Comments on: Copyright treaty draws tech industry criticism

Unlikely coalition takes aim at a controversial United Nations treaty that would expand copyright law on the Internet.

[LarryLo]

Do you hear that?

Its the sound of India, and China wooooshing past us as we spend ridiculous time, money and effort trying to protect copyright content which is ultimately "un-protectable"

I am not saying that all copyright (and patents) are bad, but you have to consider fair use. Specifically the snowballing of everyone's ideas to produce greater outcomes...sadly this will end and our innovation edge with it. Now go hug a lawyer ;)

[skeptik]

The big swirl...

No,that was the earlier sonic boom. What you hear now is the giant sucking sound as dozens of DRM efforts and millions of consumer dollars go down the drain without causing a blip on the screens of casual "pirates" worldwide. (Let's leave alone the idea that user level DRM actually benefits the for profit pirates because as casual users are unable to manipulate content, the cheap bootlegs gain value in the eyes of those unwilling to purchase/re-purchase content at retail.)
Not one single protected work has ever been prevented from sharing by DRM. (OK, I'm dramatizing, I don't have the facts to prove that.) But millions of paying consumers have lost thier fair-use rights, as well as faith in the content companies. (Sony rootkit!)
The only ones not hurt by this: those to get all their content from free internet sharing. Everyone else pays the costs of implementing DRM, the cost of keeping hardware/software current, and the costs of decreased usablility in the media they purchase.
It's enought to make me want to steal something.

[JadedGamer]

To industry: Take control!

I am tired of the Industry using lobbyists to try and patch a broken system (digital copyright enforcement) using laws. What they should do if they are really serious is the following:

1) Stop releasing content on existing media like CDs and DVDs. They can be copied.
2) Stop broadcasting their content on TV and radio. They can be recorded.
3) Create 100% copy-protected proprietary media with 100% industry-controlled manufacturing of both the media and players.
4) Create a 100% industry-controlled proprietary broadcasting technology where equipment for recording, transmitting and receiving is 100% manufactured by the industry.

Then they will have their dream world and be in control of what their customers can do with their licensed intellectual property.

Because: the consumer electronics manufacturers care for their customers, and they are not the content providers, but the content consumers. And if that means allowing stuff to be copied, then so be it.

Will the industry take this advice? No, because they actually make oodles of money from the current technologies, despite the crocodile tears shed over those who leech on the paying customers by using illegal downloads. Hence the lobbying because it's cheaper to buy a politican (hi, Orrin Hatch) than to gain the technological control they really want.

[JadedGamer]

To industry: Take control!

I am tired of the Industry using lobbyists to try and patch a broken system (digital copyright enforcement) using laws. What they should do if they are really serious is the following:

1) Stop releasing content on existing media like CDs and DVDs. They can be copied.
2) Stop broadcasting their content on TV and radio. They can be recorded.
3) Create 100% copy-protected proprietary media with 100% industry-controlled manufacturing of both the media and players.
4) Create a 100% industry-controlled proprietary broadcasting technology where equipment for recording, transmitting and receiving is 100% manufactured by the industry.

Then they will have their dream world and be in control of what their customers can do with their licensed intellectual property.

Because: the consumer electronics manufacturers care for their customers, and they are not the content providers, but the content consumers. And if that means allowing stuff to be copied, then so be it.

Will the industry take this advice? No, because they actually make oodles of money from the current technologies, despite the crocodile tears shed over those who leech on the paying customers by using illegal downloads. Hence the lobbying because it's cheaper to buy a politican (hi, Orrin Hatch) than to gain the technological control they really want.

[hadaso]

Any new copyright rextrictions should require registration

Any new copyright rextrictions should require registration of protected works.

The Berne convention treaty requires no registration for getting copyright protection. So we are stuck with this stupid idea. But there's no reason to extend that to new kind of "protection" in new treaties. These should only apply to particular protected items whose "owners" have explicitly requested their protection and made that request public by registering it in a publicly accessible repository.

And then: the Berne convention treaty itself should be updated: this is the 21st cetury, not the 19th century. Registering a work for protection can be made as easy as submitting an online form (and perhaps attaching a file) and the iinfo about which works are protected can be easily made accessible online. It does not require a horseback ride to a capital city to register a new work or to manually browse the records of registered works to find out their copyright status.