You have got to be kidding me.
Jun. 27th, 2003 10:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsLast month was one of the worst in U.S. history for tornados is the MidWest. Nearly 400 hit. While some of us see this as a sign of global warming trends and a consequence of better mapping and reporting, others see it differently.
Yes, ladies and gentlefen, Pat Robertson has come out to say that the reason there have been so many tornados is because God is angry with George W. Bush for attempting to broker peace in the middle east.
Hollywood's coalition for the licensing of intellectual property (i.e. movies) to DVD manufacturers has sued to prevent DVD player manfacturers from installing devices in DVD players that allow consumers to program content deployment at will.
The issue is a simple one: a group of manufacturers want to include software in DVD players that will allow users to mute precise sequences of a DVD and skip over others. The idea is that different "cuts" of the film can be downloaded off the internet. The consumer still buys the whole movie, but if he wants the profanity muted out, he can download a sequencing package that will tell the DVD player to drop the volume to zero when characters swear, or bypass particularly sexual or violent moments. Hollywood lawyers are arguing that such a sequencing package creates a "derivative work" that is not what the DVD seller intended.
If Hollywood wins, they will in effect have gotten control of the fast forward and mute buttons on your remote control. You will be forbidden from fast-forwarding past certain sequences, such as advertisements, or muting them. If you buy a piece of media, such as a movie, you will be paying for the "privilege" of owning it forever.
Traditionally, once you had purchased a video tape or record, you were free to do with it what you wanted so long as you did nothing to destroy the reputation of the original content or dilute the copyright holder's rights. You could skip the sections you didn't like. Hollywood is abusing the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and the whole Digital Rights Management scene to ensure that you never have a chance to exercise those rights again.
America has led attempts to settle that dispute, each time encouraging Israel to bring its covenant lands to the bargaining table, this time with the "Road Map" peace plan. Bible scholars say that may be a costly decision for the U.S. as America again stands at odds with God's covenant promise.
Yes, ladies and gentlefen, Pat Robertson has come out to say that the reason there have been so many tornados is because God is angry with George W. Bush for attempting to broker peace in the middle east.
Hollywood's coalition for the licensing of intellectual property (i.e. movies) to DVD manufacturers has sued to prevent DVD player manfacturers from installing devices in DVD players that allow consumers to program content deployment at will.
The issue is a simple one: a group of manufacturers want to include software in DVD players that will allow users to mute precise sequences of a DVD and skip over others. The idea is that different "cuts" of the film can be downloaded off the internet. The consumer still buys the whole movie, but if he wants the profanity muted out, he can download a sequencing package that will tell the DVD player to drop the volume to zero when characters swear, or bypass particularly sexual or violent moments. Hollywood lawyers are arguing that such a sequencing package creates a "derivative work" that is not what the DVD seller intended.
If Hollywood wins, they will in effect have gotten control of the fast forward and mute buttons on your remote control. You will be forbidden from fast-forwarding past certain sequences, such as advertisements, or muting them. If you buy a piece of media, such as a movie, you will be paying for the "privilege" of owning it forever.
Traditionally, once you had purchased a video tape or record, you were free to do with it what you wanted so long as you did nothing to destroy the reputation of the original content or dilute the copyright holder's rights. You could skip the sections you didn't like. Hollywood is abusing the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and the whole Digital Rights Management scene to ensure that you never have a chance to exercise those rights again.
