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ISP Filters & Copyright Extension Defeated In EU

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Last November, EU regulators in the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education began looking at how culture affects the economy and recommended a 'balance between the opportunities for access to cultural events and content and intellectual property' saying that 'criminalizing consumers so as to combat digital piracy is not the right solution.' Industry lobbyists, of course, immediately sprang into action to try to turn that around, writing amendments that would set up mandatory ISP copyright filters and extend EU copyrights to match the USA's life-plus-70 term. Thankfully, the committee rejected all of those amendments: 'Clearly, they're not going to let the ITRE or the European recording industry push them around, which is great news for Europeans. Now if we could only get the US Congress to show as much spine as the French (ouch).'"

46 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Life+70 is just obscene by Finallyjoined!!! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Disney have a lot to answer for. Veto all Disney products :-)

    --
    If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
    1. Re:Life+70 is just obscene by fm6 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, it's not the lengthy term that's obscene. That's just irritating. The real problem is that every time some valuable copyrights threaten to expire, congress extends the term. And here's what's obscene: the Supereme Court's inability to grasp that endless extensions abrogate the Constitution's requirement that copyrights be "for limited times".

      But here's some good news: more and more old books and music will go public-domain in Europe, and will be available for order at a reasonable cost — or downloadable from the inevitable "pirate" servers. Another reason to buy a Kindle.

    2. Re:Life+70 is just obscene by Ajehals · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I wonder what current/future legal/technical restrictions will prevent the movement of material that is public-domain in one jurisdiction but under copyright in another will appear. There are already issues surrounding Australia (which IIRC at least up until recently had a more limited copyright term).

      My greatest fear however is still that an effective DRM mechanism will add massively to the usual problems involved in the long term accessibility of culturally relevant material. After all DRM doesnt (currently) recognise or pay heed to the copyright status of the work it protects.

    3. Re:Life+70 is just obscene by Ajehals · · Score: 2, Insightful

      DRM is a part of that evil, it is an arbitrary and generally pointless (as you said it can be broken) method of preventing access. I would suggest that an archivist having to maintain not only data reliably, but also DRM circumvention for a long period would be an added burden (that is if there is a requirement to store things in their original format, i.e. with the DRM). In cases where an archive breaks the DRM and stores DRM free copies, well that adds a whole additional process before storage.

      Now for a normal person, most of this will become impossible, and unlike previous problems with media longevity (i.e. the media physically changed and the method of reading it was significantly different between generations) we are talking about being able to access a simple file, a file that (under its DRM) is in a format that probably has publicly available (even if only from the historical record) specifications as to how it is to be decoded. A file that is probably easily stored and retrieved (its all just data after all) even on the most futuristic storage system, but one that will be difficult to read because the company that produced it and its protection no longer exist. It wont make it impossible (I hope) but it will make it more and more difficult. After all I can read a document stored in the National Archive 500 years after it was written with little difficlty, but I cannot easily open and read that text document that I have on floppy disk from 1992

    4. Re:Life+70 is just obscene by Winckle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It doesn't have to be an effective mechanism to annoy the end user. Nor in fact do you have to wait to see this effect, some games run perfectly in emulation or a WINE style implementation except for code governing DRM.

      For example I recently tried to play red alert 2 under crossover on OS X, but every time I play, my units blow up 30 seconds in. Apparently this is a form of copy protection, one which I have no idea how to fix. I have paid for this game, admittedly, it was a few years ago, but I the only thing stopping me play this game is short sighted DRM.

    5. Re:Life+70 is just obscene by Gideon+Fubar · · Score: 4, Informative

      According to this, the white dots you're seeing are likely an artifact of the way your TV renders the image.

      If you're really interested in preserving those tapes, i'd suggest using a TV tuner/video capture card.. an old SD card will do fine.. you just have to be able to make sure that you can manually configure (or disable) the gain control. Of course, i imagine some cards will just ignore the macrovision system..

      unfortunately, YMMV Wildly... I recommend reading this.. should help a bit.

      --
      http://www.xkcd.com/354/
    6. Re:Life+70 is just obscene by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think Disney would favor a two-pronged approach to copyright:

      - Author's life + 70 minutes for everyone who isn't Disney
      - Author's life + 70 centuries for Disney

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    7. Re:Life+70 is just obscene by Ajehals · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Parent is not a Troll, offtopic at a pinch but probably not.

      You are right, it is not an evil, it is a potential problem and an inconvenience. I don't know about you but I don't have a single piece of media that I haven't paid for (or been given), primarily because I do think that people who produce things I want to see/listen to deserve to be compensated, also I would find it rather difficult to argue for copyright reform and yet ignore the law as it stands.

      What I am guilty of in my previous point (and it is probably clear that this is the case given the fact its currently +4 insightful) is sensationalism, the term evil is there simply for its impact. It is a game played by politicians and in the context of any copyright debate, the media industry. I apologise for its use here, although I will probably use it again in a similar context as it does suit my purposes rather well and is probably the only method of combating the opposition if they are using the same tactics.

      Now, as for having every film (or other piece of digital media) in any format you desire, well that is probably an accurate description of what I want. I want to be able to buy a film and format shift it as I see fit, mainly because when I buy a CD or a DVD I am buying a piece of media with data on it and for the first time this means that format shifting and portability are built right into the format. I do not see a problem, nor an valid argument that is persuasive in explaining why I should not be able to use any media I have purchased in any manner I see fit, as long as it is for personal use and I am not re-distributing work that is subject to copyright.

      However what is happening is that artificial barriers are being put in place, primarily to encourage repeated repurchases of the same material on different (or even the same) media, these barriers have other consequences, they limit the longevity of the material purchased. sure you could argue that a VHS tape or Vinyl record are also not necessarily long lasting, but this is a problem inherent to the format, something not true of media distributed in a digital manner.

      Lastly DRM really will limit the way digital material falls into the public domain. If there were no DRM at all, when $film falls out of copyright in 500 years (given the current trends... :) ) it would be possible for that to immediately be made available to everyone by anyone willing to make it available, with DRM schemes (and potentially increasingly complex and effective DRM schemes) that may not be the case, that would mean that the only way to get hold of that 'public domain' film may still be via a media cartel, who would still be perfectly entitled to protect the media with DRM. DRM is potentially a way to short circuit a transition of currently protected media into the public domain.

      Anyway, I feel that this is potentially quite damaging, I also feel that it sets a trend toward corporate control of things purchased by a consumer, it shows a lack of consumer rights (albeit coupled with current consumer ambivalence and apathy), so I would say its a bad thing for us all, although, as you rightly pointed out it is not evil (The misuse of the term evil and similar terms (disaster springs to mind) probably is to blame for the fact that people are simply not aware of, or interested in current acts that really are evil, things like genocide, misleading propaganda that leads to unjustifiable war, torture and the gradual but systemic erosion of freedoms and civil liberties worldwide. As such I will try not to misuse it if I can avoid it.)

  2. show as much spine as the French by sconeu · · Score: 5, Funny


    You don't understand. Those cheese-eating surrender-monkeys CAVED IN to the Evil Terrorist Content Pirates[tm].

    Clearly we must support our patriotic "content producers" to defeat the evildoers.
    </SARCASM>

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:show as much spine as the French by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...the fact that criminalising consumers so as to combat digital piracy is not the right solution. (emphasis mine)

      When was the last time anyone aside from the consumer expressed that view so blatantly? When was the last time anyone in government expressed that view? The two together is just about as close to Christmas in January as you can get - and I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm a Jew...
      --
      I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
    2. Re:show as much spine as the French by Ajehals · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I would suggest that (parts) of the EU, or rather elements of the apparatus that make up the Frankenstein-esque quasi-federal EU 'government' are considerably more pro-consumer and anti-monopolist than most other similar bodies. I am not surprised that this has come from the EU, it is in line with many of their better idea's (although there still appear to be quite a few stinkers hanging around in the system.)

      My worry is that once the EU settles down and ceases to be about member nations haggling for power and influence, that the lobbyists and other 'usual suspects' of corporate power achieve some level of patronage and influence. The only really surprising thing is that given how unaccountable the whole EU system seems at present, that it hasn't happened already.

      But then I am a pessimist, happy Hanukkah.

    3. Re:show as much spine as the French by ppanon · · Score: 4, Informative

      The unaccountable segments of the EU, the EU commissioners, are the ones that keep putting forward the motions to "harmonize' copyrights with the USA entertainment lobbies' demands. The accountable MPs are the ones who, so far, have been shooting the law proposals down.

      Up until now, the xIAA thought to save money by just lobbying the commission. I expect that during the next EU parliamentary elections, the entertainment lobbies will try to shift the power balance in the elected parliament to get their way. It remains to be seen if they will succeed.

      The local European movie industries aren't as interested in DMCA restrictions: the DMCA is about controlling distribution and the MPAA member corporations' grip on US and European theatre and distribution channels has smothered local production in many countries. The MPAA don't do enough European filming to have the associated fiscal/employment clout they do in North America. Let's face it, the US Dollar doesn't go as far as it used to either, so that's not going to help either situation. The music business has similar issues outside of England.

      Because there isn't as much justifiable financial European interest in copyright changes as there is in the US, MPs who support those changes will be vulnerable to charges of corruption by US interests. The US is currently perceived quite disfavourably by many in Europe, so that's likely to limit change for quite a few years even if a Democrat gets elected President and starts undoing the damage done by the Bush Administration to the USA's overseas reputation.

      On the other hand, there's always hope that, before the European political landscape can shift, the financial clout of the RIAA and MPAA will be much diminished.

      --
      Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde. - Voltaire
    4. Re:show as much spine as the French by init100 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The unaccountable segments of the EU, the EU commissioners, are the ones that keep putting forward the motions to "harmonize' copyrights with the USA entertainment lobbies' demands.

      I agree, although the commission also does a few good things. After all, they are the ones usually involved in complaints about Microsoft abusing its monopoly powers.

  3. Human lifespans will soon double. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    And technology will eventually allow for immortality. Governments should be praised for planning for the near-future.

  4. As a US citizen I find our government lacking by Whuffo · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I've contacted my representatives regarding the attempts by the media companies to make their continued existence and profitability a legal requirement. The responses I've received are less than useless.

    The worst response reward goes to Barbara Boxer. When I contacted her regarding proposed legislation that was intended to further erode fair use and hand more of the public rights to the media companies I got a form letter in reply. That form letter thanked me for my letter and let me know that Barbara Boxer was listening and fully intended to support the legislation that I was writing about (and against).

    I don't expect any representative to do what I wish - but it would be nice if they took a few moments to actually READ and maybe THINK a little about what the people they supposedly represent are thinking. Ms. Boxer has clearly identified herself as being on the side of further abuses by the media companies - I don't know about other "representatives" but this one clearly does NOT represent the people who elected her.

    1. Re:As a US citizen I find our government lacking by mr_matticus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Really. Which one of the 670,000 people she represents is she supposed to dance for? Seriously, I want to know.

      If you think that you put people in office to do what you would do, then you're sorely missing the point of a republic. They're in place because we (theoretically) value their (hypothetical) decisionmaking abilities and they best reflect the () values of those electing said representative. We send people to Washington as trustees, not as mouthpieces, because the people rarely speak with one voice and the Framers were deathly afraid of the masses.

      If you don't like the values of the representative, get a different representative. Don't whine about media control or interest groups or the "myth of two different parties"--if the people wanted something else, they'd have it. The fact that they don't generally give a crap is just part of the reality of our society, and in true democratic fashion, they get an equal voice for their apathy, pound for pound.

    2. Re:As a US citizen I find our government lacking by webmaster404 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Next time I see a senator wanting copyright reform I will be sure to vote for them. However almost none will state their stance on the issue. Writing to them doesn't ever seem to get a clear answer and most are swayed by what the **AA says. So far no congressman has really ever been a solid freedom supporter.

      --
      There is no "disagree" moderation, and troll, flamebait and overrated are not valid substitutes
    3. Re:As a US citizen I find our government lacking by tknn · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If they said it, the media would crucify them, being interested parties. So they don't dare say it.

    4. Re:As a US citizen I find our government lacking by mr_matticus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're still missing the point.

      The only representative that shares your policy positions on all the issues is yourself. The chances of finding an "ideal" candidate are slim to none. Candidates will seek the broadest base of support they can find, both to maximize fundraising and to seek an electoral mandate. As a result, the issues candidates take positions on are the ones most important to the electorate mixed with those most important to the nation (insert your own conspiracy theory about what guides government hot-button issues: Illuminati, media cabal, Germans, greedy politicians).

      The only way to get a candidate to take a position on the issue is if "the people" think it should be discussed. Not just some people, or a few people...especially on something as unsexy as copyright. "Copyright reform" frankly is a non-issue. There's no real, serious debate in this country (or any other) about fundamentally changing the nature of copyright. There are debates around the periphery, about scope and privacy and DRM to some extent, but those are issues for legal professionals and policymakers. Validity of copyright isn't a question; commercial importance of copyright is certain. It's not fodder for a campaign.

      The issues only serve as guidance about the values of a candidate. They are not dispositive. You should vote for those who share your values, as you're more likely to be satisfied with their performance than if you choose based solely on the issues.

    5. Re:As a US citizen I find our government lacking by mr_matticus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      All of them. Every last one. And if she can't meet the standards Unfortunately, God isn't available. As long as there is a constituency of two, it's impossible to do as you require.

      The problem is, your republic is a piece of shit Actually, it's working exactly as designed.

      What you need is a representative democracy. Yeah, because that is not only (a) realistic and (b) would fix anything...oh, haha, I forgot we lived in the real world for a minute there. It's much simpler than that. What we "need" is informed participation. Without that, no government system is going to make any difference.

      You are unspeakably naive. On the contrary, you're simply a vacuous sophist.

      In short, you're [sic] entire way of thinking is part of the very problem we face. Have some ambition. It's not a question of ambition. I participate. My phone calls are returned. I have no problem making my influence count. It's people like you with scrap-it mentalities (speaking of "defeatist"...moron), "call-them-corrupt" blame assignment(I'm the cynic?), and unrealistic expectations that cause the greatest institutional drag. Instead of doing something, you just bitch. Throwing stones is easier than building houses though, so I understand.
    6. Re:As a US citizen I find our government lacking by Lost+Engineer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Which one of the 670,000 people she represents is she supposed to dance for? Apparently the one who's funding her next campaign. I mean all of 5 people must have contacted her supporting forever-copyright.

      Moreover, having a lot of constituents does not justify sending them form letters. Ignore them quietly if you wish, but sending them a load of propaganda only works on... the kind of people that voted her into office. Ok, point made, but it's still insulting.
  5. Now is the time for reform by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Stopping the already insane copyright system from becoming more insane is a good thing, but it is not the same as actually trying to make it less insane.

    1. The copyright must be registered
    2. An actual person must be named (just like with patents)
    3. Death of the registered person means death of the copyright (you can't encourage dead people to make new works no matter how hard you try)
    4. At time of registration a term can be chosen, and an appropriate fee paid.
    5. A reasonable number of extensions (say, three) are permitted, provided a new fee is paid.
    6. A set of standard royalties for a common class of work (say, songs) should be decided, and made available to anyone who cares to pay the standard rate.
    7. Willful royalty evasion justifies reasonable punitive damages (say, 3 times the standard royalty), nothing else does.
    8. Indoctrinated fair use should be ratified by international treaty and be recognized as a means to end a complaint pre-trial.

    And that's about the bare minimum needed to make copyright fit for the intended purpose of encouraging the science and the useful arts. It still doesn't make copyright just but it would at least make it something people would be willing to respect.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:Now is the time for reform by Rakishi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Congratulation you just killed open source.

    2. Re:Now is the time for reform by Ajehals · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I wontget into a lengthy discussion of your points, mainly because I generally agree with the direction (if not the specifics). However there is one glaring problem:

      3. Death of the registered person means death of the copyright (you can't encourage dead people to make new works no matter how hard you try) Firstly I don't think that copyright should be about terms of life + X years, it should be about a fixed length, long enough for the creator to have the opportunity to profit (and hence be motivated to create more), but short enough that material is still culturally relevant when it becomes public domain (IMHO this would be far shorter for software due to the pace of change, especially when compared to other arts, probably longest for books as they seem to endure). It should definitely not be tied to the life of the creator, after all it may be seen in some quarters as an acceptable risk to kill someone in order to remove copyright protection :) .
    3. Re:Now is the time for reform by mouko · · Score: 3, Funny

      3. Death of the registered person means death of the copyright (you can't encourage dead people to make new works no matter how hard you try) Yeah? What about Tupac?
    4. Re:Now is the time for reform by Bogtha · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you think any of that kills open source, then I suspect you are confusing open source with copyleft. Even if you abolished copyright altogether, open source software would remain. It is copyleft licenses like the GPL that depend upon copyright to operate.

      --
      Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
    5. Re:Now is the time for reform by OECD · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It should definitely not be tied to the life of the creator, after all it may be seen in some quarters as an acceptable risk to kill someone in order to remove copyright protection :) .

      Plus it just complicates figuring out if the content is in or out of the public domain. You have to determine if the creator is still alive, after all. Dates are much more reliable.

      Also, if there must be additional registration periods (bad idea, see above) the fee should increase exponentially each time, to discourage squatting on barely profitable properties.

      --
      One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
    6. Re:Now is the time for reform by SQL+Error · · Score: 4, Insightful

      1. The copyright must be registered
      At present, every blog post, every comment on Slashdot, every image I use in my site design, receives copyright protection automatically. You've just destroyed that. Oh, and Creative Commons with it.

      2. An actual person must be named (just like with patents)
      Just destroyed any right to privacy.

      3. Death of the registered person means death of the copyright (you can't encourage dead people to make new works no matter how hard you try)
      So if I work hard building - let's say - boats, and one day I drop dead of a heart attack, my children inherit the boats and can sell them. But if I work hard designing boats, my kids starve?

      4. At time of registration a term can be chosen, and an appropriate fee paid.
      Since copyright is currently extended to millions of creations every single day, this is completely untenable.

      5. A reasonable number of extensions (say, three) are permitted, provided a new fee is paid.
      And this too.

      6. A set of standard royalties for a common class of work (say, songs) should be decided, and made available to anyone who cares to pay the standard rate.
      And let's do the same for cars! Okay, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Mercedes: All your cars now cost $20,000.

      7. Willful royalty evasion justifies reasonable punitive damages (say, 3 times the standard royalty), nothing else does.
      Levied by whom, and payable to whom? Currently, copyright infringement is in miost cases a civil matter, requiring the rights holder to bring suit. If you are legislating penalties, are you saying that this is now a criminal offense? Who will police it, and how?

      8. Indoctrinated fair use should be ratified by international treaty and be recognized as a means to end a complaint pre-trial.
      I'm not sure what "indoctrinated fair use" is even supposed to mean.

      As far as I can see, your proposal is worse than the status quo in every way imaginable.
    7. Re:Now is the time for reform by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How does a "normal job" result in a revenue stream for your heirs after you die? Did you even think about that before you wrote it?

      Here, I'll make your argument for you: if working on science and the arts will most likely result in a revenue stream for your heirs then people who care greatly for their heirs future riches will stop working 'normal jobs' and take up working on science and the arts, therefore promoting it, which is the goal of copyright.

      To which I have to ask, will the number of people switching from these 'normal jobs' to working on science and the arts really make up for the chilling effects that the increased copyright terms will have on science and the arts?

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    8. Re:Now is the time for reform by zoltamatron · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah....I don't know why everyone on this thread is so concerned with the length and registration of copyright. That's not the problem. The problem comes from the transferral of copyright to corporations who then exploit the creators and give them nothing in return. If it wasn't legal to sign away all your rights to a creation then it would vastly change the creative landscape. You might say "Well, people shouldn't be so stupid to sign away all their rights" but when your only options from the companies that run the media are to sign away everything, or lose out on your big break, you can't really blame people for doing it. There are certain things that you can't legally sign away, like certain liabilities, so I don't see why your copyrights can't be the same.

      --
      Tolerance does not tolerate intolerance, or hypocrisy.
    9. Re:Now is the time for reform by oojimaflib · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1. The copyright must be registered At present, every blog post, every comment on Slashdot, every image I use in my site design, receives copyright protection automatically. You've just destroyed that. Oh, and Creative Commons with it. And made the public domain a much larger space, thereby removing the problem that CC was supposed to solve.

      2. An actual person must be named (just like with patents) Just destroyed any right to privacy. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that if someone wants to make money from, say, a copyright, they should be identifiable (or have an identifiable agent) as the author of that work.

      3. Death of the registered person means death of the copyright (you can't encourage dead people to make new works no matter how hard you try) So if I work hard building - let's say - boats, and one day I drop dead of a heart attack, my children inherit the boats and can sell them. But if I work hard designing boats, my kids starve? No. Because you worked hard designing boats, you earned money which you can now pass on to your children. Equally, the boat-builder earned boats which he can pass on to his children. Whether you invest in boats or money, so long as it exists and is transferable, the only reason your children should starve is if you neglect to provide for them.

      4. At time of registration a term can be chosen, and an appropriate fee paid. Since copyright is currently extended to millions of creations every single day, this is completely untenable.

      5. A reasonable number of extensions (say, three) are permitted, provided a new fee is paid. And this too. However, since in this utopian system copyright would only be extended to a fraction of the number of works, this is entirely tenable (if depressingly beauraucratic)

      6. A set of standard royalties for a common class of work (say, songs) should be decided, and made available to anyone who cares to pay the standard rate. And let's do the same for cars! Okay, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Mercedes: All your cars now cost $20,000. Yeah. This is just price-fixing. Don't do this. What would be useful would be a set of standard licenses which Joe Bloggs could just pick off the shelf for their work and fill in the blanks (e.g. how much money they want) (like CC).

      7. Willful royalty evasion justifies reasonable punitive damages (say, 3 times the standard royalty), nothing else does. Levied by whom, and payable to whom? Currently, copyright infringement is in miost cases a civil matter, requiring the rights holder to bring suit. If you are legislating penalties, are you saying that this is now a criminal offense? Who will police it, and how? Well, paid by the infringer, to the copyright holder, by order of a civil court should the holder sue the infringer. Like most cases for damages, punitive or otherwise. (I would guess)

      8. Indoctrinated fair use should be ratified by international treaty and be recognized as a means to end a complaint pre-trial. I'm not sure what "indoctrinated fair use" is even supposed to mean. No, I don't know what "indoctrinated fair use" is either, but if you take out the word "indoctrinated" then it makes perfect sense and is a worthwhile idea.

      As far as I can see all the ideas here (except 6) would be really good. I'm just somewhat depressed about the fact that I don't believe that any of them will see the light of day in my lifetime.

  6. Re:Let me guess... by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let me guess... You don't understand how free software can be big business.

    Let me make a second guess... You don't understand why indie producers make a profit on sites where you can also download their music.

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  7. Re:Rather than abuse of Copyright by QuantumG · · Score: 3, Funny

    Another good reason to be reluctant to become a copyright holder.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  8. Good news by Husgaard · · Score: 2, Informative

    Although this is far from as important as a vote on a EU directive, I think this is good news.

    Unfortunately there is no information on exactly which amendments were rejected. In particular I was worried about amendment 80 (which TFA implies is rejected), amendment 82 (extension of protection time for related rights), and amendments 81 and 83 that looks like a requirement that educational institutions should proliferate the propaganda of MAFIAA.

    As for the extension of copyright protection time: This is the same in Europe as in the USA. But in the EU the protection of recording artists and whoever makes the recording is limited to 50 years. There has been big pressure in particular in the UK to extend this, but this has been rejected as not being helpful to cultural development. I am glad that this first attempt by the copyright lobby to force EU member countries to adopt legislation they do not want has failed.

    Oh, BTW here is a link to the prosed amendments voted on tuesday.

  9. USCongress::EUParliment as Kindergarten::College by OldHawk777 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Politicians in the USA are not stupid, just uneducated and inexperienced.

    EU politicians serve the national interest, US politicians serve private interest.

    The public/citizens hope that the national/private interest will provide some trickle-down benefits.

    So, US citizens get neither national/personal security, nor economic/infrastructure stability.

    Dogma4US is a sacrificial religious cult, much like Catholic ...to... Islamic clergy death goDma.

    As long as you (citizen) suffer/sacrifice and not me (politician/plutocrat) ... it is not a problem for US.

    --
    Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
  10. Re:Let me guess... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Fuck yeah im a pirate!

    all for me! scrEW EVERYONE ELSE!

    i took some lessons from big business..

    STEAL ANYTHING THAT IS NOT NAILED DOWN!
    GREED IS GOOD!
    I WANT MINE!
    HUMAN LIFE IS WORTH NOTHING!
    EMPLOYEES ARE NOT WORTH A DAMM!
    CONTENT CREATORS ARE FOR BENDING OVER THE TABLE!
    ALL THAT MATTERS IS *MY* BOTTOM LINE.
    LOOT, PLUNDER, STEAL!
    EMBRACE, EXTEND, EXTINGUISH!
    HE WHO DIES WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS!

    So fuck you. and fuck all the companys who taught me this lesson. I know no loyalty now!

    What... that wasnt the lesson i was supposed to learn from big companys? well shit. someone should tell them to change their tactics. because thats exactly what they are teaching me. And i'm a quick study.

  11. Re:You obviously have no children by TheDugong · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "If I create a copyright, I sure as hell want my children to at least be able to profit from it, even if I suffer an untimely death."
    Then, like most people, you can invest some of the money you make during your lifetime, from copyrighted works or otherwise, and leave that as part of your estate. Life insurance helps as well.

  12. technical problem by RichMan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I still don't see how ISP filtering for copyright information would work at a technical level. Every piece of data transmitted would have to be collected, reassembled, and compared against a huge data base then cross referenced against a valid supplier list. The required computing power at all network nodes is just laughable.

  13. Re:Let me guess... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    First, if you offer free music on your website, people come to your website rather than The Pirate Bay to get your music for free. Then you get hits for the advertising on your site and get paid. Then, because your music is free, you get a fan base faster than you would have otherwise and sell them concert tickets, merchandise, physical CDs with liner art et al, etc.

  14. Re:Let me guess... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's nice in theory. In reality, people already do this, and all the indie bands also have day jobs.

  15. tagging by gaderael · · Score: 4, Funny

    tagsalmostaslongassummary

    --
    Anyone got a light for my sig?
  16. Different opinion, plus confusion by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You response to point 1, 4 and 5 just shows a different opinion. You think it is good that millions of trivial "works" are removed from the public domain every day. The GP (and I disagree).

    Point 2 demonstrates a frighteningly narrow view of privacy. The "right" of a worker in a big corporation not to get credit for his work is equated with "all of privacy". Scary stuff.

    Point 3 is fairy tale, both the person who build boats, and the person who design boats for a living, sell the boats/designs. There is no boats left for their children to inherit. If they want to secure their children, they better get life insurance. In that they are similar to the 98% of us who work for a salary. All of us get paid once for our work and skills, not the rest of our life when people use the product of our work and skills.

    There is a tiny truth behind point 3, a small number of musicians can actually live by their old royalties. But even for musicians I would not recommend this as an alternative to a proper retirement plan. It is very rare.

    Point 6 and 7 shows that you are unaware that standard royalties are existing practice, think music radio.

    Point 6 also shows an inability to distinguish between imaginary and real property. Even if you could license the design of a Mercedes for US$ 20.000, an actual working car would be far more expensive. You cannot drive around in imaginary property, you need real property for that.

    So, to summary: Unlike the GP you believe putting zillions of trivial stuff under copyright is a worthy goal in itself, you are woefully unaware of how the real world function in many aspects from boat building to royalty, and you are unable to distinguish between the real and the imaginary.

  17. Life + 70 years is already reality by Noonian+Soong · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The bad thing that isn't mentioned, is that some countries in the EU already have adopted the US life+70 years term. For example in Germany, it is exactly the same rule. Making copyright law univeral across the EU would be a great success if it would decrease this term, but actually I don't think the EU has done much for its citizens in terms of copyright or ISP filters. The article is simply wrong about this because many things that are mentioned haven't actually been decided yet.

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    The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
  18. Re:Heath Ledger: buttfucking in Heaven by Kjella · · Score: 2, Informative

    Seriously, what the fuck is up with this shit? Can't we do something about these 'nigger' trolls OTHER than reading at +1 only? Believe it or not, but this is what most online forums look like. The only difference is that most other forums have a "report this" button with moderators that'll nuke it. Not editors mind you, usually some kind of recruited user moderators and that brings a whole new level of noise as well. I like the fact that the worst you can do with a comment on slashdot is mod it to -1, which means there's still a chance people will see it. Still, I'm sure there's way to tweak it, maybe differentiating mod points for ACs and normal users or something. Still, is that terrible to browse at +1? I regularly browse at +3 to only get the registered+karma bonus+modded up comments, and drop it down when there's an interesting discussion going on. If you're walking in the sewers, it's not much point complaining the walls are dirty.
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    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  19. Re:Chastity Bono? Three strikes. by fm6 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Of course SCOTUS admitted that perpetual copyright is unconstitutional. The enumerated powers clause is quite specific about that. They way they rationalize that a last-minute retroactive extension of copyright ownership is not "perpetual" is kind of beside the point. If doing it twice is constitutional, why isn't doing it three times, or four?

  20. Why must copyrights be life insurance? by tepples · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If I create a copyright, I sure as hell want my children to at least be able to profit from it, even if I suffer an untimely death. Why should this not also be the case for patents, which currently expire 20 years after filing, with no consideration given to the life of the inventor? If you want life insurance, buy life insurance, possibly with the royalties you derive from an invention under a 20-year patent or from a work under a copyright with a fixed term after publication.