No US bashing required to vent on evils of DRM...
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| dinotrac Apr 25, 2006 9:34 AM EDT |
I was in Amsterdam the day (well, night there) of the 2000 Presidential Election. Lunch the next day was most entertaining as my Dutch colleagues couldn't remotely understand how a Presidential election remained undecided. They told me that could never happen in the Netherlands. I was impressed by the degree to which they understood the mechanics of American politics, a much higher degree than most Americans comprehend anything at all about Europe. I was equally impressed by the degree to which they believed that they understood the actual politics. As to DRM, it doesn't pay to get smug. I remember the end of the last century, when the DMCA was passed in the US. There were European howls about how evil the US is, yada, yada, yada, and how the DMCA would only server to cripple us. (side note...take out the 'only' and I am hard pressed to disagree. The DMCA is wretched law). Wouldn't you know it, the EU followed suit with its own contravention provisions, if anything, worse than the DMCA. And, if I recall, at least some, if not all, EU countries imposed a tax on DAT to cover the cost of 'piracy'. While you focus on Microsoft, they are not even the worst or most powerful culprits in this game. Those Hollywood movies you love? Their makers would love nothing more than to cram DRM down your throat. It wasn't Microsoft who got Jon Johansen arrested. It wasn't Microsoft who put region-encoding and unskippable crap on DVDs. It's a big, big, big fight, and a global one. It's easy to focus on the US because we are the most popular bad boy on the block. In the meantime, your dear sweet EU ministers could gently be screwing you into the ground. Keep those eyes open! |
| Bob_Robertson Apr 25, 2006 11:48 AM EDT |
When the neighborhood has a nuclear-armed madman, it pays to keep your eye on him. The awareness of the folks in Amsterdam is no surprise. |
| hkwint Apr 25, 2006 1:18 PM EDT |
Don't be afraid Dino, the Dutch ministers are screwing me into the ground already. But most of themy will be gone next year. As you might noticed, I said this story also applies to the EU in some ways. Look at mr Berlusconi and you will see something far worse than your president. Worse, the Counsil of Europe has no democratic control at all, which became painly clear in the software patent battle, but I have written about that before. It's a real shame to have such a Council without democratic control, for a continent that calls itself democratic. What surprises me, is that, instead of disagreeing, you tell me the situation in the EU is as bad as in the US or worse. Does this mean you agree about the other stuff? |
| hkwint Apr 25, 2006 1:49 PM EDT |
Oh, and did I told you all Dutch citizens have to carry an ID card before stepping out of the door? Reminds me of "Ausweis!". Not to mention our "ZBO"'s, the worst invention ever. They are like agencies paid by the government, but which can not be hold responsible for anything by the government. I know Hollywood is worse than MS, but MS, Intel (the inventor of DRM) and Hollywod; they all all American by the way, and all of them are coöperating on DRM. Let me share with you what I'm preaching the last month's: "I'm gonna watch Bollywood movies on a VIA processor (with the EPIA) which runs on Linux". |
| dinotrac Apr 25, 2006 1:53 PM EDT |
>Does this mean you agree about the other stuff? I guess you could say "up to a point". I have a lot more respect for American democracy and American voters than you do. I don't expect it to be remotely close to perfect -- but I still don't see another country's system I'd prefer -- including the EU's governments beholden to a meta government beholden to ??? I view DRM -- at least as anybody has proposed -- as detrimental to freedom. Don't know if it's possible to make one that isn't, am pretty sure nobody's done it yet if it is possible. Truth is that our politicians listen to whomever speaks the loudest, and hope that the same is true of yours. Sometimes its money that speaks loudest, but always power. That's the thing people miss -- voters can trump money because politicians lose power if they lose office. It's why coalitions can be driven by little sliver parties. It's why Bill Clinton went for deficit reduction and welfare reform: he saw the 19% that Perot got and realized those folks (I was one of them...even volunteered for the campaign) could decide who won and lost the next election. So...be vigilant...be loud...be fearsome. Some things really do speak louder than money. |
| hkwint Apr 25, 2006 2:21 PM EDT |
Both EU and American democracy aren't perfect. I never said the EU had a better democracy, and I could write a much longer article about the shortcomings of European democracy. You might remember "Software patents in the banana-union (EU): short summary". Both democracies have their own merits. They give freedoms, while taking away others. (Just like the GPL and BSD licenses) I also admire American freedom, which I didn't mention in the article, but anyway, here may be a right place to do so. I mean, you are able to walk without ID-card wherever you want without the risk of being put into jail for some hours, people can write whatever they want in the USA (as long as they reveal their sources), there aren't 80 layers of government-institutes, and the democracy is more transparent than in the EU I think. I'm always open to critics of my own democracy, since sometimes people not living here can see things a lot clearer. The thing that worries me most, as you probably noticed, is the influence of multinationals on politics, which is bigger in the US as in the EU, as far as I can see. If it weren't for that, I'd have a lot more respect for American democracy. |
| dinotrac Apr 25, 2006 3:56 PM EDT |
>is the influence of multinationals on politics, Amen. You can already get a taste of that in the US if you find your internet domain name challenged. Basically, ICANN has a thoroughly corrupt arbitration process that, in the name of bringing the US to international standards, utterly rewrites US trademark law and devastates due process. If the EU is even a fraction as corrupt as the ICANN process, I feel for you. |
| jimf Apr 25, 2006 4:12 PM EDT |
Quoting:I also admire American freedom Yeah, but look quick, it's eroding exponentially :( |
| jdixon Apr 25, 2006 5:39 PM EDT |
> Some things really do speak louder than money. Yes, but the government is doing it's best to make sure that those aren't available to the average citizen. :) |
Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]
Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!