[ Thanks to Linuxcare for this link.
]
“We all know computers are as dumb as posts. The only thing that
makes them so useful is their speed and their ability to adapt.
However, these same features enable digital technology to be
utilized in a multitude of new and innovative ways. But, a half
century into the digital age, it’s bothersome when computers are
still portrayed as something mysteriously different or as reckless
Godzillas. It really bugs me when this thinking directs national
(or international) policy. It’s almost like our law and policy
makers are spending too much time watching the SciFi channel. Here
are some examples.”
“The multi-billion dollar movie and music industries have
their shorts all in a bunch about digital piracy. They have gone
before governments and begged special protections for the artistic
works they market. The sole basis of their claim seems to be that
because the technology is digital, it’s possible for individuals to
make perfect copies of their work. That’s strange. Perfection
never comes to mind when I think of the meatgrinder used to produce
compressed digital multimedia. Truth is, the digitizing process
introduces substantial errors in three different levels: color
registration, pixel reduction and time domain compression. It’s
also sublimely ironic that the people complaining the loudest about
digital piracy aren’t the artistic creators, but the billion dollar
corporations which market their products. If this is such a threat,
why don’t we hear complaints from people like Steven Spielberg and
Eric Clapton?…”
“The UCITA laws, currently under consideration by state
legislatures, plead for special consideration in the commercial
code for digital technologies, especially the marketing of computer
software. If enacted, these laws would grant rights to commercial
software companies, above and beyond that of any other business,
simply because their products are computer based.”