[olug] congressman Terry needs more attention

[Daniel Linder]

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jman at neonramp.com wrote:

> One solution would be to stop watching so much TV

[...snip - Dan]

> It is like a drug. We all want to get another fix

> without the pushers control. If it wasn't money for

> them they wouldn't pursue it. If it isn't a fix for

> us we would not fight it.



I too try to limit myself to a core set of shows or aproximately 4 hours
of TV (less using my ReplayTV to skip commercials), but those of us who do
that are in the minority.  My neighbor is one of the vast majority --
she easily has 1-2 hours per night that she _must_ watch (her words), and
will sit and channel surf to find something...anything... when her other
shows aren't on.  It's is these people that we are going to have to
convince that DRM (Digital Restriction Managment) is a bad thing.



On Mon, November 7, 2005 07:43, Eric Lusk wrote:

> Unfortunately, some of the mosre extreme measures the

> MPAA and RIAA are advocating apply to MUCH more than

> just TV.



I agree 100%.



> If some of these measures went through, you'd be

> paying huge fees just to copy your home movies from

> your hard drive, or VHS tape, to DVD.

> Not to mention that we'd be dealing with proprietary

> hardware, which would mean software developers would

> have to pay fees to write any programs that would run

> on "secure" hardware.  That would bring the cost of

> both hardware and software up, and could lead to the

> end of free software altogether.



And remember, this proprietary hardware will become obsolete once their
current encarnation of encryption is broken.  Right now, the first
DVD players from the mid 1990s will play the vast majority of the DVDs on
the market.  When the new "DRM impared" DVD players are on
the market and some 16 year old kid finds a way around their security, do
you think the MPAA and RIAA will be content to stay with their broken
standard?  No, they'll go back to congress and ask for a
"Version 2" of their security measures.  How long until all
of the components in your stereo rack (DVR, VCR, TV, Stereo, etc) will not
only have to have "DRM impared" digital connections, but *ALSO*
be running the same revision of the latest security software.  The
first time I see "Sorry, your TV is running an old version of DRM --
please upgrade."  I'll be surfing the web for Russian and Korean
hardware vendors who will sell me working hardware.



It is issues like this that will help us convince my neighbor (and the
majority of Americans like her) that DRM is not necessary for the new
digital age, and our government officials who support it are not going to
receive our vote during the next election.



Dan



- - - - -

"Wait for that wisest of all counselors, time." -- Pericles

"I do not fear computer, I fear the lack of them." -- Isaac
Asimov

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