[mythtv-users] Slightly OT - Hollywood after the Analog Hole again

[Dewey Smolka]

> In short, these guys don't have our best interests at heart...  The most
> treacherous enemies are those we think of as friends.

I would certainly hope that no one here considers industry lobbying
groups their 'friends'.

But I do mean to suggest that the scope of this proposal goes far
beyond PCs -- it would affect manufacturers of all A/V hardware from
portable radios to cheap 4-track tape machines, to cameras, to . . .
well just about anything that can play or record anything for the
consumer, hobbyist, or pro markets.

If MS insists on putting everything they're proposing into Vista
(well, at least the DRM -- they've already abandoned quite a bit of
the planned functionality) then that will be another bale of straw on
the camel's back. But it will still be their decision and affect their
product.

But I don't think MS, even with the assistance of Hollywood and other
industry groups can prevent, for example, a small company making and
selling recording hardware that works with a PC.

I'm also a musician and audio engineer, and the day they make my
microphones, patch cables, XLRs, rack-mount DSPs, etc illegal is the
day I start looking into bulk fertilizer prices and truck rentals.

But I know that's not going to happen.

On the whole I agree with your analysis of PCs and video. On the other
hand, I don't think it's possible, constitutionally speaking, for any
industry to legislate tinkery. If I design a circuit and choose to
make my design available to anyone who wants to use it, that's a First
Amendment issue. If someone chooses to build it, that may or may not
be subject to legislation, but is pretty much unenforcable. If someone
chooses further to use the circuit to circumvent copyrights, that's
their business and not my fault. Case in point -- it is not illegal to
write, publish, buy, or own a guide on how to grow marijuanna.

In any event, my only point was that we need to be vigilant but not hysterical.