what happens if SOPA passes?

it would disguise from your average pleb the notion that a free illegal copy is one click away.

lol wuht everyone who is not a goddamn idiot knows that ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING is one click away at this point

Like HDMI cables and DVD ads you can't skip and lots of other bullshit that's too low-level to go and download some crack for, but annoying enough that it's still bullshit.

lol rmde take it to the first world problems thread

to repeat myself a little differently, i don't know why people (shakey) are saying this bill never had a shot. clearly it did! otherwise it wouldn't be controversial!

like that's what you wanna get up in arms about, the important shit like how annoying it is to watch DVD ads. oh the humanity.

i don't know why people (shakey) are saying this bill never had a shot.

for the simple fact that Google et al have more money and political clout than WEA et al.

That DRM is easy to subvert and doesn't prevent piracy doesn't mean it has no effect at all.

― stet, Thursday, 19 January 2012 09:39 (35 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I can't prove this (obviously) but without DRM I seriously doubt piracy would be as widespread as it is now. A prime example is that bullshit notion of authorising music you've bought with a service that completely closes down after two years, taking with it your access to the music that you paid for. There are loads of people who will never trust content companies again.

DRM was basically what got me to stop buying any major-label discs altogether, as I was one of the unlucky few that couldn't get the thing to work on their car stereo too, it really did have the feeling of being "punished for doing the right thing"

That's why the best way to deal with piracy (assuming that's the motive (which it isn't)) is offering superior access to the same content.

this is exactly it - I'm okay with paying for things I can get for free, but when the free stuff is superior (as it is when the CDs have DRM, or the iTunes m4a's can't be transferred cleanly between computers or hassle you otherwise), that's when I just won't pay

SOPA is looking more dead by the minute. co-sponsors are pulling out, white house seemed to indicate it would not pass it about a week ago.

to be honest, i don't think it's entirely down to lobbying by Google, maybe i'm naive but i think the public outcry really had an effect here...for example the white house's first statement against was a response to an internet petition.

so you know, maybe a bit of hope in that all the hue and cry does seem to have helped (IMO)

major label CDs have DRM? not the ones i buy

i don't think that's readily apparent. or, obvious the interested parties didn't see a game so one-sided they didn't bother to show up to play, did they?

this isn't like the single-payer health plan bill john dingell filed every year for 40 years, it was a real divide.

i think the web panic of your jimmy wales types had a real effect btw. plenty of other telecom/IP issues come and go w/o more than the core of committed activists knowing or caring, usually just to bemoan another loss.

xp 2 shakey

lol wuht everyone who is not a goddamn idiot knows that ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING is one click away at this point

― “How you like that, Mr. Hitler!” (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 January 2012 09:41 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you're assuming that everyone knows how to pirate stuff. They don't.

On a different but related point, recently I found out my dad has been pirating music and he didn't even know it. He found an app on his Android phone that gave him free access to a load of music, then one day called me asking why the app had vanished.

i personally do no know how to torrent anything and never have

perhaps with them gone someone can figure out a business model that actually fits the landscape.

― Bam! Orgasm explosion in your facehole. (DJP), Thursday, 19 January 2012 09:38 (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I get the strong impression that Steve Jobs spent the last decade of his life trying to implement exactly that, and was fought every single step of the way (I'm not saying his way was 100% correct btw)

lol poor steve jobs, he just wanted to make more than both the label and the artist for putting up a website where ppl could download mp3s :(

yeah I've read articles about some of the ideas Jobs had for this and I don't think iTunes as it exists now is even close

basically how itunes works is the label used to fuck you then give you the scraps, and how itunes works is the label fucks you then itunes fucks you and you get the smaller scraps

like that's what you wanna get up in arms about, the important shit like how annoying it is to watch DVD ads. oh the humanity.

Yeah, but this is backward. That's the effect DRM has had -- unskippable adverts, expensive cables, games you can't play without the internet, etc. Amazing, great job, industry.

And the price of achieving that has been to create effectively useless technology that doesn't interoperate and you can't use to build anything interesting or new with. DRM literally holds back the tech industry, either by making things legally or technically impossible, or just much too expensive.

To achieve nothing more than some adverts you can't skip!

xxp Yeah, I mean Jobs was clearly lining Apple's pockets first and foremost but his plans far outweighed anything any content company has ever put into practice. If he had got his way many years ago, the balance would be tipped in his favour but everyone would be making a fortune and piracy would have simmered back down to outlier levels imo.

my friends are awesome

http://i43.tinypic.com/35lw3r8.jpg

just because I dunno how to do it doesn't mean I'm unaware that it can be done and would not be able to figure it out

i think the web panic of your jimmy wales types had a real effect btw.

Google donating $2.5 million to wikipedia (an enterprise they had previously tried to kill) might have had something to do with that lol

xxp

how itunes works is the label fucks you then itunes fucks you and you get the smaller scraps

you should be grateful for the exposure etc

That's the effect DRM has had -- unskippable adverts, expensive cables, games you can't play without the internet, etc. Amazing, great job, industry.

The irony of sitting through a 15 second "do not copy or lend or broadcast this DVD" warning is totally obscene.

To achieve nothing more than some adverts you can't skip!

advertising is increasingly the basis for the entire economy and culture, you might wanna rethink its importance.

lol I hope you're not trying to draw a parallel there Shakey

wait, more expensive cables? how does DRM have anything to do with idiots like Monster Cable screwing over rubes with "high quality" HDMI cables at Best Buy?

because gold plated cables

I can't prove this (obviously) but without DRM I seriously doubt piracy would be as widespread as it is now.

It totally wouldn't be. DRM punishes the people who don't pirate, especially in games. Some games have unbelievably draconian DRM licence checking -- like you must have a live internet connection for every second you play and a disc in the drive or they quit and you lose your saves, while the pirate versions have none of that at all. If your hard drive dies and you reinstall Photoshop, it'll refuse to run until you phone Adobe and go through a multiple-day dance to de-auth your dead machine, but the cracked version will run instantly.

DRM cripples software for legitimate people and means pirates get better stuff. How would that not encourage piracy?

advertising is increasingly the basis for the entire economy and culture, you might wanna rethink its importance.

Advertising is only as powerful as the number of people who respond to it.

my friends are awesome

my facebook is littered with this crap too, which would be somewhat pointed if this bill had any chance of passing in the first place

apple is basically the least "open" company ever, i think it's hilarious that they are being brought up as some paragon of freedom in the tech field.

If he had got his way many years ago, the balance would be tipped in his favour but everyone would be making a fortune and piracy would have simmered back down to outlier levels imo.

I can't even... this is such pie-in-the-sky idolization nonsense. People like free things because they're free. If they can get something for free rather than pay for it, they will take it. The last 10 years have borne this out with startling clarity.

xp

also steve jobs never gave a fuck about content, he made you want sexy objects and knew if he was successful he could bully his way into getting whatever content he needed

stet totally OTM in regards to this stuff, the whole "genuine Windows" thing fucked everyone who ever had computer repairs done, the results of which was a hell of a lot more pirating

Advertising is only as powerful as the number of people who respond to it.

Economically speaking, this is demonstrably untrue.

If your hard drive dies and you reinstall Photoshop, it'll refuse to run until you phone Adobe and go through a multiple-day dance to de-auth your dead machine, but the cracked version will run instantly.

Additionally to this, I've mentioned somewhere here before that Adobe products are more than twice as expensive for Australians as they are for Americans, despite being exactly the same products. You download them from the web site, so Adobe can't even claim it's for distribution. I know for a fact that that drives people to piracy.

Companies spend BAJILLIONS advertising products that fail, and all that money paid salaries for people, including funding things like uh GOOGLE, whether the product fails or not.

xp

product fails succeeds or not

eh you get the idea. I hope.

apple is basically the least "open" company ever, i think it's hilarious that they are being brought up as some paragon of freedom in the tech field.

I'm not sure you're following

People like free things because they're free. If they can get something for free rather than pay for it, they will take it. The last 10 years have borne this out with startling clarity.

We've explained why that's a nonsense argument but clearly you don't want to listen.

also steve jobs never gave a fuck about content, he made you want sexy objects and knew if he was successful he could bully his way into getting whatever content he needed

this is so totally wrong

Economically speaking, this is demonstrably untrue.

― “How you like that, Mr. Hitler!” (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 19 January 2012 10:04 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Go on.

at least we can all agree that Adobe is a horrible company to deal with lol

how does DRM have anything to do with idiots like Monster Cable screwing over rubes with "high quality" HDMI cables at Best Buy?

thats the gold bullshit, but every hdmi cable manufacturer has to pay for a licence to make a hdmi cable, which raises the costs for everyone. This was so they can try and prevent people making cables that would fuck with hdcp content "protection"

and apple
xp

advertising is increasingly the basis for the entire economy and culture, you might wanna rethink its importance.

carts are increasingly coming before horses

things bankrolled by advertising: Google, Facebook, every news site, television, rock bands, rap acts, films, Pitchfork etc etc

xxp

how does DRM have anything to do with idiots like Monster Cable screwing over rubes with "high quality" HDMI cables at Best Buy?

thats the gold bullshit, but every hdmi cable manufacturer has to pay for a licence to make a hdmi cable, which raises the costs for everyone. This was so they can try and prevent people making cables that would fuck with hdcp content "protection"

― stet, Wednesday, January 18, 2012 5:06 PM (58 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

didn't know that, but honestly if you go on amazon or newegg or something it's down to pretty low, like a $1/foot for HDMI now, unless you actively want to get suckered

stet's point is that the cost of DRM is passed on to the customer (who has already done the right thing by paying for the thing that's enforcing the DRM).

http://www.thefader.com/2012/01/18/swizz-beatz-is-the-ceo-of-megaupload/

!!!!

We've explained why that's a nonsense argument but clearly you don't want to listen.

I think it's hilarious that the "people WANT to pay for things, if only we could figure out HOW" angle is essentially unchanged (and just as wrong) as when it was first proffered at the turn of the century. Are you going to be making this same argument 50 years from now when companies still can't figure out how to get people to pay for content? People clearly don't want to pay for things. If something's free and convenient, they take it.

xp