Right now the unnamed company is saying "Take it all down and we'll let you live." If they didn't have that option they might be saying "We're suing for damages and you are screwed."
They could have, but they wouldn't. The media production companies may be greedy - and amazingly short sighted at times - but they are not stupid (or at least most of their lawyers aren't).
They won't sue without some expectiation of tangible benefit. Without hope of stopping the program's development or distribution, there is little to be gained by suing - except to create a martyr that EVERYONE will attempt to emulate. Besides, most corporations are loathe to sue under controversial laws that have not been tested in court as there is always a chance that the judge will invalidate the law entirely. They would obviously prefer to threaten and bully everyone into doing their bidding without going to court.
So, aside from cutting down an exceptionally tall poppy from time to time as an example to others, the media companies will generally ignore the medium size poppies and hope that they just go away. And even that can backfire badly. The DVDJon Trial left them with egg ALL over their faces.
Besides, once the product has gone opensource one can claim that they are no longer in control of their creation. That really limits liability - and the fact that it wasn't illegal (in the UK) when it was created goes even further in that direction.
As for deciding to give in without a fight, however, I certainly can't fault DVDDecrypter's author for that - I probably would have done the same. But is still a shame that source remained closed, because now no one can carry on his work. This fight isn't about one man doing all the work while the rest of us cheer; it's about one man carrying the torch as far as he can and then passing it to others. Together we might cross a finish line that none of us can reach by ourselves.
Unfortunately, in the Bush administration (and the political climate that it has spawned) the opposition is never considered "loyal". In fact, everyone who votes against one of the administration's pet projects is considered disloyal, subversive, and probably supporting of terrorism.
assuming you're a fellow, how about i come over to your house and "share" your wife
That is what happens everytime I "allow" my wife to leave the house unescourted, whether it is to go to work, go shopping, or go to the bank. I am sharing her with the world.
A wife is not property, and any man who thinks so is living in a dream world. As for the sex part, the fact that she does not have sex with others (to the best of my knowledge) is her choice - not mine. And short of doing the "Peter Peter, Pumpkin Eater" thing, I will just have to trust her.
The main reason everyone is so upset/scared over internet hunting are the safety concerns.
I totally agree. A live human who stumbled into the "kill zone" would have a life expectancy of about 30 seconds. The seeming anonymity of the net along with the similarity to various person shoot-em-up video games would ensure that.
According to DNA, only Arthur is *supposed* to have an English accent
Okay. I can accept that. I mean, Zaphod's character just screams out for an American accent.
And, truth to tell, I can accept Trillian as an American. I did, however, have a problem with the fact that Trillian's accent was one of those agressively nasal mid-western accents - often found in northern Indiana or Illinois - that make every word sound as if it is being delivered through a clenched jaw so that the words have to turn sideways to get out.
Another point is DNA was also the one who added the idea to have a Trillian/Arthur romance.
And that just goes to show that DNA had off days, too - just like the rest of us.
Um... There are a number of people at Guantanamo Bay (and Abu Ghraib) who might disagree with you. US law applies to anyone the Yanks don't like and can lay their hands on.
Seriously, the only DRMed products I am willing to accept are those that I possess the ability to crack And - unlike the unprotected media - I don't feel any qualms about sharing the cracked version onward.
If you're correct, why didn't the artist pay the city instead of the city paying the artist?
That's why the artist needs the city - they have the dollars; he just has a giant silver jelly bean.
And "art" can be obtained anywhere. I mean, we are not talking about the Mona Lisa here, just a big silver jelly bean. Lots of people would be perfectly willing to create a total monstrosity free of charge if you put a plaque with their name on it nearby.
The same goes for a sculpture purchased by a city.
In that case, why wouldn't the city say to the artist, "Hey! Get your unphotographable giant silver jelly bean out of here and shove it up your ass!"?
I mean, the artist needs the city (or some other moron with a small brain and large bank account) a WHOLE lot more that it needs some artist with a giant jelly bean fetish.
This invention would bring back film cameras and bring the digital camera revolution to a screeching halt.
After taking pictures at a family gathering where every photo had at least one person with the face blurred, the digital camera would go into the bin and out would come the [dust-covered] box brownie.
Although the article does not mention any single company, the last month has seen a significant amount of hype about the proposed HD-DVD protection standards. Most of it has been generated by one company - Crptography Research - who want very badly to sell their protection systems to the DVD consortium. See the Dec 15 Register Article.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/15/cryptograp hy_research/
The system proposed by the IEEE article sounds like the same system. And the whole thing sounds like a sales brochure - full of hype and promises, but short of any real substance. We've heard the same thing twice a month for the last two years regarding CD's and DVD's. New product; same old hype.
Democracy is meaningless unless there are checks and balances, which is why freedom-loving people are up in arms over the Patriot Act..
Absolutely. Although if you want real chill, look at GWBush's abuses of freedom and Due Process and then compare them to the powers of the Nazi Gestapo
at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestapo .
So, you think the failure of the communist system in the late Soviet Union is nothing more than a feeble anecdote?
No. Just an indication that the people of the Soviet Union were no more mature or socially evolved than they are in America. While the ideal of giving to each according to his needs seemed like a good one, individuals were still generally greedy and self-centered. As such, the system was doomed from the start.
It will be a long time - if ever - before people are mature enough to share willingly. Particularly since the U.S. has made greed and selfishness into something of a religion.
An extension of this could mean that any documents you create under a future version of MS Office could potentially be copyrighted by MS.
That is NOT as far-fetched as one might think. Some recent versions of Microsoft FrontPage (and possibly Publisher) already contain a clause that the user will not use the software to create material critical of Microsoft. I have seen it.
It is only a small step to claiming complete control.
MediaChance also sell "DVD Menu Studio" which can be used to design very professional-looking menus. These can then be imported into DVD-Lab for final composition/authoring.
Another thing about DVD-Lab: It can import SVCD files and after transcoding the audio stream from 44100 to 48000 sampling rate, one can make a non-standard DVD without recoding the video.
DVD-Lab is one of the few programs that is actually worth paying for.
Slashdot Mirror
They could have, but they wouldn't. The media production companies may be greedy - and amazingly short sighted at times - but they are not stupid (or at least most of their lawyers aren't).
They won't sue without some expectiation of tangible benefit. Without hope of stopping the program's development or distribution, there is little to be gained by suing - except to create a martyr that EVERYONE will attempt to emulate. Besides, most corporations are loathe to sue under controversial laws that have not been tested in court as there is always a chance that the judge will invalidate the law entirely. They would obviously prefer to threaten and bully everyone into doing their bidding without going to court.
So, aside from cutting down an exceptionally tall poppy from time to time as an example to others, the media companies will generally ignore the medium size poppies and hope that they just go away. And even that can backfire badly. The DVDJon Trial left them with egg ALL over their faces.
Besides, once the product has gone opensource one can claim that they are no longer in control of their creation. That really limits liability - and the fact that it wasn't illegal (in the UK) when it was created goes even further in that direction.
As for deciding to give in without a fight, however, I certainly can't fault DVDDecrypter's author for that - I probably would have done the same. But is still a shame that source remained closed, because now no one can carry on his work. This fight isn't about one man doing all the work while the rest of us cheer; it's about one man carrying the torch as far as he can and then passing it to others. Together we might cross a finish line that none of us can reach by ourselves.
Only is you are using RedHat Fedora. :+>
Only if you read American history books - or listen to US Patent Lawyers. :+>
Unfortunately, in the Bush administration (and the political climate that it has spawned) the opposition is never considered "loyal". In fact, everyone who votes against one of the administration's pet projects is considered disloyal, subversive, and probably supporting of terrorism.
That is what happens everytime I "allow" my wife to leave the house unescourted, whether it is to go to work, go shopping, or go to the bank. I am sharing her with the world.
A wife is not property, and any man who thinks so is living in a dream world. As for the sex part, the fact that she does not have sex with others (to the best of my knowledge) is her choice - not mine. And short of doing the "Peter Peter, Pumpkin Eater" thing, I will just have to trust her.
People hunting through a computer monitor would behave the same way.
I totally agree. A live human who stumbled into the "kill zone" would have a life expectancy of about 30 seconds. The seeming anonymity of the net along with the similarity to various person shoot-em-up video games would ensure that.
IBM might win damages, but they will never collect. SCO will be bankrupt.
After this is all over, however, I would really like to see IBM go after Darl's personal fortune. :+>
Okay. I can accept that. I mean, Zaphod's character just screams out for an American accent.
And, truth to tell, I can accept Trillian as an American. I did, however, have a problem with the fact that Trillian's accent was one of those agressively nasal mid-western accents - often found in northern Indiana or Illinois - that make every word sound as if it is being delivered through a clenched jaw so that the words have to turn sideways to get out.
Another point is DNA was also the one who added the idea to have a Trillian/Arthur romance.
And that just goes to show that DNA had off days, too - just like the rest of us.
Um... There are a number of people at Guantanamo Bay (and Abu Ghraib) who might disagree with you. US law applies to anyone the Yanks don't like and can lay their hands on.
When they pry my MP3's from my cold dead fingers.
Seriously, the only DRMed products I am willing to accept are those that I possess the ability to crack And - unlike the unprotected media - I don't feel any qualms about sharing the cracked version onward.
Well...I suppose some of your more gifted musicians might memorize it. You know, like savants - and prodigies...
That's why the artist needs the city - they have the dollars; he just has a giant silver jelly bean.
And "art" can be obtained anywhere. I mean, we are not talking about the Mona Lisa here, just a big silver jelly bean. Lots of people would be perfectly willing to create a total monstrosity free of charge if you put a plaque with their name on it nearby.
The same goes for a sculpture purchased by a city.
In that case, why wouldn't the city say to the artist, "Hey! Get your unphotographable giant silver jelly bean out of here and shove it up your ass!"?
I mean, the artist needs the city (or some other moron with a small brain and large bank account) a WHOLE lot more that it needs some artist with a giant jelly bean fetish.
After taking pictures at a family gathering where every photo had at least one person with the face blurred, the digital camera would go into the bin and out would come the [dust-covered] box brownie.
The system proposed by the IEEE article sounds like the same system. And the whole thing sounds like a sales brochure - full of hype and promises, but short of any real substance. We've heard the same thing twice a month for the last two years regarding CD's and DVD's. New product; same old hype.
Move along. Nothing to see here.
By an interesting coincidence, that is the same way one leads a pig.
Absolutely. Although if you want real chill, look at GWBush's abuses of freedom and Due Process and then compare them to the powers of the Nazi Gestapo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestapo .
The differences are only in magnitude - so far...
No. Just an indication that the people of the Soviet Union were no more mature or socially evolved than they are in America. While the ideal of giving to each according to his needs seemed like a good one, individuals were still generally greedy and self-centered. As such, the system was doomed from the start.
It will be a long time - if ever - before people are mature enough to share willingly. Particularly since the U.S. has made greed and selfishness into something of a religion.
That is NOT as far-fetched as one might think. Some recent versions of Microsoft FrontPage (and possibly Publisher) already contain a clause that the user will not use the software to create material critical of Microsoft. I have seen it.
It is only a small step to claiming complete control.
Ed Wood's _Glen or Glenda_
Herself, obviously.
Goodonya. Oh, wait... You don't work for SCO by any chance do you? :+>
They do, however, have a deal where one can buy DVD-Lab and TMPGEng DVD Encoder as one bundle for a still-reasonable price.
Another thing about DVD-Lab: It can import SVCD files and after transcoding the audio stream from 44100 to 48000 sampling rate, one can make a non-standard DVD without recoding the video.
DVD-Lab is one of the few programs that is actually worth paying for.