[DMCA-Activists] pho: DRM's naked power grab

[Seth Johnson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: pho: DRM's naked power grab
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 02:15:22 -0800
From: Kevin Marks <address@hidden>
To: E-mail Pho <address@hidden>

I think this week may be when the supposed middle ground of DRM  
vanishes. We have had Sony/BMG adopting the techniques of virus
writers   to wrest control of your PC from you, and the MPAA
proposing   legislation to cripple all our video cameras and
computers unless we   are "professionals".[0]

This is the first of my 5 points[1]: DRM Turns your computer
against   you.
Sony will feel a backlash due to the value destruction they
inflict on   their customers (point 5), and their sales will
fall. Microsoft should   disable the CD Autorun feature used as
an infection vector by Sony, as   Apple did 7 years ago.

The MPAA attempt, though, is serious. They managed to pass a
similar   law in 1998[2] that mandated Macrovision video signal
corruption, and   faulty AGC circuitry for non-professional video
recorders. This is why   you can't run your DVD player signal
through your VCR, and why dubbing   copies of your home videos is
so awkward.

I worked long and hard at Apple for 5 years making the
digitisation of   video work easily and seamlessly, so we could
all edit video, so my   children could create[3] and share with
the world, and this stupid law   will deliberately undo our work
and break our computers and cameras on   purpose. It goes without
saying that it will do nothing to prevent large scale  
commercial copying of movies, as this is done with professional  
equipment, and is already illegal and subject to huge fines. All
it   will do is yet again invert the legal presumption of
innocence (point   4), and assume that my boys' videos, and your
own recordings are   copyright violations, and stop them from
being digitised.

The 'Analog Holes' they want to stop up are our eyes, ears and
mouths.

from  
http://epeus.blogspot.com/ 
2005_11_01_epeus_archive.html#113109397411588523
[0]http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004106.php
[1]  
http://epeus.blogspot.com/ 
2005_09_01_epeus_archive.html#112655528174520501
[2]
http://epeus.blogspot.com/2002_06_01_epeus_archive.html#385169433
[3] http://homepage.mac.com/kevinmarks/buttons.mov


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