[IP] Gizmos under threat of extinction

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@dandin.com>
Reply-To: <dewayne@warpspeed.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 13:07:26 -0800
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@warpspeed.com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Gizmos under threat of extinction

  Gizmos under threat of extinction

  Endangered animals lists are familiar to those who care about nature,
but now technology has its own list of gadget "species" under threat of
extinction.

  High on the endangered list is the file-sharing network, Morpheus,
which is about to fight for survival in court.

  The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) list highlights what it says
is the grip industry holds over gadgets.

  It says pressure from the entertainment industry for legal action over
devices and technologies stifles innovation.

  The EFF intends the list to be part of a wider educational and
awareness project, and it will be updated regularly as more gadgets and
technologies are saved or killed off.

  The entertainment industry is concerned about technology that
facilitates piracy in general and has implemented its own anti-piracy
awareness campaigns.

  The Motion Picture Association's (MPA) efforts to combat net piracy
has been turned up a gear since the end of last year.

  The MPAA was unavailable to comment on the EFF's list.

  As well as legal action, enforced industry standards on programs that
control the free copying of a music file from one to device to another,
for example, are to blame, said the EFF.

  It argues that people should be allowed to do so under "fair use"
rules. This includes being able to make extra back-up copies of films
or music that have been paid for.

  Good, bad and the ugly

  The list is organised around extinct, endangered and saved categories.
Within each is the species name, genus - which kind of technological
family the technology belongs too - and the threat posed.

  What could be considered the "blue whale" of the list, the species
that is on the brink of extinction, is the HD 3000 high-definition TV
tuner card.

  When slotted into a PC it turns computers into a personal video
recorder (PVR) capable of receiving high-definition programmes.

  From 1 July in the US, it will be illegal to manufacture the cards
because of a mandate from the US broadcasting regulatory body, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), called the Broadcast Flag.

  It states that companies can only create equipment that works with the
flag in digital broadcasts.

  Essentially, the flag is a small bit of data that is put into a
digital broadcast. It tells digital receivers the level of protection
on a programme, for example, so that copying can be controlled.

  "We are seeing more and more issues like this where technology is
under attack by law of regulation or litigation," Wendy Seltzer,
attorney for the EFF, told the BBC News website.

  "We wanted to come up with ways that are more engaging to people to
get them to understand the threat to their favourite technologies."

  Also high up on the "endangered" category are multimedia devices that
let people create, record, transmit, play back, and share music,
movies, and other kinds of digital content.

  Firewire drives, open wi-fi access points, CD burner are all
threatened, according to the EFF, because of the entertainment
industry's push for a re-write of US copyright laws, such as the Induce
Act.

[snip]

  EXTINCT SPECIES
  Species:  DVD X-Copy (Genus: DVD archiving program)
  Species:  Replay TV 4000 (Genus: personal video recorder)
  Species:  Streambox VCR (Genus: recorder for Real Audio)
  Species:  Advanced eBook Processor (Genus: decryptor of Adobe e-books)
  Species:  Napster 1.0 (Genus: File-sharing software)
  Source:  Electronic Frontier Foundation

  Story from BBC NEWS:
  <http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4274155.stm>

  Published: 2005/02/18 14:09:43 GMT


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