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US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

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Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#71

Post by mtowle »

kunai wrote: post #29
obviouslygreen wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And your answer is Stallman ? Yes, he is a nut. In the sense of "no one will ever take him seriously, especially anyone involved in mainstream decision-making, who has ever read anything he has written," which is in this case the most relevant metric. Stallman is never going to be any help here, nor is anyone like him, because any "normal" person -- that is, one that other people won't ignore out of hand -- will igno…

Do you really think that Aaron Swartz, Larry Lessig and the masses of people protesting Capitol Hill last year when SOPA came around didn't make a difference? They were activists. Do you really think we'd have so much free/open source software today without the contribution of Eric S. Raymond, Stallman, et al.? They're activists. Do you really think that we'd be here today if Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Jame…

The flow of human events isn't bound to individuals. Names merely get played up in the remembering, and the events downplayed. E.g., America was going to revolt regardless of whether T.J., et al had ever been born. Really amazing that a war is misremembered as activism....pass the K-Y.

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#72

Post by sliverstorm »

kunai wrote: post #11

I'm sick and tired of being in such a lazy-ass, apathetic society that possesses zero regard to freedom. Stallman may be a nut, but when you think long and hard about what he says, and think about SOPA, PIPA, and this lobby, in horror, your face twists in fear and you watch, helplessly, as your fellow citizens bend over backwards and let the government have their way. I don't even know what to do anymore. Nobody will…

I'm not sure we need be this terrified. Gear-heads made similar claims about freedom as cars became more complicated and less user-serviceable. But you know what? While cars have their issues, and are indeed now more difficult to service, they have continued to get better- a lot better. The last totally user-serviceable cars were made in the 60's and early 70's. Many of the improvements come from improvements to manufacturing, but the sophisticated electronic control systems are integral.

Now, the internet is of course not an automobile. But my point is, batshit insane legislation aside, perhaps maintaining the maximum amount of freedom is not as valuable as we think? I'd hate to be stuck with late 60's cars.

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#73

Post by btilly »

fixxer wrote: post #54
markdown wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stallman isn't an activist for the end user, he's an activist for the activists. > Yes, he is a nut. Eccentric is what he is. Must be fun living in a black and white world.

I'm kind of shocked by the extremist label. I don't think Richard Stallman is a nut at all. Eccentric, sure, but only for the unfortunate reality that it is rare for most people to stick with a principle over decades. EDIT: ok, that foot eating thing is weird.

As much as I appreciate Stallman, videos like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I25UeVXrEHQ show him as eccentric for reasons that go well beyond sticking to principle.

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#74

Post by praptak »

seandhi wrote: post #52
kunai wrote: post #11

I'm sick and tired of being in such a lazy-ass, apathetic society that possesses zero regard to freedom. Stallman may be a nut, but when you think long and hard about what he says, and think about SOPA, PIPA, and this lobby, in horror, your face twists in fear and you watch, helplessly, as your fellow citizens bend over backwards and let the government have their way. I don't even know what to do anymore. Nobody will…

This paper barely even mentions music or movies, and its proposals are for going after foreign entities who steal intellectual property, such as R&D, to develop counterfeit goods. This is less about going after little Timmy for downloading a movie and more to do with a Chinese firm stealing biotechnology secrets from a U.S. company to produce its own products.

I don't even care what the true intent of the lobby group is. Once in effect, the laws will hit little Timmys, perhaps with a little help of outspoken lawyers painting Timmy as evil as a Chinese spy.

The "three strikes" was intended for violent criminals, not little Timmy who smokes a joint with his friends. Guess how that turned out.

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#75

Post by yk »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #17

This is not going to go where they think it will go. Right now their enemies are just pirates wanting to watch Game Of Thrones for free. A business threat, certainly, but one they're generally handling well. But start infecting people's computers, and a portion of them are going to fight back. Then the entertainment industry has enemies actively trying to destroy their systems. A whole different level of conflict, an…

They tried it, and it seems to go pretty well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_root_kit

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#76

Post by cognivore »

>> But start infecting people's computers, and a portion of them are going to fight back. I already fought back. I don't watch movies, nor TV. No cable, no Netflix, no movie theaters, no nothing. Fsck 'em.

You want to do the same? Stop watching their lowest common denominator tripe and read a book or make something up for yourself. When they have no money they'll go away. And what will we have lost? Wasted hours sitting in front of their junk.

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#77

Post by rdl »

I kind of hope this happens, just to increase the demand for real security. In the short term it would make things worse, but in the long run we'd end up with market pressure to give individuals control over their own resources (both protection from corporate control and from incompetent implementation).

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#78

Post by kunai »

sliverstorm wrote: post #72
kunai wrote: post #11

I'm sick and tired of being in such a lazy-ass, apathetic society that possesses zero regard to freedom. Stallman may be a nut, but when you think long and hard about what he says, and think about SOPA, PIPA, and this lobby, in horror, your face twists in fear and you watch, helplessly, as your fellow citizens bend over backwards and let the government have their way. I don't even know what to do anymore. Nobody will…

I'm not sure we need be this terrified. Gear-heads made similar claims about freedom as cars became more complicated and less user-serviceable. But you know what? While cars have their issues, and are indeed now more difficult to service, they have continued to get better- a lot better. The last totally user-serviceable cars were made in the 60's and early 70's. Many of the improvements come from improvements to manu…

Your analogy is completely flawed. Automakers aren't putting root exploits in vehicles that allow override by the government when it detects you're going to an "unauthorized" music dealer.

And are late 60's cars really that bad? There weren't any of the fallback mechanisms we take for granted, such as airbags, so people drove better. Styling is questionable, but many cars on the road look and drive like bloated, lifeless wagons. The cars were actually fun to drive...

Maybe I'm being romantic about 60's vehicles, but if you care to argue, please do so.

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#79

Post by seandhi »

knowaveragejoe wrote: post #64
seandhi wrote: post #44

This has little to do with the entertainment industry. This is dealing with intellectual property such as research and development. They are trying to protect U.S. companies from having their R&D stolen and used by foreign companies, calling for sanctions via the FTC and by amending the espionage act to go after those who steal trade secrets, for example. The whole paper is on protecting the innovations developed in…

So, rootkits are okay then...?

Rootkits are a thing. They're neither good nor bad. That value is supplied subjectively within different contexts, no?

Would I want the RIAA/MPAA to install rootkits in media files that are distributed to customers? Absolutely not.

Would I want the ability to install rootkits in engineering schematics and documentation that are never intended to be distributed outside of my organization and are only activated in cases where data theft has occurred? Absolutely.

Re: US entertainment industry to Congress: make it legal for us to deploy rootkits

#80

Post by w1ntermute »

TheBiv wrote: post #9

I tried to be rational and then I got to the second paragraph of their own brief: "The second and even more pernicious effect is that illegal theft of intellectual property is undermining both the means and the incentive for entrepreneurs to innovate, which will slow the development of new inventions and industries that can further expand the world economy and continue to raise the prosperity and quality of life for…

The dinosaurs running the entertainment industry wouldn't know innovation if it smacked them in the face.
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