OMFG... MPAA pushing new laws to enforce monopoly

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-05-05 04:06am

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/03/1636227

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-05-05 04:13am

I might as well post the relevant excerpt.

georgelazenby writes "The Frisco Chronicle reports: While the music industry has been clumsily bullying its way through the federal government, the movie industry has taken a more subtle -- and more effective -- approach. The MPAA has been lobbying individual state legislatures to pass laws reaching far beyond the original DMCA. The proposed laws would permit cable TV companies to 'limit subscribers to using only certain brands of VCRs and could ban TiVo in favor of their own proprietary PVR technologies.' According to one expert, the bills are 'tremendously open-ended and create theoretical and potential criminal liabilities for just about anybody on the planet.'"

Post by **Gandalf** » 2003-05-05 04:13am

That's pretty fucked up, if I understood it correctly.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-05-05 04:18am

Fucking hell, at least it seems none of the laws have passed yet.

Yuri Prime · Post by **Yuri Prime** » 2003-05-05 06:39am

Seig Heil, RIAA!!!!

I'll enjoy watching their organization die slowly when they go to far (As if that hasn't happened already).

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2003-05-05 06:42am

Lol.. If they tried this shit in NZ the first test case and this pile of crap would be
1.) Laughed at by the judge
2.)ripped to peices and the offending company would be done for price fixing

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-05-05 07:28am

I imagine these people are afraid that when HDTV and DVD recorders become common people will be making copies of their favorite shows and movies at home that are as clear and sharp as what they could get from a purchased DVD.

This might be somewhat true but I don't know about the rest of you but I have several different versions of a few movies on DVD alone. Most of time when I bought the second one it was because of extras, different cut etc... I'm sure the MPAA will still be able to sell their movies and shows if they provide something the fans want. It just might not be as much of a cash cow for them as it currently is. No bare bones disks followed by the special edition, director's edition, Ultimated Super Duper edition later down the road.

If these people are so concerned about their stuff being stolen off of tv they could always stop putting it on tv. The movies at least could be released in the theater and then go to video, or just go away until demand for a rerelease builds enough to make it worth while for it to hit the theaters again.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-05-05 11:41pm

Stuart Mackey wrote:Lol.. If they tried this shit in NZ the first test case and this pile of crap would be
1.) Laughed at by the judge
2.)ripped to peices and the offending company would be done for price fixing

Reminds me of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

"You want to put ... region coding ... on DVDs?"
"Yeah. It will stop pirating-"
"Fuck the hell off, its uncompetitive and restricts fair consumer access."

So now all DVD players sold in Australia or regionless or can be legally modified to be as such.

"We have this new copy protection idea for music CDs. You see, all these people who make mp3s have computers. So we'll make CDs unreadable to computers."
"How about NO you fucking American nutjob. Thats discriminating against the portion of the market who use computers as CD players. So take that idea and shove it back up your fucking arse."

So now all CDs sold inside Australia don't have that form of copy protection, and if they do you can return it and maybe the ACCC will sue the company.

"You want to charge what for petrol and why?"
"Errr..."
"Fuck off."

So OPEC and petrol companies don't like the ACCC.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-05-05 11:43pm

Good for you guys... maybe I should move to Australia

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-05-06 12:04am

Crayz9000 wrote:Good for you guys... maybe I should move to Australia

*Makes mental notes and moves this option to top 10 things to do list...*

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-05-06 12:39am

weemadando wrote: Reminds me of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

"You want to put ... region coding ... on DVDs?"
"Yeah. It will stop pirating-"
"Fuck the hell off, its uncompetitive and restricts fair consumer access."

So now all DVD players sold in Australia or regionless or can be legally modified to be as such.

"We have this new copy protection idea for music CDs. You see, all these people who make mp3s have computers. So we'll make CDs unreadable to computers."
"How about NO you fucking American nutjob. Thats discriminating against the portion of the market who use computers as CD players. So take that idea and shove it back up your fucking arse."

So now all CDs sold inside Australia don't have that form of copy protection, and if they do you can return it and maybe the ACCC will sue the company.

"You want to charge what for petrol and why?"
"Errr..."
"Fuck off."

So OPEC and petrol companies don't like the ACCC.

WOW! A country that actually looks after the freedom of it's citizens and doesn't ki$$ corporate a$$.

That stupid region crap on DVDs is supposed to stop pirating? What a @#$!% load of crap!

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-05-06 12:43am

Tsyroc wrote:That stupid region crap on DVDs is supposed to stop pirating? What a @#$!% load of crap!

The idea, of course, is that since most pirate videos come from Asia, that making Asian players use a different encoding from US players, piracy would be stopped.

Was it? No, the pirates simply got US DVD authoring tools...

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-05-06 12:49am

Crayz9000 wrote: The idea, of course, is that since most pirate videos come from Asia, that making Asian players use a different encoding from US players, piracy would be stopped.

Was it? No, the pirates simply got US DVD authoring tools...

So what was the reason for having Europe and Australia be different regions than the US?

It's just retarded. If someone was able to crack DVDs so they could be copied then certainly the stupid region crap isn't going to be a problem, especially when they do what you mentioned or buy a region free machine.

Rubberanvil · Post by **Rubberanvil** » 2003-05-06 03:00am

Tsyroc wrote:That stupid region crap on DVDs is supposed to stop pirating? What a @#$!% load of crap!

Actually the real reason is the MPAA did the region to prevent other other markets (Europe, SA, Australia and etc.) from watching the newest movies on DVD before they're released in the theaters in their regions. IIRC several European countries already declared the region coding is illegal which it is.

The anti-piracy thing is to throw people off the real reason for region coding.

Johonebesus · Post by **Johonebesus** » 2003-05-06 03:06am

Tsyroc wrote:So what was the reason for having Europe and Australia be different regions than the US?

It's just retarded. If someone was able to crack DVDs so they could be copied then certainly the stupid region crap isn't going to be a problem, especially when they do what you mentioned or buy a region free machine.

I think it is not to prevent copying, but to protect ticket sells. Films are often released in Europe and Asia months after they're shown in America, so it may be possible for a Russian to get ahold of an American DVD before the movie has even been released in Russian theaters.

Post by **Edi** » 2003-05-06 03:17am

Johonebesus wrote:
Tsyroc wrote:So what was the reason for having Europe and Australia be different regions than the US?

It's just retarded. If someone was able to crack DVDs so they could be copied then certainly the stupid region crap isn't going to be a problem, especially when they do what you mentioned or buy a region free machine.
I think it is not to prevent copying, but to protect ticket sells. Films are often released in Europe and Asia months after they're shown in America, so it may be possible for a Russian to get ahold of an American DVD before the movie has even been released in Russian theaters.

That's the reason for the region encoding, and it's about as fucking stupid as it gets. I fail to see why the films could not be released at the same time everywhere, then there would not be this problem. The dubbing and other such things can't take months, and in some markets (e.g the Nordic countries) only children's movies are dubbed, everything else is original language with subtitles, just as it is on TV. Fortunately the movie companies are finally catching hold of this unique notion and moving for global premieres for more movies (e.g. LotR I & II, X-Men 2 and others)

Edi

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2003-05-06 05:21am

weemadando wrote:
Stuart Mackey wrote:Lol.. If they tried this shit in NZ the first test case and this pile of crap would be
1.) Laughed at by the judge
2.)ripped to peices and the offending company would be done for price fixing
Reminds me of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

"You want to put ... region coding ... on DVDs?"
"Yeah. It will stop pirating-"
"Fuck the hell off, its uncompetitive and restricts fair consumer access."

So now all DVD players sold in Australia or regionless or can be legally modified to be as such.

"We have this new copy protection idea for music CDs. You see, all these people who make mp3s have computers. So we'll make CDs unreadable to computers."
"How about NO you fucking American nutjob. Thats discriminating against the portion of the market who use computers as CD players. So take that idea and shove it back up your fucking arse."

So now all CDs sold inside Australia don't have that form of copy protection, and if they do you can return it and maybe the ACCC will sue the company.

"You want to charge what for petrol and why?"
"Errr..."
"Fuck off."

So OPEC and petrol companies don't like the ACCC.

Yah, more or less the same here. cept that some CD's are getting in that cannot be played on computer...hope that changes soon.

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2003-05-06 05:23am

Tsyroc wrote:
WOW! A country that actually looks after the freedom of it's citizens and doesn't ki$$ corporate a$$.

That stupid region crap on DVDs is supposed to stop pirating? What a @#$!% load of crap!

They tried that region shit in NZ and got a threat of lawsuits from the commerce commision..the enemy,. errr DVD manufactures, backed down..

fear the power of Parliment!

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-05-06 10:15am

The proposed laws would permit cable TV companies to 'limit subscribers to using only certain brands of VCRs and could ban TiVo in favor of their own proprietary PVR technologies.

[Dr. Hibbert]Oh my god, that's monstrous![/Dr. Hibbert]

This law is capitalism at its worst - government endorsement of business monopolies. It can only result from greed so extreme that most Ferengi would puke at the mere thought.

MKSheppard wrote:
Crayz9000 wrote:Good for you guys... maybe I should move to Australia
Unfortunately, their gun laws are fucked up the arse. I'd rather have
a legal GPMG and several thousand rounds in my closet than freedom
from the RIAA and MPAA

You're a NRA member, aren't you?

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-05-06 03:47pm

Simon H.Johansen wrote:This law is capitalism at its worst - government endorsement of business monopolies. It can only result from greed so extreme that most Ferengi would puke at the mere thought.

This isn't capitalism at all. Real capitalists are perfectly fine with new technologies making entire industries obsolete. That's progress. Screaming for the government to restrict consumer choice and technological growth to preserve your monopoly is mercantilism, and there's a damn good reason every government with an IQ bigger than its hat size abandoned it in the 19th century.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-05-06 05:19pm

RedImperator: Your outline should read as follows:

1. 1st draft.
2. 2nd draft.
3. 3rd draft.
4. Proof.
5, Profit!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-05-09 05:07pm

Shep's thread hijack split.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-05-09 05:13pm

RedImperator wrote:This isn't capitalism at all.

It's far from all capitalists who endorse this, but for some reason this is often called "monopolistic capitalism."

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-05-09 05:49pm

ban TiVo in favor of their own proprietary PVR technologies

Shit this isn't capitalism. Banning Tivo in favor of their own shit. That's using legislation to kill competition. Oh, and remember lexmark invoking the DMCA in an attempt to kill a clone printer cartridge manufactaur? What were the results?

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-05-09 06:28pm

Pu-239 wrote:That's using legislation to kill competition.

Ah, the spectre of Sturm, Ruger, and Company rears it's ugly face again..