It's all well and good for a company to be stupid, but legislating that stupidity at the expense of the will of the public is another matter. When the CSS encryption came out, Lawrence Lessig referred to it as "Code is Law". By preventing copying, the CSS encryption code violates the Fair Use provisions of copyright law. The DMCA was then a law passed to follow on this and to create a law that effectively violates the law.
I understand that Fair Use doesn't permit for file swapping, but it does allow for copying in certain situations. And the industry wants to make it technologically impossible to make copies. I'm not a lawyer, but I've read about several cases that also permit for copying of music and digital media for various reasons. There was a case in the '80s protecting the purchaser's right to make backup copies, regardless of the licensing agreement. There was a case that protected the consumer's right to transfer music from one medium to the other for personal use. This resulted in a "tax" added to blank cassettes and other recordable media. There was a case that protected a person's right to use a VCR to record and "time shift" a broadcast. The list goes on, but what seems to be happening now is that the RIAA and MPAA are trying to create new laws and technologies that will completely overturn established copyright law as well as case law. So while companies have a right to be stupid, it's questionable whether they have a right to rewrite the existing law. -Kevin > I think the main point I'm trying to make is that these companies are > allowed to be stupid. There is no moral obligation to be smart and make > consumers happy. There is a simple way to change the music/movie > industry. Stop buying CDs and going to the movies. Period. That isn't > happening - so I guess the majority of folks are ok with what they are > doing. Which is sad - but again - you can't force the majority to see > things your way - no matter how right it is. ______________________________________________________________________ This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-community@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
