Slashdot Mirror
New RIAA/MPAA "Customary Historic Use" Plan
Random_Transit writes "Ars Technica is reporting that the EFF has dug up plans by the RIAA/MPAA to stifle the consumer electronics market by replacing it's "fair use" policy with something called "Customary Historic Use". This new policy would effectively keep anyone from inventing any new type of media device without the RIAA/MPAA's say-so."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Great, this is what I want to see from the RIAA. The more they restrict how people can use their commercial crap, the more encourage independants who'll value their listeners.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
This isn't even in the same realm, is it? That's why I say one step...perhaps the better term would be "away" and not forward or backward. Our constitution doesn't cover the issue of fair use rights as far as I'm aware, but shouldn't legal precedent prevent anything this insane from being upheld on challenge?
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
"At the height of their cultural power, the samurai were authorized to kill peasants for an insane number of reasons, including 'acting in an other than expected manner.' So look on the bright side: at least we don't live in feudal Japan... yet." haha
reminds me of the movie Tommy, where the disciples were made to wear earplugs, blindfolds and put corks in their mouths and told to play pinball... in the end, the disciples told him where to shove the cork...
we, the consumers, have the ultimate power... we can just stop buying or watching their crap... don't pirate it though, just don't buy it or subscribe to stations which force this on you...
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
I think we're seeing the stranglehold on music being shaken, but there will always be greedy bastards trying to pull one over. For now it's an arms race between legislative gaming ("them") and consumer education ("us"-ish). Sadly, consumer education isn't as easy as it sounds in a media based nation like the US. I personally have almost given up on spamming congresscritters. I'm afraid it's white noise to them by now. What worries me more than these individual battles is the signs of democracy being injured in the process. As a whole, we're not long-term fighting very much. We're putting out legal fires where/when/if we can.
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
"Customary Historic use" Something only a lawyer could come up with. Really, in 10 years everthing will be able to be downloaded relatively instantly and there ALWAYS will be rogue countries that will allow copyright infringement. Sites like Allmymp3.com will become a one stop shop for downloading media. Then, legislation will be introduced banning or making "unapproved" websites illegal to access. Heck, I would not even be surprised for the RIAA/MPAA to use whatever leftover version of the Patriot Act to stop people from downloading movies/music/media from "unapproved" countries in the guise of national security.
In a way, I don't blame the media companies for freaking out. In 10 years physical media will almost be on it's way out. You will see much more use of "keys" and "rights mangement" built into EVERYTHING. Valve's Steam network is a good example of things to come. I would go as far to suggest that there will be one world standard coming in the next 10 years for rights management. You won't be able to buy hardware that won't connect to the internet to verify the intergrated rights mangement.
The way they will get ya, is the "You can download -ANYTHING- now if you accept the new rights management built into everything." This sounds good, but the RIAA/MPAA are greedy a-holes as evidenced by the DIVX (the dvd player, not the codec) debacle; you won't own anything except limited rights that can always be revoked or blocked at any time. Let's say it's 2020 and you want to buy "A Clockwork Orange" only to find out it's blocked by your country for being subversive or obscene (like England did) Pretty much you will have no recourse, no bootlegs, no nuttin, except maybe that old dvd on ebay (if that has not been outlawed by reverse customary historic use).
I guess with the world going to a cashless society in less than 20 years, I can forsee an "all in one" digital rights card/chip that you carry around with you that will not only get you into the movie theater, but buy downloadable movies/games/music/books/etc. Find a chip/card too cumbersome to carry around? well don't worry the new ruler of europe, Anthony T. Christ, just decreed you must have a RFID chip implanted in you, for -ALL- Commerce and as a bonus will throw in digital rights mangement for free!
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed--if all records told the same tale--then the lie passed into history and became truth.
You will study a RIAA/MPAA approved course, work in a RIAA/MPAA approved media job and get your pension from a RIAA/MPAA approved company.
No lost 'clips' from the past - just one RIAA/MPAA view of the past - as they will have the only keys to all the press archives.
Political parties and families can be assured that all the bad stuff is locked away for good now.
No ghosts from the past to upset any political party 20-30 years on.
Images of young men and woman before the courts as minor officials will just not exist away as they move up the ladders of power.
Images of your now top leaders shaking hands with friendly dictators, giving testimony about arms deals or military excesses
will now all be encrypted.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Sorry, but the article refers to American trade associations. I live in a country (the UK) that used to rule a large part of the world, and be by far the most advanced in industry and technology. This is no longer true. If the US wants to go the same way, just keep on stifling innovation in this way. There's nothing to stop China, India, Sweden etc etc from innovating with complete freedom.
This is not intended to start a flamewar; I've been to the US and enjoyed it, and I'd be the first to defend all the good things that have come from America (despite the current administration).
Reread the article.
This legislation is written to prevent any new competition arising from the benefits of the electronic age.
If this legislation passes, there will be no such thing as independent ever again
the MAFIAA are afraid of losing power. The Internet weakens their position as artists can release their creativity directly to the users. Maybe they know they're fading away and are trying to lash out in panic to try and keep their position to some degree.
I remember the MAFIAA calling pirates 'Parasites who feed off of other people's creativity', which I thought was a cunning description of themselves.
'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' II Corinthians 5:7
Music and And Film Industry Associations, or short MAFIA.
Sounds a lot more appropriate.
Timo's Audio Software http://www.esseraudio.com
This is covered, which is part of what makes this so evil:
In other words, since analog capture could possibly lead to piracy, new devices will be required to not have analog outputs any more.
Sounds a lot like Directive 10-289 from Atlas Shrugged...
Circumcision is child abuse.
The slippery slope of government's renting of their monopoly on the use of force is being proven right here.
Copyright can't work anymore. I'd say up until 1995 or so, you had copyright laws that were degrading but still were enforceable. It can't be done. It is time for everyone who creates content to find new ways to market it.
My typical reply to "how?" is to move to live performances and tours -- with a push to sell official merchandise on top of it. Some other people in support of my No Copyright opinions have even thought up other great ways to promote art without copyright:
1. You can charge your fans for access to your studio creation time via the web.
2. You can record your live art performance real time, dump it to DVD and sell it to the fans that were at the performance.
3. You can get a job with a larger company and be a salaried artist.
4. You can contract out with local pubs to be a regular live performance artist.
5. You can tour, often, using your cheap/free CDs or free MP3s to promote your music syle.
6. You can play cheaply in order to promote your real job: teaching others to play an instrument.
Copyright has one intent: to enable the cartels to retain control of the distribution. There is no other use for copyright enforcement longer than 3 years. I even think that 24 months sounds too long for me.
I've been debating copyright in real life for 2 years now, and I'm working on opening No Copyright Studios in Chicago, IL this spring. If you have interest in beating down the RIAA, move away from the law that supports their cartel -- copyright. If you're a band, a painter, a web designer, a sculptor or any other artist, there are ways to sell your art face-to-face for a profit and skip turning over your rights to a cartel middleman.
Unless you're buying expensive dinners for them, or shuttling them around in your private jet or paying for travel to exotic locations, it's likely you're part of that pesky background noise your legislator's lobbyists are trying to shield them from. To them you're part of a well meaning but ultimately not very bright group of people called constituents who don't understand how things really get done.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/na tion/epaper/2006/01/01/a2a_bellsouth_0101.html
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
Some points:
1) Of all the music being made out there, the standard industry practice guarantees you'll only ever hear an insiginficant fraction of what's available, and most of that is successful because it sounds like something else. What you get is the tiniest sliver of what's possible. Most of the greatest music being made will never make it to your ears.
2) Until recently, music was a social activity (people used to be able to play instruments and entertain family and friends, for example, and they'd also leave the house at times to hear others make music). Take off the headphones.
3) Enroll in a music class. Pony up the bucks, take some lessons, learn some techniques, and -- gasp -- make some of your own music. Music is OK when it's a passive activity (listening), but nothing compares to being able to make your own.
Music is something you make, share, and become a part of. When it becomes something you buy (like cereal or beer), it's *always* going to be fettered by copyright laws, etc.
Take it back, make it your own.
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth
The record company visionaries are seeing the end of the road. In the past, you bought a record. Then an 8-track (only if you were hip). Then cassette. CD. Some moved to DVD, but many are getting mp3s' and the road is at an end. I don't need to move to the next latest-and-greatest way of listening to music. My imperfect transportable mp3 collection will follow me til the end of digital time without need to buy again.
Horns are really just a broken halo.
The purpose of these organizations is basically distribution & marketing. Groups accumulate power, only to see it fall away when they become irrelevant: East India Company, the Steel, Railroad and Telegraph industries, any number of nationalistic world powers (Portugal was once feared!), the Soviet Union, etc...
While I suppose people have been hoping for the media cabal to "kick off and shut the f*ck up" for 30 years, only in the current era is that a reasonable expectation.
Straight up supply and demand really. The spice will flow whether the RIAA/MPAA have a hand in it or not. Ironically, while demand is as great as ever, proposed legislation of this sort only drives supply to other channels. Generally speaking, consumers prefer not to be treated as criminals.
:: the general public is as disinterested in advanced art as ever
I'm kind of surprised it hasn't happened yet - IANAL, but these shitbags are clearly working a racketeering game.
Price fixing? yup.
Stifling competition? yup.
The list is long...
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
It may not be legal, but it sure is embedded deeply in our customs.
Would this legalize file sharing ? !
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."--Benjamin Franklin
The RIAA is the Recording Industry Association of America - it's basically what it says on the tin. A lobbying and management group that represents its record company members by bribe^H^H^H^H^Hlobbying the US government for new laws, and suing alleged copyright infringers of the RIAA members copyright for obscene damages. They are not a part of the US government, merely a corporate association.
Not all US record labels are members of the RIAA, though it often acts as if they are. Their list of members is rather lengthy, but they are largely sub-labels or labels for a particular favoured artist of the 4 big international companies - Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI group and Warner Music. These are the companies that control 85% of US music and 70% worldwide, and the RIAA is their mouthpiece in the US. They have other industry associations in other nations; the BPI is the equivalent in the UK, for example.
Remember, the RIAA itself is only acting on behalf of the big 4. They are the companies directly responsible for music DRM, retarding new music business methods and any technology that they don't control. If you wish to avoid purchasing music from these dinosaurs' stable of artists, use the RIAA radar to determine if the label on a particular CD is actually a RIAA member or truly an independant.
I haven't stopped buying music, I've just stopped buying it from the big 4. If we want music to survive in its current form, as opposed to windows-only DRM restricted versions backed up by permanent copyright, then only buy from true independent musicians and labels. For example, CDBaby.com is a big site for truly independant musicians, as is magnatune. As a bonus, you know most of the money you spend will go directly to the artists, rather than the tiny percentage they get when selling through the major RIAA member labels.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
True ... but taxes can be a form of oppression (probably the most common) with religious tyranny next on the list. Frequently both are simultaneously applied to a given population. Any way you look at it, one hell of a lot of people came to the New World to get away from what they considered "oppression" by their former government. Many took insane risks to do so: insane by our standards perhaps, but that's only because we take for granted that for which they were willing to risk everything.
... there isn't anywhere else. No new frontiers, no place to hide, no place to go for the chance of a better life. Unless we achieve some technological breakthroughs that open up space or the oceans for colonization on a massive scale there will continue to be no place to go.
But that's what frontiers have often been all about: society's disaffected seeing both opportunity, and the possibility of escape from tyranny and persecution. What concerns me is that when America, indeed Western civilization itself, reaches the point that many of us will want to go somewhere else is that, well
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Since it needs to be made into an analog signal, somewhere along the line it needs to be put to a speaker. From there, it can be tapped off the speaker or recorded with a microphone. They won't put DRM in microphones because of the danger factor (already covered numerous times on this site...).
"Plugging the Analog Hole" can't. In order for you to be able to hear/see it, it HAS to go through an analog hole they can't realistically plug.
It's all friggin' stupid and we need to just remove from office all the twits pushing this BS as it's a waste of taxpayer dollars, etc. to be even discussing this as a law in Congress.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Fair use is indeed a right, and has always been so. "Copyright" itself, is not in fact a right, but a restriction of publishing rights for any person other than the copyright holder. In fact, a true strict constructionist reading of the Constitution reveals quite clearly that anything not specifically restricted by either the Constitution or statute law is a right retained by the People. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has for some strange reason taken the stance that rights must be speciically enumerated in order to be protected...which is in clear violation of the text of the Constitution.
I agree with you to a point, ie, after digital, no need to go further. However, I don't see mp3 as the ultimate in digital. Soon enough, there will be something with far more fidelity and occupying far less space.
Why don't they stop publishing content altogether? Then nobody can steal it anymore, and the rest of us can go on with our lives. The independent stuff is a lot better anyway, and I'm happy to finance that by going to concerts.
Unlike in their paranoid delusions, everyone doesn't "pirate" their crap, I mean content, no I really mean crap. There has to be something more than blind greed here. I've been saying they want to use DRM to turn everything into a pay-per-view box. Pay to record or buy(I mean rent a limited license change/revokable at any time for any or no reason with no chance of a refund), then pay to watch and continue to pay to rewatch everytime you want play it again. And they'll probably want to ability to remotely delete any or all of your recordings. Will they ever learn that everyone don't download everything that's not free for free. Like most(I hope) people I pay for the content I have. I got a cheap usb tv card, after about an hour of recording the audio gets noticably off, fine when I'm also watching an can stop and restart the recording during the commercials and combine later. I've legaly recorded many dozens of TV eps this way. My DVD collection is over 150 disks, of course I'm inflating the number by including bonus disks and counting TV seasons by number of disks. Compared to my small pile of 19 CDs so you can see where my interest lies. I'm considering getting a TiVo to aid in the inital recording and for shows I'll want to watch once then delete, the re-encoding/compressing (yes I have a legal copy of DivX) can wait.
Instead of trying to ban all the fun new toys before they've been fully developed maybe they should encourage their developement so the price drops and everyone has one and downloading will stop because everyone can legally record things for their own personal time-shifting use. But that's just for stuff on tv.
F7 doesn't work, ignore spelling and grammar
Quoting directly from the linked article:
(b) permit customary historic use of broadcast content by consumers to the extent such use is consistent with applicable law;
Nowhere does it mention that the devices should be limited to customary historic use. It states that customary historic use should be permitted provided that it doesn't break nay applicable law. I'm not an *AA defender, but crying wolf over something that's not there does not help the fight against them. In this case, the ArsTechnica article simply states a line out of context (Notice how the same quote in the first paragraph of the story conveniently edits out the word 'permit' to completely change the tone of that line)
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Well, I could go to Washington, stand outside the office of my Congressmen, and try to talk to him every time he comes and goes. I don't think I would get too far with that idea, and the Secret Service/Capital Police might have a problem with it.
I could also try to start an organization in my congressional district and organize people, but then I have to come up with the funding and time to get my message out.
The problem isn't people. There are tons of people who care. But this type of thing, even if you care, generally doesn't rank too high on priorities because of things like work, family, education, and church (if one chooses to participate in that social organization). To add to this, the inflationary economic policy of the United States makes budgets tighter, so people have to work more to keep their lifestyle.
So in the end, my best bet end up being a boycott.
My Sysadmin Blog
The corporations keep getting more powerful, and the average Joe keeps losing more, and democracy is vanishing down the tubes. What do you do about it? File a lawsuit? Really. When an administration can torture and spy on you with impunity, what good is the rule of law going to do you?
The only thing that does any good whatsoever is to get together 5-10 friends, and go make a personal visit to your Congressman's office. Not Senators, mind you, since they all think they're little potentates and don't give a crap what you think. But House members can be influenced, especially by a motivated group of citizens in their district.
Why is that? Because in the eyes of a politician none of us is just one person. Rather, we're a node in a network of an average of 150 friends, family, and acquaintances. They piss you off, and you become a message repeater to that network telling them not to vote for that politician, which in turn could echo from each of those 150 people in your network to the 150 people in their individual networks. That sort of math adds up quickly. Sure, it could be no more than a person two or three hops removed from you saying, "Yeah, I heard that guy was a real dickhead." But you'd be surprised how many people vote based on such vague hearsay. Definitely enough to cost someone an election.
Then you throw in the possibility that you might be the niece of their biggest campaign contributor, or that you might be one of those people Malcolm Gladwell talks about who has a personal rolodex of 5,000 contacts, and suddenly the math takes off even faster. They don't know, so better for them to play it safe and not piss you off.
House members have a much smaller pool of constituents than Senators, so they're much more vulnerable to the math. For state and city elected officials, even more so.
And what happens if they do piss you off? You and your 5-10 friends make up a simple flyer, go out to the Walmart/supermarket/mall whatever for a couple hours on an weekend and hand them out like crazy. Guarantee you'll get action then. I did it with three friends for two hours on a Saturday outside a supermarket in Greenwich Village last year after a snotty state senator told us she wasn't going to support legislative reforms (like being required to actually vote) in Albany. Next day I got a nasty call from her Chief of Staff asking us what the f*ck we thought we were doing. Apparently they had gotten 2-300 phone calls from their constituents asking her to change her position. I asked her if I could quote the senator on that, and forward it to a friend at the Village Voice (a widely read paper in NY). I also said we were prepared to do the same every weekend until she changed her mind. We heard through the grapevine that the woman was so panicked that she complained to the chairman of the state party; the story pretty much reverberated throughout the state. Ultimately when the reforms came to a vote, she voted for them. 4 people, two hours, vote changed, reforms passed, worst legislature in country cleaned up.
You can make a difference, but complaining about it on Slashdot doesn't do anything. Writing letters to congressmen does make more of a difference than you think, but it's still not much. Small groups of people can make a big difference if you do it right. I'm no expert, but I've been through lots of experiences like the one above and have some idea about what works and what doesn't. Drop me a line at dakong27 at yahoo.com.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
I can't wait for these dinosaurs to kick off and shut the f*sk up.
People have been saying this for 30 years.
Actually, it's more like a century. Since the first recordings came out, there have been new technical advances in recording and playback equipment every few years. It's hard to find a single advance that didn't get this reaction from the companies making money from the older technology. Almost always, they try to ban the sale of new equipment to anyone except themselves. The idea of a government-enforced monopoly is nothing new, and that's what this proposed law really is.
Hollywood came into existence basically as a way of fighting Edison's controls. At the time, travel and communication were sufficiently slow that operations in California couldn't be controlled from the East Coast. If you set up shop there, you could produce something and make a bundle from it before the Big Guys could stomp on you, and you'd have the money to fight them. This helped turn California into the powerhouse that it is today.
The current rearguard action against new technology by big American corporations is only forcing innovation to move to places outside the reach of American law and its enforcers.
(BTW, there is some really good music being produced outside the US, often in countries that most Americans couldn't find on a map. Check it out.)
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
The DMCA already does this.
I have a modded xbox. This is illegal under the DMCA, but it plays every format, open or closed. This would have been available as a cheap set top box under every manufacturer if the DMCA were not there giving these greedy ****s complete regulatory control over the consumer electronics industries.
Why do they need this law, and why do we need to oppose it? after all, these jerkoffs in hollywood already have complete regulatory control over all devices used to access their releases, and after the transition to HDTV will have complete regulatory control over all devices used to access tv (and don't say the broadcast flag is dead.. cable has rules stricter than the flag and has an 80% market penetration in the US). So exactly how does this make things worse than they already are.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
If I read it right, it's more like walking being banned because it's not customary historic use of a car*.
*Available from all major auto dealers, starting at $10,000.
Some of provisions cited in TFA sound like they could affect people's ability to play and record their own original compositions, even if there was no connection to any of the major record labels at all!
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Woot, then you have a crappy analog copy of commercial shit. Nicer than nothing, but that commercial shit is going to get worse and worse as the world's big publishers use this legislation to eliminate their competitors. Moreover, I don't even think you will be able to make that crappy copy for yourself long if the RIAA gets it's way. The analog plug will work to drive up your costs and prevent you from co-operating legally to get around the obstacles thrown in your way.
Don't you think the RIAA would love to return to the days when only experts with expensive equipment could make recordings? That's what this is really about. The proposed legislation would ban recording devices that don't respect the broadcast flag. This essentially bans general purpose recording devices.
If you think you can get around it with all the cheap, high quality sound cards you have today and free software, forget it. Sure, you will be able to do what you do as long as your equipment works but that's not forever. Consider DeCSS and what will happen to distribution of free recording software if it is similarly outlawed. Overnight, Windoze and Apple update "their" software to outlaws general recording and all you are left with is a few "experts" who are able to do it. It will be very difficult for you to to compete because your software and hardware will remain frozen in time, while the "official" studios will get the latest and greatest for their royalties and obedience. "Consumers" like you and me will be able to edit quarter vga movies with 8 bit mono sound on non free platforms with more bugs than South Florida.
On the customer side, your stuff won't play. That's the other half of the lockdown. The vast majority of future audio equipment will refuse to listen to anything but "authorized" content. While there are easy ways around that, few people will bother because most just want their device to turn on and "work". Every playback device will be like a record store is today: All RIAA or nothing.
The industry thought long and hard about this and their proposed legislation will give them what they want. That's to extend their early 20th century domination of popular culture forever.
All of the above applies the same way for video as well. The only difference between the two is that video is already horribly locked down and may never be liberated. The primary difficulty in making a free movie editor is not that video is hard to do, it's that non-free containers dominate. There's a raft of secrets and patents between you and free movie editing that you can share with your family and friends. The same tricks and more can be applied to audio.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
And why We* invented .ogg.
Nothing stops electronics companies working at the behest of major multinational record labels from wrapping Vorbis audio or even an entire Ogg stream in a digital restrictions management layer, except possibly the so-called analog hole.
My typical reply to "how?" is to move to live performances and tours
How would this work for people who produce music in the genres that are commonly called "electronic music"?
2. You can record your live art performance real time, dump it to DVD and sell it to the fans that were at the performance.
This is patented.
3. You can get a job with a larger company and be a salaried artist.
This is the record label business model.
4. You can contract out with local pubs to be a regular live performance artist.
And watch the bouncer tell most of your fans "Go away, you're not 21."
Several others in this thread have suggested that the parent should be modded "Funny." No way -- maybe it's a little exaggerated, but it's not entirely far-fetched.
... none of this is about protecting copyright. It's about controlling access and it always has been. One way or another, people will be able to copy digital content, and the RIAA/MPAA know it. They just want to make sure they remain the controllers of what you can do with it.
Listen folks: DMCA, DRM, DVD region-encoding, malware-laden music CDs,
The parent post's comparison to 1984 is entirely appropriate. The RIAA/MPAA wants to buy legislation to place itself in the role of Big Brother. Replacing "Fair Use" with "Customary Historical Use" is part of the plan: in order to change the way the consumer thinks about her rights, you have to change the way she talks about them. Big Brother has increased our rights from "Fair Use" to "Customary Historical Use". Praise Big Brother. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Knowledge. War is Peace.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.