[opendtv] Re: MPAA wants to stop DVRs from recording some movies

Dan;

I'm a "small-l" libertarian, but in decades past, I've been a large-l Libertarian.  (the most interestng election-night parties, by the way).

However, if I read what you've said below, you are libertarian as to your position, but it doesn't seem to me that you're not a libertarian as to the rights of content holders.  I recognize that being neutral or in favor of their rights -- deliniated in the Constitution -- when your only "rights" are in the marketplace might put you in an uncomfortable position, but you only seem to consider your position.

I think we'd all suffer if content owners weren't able to determine how to market their content and how to monetize it.  After the French revolution, the revolutionaries thought that copyrights were relics of the upper class and that they oppressed the gente with them.  So, they eliminated them.

Result:  the only content (not just new content) available in French was pornography, since those folks 'don' need no stinking copyrights.'  After a few years, copyrights were restored.  And, French is a vibrant language for publishing and even movies.  (Just not as vibrant as Haolewood.)

Consider the implications and take the lesson.

By the way, although not recently, I've watched many F1 events using a large satellite dish. In the clear. Sometimes with no commentary, sometimes with foreign language commentary.  That was analog.  I'd be suprised if they aren't there in MPEG-2 satellites in the clear.   If there are no domestic rights, there is little need to encrypt.

Some of the F1 content I saw live was seen in an abridged fashion later that day on a U.S. network.  Also, if you had Cliff's favorite (Verizon FIOS) or AT&T u-verse, you would have access to 2500 live and on-demand events a year from ESPN360.com.  It's difficult to imagine that they don't offer F1 races, since they will have Turkish rugby matches. (Not available on cable, except for a few very small systems.)

There;s a whole new world out there that isn't tethered to catv or ota, without referring to anything that violates copyright.  It's a world that is completely unknown to Bert, who hangs onto legacy models.

John Willkie

-----Original Message-----
From: dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Jun 30, 2008 1:31 PM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: MPAA wants to stop DVRs from recording some movies

I'm afraid I tend to agree with our country's forefathers.

I guess I tend to be libertarian (not the political party but the philosophy) so long as a strong moral foundation is followed. Under such, I think that people should be given the opportunity to use the media but not abuse it. But that is just me.

That being said, I don't download media from the internet unless provided by the rightful owners, I don't copy media, I don't distribute media, I don't bypass any technology to see media or copy it, I don't connect to media I don't pay for, etc. That is where the strong moral base is necessary. And I hear that if I follow the law and copyrights, I can watch live FOTA, play my DVD, and stream from the appropriate content distributors, and that is about it. In fact, by the discussion on this board, it doesn't sound like I can even time-shift FOTA. If that is what I must do to follow the law, it sounds like that is the owner's right.

So if the media providers want to strangle the programming to prevent abuse, so be it. However, I will oppose any law or "principle" that prevents the people from receiving and using communications of civil happenings. This would include News and other such programming. At the very least, with the contract The People have with broadcasters, they must that on our open, public air waves. I'm not so sure that we will have that in the future the way we are giving up the ability to watch media "by contract".

Dan




Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>

Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx> Sent by: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 06/29/2008 05:24 AM Please respond to opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx cc Subject [opendtv] Re: MPAA wants to stop DVRs from recording some movies

As long as we are trying to be fair here...

The original intent of those who wrote the Constitution would tend to
favor fair use over the rights of the creator of the intellectual
property. The framers were concerned about the ability of content
owners to use the power of government to protect their rights to the
detriment of society.They believed, as I do today, that the rapid
proliferation of new ideas and the ability for "the people" to use
these ideas and build upon them trumps the rights of the creators to
protect and benefit from them into perpetuity. Thus the Constitution
was framed in a manner to limit the rights of the creators of
intellectual property fo that give them exclusive r the benefit of
the entire country.
...
I think it would be more  than fair to say that the framers would be
very pissed off about what has happened to their original intent as
it relates to patents and copyrights.

There is a rich history behind fair use that predates our Constitution....

Regards
Craig



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