It seems that there may as of yet be hope for the Swedish people. According to this DN article, the Swedish people seem to be aware of the overpricing and DRM restrictions on music that is available for purchase online.
It feels good to know that people are not as oblivious to these issues as I always assumed.
Creative Commons is something I strongly believe in, because I believe that innovation and imagination are in fact simply reinnovation and reimagination. Nothing we do is new, everything always draws upon existing stories and ideas.
Will locking away ideas, knowledge and stories behind a wall of legal protection for one hundred years cause the loss of many great works and perhaps most importantly instigate the stagnation and decay of creativity as we know it?
This is my very own integer: 86 FA 0B C1 F3 FF 00 AD B1 F6 F6 4A 0B 03 48 B5
If you know this number, publish it or even mention it, I can sue you. Thanks to the DMCA and it’s EU/Swedish equivalent.
Here’s how we do it. First, we generate a fresh pseudorandom integer, just for you. Then we use your integer to encrypt a copyrighted haiku, thereby transforming your integer into a circumvention device capable of decrypting the haiku without your permission. We then give you all of our rights to decrypt the haiku using your integer. The DMCA does the rest.
The haiku is copyright 2007 by Edward W. Felten:
We own integers,
Says AACS LA.
You can own one too.
Get yours. Link
Powered by ScribeFire.
I was reading an article about the fancy HD-DVD decryption key that’s been causing all sorts of trouble.
The key now has over 1.8 MILLION hits on Google.
The article mentions how people have been posting the key in comments to articles all over IDGs website and how moderators have been unable to keep up. I browsed through some comments on a related article at IDG and their editor stated that they are removing those posts since IDG is in fact legally responsible for all content on their site, even user-posted comments.
This brings to mind the idea that if this number is in fact illegal and if this can be enforced, it now becomes easy to bring down pretty much any website where users can comment. Just post the key in question (or another tidbit of information that is hated by the entertainment industry) and watch the site self-censor, get sued or do other stupid things that are known to bring down good sites.
I suppose this isn’t really a new thought, since you could arguably post hate speech or spam or whatever in there. Still, it creates something that I call an LDoS (Legal Denial of Service) attack!
Something for lawmakers and humans to think about.
PS: There are at least 142 pages with the code in question on idg.se according to Google.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
This number is the key to being able to do what you want with HD-DVD discs that you payed money for.
The movie industry is suing people over this number.
It is an important number, because in can almost be said to be synonymous with Freedom.
Keeping in mind that this number can and will soon be obsolete, a statement must be made that the freedom of consumers to do what they want with stuff that they pay for, can not, must not be taken away.
More information at the link.
update: an even better crack is now available
On Google.
I just read an article on boingboing.net about how Apple and EMI have decided to sell EMI’s entire catalog of Music DRM-free. This good news does not come without a catch. The DRM-free music will be 130 percent more expensive then current DRM-entangled offerings. However the new music will be of higher quality and playable on most (if not all) music playing software and devices that is available today, unlike the current DRM-infested files that will only play on Apple iTunes or Apple iPods.
Ironically I started the day by reading and following up on various DRM articles. Here are links to the one and two and I feel are good starting points. Reading those articles made me very frustrated at the state of the union so to speak. Now I am happy to say that that gloom has lifted a little.
The main issue is that since Windows is the dominant platform today it stands a good chance of setting some serious policy around the world. If Microsoft sets the precedent for DRM, then we’re all screwed.
Another issue was how clever Microsoft is. They deploy Vista today, when there is almost no “premium (DRM-entrapped) content” available, so consumers will not run into too many of the problems that are described in the article. Also the hardware vendors have not yet had time to fully implement all the requirements of Vista and so many of the problems that are described in the article might not be readily apparent. However 3 or 4 years from now when people start realising the truth, it will be too late and we’ll all be screwed for real.
However the title of the article says that both Steve and Bill were kidnapped by Aliens. What do I mean by that?
Imagine if you will for a moment that people become aware of Vista’s “additional features” before it was too late and a slew of lawsuits along with a mass-exodus to Linux or Mac follow.
It will be the end of Windows as we know it.
Imagine if you will for a moment that DRM-free Music on the Apple iTunes Store outsells DRM-damaged music 10 to 1.
It might send a message to studios, lawmakers and humans that DRM is not needed, it does not work. What we, the customers need and want is NOT to be treated like pirates and thieves, but to simply be provided with a quick and easy way to spend our hard (or easy) earned cash on Music, Movies and other Digital Media.
So maybe the Bill Gates that set the guidelines for Vista deliberately designed the OS to be a consumer nightmare. Maybe the Steve Jobs that brokered the deal with EMI in fact expects DRM-free music to outsell DRM-ed music and already plans to simply stop selling DRM-wraught music in a heartbeat.
Would the real Bill and Steve do this? Or are they some sort of clones programmed to hook us up with a better computer industry?
Probably not. However of those two, I feel that Steve, while obviously caring about profits and Apple’s bottom line, knows what consumers truly want and might truly be serious in his recent post about music and drm.
It seems the general idea that revolutions can be won by the people (vote with your wallet etc) might not work in this case. The war against corporate tyranny can only be won with the initiative from other corporations. Of course in the end there needs to be some voting with your wallet, but it is up to the corporations to provide you with decent candidates to vote for.
On a personal note I stopped buying music from the iTunes store after it was no longer possible to strip the DRM from it. So now I might actually start again.
Read this wonderful essay about DRM, copyright protection and a viable future in which we might all be living unless people become aware of and learn the truth about copy protection and DRM.
Can you imagine this fucking stupid website that claims you are actually NOT ALLOWED TO LINK TO THEM??? They want you to fax in a FORM…
Due to the large volume of requests we receive, we do not have a reciprocal linking program. However, if you like, you may link to us at no cost. This option requires the execution by you and Fastcompany.com of a one-page Web-linking agreement. Please download and sign the agreement and fax it to 617-738-5055, attn: G+J legal, Fastcompany.com. As soon as you receive back the agreement signed on behalf of Fastcompany.com, you may begin linking to our content.
This is actually a magazine about the Web and Technology… What is the world coming to…
Check out this other one too.
I have of course contacted them both to let them know that I am a LawBreaker™!
Fools. They are destroying the web as we know it. (not the first one to do it, but its rare for a magazine that lives off the web to want to destroy it…)
Seriously, I wonder if they really believe that what they are doing is the right thing? I mean dudes, if you really want to forbid linking to your websites, hide them behind private logins and shit. Imagine if it were forbidden to look at storefront windows without express permission of the store owner…. BWAHAHAHA, it cracks me up. Seriously. On the other hand it kinda makes me cry on the inside at the direction the web is going.
Even in Swedish cinemas, they have now begun using stinky copyright warnings that make paying customers out into criminals.
A call has gone out to all moviegoers to take flash photos of those warnings and post them online. There is a good site for that kind of stuff.
http://austria.yumyum.net/mono/pics/copyfight/
My own contribution drew a few laughs from fellow viewers. This particular image is from the movie “Day After Tomorrow”. Note that it was a 3 part message, with this being the last part. The parts prior to it were basicly explaining how movie piracy is illegal. [via]
