With all the focus recently on copyright and how copyright works or does not work, we are looking at the end of an era when it comes to what people are allowed to do with their media. While the whole copyright issue has people on both sides who believe in one thing or another, the end of many of the things we do with media is quickly coming.
Recent legislation like the PRO IP bill, the Canadian version of the DMCA, The SAFE Act, and a host of other bills that limit, regulate, change how people have access to content or the actual content itself, along with the older standards starting with the DMCA have effectively eroded just about anything you want to do with media.
Rather, copying goes back many years, we copy books, music, movies, just about anything can be copied, even back in the analog days. Making a mix tape for driving in your car is something that has been done nearly since the cassette tape came out, we do this. However, with all the new rules, all the new laws, and all the new ways that have restricted what we can do with music, or any media really signals the end of what we had, to what we will no longer be allowed to do.
We seriously doubt that the studio is going to pay us back for every DVD we have broken trying to get it out of the case. I’ll have to buy another one, unless I made a back up of the DVD, but then I have to worry about formatting, do I use an IPod or do I use WMV? Better to have a copy for each device and system that we use. But then that would be us breaking a law or three.
To copy something as a backup I have to get around DRM that would be the violation of one law with pretty heavy penalties.
To copy from one proprietary format to another more likely breaks a couple of other laws, but then we want to use the thing on multiple devices, we are that kind of household.
To make a CD of music for driving in the car (the new mix tape), same thing applies, we have to meet all sorts of criteria and limitations, realistically though, a new CD lasts about a week then we are off making a new one, which probably violates more laws.
God forbid we have anything like a P2P or Bittorrent tool on our PC that has media on it, regardless of where that media is stored, that violates other laws.
Oh, and copying off TV and watching it on the laptop at work, or at home, or on the IPod, or on the Zune, or making a DVD copy for long airline flights, yep probably broke more laws. With being in public and playing something, we are probably breaking more laws about public performances for which we are not licensed to do at all.
When you think about it, all we really wanted was a copy of something that we could play on our phone, IPod, and Zune. We wanted to make a mix CD for the car, and we wanted to take our entertainment with us as we traveled.
Heck, even web pages can be copyrighted so you can’t see the code outside the browser.
We didn’t want to be sued, we don’t want to pay per performance, we didn’t want to involve everyone on a plane, we don’t want to file share, we don’t want to be spending time in jail, we just wanted to enjoy our entertainment where we were, in a way that met with all the needs of our devices.
We are willing to purchase media, and have thousands of music and movies; we are the entertainment industries best friend when it comes to spending money on entertainment. But as with all end of an era kind of things, everything we do is somehow proscribed, regulated, or locked. Those heady days of being 14 or 40 and copying something so it can come with us are over, and that is a shame.
5 comments ↓
Two weeks ago I would have agreed with you. But today, I read your headline and thought: Yes, it is the end of an era - an era of insanity. The tide has turned.
I’m Canadian. Last month, rumors leaked out that Canada was set to implement our own DMCA. Many of us who understood the implications felt it was unstoppable. Then Dr. Geist, a law professor with a blog, started a Facebook group as a gathering point for those who want sanity in our law. A few members trickled in. One said he felt powerless. I think we all did, but we started to tell our friends and write letters to our representatives. And something extraordinary happened.
In the 11 days since the group was formed, 18,000 Canadians have joined - this in a country whose population is a tenth that of the United States. And that isn’t the whole opposition. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, have written, phoned, faxed, and emailed their members of parliament. We are consumers, artists, fans, political operatives, computer programmers, academics. We are conservatives and socialists, liberals and radicals. But we agree on one thing: we don’t want this law. We want fair copyright for Canada.
The government was shocked - “freaked out” with surprise at our anger. The bill has been delayed. We can win this.
I suspect this is a generational change People my age call the internet “cyberspace”, but for the generation after - a generation not known for its involvement in politics - it is a natural extension of their lives. Copyright is a complex issue, but they understand it because affects how they live. It reaches them in the privacy of their homes, in their interactions with their friends, in the work that they do. This outrage has activated them, and they are saying “Enough!” It’s not just them: we are finally finding the words to explain to our fellow citizens what this is about and why it matters. We are all saying “Enough”.
Don’t let your outrageous civil forfeiture law pass. I believe we can win our fight. I believe you can win yours. Remember: even if you lose now, you will win someday. It’s only a matter of time.
Excellent case and note, thanks! In many ways though, it seems that America has lost its way, the incredible changes over the last 10 years in media, content, publishing, and everything else, we have chosen to side on the authoritative dictatorial style of business management. The vast underground is made up of many frustrated users, but also activists, hackivists, and a plethora of people who want to “stick it to the man”. Unfortunately the “man” is poking back, and users are standing to loose many time honored traditions like being able to make a copy of something.
Good luck in Canada, I hope your CDMCA does not pass.
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[…] The End of An Era Over Copyright. Dec. 12, 2007. We disagree that the days of copying something to come with you are over, but it is […]
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