[opendtv] Re: This business is goin to the dogs

At 2:13 PM -0400 9/25/06, Tom Barry wrote:
It is just a matter of time before the public starts to demand some cost/benefit analysis as to whether we should be spending tax payer dollars trying to enforce copyright laws to this level.


This was just a demonstration project. The real bandits are advocating that the government should train dogs to do this.

But the REAL PROBLEM is that the content conglomerates are able to get the politicians to keep changing the laws regarding copyright. As a result the original Constitutional intent to quickly proliferate content into the public domain has been replaced with regulations that protect copyrights effectively for the entire useful life of the content (I think it is now 70 years after the death of the creator).

here is an interesting blurb via Educause...

BRITISH LIBRARY SAYS COPYRIGHT LAW NEEDS UPDATING
The British Library has called for a wide-scale revision of existing
copyright law, which, it said, inadequately addresses digital content,
putting too much control into the hands of content producers and
owners. Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, took
aim at digital rights management (DRM) technology in particular, saying
that it allows content producers to prevent legitimate uses of content,
such as for academic purposes, for archival efforts, or for making
content available to people with disabilities. Calling the problem a
global issue, Brindley said that without "a serious updating of
copyright law to recognize the changing technological environment, the
law becomes an ass." The Open Rights Group supported the library's
call for revising copyright law, saying that the current situation
"allows publishers to write whatever license they like, which is what
is happening now." The British Library also said the question of
orphaned works should be addressed--works whose proper copyright owners
cannot be located easily or at all.
CNET, 25 September 2006
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6119043.html

Regards
Craig


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