Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Before I Can Fix This Tractor, We Have To Fix Copyright Law (slate.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-it-yourself-or-not dept.

Gr8Apes writes: How many people does it take to fix a tractor? When the repair involves a tractor's computer, it actually takes an army of copyright lawyers, dozens of representatives from U.S. government agencies, an official hearing, hundreds of pages of legal briefs, and nearly a year of waiting. Waiting for the Copyright Office to make a decision about whether people like me can repair, modify, or hack their own stuff. why do people need to ask permission to fix a tractor in the first place? It's required under the anti-circumvention section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Even unlocking your cellphone required an act of Congress to make it legal.

2 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. You do own the tractor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    But you don't own the software.

    You bought the tractor.
    And you LICENSED the software.

    Then you cried like a little girl and tried to pretend you own the software you didn't buy.
    I have sympathy for you. Just like I have sympathy for all little girls.

    Now man up and shut up and admit YOU LICENSED SOFTWARE.
    Then your "crusade against stupidity" won't be against your own.

    E

  2. Hunting season by Dog-Cow · · Score: 0, Troll

    This is why, morally speaking, it's OK to kill Congressmen who voted for the DMCA.

    Nothing short of personal safety will convince the survivors to vote for the people instead of the corporation.