[boriscleto]

MPAA, RIAA want AV software with anti-piracy scanning | Electronista

The MPAA and RIAA have sent a response to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator that would call for software to spy on users for potential piracy.

The submission would also call for familiar but equally aggressive tactics, such as encouraging Internet providers to automatically filter connections, the US government to randomly inspect electronics going over the border, and to put pressure on companies that don't follow US copyright laws by threatening to make piracy a central issue of talks.

All the comments aren't binding and won't necessarily result in action by the IPEC. However, they combined show the MPAA and RIAA calling for an approach that potentially violates privacy by searching a user's specific computer or portable device, in some cases without consent.

[Wheatfield]

Computer hard drives are already subject to non voluntary inspection when crossing into the USA (or Canada, for that matter).
I'd really like to see the US government try to tell the Chinese to comply or else. Do the words go pound sand mean anything?

[lithos]

From the EFF article linked in that original post:

The planned release of a blockbuster motion picture should be acknowledged as an event that attracts the focused efforts of copyright thieves, who will seek to obtain and distribute pre-release versions and/or to undermine legitimate release by unauthorized distribution through other channels. Enforcement agencies (notably within DOJ and DHS) should plan a similarly focused preventive and responsive strategy. An interagency task force should work with industry to coordinate and make advance plans to try to interdict these most damaging forms of copyright theft, and to react swiftly with enforcement actions where necessary.

Who the f*ck do these people think they are?

[RioRico]

Who the f*ck do these people think they are?

I don't know who *they* think they are. *I* think that they're really really desperate. The original intent of IP laws was to provide a LIMITED PERIOD of monopoly on the ownership of a work, before its moving into the public domain. The LIMITED PERIOD monopoly would encourage development of inventions, ideas, arts, before the work would be available for anybody to build upon. With lifetime+forever copyrights, that intent has been perverted, corrupted, destroyed.

And digital technologies make effective protection impossible. For every barrier erected, workarounds are developed. So the only recourse is to criminalize all uncontrolled access to media, to ideas and their expression. This is suicidal. If the IP fascists make criminals of their consumers, who's going to pay for their products? They've dug themselves into a hole, they can't crawl out, their masters can't think of workable business models. They're f*cked. They know it. They're cornered beasts, very dangerous. Beware. Be very ware.

[SteveM]

Computer hard drives are already subject to non voluntary inspection when crossing into the USA (or Canada, for that matter).
I'd really like to see the US government try to tell the Chinese to comply or else. Do the words go pound sand mean anything?

I think the US is still having some difficulty understanding their place in the world. Last month Canada went on a major buying spree to upgrade navy vessels with the latest in missile technology. US suppliers were told not to bother as they were disqualified from bidding. This came after the US government indicated that each Canadian citizen that was to be trained on the missile system would have to be approved by the US. In other words, the US would decide who was in the Canadian navy and who wouldn't be....for as long as the systems were in service. The response was "pound sand" and the investment went to Europe suppliers.

From the EFF article linked in that original post:

Who the f*ck do these people think they are?

To be fair, there is a bit of a google mentality in North America right now. Middle men provide things, that they didn't invest in to create, for free. Google wants to digitize millions of books without paying their authors or publishing companies. Everyone want music and movies for free. Cable companies grab broadcasters signals for free after not paying anything for the creation of the content and then charge to consumers. There are 2 problems with this. 1) Who is going to spend effort and time to create something to have someone else grab it and benefit from it. 2) Google spends millions of dollars to provide things for free.....but google is a company and only exists to make money. It's reasonable to think they will start charging (beyond advertising) eventually, once they have bankrupt/removed competing companies.

[wildman]

And digital technologies make effective protection impossible. For every barrier erected, workarounds are developed. So the only recourse is to criminalize all uncontrolled access to media, to ideas and their expression.

This is suicidal.

Not only suicidal but totalitarian and impractical.

The whole concept of IP laws were only practical so long as IP took the form of something impractical to duplicate in the first place a book, or a record for instance.

Now, with digital, copy machines etc those days are gone forever. All intellectual content is for all practical purposes in the public domain the minute it is released for public consumption like it or not.

Even with drugs there are large parts of the world where bootleg drugs are more commonly used than legal drugs.

I know of a manufacturing company that lost control of their product because of computer-controlled machines that can create finished products directly from information via digital files, that is, electronic blueprints without the need for intermediate toolroom work. All the bootleg machine shop in India needed was the files sent to them by email which a disgruntled employee did. Presto - a perfect copy of the original.

Welcome to the "free" market world economy.