Slashdot Mirror
DMCA-Alikes Sweep Europe
D4C5CE continues:
"Earlier implementations have been reported from Austria, Denmark, Greece and Italy.
Legal scholars consider the directive itself an invalid "monstrosity", and the German law unconstitutional. In fact, this legislation is viewed as so terribly awful that even from the U.S., the EFF tried to prevent it in a rare intervention overseas.
Declaring that the circumvention rather than the use of Copy Protection is a Crime, the German parliament threatens to make things even worse by adopting a "second stage" with further steps to impose DRM and additional levies later this year, but unsurprisingly, all of the issues that DMCA-style laws have become notorious for are already there: Overbreadth, overprotection of technical measures, and Chilling Effects aplenty.
Record companies eagerly awaiting this "lex Bertelsmann" have already caused ISPs to send out warning letters to P2P users for alleged copyright infringement, and are expected to take legal action against individual users of file-sharing networks, following in the footsteps of RIAA.
Confirming the fears expressed by Alan Cox on Slashdot, computer gurus will soon find no place left to go even on the European side of the pond, and the Free-X "Independence Day" XBox exploit posted by one brave German just in time before this dismal day may well have been one of the very last legal disclosures in this part of the world as well."
read up on it. there will come a time when your petty national law will be overridden by the unelected, unaccountable wto... and then the dmca might look good.
2 1337 4 u!
In the end it doesn't matter whether this or that member state of the EU adopts the law. Three years after the directive is adopted it is justiciable in the European Court of Justice and states which haven't implemented it in domestic law can be taken to court and their domestic courts have to follow the precedent set by the ECJ.
Italy isn't actually the most free country if it comes to news coverage. I think that the average Italian doesn't even know about the issue with Germany. Leaving them wondering why there are so little german tourists this year.
So, I'm pretty sure it isn't covered in Italy.
In Belgium I haven't heard of anything either. although blank cd prices went up a few months ago.
The EU Copyright Directive is not the only worry. EU is also considering IPR Enforcement Directive which would add even more DMCA-like protections to technical measures. IPR Enforcement Directive would also introduce a "conviction of shame": if you are found guilty of rights infringment you must publish the judgement in a publication chosen by the rights owner at your own cost. See a statement by Electronic Frontier Finland on the proposed directive.
(For what it is worth, the Finnish parliament did not pass the national implementation of the EU Copyright Directive.)
Oh there is coverage (Sweden) .. it's along the lines of: "There will be a new law that will make it illegal to decrypt satellite/cable TV you're not subscribing to" and such examples. Joe Public just goes "uh hum .. yeah .. well .. I guess that's good .. I will still keep on doing it".
.. it depends on if the courts read the exemptions as we do or not. I'm being negative about it, some are being positive.
No one is bringing up the _bad_ examples of what this law can do to you. The law hasn't been enacted in Sweden yet, but when it is I'll probably have to stop helping out in hacking the Xbox in various ways myself.
One note though: Some techies seem to think the Swedish version of this law could be quite lenient
it's in my head
and we give out billions of dollars each year to other countries for free.
..
Say what? Of all the developed countries you give out the _least_ amount of money compared to the BNP
it's in my head
Even tech literate Aussies don't seem to know this, but we already adopted our own DMCA-alike.
See here for details.
I am not currently living in Greece, but none of my friends there seem to be aware that the law has passed. I think it has received no coverage whatsoever. I also think that, whatever coverage it does receive would be positive in the sense of 'finally the rights of artists are protected against evil pirates' positive.
I miss my rubber keyboard.(Homepage)
flamebait (http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/gDefiniti on/0,294236,sid26_gci212128,00.html)
g ci213222,0.html)
On the Internet, flamebait is a "posting" or note on a Web site discussion forum, an online bulletin board, a Usenet newsgroup, or other public forum that is intended to elicit the extremely strong responses characteristic of flaming and active public discussions. To be effective, flamebait should be a bit subtle (but not too subtle) so that potential flamers will "take the bait." This term is similar to troll, which is an effort to get a reaction from readers but not necessarily for the purpose of eliciting flames.
Sometimes flamebait is used just to get a discussion started.
troll (http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_
As used on the Internet:
1) As a verb, the practice of trying to lure other Internet users into sending responses to carefully-designed incorrect statements or similar "bait." In a real example, a Usenet newsgroup contributor mentioned the discovery of an ancient African carving containing a list of prime numbers. The contributor further listed some of the prime numbers found and included some numbers that, in fact, are not prime numbers. Other contributors then sent serious replies, correcting the list of prime numbers cited.
Take your pick.
Ceterum censeo Microsoftem esse delendam
I am reading the proposal frm the swedish justice department right now - 600 pages whoooa - well I will weite an ansver since I represent 1 out of 104 officials reviewers of the law peoposal.
The review has to be in by middle of september wnd if it can't be stopped it will be law in Sweden at 1 of janurary 2004.
Just saying it like it are.
In the just concluded free trade negotiations between the US and Singapore, one of the sticking points (pun shamelessly lifted from countless news reports) was the so-called "Wrigley Clause":- the legalisation of sale of gum on "medical" grounds. Singapore, paranoid about its sparkingly clean and efficient subway doors getting stuck with bubble gum, had earlier banned the sale of gum in the island. (Note that it was always sale of gum, not gum per se; import of gum for personal consumption was never banned.)
Now, the ban, IMHO, is as short-sighted as it gets, but it was Singapore's choice, Singaporeans can ban whatever they want. Curiously enough, it turned out to be a stumbling block in the negotiations, which, apparently led to this creative loophole of "medically-sanctioned" gum. I mean, when was the last time a doctor prescribed bubble gum for you?
Then again, to put it in the larger perspective, Singapore lately has begun trying to loosen itself up in earnest, what with other restrictions being eased. Also, to clarify my position, I'm all for free trade; for sure, cities like Singapore, which have historically been entrepots, can only gain from FTA's.
But let's underscore a key subtext in all of this:- for all you know, this could very well be a dramatic demonstration of corporate America's lobbying power.
More than mere navel gazing.