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Analog Hole Legislation Formally Introduced
phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica is covering a recent bit of legislation introduced to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this past week. The laws would seek to close the 'Analog Hole' that serves as a sort of last-ditch pirating mechanism when corporate DRM goes all crazy and tramples on your fair-use rights: 'Calling the ability to convert analog video content to a digital format a significant technical weakness in content protection, H.R. 4569 would require all consumer electronics video devices manufactured more than 12 months after the DTCSA is passed to be able to detect and obey a rights signaling system that would be used to limit how content is viewed and used. That rights signaling system would consist of two DRM technologies, Video Encoded Invisible Light (VEIL) and Content Generation Management System--Analog (CGMS-A), which would be embedded in broadcasts and other analog video content.'" We've previously covered this bill.
... but I think the whole A.Hole joke was covered in the previous slashdot article about the legislation ;)
Calling the ability to convert analog video content to a digital format a "significant technical weakness in content protection,"
I'm keen to see how these technically-inclined *ahem* folks intend to remove the digital-analog conversion: to the very best of my knowledge our eyes and ears are analog devices.
H.R. 4569 would require all consumer electronics video devices manufactured more than 12 months after the DTCSA is passed to be able to detect and obey a "rights signaling system" that would be used to limit how content is viewed and used.
I foresee a frenzy of electronics sales around ($DATE + 11_months).
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
They still can't prevent me from watching the film and telling people what happens...but I'm sure the MPAA is currently bribing a senator to sponsor the Psycho-Implant Motion Pictures Erased Digitally (PIMPED) bill.
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
I predict a sudden upsurge in the sales of old video hardware on ebay.
So, given a pile of cash - how does this stop the Appropriately-Motivated-Bad-Guy(tm) from building his own damn equipment?
meh
This isn't bad because it limits freedom or any such nonsense. That's a lot of hot air blown by zealots with lots more free time than brain cells.
This is bad legislation because it attempts to force certain types of technology into existence. While a government program designed to discourage people from engaging in media piracy would be a good thing, mandating that all devices have this built in is simply a way to skirt the issue while appearing to be tackling the problem.
Such a law does not stop what it is intended to stop. Pirates will still be able to break the encryption, replicate the media, and resell it on the open street in lands far away from where American law can reach. This law is useless anywhere other than America.
What you get, instead of stopping piracy, is a mandated standard form of copy encryption and DRM that may or may not be adequate for everyone's needs. Instead of letting the market figure out what forms of DRM will be used, the government decides that it's items A, B, and C that need to be addressed. Nevermind that in the future item B may no longer be useful and item D is not provided for at all.
It's unfortunate that the respectable John Conyers (D) is drafting this bill. I would have expected more from the gentleman.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
They just couldn't keep up and I am sure now they will stop pirating since this law was introduced.
Pirates always follow the law.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Just a definition, from the American Heritage Dictionary:
Fascism is a system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.
For all you Bush-haters, this is not a rant about Bush, because he has zero power to pass laws. This is about members of both major parties in Congress, who regularly put aside their differences to expand the state-granted power of privileged businesses at the direct expense of our rights. This is fascism, by definition, yet we keep saying, "Thank you sir; may I have another?"
The problem is that politicians need pander to voters only on two or three issues, and then are free to do whatever is most profitable to them on all other issues. You might even be able to make the argument that the "major" issues we hear Congress critters rant about (the war, social security, the war, taxes, the war) are simply a smokescreen for the corruption, because it keeps our rights off most peoples' radars.
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... Does that mean that if you have a piece of hardware that was created before the new legislation you don't have anything to worry about?
Xserv
"I love lamp."
Yet another piece of legislation that will do nothing to stop the real pirates! Indeed, as *AA imposes more and more restrictions, inconveniences, and expense upon consumers, they will make the cheaper and relatively hassle free offerings of pirates even more compelling. It's been argued before, but it seems all too clear that the most effective way to combat piracy is to offer a better product at a reasonable price. But I guess some people just have to learn the hard way.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
This will stop people who actually want their fair use rights from making their own copies, but will do nothing to stop the people selling pirate copies on the street or the release groups putting the content on the net. I doubt there will be even a single day where releases are stopped because of this.
The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
Remember, Wisconsin and Michigan residents, these are your representatives. Unless you support the massive "content creation" in your area, you might want to drop these assholes a note:
http://www.house.gov/sensenbrenner/
http://www.house.gov/conyers/
Oh, and this is how they think on the subject:
Tell them why they are wrong.
So it applies to consumer electronics.
Not kits? How about components? Hardware hackers will be making money on the side selling stuff. Or maybe the Chinese will just make it and sell it.
Also, I remember how easy it was to mod a scanner in '93 to make it pick up cellphone signals -- just remove a single SMT resistor. This was the work of minutes. And voila -- full band reception.
So easily modded consumer goods (whatever that is) will be banned too.
This looks to be tough to enforce.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
Keep on making shitty movies and music that suck ass, and you'll kill all motivation to illegally copy them. This is the real solution, and the MP/RI-AA is a lot closer to it than they realize.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Far too few people will ever even hear about this because they're being constantly flooded with news about the war(s), upcoming elections, etc.
.... bliss?
What? Most people never even get around to watching this kind of programming. They're too busy watching some guy getting arrested for a shooting or a robbery... on the national news station.
The kind of programming you're talking about is becoming increasingly rare, and if this legislation and more like it gets passed, then it looks like you won't be able to record this stuff and watch it later. Ignorence is
May the Maths Be with you!
Someone will try to apply this to the internet to regulate what you read.
the ascreen you read is an analog hole for information, y'know.
I am trying to be sarcastic, but I can see how the trend line is going.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Not so much because these systems can be broken, but because it's yet another way to criminalise what you have the right for to do today. This combined with illegal evesdropping, data retention laws and other BS makes for the perfect toolset to turn each and every one of us into criminals.
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
From my point of view it is the principal that is the problem, not the implementation. Yes, the technical restrictions will be broken, but the fact that large corportations are able to purchase legislation that goes against what the (previously) law abiding public want as well as those who choose to break existing laws is extremely worrying. Copyright infringement is illegal, why introduce the DMCA's non-circumvention clause? If you're circumventing DRM in order to infringe copyright, there's a law to stop you already. If you're circumventing DRM for 'fair use' reasons then the law should be on your side. Same goes for the blank media tax that several countries now have - assume you're a criminal, charge you the money for a crime you may or may not commit. Hell, even the length of copyright is only appropriate to big business - most other professions don't continue paying for almost a century after your death, yet copyrights last that long even against the wishes of the original content creators (Happy Birthday, for a start).
Terminology descriptions for those that do not know or do not speak English natively:
legislation - conversation amongst lawmakers and people in power to perpetuate their power through making new laws (see circular reasoning)"Analog Hole" - Hole does not have particularly positive connotation,but the denotation is pretty benign. It just means a void, butsometimes a void is not good such as a hole in an argument (unlike circular reasoning). Analog means parallel or "old school" electronicsspeak where the signals are much more like the real world, especially interms of audio and video signals, but digital signals that are quantizedor algorithmically fuzzed encoded of analog signals is currentlyprefered because it is easier to manipulate with digital electronics andit has little to no signal loss when being transferred from one device to another. "Analog Hole" is a term used to increase the validity of end users' ability to copy material that is much easier to copy digitally except the people that "own" the data don't like people to copy it because it threatens their business model of profit of content distribution even though people are more than willing to distribute content for free or at a much lower price than the people that do it
now. This is a very similar job of those that do legislation.
"last-ditch pirating mechanism" - another term to increase the validity of end users' skill and ability to copy content without the permission
of the people that try to make a profit off of content distribution.
Pirate used to be associated with people that used to rob ships at sea.
For some reason, this is not much of an occupation despite the lack of
physical or legal protection of goods on ships. Pirates today are more
known for distributing digital content without the consent of those
that try to profit from distributing digital content. "last-ditch" is a
strange term meaning a desperate attempt to do something that has not
been successfully done through more conventional means (see last-resort)
DRM - aka Digital Rights Management. A funny term to describe a way
for those who try to make a profit from distributing digital content by
making it more difficult to distribute digital content (see eliptical
reasoning)
I hope this clears things up, and that it gets seen as a post on
slashdot.org because it is something that actually took time and effort
to think about so it will be placed lower in the ordered list of
quicker, less thought out posts of others.
It must be Tuesday, I could never get the hang of Tuesdays.
Don't ask why the formatting is weird.
The current laws don't seem to be stoping the traders. New laws from a slightly different angle will not help.
The analog hole will always exist as long as 'we' amature musicians can buy microphones and 'us' engineers can buy or design data aquisition hardware (MP3's are just data points). Can't wait to make my PIC based Analog to digital converter/recorder.
People who have more freedom than US citizens will not be affected.
No, I did not RTFA. Maybe I'll go back and do it now.
The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
"Encoded Video Invisible Light"?(EVIL)
"Video Invisible Light Encoded"?(VILE)
Doing This Can't Stop Anything
Distrustful Thieving Corporations' Self-Annihilation
Doesn't The Congress Seem Absurd
Such a law does not stop what it is intended to stop. Pirates will still be able to break the encryption, replicate the media, and resell it on the open street in lands far away from where American law can reach. This law is useless anywhere other than America.
.i.e. share. These restrictions, along with big warnings along the lines of "You cannot record this program", "you do not have permission...." "It is an offense..." etc, etc, all reinforce the idea in his head that a video or sound recording is not his/hers. It is still someone elses, despite copyright law and any monies he/she may have paid for the product.
This law is in no way designed to go after the big guys. It's all about the small fish and keeping them in check.
Essentially the TV and Movie industry is terriffied that what happened to the music industry will happen to them. I.e., people will stop viewing entertainment as a commodity. Or at the very least, people will realise that the prices they pay for it are unreasonable.
How does this law try to change that? Essentially it makes it more difficult for Joe Consumer to view his music, movies, films, tv shows, etc as something he can do what he likes with,
The movie industry is afraid of what's already happened. New technologies have made people realise that information is cheap, and even cheaper to duplicate. There is no justification for charging $20 per gigabyte when I can upload terrabytes for less than a dollar. And people have realised this. Even Joe sixpack cops it after a few days in front of his computer.
But, if you can legislate, you can slow this tide and perhaps even reverse it. It is possible. Rhetoric won't make people revolt. An example of this system failing, but having lasting effects, is alcohol prohibition in the 30's. An example of this system working well( for its proponents) is the illegalisation of marijuana.
May the Maths Be with you!
The only real solution: copy-protect the actual audio output from the speakers, say by adding a high-energy ultrasonic screech which instantly obliterates all recording devices within hearing range.
This won't stop the professional pirates, who have ALWAYS been able to break any sort of crypto and produce clean DIGITAL copies, and who will ALWAYS be able to do so.
It won't stop the kiddiez from pirating stuff onto Kazaa or through BitTorrent. Maybe at first they'll have to produce the files through literally aiming a video camera at their monitor and using a stereo microphone for sound... but I seriously doubt it.
This bill won't do a goddamned thing. It's a waste of our lawmakers' time and energy.
With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
They will pass a law making it illegal to even watch or listen to it
[That should solve the problem]
Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
As reported by The Onion... http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43029
According to Reps. Sensenbrenner and Conyers, the legislation is absolutely necessary because of the dire threat PCs and the Internet pose to the content-creation industry's very livelihood. Apparently, it's not nimble enough to keep up with advances in technology.
Who cares whether an obsolete industrial business model can keep up? When cars came along, laws occasionally were enacted requiring a flag person to walk in front of them so as not to scare horses. Didn't last long. Now film and plastic are fighting for their lives. Their best "argument" from the customer's perspective is that everything will look amateurish if we put big content out of business. Please. Like Participant Productions is amateurish. Even amateurish-looking Blair Witch proved the value of story and cultural savvy. As Steve Jobs' old dream of everyone being able to make a film or music album and share it instantly with the world is realized, there will be way more great stories, song and art out there than there are today. Filtering mechanisms (review blogs and the like) are already getting great exposure for the good stuff. I even made a decent living for five years creating and selling non-copy-protected original art directly to fans online. People are making money, some of them quite a lot of money. Especially the "content industry," but they're afraid their long run of protected profit is over. So they try to keep the rest of us down, and end up looking more backward than those who wanted flags to warn the horsies.
Psst, people can put and get video and other media online, RIGHT NOW! Why wait for the current media giants to take over the new venue by hook, crook, and legislation?
So the analog-to-digital channel is denied -- big deal! How many times have I passed vendors in the NYC subway hawking copies of movies that have just been released in theatres in cheesy cases with obviously color-copied covers? As long as you can afford a digitial video camcorder, DVDs, and a burner, you can copy movies or TV or whatever. Who needs analog?
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
Last time this bill came up I said this, and I'll say it again.
I don't think the industry or anyone expects it to pass. I think they expect it to fail, and then they'll get a lesser, though still not acceptable, bill passed that does what the industry really wants.
Because let's be honest, all you're going to do with this bill is piss people off. You want to get people up in arms? Get between them and their TV. See how long you live.
Why do you think the digital TV transition, which was supposed to occur in just over a year, has now been pushed to 2009? The people in Washington don't want people to be able to point to them and say "THEY KILLED TV!"
Of course they want to keep the piracy at bay, however this doesn't hurt the pirates... they have the ability to crack, hack, and bypass to achieve their means. This simply hurts the fair use by non-techno-geeks.
Zanthor
Can't consumers make analogue to digital transfers pretty easily?
Complicated, silicon solutions aside, my father-in-law, who doesn't know how to send email, figured out how to digitize his old 8mm films on his own - point a digicam at the screen.
Last time I checked, I didn't have an organic usb port in the back of my head, so at some point the digital signals have to be converted to light and sound, and neither of them can be DRMd without making the whole system useless, because unless they are going to make home studios and digital cameras illegal they can't stop us from recording it.
When will they learn that DRM is a deterant not a solution? Not least of all, its an incentive to others, who break it 'because they can'.
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
I see the major sponsor is once again, Rep. Francis James Sensenbrenner, Jr. What is with people in Wisconsin that vote for this authoritarian leaning man ?
He is also pushing legislation again, the third time to force states to sign this Driver License Agreement through HR4437 which requires states to interlink motor vehicle databases not only within the US but with Canada & Mexico.
This arrogant man needs to be fired from his job !
We don't have any customers.
We have Theives that we treat like shit, While That pour money into our pockets.
We shouldn't be surprised at the way things are heading. In the analog days, natural limits were imposed on both corporations and customers, which now thanks for technology advancements are gone (i.e. perfect digital copy).
Digital Technology is just a world without set rules waiting for someone to set them. Corporations can program their way to dictatorship, but we can also program our way to freedom.
At the end, I think people will win since they are too many enthusiasts which will be willing to provide DRM free content as an opposition to the entertainment industry. In a global world, not only bad news come fast.
To say that I am predicting a societal and economic collapse of this scheme would be an understatement. But in the meantime crooks and thieves will bamboozle or bribe politicians to pass laws to "aid" this "transition", while stealing everything which is not nailed down in sight. The corporate thieves of course fully realizing the futility of this and only hoping that they can get rich syphoning off the vast river of wealth they have created flowing from the US to China (and then probably hoping to profit on the inevietable backlash, economic downturn and eventual re-alignment of economic forces)
If this gets passed, nobody outside the USA will want to buy American made hardware.
In terms of TVs and other consumer hardware, this might not hurt too much - it's all made by the Japanese and Koreans anyway. However, if this nonsense gets integrated into computer hardware, it would spell the end of any export sales for such equipment.
And as other posters have commented - it won't stop the dedicated.
A story, care of a very smart machinist: At my grandmother's funeral earlier this year in November, I had the opportunity to meet one of my father's schoolmates who stayed in his hometown. He's 60 now, and to me, he seemed plenty sharp. He was talking to my dad and another one of my dad's friends about the machining trade, and how they're having problems getting help, because American kids aren't getting into machining. The conversation shifted to the foundries he gets his castings from. He explained that when he started getting castings from Chinese foundries a few decades ago, they sucked. Shitty casts, weak alloys, etc. But sure enough, their quality eventually equalled home grown American casts for a fraction of the cost. Guess who went out of work? Same went for his machinist tools. They went from bring short lived, cast pieces of shit to forged, superior tools.
The moral or the story? The Chinese aren't stupid, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a goddamn fool to believe they will not surpass us if we continue down the road where no one can earn a living unless their job is management of some kind. Exporting all labor will turn us back into a country of farmers, once places such as India and China figure out they no longer need us to do their own thing. I almost don't want to have children simply because if I can't escape the United States, I wouldn't want to raise a child into the situation that we both know is about to happen.
Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
Fortunately, Rep. Boucher of VA is on the committee (Committee Members). Of the current members of the House, he has demonstrated that he "gets" it WRT fair use and DRM.
At least, there's a voice.
The little guy just ain't getting it, is he?
... as long as one proviso is added. In addition to requiring all consumer devices to honor the copyright protection system, the law must also require all consumer devices to honor all of the exceptions codified in current copyright law. In particular, devices need to detect and permit Fair Use as well as reproduction of content whose term of copyright protection has expired. The things that copyright law allows are just as important as the things it restricts, so if you're going to require device manufacturers to build devices that enforce the law, they need to enforce *all* of the law, not just most of it.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Anyone who seriously wants to record HDTV and has a modicum of technical knowledge can bypass all this cruft. Fast A/D converters on the RGB drivers and scan circuitry of an HDTV set plus some code to convert the raw voltages back into pixel data would do it. The same thing in the digital domain would work for LCD drive signals. VEIL, HDMI and other encryption systems will do bupkis to prevent recording at this level because it's directly at the point of display and that HAS to be unencrypted for himan beings to make sense of the visual and auditory data.
I'm really curious, what hardware is made in america these days?
OoooooKay Francis, go iron your Che Guevara t-shirt and relax.
This is nothing more than a move by the **AA to cling to an outdated business model at our expense. By "our" I mean consumers.
BTW, the taxation levels in Europe don't seem to be much higher than the US. I moved to Hamburg Germany just over a year ago and pay about the same taxes, (about 2% more), but a small fraction of the Health Insurance costs compared to the US. The care seems better and definitely more available here. At least in my experience with my doctor so far.
Also, the ability to pay for socialized medicine has little to do with taxes or affording a military. It has everything to do with government regulated Insurance and Drug Industries. Insurance companies make money in Germany too but not the Trillions that the US companies earn each year.
It basically comes down to greed and selfishness. Since I'm American I can say this. Your typical American doesn't give a shit about anything that doesn't effect their life directly.
Since my wife is German and I live here, I can say this. Europeans seem to generally have a greater sense of community are concerned about caring for everyone whether it effects them directly or not.
I also believe that's why the Feds can get things passed into law like the DMCA, outrageous copyright law, and completey inadequate patent law. Your average American doesn't copy DVDs or the latest episode of Desperate Housewives. Therefore, they probably couldn't care less about DRM law.
I've been suggesting this ever since learning about the encoded patterns that make dollar bills uncopyable.
I haven't had time to play with it yet, but I'd laugh pretty hard if people couldn't print hardcopy pictures of me wearing a certain shirt. (Oh man, my next drivers' license photo would be a fiasco. "I don't know *why* the printer spits out a purple page!")
"US House Judiciary Committee"
OK, so the people that could and should be pursuing articles of impeachment against President Bush for his illegal domestic wiretaps are instead spending their time whoring themselves out to the MPAA?
Maybe they should look into enforcing existing laws every once in a while instead of writing new and needless laws.
Here is a link:http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembershi p.aspx
Here is a list of names and states they represent..... If you care about this topic take the time to write them and let them know how stupid this is.
Hon. Hyde(R) Illinois, 6th
Hon. Coble(R) North Carolina, 6th
Hon. Smith(R) Texas, 21st
Hon. Gallegly(R) California, 24th
Hon. Goodlatte(R) Virginia, 6th
Hon. Chabot(R) Ohio, 1st
Hon. Lungren(R) California, 3rd
Hon. Jenkins(R) Tennessee, 1st
Hon. Cannon(R) Utah, 3rd
Hon. Bachus(R) Alabama, 6th
Hon. Inglis(R) South Carolina, 4th
Hon. Hostettler(R) Indiana, 8th
Hon. Green(R) Wisconsin, 8th
Hon. Keller(R) Florida, 8th
Hon. Issa(R) California, 49th
Hon. Flake(R) Arizona, 6th
Hon. Pence(R) Indiana, 6th
Hon. Forbes(R) Virginia, 4th
Hon. King(R) Iowa, 5th
Hon. Feeney(R) Florida, 24th
Hon. Franks(R) Arizona, 2nd
Hon. Gohmert(R) Texas, 1st
Hon. Berman(D) California, 28th
Hon. Boucher(D) Virginia, 9th
Hon. Nadler(D) New York, 8th
"(I) have this unfortunate condition that causes me not to believe a single thing any politician says when a mic's on.
Damn slashdot filter wouldn't let me finish the list... Here is the resti p.aspx
again this is from:http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembersh
Hon. Scott(D) Virginia, 3rd
Hon. Watt(D) North Carolina, 12th
Hon. Lofgren(D) California, 16th
Hon. Jackson Lee(D) Texas, 18th
Hon. Waters(D) California, 35th
Hon. Meehan(D) Massachusetts, 5th
Hon. Delahunt(D) Massachusetts, 10th
Hon. Wexler(D) Florida, 19th
Hon. Weiner(D) New York, 9th
Hon. Schiff(D) California, 29th
Hon. Sánchez(D) California, 39th
Hon. Van Hollen(D) Maryland, 8th
Hon. Wasserman Schultz(D) Florida, 20th
"(I) have this unfortunate condition that causes me not to believe a single thing any politician says when a mic's on.
I create a movie. I licence it under Creative Commons licensing. I want it to be free to the public.
Since the "analog hole" will now be closed, does this also mean that whatever I release be DRMed in some way to prevent analog copying?
I'm releasing my work that I own the copyright to in analog and digital form specifically to be copied, downloaded, recorded and shared. Does this make me, the copyright holder a criminal?
How long will it be before the creation of [enter type of digital content here] be specifically licenced?
- something to think about.
- Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
Wait! I have it! A solution! Let's just put DRM in the Transistors, Capacitors, Resistors and possibly even the Wires themselves!
So, a transistor will have the normal 3 pins, plus 3 to 6 extra pins for the DRM!
A Capacitor, normally two pins, will need 4 extra to ensure it's only operating within its designated range.
A normal wire, once DRM enhanced, could have 2 extra conductors to insure its compliance with DRM approved resistance and impedence factors.
Once every transistor in an LCD panel is made safe by DRM, then we will have peace in the middle east.
that entertainment will slip out from the big companies' hands. Suddenly people will start producing creative-commons TV shows, and broadcast them over the internet.
Plus, there is a tiny detail these companies have forgotten: They can't lobby other countries. Try passing a law that forbids analog recording in Venezuela, Argentina, Indonesia or Hong Kong (not to mention the great dragon).
What will happen when the average american finds himself at disadvantage with other countries?
If TV companies insist on closing the doors to their own viewers, suddenly they'll realize they only locked themselves out.
Smart move, really.
Funny enough, that sort of thing isn't reserved to just cheap knockoffs. Take, for example, the Yamaha S2500. That's Yamaha's top of the line DVD player. MSRP is $750, street price is probably around $500. Ultra high-end components, DVD Audio playback, etc, etc. Ultra high end in other words. However, a brief search on the net reveals that it has a region hack built in. Just enter some codes on the remote, and like magic, no region lock.
I mean, who makes ADCs? I can think of four companies:
Texas Instruments (usually under the name Burr-Brown), Analog Devices, Cirrus Logic, and Asahi Kasei (AKM in the US). Of those, three are US firms, one is Japanese.
Now those may not be the only companies, but if you look at the hardware you own, I bet you find all of it uses converters from one of those four sources. If they all get on board with something like this, could be real hard to find a non-DRM source.
I sense a bit of Tivo-envy on the part of the **AAs. Heck, Tivo is the only way many people have even seen many of these shows. Tivo has been a promoter of shows, in a way not entirely dissimilar from the original incarnation of Napster did for CDs.
If I can't catch important individual shows in a series that I was duped into watching in the first place by carefully edited teasers, then I probably won't watch the show at all. More time for me. I feel my brain rot healing already.
Soon the **AAs will discover that analog holes exist in books, music instruments, and live stages. Hmmm... can't have entertainment that isn't copy-protected. Maybe movie and music reviews will have to be controlled, too... they're contributing to the decline of DVD and CD sales.
>And thus Hollywood is protected against independent filmmakers able to make good movies on the cheap
>entering their market.
Here's the real clincher, and if I were giving the MPAA types high credit for brains, this is what I'd peg as the real reason for the legislation. Instead, they produce so much CRAP that they don't deserve the credit for thinking this cleverly. So I suspect they're asking for what they really want, for the reason they really gave.
The real issue, according to the US Constitution:
To promote invention and the arts, artists and inventors are granted limited exclusive rights to their works. Most of us think that the purpose of this is twofold. First, to get them funding so they can keep inventing or artisting. Second, the patent/copyright was supposed to expire, so future inventors/artists can build on that work. So the real issue in the entire current copyright brouhaha should be how do we insure that artists are properly compensated so they can keep creating.
At the base of all of this, electronic communications, as embodied by the Internet, has turned the concept of publication on its ear. It has reduced the incremental cost of copying information to zero. Yet we still have publication industries in place, trying desperately to preserve their existence. So in an Orwellian turn, these publication industries, especially ??AA, are spending an incredible amount of time *preventing* publication. In truth, the "replication" portion of the publication industry is pretty well obsolete, leaving the "studio," "editorial," "promotional," and other such functions. Well, even the "studio" function is diminshed as electronics makes many of those capabilities much more affordable. One could argue about the fine line between "promotional" and "payola", and one could also argue, given the quality of today's media about how well they're doing with "editorial."
But this is ALL about protecting a business model. Last I knew, there was no protection in the Constitution for business models. It just needs to be exposed as this.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
I'll bet it goes nice with my tin foil hat!
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
...says
From the actual dictionary:
Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.
That's not quite the same thing, is it? Did you, per chance, think you could just slip through a random definition (blatantly made up); throw a few (admittedly largely well deserved) insults, and get some instant "Karma".
Well, I guess you succeeded in getting the "Karma".
--- My dad's political betting
I sell thousands of products from major manufacturers (ABB, Tyco, Flowserve, and others). Every single one of my manufacturer's gets castings and machined parts from China. I deal in heavy industry-type items. Valves, piping, pumps, etc.
The parent post is dead-on. Back in the early to mid-90's, the castings and machining was sub-par out of China. Nowadays, that is NOT the case. The products coming from China are excellent. World-class, in fact. And guess who's jobs those used to be? Yep. Americans.
Apparently, it's a hard sell to say "I am worth $50/hour", when the company can go to China and pay much less -- with the same quality. Go figure.
The only downside is the delivery times. It takes time to get that stuff in from China and as such, the JIT (just in time) model, blows up. But who cares if you can sell it at 40% less than it takes to make it here stateside.
The original poster and everyone commenting that i can see missed the best part. The bill limits you to a grand generous total of 90 mins of timeshifting.
Quote from original article:
"And this bill is ridiculously hard on timeshifting. Section 201 (b) (1) of the DTCSA gives you all of 90 minutes from the initial reception of a "unit of content" to watch your recordings. Heaven forbid you get a long phone call or an unscheduled visit from a neighbor when you're engaged in some delayed viewing--once that 90-minute window closes you're out of luck until the next broadcast."
Calling the ability to convert analog video content to a digital format a "significant technical weakness in content protection,"
In other news, calling "the ability to choose not to watch crappy movies" a "signifficant weakness in our buisness model", the **AA are calling for critical thinking to be outlawed.
How did they find time to put this into committee and not time to file orders of impeachment for our government spying on its citizens without court supervision.
This is gonna be one hell of a New Year.
Can you imagine...
Creating a bunch of devices that emit the "Do Not Copy" signal cheaply, battery powered... Now place this device in front of your favourite landmark. In fact, place them wherever you want!
All of a sudden, people are unable to take pictures of it.
Now, take one of these devices to a press conference. The TV cameras won't be able to cover it!
I forsee a lot of warranty returns if that happens.
Still, might be good for individual privacy. Can you imagine carrying one of them and security cameras not being allowed to record your presence?
Awesome!
Instead of trying to wring a cheap laugh out of the situation, you might hop on over to http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembership.asp x and see if your Congressman sits on the Judiciary Committee where this has been introduced.
/dev/null
If so, write them a note voicing your displeasure with H.R. 4569. If not, write to YOUR representative (http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Be tactful. Be succint. Don't be a flaming jerkass. Here's what I sent to my representative...feel free to plagiarize:
Mr. Carter,
I am aware that you are not a sitting member of the Judiciary Committee, but I am writing you in the hopes that you will discuss upcoming legislation with fellow Texas representatives Lamar Smith, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Louie Gohmert.
It has recently come to my attention that the House Judiciary Chairman has introduced a bill (H.R. 4569) into committee that embodies, in my opinion, an appalling attempt by a private industry to subvert the legislative process in order to protect its archaic business model.
As I'm sure you're well aware, the United States Congress exists to serve the liberty and security of its citizens, and not to guarantee the existence of any public corporation or private industry against the winds of change and innovation. Legislation such as this proposed "Digital Transition Content Security Act of 2005" is not crafted with the interest of the American consumer in mind, but rather with the intent to protect an existing content delivery and distribution model by criminalizing techonological innovations in this digital era.
An Act such as this one effectively deprives American consumers of their Fair Use rights as provided under existing U.S. intellectual property laws, and by extension, damages our economic stability by stifling the innovative forces that have kept America at the forefront of technological development. Furthermore, forcing U.S. manufacturers to adopt specific technology into all of their products places them at a distinct economic disadvantage in the world marketplace, and this country can ill afford the further loss of exportable goods.
Please do not be misled by the entertainment industry contentions that they are "losing" millions of dollars in revenue annually due to digital copyright infringements. Any first-year college student with a logic course on his transcript knows this is a fallacy of the most obvious variety. One cannot substantiate the presumption that every "pirated" copy of a protected work necessarily translates to the "loss" of one retail sale. One honestly cannot even translate it to the loss of one potential sale. It doesn't take an MBA to realize that the industry's claim of "lost revenue" is truly nothing more than "potential, unrealized revenue possibilities." That is to say, they display a best-case sales scenario and blame digital piracy for the shortfall that reality presents.
I urge you to voice your disapproval for H.R. 4569 to your fellow Texas legislators on the Judiciary Committee. This bill does NOT represent the interests of the citizens of Texas, nor of the U.S.A. as a whole. A vote for this bill would be a vote against the Fair Use rights of the taxpaying people of this economy and a vote against the spirit of innovation that made this great nation the undisputed superpower in the world today. I place my trust in you, and know that you will make the best decision in the present and future interests of the *people* whom you represent by voting down such special interest legislation as H.R. 4569.
Respectfully,
[real name omitted]
Comments and criticism welcome, flames redirected to
Nature of the right-wing is leave it to the people.
Except for the Patriot Act, gay marriage and "indecency on the airwaves". On the last one, sure there's Liberman and Hillary, but 1) those two are right wing, and 2) are vastly outnumbered by luddites even farther to the right than they are.
Republicans tax and regulate things they don't like, just like Democrats. But at least Democrats generally aren't two-faced hypocrites about it.