Another day, another worthwhile article
Click here for a great article from the TECH (aka Next) section today from SMH. Its again about copyright/piracy laws which are entirely out of date, and how they have just been changed 'to be up there with the best in the world' - i hate to see the worst.
Alternatively, because this has quite the copyright law i will, paste the article here for you to read? ooooo......see how that works? .......oooo copyright and technology are quite the paradox.
(any bold besides title is added by me).
Copyright law caught in its own time wrap
Graeme Philipson
July 18, 2006
Next
The pirates are everywhere and it's obvious that 19th-century legislation can't control 21st-century technology.
Often in this column I have written of the threat to the concepts of copyright and intellectual property posed by the internet and other digital technologies. When the transmission and copying of digital material is so easy that it is impossible to police, it is the law that needs examining, not the technology.
Consider the three following recent events:
Event one. On June 19, Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder and one of the key defenders of the old 20th-century style of software development (where private companies develop proprietary software for personal gain), admitted in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he watches pirated videos.
Event two. Virgin Records has admitted to downloading a Madonna song (Hung Up) from a France Telecom website, breaking the DRM (digital restrictions management) code and reselling it on its own website.
Event three. The French Government has backed down on a controversial law that would have required Apple to allow music from its iTunes store to be made available to other portable music players.
When The Journal pointed out to Mr Gates that the material he was watching was stolen, Mr Gates said, "Stolen's a strong word. It's copyrighted content that the owner hasn't paid for."
And Virgin said "it had the interests of digital music consumers at heart". It had to pay a million-dollar fine.
What's it all mean? It means that what I have been saying for the past 10 years or so is true. The technology and the legal system are completely out of kilter and the technology will win.
Existing copyright laws, and even the very concept of copyright, are anachronisms in the digital age.
When Virgin can justify its actions by saying that "we have always been ahead of the others in posing questions that look to the interests of consumers", and Apple can accuse the French Government of "state-sponsored piracy", you have to wonder what is going on.
The absurdity of copyright laws was brought home to us here in Australia recently.
In May, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock announced "commonsense" changes to Australia's copyright laws that "will maintain Australia's copyright laws as the best in the world".
Doublespeak. The minister's announcement included a little Q&A session intended to show how the laws work. Here's a few of the questions and their answers.
Read it and weep (or laugh - it's like something out of Monty Python). My commentary is in brackets after each answer.
Question: Does this mean I can record my favourite television or radio program to enjoy later?
Answer: Yes. For the first time, you will be able to record most television or radio program at home to enjoy at a later time. This will allow you to watch or listen to a program as it was made available to the public at the time of the original broadcast.
(We have all been doing this for years. The legislation doesn't bring us into the 21st century but the 20th.)
Question: How long can I keep the recording?
Answer: The recording must be deleted after one use. It will not be possible to use the recording over and over again.
(Well, sorry, but it will be possible, and we will continue doing it, like we have for years. What the answer should have said is that it "will remain illegal" to keep the recordings.)
Question: Can I make a collection of copied television and radio programs?
Answer: No. You will not be able to burn a collection (or library) of your favourite programs on DVD or CD to keep. It will be permitted to record a program on DVD or CD but only temporarily until you watch or listen to it for the first time.
(Got that? No collecting of your favourite programs.)
Question: Can I give a recording I have made to a friend?
Answer: No. A recording is for the personal use of the person who made it. You can invite a friend over to watch or listen to your recording but you can't lend or give it to a friend to take home with them.
(Clever, isn't it? Your friend can watch it with you but they may not watch it alone, or the police may knock on their door.)
Question: Will I be able to copy my music collection?
Answer: Yes. You can format-shift your music collection from CDs, audio tapes and vinyl to devices such as an MP3 player, X-Box 360 or home-entertainment PC but only if the original is a legitimate copy that you own and you format-shift for your personal use in a different audio format.
(So it is now legal to copy music from your CDs to your iPod. Whoopy-do. But you can't copy a CD to another CD - it must be in a different format. "Best copyright laws in the world", remember.)
Pathetic, isn't it? I rest my case.
I am not going to repeat arguments I have previously made about copyright protecting the publisher, not the artist, or that intellectual property laws stifle creativity rather than enhance it.
The absurdity of the above events and laws should be enough to demonstrate that attempts to control 21st-century technology with 19th-century laws are impossible.
But we will continue to see it happening, so long as people refuse to see the obvious: that copyright is dead in the digital millennium.
On another note read this title. Funny hey.....
Now dont get me wrong im all for companies who are using pirated software to be fined. Anyone who makes money from a product which they have not originally bought should be fined, its when the law / police enforce laws which arent common sense and people who are using it for educational purposes or personal use are fined and prosecuted. I cant stand that, especially when the head of the largest software company says he watches pirated material? Flipin' HELL!!!!!!!!
To other things,
I passed my Licence test and now have one of those shiny new yellow ones with a lil' bit better photo then my last one (i looked like a thug in the old one). So yes, i can relax. You see its funny how much anxiety and butterflies in the stomach you get when you have to sit the test, and the most when your waiting for your result. Reminds me totally of like High School exams or something, exact same feeling. Crazy shite.
Well its 4pm now, ive cleaned the house and vacuumed, taken out the recyclables, passed my licence test, read the paper and read many good articles (including one about the CEO, COO and Chairman of the company FORD - Bill Ford). I was quite suprised at the article and how he is a so-called devoted Greenman. That is, environmentalist, and how he wanted to introduce a hybrid model car years ago before toyota, but his management/board didnt allow him too. He also wanted to change the way FORD were going about 6years ago and take them into a new more fuel efficient and eco friendly path, but again the middle management and board stopped him.
If he would of gone in this direction FORD wouldnt be in the mess its in now and lost so much money to the efficient asian car manafacturers like Toyota. Quite fancinating, well i found it too be. If you wish to read the article, click here. Anyways he now has more control of the company has ousted the management and put in team leaders he likes, so he can change things before FORD collapeses. This could be the begining of some famous changes from one of its founding family members or maybe the start of the real decline of one of the worlds biggest companies......crazy...
Well i should go now, sidetracked there, play some games then finially Cook TACO's tonight. I just got the meat from the shop, 5star quality as my bro said to get, and finially fix my taco fetish for now.
Hope your not too bored by now.
Ciao
Joely
Alternatively, because this has quite the copyright law i will, paste the article here for you to read? ooooo......see how that works? .......oooo copyright and technology are quite the paradox.
(any bold besides title is added by me).
Copyright law caught in its own time wrap
Graeme Philipson
July 18, 2006
Next
The pirates are everywhere and it's obvious that 19th-century legislation can't control 21st-century technology.
Often in this column I have written of the threat to the concepts of copyright and intellectual property posed by the internet and other digital technologies. When the transmission and copying of digital material is so easy that it is impossible to police, it is the law that needs examining, not the technology.
Consider the three following recent events:
Event one. On June 19, Bill Gates, Microsoft's founder and one of the key defenders of the old 20th-century style of software development (where private companies develop proprietary software for personal gain), admitted in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he watches pirated videos.
Event two. Virgin Records has admitted to downloading a Madonna song (Hung Up) from a France Telecom website, breaking the DRM (digital restrictions management) code and reselling it on its own website.
Event three. The French Government has backed down on a controversial law that would have required Apple to allow music from its iTunes store to be made available to other portable music players.
When The Journal pointed out to Mr Gates that the material he was watching was stolen, Mr Gates said, "Stolen's a strong word. It's copyrighted content that the owner hasn't paid for."
And Virgin said "it had the interests of digital music consumers at heart". It had to pay a million-dollar fine.
What's it all mean? It means that what I have been saying for the past 10 years or so is true. The technology and the legal system are completely out of kilter and the technology will win.
Existing copyright laws, and even the very concept of copyright, are anachronisms in the digital age.
When Virgin can justify its actions by saying that "we have always been ahead of the others in posing questions that look to the interests of consumers", and Apple can accuse the French Government of "state-sponsored piracy", you have to wonder what is going on.
The absurdity of copyright laws was brought home to us here in Australia recently.
In May, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock announced "commonsense" changes to Australia's copyright laws that "will maintain Australia's copyright laws as the best in the world".
Doublespeak. The minister's announcement included a little Q&A session intended to show how the laws work. Here's a few of the questions and their answers.
Read it and weep (or laugh - it's like something out of Monty Python). My commentary is in brackets after each answer.
Question: Does this mean I can record my favourite television or radio program to enjoy later?
Answer: Yes. For the first time, you will be able to record most television or radio program at home to enjoy at a later time. This will allow you to watch or listen to a program as it was made available to the public at the time of the original broadcast.
(We have all been doing this for years. The legislation doesn't bring us into the 21st century but the 20th.)
Question: How long can I keep the recording?
Answer: The recording must be deleted after one use. It will not be possible to use the recording over and over again.
(Well, sorry, but it will be possible, and we will continue doing it, like we have for years. What the answer should have said is that it "will remain illegal" to keep the recordings.)
Question: Can I make a collection of copied television and radio programs?
Answer: No. You will not be able to burn a collection (or library) of your favourite programs on DVD or CD to keep. It will be permitted to record a program on DVD or CD but only temporarily until you watch or listen to it for the first time.
(Got that? No collecting of your favourite programs.)
Question: Can I give a recording I have made to a friend?
Answer: No. A recording is for the personal use of the person who made it. You can invite a friend over to watch or listen to your recording but you can't lend or give it to a friend to take home with them.
(Clever, isn't it? Your friend can watch it with you but they may not watch it alone, or the police may knock on their door.)
Question: Will I be able to copy my music collection?
Answer: Yes. You can format-shift your music collection from CDs, audio tapes and vinyl to devices such as an MP3 player, X-Box 360 or home-entertainment PC but only if the original is a legitimate copy that you own and you format-shift for your personal use in a different audio format.
(So it is now legal to copy music from your CDs to your iPod. Whoopy-do. But you can't copy a CD to another CD - it must be in a different format. "Best copyright laws in the world", remember.)
Pathetic, isn't it? I rest my case.
I am not going to repeat arguments I have previously made about copyright protecting the publisher, not the artist, or that intellectual property laws stifle creativity rather than enhance it.
The absurdity of the above events and laws should be enough to demonstrate that attempts to control 21st-century technology with 19th-century laws are impossible.
But we will continue to see it happening, so long as people refuse to see the obvious: that copyright is dead in the digital millennium.
On another note read this title. Funny hey.....
Now dont get me wrong im all for companies who are using pirated software to be fined. Anyone who makes money from a product which they have not originally bought should be fined, its when the law / police enforce laws which arent common sense and people who are using it for educational purposes or personal use are fined and prosecuted. I cant stand that, especially when the head of the largest software company says he watches pirated material? Flipin' HELL!!!!!!!!
To other things,
I passed my Licence test and now have one of those shiny new yellow ones with a lil' bit better photo then my last one (i looked like a thug in the old one). So yes, i can relax. You see its funny how much anxiety and butterflies in the stomach you get when you have to sit the test, and the most when your waiting for your result. Reminds me totally of like High School exams or something, exact same feeling. Crazy shite.
Well its 4pm now, ive cleaned the house and vacuumed, taken out the recyclables, passed my licence test, read the paper and read many good articles (including one about the CEO, COO and Chairman of the company FORD - Bill Ford). I was quite suprised at the article and how he is a so-called devoted Greenman. That is, environmentalist, and how he wanted to introduce a hybrid model car years ago before toyota, but his management/board didnt allow him too. He also wanted to change the way FORD were going about 6years ago and take them into a new more fuel efficient and eco friendly path, but again the middle management and board stopped him.
If he would of gone in this direction FORD wouldnt be in the mess its in now and lost so much money to the efficient asian car manafacturers like Toyota. Quite fancinating, well i found it too be. If you wish to read the article, click here. Anyways he now has more control of the company has ousted the management and put in team leaders he likes, so he can change things before FORD collapeses. This could be the begining of some famous changes from one of its founding family members or maybe the start of the real decline of one of the worlds biggest companies......crazy...
Well i should go now, sidetracked there, play some games then finially Cook TACO's tonight. I just got the meat from the shop, 5star quality as my bro said to get, and finially fix my taco fetish for now.
Hope your not too bored by now.
Ciao
Joely
posted by Joely at 10:54 pm
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