Re: SSSCA: We're in trouble now

[Petro <petro@auctionwatch.com>]

On Sat, Mar 02, 2002 at 09:47:24AM -0800, Jurgen Botz wrote:
> Thomas Hood wrote:
> > The problem is that copy-protection will only be effective
> > if you impose Soviet style restrictions on the use of computers.
> > 
> > Certain powerful corporations want effective copy-protection.
> > Ergo, those powerful corporations will want to impose Soviet
> > style restrictions on the use of computers.
> 
> I think Thomas is absolutely right about this, and for now it would
> seem likely that this will eventually fail if for no other reason
> than that many other powerful corporations, who have little direct
> interest in consumer media content protection, would find such Soviet
> style restrictions an extreme inconvenience.  Powerful as the media
> companies may be, ultimately they are still small compared to oil,
> finance, or the heavy industries.

    I think you're wrong about that. 

    Just about every company big enough to have a corporate lawyer, and
    many even smaller do have "media" they need or want to track and
    control. 

    They'd really like it if they could track or control who opens what
    files, etc. 

    Inconvience is merely a cost of doing business, so they charge a
    little more, whatever. As long as everybody else in that market is
    facing the same constraints (which gives a clear way to strike at
    the heart of this problem) that is ok. 

    It's a lot like other government mandates relating to paperwork,
    hazardous materials fees--the company I work for , basically a web 
    site, has to pay a "lead fee" of some kind every year because our 
    industry has been identified as a possible problem. There are 
    thousands of other little things we have to pay fees to the governments 
    for, or prove compliance on for Human Resources etc. This is ok for the 
    business people (well, generally) since everyone else has to do it as 
    well. It hurst smaller companies more than larger companies, since
    it takes a greater percentage of their resources to demonstrate
    compliance, but that doesn't bother either the Big Companies or the
    politicians much. 

-- 
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