Gov. May Legalize Hacking into PCs to Stop Piracy

[Guest KANE]

Fox News

 

Isn't this an invasion of privacy?

[Guest KoR Fungus]

<<<Isn't this an invasion of privacy?>>>

 

Yes, it most certainly is. I'm against anything that allows any government/commercial agency any access to my personal computer. This one sounds particularly bad, as it sounds like it gives music industry haxx0rz pretty much free reign to destroy all your audio/video files, and get away with it simply by labeling you as a pirate. Do they have to obtain any evidence proving you were a pirate? Is there anywhere to turn if you think that they were out of line with their haxx0rzing? Sounds like it gives the entertainment industry tons of power, and leaves you pretty much at their mercy. Ugh.

 

On a somewhat related note, what exactly is the law in regards to downloading copyrighted material? Are you allowed to download songs/movies that you own? If so, how could they even know that the stuff you were downloading is illegal? Maybe you just wanted an MP3 of a song that you have on a CD...

[Guest Vyce]

Wow.

 

The government infringes our rights to help.....the entertainment industry.

 

If this was something a bit more practical, like, oh, hacking to find out which of us are terrorists - then that'd be one thing. I'd still be against it, but I'd understand the intention.

 

This is just to make sure I don't have any Metallica bootlegs on my harddrive.

[Guest DrTom]

I read about this last week on ZDNet, actually. It's a travesty that this is even being considered. The entertainment industries have Congress in their pocket, and this is just the latest proof of it. Maybe the CEOs of fuckheaded groups like the RIAA and MPAA should earn their goddamn salaries by coming up with a business model that's viable past 1979. But instead of trying to use technology to their advantage by profiting off of file-sharing, they want to legislate it out of existence. That's just not going to happen. Wasn't home taping going to kill the record industry in the mid-1980's? Wasn't the VCR going to be the death of the movie industry, since no one would ever go to the movies if they could watch them in their living room? I'm tired of these conscienceless assholes inventing crises, then running to Washington with their wallets out looking for a solution. If you're too stupid to design a business plan that works in the digital age, then fuck you, you're a fucking stupid fossil, and I hope you fucking go out of business and die in your own rancid vomit.

 

Not that I get fired up about this or anything... B)

 

"Are you allowed to download songs/movies that you own? If so, how could they even know that the stuff you were downloading is illegal?"

 

Under fair use laws, yes, you are allowed to download material that you own. Unfortunately, Congress was bribed into passing the DMCA, which basically took fair use laws and flushed them down the shitter. If the DMCA governed your car, you wouldn't be allowed to change your own oil, replace your own washer fluid, inflate your own tires, nor seek those services from anyone for free.

[Guest J*ingus]

The most important part of the story is below:

 

"There is no excuse or justification for this piracy," said Berman, the leading recipient in the House of campaign contributions from the television, music and movie industries. "Theft is theft, whether it is shoplifting a CD in a record store or illegally downloading a song." 

 

Records show Berman received at least $186,891 from the entertainment industry during the 2001-02 election cycle, including $31,000 from The Walt Disney Co. and $28,050 from AOL-Time Warner Inc. 

 

This is like being openly paid money by ketchup advocates, and then immedietly turning around and claiming that mustard and mayonaise are health hazards.

[Guest jimmy no nose]

"Berman said his bill would not allow industry to spread viruses across file-trading networks, destroy files or hack into a consumer's personal data, but experts said its language would permit intrusions into a consumer's audio and video files and attacks that would knock a computer off-line."

 

I'm sure many of us don't want these people that we dont know looking at certain video files that we have on our computers. Plus, how would they be able to knock someone with a cable modem offline? Would they temporarily disable the modem or what?

 

"Under the bill, companies would not be required to warn users in advance of their actions. A user wrongly attacked could sue only if he suffered more than $250 in economic losses and obtained permission to file a lawsuit from the U.S. attorney general."

 

So unless we don't lose money they can just knock anyone offline at any time? What if we lose some work or research that we had been doing? What if you lose less than $250? It may not seem like much to congressmen or record execs, but that's a good bit of money for the average person.

[Guest Invader3k]

It won't pass...it's too big brother-ish for US citizens to stand for.

 

At least I hope so.

 

This just further re-enforces my belief in term limits for Congress.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Well for one, what about people who rip their cds onto the computer and convert them into mp3s for personal use? How will some RIAA idiot know the difference?

 

I am pretty much with everyone on this, and it is the most horrendous idea I have ever heard regarding this situation. I am tired of scam artists like the RIAA claiming it is hurting the artists when it is the RIAA fat cats that are the real ones raping the living souls out of the artists. Honestly though, I don't anyone that doesn't get mp3s anymore, but at the same time, ALL of them still buy cds. This is such a crock of shit. All that is gonna happen is people will figure out a way to get around this or block access.

[Guest DrTom]

"Well for one, what about people who rip their cds onto the computer and convert them into mp3s for personal use? How will some RIAA idiot know the difference?"

 

They won't, and that's the problem. The RIAA and their paid lackey Congressman Berman operate on two principles, both of which are patently wrong:

 

1. All MP3s are recorded to defraud the record industry.

2. Every MP3 downloaded is a sale lost by the artist. That's how they get the figure that piracy cost the record industry $12 billion in lost sales last year, or whatever their most recent miscalculation is.

 

Anyone who attempts to debate these fallacious views in a public forum is shouted down as a thief and a pirate. Fuck the RIAA and fuck Berman. I download all my music because the artists don't make shit off record sales anyway, and I refuse to pay the salaries of people too stupid to make technology work in their favor.

[Guest big Dante Cruz]

I am still one to have faith in the governing system of our country... but then, I'm a political science major that has aspirations of being a senator one day...

 

Berman or whoever is trying to protect his interests and is simply too stupid to look around and see if his forcefed diet happens to be made out of propoganda or misinformation.

 

I'll buy CDs of artists I like or want to support. "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" by Toby Keith and the Canadian conspiracy around it (wink, wink) was one I bought. I bought more CDs this summer than I have in years. But, you know what? I'm a consumer. I have money, but no brain to go with it. The RIAA says so. Baaaah, baaaaah...

[Guest The Metal Maniac]

That ridiculous.

 

I can't speak for others, but personally, I can name a number of bands that have benefitied from my ability to download their MP3's.

 

I download some stuff, and if it's good, I buy the CD. It's not THAT complicated.

[Guest deadbeater]

AOL/TW is about to go bankrupt. What will Berman do to recoup that money?

 

Um, they are aware that they are fighting elite computer users. None of the big 5's web sites will be operable again if they try to pull this off. What's happening to AOL/TW will be just the beginning. No threat, a promise.

[Guest DrTom]

"What's happening to AOL/TW will be just the beginning. No threat, a promise."

 

AOL Time Warner isn't having financial troubles because people downloaded music. While there would certainly be a "hacker backlash" if the Berman measures came to pass, AOLTW's current finanical woes don't seem too relevant. I'm not sorry they're having problems, though.

[Guest deadbeater]

What I'm saying is that these companies tried to blame piracy for all of their problems. And didn't one of AOL's companies, Nullsoft, develop Gnutella, which is allegedly now the bane of the music distribution industry? If AOL cornered that, they wouldn't need to sue MS.