(IMO) We are witnessing a trend in the industry to include technology in products that can be used for copy protection purposes.
Right now it is still possible to circumvent those technologies (like it has been in the past) but i expect that this will change as technology gets more powerful, and copy protection tech is backed by law.
We are heading towards a situation where the pubishers of information have very strong control over who may read it. Since most people do not see what is wrong with that (or expect someone else to take care of it), i do not think it can be stopped.
With the DMCA it is just about to happen in the US, and since the EU tends to copy US laws we will have it over here soon. I am worried for the people who will not be rich enough to participate in the 'information age'...
Slashdot Mirror
(IMO) We are witnessing a trend in the industry to include technology in products that can be used for copy protection purposes.
Right now it is still possible to circumvent those technologies (like it has been in the past) but i expect that this will change as technology gets more powerful, and copy protection tech is backed by law.
We are heading towards a situation where the pubishers of information have very strong control over who may read it. Since most people do not see what is wrong with that (or expect someone else to take care of it), i do not think it can be stopped.
With the DMCA it is just about to happen in the US, and since the EU tends to copy US laws we will have it over here soon. I am worried for the people who will not be rich enough to participate in the 'information age'...