As time moves along, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the little guy/end user is having more and more of their rights and freedoms taken away. For today’s depressing example, we’ll look at Sony and their continual effort to fuck over PS3 users.
China is usually the one receiving a ton of flack for their oppressive/communist policies and actions. But compared to N. Korea, China is like Disney World. Really. Need an example? How about we look at the N. Korean factory worker who was accused of making phone calls on an illegal Chinese cellphone to a friend in South Korea and sharing such volatile information as the price of rice? Ya, that dude — publicly executed by firing squad. Yikes! I know they like to control stuff immensely, but firing squad for calling someone outside the country about some damn rice? Next time I find myself getting annoyed because my new gadget is taking an extra day in the mail I’ll remember to slap myself and convince my inner being that it could be so much worse.
Feel a bit more humbled now are we?
Living in the UK and using the internet, particularly any type of torrent or P2P software/service whether legal or illegal is soon going to become a nightmare. The reason for the hoopala is because of an planned change to the Digital Economy Bill currently under debate by Pariliament. The person seeking those changes, Secretary of State Peter Mandelson, is aiming to create a “secondary legislation” that can amend laws and bills at will and without debate or approval from any other government party as long as it’s in the name of “copyright protection”. Bullshit. This guy is a f’ing idiot. It gets worse…
Talking on the phone and the measures people have gone to to limit it’s use are a necessity in today’s digital age. Texting has of late replaced many individual’s need to talk. If you’re the type that prefers text based comunication to actual talking, you know how much time texting can consume. While many states and even the federal government is pushing legislation that bans texting while driving and imposes minor fines, committing said act in Utah could land you in the slammer for quite some time.
A law making it’s way through Utah government would treat texting while driving the same as drunk driving. That is, if you crash or cause phsysical/bodily/property damage or harm while texting, you could be facing up to 15 years in the iron jungle. By far the most severe punishment so far. I can’t say I don’t agree as texting while trying to navigate a 4000+ lb. vehicle at any speed is like russian roulette.
Of course, some minor issues that are standing in the way include how to actually “prove” a victim was texting. While law enforcement could certainly try to seize phone records while those victims can simultaneous claim they weren’t texting means a whole can of worms is emerging. Even further still, people could claim they were simplydialing a number to call someone. (So far, no law or government has differentiated between the two activities). And the cherry on top of this moutain of red tape is that current privacy laws can hinder the seizer of the needed phone records needed to truly prove of texting at a certain time. Certainly some of these issues need to be worked out. But how quickly can the various governments involved work together to find a common solution?
Are you glad change is coming?
**Extra:In order to fully grasp the consequences of texting while driving, the NYT has posted a rather insightful mini-game that may just open your eyes to the dangers of said activity.
Source: NYT, ImageSource
Whether you agree or disagree with the Chinese Government’s policies, one that should be universally condemmed is that of forcing spyware on your computer. The software in question, “Green Dam Youth Escort” filtering software is claimed to be there “for the kiddies”, protecting them from all of the trials and tribulations of the internet. Besides the reports of massive security holes in this less than legal software, it appears that the almight iron glove supports theft as CyberSitter developer Solid Oak has claimed to have found equally massive amounts of stolen code. Super! Naturally, Solid Oak wants shipments haulted and is in the process of filling out a lawsuit. Tisk tisk. Seems as if that heavy handed approach is coming back to bite them them you know where. Karma is indeed a bitch. But then again, that isn’t there thing…is it?
**Update** China has made a big 180 and doing something very un-China like due to vast amounts of criticism from various sectors public and private. Apparently the Chinese government is now stating that users can un-install the Green Dam software without facing any penalties or sanctions. +1 for the Chinese people!
Source: Engadget, BBC, Image Source
If you are an iPhone user who realizes the true potential of the iPhone and how Apple is ruining the all time greatness that they could have, you soon may be labeled an outlaw if Apple and various copyright corporations have anything to say about it. The players involved specifically, Apple’s iPhone marketing czar Greg Joswiak, Fred von Lohmann, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s copyright genius, Copyright Office officials including but not limited to registrar Marybeth Peters, the record labels, as well as various movie studios and software industry giants. Fred von Lohmann had a very interesting and true statement saying: “It is my automobile at the end of the day”, meaning that once you purchase the iPhone or any gadget for that matter, what you do with it is your business, not some stupid old aging copyright corporation or overly restrictive tech giant such as Apple. The Apple/jailbreaking drama continues right inside.
The “war against piracy” quest for record/movie label companies to pad their pockets is by far the biggest sham in the world today. Case and point: the ongoing battle of copyright holders and RealDVD over the legality of the RealDVD software. The copyright holders claim that RealDVD violates copyright laws because it circumvents DVD encryption to allow customers to make “unlawful” copies of their legally purchased content. Explain to me how copying a legally purchased movie of your own is illegal. It’s yours. Back off! Explain to me how it is different than back in the day of copying VHS tapes. Granted, I know copying a VHS tape takes time, and you can only distribute those physically meaning there is a certain limit to the amount you can distribute at one time. Whereas a DVD being digital, one copy can instantly be available to millions of people. Still, making copies for yourself is completely legal. If the RealDVD loses the trial and is deemed illegal, expect DVD ripping software everywhere to go down. However, I also see a sharp increase in the amount of DVD ripping software downloaded as disgruntled consumers push back. If backing up and ripping your own property becomes illegal as deemed by the copyright holders and court systems, why not just start pirating movies and stop paying for legal movies to copy? Why not just totally go underground and cut off the cash flow to the copyright organizations and labels? I mean if you’re going to be breaking the law simply ripping you own DVD, you might as well download a pirated movie as well. Is this really what these organizations want? The outcome, whatever it may be, will certainly have far reaching effects in the digital/technology industry. Will the industry and consumers be forced into illegal means to do something that should be legal in the first place, or will the label and copyright industry finally realize that embracing technology and consumer choice is the road that should be traveled?
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