Back onto the original problem ... is there any chance that zapping the p-ram would reset the regional key to it's initial condition? Is one shown, somehow, the number of changes from one region to another that have been recorded?
Bill Holt > From: Bill Rising <brising at Louisville.edu> > Reply-To: macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu > Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 09:21:00 -0400 > To: macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu > Subject: Re: MacGroup: Re: Copying > > On Aug 4, 2004, at 2:35, KR'sListMail wrote: > > [snip...] >> Henri, >> >> You are very very wrong. >> I pay my GDM, IT attorneys $250 an hour to keep me in the legal clear >> on copyrights and licenses, and to also write my copyright contracts >> for my projects with the studios. Are you saying, what they taught me >> is wrong for the past decade is wrong, and that you know more than >> they do >> >> Hacking passkeys, and copying DVD content or any media disk for that >> matter, is not a sovereign "right", ethically or legally by ANY court >> of law here or anywhere. Copying DVDs, is considered reverse >> engineering and that it is considered stealing Intellectual Property. > > Of course, in past times, the same friendly folks who decided that > copying DVDs was theft also tried to make it illegal to tape radio > shows for one's own personal use, to tape songs from LPs so that they > could be mixed for parties, to tape LPs so that they could be heard in > the car etc. Similar bizarre (il)logic makes for bizarre differences in > intellectual property rights depending on whether the intellectual > property is printed on a piece of paper or in a pdf file on a CD > (example: If I write a book for teaching probability, then I get the > royalties. If I assemble a CD for teaching probability, then the > university can take most of the royalties). > > These same strange reverse engineering rules also are used to make it > difficult to expose weaknesses in software. > > [An aside: Intellectual property rights vary by country, even amongst > those countries who recognize intellectual property. If I recall > correctly, in Germany, it is OK to make copies of entire books for > educational purposes. Result: books which are only available as > expensive hardbound books here are available legally as cheap > paperbacks there. Shoot, it is cheaper for my students to order their > (legal) textbooks from Britain than to get (legal) copies here in the > US. All because of strange laws here.] > >> Plus, With DVDs the media itself is considered a canvas, not just a >> media material, since the disk is painted with art, graphics, >> trademarks, etc. This means the DVD plastics, the disk is an intrinsic >> part of the work itself- like the oil paint applied to a canvas >> painting. And with DVDs every disk is in essence be considered a >> "Master Disk" or "Original". Ouch. >> >> So, Copying a DVD and distributing it to another- meaning, in real >> life: like giving one copy to a friend, or worse, posting it online >> for sharing to lots of people, IS considered "Distribution". That >> means=Stealing not just once, but twice. Doing either of these things, >> is a severe criminal act, is rated a felony- a criminal equivalent to >> stealing a car. > > The problem with the way laws are written now, is that there is no > distinction between 'making myself a copy' and 'making copies for > everyone'. The former should be perfectly legal. The latter should not. > >> >> Minumum jail time for felony? Is one year or more.... >> > > [horrible painful punishment for offenders...] > >> Thinking like you are? This is so ethically and spiritually- wrong. > > I'm not sure that the ethics are so clear, when the companies who > produce DVDs purposely make DVDs which can be bought, excuse me, > 'licensed', in one country and then not played in another country, when > there is rampant price-fixing, when prices are miserably inflated, etc. > Now... two wrongs do not make a right, but I'm not sure that making > copies for oneself or wanting to get a DVD in Germany which is > unavailable in the US, and then watch the DVD in the US should be > options available to the consumer. > >> >> Remember the lady that asked this question, about copying DVDs in the >> first place? Cathy? Rather than tell her to buy some hack machine >> online from some offshore crook, maybe she should be advised to just >> buy a used DVD disk for $10 at the corner video store, where-ever she >> travels. That's what I do, and I am able to sleep at night, knowing I >> have supported a few of my fellow artists in the entertainment >> industry. That feels nice. > > Hmm... and how do you think that you are supporting the artist when > buying a used DVD? The artist got the money fronted as an advance, and > (possibly) got some royalties when the original DVD was sold. Buying a > used copy only saves the landfill. This doesn't mean that buying a > bootleg is better - it isn't - it merely means that you are not > supporting an artist by buying a used CD or DVD. > > I think the whole issue is way more complicated than the view promoted > by the current US laws. > > Bill | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be July 27. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
