Slashdot Mirror
Senate Bill May Ban Streaming MP3s
Silverhammer writes "According to the EFF, a new Senate bill (S. 2644) sponsored by Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Graham (R-SC) would effectively ban streaming MP3 for licensed music by requireing 'casters to use the most restrictive streaming format available (e.g., Windows Media or Real) rather than simply the most restrictive features of a chosen streaming format (e.g., Shoutcast or streaming MP3)." From the article: "The PERFORM Act would ... requir[e] webcasters to use DRM that restricts the recording of webcasts. That means no more MP3 streams if you rely on the statutory license. Under the bill, the statutory license would only be available to a webcaster if: [114(d)(2)(C)(vi)] the transmitting entity takes no affirmative steps to authorize, enable, cause or induce the making of a copy or phonorecord by or for the transmission recipient and uses technology that is reasonably available, technologically feasible, and economically reasonable to prevent the making of copies or phonorecords embodying the transmission in whole or in part, except for reasonable recording as defined in this subsection."
This is nonenforcable.
I predict it to be about as successful as the war on drugs and the war on terrorism. I'm surprised we haven't yet had a war on piracy.
Question everything
A spirit of bipartisanship bridges the right and left in harmonious accord!
*puke*
I am sure that this bill originated among the "special interests" that make proprietary streaming music formats. It will take the "special interests" of those who want to hold onto the freedom to stream media in whatever format is best, to convince them otherwise.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
This is yet another reason for artists not to sign with the RIAA and its cronies. This will drive a more consumer oriented driven alternative to this crap. It's just a matter of time... som long as they keep doing stuff like this.
http://religiousfreaks.com/e.g., Windows Media or Real
;-)
This won't happen - the Mac community will never allow it... iPods 95% of the market, etc etc...
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Maybe some pseudo-DRM that ~prevents~ people from ~not~ sharing could be added to Ogg.
It could be the "copyleft" of DRM. Haha, just kidding.
random underscore blankspace at ya know hoo dot comedy.
again...this is like the ban on foie gras (fatty goose liver) in Chicago.
don't they have better and more important issues to work out instead of "PERFORM"-ing for their lobbying bedroom buddies?
heck...Canadian Artists are against DRM. link: http://www.musiccreators.ca/
in fact, govt should stay out of it....and it should be between the webcasters and the artists to hammer out a deal.
Congress is examining a new law aimed at prohibiting the pillow to the cool side, citing concerns from air-conditionner makers for reduced sales.
And how does this solve the problem?
Why are they spending tax dollars on this kind of crap legislation! Two ASS sentors who haven't a clue. If someone is playing something it can be recorded even with the most secure format ever invented! How? Easy, i can record what I fucking hear you twits.
;)
jesus i fucking hate california and the dumbasses who are in it, i need to move outa here back to the east coast, oh wait more dumbasses there too, midwest, fuck more dumbasses there too. Canada?! double dumbasses there! eh
In the words of Louis Black: "This is Congress doing the people's work. The people's stupid, stupid work.
Mplayer can dump Windows Media streams (and others!) just fine.
I think we need some sort of blacklist where we keep track of these politicians, and come election time, vote these n00bs out of office. What do you think?
... analog hole *ahem* ...
---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
...as an individual you have no rights what so ever. Our government has been taken over by the Corporate Lobby. He who has the deepest pockets gets the laws passed that they want passed. The average individual gets screwed, because he has no voice, and no way to influence ($$$$$$$) his elected officals. We the people get to vote to put him there, but after that the Corporations get to decide what that elected person actually decides on our behalf.
The dishonorable Sentator John "I am a Jackass" Kerry proved all this to me once. Thank God that Son of Satan didn't become President.
I wrote him a carefully worded letter expressing my opinions as someone whom he represents (BULLSHIT, he represents Disney, et al). I got a very nicely worded form letter in return which basically told me I could go to hell, and that the rights of the Corporations were far more important than mine to free speech and fair use.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
I'm an AOL sponsored NSV (nullsoft streaming video) station. The reason I ask "Where do I fit into this" is my station rides the grey line of copyright and licensed music... I broadcast people singing from a karaoke bar.
Our audio is broadcasted using ACCP, because the sound quality is fantastic. Let's say for a minute though, we decided to broadcast back into vp3 video and mp3 audio (so linux/macs could watch)
Is this really copyright infringement? Or are we semi protected by parody exemptions? Nearly %100 of karaoke music is reproduced backing tracks, made by the karaoke companies in their studios. Add in that 1/2 these folks couldn't carry a tune to save their lives, it's actually pretty funny and amusing to watch.
I'm only slightly worried, Feinstien sounds like she doesn't know WTF she's talking about. Add to that i've got AOL behind me, and she can kiss my ass. Seriously though, i'm riding a grey line of copyright here, anyone have any insights or thoughts?
--toq
This bill doesn't prevent just streaming mp3's. It prevents the streaming of any copyrighted material in a non-DRM package. So OGG would be stopped as well.
Question...would this stop me from streaming music over RDP from my house to work?
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
I wonder if theyre going to throw the TV station and MTV executives in jail, and the people who record the digitally streamed videos on their TiVos for violating this law because they include major label music without DRM?
I gots ta ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
...our politicians really have nothing better to do than to waste time on a bill that can't be enforced? There is no president to keep in line, no repeat-child-molester free due to a technicality loophole in the law? They couldn't stop piracy, and they're not going to stop this. So they may as well quit wasting tax dollars via their salaries, and instead do something worthwhile.
It's a girl!
Two ASS sentors who haven't a clue
They have a perfect clue of how much money they did pocket from the RIAA just before trying to get that stupid stuff in.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
50g per vote PST
Coding with assembly is like playing with Legos. Coding an application in assembly is like building a car with Legos.
So if this passed, you're saying all of my podcasts go bye bye? Well, at least the ones playing copyrighted music... And how does a podcast differ from a radio broadcast, exactly? I can record a radio show with no problems, but if it comes in via a podcast it's a big bad no no. I mean, obviously, people recording music off the radio has just KILLED the music industry...
That's right! DO NOT re-elect Senator USS Nimitz!
Don't just game, Dungeoneer
I'm not going to spout "Call your Congressional representative" because that dosen't any good. The solution is to register to vote and vote OUT anyone in D.C. that' over 40 years old (or don't own an iPod).
Any Slashdot readers willing to run for public office on the newly made-up 'Open Source Party' ticket? You know the one: Demands the return of personal freedoms, supports the repeal of the DMCA and requires public office to use open standards for public documents?
Oh, sorry. I was in Fantasyland for a second there. I live in the U.S.A.
- Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
When people say "special interests", they usually mean a relatively small set of people with a disproportionate amount of power for one reason or another. Sometimes it's because they have a whole lot of money to be used in campaign donations. Sometimes it's a group that one party or another feels beholden to (the religious right, Latinos, nationalists, labor) for ideological reasons, even where that group isn't necessarily a majority (or even the majority of the majority), where solidarity outweighs the group's overall interest.
Geographically, power in the US Congress is not evenly divided. Bills begin in committees; committee members (and especially chairs) have considerable ability to quash or modify bills. Amendments to bills are difficult to remove. Especially in some committees, a single Congressman can effectively hold an entire house of Congress to the special interests of his or her constituents.
A substantial rewrite of the rules of Congress might help, but they're not happening any time soon (because the present rules always benefit the party in power). So some "special interests" will continue to have more power than their voting numbers suggest, and so the term "special interest" will continue to have a pejorative connotation.
1. Develop a format even more restrictive than Realmedia and Windows Media, e.g. somekind of hardware-DRM scheme which forces people to hold their breath while listening to said format.
:)
2. Thanks to this law everyone has to use your format! Charge obscene amounts of money in royalties.
3. Profit!
Oops, forgot to ??? the second step, don't you dare steal my idea! And no, didn't RTFA.
There is in fact a difference between a "special interest" and the "public interest." A "special interest" works to get what good for their minority slice of society, whereas the "public interest" seeks to benefit the majority's interests.
This is not inherently a value judgement, though it often is as special interests often work at the expense of the majority's rights. The civil rights movement is a good counter-example of a special interest working for rights that do not negatively impact the majority's rights.
Consumer rights is not a special interest. It is clearly the public interest since we are all consumers.
I will say, that I've never been more disgusted with Dianne Feinstein right now. She's clearly putting the interests of her campaign funders above the interest of the public. I think she brings shame to the Democrats in an election year where the theme of the power of lobbying interests is a central strength for the party. Then again, Hollywood and the recording industry have been a big bribers of the Democrats long before they because bipartisan bribers.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Coming to you, from a country that has better problems than doing the bidding of the music industry.
Just a hunch: Could it be that a national law ain't worth jack in an international medium? So it's illegal in the US? Move to Mexico. Make it illegal there? Move to the EU. Make it illegal in the EU? Move to Russia. Make it illegal in Russia? Who cares?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Basically, it says you have to use this fantasy technology if it is "reasonably available, technologically feasible" and I say that any competent technician will tell you it's neither. This is like passing a law requiring that it may not rain on wednesdays: it's meaningless.
The story is covered HERE
Obviously, anyone who thinks more than 1 minute about this realizes that the government can't dictate which products should be used in a market.
Legislating which containers for content are lawful and which aren't is a bit silly. Seems akin to "If your DVD box doesn't have a lock on it, the you are in violation. DVD boxes without locks are illegal."
Perhaps are some point, our corporate society will realize that the digital domain is just too full of holes and backdoors to keep contained. They will keep trying, but technology is now evolving faster than they can keep up.
Please keep the names of these folks in mind when voting, folks. Money moves bills, but votes move them out (no promises about replacements).
Christ. You people just CAN'T leave Natalie Portman alone, can you?
+++ATH0
I have not RTFA, but here's a thought:
what if you added some "DRM" to Ogg to satisfy this?
Of course, it might not be very *good* DRM... something on the order of ROT-13?
Does the bill specify a particular DRM technique, or criteria it must satisfy? If not...
Everyone here's going OMG I can't stream mp3s on teh intarweb anymore, but the real reason for this legislation is to stifle satellite radio technology - specifically, the devices they are producing that allow a person to record the songs they hear on XM or Sirius (you know, same as terrestrial radio, where our right to record is actually ensconced in statute). But the RIAA, rather than comparing satellite and terrestrial radio, is comparing satellite radio to Internet streaming (and, by extension, Internet-based piracy).
/. article to the text of the bill as printed in the Congressional Record, and go to the next page. The RIAA's stance is plainly outlined there.
Of course, they're making moves against HD radio as well, as Senator Ferguson (R-NJ) has introduced legislation that would revoke the same rights granted to citizens as they apply to HD radio.
Just click on the link in the
This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
See? The Republican and the Democrats can work together. When it come to restricting our freedoms and increasing their own power, they will work as one. Oh, and it also shows that their similarities run much deeper than any differences they might have. In other words, they are the same. So let's not hear any of that garbage about how the Democrats respect your rights any better than the Republicans, ok?
What?
Just use Total Recorder
Total Recorder is a shim driver. Shim drivers don't work if your streaming station requires the Secure Audio Path, which works only on audio output drivers that have been signed by Microsoft as conforming to Windows Media Digital Restrictions Management rules. Drivers must turn off all cleartext digital outputs as a condition of getting signed; all unsigned drivers get silence. But ye still cannae stop the analog hole.
Does airtunes have DRM? Cause this would make it illegal if'n it don't.
A blog about stuff.
Non-major label music copyrights. Everything recorded or written is copyrighted, some people just choose to be dicks about enforcement.
A blog about stuff.
Here are her numbers:
DC: 202-224-3841
SF: 415-393-0707
LA: 310-914-7300
SD: 619-231-9712
Fresno: 559-485-7430
Or you can e-mail her here:
http://feinstein.senate.gov/email.htm
The US Department of Justice. And they better damn well enforce it in ever instance, otherwise the law could be seen as violating the Constitution's Equal Protection guarantee.
"Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
--- Jerry Garcia
T[he plaintiff in the case of a digital transmission to the public without DRM would be t]he US Department of Justice.
This bill (page 1 and page 2) makes no amendment to Title 18, United States Code, which defines crimes. It changes only Title 17, which defines copyrights. Specifically, this bill narrows section 114, which primarily makes exemptions to the exclusive rights under section 106. Therefore, in the case of a licensor and licensee who have agreed to a license under the exclusive rights of section 106 to transmit a work to the public without DRM, how would this bill make either party guilty of a crime or otherwise bring the DOJ into it?
And how does this solve the problem?
nobody has any ogg players so it's automatically the most restrictive.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
"The problem isn't the senators. It's the industries that *own* them"
Cut the oppressed masses bullshit. I bet you aren't even trying. You want an insight? You are a defeatist baby.
Do you know what? There isn't a bill like this that has ever been passed that couldn't have been defeated by each member of congress getting maybe a hundred hand written letters. Not form letters or emails, fricken hand written notes a page and a half a page long. Thats it. Maybe less. People don't know, don't show it or don't care. That's why bills like this get passed.
Just remember, to your local member of the house or senate, 1 handwritten letter equals at least 3,000 votes. People are so apathetic that it's probably about right too. It's even more effective for technical stuff like this because it's off the radar screen. No polls, no nothing. Just public reaction. Most congresspeople would have their minds changed if they were forced to face up to the fact that something as esoteric as this was pissing off so many voters. Even if they aren't just clueless, and are actually in the pockets of their contributors, it has to slide in under the radar if it's something unpopular. YOU JUST DON'T SIT THERE AND LET IT HAPPEN. It doesn't take much to let them know everyone knows what's up. Sadly, not even this happens.
Remember kids, congresspeople want keep their jobs, and all that matters is votes- otherwise why worry about campaign contributions? They get too much static after dealing with taxes, Iraq, entitlement programs, Jack Abramhoff and everything else to loose thousands of votes over a silly DRM bill that only 127 people in the media industry actually want.
Think about it- why are campaign contributions so important? 30 second TV ads. But here's the secret: they aren't really that effective. Not because people are savvy and ultra-informed of course, but because the population that is actually on the fence enough isn't very big. Still, this can often swing a close election. But then again, in that situation a couple thousand mad music lovers can too.
So, in short, anyone who complains about everything being fixed is part of the problem. The same atmosphere of apathy that amplifies the influence of corporate america also amplifies the influence of those who care enough to actually make their voices heard.
So stop your pathetic whining, get out an envelope, a stamp and a piece of paper and write a fricken letter. Try to sound informed, i.e. actually find out the name and number of the bill and have some idea about what's in it. Finally, make it known that you vote and you aren't going to let innovation and creativity be stifled and killed by the rotting dinasour carcass that is the media industry.