[free-sklyarov] Copyright Contradictions

[Seth Finkelstein]

> On Thu, 8 Aug 2002 02:19:04 -0400, Seth Finkelstein wrote:
>	But when someone talks about the possibilities of prosecution
> to people who are *not* already members of the choir, I haven't found
> the reaction to be an immediate "My God! I never realized it was so  bad!"
> Rather, some common reactions *by skeptics* are (not exhaustively):
> 1) You're paranoid, it won't happen, it's all in your fevered imagination.
> 2) The ACLU or the EFF will defend you, they live for this sort of  thing.
> 3) Break the rules, get what you deserve.

> On Thu, Aug 08, 2002 at 08:30:39PM -0400, Matthew T. Russotto wrote:
> These "skeptics" are unconvincable, and there's no reason to base 
> anything on their reaction. ...

	Well, what works? I must admit I've not had a great deal of
success myself. Maybe there's nothing we can do. I don't claim to be
an expert at such convincing. I'm only sharing empirical problems I've
encountered from my own experiences in trying to convince skeptical
people. If the world is divided into the unconvertable, and the choir
singing they're-coming-to-take-us-away, that's disheartening.

	I do think Felten makes a very good DMCA example, even if the
declaratory case didn't proceed. Because it goes to the issues at the
heart of the DMCA itself.

http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/news/0105/decss_2600.shtml
Wanted: Loveable hero for copyright battle  By Lisa M. Bowman, ZDNet News 

   Although free speech is supposed to protect expression made by
   society's fringe elements as well as by the mainstream, public opinion
   and even judges can be swayed by tales of mischievous crackers poised
   to attack your computer. "As soon as the judge says 'hacker,' you know
   you've lost," University of Minnesota law Professor Dan Burk
   said. "There is an attempt to paint defendants as unsympathetic,
   low-priority, on the fringe--to make it seem like nobody respectable
   is going to be harmed except for weird hacker types."

-- 
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  sethf at sethf.com  http://sethf.com
Anticensorware Investigations - http://sethf.com/anticensorware/
Seth Finkelstein's Infothought list - http://sethf.com/infothought/
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/19/technology/circuits/19HACK.html