[opendtv] Piracy rule is definition of misguided
- From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipient: ;
- Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 22:22:02 -0400
HIAWATHA BRAY | UPGRADE
Piracy rule is definition of misguided
By Hiawatha Bray | October 11, 2004
If a shopkeeper tried to charge $1,000 for a broken computer, you'd
probably be outraged. You might even complain to the government.
Don't bother. These days, the government wants us to buy broken
technology. Specifically, the Federal Communications Commission,
which has somehow come to regard the public interest as identical
with that of the movie industry's.
Cast your minds back to spring 2002. Democratic US Senator Fritz
Hollings of South Carolina horrified technologists when he proposed a
law to require that PCs and other digital devices have built-in
features to prevent illegal copying of music and video files.
Hollings trained as an attorney, not an engineer. Yet he proposed to
mandate design specs for practically every piece of digital
technology sold.
The outrage consigned the Hollings plan to an early grave -- or so it
seemed. But like the lurching undead in a zombie flick, it's back.
Only this time it's being served up by the FCC.
It's all about high-definition television. Little by little, the
technology is catching on, as the networks show more HDTV programs
and consumers shell out $1,000 or more for compatible sets. But HDTV
worries TV and movie producers. It's easy to copy HDTV shows, and the
copies look just as good as the originals. Having witnessed how
digital piracy has ravaged the music industry, the Hollywood moguls
had no desire to go next.
Enter the ''broadcast flag," an antipiracy technology to be built
into HDTV signals sent over the airwaves. The plan, fortunately,
doesn't apply to HDTV shows moved by cable or satellite.
...
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/10/11/piracy_rule_is_definition_of_misguided/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] Piracy rule is definition of misguided
