[ Thanks to motelbr
for this link. ]
“Admittedly, politicians aren’t all to blame. Washington is full
of tech-savvy entertainment lobbyists who have clouded the
politicians’ distinctly less-than-tech-savvy heads with talk of
“protecting artists’ copyrights” from Internet piracy, a noble
sounding intention if there ever was one.”
“The DMCA, however, largely drafted by entertainment lobbyists,
does a lot more than simply protect copyrights. The bill
establishes a federal law against the circumvention of encryption
technologies on digital media. This would be fine if encryption
simply protected against unlawful copying and distribution.
However, unlike the compact discs, books, and video tapes on the
market now, encrypted media are smart. Encryption allows content
holders to determine when, where, and how their product is
used.”
“The DMCA, therefore, protects content holders not only
against uses which will harm incentives, but uses which do not fit
into their business plans. Hollywood has fooled the government into
handing it a big legal stick to lord over technology companies who
have a different vision of the future of media.“