more on Progress and Freedom Foundation: Leave DMCA alone, don't permit circumvention! [ip] {v2}

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Date: October 8, 2005 12:04:30 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net, 'Ip Ip' <ip () v2 listbox com>
Cc: 'Declan McCullagh' <declan () well com>
Subject: RE: Progress and Freedom Foundation: Leave DMCA alone, don't  
permit circumvention! [ip] {v2}


Years ago at an Upside Magazine event in DC I asked Boucher about  
Moore’s law because of the obvious impact on technology and  
legislation. He didn’t have the concept. Over time over I’ve spoken  
to a number of well meaning public servants and it’s been  
discouraging. It’s not that the people are trying to do harm, but  
they go for stories that make the most sense to them – facts only  
confuse.



I recently posted an essay on Kodak's WiFi Camera http:// 
www.frankston.com/?name=SATNEasyShare -- it turns out that you have  
to pay Kodak extra if you actually want to get the bits that  
represent the pictures. The more pictures the more it costs per picture!



What I found most disturbing is how little protest there is to the  
lack of ownership or control -- the kids today are so depressing well- 
behaved. Of course they've always been.



I can foresee the next generation of DMCA focused used by schools.  
They lease the knowledge but never sell it. These schools will have  
very attractive tuition plans -- you just assign 10% of your future  
income streams and guarantee not to pass on any learning to others.



Unauthorized sell of teaching materials will be considered attempts  
to circumvent. But so is telling people that holding the shift key  
down will prevent automatically running the protection software on a PC





-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2005 06:26
To: Ip Ip
Subject: Progress and Freedom Foundation: Leave DMCA alone, don't  
permit circumvention! [ip]







Begin forwarded message:



From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>

Date: October 6, 2005 3:10:55 PM EDT

To: politech () politechbot com

Subject: [Politech] Progress and Freedom Foundation: Leave DMCA

alone, don't permit circumvention! [ip]





In Patrick Ross' commentary below, TPM=technical protection measures,

aka anti-copying mechanisms.



I think Ross is misguided, irresponsibly overstates the alleged harm

of permitting circumvention for fair use, and ignores the documented

problems caused by the DMCA. A more rigorous free-market approach is

here:

http://www.politechbot.com/2005/06/13/new-article-on/



But nevertheless, the Progress and Freedom Foundation is an

influential think tank with many fans among Republicans on Capitol

Hill. (PFF recently hired Michael Powell's legal advisor, for

instance, and its board is primarily former Reagan administration

officials.) No wonder DMCA reform is going nowhere.



-Declan



---



http://news.com.com/2010-1025_3-5889596.html



Here's a surefire way to stifle innovation

By Patrick Ross

Published: October 6, 2005, 4:00 AM PDT



...A well-meaning U.S. Congressman, Rick Boucher of Virginia, is the

author of the legislation in question. He first tried to make

circumvention of copy-protection mechanisms legal back in 1998, when

Congress was debating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. His

effort to amend the bill failed.



Since then, he has been continuing his crusade through standalone

bills; his version in this Congress is HR-1201. Boucher claims that

digital rights management (DRM) on DVDs, CDs and other mediums can

stifle fair use. The U.S. Copyright Office largely has disagreed in

DMCA review proceedings, but Boucher nonetheless persists...



But if HR-1201 becomes law, every consumer could legally hack any TPM

by claiming fair use, and as fair use isn't codified, there would be

as many definitions of it as there are consumers. Consumers would be

legally sanctioned to break their contracts with the content provider.



No sane business operator enters a contract in which one party has

the right to disregard its terms at will, but that's what HR-1201

permits. That hated TPM would disappear from the market, as there's

no reason to employ a lock if everyone has a legal right to the key.

But as TPM leaves, so do the digital offerings that come with it...



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