thanks mike, i was all lined up to retire early to seek "treatment" for my addiction to video games and now i guess i'll have to go burn myself on some mcdonald's coffee.
Removing ANY file from YOUR computer would be considered a violation of the DMCA ?
it would only apply to cookies ? What about macromedia "cookies" ?
this is why anti-circumvention laws are so wrong. it is physically impossible to stop a computer from copying bits, so it is now illegal to copy or enable the copy of some bits that someone has made an attempt, however poor, to protect.
the real danger is that if a company's DRM system causes problems on your computer, removing it could be considered a violation of the DMCA and would therefore be illegal.
i am waiting for the day that a widespread malware package attaches itself to itunes or the software from some other popular music service.
how quickly would these companies patch their software? how receptive would they be to bug reports? how long would you have to be locked out of the media that you purchased before the vendor responded?
given that some services have pulled the plug on their DRM servers and left their customers out in the cold, i wonder if the vendor would respond at all.
it takes a while for huge companies like microsoft to recognize and fix problems. any third party research into the problem (the source of most security bug reports) could easily be considered anti-circumvention.
My XP pro machine takes about 50 seconds. And I would say 25 seconds there is BIOS stuff. After those 50 seconds I am in Windows and can do stuff. It will be a hair slower initially than it would about 20 seconds later as it is still running post-windows startup stuff, but I can still do anything normally.
it's not just boot up. it's also logging into email and crm programs (not every place is active directory end to end). at some call center jobs you support multiple accounts and you have to use multiple customer data systems.
one account i worked helpdesk for, we had to make VPN connections (RSA keyfobs and everything) into the customers network (a bank!) before starting any other application.
on another account, we had two PCs, one on the call center network for our email, chat, and ticketing system, and one on the client's network for connecting to and administering the customers' servers and PCs.
in these situations, "logging in" can easily be a 15-20 minute ordeal.
At some point they'll wake up. The question is will it be too late.
it was too late 5 years ago. the war was lost when napster was shutdown and piracy grew instead of shrinking. right now, it's practically effortless to copy anything digital, and it's only going to get easier.
all the hardware and software DRM in the world won't make a lick of difference because pirated stuff is not DRM'd. it either never was, or the DRM was stripped prior to upload.
you can implement all of this trusted computing stuff if you want, but it's only going to increase the market for open hardware and software.
it works like this: a consumer buys a dvd or CD. then he/she goes to play it on the unauthorized/unsupported player (a projector, old/cheap dvd player, old laptop/game console, etc.) and fails.
he/she tries a few things, gives up, and downloads an unrestricted copy from an unauthorized source. in the future, what's the incentive to buy the legitimate copy in the first place?
i that scenario, drm not only fails to stop piracy, it actually encourages it.
Yesterday I sat through over an hour of wait time for my flat tire to be repaired. Thankfully, and thanks to skyfire on my Q, I was able to watch Family Guy on hulu
i hope you were a safe distance from the car while operating your mobile vehicular homicide device.
reputation as a bankable commodity is called whuffie in cory doctorow's novel "down and out in the magic kingdom": http://craphound.com/down/download.php
aXXo wants his whuffie. TPB isn't going to give it to him because they don't do anything that they are told. that's fine too. TPB provides one service, aXXo provides another.
there is a HUGE difference between trademark infringement and copyright infringement.
trademark infringement is claiming to be someone that you are not... like identity theft.
reputation (based on identity) is a scarce good. it's tough to build up and easy to lose. if someone takes it from you, it's tough to replace. sometimes it's easier to start over with a new identity, but it still takes lots of time.
no one thinks for a second that a "the dark knight" xvid released by aXXo was made by aXXo. but aXXo shares, and wants the credit for sharing, not the movie.
if i was able to share like aXXo, or provide a service like TPB, i'd want to get some recognition too.
it's not that he can't use email, it's that he can't use his personal email to conduct govt. business.
this was the problem with the white house email scandal a couple of years ago, that RNC email which is purged on a regular basis, was used to discuss official govt. business.
I think this is a terrible idea. If you get injured opening a package, you deserve it. I believe theft deterrent should come before a few idiots injured a year.
amazon really needs theft deterrent. i shoplift stuff from their website all the time, just reach in my browser, grab stuff and run.
You hit the nail on the head precisely. All many customers want to do is attach, turn on, and start. No menus. No options. No programming. Nothing.
that's not the way the world works. here on earth if you want to do something you have to figure out how it's done. if you want to cook, you have to learn to cook. how come no one complains about that?
there are plenty of devices and services that work out of the box: aol, the jitterbug cellular phone, the imac, the linksys router, the pong video game. they pretty much all suck.
the microwavable frozen dinner is food you can cook without knowing how to cook. it also has all of the taste and nutrients of the box it came in.
using a device from out of the box with it's default configuration is the same experience: it's a device you can operate with no understanding but it provides no customization (taste), little functionality (taste) and little if any security (nutrition).
i haven't built a house or fixed a car because i don't know how. why isn't everyone railing against house and car technology as too difficult?
did people in the 1700's complain about how tough horses were to use?
information technology is how a lot of work gets done. if your work requires you to use a computer or a mobile phone, then it's your responsibility to know how to use those devices. professionals are required to keep pace with developments in their respective fields, that's why they are paid like professionals.
if you are a consumer, then why would you pay money for something you can't use?
what you say is true, but given the nature of the internet, it's not hard to see the work around.
you put up your fansite, wallpaper site, etc. and get hassled by lawyers.
all you have to do is creative commons the site and tell everyone to help mirror it, then take your copy down.
in time, the whack-a-mole effect will make policing the photos practically impossible. compound that with the streisand effect and the sky's the limit.
it's a war of attrition, time and talent vs. billable hours. one resource is unlimited, the other is not.
Ummmm, they already do that. You can use their on demand services that still use bandwidth without it counting against your cap, but you can't use a competing service such as netflix
how is that not tiered service? how is that not anti-competitive? how is that not what net neutrality is against?
Of course, not having money they will have a hard time buying instruments and studio time. But the heck with logic; I want free stuff.
the price of producing content is fast approaching zero. in the past you needed a soundproof room, a truckload of instruments, and a platoon of sound engineers. today you can make music and video with a macintosh and a camera or synthesizer. in the future, all you will need is a smart phone.
in time, the open source stuff (http://ubuntustudio.org) will mature, and moore's law will push the price of hardware (computer and AV) down to the point that you can produce studio quality media at little cost and with little expertise.
the current price structure is based on the idea that you need industrial equipment (printing presses, disc presses, TV and movie studios) to make media. thanks to digital delivery via the internet, the price is quickly approaching near zero.
when an artist can self produce, self publish, self promote, and self deliver, what other costs are there?
A "utopian vision" that is so full of contradictions and misinformation that I am hard pressed to know even where to begin critiqueing the points being made.
cory doctorow is THE authority on copyright reform. this is not his first article on the subject. his authority comes partly because he has put more research into the subject than just about anyone (except, maybe these two), but mostly because he is a writer who makes his living giving away digital copies of his work.
he talks the talk better than anyone because he walks the walk.
wireless technologies have leapfrogged traditional wired infrastructure in the third world. many regions in africa or south america that have never had decent telephone infrastructure have mobile phone networks with millions of users. putting up signal towers is cheaper than running wire, always has been, always will be.
wireless networks can connect just about anything but they aren't required to connect back to the internet. that's why there is a version of wikipedia on DVD:
wireless access doesn't mean internet access. it doesn't even mean national access. it could just mean a giant intranet or darknet for the village, city or region.
BP (from the shmoo group) talks about the spectrum of security threats, and how highly automated attacks by individuals or small groups with relatively low skill levels (viruses, trojans, etc.) are largely ineffective thanks to signature based tools like AV and IDS/IPS and therefore represent the low end of the threat spectrum.
the middle of the threat spectrum is represented by more specialized and targeted attacks (spear phishing, rootkits, malware, bots etc.) by teams of skilled programmers. this is the current state of the art for information security professionals. these teams require funding and recruiting and are probably backed by a corporation, criminal organization, or nation state.
the high end of the threat spectrum is the insider: a person with varying levels of security clearance and physical access. in the industry this is largely ignored or written off as detecting and defending against these attacks are not feasible if not impossible.
there is good reason to suspect that both the great depression and the current financial situation were not natural events but were artificially induced. For the great depression the inducement could have been by one or both of two parties. Communist intent on collapsing the world order to bring about a world wide communist utopia or German nationalists with intent of trashing the pay out previsions of the Treaty of Versailles.
ahh the bavarian death cult/illuminati/evil world bank/new world order conspiracy theory.
everyone knows that the nazis were vampire werewolves and that's why they faked the moon landing at roswell.
On the post: Video Game Addiction Center Realizes That Compulsive Gamers Aren't Addicts
well there goes my social security claim
On the post: MPAA Effectively Shuts Down Largest Fan Edit Movie Site
Re: If They
hell no, that's why the DMCA is so flawed.
On the post: Coupons.com Drops DMCA Case Against Guy Who Told People To Delete Files On Their Hard Drive
Re:
it would only apply to cookies ? What about macromedia "cookies" ?
this is why anti-circumvention laws are so wrong. it is physically impossible to stop a computer from copying bits, so it is now illegal to copy or enable the copy of some bits that someone has made an attempt, however poor, to protect.
the real danger is that if a company's DRM system causes problems on your computer, removing it could be considered a violation of the DMCA and would therefore be illegal.
i am waiting for the day that a widespread malware package attaches itself to itunes or the software from some other popular music service.
how quickly would these companies patch their software? how receptive would they be to bug reports? how long would you have to be locked out of the media that you purchased before the vendor responded?
given that some services have pulled the plug on their DRM servers and left their customers out in the cold, i wonder if the vendor would respond at all.
it takes a while for huge companies like microsoft to recognize and fix problems. any third party research into the problem (the source of most security bug reports) could easily be considered anti-circumvention.
On the post: Companies Sued For Not Paying For Time Spent Booting Up A Computer
Re: Re:
it's not just boot up. it's also logging into email and crm programs (not every place is active directory end to end). at some call center jobs you support multiple accounts and you have to use multiple customer data systems.
one account i worked helpdesk for, we had to make VPN connections (RSA keyfobs and everything) into the customers network (a bank!) before starting any other application.
on another account, we had two PCs, one on the call center network for our email, chat, and ticketing system, and one on the client's network for connecting to and administering the customers' servers and PCs.
in these situations, "logging in" can easily be a 15-20 minute ordeal.
On the post: Apple Adds HDCP To New Laptops; Piracy Continues, Legit Users Get Annoyed
Re: Amen!
it was too late 5 years ago. the war was lost when napster was shutdown and piracy grew instead of shrinking. right now, it's practically effortless to copy anything digital, and it's only going to get easier.
all the hardware and software DRM in the world won't make a lick of difference because pirated stuff is not DRM'd. it either never was, or the DRM was stripped prior to upload.
you can implement all of this trusted computing stuff if you want, but it's only going to increase the market for open hardware and software.
this document here explains why DRM is bad for everyone:
http://www.craphound.com/msftdrm.txt
it works like this: a consumer buys a dvd or CD. then he/she goes to play it on the unauthorized/unsupported player (a projector, old/cheap dvd player, old laptop/game console, etc.) and fails.
he/she tries a few things, gives up, and downloads an unrestricted copy from an unauthorized source. in the future, what's the incentive to buy the legitimate copy in the first place?
i that scenario, drm not only fails to stop piracy, it actually encourages it.
On the post: Since 2008's Almost Over, Now Looking To 2009 As The Year Of Mobile TV
Re:
i hope you were a safe distance from the car while operating your mobile vehicular homicide device.
On the post: Reputation Matters Among File Sharers
it's called "whuffie"
http://craphound.com/down/download.php
aXXo wants his whuffie. TPB isn't going to give it to him because they don't do anything that they are told. that's fine too. TPB provides one service, aXXo provides another.
there is a HUGE difference between trademark infringement and copyright infringement.
trademark infringement is claiming to be someone that you are not... like identity theft.
reputation (based on identity) is a scarce good. it's tough to build up and easy to lose. if someone takes it from you, it's tough to replace. sometimes it's easier to start over with a new identity, but it still takes lots of time.
you could do away with copyright completely and still have trademark (or reputation) kept more or less intact. there is more on the subject here:
http://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/against.htm
no one thinks for a second that a "the dark knight" xvid released by aXXo was made by aXXo. but aXXo shares, and wants the credit for sharing, not the movie.
if i was able to share like aXXo, or provide a service like TPB, i'd want to get some recognition too.
On the post: It Makes No Sense For The President To Not Use Email
obama may have to give up his personal email
it's not that he can't use email, it's that he can't use his personal email to conduct govt. business.
this was the problem with the white house email scandal a couple of years ago, that RNC email which is purged on a regular basis, was used to discuss official govt. business.
On the post: More Companies Rebelling Against Annoying Plastic Packaging
Re:
amazon really needs theft deterrent. i shoplift stuff from their website all the time, just reach in my browser, grab stuff and run.
On the post: That's A Lot Of Non-Working Technology
Re: Re: Re: It's not confusing to set up
that's not the way the world works. here on earth if you want to do something you have to figure out how it's done. if you want to cook, you have to learn to cook. how come no one complains about that?
there are plenty of devices and services that work out of the box: aol, the jitterbug cellular phone, the imac, the linksys router, the pong video game. they pretty much all suck.
the microwavable frozen dinner is food you can cook without knowing how to cook. it also has all of the taste and nutrients of the box it came in.
using a device from out of the box with it's default configuration is the same experience: it's a device you can operate with no understanding but it provides no customization (taste), little functionality (taste) and little if any security (nutrition).
i haven't built a house or fixed a car because i don't know how. why isn't everyone railing against house and car technology as too difficult?
did people in the 1700's complain about how tough horses were to use?
information technology is how a lot of work gets done. if your work requires you to use a computer or a mobile phone, then it's your responsibility to know how to use those devices. professionals are required to keep pace with developments in their respective fields, that's why they are paid like professionals.
if you are a consumer, then why would you pay money for something you can't use?
On the post: Blu-ray Working Great, For Pirates
is that what a pirate is?
wow, all this time i thought a pirate was anyone who wanted to use media on their terms rather than the rights holder's.
if pirate sells other people's for profit, i guess i disagree with piracy.
if that's piracy, what do you call someone who just doesn't want to be bothered with incompatible formats, DRM, and commercials?
On the post: Since 2008's Almost Over, Now Looking To 2009 As The Year Of Mobile TV
doesn't work in the US
in the US it's illegal to even think about touching a mobile phone when you are in a car, so mobile TV in the US is DOA.
On the post: Toyota Takes After Ford In Claiming Ownership Of Fan Photos
Re: The Financial Impact
you put up your fansite, wallpaper site, etc. and get hassled by lawyers.
all you have to do is creative commons the site and tell everyone to help mirror it, then take your copy down.
in time, the whack-a-mole effect will make policing the photos practically impossible. compound that with the streisand effect and the sky's the limit.
it's a war of attrition, time and talent vs. billable hours. one resource is unlimited, the other is not.
On the post: Net Neutrality Legislation Expected In January
Re: Re:
how is that not tiered service? how is that not anti-competitive? how is that not what net neutrality is against?
On the post: Copyright And Its Harm On Culture
Re:
the price of producing content is fast approaching zero. in the past you needed a soundproof room, a truckload of instruments, and a platoon of sound engineers. today you can make music and video with a macintosh and a camera or synthesizer. in the future, all you will need is a smart phone.
in time, the open source stuff (http://ubuntustudio.org) will mature, and moore's law will push the price of hardware (computer and AV) down to the point that you can produce studio quality media at little cost and with little expertise.
the current price structure is based on the idea that you need industrial equipment (printing presses, disc presses, TV and movie studios) to make media. thanks to digital delivery via the internet, the price is quickly approaching near zero.
when an artist can self produce, self publish, self promote, and self deliver, what other costs are there?
On the post: Copyright And Its Harm On Culture
Re:
cory doctorow is THE authority on copyright reform. this is not his first article on the subject. his authority comes partly because he has put more research into the subject than just about anyone (except, maybe these two), but mostly because he is a writer who makes his living giving away digital copies of his work.
he talks the talk better than anyone because he walks the walk.
you can read his other copytight essays here (for free):
http://craphound.com/content/download
and while you're there, you can download electronic versions of his fiction novels that he makes freely available using the creative commons license.
On the post: Net Neutrality Legislation Expected In January
rather than a law, why not a stimulus package?
why not just subsidize a competitive product?
On the post: Qualcomm Offering Up A BYO Screen Internet Terminal For Developing Nations
the rules in the thrid world are different
wireless networks can connect just about anything but they aren't required to connect back to the internet. that's why there is a version of wikipedia on DVD:
http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/2008-wikipedia-for-schools.htm
and why there is a voip system that works via a self healing wireless mesh:
http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?p=70
wireless access doesn't mean internet access. it doesn't even mean national access. it could just mean a giant intranet or darknet for the village, city or region.
On the post: Online Criminals Move On To Corporate Espionage
Bruce Potter called this years ago
the middle of the threat spectrum is represented by more specialized and targeted attacks (spear phishing, rootkits, malware, bots etc.) by teams of skilled programmers. this is the current state of the art for information security professionals. these teams require funding and recruiting and are probably backed by a corporation, criminal organization, or nation state.
the high end of the threat spectrum is the insider: a person with varying levels of security clearance and physical access. in the industry this is largely ignored or written off as detecting and defending against these attacks are not feasible if not impossible.
On the post: Instead Of Bailing Out Broken Banks, Why Not Build New Banks?
Re:
ahh the bavarian death cult/illuminati/evil world bank/new world order conspiracy theory.
everyone knows that the nazis were vampire werewolves and that's why they faked the moon landing at roswell.
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