This Law Sucks, So Please Ignore It
from the effective-governance dept
The Finnish Parliament passed a law this week making it illegal to circumvent copy protection and DRM, bringing its rules in line with the EU Copyright Directive -- a directive which a lot of people think conflicts with the private copying rights in most EU countries. So Finland's answer was to pass the law, since the EU threatened to fine them if they didn't, then ask content owners not to sue people. The content owners' response was that they'll keep on suing, thanks very much, because they presume that any copy people make will eventually end up on file-sharing networks. Apparently they really think that copy protection doesn't do anything to frustrate users that just want to play content on the device of their choice, rather than just those devices the content provider has decided are okay. Did the Finnish government really think companies wouldn't sue, particularly given the head of the country's IFPI branch's recent comments that playing CDs on a computer is a privilege?
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Here�s a question. What�s next?
We will have to replace all of our DVD players, CD players, VCRs, MP3 players, and TVs {and I don�t mean pay- per view and on demand viewing}. So they can keep track of what we watch and listen to, and at the end of the month we will get a bill?
Yes, you purchase the CD/DVD. But with opening it, you now agree to pay royalties every time you play it. And if you don�t pay, they will sue you and throw you in the street. But, you didn�t read the 20 page agreement, because you have no idea what it means. And you skipped �Legalese 101� in school.
It�s going to suck being �Joe user� in the future if things don�t change.
Is there light at the end of the tunnel or a train?
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Re: No Subject Given
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Train coming? yes - thank god
Brief glimpse of what the future holds:
Artists, directors, producers, media content writers, authors etc all publish for free and cut the big business middlemen out... Lets face it, the middle men have no place in a world where artists can reach a worldwide one to one distribution network and make direct contact with consumers.
Here's how they make their money:
Advertising revenue from download sites,
corporate sponsorship deals,
merchandise,
royalties from public broadcast networks,
live preformances,
appearance fees,
being paid by people to produce specific art works like was the case for all artists up to 100 years ago, etc.
The future is full of smaller, lower-budged productions, wider choice ranges. a de-scaling of the media. We are already seeing the tip of the iceberg with podcasts and blog news sites. Lots of free smaller independant stuff... like that starwars fan movie made on a tiny budget that everyone loves (i'd find the link but i couldnt be bothered). Movies without tom & nicole, pop without britney, rap without deathrow, games without EA! Ok maybe these things wont completely go away, but they will lose out to free art and become less important as the years go by.
The side effect is that real talent will rise again rather then consumers just accepting whatever the powerhouses push at us.
The train you speak of is coming... ALL ABOARD!!!
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duh!
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What about making other laws?
That way people would be less motivated to buy the cds when they know what they are not getting.
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Re: What about making other laws?
"This Compact Disc is for use only in car stereos, and will not play in computer CDROM drives or home theater Compact Disc players.
Failing to comply with DRM laws will subject you to fines from the RIAA, or foreign equivalent."
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