Senator Calls For Copy-Protection Tags 396
Anonymous Coward writes "C|net has an
article on a new bill being proposed in the Senate that requires all software, music and movies that employ copy-protection schemes must be prominently labeled with consumer warnings, which is being sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon."
Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Sorry, but it is.
This is backed by Sanford, the company that makes Sharpies.
Re:Why dont you thank him ? (Score:3, Informative)
http://wyden.senate.gov/contact.html [senate.gov]
A small appreciation can go a long way.
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Re:Keep kickin' their asses, Wyden. (Score:2)
Heh, you've got all the senators! "You will never
find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy..." =)
Excellent! (Score:2)
Re:Excellent! (Score:2)
It'll be nice knowing what's what.
This is a good idea (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This is a good idea (Score:3, Funny)
Sorry, didn't you get the memo? That has been repealed by the Axiom Review Board and replaced with "because the customer is a probably a criminal".
WARNING! (Score:2)
Re:WARNING! (Score:2)
Jason
ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
Re:WARNING! (Score:2)
I'm continually amazed by the number of people who invoke the Constitution are will, but who are unable to quote any part of it, even the preamble, from memory. Can you?
Re:WARNING! (Score:2)
Incidently, Canada is more of a "living and growing" democracy than the US, if you believe our PM. But I don't want to start a flamewar, so I will just shut up now.
Re:WARNING! (Score:2)
It's like the conspicuous flags. If your car sports more than five American flags, I can almost guarantee you couldn't name a single item on the bill of rights. Except maybe the second.
5 or more, eh? My experience shows that 1 flag usually indicates ignorance. But since 1 flag could be a whim, it's safer to use 2 flags since that's less likely to be a whim.
In my experience, also, "constitutional rights" has become a buzzword that actual means "I don't want to be responsible for myself, so I will claim
Great Idea... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Great Idea... (Score:2)
Re:Great Idea... (Score:2)
elaboration (Score:2)
The whole thing is silly. (Score:2)
Things take effort to copy, some things take more effort to copy than others, and some things are designed to take more effort to copy. That's just a fact of life.
What this law SHOULD do is force any med
Darn label! (Score:2)
Re:Darn label! (Score:2)
Registration keys are one of my personal pet hates. I never seem to have the certificate of authenticity / manual / whatever it was printed on with me when I need to re-install, so I either have to not use the software I paid for, or find a serial on the 'net. The WaReZ editions, on the other hand, are going to have the CD key in a text file as part of the archive, and so people who pirate the software don't have any problems with the CD key.
What kind of mind be
My Proposal (Score:5, Funny)
Re:My Proposal (Score:2)
The red book specification (Score:3, Informative)
Does it say that random bits must not be inserted?
Yes. The red book states that the block error rate must be under a specific threshold. The books also state that the index records have to come in a specific order and fit specific consistency constraints, especially across sessions. The copy restriction schemes break these, and discs that use them do not conform to the red book specification or the CD Plus specification.
Re:My Proposal (Score:2)
I was thinking they could just combine it with the "Parental Warning".
So it'd go something like "Parental warning your kid won't be able to copy this broke ass shit"
Re:My Proposal (Score:2)
Re:My Proposal (Score:2)
Re:My Proposal (Score:2)
what they will actually do (Score:2)
"Note: This product contains advanced technology that enables you to play this album on (device x). Other devices may not be compatible with our technology."
Because if your CD player/computer is expecting a CD rather than the crap they are selling then it's because your player "isn't compatible".
Re:My Proposal (Score:2)
The truth will screw them over.
And while they're at it, perhaps they could give the warning, "We've also poisoned your P2P services, so you can't download music either. It's all static. So ha."
You know, I always thought the RIAA was all for people enjoying music. *drips sarcasm*
Re:My Proposal (Score:2)
Way to Go (Score:2)
Great idea! (Score:3, Interesting)
Fat Chuck's [fatchucks.com] maintains a list of copy-protected. Be careful!!
Re:Great idea! (Score:2)
Re:Great idea! (Score:2)
CD copy protection is experimental to say the least, no scheme will work with all players and so such protection is at fault. The CD system was never designed to be abused in such a way.
I will only buy copy-protected software (Score:2, Funny)
If I coul
Re:I will only buy copy-protected software (Score:2)
a well-written troll... SOMEBODY went to high school! ;)
He probly dropped out and learned to read and write on his own, since schools don't teach that stuff anymore.
I was thinking that... (Score:2)
Of course, this means basically every game, CD, or movie that you buy would have yet another "prominent label" on it.
they do (Score:2)
Humor folks,
-- RLJ
A good step, but DMCA's still got to go. (Score:2)
However, if there is no way of bypassing these measures (as the DMCA tries to force), then there is no incentive for publishers to be consumer-friendly. This will continue to cause the erosion of fair-use of media, since eventually the warning label (and the protections) will be on AL
Don't fall into the trap. (Score:2)
Re:Don't fall into the trap. (Score:2)
Re:Don't fall into the trap. (Score:2)
Yes, I do. Do you think everyone reads Slashdot?
Also, for better or for worse the entire technology sector has somehow managed to convince people that when something goes mysteriously wrong, it's their fault. If a normal person rips their CD collection, then buys the copy-protected CD and tries to rip that, when it doesn't work they normally blame themselves or their equipment, not the CD. However, if the CD is labe
Talk to the tobacco companies about it (Score:2)
crippled CD's should as well.
if this thing is going to go into my machine and force me to physically open the drive to get it back out, i want to know. if the songs have mistakes burned on to them on purpose to ruin ripping, i wanna see a label.
we have a label to warn parents if the cd says "fuck" somewhere, i want one that tells me if it's been f
Or even more simply... (Score:2)
If they follow the Redbook standard, and thus can be played in _any_ CD player, then they can be labelled as a CD.
If they don't, then they cannot be labelled or sold as a CD. As that would be false advertising.
Same thing with any of these other copyright protections. If you don't want to label them as copy-protected products, then don't label as if they are not copy-protected. Simple as that.
If my CD player on my computer cannot play the CD, then the CD is
Re:Or even more simply... (Score:2)
It's still in a CD case, with CD logo, but no logos on the disc or artwork.
Pure and simply deception.
DCRTKA? (Score:3, Funny)
What to do if we want this passed (Score:2)
KS (Sam Brownback)
VA (George Allen)
AK (Ted Stevens)
MT (Conrad Burns)
MS (Trent Lott)
TX (Kay Bailey Hutchinson)
NV (John Ensign)
NH (John Sununu)
LA (John Breaux)
WV (John D. Rock
Re:What to do if we want this passed (Score:2)
This is bad (Score:2)
Mandatory warning labels are almost never a good idea.
Re:This is bad (Score:2)
This is not a warning label, this is correctly labeling a product. It merely enforces Philip's legal position that these are NOT CD's, they are something else and they may not work in your CD player.
This is for consumer protection from retailers that do not allow you to return open music, even if it won't work as advertised.
Re:This is bad (Score:2)
Okay, fine. Mandatory addition of a correct label on a product is almost never a good idea. When health is an issue, mandatory labels are a generally a good idea. But something like this is just going to be more wasteful government spending. Either that or it's going to be unfunded and unenforced, which makes it instead just a colossal waste of time and effort.
Mandatory correct labels (Score:2)
If the producer does not label products properly to the detriment of the consumer, the government should step in.
People are selling a product, while representing it as another product, this is false/deceptive marketing. Making the requirements clearer helps both the consumer (they know what they are buying) and the producers who already label correctly, as they now have fair competition.
Yes it is "yet another law", but that is the only downside I see
Re:Mandatory correct labels (Score:2)
Generally speaking, that's true. But we don't need a new bill to enforce this measure; it's already on the books. If you find a CD that says "works in all players all the time no matter what" on it, and it doesn't, then you can sue the manufacturer.
An FTC regulation that requires manufacturers to stick a warning label on, however, is an entirely different thing. That's not truth-in-labeling; it's frivilous regulation.
Re:Mandatory correct labels (Score:2)
There has to be some enforcment of either removing the cd logos or labeling them as defective or whatever. Whether this should be left to the manufacturers or the FTC is questionable. Parental warnings have done absolutely no good and are a collosal waste of time so I don't see this as being
Re:Mandatory correct labels (Score:2)
There already is. Philips licenses the compact disc logo to manufacturers. If those manufacturers put that logo on discs that don't meet the Red Book specification, Philips can choose to revoke their licenses.
At best benign, this law is completely unnecessary. At worst, it's incredibly wasteful at a time when deficit spending is already a serious concern.
Re:This is bad (Score:2)
That's why you buy things with your Visa card. One word: chargeback
How about a bill... (Score:2, Insightful)
rob
Copy protected vs. non-copy protected. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Copy protected vs. non-copy protected. (Score:2)
My guess is that's why the proposed legistlation requires them to be "prominently labeled ".
Of course, it all depends on your definition of "prominently", doesn't it?
Bigger government (Score:2)
Its like a perpetual motion machine. Come up with laws that violate our rights, then demand that people label that our rights are being violated.
Holy hell - how many different ways does this violate the 10th Amendment?
If we were honest, we'd just white-out that part of the Constitution.. because its become
Re:Bigger government (Score:2)
1st amendment
4th amendment
5th amendment
6th amendment
8th amendment
12th amendment
15th amendment
Re:Bigger government (Score:2)
Arseholes? Assembly persons? Shite?? "Government rule"??? In American English, that's a55holes, congresspersons/representatives, sh1t, and "government regulation." Do you enjoy bashing other people's governments?
And as for the 10th amendment, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." That simply means that powers not reserved by the constitution to the Feds devolve to the states. Since
Warning labe (Score:2)
"An unelected body with aspirations to control everything you read, watch, or listen to, has determined that laws should only be put in place when convenient for corporate interests and sees you only as a statistic on a spreadsheet. Do you really want to buy this crap?"
Labeling is great, but what I really want is... (Score:2)
The best kind of choice is 'informed choice', and I hate the thought of those recording labels pulling a fast one on the consumer.
That said, what I really want as 'joe-average-consumer' isn't some infinite-right-to-Napster-share, but what I call "mix rights": the right to compile an album of favorite songs for my own use or for distribution to a few of my friends (I'd even pay for the the redistribution rights.) In the old day, this sort of thing woul
I'm for this. (Score:2)
Let me get this straight? (Score:2)
Everybody break out the skates, hell has offically frozen over!
On a serious note, I'm glad that somebody has a clue up there...
label design suggestions (Score:2, Insightful)
Perhaps a nice little picture of, say, a broken CD-ROM drive, or the nice little warning a Mac gives when its CD drive has been killed by one of these CDs...
or just something simple, like WARNING: This product is inferior.
Most people won't care (Score:5, Insightful)
One thing I've learned is that it takes a VERY big offense to motivate your average citizen to actually get up off their couch and do something - ANYTHING - about something. I mean geez, polls show that at a minimum, 30% of Americans oppose the war on^H^Hin Iraq. That's what, 90,000,000 Americans? How many actually show up at the protests? A few thousand here and there? And we're talking about peoples' lives being at stake! Hell, half of the Yankee populace can't even be bothered to vote - you think they're going to sit down and write a letter to their rep over some stupid copy protection that they don't even understand anyway? Call my cynical, but I don't think so.
I believe that if the RIAA decides they want this tech out there, then it's just a matter of time before all CDs have this copy protection. You can boycott if you want, but if every single CD is using it, there won't be any alternatives for you to direct your money at (none worth listening to, anyway). :(
Re:Most people won't care (Score:2)
I, for example, am vehemently opposed to the war. I feel that the protests do not serve my interests. I went to one a month before the fighting broke out, and will never go again. They are worthless.
Of course, just because one of your examples is meaningless doesn't mean you're wrong. I think you're correct.
Re:Most people won't care (Score:2)
However.. I'm disappointed at only half of the population voting. It's one thing if they don't care. However, they have no right to criticize any official that they could not have voted for, but instead they didn'
Defining fair use. (Score:2)
The sceneario of taking a cd round to a friends house is a good example of this ambiguity. Am I allowed to lend him the cd ?, is he allowed to make a copy ?, if I regularly meet with my friends and play this cd does that constitute as a public performance ?. Am I allowed to backup my c
Re:Defining fair use. (Score:2)
The sceneario of taking a cd round to a friends house is a good example of this ambiguity. Am I allowed to lend him the cd ?
Yes.
is he allowed to make a copy ?
No.
if I regularly meet with my friends and play this cd does that constitute as a public performance ?.
Not unless you are charging either for the listening or to get into the venue for some other reason (bar, restaurant, etc.)
Am I allowed to backup my cd's ? (digitally ?).
Yes, well, in theory, well, until DMCA anyway....
Add in the issu
Text of the Bill (Score:5, Informative)
"Anti-Fair-Use" (Score:2)
How many more? (Score:2)
What's next, a mandatory warning label label? "Warning, this product has more than 3 mandatory warning labels. Parental Discretion Advised."
More appropriate warning: (Score:2)
Small labels and copy protection (Score:2)
I wrote to the record label of de/vision, a german synthpop band. Both, are not well known (compared to, say britney). I have the complete transcription at copyproofcds.org [copyproofcds.org] . Eventually their final email said this:
thank you
enjoy your coutry , enjo
"Free Market" (Score:2)
I think the person from the Cato institute is WAY off the mark when he implies that labeling requirements are just as onerous as mandated copy protection:
When I studied economics, one of the conditions of competition was perfect information distribution. I.e., customers have to know what is available, and they have to know what it is. That makes sense.
W
Call for suggests for a Free/Open tag slogan (Score:3)
Re:Call for suggests for a Free/Open tag slogan (Score:3, Funny)
It Sure As Hell Ain't Microsoft!
Open Source: Spread The Love!
Finally, Something Legal To Trade On KaZaA!
Copy Me, Burn Me, Give Me To Your Friends!
Or, simply: Distribute Freely And Often.
Re:Call for suggests for a Free/Open tag slogan (Score:3, Insightful)
Distribute Freely And Openly
Tell everyone who gets a copy that they are encouraged to share it, and they don't have to do it secretly. There's no conspiracy. And there's no one looking over their shoulders to catch them.
Labeling to death and showing my age (Score:2)
Yearning for the halcyon days of youth that never were... Call me Pat Buchanan, I guess.
GF.
Re:Shocked, Shocked! (Score:2)
Re:Thank goodness for the Democrats! (Score:2)
How about cutting expenses to lower the deficit? Has anyone ever thought about that option?
Re:Thank goodness for the Democrats! (Score:2)
I agree, but then someone has to take a stand and tell some govenment sponsored program that they are going to have their budget sliced. The lobbyists scream bloddy murder and threaten to take away their campaign funds.
Re:Thank goodness for the Democrats! (Score:2)
Pshaw. You're talking to people who generally think "smaller increase" means "cut."
I for one am PROUD that essentially all of my personal income taxes go to pay the interest on the debt, and that today's FICA taxes will not provide anything for my own retirement.
Re:Thank goodness for the Democrats! (Score:2)
How about cutting expenses to lower the deficit? Has anyone ever thought about that option?
Didn't Clinton, a Democrat, do exactly that? Then this here fucking Republican comes in and says "Tax cut, more deficit, more spending, don't worry, we don't know how to do addition and subtraction since we were publically educated by the schools we set up. Oh yeah, and while wars are expensive, my goal is to win at least 3 before I'm kicked out of office."
Re:Thank goodness for the Democrats! (Score:2)
Re:Um no (Score:2)
Re:Um no (Score:2)
This must be some sort of Hudsucker Proxyesque scheme. Paul Newman would be proud.
Come to think of it, Paul Newman might be in on it.
Re:Um no (Score:2)
Liberty is two wolves attempting to have a sheep for dinner and finding a well-informed, well-armed sheep.
Re:Doesn't Go Far Enough (Score:2)
(For the sarcasm-impaired, the message being conveyed here is: chill, dude. Your response to the thing you're unhappy about is wildly disproportionate.)
Re:Other Versions? (Score:2)
This legislation is a good idea ... but it still doesn't address the issue of copy-protection or my ability to make a backup copy of something I purchase.
This is all the addressing that is needed. Smart consumers, like you or I, will just buy the ones that don't carry this label. Dumb consumers will buy them still, and when they notice that the ones with this label give them trouble while the ones without this label don't give them trouble, they'll start gravitating towards the ones without the label.
T
Re:Maybe this will help (Score:2)
to get the average consumer to understand what is going on here. Once enough people realise what is being done to prevent us from making fair use of the content that we have paid for we might get some balance back. I suspect most people who have problems with a copy protected CD on their PC will blame the hardware and Microsoft first. So this is a great idea!
The flip side is this:
The record companies that are chickenshit about file sharing will use copy protection (generalization for the sake of making