Firstly, thanks for the help with the OGG names:0)
I personally have a problem with DRM. I won't download anything that has it, and don't like technology that restricts my rights as a consumer.
But is DRM in itself a bad thing? I don't think so - it has uses. Let's say you go to Amazon and buy a DVD. Wouldn't it be nice if you could own that movie before it actually arrived (especially here in Australia, where the shipping time is huge!). If there was a quality codec with reliable DRM, then Amazon could offer your DVD for download, and make that file usable for a few weeks.
More importantly, without DRM, how will the video self-destruct in 5 seconds in Mission Impossible?
Putting DRM in MPEG-4 to increase industry acceptance should make us think...could it be a good idea to start thinking about DRM in free video formats (like Ogg whatchamacallit). I know that the slashdot crowd here can't bear the thought of DRM anywhere, but hear me out.
What if we had an open-source codec, which was capable of operating with or without DRM? Without DRM we could all use it and be happy knowing we aren't lining any corporations pockets, and don't have to worry about the situation changing in the future. With DRM, companies who wanted to stream secure video would be able to know that the DRM mechanism is secure (because everyone has the code for it!)
Does anyone know what exactly will Dell be selling? Will it be PDAs that they made themselves (ala Martha Stewart), or will they just be rebranding some other companies PDAs (like they are apparently going to with Lexmark printers)
Personally I hope they make them themselves. While I don't want to get into an argument of white-box versus brand name computers (damn, I mentioned it, here come the flames:0), the one thing Dell can always be relied on is to care about quality. They don't just stick any old crap on the shelves and sell to my mother, so hopefully they'll manufacture them themselves.
Plus like the story says, being able to customize my PDA a million billion ways (if only my iPaq could have 512MB RAM) is just plain cool
It all comes back to the DMCA (damn the US government for making a law that always reminds me of a Village People song!). Whether it's right or wrong, the law says you can't go around and break apart copy protection systems, which is what goes into the consoles. If Ford were to ever start putting region encoding in their engines, then modding cars would all of a sudden require a lawyer:0)
It seems to me that this whole situation isn't as clear-cut as it may first appear...for starters, there only seems to be once source to confirm that it was Microsoft who ordered Lik Sang closed down (which admittedly was Microsoft itself, but the Australian branch, which from prior experience I know shouldn't be trusted:0).
Also, why are Lik-Sang still collecting e-mail addresses for people who want to be told when they are back online? Why not just shut down the domain and save on hosting bills? I know most of you are going to say that it's a Microsoft ploy to get a list of addresses of mod chippers, but that's a little farfetched even by MS standards.
The much more likely scenario is that MS doesn't want Lik-Sang to close down altogether (betcha they sell a whole pile more PS2 chips than they do X-Box ones), they just want them to stop selling X-Box mod chips...in which case, the site will be back up in a few weeks, when all the legal problems are sorted and Lik-Sang have "smelt the glove" of Microsoft:0)
Ooh! I know the answer to this one. Nothing prevents the corrupt administration from repealing the initial legislation, but Democracy, and the Will Of The People (TM) prevents the corrupt administration from coming to power!
Unless the corrupt administration owns an oil company, but that should be left for another post:0)
I'm not a US citizen (I'm from the forgotten US state, Australia:0), so I'm not sure how the whole lawmaking process works - but doesn't this law say the exact opposite of quite a few laws either previously passed or currently being debated? What happens in this case - do the laws nullify each other? Do they both apply and it gets left up to the courts to decide which has priority?
Perhaps we need some kind of legislation lottery, where the first law that gets drawn out of a barrel is passed, and the rest aren't...I can just imagine a group of senators, fingers crossed, chanting "come in DMCA!"
...in related news, primary schools have called for the banning of the underground childrens activity known as 'hopscotch', arguing that such wanton chalking of pavements could lead on to a life of bandwidth theft.
Slashdot Mirror
I personally have a problem with DRM. I won't download anything that has it, and don't like technology that restricts my rights as a consumer.
But is DRM in itself a bad thing? I don't think so - it has uses. Let's say you go to Amazon and buy a DVD. Wouldn't it be nice if you could own that movie before it actually arrived (especially here in Australia, where the shipping time is huge!). If there was a quality codec with reliable DRM, then Amazon could offer your DVD for download, and make that file usable for a few weeks.
More importantly, without DRM, how will the video self-destruct in 5 seconds in Mission Impossible?
What if we had an open-source codec, which was capable of operating with or without DRM? Without DRM we could all use it and be happy knowing we aren't lining any corporations pockets, and don't have to worry about the situation changing in the future. With DRM, companies who wanted to stream secure video would be able to know that the DRM mechanism is secure (because everyone has the code for it!)
Just a thought...
Does anyone know what exactly will Dell be selling? Will it be PDAs that they made themselves (ala Martha Stewart), or will they just be rebranding some other companies PDAs (like they are apparently going to with Lexmark printers)
:0), the one thing Dell can always be relied on is to care about quality. They don't just stick any old crap on the shelves and sell to my mother, so hopefully they'll manufacture them themselves.
Personally I hope they make them themselves. While I don't want to get into an argument of white-box versus brand name computers (damn, I mentioned it, here come the flames
Plus like the story says, being able to customize my PDA a million billion ways (if only my iPaq could have 512MB RAM) is just plain cool
In the case of Oracle, I don't think Larry Ellison is still in touch with reality, never mind the core of the company!
It all comes back to the DMCA (damn the US government for making a law that always reminds me of a Village People song!). Whether it's right or wrong, the law says you can't go around and break apart copy protection systems, which is what goes into the consoles. If Ford were to ever start putting region encoding in their engines, then modding cars would all of a sudden require a lawyer :0)
It seems to me that this whole situation isn't as clear-cut as it may first appear...for starters, there only seems to be once source to confirm that it was Microsoft who ordered Lik Sang closed down (which admittedly was Microsoft itself, but the Australian branch, which from prior experience I know shouldn't be trusted :0).
:0)
Also, why are Lik-Sang still collecting e-mail addresses for people who want to be told when they are back online? Why not just shut down the domain and save on hosting bills? I know most of you are going to say that it's a Microsoft ploy to get a list of addresses of mod chippers, but that's a little farfetched even by MS standards.
The much more likely scenario is that MS doesn't want Lik-Sang to close down altogether (betcha they sell a whole pile more PS2 chips than they do X-Box ones), they just want them to stop selling X-Box mod chips...in which case, the site will be back up in a few weeks, when all the legal problems are sorted and Lik-Sang have "smelt the glove" of Microsoft
Ooh! I know the answer to this one. Nothing prevents the corrupt administration from repealing the initial legislation, but Democracy, and the Will Of The People (TM) prevents the corrupt administration from coming to power! Unless the corrupt administration owns an oil company, but that should be left for another post :0)
I'm not a US citizen (I'm from the forgotten US state, Australia :0), so I'm not sure how the whole lawmaking process works - but doesn't this law say the exact opposite of quite a few laws either previously passed or currently being debated? What happens in this case - do the laws nullify each other? Do they both apply and it gets left up to the courts to decide which has priority?
Perhaps we need some kind of legislation lottery, where the first law that gets drawn out of a barrel is passed, and the rest aren't...I can just imagine a group of senators, fingers crossed, chanting "come in DMCA!"
...in related news, primary schools have called for the banning of the underground childrens activity known as 'hopscotch', arguing that such wanton chalking of pavements could lead on to a life of bandwidth theft.