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Germany Says Copying of DVDs, CDs Is Verboten
Billosaur writes "In what can only be seen as the opening salvo in an attempt to control what users can do with content, the German parliament has approved a controversial copyright law which will make it illegal to make copies of CDs and DVDs, even for personal use. The Bundesrat, the upper part of the German parliament, approved the legislation over the objections of consumer protection groups. The law is set to take effect in 2008, and covers CDs, DVDs, recordings from IPTV, and TV recordings." A few folks have noted that this story is incorrect. The original link seems to be down now anyway. Sorry.
i see noooothing, i hear nooothing !!
That gives you three months to make all the copies you're going to need.
I stole this sig from a more creative user.
The author does not report the facts. The law does not prohibit the copying of DVDs or CDs; it disallows the circumvention of anti-copying technologies like Macrovision et al., something that has been illegal in the US for a decade. The law specifically allows users to make backups of DVD and CD movies, software and music and other digital content for their own archives and to use/play on alternate devices (i.e., ripping movies to your hard drive to watch on a DVR or other device, ripping music to play on an ipod or other device, etc.). These specifically-named consumer rights are actually broader than those granted by law to American consumers. I am not sure what the author relied upon for his translation of the law, but I can assure you that it does nothing like what he suggests.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
You have a calling.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
When large companies find that their IT departments can not stage ISOs for enterprise-wide deployment, they are going to fight this law much more effectively than any music enthusiasts could.
with a CD/DVD purchase? It seems to me - a license to play the content, privately, for the lifetime of the physical medium.
The Raven
I remember the good ol' days when copying of DVDs and CDs was just farhfegnugen in Germany. Now it's verboten? Next thing you know it will be gesundheit!
Clearly German legislators are less expensive than those of many other nations! I'll keep that in mind when I need to buy a new law! :)
"I am not sure what the author relied upon for his translation of the law, but I can assure you that it does nothing like what he suggests."
It's called, pushing the hot buttons. And since few RTFA or anything deeper than that. It slips by easier and easier. Kind of the slashdot version of slipping an item into a bill just before voting and hoping no one will notice. And much like that the consequences are hard to get rid of.
Yes, your loving anarcho-capitalist, me, loudly pronounces his support of this great law.
It is my belief that the best way to get rid of government is to let it collapse on itself. We need more taxes, more laws, more regulations and more actions to be considered crimes -- at all levels of government. Not only would all this new legislation and income create a more massive bureaucracy that will just stifle its ability to do anything right, but it will help open the eyes of every being in seeing what a waste government is.
I love adding new non-violent action laws to the books: all it does is make the black market that much more fruitful for those willing to take the risk. Why just stop at copying the CD and DVD to another CD or DVD? Let's make it illegal to copy ANY information off of a CD or DVD into any other form, including RAM, so that just playing it is wrong.
"Did you see that new movie? It's gorgeous, bright and shiny, and the case is really nice!"
"What's the plot?"
"I don't know, I didn't want to risk playing it. But the DVD is nice!!!"
Fascism has nothing to do with an attempt to crack down on copyright violators.
No, but it does have a LOT to do with telling you what you can and can't do in the privacy of your own home.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
For some more serious information check out this article:
http://www.goethe.de/wis/buv/thm/urh/en2550214.htm
Very quick summary: Yes, you can make copies of your CDs for private use. There are things that you are not allowed to copy, but they are not CDs.
Obviously it is now up to consumers not to buy music in a format that doesn't allow copying.
In a democracy, shouldn't we, the people, be deciding if we are allowed to copy anything we want?
If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
Do we own the physical CD/DVD, but not what's on it?
If we own the right to use the media for personal use, then we should get additional copies of the physical media at no (or very little) charge if it becomes damaged.
But if we own that CD/DVD, then we should be able to make our own backups, at the least.
The content producers want it both ways. They say that we don't really "own" the content, just the right to access it, but what if you can't access that content? For example, no more working record players or tape decks in the world. Then we should get the updated version for free right? If we bought the right to access that content. If not, then they should just fuck off and let us acquire or reacquire content we already paid for.
By that metric the US would be very permissive given the constitution. You can't just look at the letter of the law, at the end of the day the courts will have to interpret it, so it is really a matter of how things actually work out in practice. In principle US citizens have more legally recognised rights than we have in Sweden, in practice you have to consider how authorities actually operate. All kinds of things play into that, including things like who can afford a lawyer. Also, two laws with the exact same wording could have very different meanings in different countries, because things like "proven", "liable" and "forbidden" mean different things in different contexts.
This could be an absolutely retarded thing I'm saying, but, couldn't we turn the public on to them?
Say something like, for example, that this will enable paedophiles to hide their files. Independent groups won't be able to verify their contents and police will need court orders (or whatever kind of official permission there is there to enable police to conduct searches) and that it will radically slow down any important investigations...
I don't know how, but I feel it's time to use their own manipulative weapons against them. Remember, it doesn't have to be logical or completely sane, just "emotional" enough to convince the impulsive masses.
Would something like this be possible?
Do you really think this silly law is about DRM? IP rights? Copyright infrigement? C'mon! Just like the anti p2p legislation, it will be ignored by nearly everyone, and the government won't even try to enforce it on normal citizens. The real reason for such widely disobeyed laws is for the government to have a tool they can smash on the heads of people they don't like and against whom they have no other legal recourse. An example? Merkel doesn't like, say, Germans converting to Islam. Now imagine some government employee at work: "Oh, it's not illegal to convert? Damn those constitutional rights! How can I brown-nose our Angie? I need that promotion pronto! Oh, yeah, let's check out his private CDs / DVDs collection: there WILL be something illegal there to haul him into jail! Hmm.... What would I do with the pay rise?" Too narrow? Not so many "Konvertiten"? No problem! What about those pesky attac dissenters? Consumer rights groups? People protesting against taxes? Peace activists?... All of them will have compromitting CDs/DVDs somewhere, so government can selectively apply its silly anti-circumvention law to silence them too. Normal population has nothing to fear at all from this: it's a purely political law, that will be used for political purpuses only (plus a few token normal cases, so nobody gets all too suspicious).
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
Yep, absolutely crazy and.... completely made up.
>> representatives of the state do indeed walk into people's houses to check on things
>> like this.
This may have been true in the Communistic East German republic some 20 years ago, but in modern day Germany such things dont happen unless its a regular, court ordered house searching. (and such court orders do not get issued for not paying state TV fees.)
>> They told me he was looking for unlicensed TV's and did this once a year or so.
There actually are people looking for unlicenced TVs, but those are employees of a company collecting the fees for the state funded TV. They are neither functionarys, nor wearing uniforms nor are they representatives of the state. They are private individuals just collecting the fees, and, although at times a bit pushy (mercyless euphemism) if you have a TV but are not paying the fees, they neither can enter your apartment if you dont let them in valuntarily, nor do you even have to talk to them if you dont want. The GP if full of BS.
Fascism is not necessarily authoritarian.
What? History kinda disagrees with you. Please point out the historical example of non authoritarian fascism.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.