I do not think these points are as invalid as you claim.
People will accept SDMI with open arms. People wouldn't accept SDMI with open arms, but they'll accept it with closed eyes. If it's on sale at Best Buy and Circuit City, it'll get accepted eventually.
Audible watermarking is a-okay. Watermarking at the bottom bit will be almost indistinguishable from random thermal noise, and will certainly introduce less distortion than the crap you get from MP3 compression (which the sheeple seem perfectly willing to settle for today.) Watermarking is certainly less audible than cassette tape hiss. Try it yourself -- play with one of the cypherpunks' audio-stego programs, like s-tools. I seriously doubt you can audibly detect the difference in any passage but silence.
Every hardware and software maker in the civilized world will be SDMI-complian t Actually, I agree with your third point. All it takes is for one "renegade" audio manufacturer to render all their protections impotent. Look to Aiwa to lead the way here, they were the first to decline to add the "copy protection chip" to their DAT recorders. Kenwood might also release "unprotected" hardware in an attempt to gain market share on Sony.
Keep in mind, though, that while there certainly is fiscal incentive to allow copying, there is much less incentive to encourage piracy (which is the only feat watermark removal would accomplish.) Don't confuse the watermark with encryption -- its removal is not required to make the music playable / recordable.
I suspect one of Mr. Shamoon's "value added" plans will use the watermark to authenticate "license to listen", performing exactly the same service MP3.com tried earlier this year.
Mr. Shamoon is not a fool. A propagandist, certainly, perhaps a bit of an opportunist cashing in on the latest hot topic, but he is not a fool.
Before you fire up that flame-thrower, understand that I agree that nobody who reads Slashdot will voluntarily purchase a SDMI-type player. Anyone with a clue can already see the bottomless pit of pay-per-play, and already know that that open standards have insured the continued flow and interchange of data. (By the way, I object to characterizing an open standard such as MP3 as a "bottled genie" -- we all know the genie never was in a bottle to begin with.)
But reread my words "Anyone with a clue." You've eliminated 50%-75% of the American population with those words. That means that 50-75% of the "sheeple" will buy the latest Sony SodomyMan® SM-1000 the moment it shows up on Best Buy's and Target's shelves. Just because it showed up on Best Buy's and Target's shelves. Not to mention an ad push that will become as ubiquitous as Nike's swoosh.
These are the people that will gladly go to www.sony.com to check out Britney Spears' latest album. They'll happily download oops.SDMI "now with 3 free plays!!" and a coupon for Pepsi. And they'll "trade" oops.SDMI with their 10 friends as per Mr. Shamoon's argument. It won't bother them that they have $12.59/month billed direct to their Visa for "music services", because they already charge their lives on credit. These are the same people who blame Visa because their bills are so high.
Mr. Shamoon is trying to say that enhancements will help sell his product. Sony will find a way to get their SodomyMan® to use bluetooth (or something similar) to transmit their songs to their car's AutoSodomy® player, or to their SDMI-enabled pager, the Sony Bugger®. The convienence of the interchange will be the prime seller. That, and the ignorance of the people who will be sold on the "latest technology."
As a matter of fact, you, Slashdot Reader, can expect to be labelled a "luddite" for not jumping on the SDMI bandwagon as soon as it comes out. Your mom, your boss, your cousins, everyone who knows you as "the computer geek" will be flabbergasted that they're all sharing the benefits of SodoMusic® while you listen to your ancient CD collection.
I think Mr. Shamoon's biggest problem is to get Sony, Philips, Mitsubishi and all the rest to agree to a common format before MP3 makes it all the way through the consumer's home, car and pocket. A VHS/Betamax battle too early in the game will destroy his cause.
Education and knowledge, of course, would be the best weapons against SDMI. However, education and knowledge have reduced the incidence of smoking in this country from about 21% to about 19%. Betting against the ability of Americans to understand logic is almost always a sure thing.
The article's author raises a few interesting points, but I don't think he's got enough evidence to support his claims. Have you looked at an anonymous FTP log lately? Oh, here's one: user=anonymous, password=valued-customer@aol.com
Fortunately, most of the people that are too clueless to protect their own privacy are also too clueless to configure their machines to reveal too much about themselves. And none of those people are able to type telnet, let alone actually use it.
<sinister-conspiracy> Perhaps banning the protocols is part of a deeper plot by the RIAA to prevent thieves from obtaining Napster and other burglary tools...:-) </sinister-conspiracy>
I'm afraid that's a ground based machine you're connected to. Sorry...
If you want your packets to fly, try a long distance South African site like http://www.inc.co.za or something. There's a chance your route might take you across the miles on a satellite.
We can only assume that NASA doesn't publish the address because they don't want to have to go hit the reset switch every time the thing gets slashdotted.:-)
'XYZZY' would transport you to the low crawl, allowing you to skip the walk down the riverbed to the locked grate.
'plugh' would take you straight to the "Y2" room. You would learn this by spending time in the "Y2" room where occasionally you would hear "A hollow voice says 'plugh'."
The final magic word was 'plover'. It was how you got the lamp into the dark room behind a very tight squeeze through which your lamp would not fit. You could then see the platinum pyramid. This was behind the alcove where you found the "plover's egg the size of an emerald." 'Plover' would not transport the pyramid, however. You had to carry the pyramid into the egg room, say 'plover'" again to transport out with your lamp intact, go back to the alcove, drop the lamp, go through the crawl and take the pyramid. Of course, once you did this you learned you could crawl to the pyramid in the dark without all the magic word stuff. As long as you didn't fall into a pit and break every bone in your body...
I tried to take the codename XYZZY first, then when that was taken I tried "plugh". That was taken, so I picked "plover." Just in case this discussion ever came up.:-)
The takeoff and landing restrictions are there "for your safety" but not necessarily in the way you might think. There may be an arguable "technological" risk of operating an RF-emitting laptop, but there's a much simpler risk they're trying to avoid: if your laptop weighs in at four pounds, in the event of an emergency manoever it's a four-pound-blunt-instrument that isn't properly secured. It is assumed that emergency manoevers are more likely to be needed on or near the ground, and in the area immediately surrounding the airport.
I think the airlines are using the cover story of "cell phones might make us crash" to get compliance from the sheeple in the cabin. If I'm a nervous passenger and the guy next to me is using his laptop, there's a greater chance I'll turn him in if I'm afraid he'll make the plane crash. Personally, I find the "navigational interference" story rather frightening: if a Gameboy with two AAA batteries can emit enough RF to bring down a 747, what other poor design decisions did the engineers make!?! I'd rather have them tell us the truth about the restrictions so we wouldn't need to keep having this argument.
Anyway, the whole point of cell phones or not is rather moot. If the captain of the ship says "No cell phones", then it's no cell phones regardless of WHY the captain says it. It's the captain's ship, and the captain's rules are Federal law. You can argue about all the technological reasons why they should (or should not) be allowed, but the decision does rest in the captain's hands, not yours.
A scientist once wrote that all truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, then violently opposed and eventually, accepted as self-evident.
I think Jon Katz is kind of hoping for us to pass through the ridicule stage and going straight to acceptance of his writing. Looks like he's hoping to skip the violence part, anyway.
Not gonna happen.
But, I'll give him credit for this: the book does look interesting.
Slashdot Mirror
Keep in mind, though, that while there certainly is fiscal incentive to allow copying, there is much less incentive to encourage piracy (which is the only feat watermark removal would accomplish.) Don't confuse the watermark with encryption -- its removal is not required to make the music playable / recordable.
I suspect one of Mr. Shamoon's "value added" plans will use the watermark to authenticate "license to listen", performing exactly the same service MP3.com tried earlier this year.
Mr. Shamoon is not a fool. A propagandist, certainly, perhaps a bit of an opportunist cashing in on the latest hot topic, but he is not a fool.
John
But reread my words "Anyone with a clue." You've eliminated 50%-75% of the American population with those words. That means that 50-75% of the "sheeple" will buy the latest Sony SodomyMan® SM-1000 the moment it shows up on Best Buy's and Target's shelves. Just because it showed up on Best Buy's and Target's shelves. Not to mention an ad push that will become as ubiquitous as Nike's swoosh.
These are the people that will gladly go to www.sony.com to check out Britney Spears' latest album. They'll happily download oops.SDMI "now with 3 free plays!!" and a coupon for Pepsi. And they'll "trade" oops.SDMI with their 10 friends as per Mr. Shamoon's argument. It won't bother them that they have $12.59/month billed direct to their Visa for "music services", because they already charge their lives on credit. These are the same people who blame Visa because their bills are so high.
Mr. Shamoon is trying to say that enhancements will help sell his product. Sony will find a way to get their SodomyMan® to use bluetooth (or something similar) to transmit their songs to their car's AutoSodomy® player, or to their SDMI-enabled pager, the Sony Bugger®. The convienence of the interchange will be the prime seller. That, and the ignorance of the people who will be sold on the "latest technology."
As a matter of fact, you, Slashdot Reader, can expect to be labelled a "luddite" for not jumping on the SDMI bandwagon as soon as it comes out. Your mom, your boss, your cousins, everyone who knows you as "the computer geek" will be flabbergasted that they're all sharing the benefits of SodoMusic® while you listen to your ancient CD collection.
I think Mr. Shamoon's biggest problem is to get Sony, Philips, Mitsubishi and all the rest to agree to a common format before MP3 makes it all the way through the consumer's home, car and pocket. A VHS/Betamax battle too early in the game will destroy his cause.
Education and knowledge, of course, would be the best weapons against SDMI. However, education and knowledge have reduced the incidence of smoking in this country from about 21% to about 19%. Betting against the ability of Americans to understand logic is almost always a sure thing.
John
Fortunately, most of the people that are too clueless to protect their own privacy are also too clueless to configure their machines to reveal too much about themselves. And none of those people are able to type telnet, let alone actually use it.
<sinister-conspiracy> Perhaps banning the protocols is part of a deeper plot by the RIAA to prevent thieves from obtaining Napster and other burglary tools... :-) </sinister-conspiracy>
If you want your packets to fly, try a long distance South African site like http://www.inc.co.za or something. There's a chance your route might take you across the miles on a satellite.
We can only assume that NASA doesn't publish the address because they don't want to have to go hit the reset switch every time the thing gets slashdotted. :-)
John
'XYZZY' would transport you to the low crawl, allowing you to skip the walk down the riverbed to the locked grate.
'plugh' would take you straight to the "Y2" room. You would learn this by spending time in the "Y2" room where occasionally you would hear "A hollow voice says 'plugh'."
The final magic word was 'plover'. It was how you got the lamp into the dark room behind a very tight squeeze through which your lamp would not fit. You could then see the platinum pyramid. This was behind the alcove where you found the "plover's egg the size of an emerald." 'Plover' would not transport the pyramid, however. You had to carry the pyramid into the egg room, say 'plover'" again to transport out with your lamp intact, go back to the alcove, drop the lamp, go through the crawl and take the pyramid. Of course, once you did this you learned you could crawl to the pyramid in the dark without all the magic word stuff. As long as you didn't fall into a pit and break every bone in your body...
I tried to take the codename XYZZY first, then when that was taken I tried "plugh". That was taken, so I picked "plover." Just in case this discussion ever came up. :-)
John
I think the airlines are using the cover story of "cell phones might make us crash" to get compliance from the sheeple in the cabin. If I'm a nervous passenger and the guy next to me is using his laptop, there's a greater chance I'll turn him in if I'm afraid he'll make the plane crash. Personally, I find the "navigational interference" story rather frightening: if a Gameboy with two AAA batteries can emit enough RF to bring down a 747, what other poor design decisions did the engineers make!?! I'd rather have them tell us the truth about the restrictions so we wouldn't need to keep having this argument.
Anyway, the whole point of cell phones or not is rather moot. If the captain of the ship says "No cell phones", then it's no cell phones regardless of WHY the captain says it. It's the captain's ship, and the captain's rules are Federal law. You can argue about all the technological reasons why they should (or should not) be allowed, but the decision does rest in the captain's hands, not yours.
John
And Microsoft leads to suffering.
I think Jon Katz is kind of hoping for us to pass through the ridicule stage and going straight to acceptance of his writing. Looks like he's hoping to skip the violence part, anyway.
Not gonna happen.
But, I'll give him credit for this: the book does look interesting.
John