A Tech Lover's Call to Arms

PrinceofThieves writes "CNET technology columnist Don Reisinger has issued a call to arms for all journalists and tech junkies to join him in his crusade against the forces that attempt to ruin the sanctity of tech. 'Now, a new group of people has emerged to confront the tech lovers all over the world and stop them from being able to do what they want with the technology they own. And while many have tried to confront them on an individual basis, it has not worked. And it's for that reason that we must all come together and fight the ridiculous impositions brought upon us.'"

Comments

Re:Maybe people should stop stealing music?

[What Would NPH Do]

If the pirates can't buy the CDS to begin with, then they won't be able to copy them over The Internet, will they? False. Most of the scene releases of CDs and DVDs are stolen or leaked copies from someone on the inside of the production. You're blacklist idea will do all of jack and shit to stop piracy.

You'll keep hearing it

[TubeSteak]

How many times must we hear that video games cause violence before we stand up together and stop the spewing of inaccurate ideas? How many times must we listen to the RIAA tell us that college students are the root of all evil as it pertains to piracy before we tell the organization that it's wrong? How many times must we listen to public interest groups allow families to get off the hook instead of blaming them when "security concerns" are revealed to the public before we tell them the truth? How many times must we listen to people who have no knowledge of the technology industry restate the misguided ramblings of lawmakers before we vote for change? You will keep hearing all these things until your Think Tank writes papers & model legislation stating otherwise.

You will keep hearing all these things until your "experts" go on TV and intelligently explain your position to a media interested in death, sex, and scandal.

You will keep hearing all these things until your lobbyist "educates" misguided lawmakers.

I could keep going in that vein for quite some time, but what it fundamentally boils down to is either changing the structure of the debate or co-opting it for your own message. But honestly, who's going to pay for a 30 second TV ad with a montage of straight-A students saying "I play violent video games and I've never killed anybody"

Lots of Hot Air

[Comatose51]

Seriously man.

Sanctity of technology? I'm a software engineer. I help created technology but I don't worship it. I love when my code is nice and elegant but I also make trade-offs when needed because what I make has to work in the real world. Sanctity? What is this guy trying to sell? Only fanboys and snake oil salesman talk about technology as some Platonic ideal or traded as an object of worship.

Where has this guy been? Did he JUST now noticed the RIAA, MPAA, and corrupt lawmakers trying to subvert the spirit of intellectual rights and freedom? This didn't just happen over night. The DMCA was passed when Clinton was president.

Lastly, at the end of the rant, he has a call to action. What does he want us to do? Give us a plan. A rant without a plan is just a rant. Unite and rise up? Seriously man. We're not some Bolsheviks trying to overthrow the tzar. Get a sense of reality. The entire "article" is a bunch of hyperbole, obvious statements, and a total lack of any actionable items.

Give me a break. It's an insult to our intelligence.

Question about this "to arms" thing...

[russlar]

Does taking up arms require me to get off my couch? That would really be a deal-breaker.

And of you want me to go outside at all, forget it.

Re:Interesting but no direction

[rtb61]

Being a little politically pro-active might also be called for. So not just a boycott but, actually making those offensive practices illegal and, punishable by long term imprisonment.

The internet provides the means by which the majority can regain control over politics and laws. The internet redefines how the public mind scape is formed and shaped. The mass media, greed is every thing message is dying, along with celebrity worship and the mindless messages that celebrities sell.

So a campaign of re-regulation, a campaign of corporate executive culpability and liability, a campaign of not only protecting what we have but also taking back what has already by stolen via corporate corruption of the political system.

Re:Maybe people should stop stealing music?

[evil_aar0n]

> Why is no one buying CDs? ... I don't know. But there is one, inescapable truth - Internet piracy is mostly to blame.

You just admitted you don't know, but you're sure it piracy. Does that make sense?

Maybe they're not coming to your store because they don't like the hypocrisy of some Jesus Freek pulling a Dirty Harry on teenage kids.

> fought the War on Drugs with skill.

Either you're Nancy Reagan, still with the blinders on, but after a real heavy binge, or you're a shill for the *AA.

Regardless, if you can't see that your business is doomed - or you _do_ see that it's doomed, but you persist - then you deserve whatever untoward fate befalls you.

Re:Sanctity of Tech?

[StreetStealth]

You know what? "Sanctity" may be an overdramatic word for it, but if you don't get what it's ostensibly supposed to mean here, I don't think you really appreciate the spirit of the tinkerer.

Yes. Saving human life in Darfur is more important. Political expression in Tibet is more important. Economic recovery in the USA is more important.

But here we are at Slashdot, where the subject is our own lives. To probe, inspect, disassemble, analyze, and modify the technology we use is what we do. We are curious, we are inventive, and we are resourceful.

There are many who openly wish we were none of those and seek to prevent us from doing these things. They fear what they do not understand, even as their bogeymen are less often nefarious and duplicitous, and more often simply curious, inventive, and resourceful.

This message, that tinkering is not to be feared and that understanding is key, is important. It's not on the front page of the papers. It's not life or death. But it is its own little message of freedom. And that's something worth taking a stand for.

Re:Sanctity of Tech?

[EvilNTUser]

Are you saying that you spend so much time worrying about your family that you don't have time for anything else? Your argument is meaningless, and only serves to diminish the importance of technology rather than elevate the importance of "true things".

But let's look at this from the perspective of children, sure. Do you want them to grow up into a world in which the vendors control everything they can do with their devices? A world in which learning is impossible unless you're the best cracker who ever lived, and the economy is in the gutter because industries aren't adapting to new technologies? No, you probably don't.

And what if we replace the word technology with the word freedom? Are you going to continue being so cavalier about fighting one losing battle after another, small as they may seem?

As aimless as that article may seem to us who already know about all the abuse, maybe it'll actually reach someone who doesn't read slashdot.