MESSAGE
| DATE | 2004-07-14 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] FW:Infoworld: Is Content Control Constitutional? (fwd)
|
Yeah - Think they read anything I ever wrote nearly 2 years ago on this topic?
Ruben
On Tue, Jul 13, 2004 at 11:13:07PM -0400, Mike Richardson - NYLXS PRESIDENT wrote:
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:25:46 -0400
> From: Michael Richardson
> To: 'Mike Richardson - NYLXS PRESIDENT'
> Subject: FW: Infoworld: Is Content Control Constitutional?
>
>
>
> --
> "In The Business World
> An Executive Knows Something About Everything,
> A Technician Knows Everything About Something,
> And the Switchboard Operator Knows Everything."
>
> No one person is smarter than their team!
>
>
>
> >
> > > http://weblog.infoworld.com/foster/2004/07/13.html#a127
> >
> >
> > THE GRIPE LINE WEBLOG
> >
> > by Ed Foster
> > Tuesday, July 13, 2004
> >
> >
> > Is Copy Protection Constitutional?
> >
> >
> > It's not unusual for my readers to have some strong things to say about
> > DRM,
> > product activation and the like. But one reaction to my column last week
> > on
> > Roxio's product activation was particularly remarkable, the more so
> > because
> > it came from the president of a software company.
> >
> > "We are a small company which does a lot of customized software, so
> > there is
> > a difference there between us and the Microsofts, et. al. of the world,"
> > the
> > reader wrote. "However, our philosophies cannot be too dissimilar, since
> > we
> > all make our money off our software."
> >
> > "All that said, I view copy protection as an absolute immoral, illegal,
> > and
> > unconstitutional intrusion of individual rights," the reader wrote. "I
> > have
> > gotten fed up with companies and people in general treating everyone
> > like a
> > criminal until they prove otherwise. I will not allow anyone at my
> > company
> > to even suggest a copy protection scheme, because I believe in going
> > after
> > the offenders, and not everyone else."
> >
> > Unconstitutional intrusion? "Absolutely" the reader wrote, citing the
> > Fourth
> > Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. "It
> > is my
> > belief that these activation schemes are essentially a search as it
> > keeps
> > track of the hardware in the system. It may be general information, but
> > still nonetheless a search. Secondly, when the software is disabled as a
> > result of a hardware change, again, this is a search, but also a
> > seizure. I
> > understand all too well that software is licensed, and title and
> > copyright
> > is retained with the authoring entity; however, the price paid for the
> > software is essentially a rental price. How often in this country can a
> > person be thrown out of their residence without the owner going to court
> > first? It just doesn't happen."
> >
> > The reader also cited the Fifth Amendment and its provision that no
> > person
> > should be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of
> > law.
> > "Disabling software when the person has paid the entity's price for it
> > constitutes the person being deprived of liberty and property without
> > due
> > process," he wrote. "I have written and continue to write Senators,
> > Congressmen, etc. to try to get some action on this, but the issue is
> > just
> > simply not big enough or hot enough to get Congress to move on."
> >
> > Them's fighting words, I do believe. Write me at Foster-at-gripe2ed.com and
> > tell me which side of the fight you're on.
> >
> >
> > --
> >
>
> ____________________________
> 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
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that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
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____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
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