[GRLUG] I hate DRM - NOT LINUX RELATED

[Bob Kline]

Well, the subject of the RIAA borders on
politics of course,  so I might get scorched
here.  The RIAA and MPAA,  with their point
man senator Orin Hatch,  is attempting to
do just that - have PC hardware modified in
ways that those two monopolies and others
like them can determine how we use our PCs.
You can literally see the contempt for PC
users drip from Hatch's teeth as he sneers
and says that if people use their PCs to
download the monopoly's material he will
see to it that the PCs are locked up.  It goes
without saying that he must be pocketing
some hefty change from the CA companies
he promotes,  even as a senator from UT.

Not likely?  Look at what the senate did
for Disney: it extended the copyright period
another 25 years,  to 95,  just so DIsney could
keep control  of its cartoon movies for a while
longer.  As a result,  as vast number of
valuable books will now stay under lock and
key for about four generations.  Book companies
would rather let old books gather dust than risk
having them interfere with the sales of newer,
and often inferior, version.  If you think they
aren't in on this,  look at the fuss they are
making about Google putting books online.
And of course the book industry,  like the RIAA
and MPAA,  is yet another monopoly in reality,
with its hands in the back pockets of some
members of congress.

For those who like to worry,  there is the net
neutrality issue yet too.  Congress passed over
the opportunity to pass legislation codify the
concept of net neutrality last session,  from
which I conclude that two more monopolies are
at work:  the phone and cable companies,
which are monopolies in almost every area
where they operate.  Net neutrality indirectly
attacks your PC by giving the owners of the
net backbone the potential for controlling
content.

Face it.  The business world doesn't much care
for this free wheeling Internet environment we've
come to enjoy.  If they can't squeeze us they
can shake us down for money,  and of course
are open to criticism,  which almost no one likes.
In tried and true fashion,  the solution is to go
after the messenger.

Us.

     -Bob



On 9/11/06, john-thomas richards <jtr at jrichards.org> wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 11, 2006 at 09:55:15AM -0400, Mark Van Holstyn wrote:
> > Do napster songs let you burn them to a cd? I know with Itunes protected
> > songs, I just burned them to a cd, then ripped that cd for protectedless
> > songs!
> [snip]
>
> Heh.  Cool.
>
> If a song can be played it can be copied.  Unless the RIAA manages to get all
> hardware - headphone jacks included - engineered in such a way as to prevent
> this, copying music will be possible.  If it can be played then the music has
> been decoded and as output is free of DRM.  The "tricky" part then becomes
> recapturing the DRM-less output.
>
> Then again, I am not a hacker of any sort so what do I know...
>
> Very cool...uh..."tip" about the iTunes.
> --
> john-thomas
> ------
> Adults are obsolete children.
> Dr. Seuss, humorist, illustrator, and author (1904-1991)
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