MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-07-14 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] [DMCA_Discuss] Vendor uses DMCA to bar third-party support contracts (fwd)
|
This shithead from geek.com was one of the most vocal opponents to the
NY Fair Use Actions in the last 2 years. It seems it takes just a little
longer for some people....
Ruben
On Wed, Jul 14, 2004 at 06:11:00AM -0400, Mike Richardson - NYLXS PRESIDENT wrote:
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 13:36:27 +0400
> From: Vladimir Katalov
> To: dmca_discuss-at-lists.microshaft.org
> Subject: [DMCA_Discuss] Vendor uses DMCA to bar third-party support
> contracts
>
>
> Vendor uses DMCA to bar third-party support contracts
> StorageTek doesn't like anyone horning in on its service contract monopoly, it seems.
> posted 11:41am EST Tue Jul 13 2004 - submitted by J. Eric Smith
>
> http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Jun/gee20040713025973.htm
>
> Owners of StorageTek tape libraries and backup systems were dealt a
> blow to flexibility by a Boston court earlier this week. The loss of
> flexibility did not hamper the features or functionality of
> StorageTek's products, however. Instead, StorageTek was granted a
> preliminary injunction against a third-party service and support
> organization seeking to provide support for the tape libraries, and
> StorageTek used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to do it.
>
> In a move ominously reminiscent of Lexmark's lawsuit against
> third-party toner cartridge manufacturers
> (http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Mar/the20030303018917.htm),
> StorageTek used the DMCA to claim the third-party support vendor had
> "circumvented" an access control device in order to service the
> system. The access control in question is an algorithmic "key" used to
> put the tape library into maintenance mode, allowing the service
> technician to perform maintenance and support functions not normally
> accessible. StorageTek claims the use of this key prevents unqualified
> individuals from making drastic modifications to the tape library, but
> it also means that, without the key, no one but StorageTek reps can
> perform maintenance on the backup device. StorageTek sells support
> contracts to tape library customers.
>
> LawGeek (no relation to Geek.com) has a full rundown on the case and
> its long-reaching implications.
>
> ERIC'S OPINION
>
> Just when you thought it was safe to forget (for a while) about the
> DMCA, along comes another organization wishing to use it to stifle
> legitimate competition. There's no use trying to paint it as some
> noble move by StorageTek to protect the customer or itself from
> unqualified technicians fumbling about inside the Maintenance Console;
> if someone were to do that, StorageTek can void the customer's
> warranty, as has no doubt happened in the past. As with all things, if
> the customer decides to pursue support options outside those of the
> mother company, it's buyer beware; but now even that freedom is being
> taken away.
>
> The implications here are grim, but that's nothing new when the DMCA
> is involved. This has to be without a doubt the single most
> destructive, most wrong-headed, most idiotic, most abused law ever
> written into being concerning commercial freedom. What's more
> depressing is that neither side of Congress, Democrat or Republican,
> seems to show any interest whatsoever in getting rid of it.
>
> We don't own any StorageTek products where I work, but based upon this
> new restriction we won't be buying any even if the need arises. I urge
> those of you in positions of decision-making to weigh the implications
> of being locked into a single service and support provider by law when
> making your purchasing decisions. Perhaps if StorageTek feels the
> crunch of a consumer boycott it'll decide this abuse of the DMCA
> wasn't such a good idea after all.
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> USC Title 17 Sec. 107. - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
>
> This material is distributed to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
>
> ------------------------
> http://www.anti-dmca.org
> ------------------------
>
> DMCA_Discuss mailing list
> DMCA_Discuss-at-lists.microshaft.org
> http://lists.microshaft.org/mailman/listinfo/dmca_discuss
>
> ____________________________
> NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
> Fair Use -
> because it's either fair use or useless....
> NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
--
__________________________
Brooklyn Linux Solutions
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://fairuse.nylxs.com
http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Consulting
http://www.inns.net <-- Happy Clients
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/resources - Unpublished Archive or stories and articles from around the net
http://www2.mrbrklyn.com/downtown.html - See the New Downtown Brooklyn....
1-718-382-0585
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
|
|
