Not that this isn't a good thing in the long run, but who does it really benefit now? I mean, if things in Australia are like they are in the US, Blockbuster still charges a premium for DVD rental over VHS rental even though a VHS movie might cost $120 and a DVD of the same movie $15.
Why is that, exactly? Is this the CD pricing scheme all over again? I stopped going to brick-and-mortar video stores and started a NetFlix account. It's a little less convienent, but I pay $2-3 per movie depending on how many I manage to cram into a month.
There is a world of difference between trying to maintain our fair use rights or exposing bad "security" methods and launching a DDoS attack against ANYONE.
This is not a black and white issue. A DoS attack is both illegal and imoral, as what you are doing hurts a large group of people. Exposing bad security in e-book files will help people in the long run. (Although it will help the copyright holders and not us:( )
As for the general population, it depends entirely on what the media reports. They can report that "hackers" have cracked a protection scheme, or they can report that a digital protection scheme was proven inadequate. Both are technically true, but each favors one group as the good guy. Unfortunately, since news is an entertainment forum, the first is more likely to be reported.
Until the general population is tech savvy enough to understand these issues, the media will have complete control over their opinions.
The point was that schools don't need more handouts from anyone. There is a brand new high school here with 600 students. It cost $36 million to build. Excuse me, but WTF!?!? If the building stands as a school for 20 years, that's $12,000 per student (for four years) just for construction costs. Give that money to a private school and they'll probably educate three times as many students twice as well.
The emphasis has shifted from spending money on hiring good teachers and good supplies to building impressive buildings so that taxpayers can "see" where their money is going.
BTW, 580 Billion is about $12,800 per student if you assume that during that time about 1/6 of the US population attended school. Keep in mind that's ONLY federal money and doesn't include state or local contributations.
You want to know how to fix schools? Pay teachers. Pay them well enough to attract some real talent to the area. I mean something in the neighborhood of $80,000-$100,000 for those with Masters degrees and teaching certificates.
Then, you tell the Federal government to F!#& off. You open it up so that if a parent is not happy with the school, they can remove their student and send them to another public school or even to another district or a private school. This way, the bad schools are driven out by market forces and the good schools are rewarded by more students. Reward the good and let the market drive out the bad.
The system we have now rewards schools and teachers who perform poorly.
You also encourage (by tax credits, which != tax deductions) private citizens to contribute to private schools.
I agree that the education system in this country is seriously screwed up. It's not for lack of money though, it's because that money has been grossly mismanaged, partially by the beaurocratic regulations associated with federal funding.
What implications between the Bush administration and Enron?
Some Enron execs called cabinet members and INFORMED then that Enron was about to tank. Was there a bailout? No, nobody did anything, which is exactly what should have happened.
Clinton is the one who took donations and then used his presidential power to help Enron construct a power plant.
It looks like Enron has done nothing illegal. Immoral, cheap and underhanded certainly, but not illegal. Besides, what kind of MORON puts 70-100% of their retirement plan in ONE STOCK. Those kind of morons don't have any right to complain when that stock tanks. I feel no sympathy for that kind of stupidity. Diversity is the name of the game when it comes to life savings.
Try this this if you want the other side of the story from what you've been reading and hearing in the mainstream media. (Yes, it's ultra-right-wing, but almost everything else is ultra-left-wing.) Balance is good.
Do schools really need more money? The federal government has spent over $580 Billion on K-12 education since 1970. Over that same period, average SAT scores have DECLINED 100 points!
I say we take all of M$ cash reserves (reportedly $62 Billion) and donate it to the FSF. We'll even be nice and let M$ claim it as a charitable donation on their tax return. Then, the FSF can survive entirely off the interest generated from the payment. They can have hundreds of employees who dedicate all their time to open source, open standards programming.
A hacker known only as VA Software has been arrested today for attempting to distribute an illegal digital copy of Hilary Rosen's recent speech. The RIAA informed the FBI of the breach of copyright under the DMCA and immediately moved to arrest VA Software.
In other news, the hacker web site known as Slashdot was shut down and one of it's members was arrested for an attack on riaa.com. The attack has been described by sources within Slashdot's membership as the "Slashdot effect."
I sent his Washington office a letter about this before S11, and have yet to even receive a canned reply. He should pay a little more attention to his constituents, or he'll be out of a job next election.
I wish I had enough money to take out a few newspaper adds against him.
Oh well, maybe a few letters to the editor would do better.......
Now is the time to rise up and fight. Since most of us don't have the money required to get any attention in Washington, we have to use old-fashioned letter writing campaigns. I wrote Senator Hollings twice so far. Once after the first/. story, and once a couple weeks ago. (I was a little peeved that I hadn't seen a response yet. I am one of his constituents)
If you sit idly by and hope this one will fail because "the system" will defeat it, you will have defeated the system. In the US, the people are part of the system. Granted, the part that is most often ignored except at election time, but we are a part. If you wait for other parts of the system to fix this, you will be disappointed. Just look at the DMCA. We're still waiting for the system to fix that one.
Write your senators and representatives. Don't wait for Disney to buy their vote. Make it clear to them that you will not vote for their re-election if they vote for the SSSCA.
First step is to write. Kill a tree and send a letter to everyone you voted for (or against) or would have voted for if you had voted (shame on you!). Make copies of your letter for your lazy friends. All they have to do is sign.
And then....
If this becomes law (and that seems pretty certain) we need to call for a world wide strike of all IT professionals. Turn off your servers, turn off your routers, don't give anyone the passwords. Go home for a few weeks. Advertise the reasons for your strike on every web page you influence. See how the people like their new laws when they can't access the information they want.
This moron happens to be my senator (althought I didn't vote for him)
Here's my letter to him. Feel free to use it, but make sure to modify it for your needs. Make sure to send a copy to all your senators and representatives. And send it snail mail.
[begin]
September 10, 2001
Senator Hollings
125 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Fritz Hollings:
I have recently learned of your intent to sponsor a bill known as the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act. After reading the text of the proposed bill, I am putting it mildly when I say I am alarmed.
Over the past decade, laws passed by the body you now serve in have slowly eroded consumer fair use rights. It is now illegal for us to make clean digital copies of music on our home audio systems for personal and backup use. It is impossible for us to make backup copies of DVDs because the weak copy protection scheme is defended by draconian penalties of up to 5 years in prison and $500,000 by the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).
Now, the SSSCA aims to make it illegal to distribute in any way digital interactive devices and computers which are not equipped with industry and government specified "security" devices. You and I both know that these "security" devices will only give media companies complete control over what consumers can do with movies, music, books and software that we have rightfully purchased. Gone will be the days when something you have purchased can be used within current copyright law. The corporate world will get to dictate their own copyright law, and circumventing that law will bring even private citizens prison of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1,000,000. Penalties greater than what most convicted rapists serve. They will even be able to change the deal they made when we purchased media from them. Say, they release a new version of an old movie on DVD and render all older versions of the DVD inoperable. Do you want to allow money-hungry corporations such complete control over the economy? Imagine if Microsoft suddenly decided to use these "security" devices to disable all older versions of Windows in favor of the newest version. What would happen to government computers? Do you have the means to buy millions of copies of the newest Windows at $500 a copy? Does the US government wish to give Microsoft that power? Aren't there more important programs to spend billions of dollars on than give an already cash-flush company billions more?
I am also worried about what this will do to the small players in the market. These security devices will cost money, money that large corporations have to burn. What will happen to the small computer makers, small software companies, or small electronics makers when they cannot afford to install these devices? If they cannot afford the few dollars per device and keep a competitive market price, how will they afford the $1,000,000 fine per infraction? What will happen to innovation in the marketplace when the SSSCA and larger competitors money force small competitors out of the marketplace?
The US constitution states that Congress shall establish patent laws (and, by correlation, copyright law) to encourage scientific development (and creative development) while providing the inventor (and copyright holder) profit for their work. While patent law is another matter, I see that the SSSCA will take one more step towards a country where consumers are told what they can do with what they bought, when they can do it, how they can do it, and who they shall pay to do it.
The control for this will no longer be in the hands of the US government or its law enforcement arm. It will be in the control of private corporations with monopoly power and control over the law enforcement arm of the US government. Innovation will be gone. Creative development will disappear. Gone will be the days when a scientist can freely build on the work of those before him to create even greater things for society.
I urge you to reconsider your decision to support this bill. It is just one more step down the slippery slope towards a country whose government exists only to support and maintain the profit of private corporations. Just last week, the Bush administration decided against breaking up Microsoft. Do you wish to enact a law that will empower companies like Microsoft to continue to abuse their monopoly power at the expense of private consumers and the nation's economy? I hope that you will remember that you represent South Carolina, a state that has a history of fighting for states rights and the rights of its citizens in two major wars and countless political debates.
Think about it. Practically no one involved on the government's side of the case knows much about e-Books, encryption, or computer in general (in some cases I'm sure).
[US Gov. point of view]
Here is this "hacker" from "evil" Russia who is creating a tool against the law in the US. It's got something to do with encryption, so it must be bad. However, because we don't really know enough about it to prosecute him, we'll hold him without bail until we figure out what to do. Just like that Mitnick guy a few years back.
[/US Gov. point of view]
They don't know how to really deal with the problem (or even IF there is a problem) so they do what they have done in the past. Arrest someone.
The possibilities are very frightening, but I don't have too much sympathy for farmers trying to perpetuate insurance fraud. It's people like them who drive up the cost of almost every service and product we buy, especially doctors.
Using satellites for this is just one more step up. The county I'm about to move into uses planes to search out land owners who build new buildings without a permit. Planes could have also been used for this purpose. It just happens that satellites already catch picture and IR photos all over the world.
The prospect of what could be done with satellites is not very comforting, but when used properly to catch criminals I'm all for it.
Slashdot Mirror
Not that this isn't a good thing in the long run, but who does it really benefit now? I mean, if things in Australia are like they are in the US, Blockbuster still charges a premium for DVD rental over VHS rental even though a VHS movie might cost $120 and a DVD of the same movie $15.
Why is that, exactly? Is this the CD pricing scheme all over again? I stopped going to brick-and-mortar video stores and started a NetFlix account. It's a little less convienent, but I pay $2-3 per movie depending on how many I manage to cram into a month.
Phathead
There is a world of difference between trying to maintain our fair use rights or exposing bad "security" methods and launching a DDoS attack against ANYONE.
:( )
This is not a black and white issue. A DoS attack is both illegal and imoral, as what you are doing hurts a large group of people. Exposing bad security in e-book files will help people in the long run. (Although it will help the copyright holders and not us
As for the general population, it depends entirely on what the media reports. They can report that "hackers" have cracked a protection scheme, or they can report that a digital protection scheme was proven inadequate. Both are technically true, but each favors one group as the good guy. Unfortunately, since news is an entertainment forum, the first is more likely to be reported.
Until the general population is tech savvy enough to understand these issues, the media will have complete control over their opinions.
Cheers,
Phathead
The point was that schools don't need more handouts from anyone. There is a brand new high school here with 600 students. It cost $36 million to build. Excuse me, but WTF!?!? If the building stands as a school for 20 years, that's $12,000 per student (for four years) just for construction costs. Give that money to a private school and they'll probably educate three times as many students twice as well.
The emphasis has shifted from spending money on hiring good teachers and good supplies to building impressive buildings so that taxpayers can "see" where their money is going.
BTW, 580 Billion is about $12,800 per student if you assume that during that time about 1/6 of the US population attended school. Keep in mind that's ONLY federal money and doesn't include state or local contributations.
You want to know how to fix schools? Pay teachers. Pay them well enough to attract some real talent to the area. I mean something in the neighborhood of $80,000-$100,000 for those with Masters degrees and teaching certificates.
Then, you tell the Federal government to F!#& off. You open it up so that if a parent is not happy with the school, they can remove their student and send them to another public school or even to another district or a private school. This way, the bad schools are driven out by market forces and the good schools are rewarded by more students. Reward the good and let the market drive out the bad.
The system we have now rewards schools and teachers who perform poorly.
You also encourage (by tax credits, which != tax deductions) private citizens to contribute to private schools.
I agree that the education system in this country is seriously screwed up. It's not for lack of money though, it's because that money has been grossly mismanaged, partially by the beaurocratic regulations associated with federal funding.
What implications between the Bush administration and Enron?
Some Enron execs called cabinet members and INFORMED then that Enron was about to tank. Was there a bailout? No, nobody did anything, which is exactly what should have happened.
Clinton is the one who took donations and then used his presidential power to help Enron construct a power plant.
It looks like Enron has done nothing illegal. Immoral, cheap and underhanded certainly, but not illegal. Besides, what kind of MORON puts 70-100% of their retirement plan in ONE STOCK. Those kind of morons don't have any right to complain when that stock tanks. I feel no sympathy for that kind of stupidity. Diversity is the name of the game when it comes to life savings.
Try this this if you want the other side of the story from what you've been reading and hearing in the mainstream media. (Yes, it's ultra-right-wing, but almost everything else is ultra-left-wing.) Balance is good.
Phathead
Do schools really need more money? The federal government has spent over $580 Billion on K-12 education since 1970. Over that same period, average SAT scores have DECLINED 100 points!
I say we take all of M$ cash reserves (reportedly $62 Billion) and donate it to the FSF. We'll even be nice and let M$ claim it as a charitable donation on their tax return. Then, the FSF can survive entirely off the interest generated from the payment. They can have hundreds of employees who dedicate all their time to open source, open standards programming.
[tommorow's news]
A hacker known only as VA Software has been arrested today for attempting to distribute an illegal digital copy of Hilary Rosen's recent speech. The RIAA informed the FBI of the breach of copyright under the DMCA and immediately moved to arrest VA Software.
In other news, the hacker web site known as Slashdot was shut down and one of it's members was arrested for an attack on riaa.com. The attack has been described by sources within Slashdot's membership as the "Slashdot effect."
[/tomorrow's news]
I sent his Washington office a letter about this before S11, and have yet to even receive a canned reply. He should pay a little more attention to his constituents, or he'll be out of a job next election.
I wish I had enough money to take out a few newspaper adds against him.
Oh well, maybe a few letters to the editor would do better.......
Now is the time to rise up and fight. Since most of us don't have the money required to get any attention in Washington, we have to use old-fashioned letter writing campaigns. I wrote Senator Hollings twice so far. Once after the first /. story, and once a couple weeks ago. (I was a little peeved that I hadn't seen a response yet. I am one of his constituents)
If you sit idly by and hope this one will fail because "the system" will defeat it, you will have defeated the system. In the US, the people are part of the system. Granted, the part that is most often ignored except at election time, but we are a part. If you wait for other parts of the system to fix this, you will be disappointed. Just look at the DMCA. We're still waiting for the system to fix that one.
Write your senators and representatives. Don't wait for Disney to buy their vote. Make it clear to them that you will not vote for their re-election if they vote for the SSSCA.
First step is to write. Kill a tree and send a letter to everyone you voted for (or against) or would have voted for if you had voted (shame on you!). Make copies of your letter for your lazy friends. All they have to do is sign.
And then....
If this becomes law (and that seems pretty certain) we need to call for a world wide strike of all IT professionals. Turn off your servers, turn off your routers, don't give anyone the passwords. Go home for a few weeks. Advertise the reasons for your strike on every web page you influence. See how the people like their new laws when they can't access the information they want.
This moron happens to be my senator (althought I didn't vote for him)
Here's my letter to him. Feel free to use it, but make sure to modify it for your needs. Make sure to send a copy to all your senators and representatives. And send it snail mail.
[begin]
September 10, 2001
Senator Hollings
125 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Fritz Hollings:
I have recently learned of your intent to sponsor a bill known as the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act. After reading the text of the proposed bill, I am putting it mildly when I say I am alarmed.
Over the past decade, laws passed by the body you now serve in have slowly eroded consumer fair use rights. It is now illegal for us to make clean digital copies of music on our home audio systems for personal and backup use. It is impossible for us to make backup copies of DVDs because the weak copy protection scheme is defended by draconian penalties of up to 5 years in prison and $500,000 by the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act).
Now, the SSSCA aims to make it illegal to distribute in any way digital interactive devices and computers which are not equipped with industry and government specified "security" devices. You and I both know that these "security" devices will only give media companies complete control over what consumers can do with movies, music, books and software that we have rightfully purchased. Gone will be the days when something you have purchased can be used within current copyright law. The corporate world will get to dictate their own copyright law, and circumventing that law will bring even private citizens prison of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1,000,000. Penalties greater than what most convicted rapists serve. They will even be able to change the deal they made when we purchased media from them. Say, they release a new version of an old movie on DVD and render all older versions of the DVD inoperable. Do you want to allow money-hungry corporations such complete control over the economy? Imagine if Microsoft suddenly decided to use these "security" devices to disable all older versions of Windows in favor of the newest version. What would happen to government computers? Do you have the means to buy millions of copies of the newest Windows at $500 a copy? Does the US government wish to give Microsoft that power? Aren't there more important programs to spend billions of dollars on than give an already cash-flush company billions more?
I am also worried about what this will do to the small players in the market. These security devices will cost money, money that large corporations have to burn. What will happen to the small computer makers, small software companies, or small electronics makers when they cannot afford to install these devices? If they cannot afford the few dollars per device and keep a competitive market price, how will they afford the $1,000,000 fine per infraction? What will happen to innovation in the marketplace when the SSSCA and larger competitors money force small competitors out of the marketplace?
The US constitution states that Congress shall establish patent laws (and, by correlation, copyright law) to encourage scientific development (and creative development) while providing the inventor (and copyright holder) profit for their work. While patent law is another matter, I see that the SSSCA will take one more step towards a country where consumers are told what they can do with what they bought, when they can do it, how they can do it, and who they shall pay to do it.
The control for this will no longer be in the hands of the US government or its law enforcement arm. It will be in the control of private corporations with monopoly power and control over the law enforcement arm of the US government. Innovation will be gone. Creative development will disappear. Gone will be the days when a scientist can freely build on the work of those before him to create even greater things for society.
I urge you to reconsider your decision to support this bill. It is just one more step down the slippery slope towards a country whose government exists only to support and maintain the profit of private corporations. Just last week, the Bush administration decided against breaking up Microsoft. Do you wish to enact a law that will empower companies like Microsoft to continue to abuse their monopoly power at the expense of private consumers and the nation's economy? I hope that you will remember that you represent South Carolina, a state that has a history of fighting for states rights and the rights of its citizens in two major wars and countless political debates.
Sincerely,
[end]
[US Gov. point of view]
Here is this "hacker" from "evil" Russia who is creating a tool against the law in the US. It's got something to do with encryption, so it must be bad. However, because we don't really know enough about it to prosecute him, we'll hold him without bail until we figure out what to do. Just like that Mitnick guy a few years back.
[/US Gov. point of view]
They don't know how to really deal with the problem (or even IF there is a problem) so they do what they have done in the past. Arrest someone.
Using satellites for this is just one more step up. The county I'm about to move into uses planes to search out land owners who build new buildings without a permit. Planes could have also been used for this purpose. It just happens that satellites already catch picture and IR photos all over the world.
The prospect of what could be done with satellites is not very comforting, but when used properly to catch criminals I'm all for it.