a website.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
These companies have a right to sell whatever product they want. If they want to make a DRM'd DVD that can only play in a special DVD player that is their right to do so. You do not have the right to force these companies to make the product that you want. You do have a right not to buy it.
Stuart Eichert
It's good to finally see a congress-person supporting what they feel is right rather than the opinion of whoever's giving them the most money.
Though this doesn't mean there won't be copy protection. It just means that if you download copy protected material, the DRM can't prevent you from moving it (copy&delete) to another computer.
There's also Zoe Lofgren's BALANCE act. I tend to be as cynical as the next guy when it comes to my expectations of Congress to watch the interests of consumers, but there are a handful of folks there who seem to get it.
Ultimately, whatever the lobbyists are pumping in, the one thing corporations don't have is the vote, and as consumers at large become aware of what's going on, I bet you will see more Congresspeople under pressure to come around to "our side".
Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
No, I am not a co-owner or anything, I just have never seen a store like this before, and the owner is truly righteous. They deserve all the praise they get (they are wildly popular amongst cubicle workers in the area).
Become an independent. Vote on the best person for the job as opposed to what the party (any) has already voted (primaries) for.
Why are you surprised? When the term "Hollywood liberal" refers to members and associates of the MPAA and RIAA, and the "D" before many congressmen's names refers to "Disney", I don't particularly perceive the Democrat party as one championing my rights to listen to the music I have purchased.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
Yeah, but is he? Is there an IMMINENT, PRESSING NEED for this law? Isn't there just a need for a warning label? I guess what I'm saying is that we should consider whether we should allow the government to just take away the right to copy-protect CD's without an imminent need. I mean, just becuase it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. I, for one, think that the US was not created to take away liberties without societal need, and here there's no need past a warning label to the extent of "this cd can't be copied. don't buy it" or some such. Allowing the government to take away rights just because it's popular is dangerous. See DMCA, Patriot Act. And it's expensive. Consider the small record label that wants to copy-protect its CD's, but can't afford a lawyer to appear before a judge. This isn't fair. There's no reason the government should regulate this beyond a label, the forces of the market should handle this.
Since when has this country used intellectual elite as a pejorative term?
his contributions to legislation
He seems to be quite good, and in many ways opposite certain cenators such as Hollings. (doesn't mean I think hes the greatest at all, but from our evolution-not-required state, certainly beats some states.)
Wait for sending out messages to random Congressfolk until the bill is submitted and has a number. If you contact your Senators or Rep to support a bill without a number, it's not going to reflect well on your position unless you have a relationship with them to begin with or know that they're so into the issue that they might sign on to cosponsor.
Hitting Sen. Brownback's website, there's no mention of this bill at all. My guess is that we're ahead of the curve on this. The work to do now is going to be more along the lines of organizing the effort to work this bill. It's going to take time and commitment (not to mention attention span). If the bill's not submitted yet, selected calls to the right senators can help collect cosponsors. After it's been submitted, it's a good idea to contact the committee staff and committee members of the appropriate committee (especially if they're from your state) to encourage their support in scheduling the bill for a hearing and their vote to report it out of committee. This process is slow and long (review "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock for a brief reminder).
It is good to contact Congressfolk to tell them what you want them to do. It's very good to be polite, succinct, and thoughtful in your presentation. It's very important to have the right message at the right time -- they get so much mail and email and phone comments every day that asking for their support for something that won't need their attention for months (or years) can seem to them an annoying waste of time.
Contacting Sen. Brownback's staff to thank them for this bill is a very good idea, especially for Kansans. Asking how you could help would also be a good idea.
Take care,
Blain
I'm from Kansas, and I actually voted for Brownback. He's a great guy...I recently send an email to all the politicans from Kansas regarding the Patriot Act. Brownback was the first one to respond...a few hours after I sent the email. He also followed up with a letter in the mail. I'm not suprised that he is pushing for this legislation.
"The DMCA was a carefully crafted compromise and balance struck by Congress." -- RIAA Fool (quote from article)
I spit the yogurt i was eating all over my keyboard when I read that one. It's funny and sad at the same time. Yes, it was a compromise all right. Between the RIAA and MPAA.... very carefully crafted and balanced indeed.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
We need to let the market drive the mechanism for backups, resale, time shifting, format shifting, etc. Otherwise, consumers lose because certain companies don't see a profit in making those things convenient. This bill attempts to substitute a government beaurocracy for market forces, which is inefficient and ineffective.
On the other hand, these items are all great:
I wouldn't support this particular bill because it's a band-aid when stiches are needed.
I used to be a narrator for bad mimes. (wright)
Copyright is so fundamental that it's clearly provided for in the U.S. Constitution. That document also talks about the reason for copyright. It's NOT to make more money for Disney. It's "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries". Specifically, in return for the legal protection of copyrights and patents for a limited time, the public is promised that these works will eventually become public property.
This legal concept is being completely perverted in two different ways, and there is an IMMINENT, PRESSING NEED to correct this. The first problem is, of course, that our own lawmakers are giving the special interests longer and longer extensions on these rights. Some have even openly stated an intention to continue to extend copyrights perpetually so that any current copyright would never expire. This needs to be stopped to prevent even further erosion of the constitution. The second is DRM technology. In extreme cases DRM technology can give the publisher so much control that it would be unreasonable to expect a work to ever pass into the public domain. Imagine for example a movie released only to a digital rights managed medium that can not be re-recorded and must be authorized by the publisher for every single viewing (and be confident that work is progressing towards this end). While such a company would enjoy all the protection of copyright laws (even the excesses of the DMCA), they might never pass their protected works on to public ownership, even if copyright extension creep is stopped. Even if they are still around when the copyright expires, there is no provision in the law that would compel them to activity take actions to turn over digital rights keys or other technology that could be needed to avail the public of their eventual ownership of previously protected works.
Look at patents - in this case a patent is granted in return for disclosure on how the invention works. You are not required to patent an invention. You could, for example, make some invention a trade secret, and never disclose it's secrets outside of your organization. In such a case others are free to try to invent it also, but if no one legitimately can duplicate your invention you might well have complete use of it for more than the term of a patent. But if you do want patent protection, you must disclose it so that it will be owned by the public after the patent expires in exchange for your exclusive patent monopoly for the term of the patent. DRM presents the danger that a corporation can get the legal protections of a copyright but also keep private the work as if it were a trade secret. The need to correct this problem is indeed IMMINENT and PRESSING now, before it becomes widespread.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
I'm against this law. I don't think we should have a bill that limits a company's ability to copy-protect its intellectual property. I also don't think we should have a law restricting a citizen's ability to break that copy-protection (DMCA) either. It ruins the whole sport of it.
Let's be honest. The one thing we all truly respect around here is hacking ability. And that's how this whole game used to (and should still) work. If you were hardcore enough to figure out a way to copy-protect your stuff so that people couldn't easily break it, you deserved to have your IP protected (remember when the first SimCity came out and it shipped with a purple and black page of codes that you couldn't photocopy? Good Stuff!). And if you were enough of a cracking stud to find the tiny, oddly-named file in which X-Wing hid its copy protection (or figured out how to decrypt a DVD), by God you deserved a free copy.
It was a delicate balance, but it worked! We the technologically-gifted were able to either crack stuff on our own or find people on BBS's that could, while the lamers who made fun of us at school kept the IP-producing companies rolling in dough by buying their products at Wal-Mart.
But now they've gone and ruined the game. Where's the fun in not being able to crack stuff, and where's the fun in not being able to wrap your IP in stuff for other people to crack?
This tagline is umop apisdn.
Copyright is a limited monopoly, both limited in time, and in extent (read: Fair use).
Copy prevention takes away both. Under the excuse of enforcing the rights granted by copyright law, they use it to leverage complete and utter control, something the law was never intended to do.
And the law makers fell for it with the DMCA, essentially granting both eternal copyright, the right to revoke a work out of existance, and to deny all fair use rights.
I, for one, think that the US was not created to take away liberties without societal need
I agree completely. So when you see that corporations have taken away the liberties of the Private Citizen using US law as a puppet, you work to restore those rights. Or did I completely misunderstand your subject line? Corporations have no interest in the public domain nor in fair use, those are your liberties. Protect them indeed.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Negative on that. It was once true that a published work had to be registered with the copyright office, and that the registration process involved submitting a number of copies of the work, at least one of which would find their way into the Library of Congress.
However, the Berne Convention, which all but a handful of the world's nations implelement, banned copyright registration for foreign authors so that the author did not have to go through the separate registration processes of hundreds of nations to secure international copyright. Rather, if one had a copyright in one's own signatory nation, one had copyright for at least life+50 years in all the signatories.
Of course, the logical next step is that if foreign author's don't have to register, why should domestics? And this step has been taken. Now, in most Berne nations, copyright is inherent in the work, meaning that it exists automaticaly from the moment of the work's creation, and no action is required to copyright a work.
But even in the early days, registration was only necessary for published works. While published works required registration and had a limited-term copyright, unpublished works automatically had a perpetual copyright (mainly as a protection against unauthorized publication). In fact, the Sonny Bono act can be said to have done one good thing in actually limiting the copyright term on unpublished works.
Yeah, I hope he can get Bill to remove that pesky Windows Activation scheme, it doesn't work anyway.
Money for nothing, pix for free
And I'm a Democrat. It's mostly because of his work trying to improve human rights in North Korea. For a glimpse at this see yesterdays Senate hearing on "Life in North Korea" at this URL.: rtsp://video.webcastcenter.com/srs_g2/foreign06050 3.rm
Now if we can only get him to fight for the "breaking the information blockade by dropping radios" idea.
See
http://www.freenorthkorea.net
North Korea can be freed without war.. Lets do it!
Okay, it's Friday, so I'll bite ... there's nothing new here.