Thursday, August 05, 2004
Well looks like the Senators that know nothing about computers are at it again. Great, so not if I just tell someone about something that can be used to violate a copyright law, I can be held liable, just as if I has stolen something. So much for freedom of speech.
I personally think there are enough laws to protect copywriten stuff. If anything there need to be a bill of rights for the end users. Some things I think should be addressed are...
#1 License Agreement. Who the hell thought of putting the stickers on the software box saying, "By breaking this seal you agree to the license agreement."? Where is the license agreement you are adhering to? Bingo, in the sealed box, or on the cd that you have to break the seal to read! What happens when you happen to read the License Agreement and find that you do not agree with it? Well for one you cannot install it, and cense it will do you no good just sitting around; you would want to get your money back. Tuff luck! Have you tried to return software? HAAA! Even if you have the receipt, the original packaging and everything else, they will only let you exchange it for the same thing. Like that will do you a lot of good. They just tell you to talk to the company. No one cares, they got your money. This sounds like entrapment to me.
#2 Spywere. A lot of people are becoming more and more wise to spywere. I know that the company can get away with putting spywere in their stuff by hiding somewhere in the License Agreement that you agree to be spied on by installing this cheesy screen saver. Anyone that has read a license agreement know that at about half way threw you are so brain dead that they could put something like "The end user agrees to exchange his/her soul for the use of the included software" and you would not notice it. They should be required to put on a label what this software gathers from you. Kind of like the ESRB. R=registration, W=web habits, E=everything you do, P=promotional popups and other things.
#3 Backups. This is the biggest thing that you should be able to do. A person should be able to make a backup of the software, music, or movies that they have bought a license to. They keep saying that all you are buying is the license, what difference does it make how many copies of the software I have cluttering up my house?
#4 Ripping. This falls right in with the backups. What is the difference in what form my backup takes? If I want the backup on my hard drive as a virtual image or as an mp3 in my portable player I should be able to do such.
I am sure there are a lot more issues that should be included. If people have some right with their digital media, I think they may be more willing to respect the rights of the companies. Right now the companies are the only ones with rights and I think that P2P and other stealing is the little guys trying to stick it to the man.
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I personally think there are enough laws to protect copywriten stuff. If anything there need to be a bill of rights for the end users. Some things I think should be addressed are...
#1 License Agreement. Who the hell thought of putting the stickers on the software box saying, "By breaking this seal you agree to the license agreement."? Where is the license agreement you are adhering to? Bingo, in the sealed box, or on the cd that you have to break the seal to read! What happens when you happen to read the License Agreement and find that you do not agree with it? Well for one you cannot install it, and cense it will do you no good just sitting around; you would want to get your money back. Tuff luck! Have you tried to return software? HAAA! Even if you have the receipt, the original packaging and everything else, they will only let you exchange it for the same thing. Like that will do you a lot of good. They just tell you to talk to the company. No one cares, they got your money. This sounds like entrapment to me.
#2 Spywere. A lot of people are becoming more and more wise to spywere. I know that the company can get away with putting spywere in their stuff by hiding somewhere in the License Agreement that you agree to be spied on by installing this cheesy screen saver. Anyone that has read a license agreement know that at about half way threw you are so brain dead that they could put something like "The end user agrees to exchange his/her soul for the use of the included software" and you would not notice it. They should be required to put on a label what this software gathers from you. Kind of like the ESRB. R=registration, W=web habits, E=everything you do, P=promotional popups and other things.
#3 Backups. This is the biggest thing that you should be able to do. A person should be able to make a backup of the software, music, or movies that they have bought a license to. They keep saying that all you are buying is the license, what difference does it make how many copies of the software I have cluttering up my house?
#4 Ripping. This falls right in with the backups. What is the difference in what form my backup takes? If I want the backup on my hard drive as a virtual image or as an mp3 in my portable player I should be able to do such.
I am sure there are a lot more issues that should be included. If people have some right with their digital media, I think they may be more willing to respect the rights of the companies. Right now the companies are the only ones with rights and I think that P2P and other stealing is the little guys trying to stick it to the man.
