Tuesday, December 14, 2004
MPAA condemns itself, slinks away with tail between legs (not)
"BitTorrent has attracted the enmity of Hollywood. (....)[MPAA antipiracy chief John] Malcolm described the operators of the targeted servers as "Traffic cops connecting those who wish to steal a movie with those who have a copy of it."
"These people are parasites leeching off the creativity of others," said Malcolm. "They generate ad revenues by way of popup ads, banner ads... and they solicit online donations."
Hmmm.... sounds a lot like what the record labels and movie studios are doing themselves. by generating hype and trading lavish marketing campaigns, they make millions and millions of dollars from the creative work of others. Of course, content on its own isn't worth much without a distribution system-- the thing is, though, we just don't need that old distribution system anymore, now that we've got the likes of BitTorrent.
LINK: http://www.boingboing.net/2004/12/14/mpaa_people_operatin.html
"These people are parasites leeching off the creativity of others," said Malcolm. "They generate ad revenues by way of popup ads, banner ads... and they solicit online donations."
Hmmm.... sounds a lot like what the record labels and movie studios are doing themselves. by generating hype and trading lavish marketing campaigns, they make millions and millions of dollars from the creative work of others. Of course, content on its own isn't worth much without a distribution system-- the thing is, though, we just don't need that old distribution system anymore, now that we've got the likes of BitTorrent.
LINK: http://www.boingboing.net/2004/12/14/mpaa_people_operatin.html
Monday, December 13, 2004
dot-ca registrants: DO NOT TO RESPOND to verification of CIRA User Account
"The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is advising dot-ca domain registrants (holders of dot-ca domain
names) NOT TO RESPOND OR REPLY TO ANY EMAILS requesting verification of CIRA
User Account Numbers and Passwords.
...an unknown party is attempting to obtain CIRA User Account Numbers and Passwords from dot-ca registrants by sending MISLEADING EMAIL NOTICES that appear to originate from CIRA. These misleading emails request that CIRA User Account Numbers and Passwords be provided to validate registrant information and prevent domain name suspension (inactivation).
The emails originate from COMPLIANCE@CIRA.CC. CIRA's compliance email address is COMPLIANCE@CIRA.CA"
names) NOT TO RESPOND OR REPLY TO ANY EMAILS requesting verification of CIRA
User Account Numbers and Passwords.
...an unknown party is attempting to obtain CIRA User Account Numbers and Passwords from dot-ca registrants by sending MISLEADING EMAIL NOTICES that appear to originate from CIRA. These misleading emails request that CIRA User Account Numbers and Passwords be provided to validate registrant information and prevent domain name suspension (inactivation).
The emails originate from COMPLIANCE@CIRA.CC. CIRA's compliance email address is COMPLIANCE@CIRA.CA"
What is DRM?
Almost every academic paper, press release for news article discussing digital Copyright has an introductory paragraph where it talks about DRM and TPMs-- that is, digital rights management and technological protection measures.
Well, I'm not going to write a new definition here, especially since most people that read this know more about it than I do. What I will say, though, is that we should at least call it what it is. From now on, I'm not going to talk about DRM or TPM, and instead use the term TCM, or Technological Control Measure. It gets rid of the need for the two existing terms, and has the added virtue of being a true and accurate description of the technology in question. Let's face it: encryption, water marking, etc. is all about controlling access to the related content in controlling who can copy that content. The recording industry talks about " protecting " content - but you don't protect things from your customers, you instead control how your customers use those things. it's time journalists, academics, consumers and technology users stop using the words the recording industry is putting in our mouths.
Next week, we will talk about what piracy actually is!
Well, I'm not going to write a new definition here, especially since most people that read this know more about it than I do. What I will say, though, is that we should at least call it what it is. From now on, I'm not going to talk about DRM or TPM, and instead use the term TCM, or Technological Control Measure. It gets rid of the need for the two existing terms, and has the added virtue of being a true and accurate description of the technology in question. Let's face it: encryption, water marking, etc. is all about controlling access to the related content in controlling who can copy that content. The recording industry talks about " protecting " content - but you don't protect things from your customers, you instead control how your customers use those things. it's time journalists, academics, consumers and technology users stop using the words the recording industry is putting in our mouths.
Next week, we will talk about what piracy actually is!
