Author: Ed Felten
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Misleading Term of the Week: "Rights"
A “right” is a legal entitlement – something that the law says you are allowed to do. But the term is often misused to refer to something else. Consider, for example, the use of “digital rights management” (often abbreviated as DRM) to describe technologies that restrict the use of creative works. In practice, the “rights”…
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Slashdotted!
Sorry for the outage yesterday. A Slashdot item about Fritz’s Hit List drove enough traffic here to use up our full bandwidth allocation for the month. I’ve put another quarter into the slot, so now we’re back on the air. I’m thrilled to have so many readers, even if most of them will probably end…
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Fritz's Hit List #9
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: digital hearing aids. These hearing aids receive, process, and retransmit audio in digital form, so they qualify for regulation as “digital media devices” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured digital hearing aids will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology. Fight piracy – regulate hearing…
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"Digital Media Device" Definition from the Hollings CBDTPA
Several readers have asked me to post the precise definition of “digital media device” from the Hollings CBDTPA. Here it is: DIGITAL MEDIA DEVICE. – The term “digital media device” means any hardware or software that – (A) reproduces copyrighted works in digital form; (B) converts copyrighted works in digital form into a form whereby…
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Fritz's Hit List #8
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: the TinkleToonz Musical Potty. This handy toilet training aid offers a “magical, musical land of potty training,” by playing a tune whenever liquid is deposited in it. Since it plays digital audio, it qualifies for regulation as a “digital media device” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any…
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Technology: Unknown or Unknowable?
I’ve been reading what various Washington people are saying about the Berman-Coble peer-to-peer hacking bill. Many people agree that if the bill is passed, a sort of arms race will develop between the p2p-disrupters and the p2p-developers. The disrupters will deploy a new technology to foil p2p networks; the developers will cook up a countermeasure;…
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Fritz's Hit List #7
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: the Shop With Me Barbie toy cash register. This product, which plays digital audio, qualifies for regulation as a “digital media device” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured Barbie cash registers will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology. Fight piracy – regulate toy cash…
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Fritz's Hit List #6
Today on Fritz’s Hit List: digital answering machines (like this one). These products, which record and replay digital audio, qualify for regulation as “digital media devices” under the Hollings CBDTPA. If the CBDTPA passes, any newly manufactured digital answering machine will have to incorporate government-approved copy restriction technology. Fight piracy – regulate answering machines!
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What Hollywood Wants to Do To P2P Users
The written version of Randy Saaf’s testimony at yesterday’s Berman-Coble hearings is now available. It is longer than his oral statement and answers a key technical question. Saaf runs a company called Media Defender (MD) that tries to disrupt p2p networks on the behalf of copyright holders. All of the speakers at the hearings agree…
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Sprigman on Reverse Engineering and Licenses
Interesting legal commentary by Chris Sprigman at FindLaw, on the legal status of reverse engineering in relation to software licenses. [link credit: FurdLog]