Slashdot Mirror
The RIAA and French Button-Makers
Alien54 writes
"Requiring permission to innovate? Feeling entitled to search others' property? Getting the power to act like law enforcement in order to fine or arrest those who are taking part in activities that challenge your business model? Don't these all sound quite familiar? Centuries from now (hopefully much, much sooner), the actions of the RIAA, MPAA and others that match these of the weavers and button-makers of 17th century France will seem just as ridiculous."
Show 7hat *BSD has In aadition, Minutes. If that. users', BigAzz, in ratio of 5 to
Agreed. The button-makers seemed to cause more of a patent-style problem than copyright. But it has been a few hours since /. posted an article about **IA, so they needed to find something.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
I think you've got your turban wrapped around your head a little to tightly.
You're obviously a very frightened little person.
"regardless of the rights and protections that the citizens should have, including the right to the privacy of their own homes"
You have no such right if there is good evidence that you have broken the law. Saying "how dare you search my private home" when you have a hard drive full of torrented hollywood movies is just silly. That's no different to saying the same thing and having a living room full of stolen televisions.
Like it or not, breach of copyright *is* illegal (as it should be), and if you break the law, arguing about how you should be able to break it in private will not (and should not) get you anywhere.
you might want to look at a few other things too.
The American colonists refused to pay taxes levied by the authorities - a form of theft.
They then spread out across the continent, killing the natives and stealing their land, as well as anything else they could get their hands on.
They have broken every treaty and agreement they have entered into. Texas and Hawaii were both stolen from their rightful owners.
As you point out, they broke all copyright legislation (not only books) to pirate technology from Europe. (As a minor point of interest, try looking up the development of Depth Charges. The Brits invented them and brought a model over to show the Yanks during WW1. The US Navy promptly took the model down to the patent office and patented it for themselves.)
In fact, legal theft has been a standard feature of the US administration for years. Look at the arguments over radio invention, where first one inventor was granted a patent, then another.. in each case to supress any posibility of someone claiming due rights in the technology.
So I can't see why anyone complains over this issue in the US. You are all a nation of thieves and scoundrela anyway.