from the dept. deus42 writes "BoingBoing has an interesting article about a joint RIAA/MPAA move started yesterday on Capitol Hill . From the article: 'Hollywood has fielded a shockingly ambitious piece of Analog Hole legislation while everyone was out partying in costume. Under a new proposed Analog Hole bill, it will be illegal to make anything capable of digitizing video unless it either has all its outputs approved by the Hollywood studios, or is closed-source, proprietary and tamper-resistant. The idea is to make it impossible to create an MPEG from a video signal unless Hollywood approves it.'"

Unless you meant Anal Log Hole... but do you really want to subject them to your "Anal Log"? If so, I recommend we leave a couple on their doorstep, to show exactly what kind of law they are trying to legislate.

(http://www.pressedpenny.com/ ) I heard a great analogy today. Software is like a vehicle. Software should be able to be modified just like buying a Harley and modifying it like West Coast Choppers does. As long as all the parties get paid, the Harley dealer, the suppliers of the mods, etc., then no one can stop it as long as it's not illegal.

Same with movies. If I owned a film copy of a movie, there is nothing that could stop me from splicing it together to make funny edits, have someone talking to themselves, flipping the picture backwards, etc.

Yet the *IAA want to prevent you from doing just exactly that. They want to force you to watch the commercials during broadcasts, and not do anything whatsoever with their material that they don't approve.

Freedom of expression - art made of books for instance - gives Americans the rights to do just exactly these things. In fact, we have the right to go taket the Harley, modify it, and if we wish. CDs and DVDs come with printing on them that they may not be re-sold for any reason now. Not only can we not utilize a CD in art, we can't edit it to a new form and re-sell it with the same profit rules that we apply to any other physical property. How exactly is this fair?

(http://twopi.ath.cx/ Last Journal: Friday September 30, @12:06AM ) You haven't given up on America yet? You're new here then. [ Reply to This Parent ] (Score:4, Funny) by flyingsquid (813711) on Tuesday November 01, @06:05PM (#13927176 ) You haven't given up on America yet? You're REALLY new here then.

If you're going to troll, at least know what you're talking about, because the gross injustices we now have to deal with were instituted during the Clinton administration. I'm not specifically blaming Clinton, and I'm not defending Bush. However, when you blame everything under the sun on Bush, then it kind of raises the nose floor and no one listens when people talk about things Bush really *has* done.

An unintended side effect might be that it might respark the true electronic hacker culture that has rather deteriorated over the last couple of decades. It used to be someone would build a radio or some electronic device from scratch based on ICs, capacitors, etc. Now some geeks think they're cool because they can attach a few IDE cables, insert some memory, and claim to have "built" a computer. Nonsense... that's not building a computer. This change in culture is why Radio Shack now sells things like cell phones, wireless phones, computers, and stereos and resistors and capacitors gets a few square feet of shelf space in the back.

(http://integramod.tripod.com/ ) At least not until all electronic parts vendors require all purchases of each part to be bought in $1000 bulk purchases. And it's already happening: the only local vendor for a part to fix the power connector on my Joust machine would only sell to me if I bought $1000 worth of the part.

Go to mouser.com or digikey.com. They sell in small quantities and surely have far greater selections and far cheaper prices than any place local to you.

Well that's just great; we can then kiss our entire electronics industry good-bye in this country. There's an enormous number of companies (most small ones) in this country that make and sell electronic devices using component parts. These items are designed in-house by engineers, and then prototyped, frequently with parts from Digi-Key and other such distributors, sold in small quantities. The prototypes are debugged, and then eventually the completed design is manufactured either in-house (if the company is large enough), or out-of-house by a contract manufacturer. I used to work as a component-level design engineer, doing schematic design and PCB layout at a small company, so I know a little about this.

Eliminate the ability to buy parts in small quantities and you wipe out virtually all prototyping of electronic designs. The effects of this on the economy are incalculable.

(http://slashdot.org/ ) An unintended side effect might be that it might respark the true electronic hacker culture that has rather deteriorated over the last couple of decades. It used to be someone would build a radio or some electronic device from scratch based on ICs, capacitors, etc. Now some geeks think they're cool because they can attach a few IDE cables, insert some memory, and claim to have "built" a computer. Nonsense... that's not building a computer. This change in culture is why Radio Shack now sells things like cell phones, wireless phones, computers, and stereos and resistors and capacitors gets a few square feet of shelf space in the back.

Look, the guys at radio shack already look at me like they're about to call the FBI when I go in to purchase 10 resistors and a few capacitors, along with a couple DB9 connectors to make an RS232 terminator. That's on top of the fact that the guy didn't even know he carried that stuff. He says to me, "looks like someone's building a HAM radio". Ya, no kidding. What he's really wondering is if I'm building a bomb to take out a few city blocks.

(http://www.glassuser.net/ Last Journal: Monday May 09, @09:47AM ) Got head while laughing at a chick...I don't know if I should look up to you for being the ultimate man or look down upon you for degrading women.

It depends on if you're sitting up or laying back. [ Reply to This Parent ] Re:And no matter what they do... by erlenic (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:29PM Re:And no matter what they do... by Alsee (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @06:40AM Re:And no matter what they do... by cayenne8 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:56PM Re:And no matter what they do... by AviLazar (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:09PM Re:And no matter what they do... by kin_korn_karn (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:28PM Re:And no matter what they do... by jedidiah (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:55PM Re:And no matter what they do... by cayenne8 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:03PM Re:And no matter what they do... by Z-Knight (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:39PM (Score:4, Insightful) by InvalidError (771317) on Tuesday November 01, @06:32PM (#13927449 ) My take on this: let them commit technical suicide if that is what they want.

After their market has imploded and most of the big players' bottom lines got slaughtered, they will be more likely to quit their unsightly and futile holy war.

I do not mind living without TV and movies until then... like have mostly already been doing for the past 5+ years. [ Reply to This Parent ] Re:And no matter what they do... by xigxag (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @01:32AM Re:And no matter what they do... by Red Flayer (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:39PM Re:And no matter what they do... by HTH NE1 (Score:3) Tuesday November 01, @06:04PM Re:And no matter what they do... by Red Flayer (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:14PM Re:And no matter what they do... by Kadin2048 (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:32PM Re:And no matter what they do... by masdog (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:35PM Re: Cracking is Illegal by mpapet (Score:3) Tuesday November 01, @05:42PM Re: Cracking is Illegal by timeOday (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:07PM Re:And no matter what they do... by try_anything (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:43PM Re:And no matter what they do... by krgallagher (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:46PM Re:And no matter what they do... by An ominous Cow art (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:32PM True dat by adavies42 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:48PM Re:True dat by Widowwolf (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:11PM Re:True dat by adavies42 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:27PM Re:And no matter what they do... by dennison_uy (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:33PM Wow, whatsoever shall we do? by Umuri (Score:3) Tuesday November 01, @05:32PM Re:Wow, whatsoever shall we do? by robertjw (Score:3) Tuesday November 01, @05:38PM Re:Wow, whatsoever shall we do? by sdpuppy (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:46PM (Score:5, Insightful) by IgnoramusMaximus (692000) on Tuesday November 01, @05:57PM (#13927089 ) All rules like this do is create a black market and more criminals.

That's the idea. In a society where breathing air is illegal, everyone, except the annointed "lawful inhalers" are criminals. Then tyrants have no difficulties in extracting obedience as all citizens are subject to arrests which are both a tool of control and "legal" at the same time. Such ubiquitous "criminality" is one of the basic components of tyranny.

"War" on drugs is a perfect example: a problem which is medical in nature has been criminalized, resulting in the US having the highest percentage of imprisoned citizens from all the nations in the world, beating places like China, USSR, Iran, North Corea or Cuba. As a bonus side effect, the drug profits have never been greater, related violent crimes never more deadly and the police apparatus never more aggressive, violent, domineering, encroaching on most basic civil rights and never better funded.

I suspect the "war" on "piracy" is heading in the same direction: total subjegation of citizenry to zealous special interests. Combine this with resurgence of retarded, violent, anti-intellectual theocracy in the USA and the trickle of scientists and others who depend on unresticted knowledge for their trade who are leaving the US now will become a deluge. USA is going the way most of the empires of the past have: self-destruction in the name of greed and religion.

(http://rogers-blog.blogspot.com/ ) The people who are doing this illegally still don't care, but the *aa has managed to alienate yet more people. [ Reply to This ] Re:And this means... by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @05:39PM (Score:5, Insightful) by Guysmiley777 (880063) on Tuesday November 01, @05:32PM (#13926768 ) Make lobbying illegal, punishable by hanging in front of the Capitol Building. Problem solved. [ Reply to This ] Re:A modest proposal by drinkypoo (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:41PM Re:A modest proposal by Guysmiley777 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:47PM (Score:4, Interesting) by mrchaotica (681592) on Tuesday November 01, @06:10PM (#13927218 ) Note the title of the grandparent's post.

A Modest Proposal [wikipedia.org] For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public: a satirical phamphlet written by Johnathan Swift in which the author (a persona, not Swift) advocates solving poverty by eating babies of poor people.

I'll leave it to you to figure out the grandparent's analogy (although I'm not sure it's quite what the grandparent really intended). [ Reply to This Parent ] Re:A modest proposal by drinkypoo (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:31PM Re:A modest proposal by Jtheletter (Score:3) Tuesday November 01, @05:51PM Re:A modest proposal by isbhod (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:11PM Re:A modest proposal by HTH NE1 (Score:3) Tuesday November 01, @06:26PM Re:A modest proposal by Excen (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @08:15PM Re:A modest proposal by Reziac (Score:2) Wednesday November 02, @02:27AM Re:A modest proposal by NonSequor (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:52PM Re:A modest proposal by Politburo (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @07:02PM Re:A modest proposal by joe_bruin (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @07:10PM Re:A modest proposal by gkhan1 (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @07:19PM Re:A modest proposal by purple_cobra (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @08:17PM Re:A modest proposal by belmolis (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @10:39PM Re:A modest proposal by anethema (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @11:12PM Re:A modest proposal by Mistshadow2k4 (Score:1) Wednesday November 02, @01:56AM (Score:5, Insightful) by nightsweat (604367) on Tuesday November 01, @05:33PM (#13926774 ) And thus did the American cultural hegemony over the rest of the world collapse, leading to a world where India and China exported their values through their music and films while the Hollywood studios argued about whether consumers should be allowed to keep a taped episode of Will and Grace for 24 hours or only 12... [ Reply to This ] Re:And thus... by frodo from middle ea (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:43PM (Score:5, Funny) by eln (21727) on Tuesday November 01, @05:53PM (#13927044 ) 2 good movies in 800 per year is not something to be proud of.

(http://anti-slash.org/ ) This whole piracy thing is so silly. It's wierder than "terrorist". Both terms depend on who they are working for. If they're working for the "competition"(so to speak), they're pirates and terrorists. If they're on "our" side, they're distributors and freedom fighters. Do you know who will be the first to go out of business when P2P really takes off? The pirates. The guys out there selling millions of bootlegs. Most pirates usually sell the top 40, RIAA stuff, so they also "controlled" who was distributed, but they are the most expendable. Hell, they're off the books, so who's gonna care? Most people understand that P2P will increase record sales and concert attendance manyfold. This isn't just about money. Control plays a bigger role here. Just like both sides use terrorists in a war, both sides use pirates to distribute their wares. It seems to be mutually parasitic. What I'm trying to say here is that piracy is a diversion, a smokescreen used by those who want to control distribution of information(text, audio, video). It's little different from those who use terrorism to create unjust laws.

I sure wish the ptroleum industry was as concerned about the leaks in distribution system as the content industry is about theirs. (11230681) [ Reply to This ] (Score:5, Insightful) by Mark_Uplanguage (444809) on Tuesday November 01, @05:46PM (#13926955 ) I agree with the smokescreen argument.

I'd also like to comment that while the ACLU/EFF do a great defending our rights against moves such as this, it seems odd that the congress we elect to preserve our rights is the same congress taking money from big business to remove our rights. Does the constitution need a group of lobbyists to protect itself? With all of the supreme court moving lately I've heard a few times how some members of congress get upset when the supreme court comes in to say they've oversetpped their bounds. Waiting for the checks and balances in the system to work themselves out really seems like a pain, but it's our country and if you're going to complain make sure you stand up and fight this type of lunacy.

"Prie" and "Prie" are TOTALLY DIFFERENT WORDS, with completely seperate meanings. dictionary.com are on , the ! It's fuckheads like these that will spearhead the demise of the english language. Can't they recognise a when they fucking see it!? Fucking Idiots.

Look at how many indie films have been made with consumer-level equipment. Look at the movies that are still done with hand-drawn animation or with puppets that are moved frame by frame. People can still take amazing pictures in black and white, and sometimes stylized is better than realistic or fancy, a la Sin City (ignoring the technology that went into it for effects like the splashes of color).

(http://slashdot.org/ Last Journal: Wednesday January 29, @03:50AM ) Perhaps they are referring to old films and stuff that people have just started archiving with the advent of affordable telecine, etc. Or it could be that they are about to offically close the hole in digital using some ingenious new system and they want to remove the analog option completely first.

Soon, you won't be able to buy a new DVD or CD player, reciever, etc. that has analog inputs and outputs, since they won't be "certified". Another reason is that they (the big studios and publishing companies) really want to move over into video on demand style stuff as an industry and cut out the retailers and wholesalers and distributers who have acted as middlemen.

(http://www.lazylightning.org/ Last Journal: Tuesday September 27, @04:39PM ) I honestly wonder what historians will think of this time period, say, one hundred years from now. Think of how we view the Western European Dark Ages, where education slowed to a halt, an organization managed to secure society and manipulate it at will, while those in the East jumped leaps and bounds ahead of them. Gosh, sounds vaguely familiar....

Ahh yes, the good 'ol "How History Repeats Itself" thing. Yup, I agree. We should learn from our mistakes yet we are told time and time again how this is so much better!

I went to see Good Night and Good Luck which was supposed to reiterate the importance of learning from history. I mentioned that I went to see it to my father. His response to me was: "Son, I lived through that fucking horseshit. I hated that reporter. Why would I want to relive all that shit again?"

(http://www.cranesable.com/ Last Journal: Saturday December 07, @04:57PM ) Remember! If technology is outlawed, only outlaws will have technology.

And that would make all of the geeks rogue outlaw bad-boy types, which would make them suddenly very appealing to women, so maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all.

(http://jebshouse.com/?sd Last Journal: Friday April 15, @03:29PM ) The article annoyingly refers to this as "Broadcast Flag On Steroids", but who cares? That concept was tossed out--on it's unanimous ass, mind you--by the DC Court of Appeals. An opinion filed by our current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This thing is as least as obtrusive as the Broadcast Flag, which the Court says was unenforceable because the FCC doesn't have the power to tell manufacturers how to build things. How could this bill be treated any differently?

Or perhaps they won't, but apparently they'll make it very difficult to use the required equipment. Make life difficult for students, and you're cutting off your source of income 20 years down the road..

(http://slashdot.org/ ) Not possible by jmorris42 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:44PM Re:Not possible by Skowronek (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @05:48PM Re:Not possible by jmorris42 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:11PM Re:Not possible by Control Group (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:28PM Re:Not possible by jmorris42 (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:52PM Re:Not possible by spisska (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:59PM Isnt everything already digitized by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @05:45PM sometimes by MORTAR_COMBAT! (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:45PM Think big name consumer electronics makers... by Mr. Cancelled (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:46PM (Score:5, Interesting) by Windcatcher (566458) on Tuesday November 01, @05:46PM (#13926947 ) Everything will eventually go digital, and once no one is manufacturing analog equipment (VCRs) anymore, there won't be any more VCR's (or anything that does the same thing). Say goodbye to your capture card, too, or be prepared to PAY everytime you want to record something on your ATI All-In-Wonder.

(http://www.blitter.com/ ) You're right to be confused. The music and movie industry, as far as I can tell, actually believe they have the god-given right to be the *only* producers of 'culture' -- our songs, our legends and myths, they want to own it all. In their ideal world, you wouldn't even dream of creating anything yourself. That's why it's up to individuals to keep creating culture and letting it out as copyleft, public domain, GPL, whatever.. just anything other than the frameworks they have constructed to lock our culture up.

[ Reply to This Parent ] Re:Ownership rights. by burnttoy (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @07:15PM No Effect! by Junior Samples (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @05:57PM I place equal blame on software mfrs by BigBuckHunter (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @05:59PM Hearing Scheduled by bluffcityjk (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:02PM Remember when MaBell dictated what phone you used? by cryptyk (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:02PM Oh well by t_allardyce (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:02PM (Score:4, Informative) by Bad Boy Marty (15944) on Tuesday November 01, @06:03PM (#13927164 ) is go to your 3 elected representatives (in the US, each citizen is represented to the Federal Government by 2 Senators (per state; sorry, D.C. and Territories) and a Representative (per Congressional District)) -- seriously, call up their offices and arrange a face-to-face meeting -- explaining why any legislation that in way restricts the current "fair use" of copyrighted material is so basically wrong. Join the EFF. Explain how all "survey papers" would be made illegal if this restriction of fair use is permitted (remember, as soon as it applies to one medium, it will shortly follow that it will apply to all media).

Bitching and moaning about Hollywood trying to pull crap like this is all fine and good, but unless we PUNISH their accomplices in government, this kind of crap will just keep going and going.

So the next time these turkeys are up for election, start sending their opponents money. When you send them the money, make sure you include a little note explaining exactly WHY you're sending them money. While you're at it, send the turkey a note as well telling him that you've just sent his opponent money and why.

This isn't limited to just the people from the districts in question. I live in Arizona, but there is nothing to stop me from making a contribution to a candidate in another state. I can't take part in the official election, but I can sure as hell vote with my money. Imagine if one of the turkeys who tried to pull this crap got tens of thousands of letters from accross the country that all said the same thing: "I gave your opponent X dollars because you supported the Analog Hole bill" Meanwhile their opponents get tens of thousands of letters saying "I'm giving you X dollars because your opponent supported the Analog Hole bill, don't make the mistake he did."

Freedom is precious and fragile. It is also one of the few things in this world outside of family worth dying for. You can either fight for your freedom, or you can sit by idly and hope that things don't get any worse. Hope that someone else will pick up the tab for your liberty. Hope that the ever-present forces that seek to deny you your freedom will go away. Well guess what, they won't. If you're not fighting against them then you're actively helping them. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and it is a price that we all must pay each and every day. If you're not fighting for your freedom then you've already forfeited it.

[ Reply to This ] Amen by Phoenix666 (Score:3) Tuesday November 01, @07:48PM Re:Three questions. by AppleFever (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @08:50PM HDTV problems by dangitman (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:08PM Hole by Luigi30 (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:08PM So now when I press record by saskboy (Score:2) Tuesday November 01, @06:10PM Which One? by krunoce (Score:1) Tuesday November 01, @06:11PM (Score:4, Interesting) by rewt66 (738525) on Tuesday November 01, @06:12PM (#13927250 ) The article (or the EFF article it linked, I forget which) said that this bill was brought before a House committee. Well, what I want to know is, did it pass?

And who brought it before the committee? Did a Representative actually introduce/sponsor this? If so, which representative(s)? Let's see... all representatives are elected every 2 years, next one in November 2006, exactly one year from now... An opponent could fry the person responsible, if they could just communicate to the public what this scoundrel tried to get passed...

(http://slashdot.org/~kbielefe ) house.gov [house.gov] is your friend. The hearing [house.gov] isn't actually scheduled until Thursday at 2:00 p.m. Basically, a draft of the proposed legislation was released yesterday by a lobbyist. A congressman hasn't even touched it except for maybe a few subcommittee members reading it in preparation for the hearing. It hasn't been sponsored, co-sponsored, introduced, or even mentioned in any congressional record. There are still a dozen roadblocks before this even comes close to becoming a law. A congressman actually has to endorse it, the subcommittee chair can kill it, the subcommittee can kill it, the committee chair can kill it, the committee can kill it, the speaker of the house can kill it, and the full house can kill it. And then the whole process must be repeated in the senate. And then the president must sign it. Yes, this is a horrible piece of legislation, but in my opinion it has a slim chance of passing.

And lest you think all lobbyists are evil, Public Knowledge [publicknowledge.org] and the Home Recording Rights Coalition [hrrc.org] will also be testifying at the hearing.

There are no representatives from my state (Arizona) on the committee [house.gov], and they get so much correspondence that they essentially ignore anyone who is not their direct constituent, but if your congressman is on the list, then now is the time to let them know how you feel, especially if you are from Texas or California.

(http://jamesholden.net/ ) Don't forget that Americans can only make stuff illegal in the USA. The rest of the world couldn't give a flying fuck what's illegal there. Do I care about the DMCA? No, because I don't live in the USA.

If this kind of legislation continues to go through, the USA will end up back in the tehcnological stone age as emerging economies such as India and China overtake. Don't forget that these economies still make stuff for the west too. Does your Toyoya have all the dashboard icons in Japanese? Of course not.

There are a groing number of bands rejecting the copy protection that the labels are applying to their CDs. I'm sure the film industry will follow soon. How long before the next Hollywood blockbuster is produced by a non-USA company because they know the USA film industry's anti-consumer practices will actually harm the films success.

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