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I should write something to introduce myself. I'd get on that but I'm kinda busy. But someday I will.
11 May 2007, tem @ 12:20 pm
I’ve been trying hard to avoid reposting stuff that I read on slashdot, but this is one I want to remember for later. According to their press release Media Rights Technologies (MRT) has decided to send cease and desist letters to Apple, Microsoft, Adobe and Real for not using MRT’s digital rights management (DRM) software to prevent users from illegally copying things like Internet radio streams. From the MRT press release:
“The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law by President Clinton in 1998 to disseminate and protect the arts in the digital age. It makes illegal and prohibits the manufacture of any product or technology that is designed for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure which effectively controls access to a copyrighted work or which protects the rights of copyright owners.”
Somehow they have made a fantastical leap of logic in concluding that if a company provides content in the clear – without DRM – that they are violating the DMCA:
“MRT asserts Apple, Microsoft, Real and Adobe have produced billions of these products without regard for the DMCA or the rights of American Intellectual Property owners, actively avoiding the use of MRT’s technologies. Failure to comply with this demand could result in a federal court injunction to any of the above named parties to cease production or sale of their products and/or the imposition of statutory damages of at least $200 to $2500 for each product distributed or sold.“
I am definitely not a lawyer or have any competency in reading law, but no where in the DMCA does it say anything about it being illegal to disseminate content in the clear (without rights management). It also says nothing about it being illegal for companies to producing technology that deals with clear file formats. The anti-circumvention clause they are referring to makes it illegal to distribute tech (software or hardware) to circumvent DRM that has been embedded by the content’s creator. If they didn’t embed DRM then you aren’t circumvent it. The idea that all media be in a protected format is ludicris. It would be a very disturbing world in which information was locked down in this manner. Are they suggesting that all digital cameras store every photo I shoot in a protected format? What if I want to distribute my music with a creative commons license?
My hunch is that this company is just trying to stir up some publicity but it would be sad if this actually made it into a court.
2 May 2007, tem @ 1:22 pm
“But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you
’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be.”
Who knew a bunch of numbers could cause such a ruckas. Well yeah for ruckas and props to digg for seeing the light.
1 May 2007, tem @ 4:21 pm
The magic key to hd-dvd. Hi-Ho.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
You would think HD-DVD and BluRay folks would have learned from the DVD CSS fiasco. more details from rudd-o.com
In related news boing boing pointed out a spot-on article from the Economist pointing on the downside to antagonising its customers.