MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-08-15 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] Internet Society on Digital Restrictions Management
|
While this looks good, it makes some fundemental erros which play into the hands
of the RIAA
> be kept in balance with other rights and interests. In
> particular, copyright law is a kind of "bargain" between
> rights owners and consumers.
This is a HUGE error.
There is NO copyright bargain in the security of the home and with
regards to the private property of individual citizens.
In my hoome, I MUST have the complete right to do with my
computer and media as I wish. Anything less is theft
and undermins the foundation for democratic discourse.
As Richard said in France at the LSM, Copyright is an industrial
law and a business regulation. We can not have it alter the use
of our personal property, of which information is one suc kind of
property. Who owns the DISKS. The free citizen who purchased it
and reuses it for non-commercial use.
In addition, publishers must never prevent even in the
comerical arena the use of copyrighted materials for
business. They MUST BE FORCED to publish, or loose their
copyright. If a market value can not be obtained for the cost of
information, then a reasonable price should ibe set, one which
allows for the growth and development of new works, reuse and
new distribution models.
> Copyright, except in rare
> instances, is not perpetual, and there are a wide range of
> fair use exceptions to copyright that limit its restraints.
> Without these limits, copyright would soon become an
> oppressive burden on creativity and freedom of expression.
This whole logic is flawed. Fair Use can not remain an exception
to copyright once it tamples the 1st and 4th amendments. Since
these rights are the trump cards in all other legal matters,
the entire legal premise of fairuse MUST be turned around.
All the current common law in this matter has to be turned
over to deal with the new technological realities.
> The Internet Society acknowledges these policy
> considerations, but also believes that there are other even
> more persuasive arguments, based on sound engineering and
> technological principles, that show the folly of government
> mandated technology.
>
> Technology mandates are inherently anti-innovative. The
> entire concept of a mandate is that it freezes a particular
> technology at a point in time, and inhibits research and
> development on new and better technology. Technological
> standards are desirable and even necessary for widespread
> implementation of new technology, but all standards sooner
> or later must give way to new standards. This process should
> not be impeded by legislation that effectively prohibits
> research and development.
>
> A classic illustration of the dangers of DRM legislation may
> be found in legislation enacted by many countries as part of
> their treaty obligations under the World Intellectual
> Property Organization (WIPO) copyright treaties. The
> so-called Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed by
> the United States Congress in 1998, is an example. Under the
> WIPO treaties, the United States, like the other countries
> bound by the treaties, had an obligation to "provide 'legal
> protection and effective legal remedies' against
> circumventing technological measures, e.g., encryption and
> password protection, that are used by copyright owners to
> protect their works from piracy . . ." [See S. Rep. No.
> 105-190, at 8, 10-11 (1998)]. The DMCA, in responding to
> this obligation, illustrates the "law of unintended
> consequences." While purporting to help copyright owners, it
> seriously threatens research in the field of encryption for
> security.
>
> The DMCA prohibits "circumvention" of existing technological
> measures (such as encryption) that control access to a work
> and encryption; it prohibits "trafficking" in technology
> designed to circumvent access control; and it prohibits
> "trafficking" in technology designed to circumvent copying.
> These prohibitions are subject to certain exceptions; the
> DMCA acknowledges rights of fair use, so that, in certain
> limited circumstances, circumvention of copying protection
> for purposes of fair use of an encrypted work does not
> violate the act.
>
> Another important exception is the separate provision of the
> DMCA that allows circumvention of access controls for the
> purpose of encryption research to identify flaws and
> vulnerabilities of encryption technology. This provision is
> narrowly drawn with explicit conditions relating to good
> faith in performing research. Most significantly, the
> exception is for access only; it does not permit what the
> act refers to as trafficking in such research.
>
> The danger to research presented by statutes like the DMCA
> is best illustrated by a real world example of a researcher
> in the field of encryption. Just because cryptography can be
> or is being used for purposes other than copyright
> protection, does not mean it is not also used for copyright
> protection and therefore subject to the provision of the
> DMCA. Although a researcher may be looking at a certain type
> of cryptographic technology that is used to protect packets
> containing information in the public domain, that same
> technology might also be used to protect other packets that
> contain copyrighted data, unknown to the researcher.
> Likewise, a researcher might attempt to break the protection
> on an item without realizing that the protected item is a
> copyrighted work, which may not be discovered, if at all,
> until it is too late. But the issue isn't whether the
> researcher has cracked the protection - the issue is what
> the researcher may do with the resulting information.
>
> A central question for encryption researchers is whether
> publishing the results of their research amounts to
> disseminating something whose primary purpose is to
> circumvent copyright protection. Under the DMCA, the act of
> circumventing access controls for good faith research,
> standing alone, is, generally speaking, legitimate. This
> does not present great problems to researchers. However,
> when the researcher then wishes to publish the results of
> the research, the DMCA provides a test of the intent of the
> original circumvention that depends on whether the
> subsequent publication is made to "advance the state of
> knowledge" of encryption research, or whether it is made "in
> a manner that facilitates infringement." In other words, if
> the researcher acts in good faith to circumvent access
> control and publishes with the intent of reaching other
> researchers, but the information ends up being "disseminated
> in a manner that facilitates infringement," then the
> original circumvention of the access controls may have been
> illegal. Since there are both civil and criminal remedies
> available to copyright owners, the researcher faces serious
> dilemmas in deciding whether, how and when to publish.
Nobody cares about the encryption research angle, even if it's
important. Not a singe vote will be changed by this.
And it's NOT NEEDED. The real threat is that libraries will
be illegal and students will graduate college without any
of their text books and notes.
THIS is hair raising.
>
> There are already court decisions in the United States and
> elsewhere involving both civil and criminal aspects of the
> publication of encryption research. Many prominent figures
> in the field have already spoken out against the chilling
> effect of legislative interference with research in
> technology. The Internet Society calls on the legislatures
> of the world to limit the damage caused by shortsighted
> legislative efforts, intended to carry out the seemingly
> high-minded purposes of the copyright treaties, that instead
> threaten the advancement of science and technology.
>
> About ISOC
>
> The Internet Society is a not-for-profit membership
> organization founded in 1991 to provide leadership in the
> management of Internet related standards, educational, and
> policy development issues. It has offices in Washington, DC
> and Geneva, Switzerland. Through its current initiatives in
> support of education and training, Internet standards and
> protocol, and public policy, ISOC has played a critical role
> in ensuring that the Internet has developed in a stable and
> open manner. It is the organizational home of the Internet
> Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Architecture
> Board (IAB), the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)
> and other Internet-related bodies.
>
> For over 10 years ISOC has run international network
> training programs for developing countries which have played
> a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and
> networks in virtually every country that has connected to
> the Internet during this time, while at the same time
> working to protect the Internet's stability. ISOC is taking
> the next step in this evolution with the recent announcement
> of its intent to bid for the .ORG registry based on the
> belief that a thriving non-commercial presence is a key
> element in developing a strong social and technical
> infrastructure in all nations. For additional information
> see http://www.ISOC.org.
>
> --- end forwarded text
>
> -----------------
> R. A. Hettinga
> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation
>
> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
> "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and
> antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been
> found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline
> and Fall of the Roman Empire'
>
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> Fair Use -
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