Media Industry Wants Mandated Spyware and More 373
An anonymous reader writes "The joint comment filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) requests anti-infringement software on all home computers, pervasive copyright filtering, border searches, forced US intellectual property policies on foreign nations and a joint departmental agency to combat infringement during major releases." The MPAA would also like to have its rent paid a bit by Congress, with a ban on what seems to me like a useful tool (for those in as well as outside the film industry), the recently-discussed futures market for box-office receipts.
Sounds like mad men (Score:2, Insightful)
Indeed.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Interesting)
People who want peace of mind to not be sued for something they're not sure they did or not could install and run it on their system since they aren't going to actively download infringing content anyways.
The rest of us, will simply download a cracked version of this watchdog software which, when it runs, never finds anything. Hence, "the pirates" enjoy the same protection from the xxAA that the ignorant get.
"But your honor, my client downloaded and ran the program provided by the prosecution and it never found any infringing content. Clearly any content found on my client's hard drive is legal or it would have been automatically deleted."
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:4, Interesting)
Makes me think of the movie Brazil... in the xxAA future you'll go to jail or not based on a boolean return value.
Of a closed source program.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:4, Insightful)
There was a guy in another article who stated that he believes that piracy is as much of an enemy to open source as it is to proprietary software companies. His theory was that Adobe for example turns a blind eye to college kids pirating Photoshop so they will be hooked and pay for it later when they work for or start their own business. Also, Microsoft would rather you pirate Windows and keep the mind-share as he called it instead of downloading Linux. I agree, and hope this idea backfires, similarly to Apple backtracking on the political cartoonist and Opera browser.
Imagine, everyone (average Joes) starts to see just how invasive these snobs are and say, NO we don't want your spyware watching me (I like porn, or whatever, I just want a little privacy and not to wonder if my webcam is on while I get dressed), I don't want to be searched at the border for a DVD that (I feel) looks clearly legit. I want to be able to freely trade and invest in movie futures and just because you don't like it, tough titty. I do it with everything else that involves money. One day, perhaps they will cross that line. All it takes is the media seeing green and watching everyone else make money and they will fall like dominoes not wanting to miss the story.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Insightful)
As Jeff Raikes (Microsoft buisness group president) said on the subject of piracy:
If you're going to be a software counterfeiter, then please copy and illegally use Microsoft products.
It's not just open source that suffers, it's smaller competitors. In the '90s, MS Office was probably the best office suite around, but there were lots of ones that were good enough for most people and cost a tenth of the amount. Given the choice between MS Office for $200 and SmallCo Office for $20, it was a trivial decision; MS Office was not worth $200 to a typical home user, or even a lot of small businesses. If you're pirating though, it's a choice between MS Office for $0 and SmallCo Office for $0. You pick MS Office, because it has more features.
The product that you're pirating comes from MS, but the company that lost a sale is SmallCo. This seems to be something that the RIAA and friends miss when they equate one download to one lost sale. Even if the person would have bought if they couldn't pirate, they often would not have bought the same thing that they downloaded.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
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Clearly, I wanted to pay for a good service, and I did. As a result I found dozens and dozens of artists I would have never found otherwise because they are small-time. I could have spent more money on artist
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Interesting)
The same held true for me with Magnatune. [magnatune.com] They aren't just "whatever you want to throw in" and do filter for quality, but license under CC-BY-SA-NC. And despite the fact that it's entirely legal to share it (so long as you don't do so commercially, anyway), they've been around for several years now, and put out some very good music where the artists actually get paid a significant share.
I've also run across the independent band Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers [azpeacemakers.org], and quite like them. They do amazing live shows (and most of the time you can sit down and have a beer with the band afterward), and I've been to several. They highly encourage fans to share their stuff-if my sister hadn't sent me a copy of Americano, I'd probably have never heard of them. That sharing sure didn't hurt them a bit.
Filesharing is in no way bad for the artist. Now the media cartels, those are horrible for the artist-and distribution channels existing outside their control is in turn disastrous for the cartels. The "artists", aside from a few very big names, get very little to nothing out of record/box office/etc. sales, and then the cartels deliberately fudge the numbers to avoid paying even that small amount.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
"We don't care, you're fucked if we say so."
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:4, Informative)
I'm afraid that they'll insist this software runs on the TCM only, and that every personal computer has a properly operational TCM. Then if you've cracked your TCM, you'll be in much bigger trouble.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:4, Insightful)
TPM is the correct term. The TPM is what "trusted" computing is built on. And it's not a bad thing: like any tool, it's moral value lies in how it's used. For the TPM, whoever owns the keys owns the computer. If you have the keys, all is good; if the vendor does you're just sort of leasing the right to use the computer in approved ways. Which, again, is fine if you know that's what you're getting and you like it (e.g., XBox360).
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Insightful)
Or we could just leave any nation stupid enough to pass laws like that.
It's not like those countries need us for taxes or anything, right? I mean, they have all those rich people. Rich people have to pay the greatest share of the taxes anyway, right? Right? Because that's the only sane way to do it. So all the decent human beings who are tired of being treated like they are somehow lower class leaving shouldn't have any effect at all. And since those rich people have so much money, I'm sure they can just pay people in other nations to do all the work anyway without those workers living under the stupid laws they don't accept but never had agency to change.
Seriously, now.
I've said this before. RIAA == ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. E-N-T-E-R-T-A-I-N. You do not have the authority as an entertainment organization to fuck up millions of peoples lives. The government is tasked with law enforcement, military defense, et al, and they STILL don't have the authority to be tyrannical dickheads. They try, lord do they try sometimes, and hell, sometimes they manage, but they do not have the authority.
xxAA should not be thinking they've found a loophole in that system. If they are thinking they have a loophole, they should be shot, along with anyone in the government who is enabling them to do so.
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Obviously, you have no comprehension of "fair use". Of course RIAA doesn't force anyone to purchase and/or to pirate entertainment. But, they are actively seeking to extend copyright law far beyond anything that is reasonable.
Much of the music being downloaded today is properly in the public domain. Much more is being downloaded to circumvent overly restrictive DRM.
RIAA sucks, as do all the other **AA's that work to deny freedom and liberty.
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This kind thing has never been shown to work. The choices they have with this:
1. It won't perform very well. False positives, false negatives and generally slowing down your machine
2. It'll cost an enormous ammount of money that the taxpayer will pick up part of.
3. It'll be easily cicumvented,as you described, with the inevitable cracked version.
Pi
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Hang your head in shame, Timothy.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Insightful)
Sometimes the position of the pirate party looks more and more sensible.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think you read my posting carefully enough, but since you ask why I used the analogy of theft in my comment, I'll answer.
The entertainment industry is free riding on an agreement (copyright) designed to encourage literature and quality writing. They are allowed to restrict other's freedom of speech in return for (supposedly) increasing the amount of speech. However, not only are they turning in completely vapid useless and sometimes even damaging speech; now they are actively trying to interfere with all sorts of other free speech.
At the point where they start to knowingly interfere with free speech (by encouraging censorware) and deliberately failing to keep up their own end of the bargain (by ensuring that their copyright products will not be available after the term of copyright) anything more that they try to take is theft. They have broken their contract with society and lost the right to any of the royalties which they take. I used an analogy to theft deliberately and with meaning.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Funny)
I think they can "want" in one hand and sh*t in the other hand and see which hand fills up first.
How about what I want for a change?
I "want" everyone involved with the *IAA to be gelded so their genetics are not passed on to further generations.
I "want" constant IRS scrutiny of all their books.
I "want" constant webcam surveillance of every room in their houses, their cars, their offices and GPS bitch collars so their whereabouts can always be known.
I "want" those who would invade my privacy to have their skin peeled off and used for lampshades in my house.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Funny)
I call prior art.
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Especially given that these industries use all sorts of dodgy accounting to avoid paying people such as screenwriters. Thus, any of their claims for losses due to "piracy" should be taken with a large pinch of sylvite.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:4, Informative)
It's disgusting they can claim Star Wars never made a profit.
Re:Sounds like mad men (Score:5, Funny)
I have altered the deal. Pray I don't alter it further.
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It's disgusting they can claim Star Wars never made a profit.
Which is why someone needs to haul their ass before a court and bring them up on charges.
According to the law, I can't seem to find the specific one right now, a corporation has the sole duty of legally providing increased profits for their shareholders. In fact, outside of illegal activities, they are legally obligated to maximize profits to exclusion of all other considerations. If Star Wars has never made a profit then it is a failed product. As they have continued to grossly mismanage the shareholder
This is hilarious (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, this is all to be done in the name of protecting movies? Not nuclear secrets or D-Day invasion plans, but movies? I don't want whatever it is they've been smoking, as it's clearly too powerful and causes grandiose impairment of one's general reasoning abilities.
Puh-lease. They're acting like guarding the earning potential of Waterworld should rank right up there with National Security secrets.
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The National Security secrets concern the measures in place to protect the earning potential of Waterworld.
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Don't laugh, they already drug that excuse out quite well to keep ACTA under wraps.
Re:This is hilarious (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, considering IP is the only product that the US can actually export any more... arguably, Waterworld's earning potential IS of utmost importance to national security, otherwise, China utterly pwns us.
That's nice. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That's nice. (Score:4, Funny)
Silly theist. But if you believe Dante, there's an icemaker on level nine.
Oh Yeah? (Score:5, Funny)
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by over sea coders that will just mess it up or ma (Score:3, Funny)
by over sea coders that will just mess it up or make only work on system with the hardware / drivers that they have to test on.
Don't be TOO sure (Score:5, Informative)
Who remembers stoppoliceware.org ? (don't bother clicking - the site has been abandoned, and it's for sale now)
Word was, some years ago, that "Da gubbermint wants to install spyware on your computer to track what you do, and it will report if you have any pirated software, among other things"
Stoppoliceware was one part of a multipronged attack on that idea, and those politicians who were considering it seemed to have abandoned their idea. So, the site was neglected, and finally ceased to exist.
We see that whole thing coming back, around the world today. RIAA and their ilk are looking for antipiracy, but da gubbermint is willing to go along with that program, so that they can install monitoring software of their own.
Unless, of course, there is enough of an outcry against the concept. Australia and New Zealand have been pretty effective in blocking this kind of crap - but I have little faith in the US. So precious few people have the least clue regarding the issues, and those who have a clue often buy into the "Think of the children" nonsense.
Thank God (and Torvalds) for Linux. There won't be any spyware on my machine. The bastards can spy from my internet gateway, but that's as close as they get, unless they come in with a warrant. At that point, I'll most certainly be joining the revolution!
Re:Don't be TOO sure (Score:5, Informative)
http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:7AOx1mO30NoJ:www.erollisimarr.com/forum/showthread.php%3Ft%3D18794+stoppoliceware&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a [74.125.45.132]
It's a forum, where a member copy/pasted some of the old site's mission, and asked about them. There is probably more interesting stuff available on the web, regarding stoppoliceware, if anyone is interested. Or, google for any of these terms:
"The CBDTPA is a bill (S. 2048) proposed in Congress by Senators Fritz Hollings (D-SC) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), along with Senators Daniel Inouye (D-HI), John Breaux (D-LA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The acronym stands for "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act". Note that the CBDTPA was originally known as the "SSSCA" while in draft form."
Ahhhh - here's the bill:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/cbdtpa/hollings.s2048.032102.html [politechbot.com]
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There won't be any spyware on my machine. The bastards can spy from my internet gateway, but that's as close as they get, unless they come in with a warrant.
Not having spyware will be considered probable cause, allowing them to get a warrant.
Re:Don't be TOO sure (Score:5, Insightful)
Only if you're not installing binary blobs, i.e. drivers (*cough* nVidia *cough*) in the kernel and closed source programs (*cough* Flashplayer *cough*). And who knows what's lurking inside your closed-source BIOS (both on the motherboard and in network adapters)? I'm not saying that those binary blogs contain spyware, but I have no way (short of reverse-engineering them) to be sure they don't... and never will on subsequent updates.
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You should get that cough looked at.
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And as much as you have thinking about it, Richard Stallmans way of life starts making sense. The thing I do like about stallman, is that unlike many ofther extremists, he doesnt push his ideals where they aren't wanted. If asked to speak on the topic he will, and at lenght, but he doesnt go around lobbying govertment to make sure all software development is open source and free, he just wants to make sure there is enough of it that you can create a "free" computer system if you want to.
The hardest stuff to
WHAT? (Score:2)
Re:WHAT? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:WHAT? (Score:4, Informative)
WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING?
Better dope than most of us can afford.
When is it going to happen dammit! (Score:5, Insightful)
When are people going to finally be fed up with being treated like criminals for the sake of a greedy cartel of Suits that have no morals to speak of?
When are people going to finally wise up and put these assholes in their place?
Yeah...I know. I'm delusional because they hold almost all the cards and have the gooberment in their pockets.
Re:When is it going to happen dammit! (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah...I know. I'm delusional because they hold almost all the cards and have the gooberment in their pockets.
That's the sad part :(
This makes me want to not pay for next album or movie just that much more...
Don't stop there. (Score:5, Insightful)
Instead of just not paying for it, don't watch it at all. Or don't listen to it.
If you don't like their tactics, do not provide them with an avenue to distribute their products.
Re:Don't stop there. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Don't stop there. (Score:4, Informative)
Making that population statistically indistinguishable from those promoted by modern record labels, presumably?
A lot of people in any field suck at it, but in a field as big as music, even a tiny proportion of the artists being good would be enough to provide a lifetime's supply of interesting and entertaining content for people with diverse tastes. The trick is to somehow create a meritocracy where the relatively few really good performers can rise to the top and get widely noticed, without inadvertently creating Big Media all over again.
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Re:When is it going to happen dammit! (Score:5, Insightful)
Really? It's entertainment. Go find something that's actually important to get your panties in a wad over.
Damn, people, are we all that spoiled and unaware of the world around us?
The problem is, it's not just entertainment. Or are you going to claim that the DMCA and the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act (among others) only affect entertainment??? The ramifications to this are far-reaching and very dangerous, if for no other reason than that they set a very bad precedent for other industries to follow. I'm very disappointed in my own country for even entertaining these ideas: they're morally and ethically defective and should be discarded out of hand.
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I should roll over for private surveillance of my computer because its entertainment?
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Let me answer your questions:
1. It is not called racketeering it is called capitalism. The same things are happening in other places as well.
2. As long as people are frightened by terrorists, various diseases, house prices, jobs and each other, they will not have enough time or capacity to do that. Even more the TV is keeping their brains off. So they will not rise until we run out of oil.
3. When the oil runs out (same as 2)
I agree with number 2 and 3 but not number 1.
When what a corporation does would be called criminal under laws not within their control then they are criminals in everything but name. Sorry but calling it capitalism when the corporations are running the government just doesn't cut it with me.
As far as I'm concerned real capitalist make money within the system NOT change the system so they can keep making money.
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Corporations have some of the rights of human beings so why not require that to have those rights they must be embodied by at least a single person within the company who has the ability to order anyone in the company to follow his instructions.
Then require that the embodied person(s) is/are held accountable for the actions of the corporation.
Those people already exist. Typically, they are called "directors".
The problem is that those responsible for holding them accountable have been asleep at the wheel for a while, and then sold the keys to their henhouse to the foxes to buy their way out. IIRC, the US recently passed a law that basically says commercial organisations can contribute unlimited funds to election campaigns, which means in practice that they can buy representatives legally and openly at this point.
The only thing that is going to fi
Hmm ... (Score:2)
A joint comment by me and my dog Boog has just been filed on Slashdot.
"RIAA and MPAA, go fuck yourselves".
Thank you for your time.
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"RIAA and MPAA, go fuck yourselves".
Thanks.
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I'm sure glad EULA's aren't enforceable, or I'd owe you 3 dollars already.
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A joint comment by me and my dog Boog has just been filed on Slashdot.
Be honest. Your dog wrote the whole thing, didn't he?
RIAA v Boog : Illegal download of "How much is that doggy in the window?"
RIAA: Your honor, since defendant can't pay the 100 billion dollar value of this single download, we request Boog be put down.
There you have it: RIAA wants to kill your pets.
Eh, the typical (Score:4, Insightful)
1. Propose something to Congress so wacked out it would never ever pass
2. "Negotiate" it down to "semi-reasonable"
3. Pass legislation, GOTO 1
They won't get what they want this time, but something bad will still likely get whittled out from this.
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Re:Eh, the typical (Score:5, Interesting)
Yup, they're just using the old tactic of pushing the comfort boundaries. This is what really worries me ... they'll "water this down" so that its "fair in comparison to the original proposal" after much debate, but in absolute terms it will still be ridiculous.
It will be interesting to see what happens if and when Congress attempts to mandate spyware on every single operating personal computer in the United States. And, I might add, not a program that reports to a legitimate law-enforcement agency (if any such Federal organizations exist in the present time), but to the private sector. If that does happen, the next question will be what penalties would be applied to an individual who attempts to circumvent, disable or uninstall said spyware. You know, like most of us on Slashdot. This puts a bad taste in my mouth, it really does, and anyone who claims, "hey, it's just entertainment" isn't seeing the bigger picture.
... there are plenty more where he came from.
Besides, given the RIAA's demonstrated inability to reliably sue the right people, unwillingness to admit mistakes and offer redress (and absolute willingness to write off the collateral damage with out a second's thought) I have zero doubt that this would also be highly destructive, only more so. Remember folks, the MPAA is composed of people just as amoral and fundamentally dangerous as the RIAA crowd: hell, they're cut from precisely the same mold. Don't forget Jack "The VCR will DESTROY the industry!" Valenti
Not the America I grew up in, let me tell you.
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Not to mention Microsoft would be tickled pink.
I would not be surprised if such a spyware program didn't have linux or osx versions.
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That's how we got the DMCA.. and most all other invasive laws.
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Hey, maybe those Tea party people could help. Couldn't you frame this as one more branch of the evil Obama administration's efforts to take our rights away? ...
Psshshshthahahahahahaha...heh... ...
*cry*
Dupe? (Score:5, Informative)
Pretty much the same as:
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/04/15/1559208/Entertainment-Industrys-Dystopia-of-the-Future [slashdot.org]
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No, the difference is that this time it's for real!
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Why not just charge less? (Score:5, Insightful)
RIAA, MPAA - why don't you just sell your product for a reasonable price so that more people will buy it? Make it easily downloadable and hassle-free (standard formats with no DRM).
Wouldn't that be easier than the technical and legislative shenanigans you seem so enamored of??
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What price beats free?
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> What price beats free?
People will buy something if they get a perceived value, and the convenience saves them the trouble of going out and finding it. Witness iTunes Music Store.
If they feel they're being ripped off, they'll go out of their way to pirate it.
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What price beats free?
Fair.
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They don't want people buying more movies or music; they dream for return of times when people were buying only from them.
Re:Why not just charge less? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because charging *less* would cut into their hooker and blow money. Duh.
SB
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RIAA, MPAA - why don't you just sell your product for a reasonable price so that more people will buy it? Make it easily downloadable and hassle-free (standard formats with no DRM). Wouldn't that be easier than the technical and legislative shenanigans you seem so enamored of??
You seem to think they're after money. I think they have loftier aspirations. Who needs gold when you can order your subjects to do anything at sword-point?
box-office receipts futures market (Score:5, Funny)
I'm really torn about this one. The movie industry hates it, but the finance industry likes it; which one is more evil?
What about Linux? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, if this happens, people who never before even considered running Linux will start installing it en masse on their PCs or Macs. People who never before would have made the effort to learn how to install it will become quite proficient at doing so.
I'm guessing nobody will bother writing such software for Linux. Even then, how do you ensure it's installed with every single distro? What are they going to do? Ban Linux? They'd have to either shut down or block every single site that offers a Linux ISO.
One way or another, this isn't going to fly.
Re:What about Linux? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What about Linux? (Score:5, Funny)
Well, if this happens, people who never before even considered running Linux will start installing it en masse on their PCs or Macs. People who never before would have made the effort to learn how to install it will become quite proficient at doing so.
Um, would these be the same people who call me for help when their "e-mail is broken" because they accidentally sorted it by something other than 'Date'?
What are they going to do? Ban Linux? They'd have to either shut down or block every single site that offers a Linux ISO.
Let's not give them any more bad ideas, m'kay?
Re:What about Linux? (Score:5, Informative)
We're supposed to get one of those spywares any day now, over here in France, thanks to the HADOPI legislation.
When confronted with the problem of making people voluntarily run spyware on FOSS systems, Christine Albanel (ministry of Culture and Communication, proponent of HADOPI), said (my translation):
About software... about free software, of course free software, when you buy, of course, software, for instance the Microsoft pack (this is not free software): Word, Excel, Powerpoint, there are of course firewalls, I just said that, there is security software. But on free software there are also firewalls, which by the way, of course. For instance, we in the ministry, we have a piece of free software, called Open Office and there is indeed security software that prevents the Ministry of Culture to have access, obviously, and the free software editors release firewalls, and even release free [gratis] firewalls. So that argument has no grounds. That is what I wanted to say.
And that is basically the last we heard of it, and they moved on with the project. She said that in front of the entire Assemblée Nationale to the representative who had asked her if she had considered the problem of FOSS systems, including the half-dozen "évidemment" and the unfinished sentences.
Now what happens is that when accused of infringing copyrights, it's the HADOPI authority's word against yours, and despite this being -- supposedly -- a country where you are innocent until proved otherwise, for some reason the burden of proof rests with the infringer here. So your *only* way of demonstrating that you are not guilty is to be running the government-approved spyware, which you can't, because it's HADOPI-style multiplatform, which probably means you can run it on Windows Vista *and* Windows Seven.
Before anyone storms in declaring that's what France gets for being a socialist country and that socialism inevitably leads to governments spying on their citizens: our current government is right wing (on our spectrum), and the Parti Socialiste is against HADOPI.
To conclude, the most likely answer to your question ("What are they going to do? Ban Linux?") is "no, they're just going to pretend it does not exist, and when the time comes to explain why you are not running the spyware, good luck trying to convince them it's related to ethical questions".
"The Right to Read" (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, if they want spyware on every computer, then you can no longer have control of your computer. Software development will have to be heavily regulated.
RMS saw it coming over a decade ago; go read his little parable The Right to Read [gnu.org] , if you don't know it already.
Futures market for b-o receipts: a derivative? (Score:4, Funny)
Surely this is one of those evil, nasty derivatives that will soon be banned by financial regulation anyway. After all, everyone knows that speculators and derivatives caused the recession, right?
Stallman predicted it. (Score:3, Interesting)
I would urge IATSE to strike against this (Score:5, Interesting)
If entertainment industry workers took a stand for the country as a whole then public opinion would be on our side. The producers would have to take us seriously.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
For the English comment, even as an American I find the dropping of the second 'e' very odd.
It turns out that this is arguably a more correct spelling. Employee comes from employé, which is the past participle of the French verb Employer meaning, of course, "to employ". Being the past participle, according to french linguistic tradition it can also be used as a noun, having the expected meaning. For females, the word gets an extra unaccented 'e', becoming employée a feminine past participle, which
Makes Me Think About Pirating (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Just don't listen to the music under the umbrella of RIAA members, simple.
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Exactly how? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not only NO (Score:3, Insightful)
But FUCK NO.
Who the hell do they think they are? Arrogant bastards.
You know what we need in this country? A presidential administration with the balls to dissolve the RIAA and MPAA and put their executives in prison, where they rightly belong. Any corporate executive who would sign off on an idiot statement like this badly needs a reality check.
SB
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Wrong venue perhaps, but the right spirit. I agree, let them say and propose what they want.
But, some ideas are so heinous they ought to provoke such a popular uprising that no one will ever dare propose them again. For instance, now that we have some understanding of the consequences, the idea of using nukes to "solve" disagreements between nations should be just such a provocation. There is a recent article out announcing that if the relatively minor nuclear powers India and Pakistan had a nuclear ex
When you tell someone... (Score:2)
..."If you could have anything you want, what would you ask for?", what do you expect?
BTW if they want a pony too I have several for sale. That they might actually get.
And this is (Score:3, Interesting)
exactly why I don't go to the movies anymore. Blame piracy if you will (despite the fact that some movies keep breaking records). A lot of us are fed up with being ripped off at the box office, raped at the confection stand, and then accused of being pirates (talk about preaching to the choir) before the movie starts, only to be ripped off again by movies that fail to deliver.
Back in the day, there were basically two forms of entertainment - staying home and watching tv, or going to the movies. Nowadays there are many more things to do that entertain, from playing multi-player games, to playing with consoles, to watching people ignite their farts on youtube. Your market share will drop accordingly.
Will likely be implemented (Score:5, Informative)
Unfortunately this is MORE LIKELY to happen than not. The Vice President is fully influencing the President [tinymixtapes.com] on this matter and it's not in a way we like. Joe Biden's pro RIAA history [cnet.com] will almost guarantee it.
As Senator, Senator Biden had sponsored five pro-copyright bills and co-sponsored three. Among these bills includes the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2004, of which the similar yet brutal 2005 edition became law. Another was the Perform Act of 2006, which intended to restrict the recording and playing back songs off satellite and internet radio (this died in committee).
Please don't mix RIAA and MPAA (Score:3, Insightful)
RIAA - Music
MPAA - Movies
I don't want to excuse all of what the MPAA is doing, but I understand that an industry defends itself against its ennemies. For the RIAA, however, "racket" is the only word that comes to my mind.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
And people like you completely ignore the fact that artificial scarcity is just that. Artificial. Blocking billions of people from using an idea or text, giving massive cultural enrichment, so that one (1) person can have additional profit.
People have been sharing since the dawn of time and will continue to do so. It's only human and no amount of hand waving by people like you is going to change that simple fact.
---
"I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can
I want the open source version ... (Score:3, Interesting)
.. to run on Gentoo Linux.
Things to do to lose me as a customer (Score:5, Informative)
Charging extra for "digital download" for content I have already purchased a license for
Cable Companies that set the CCI bytes such that TV shows can't be transferred from one DVR to another
MPAA/RIAA/friends suing their consumers instead of getting with the program and adopting the new world that they find themselves in
Take away features with a software update
Re:Ludicrous (Score:5, Insightful)
Simple, they bought it.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
They want to be free doing what they want, operating from "land of opportunity"?
Re:Ludicrous (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Careful (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And if there were a corporate death penalty, all the issues that came with individuality would be resolved.