[kwlug-disc] are you going to be a criminal?

[John Van Ostrand]

----- Original Message -----
> I think industry only stops caring once their fear is gone and they
> are making money.
> 
> Weren't VHS tapes considered the doom of the industry until rental
> stores came into existence?
> 
> It took Apple to get the music industry to even consider selling their
> content online. And that was with DRM.
> 
> Overcoming industry's fear of losing money is a long row to hoe,
> and I'd rather not give up the rights of Canadians while waiting
> for them to see the light. Let them try their DRM experiment,
> but let's not put it in law.
> 
> But I certainly would support people voting with their wallets.
> It's why I seem to lack any urgency at all in buying something as
> simple as HDMI video.

Let's not forget this is about more than just content. It's the binary data files that hold your accounting data, your documents, your database, whatever. What is a digital lock? Is it more than just a data structure? Do you want to be in court making that argument?

Digital locks could make a hostage of your own content. At least without a anti-circ law I could legally reverse engineer it and get my data. With such a law, does the Open Office .DOC compatibility become illegal?
-- 
John Van Ostrand 
CTO, co-CEO 
Net Direct Inc. 
564 Weber St. N. Unit 12, Waterloo, ON N2L 5C6 
Ph: 866-883-1172 x5102 
Fx: 519-883-8533 

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