FINALLY Maybe some sanity in Fair Use

[thegig]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119414,00.html

Could be interesting!

[gitreel]

take that valenti

[BobK]

I'm fascinated by the convoluted "logic" used by the MPAA. That article has some classic examples:

"Anything that allows you to decrypt the DVD would not be a legal product," said MPAA spokesman Rich Taylor. "

Which is exactly what that law will change if it ever passes. (I think what the MPAA hates the most is the amount of money they're going to hand in to try and keep it from passing).

"There is no right in the copyright law to make backup copies of motion pictures, so the whole argument that people should have the right to make backup copies of DVDs has no legal support whatsoever"

Again- that's exactly why we need a new law to give it legal support!

"It's against consumers' interests to permit devices that make backup copies because there is no way that a device can distinguish between a backup copy for personal use and making a copy for friends, family acquaintances or even selling on the street corner."

That one's my favorite- the good ole MPAA- just looking out for the "consumers' interests. They don't really care about themself- just us consumers!

[leebo]

Your last quote is my favorite too. How exactly are we to believe it's "against consumers' interests"?

I also liked the following:

"I, like most members of Congress, had no idea that what would be deemed to be fair use for books, CDs, and TV programs is not the case for DVDs — and nobody intended that the people that would enable you to make a single copy of a DVD should be held criminally liable and go to jail and that's insane," Bob Livingston, former U.S. Republican representative from Louisiana and House Appropriations Committee chairman, told Foxnews.com.

"We think that when the average member of Congress who voted for the DMCA in 1998 understands the inequity here that these people will make their case very clearly and simply and be overwhelmingly approved by a majority of members of Congress," Livingston said. "The trick is getting members to pay attention in a political year."


So if the politicians are not paying attention while making all these new laws, WTF are they doing??? Oh yeah, collecting fat paychecks, thats right.

[KTH]

Do they think we're stupid? Passing that bill is against the consumers best interest? What kind of drugs are these guys on anyway? If you want to show your support for this bill the web site link is listed below. I believe it is supposed to be introduced on May 12th. When you get to the site fill in your zip code and click on GO. A list of your state senators & representatives will be listed. You then can select which ones to send the pre-prepared letter of support on the bottom of the page.


http://capwiz.com/protectfairuse/home/

[glockjs]

i love how they advertise x copy and clone on the same page as the story.


the more people getting into this 21st century dvdr burn technology the more voices will be heard. in 98 nobody gave a damn, nobody cared because the technology wasnt that widely available. now that prices are cheaper more people can afford to have a burner and realize that they do have a right to backup their own damn dvd's.

[gitreel]

I concur 100 percent glockjs

[thegig]

So if the politicians are not paying attention while making all these new laws, WTF are they doing??? Oh yeah, collecting fat paychecks, thats right.

I love that I think they are trying to out-do hollywood to see how extreme either side can get - left or right. Everyone knows they have their interns handling there balls, uh bills. I guess you could say they dropped the "ball".

[BobV]

Thanks for the links... It would be nice to see a law passed on this issue that favored the consumer for a change.

[alstatr]

Boby,

Big Government is Big Business.. just without a product and at twice the price... after all if the opposite of pro is con then wouldn’t the opposite of progress be congress?

I almost fell out my chair laughing at this one! IMO this bill sounds too good to be true. Congress will probably change their minds and strike down the bill after the MPAA gets done with them. Its a shame this happens...

[DeleriumMDK]

My favorite part:

"These products like 321 allow people to be free riders," Attaway said. "It's the concept of buy-one-get-one-free, only it's not just get-one-free but it's get-as-many-as-you-want-to-make-free ... It raises the prices for legitimate copies and it also reduces the availability of the copies."


Raises the price for legitimate copies? Riiiight. If it wasn't piracy it would be something else keeping prices where they are at currently.

[Jo]

Bottom line is if you buy a DVD you should have the rights to make a back up of it for your own use. so I really hope this goes ahead and we win the fight. if we spend all that money on DVD’s we should have the right to protect are investments.

[mecg]

"It's against consumers' interests to permit devices that make backup copies because there is no way that a device can distinguish between a backup copy for personal use and making a copy for friends, family acquaintances or even selling on the street corner."

So, I'm guessing when our DVD's go bad we can just take them to the local video store and they'll replace them for free .
It's the "friends, family acquaintances" part that I get a kick out of. Certainly their DVD players don't know who bought it either. My point: What's the difference between making them a copy and lending them mine to watch? If I REALLY like a movie, I'll buy it. So much of what's being released is crap (like most of the newer music), so in my honest opinion, they aren't losing anything because I wouldn't buy it anyway. I do agree that no one should be making mass copies and selling them - but taking away the ability to do something because someone "might" do something wrong is not the solution. (Gee, I also enjoy a beer now and again - perhaps they should take away my car because I "might" drive it when I've had too much to drink.) What the hell, lets just take away all our rights because we "might" not use them the way they were intended...
Sorry for rambling on, but it seems to me we are paying these bastards BIG bucks to actually do what is in our best interest and not to let the "special interest" groups dictate what should and should not be law. Perhaps we should take away their big checks because they "might" not do what is in our best interest. Gee, are there more movie pirates out there or politicians not doing their jobs? Maybe if the entertainment industry would stop spending so damn much money trying to buy politicians, they could lower the cost of the mosic/DVD's to where it wouldn't pay anyone to make a copy.
My 2 cents

[FKrueger]

Republican or Demacrat, the government is run by corporate (sp?) america. They rarely work in our best interests otherwize corporations wouldn't allowed to send their factories over to 3rd world countries where the employees are slaves, thereby slowly turning us into a 3rd world country.

[Nilfennasion]

Maybe the RIAA and MPAA ought to take a look at how the business of underground record labels has literally exploded after the advent of the Internet and MP3. The real reason they are so scared by free, user-structured distribution is because they can no longer sell records or films to people with most of the contents sight-unseen. People can look at their product in an objective fashion and make a purchase decision based on the actual content, not what the salesmen would like the buyer to believe the content is.

The RIAA just cannot accept the fact that people have grown tired of them making crap. Maybe they should follow their trail of lost money to labels like Moonfog so they can see what people with an actual musical ear would rather buy. But nooooooooo... they can't allow us to make an actual *choice* now, can they?

Jerks.