quote:
MS has already publicly stated that their XBOX is covered under the DMCA.
The DMCA is a seriously bad piece of legistation which can be stretched to cover all sorts of crap, stifle innovation, and squash free speech.
It generally benefits only ONE group: BIG CORPORATIONS.
The only way this stuff is going to go away is
a) the law is modified in the legislature.
b) The law is challenged and weakened in lawsuits, either brought by big business and lost (e.g. Adobe's ebook BS lawsuit), or by small businesses/individuals and won (like the company who is trying to market DVD copying software for legitimate applications).
In the first place, I don't have an X-Crox, don't want an X-Crox, have
NO plans to
ever get an X-Crox. I
already waste too damn much time with an old Nintendo-64 I rescued from the trash man.
Secondly, the DCMA is going to go away. Perhaps it will be repealed outright (possible, but unlikely), or it will be legislatively castrated (more likely), or it will become one of those laws that are still on the books, yet never enforced, like the still-extant laws requiring every driver of a motor vehicle to hire a flag-man to preceed him down the street. (most likely) That way, the politicos don't have to admit to making an error, and the special-interests aren't aroused. If this doesn't happen, innovation will likely die in the USA. However, it will live on in places like Canada, India, Indonesia, Korea (if the "Glorious Leader" to the north doesn't attack, that is
). And the USA will find itself being left farther and farther behind. We've already seen the beginnings of the process with the arrest of Dimitry Skylarov. Not only was this a political embarrassment to the USA, but, as a result, the Russian equivalent of the State Dept. put the United States on their "advisory" list, discourageing all tech-workers from coming here. And there have already been tech-conferences that have cancelled plans to meet here. Since the public educational system here is a pathetic joke, and there simply aren't enough Americans to do this work, America can't
afford to drive off all those Pakistanis, Indians, Koreans, Indonesians, etc. who keep Silicon Valley alive and functioning.
Lastly, the US economy isn't driven anymore by those who actually create "stuff". Hell, the US doesn't even produce all these wonderful high-tech gadgets: the computers, VCRs, DVD players, even the chips for these are largely made over-seas. It's the ideas and inventiveness that's been keeping the US a player in the world economy.
The DMCA is a threat to the national security, therefore it goes. After all, why do you think we haven't seen any high-profile prosecutions under this law lately?
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