Shayde used our news submit to tell us about a disturbing bit of news he spotted over at Wired today. It seems like the "entertainment industry" wants to take advantage of a hasty lameduck session of Congress to ram another bill of no rights down the consumers throats. As usual, they are waving the flag of justice when it really is merely controls put on the consumer in order to boost already flagrant profiteering by the Hollywood moguls. For instance, they are penning legal code that would make it against the law to fast forward through a commercial that was aired during a "performance" you taped with your VCR. By pulling the old trick of lumping everything into a take all or nothing package, the MPAA and it's ilk hope our reps won't bother to read the entire proposal and just want to get back to doing what they do best, taking kickbacks.
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The bill would also permit people to use technology to skip objectionable content -- like a gory or sexually explicit scene -- in films, a right that consumers already have. However, under the proposed language, viewers would not be allowed to use software or devices to skip commericals or promotional announcements "that would otherwise be performed or displayed before, during or after the performance of the motion picture," like the previews on a DVD. The proposed law also includes language from the Pirate Act (S2237), which would permit the Justice Department to file civil lawsuits against alleged copyright infringers. Also under the proposed law, people who bring a video camera into a movie theater to make a copy of the film for distribution would be imprisoned for three years, fined or both. The Recording Industry Association of America vigorously defended the bill, saying it would provide a "common sense set of tools that will help law enforcement better deter and prosecute theft." |
Well if that doesn't get you blood boiling, then you must be dead or should at least pass around a few Quaaludes to the rest of us. Yeah, go ahead and make a law that "gives" me a right I already have, the "right" to not skip past somebody getting disemboweled, if I am eating a plate of spagetti at the time. Or better yet, I can fast forward over Janet Jacksons latest "wardrobe malfunction" - thanks a million!
Quote: "common sense set of tools that will help law enforcement better deter and prosecute theft." Well, I have a common sense and it tells me that this is nothing more than my tax dollars being spent to provide an already gluttonous industry with a free security staff. For the love of Pete, let's hope this bundle of horsefeathers doesn't fly. (But we know it will) They will set back consumers digital rights by 100 years. But if they do, then it's time the tech industry got off their duffs and starts fighting back harder. The money the MPAA and the RIAA make when we have to watch every mind numbing political ad, latest improved toothbrush innovation, or even previews of upcoming DVD releases, will be profits lost to manufacturing and jobs lost to those that work in the hardware and software industries! Because we wont need their products anymore.
Source: Wired
