In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Today's GOP: Innovation is BAD!
Republicans are actively trying to kill the future of the US economy
(because big media campaign donors said it'd be okay)
Copyright Bill to Kill Tech?
The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a bill Thursday that would hold technology companies liable for any product they make that encourages people to steal copyright materials.
Critics say the bill would effectively outlaw peer-to-peer networks and prohibit the development of new technologies, including devices like the iPod. The Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act was introduced last month by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The legislation would hold a company liable that "intentionally induces" a person to infringe copyright.
Oh my! Intentionally inducing a person to infringe on a copyright - why that's just evil! I mean, imagine a machine that could take sound and images straight from your television and copy them in a form that you could later give or sell to friends. Imagine the poor people who worked hard making a video masterpiece that is aired on HBO which you pay for the honor of viewing. But say, because you own this device you could make a copy and give it to a friend who didn't pay for HBO. This machine just let you steal copyrighted material. Heck it didn't just "let" you do it, it "induced" you to do it, I mean that is pretty much the sole purpose of the machine: to copy what you see on your TV!
Yes, Orrin Hatch wants to make any new technology like the VCR illegal. Yes a world where the cassette tape was illegal, the ipod (basically a better walkman) was illegal. Heck let's take this back to the beginning of technological theivery: The Edison Cylinder Phonograph!
You know there was a day when rational thought was occasionally allowed in Washington:
In the Betamax decision, the Supreme Court ruled that any technology that people use for legal purposes would be legal -- even if the device could be used for illegal purposes, like content piracy. Because of the ruling, the consumer electronics industry and Hollywood went on to develop a thriving market in home video and DVDs.
Media Corporations (all coporations actually) which are supposedly responsible for long term wealth generation for their share holders, can't see beyond their own yachts. They'd have wanted to make the ipod illegal if they new about them before hand, and now it seems if the recording industry is to survive it'll be partly be because of the itunes music store/ipod business model.
They'd kill themselves tomorrow if they could get a free meal today (heck they'd kill themselves today if they thought it meant a new tax break).
The truth is corporations are lazy. Innovation and change is difficult and requires work, sure there is potentially huge rewards but it is so much nicer to just sit on your ass and pay your legislators (I'm sorry, I mean, fund the campaigns of the citizen's legislators) to write laws that limit any new competition. Just let the money flow... don't rock the boat.
How far do you take "intentionally induce" copying anyway? I mean I have a video camera and to me it just screams "take me into the theater and record the show" (but that's just me). I also have a computer and it allows me to take any thing I see on the internet - sound, text, images, video... let's just get rid of all that too.
Hatch misses the good old days when kids didn't have VCRs or computers and stayed outside and tricked other kids into painting their fence. (though kids playing outside would be nice).
Heck even peer to peer networks are just new fangled swap meets. Besides copyrighted material people share their own songs and videos, their own programs, their own stories, photos, and pictures. Yes it is mostly copyrighted material but sometimes it isn't and its existence doesn't necessitate the swapping of copyrighted materials. It is the electronic version of lending something to your neighbor. Sometimes its some bread you made but an awful lot of times it is a really great book you just finished. Thief! Thief! Giving to neighbors should be illegal too! And don't get me started on "lending libraries!"
- rob 3:22 PM - [PermaLink] -
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