[Linux-aus] Developed Capability Equals Intent

[Peter Miller]

Here are some words I'm trying to whittle down to a quick pithy way to
explain to non-geeks what the problem with the DMCA is.  How to I
squeeze this into a 10 second sound bite?  Feedback appreciated.

The short version:

        There is a saying that developed capability equals intent.  It
        means that if a nation (or multinational corporation) has
        developed and deployed a technology, they intend to use it.
        Sony has already shown that it wants to take control of playing
        your CDs away from you.  For years DVD players prevent certain
        actions (which most consumers find reasonable) from happening,
        such as skipping the insulting copyright banner.  We must assume
        that the entertainment industry intends to take control of our
        gadgets away from us.  Don't let them, sign the Linux Australia
        petition today.

The long version...



Developed Capability Equals Intent

There is a saying, attributed the intelligence community, which states
that developed capability equals intent.  It means that if a nation
develops and deploys a weapon, other nations must work on the assumption
that the weapon is intended to be used.

In the discussion of any law which grants additional and broad legal
force to technological protection measures, and makes it a crime to even
attempt to bypass these imposed restrictions of our own consumer goods,
we must assume that the developed capability of the entertainment
industry - to take control of our electronic gadgets away from us -
equals their intent.

The entertainment industry has already demonstrated that it has this
developed capability for control.  Look at Sony's spectacular copy
protected CD fiasco; you can assume that there will be another attempt,
and not just by Sony, and that the next attempt will be more subtle.
For years, our DVD players have had the capability to prevent us from
fast forwarding over those annoying "all our customers are thieves and
we will get you" portions of the DVD; and, yes, they are getting longer.
They can already do it, what will they do with it next?  Product
placement sections in the middle of the movie you can't fast forward
over?

Imagine a time when all books, not just expensive textbooks, are only
ever published on discs.  Imagine, for a moment, you can only read them
in "authorised" book readers - you will not be able to lend it to a
friend or sell it second hand to another student - and it won't work on
your second home computer, either.  The technology is already here.  It
already exists.  We must assume that the intent is to completely wrest
from consumers all control of copyright material - including where it is
played, how it is played, what it is played on, and by whom.

Imagine a time when your home computer will not do anything you say
until you have paid the annual (monthly? weekly?) fee to Microsoft.
This capability already exists, it is called WGA.  The only reason your
Microsoft Windows computer still listens to you is because Microsoft
hasn't yet spread WGA widely enough to turn on its more draconian
functions.

How does this affect you, the consumer?  If all copyright material
becomes subject to unavoidable technical protection measures

      * Lending libraries will cease to exist.  Why borrow a copy when
        you will have to pay the publisher for an activation key anyway?
        and why would be publisher charge a reduced fee?  Of course you
        would buy a copy instead.  The disenfranchises a huge number of
        citizens.

      * Copyright purchase will be turned into an annual copyright rent,
        if the publisher chooses to have license keys expire every 12
        months.  This technology already exists, we must assume this is
        their intent.  Do you want your doctor to spend half of your
        appointment arguing with a web interface to pay the fee so he
        can consult the textbook needed to treat your rare disease?

      * Research and study becomes much more difficult, and much more
        expensive.  Students will no longer be able to recover the cost
        of text books by selling them second hand.   And the school
        library is gone, so students will have no choice but to purchase
        text books.  Search engines and indexes and catalogues will only
        ever be populated with "authorised" material, and the cataloguer
        will be motivated to keep the authorising agency happy, not the
        consumer.

      * Meaningful review and criticism will disappear.  What publisher
        is going to give a journalist an activation key for the purpose
        of review if there is any chance of a bad review?  The only
        reviews ever published will be glowing ones, even if the product
        is not fit for purpose.  This will damage our economy, because
        consumers will no longer be able to make informed decisions.

      * Reporting the news will become end-to-end propaganda.  The only
        coverage that will be "authorised" will be stories which benefit
        the copyright holders.

Consumers must assume that developed capability equals intent.
Ubiquitous technical protection measures are a threat to the vital
communication necessary for a healthy democracy, and a healthy economy.
Consumers must assume that unless these overly broad extensions to
copyright are stopped, more and more of their consumer electronics and
home computers are going to cede control to content publishers, and not
to the consumer.

Sign the Linux Australia petition today.

-- 
Regards
Peter Miller <millerp at canb.auug.org.au>
/\/\*        http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~millerp/

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