US "the Enemy" Says Dotcom Judge 469
First time accepted submitter Flere Imsaho writes "During the NetHui Internet conference last week, the NZ judge to hear the Dotcom extradition case was speaking on the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement and how the U.S. entertainment industry is pushing to make region code hacking illegal, when he said 'Under TPP and the American Digital Millennium copyright provisions you will not be able to do that, that will be prohibited ... if you do you will be a criminal — that's what will happen. Even before the 2008 amendments it wasn't criminalized. There are all sorts of ways this whole thing is being ramped up and if I could use Russell [Brown's] tweet from earlier on: we have met the enemy and he is [the] U.S.'"
Easy solution for Australia (And NZ?) (Score:2, Interesting)
It's at least true in Aus that it is illegal to lock things down to a region.
Make cracking the region locks illegal but make every region coded item illegal too. And put equal effort into persuit of the wrongdoers in each case.
Does NZ have the same law? Seems likely. In which case: sorted.
Re:The enemy among us. (Score:2, Interesting)
Attention: **AA does not represent the working class. Dotcom made his money off the backs of the already rich guys. Thus we frankly don't give a damn as long as he's given a fair trial in NZ for any crimed committed in NZ against NZ law.
Re:Then buy NZ music (Score:4, Interesting)
but but but but but... we have the missiles!!
look at the warships!
Re:Then buy NZ music (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The enemy among us. (Score:5, Interesting)
10 years is probably too short, but you're right that copyright laws are broken. I do like 10 years as a good number to work from.
I think copyright should be broken into personal and corporate copyright. Personal copyright is owned by the author. Corporate by a corporation.
Personal copyright should have a maximum 10 year exclusive license limit, after ten years the license should be renegotiated, and perhaps transfered to another publisher. He time limit for personal copyright should be Death or twenty years whichever is longer.
Corporate copyright should be free for 10 years. And then renewed in each country that the corporation wants to enforce it in for $10,000 for then next 10 years, then $100,000 for ten more years and so on. So:
0-10 years free ...
11-20 years $10,000 per country
21-30 years $100,000 per country
31-40 years $1,000,000 per country
If a company wants to bankrupt itself to keep a copyright that's fine but it'll quickly become too expensive for companies not to let copyrit lapse.
Breaking digital locks should not be illegal. You blame the lock if it gts broken, safes and locks are rated by how long it takes to break into them. Also you could look at it as a National Security question, if you my cryptography illegal, only crimals will be cryptologists. And then how are you going to secure your communications? Digital locks are a good way to train the next generation of cryptologists, and keep them practiced.
Re:Then buy NZ music (Score:4, Interesting)
Sorry, that music may have been produced in the US, but contains ingredients taken from music produced elsewhere. Ergo, there is no basis to declare that US copyright laws should extend to other countries.
Re:The enemy among us. (Score:5, Interesting)
Certainly he's a shady character, but last time I checked, this guy actually wanted to pay the artists [techcrunch.com]
Dotcom described Megabox as Megaupload’s iTunes competitor, which would even eventually offer free premium movies via Megamovie, a site set to launch in 2012. This service would take Megaupload from being just a digital locker site to a full-fledged player in the digital content game.
The kicker was Megabox would cater to unsigned artists and allow anyone to sell their creations while allowing the artist to retain 90% of the earnings. Or, artists could even giveaway their songs and would be paid through a service called Megakey. “Yes that’s right, we will pay artists even for free downloads.
The above, if true, raises an interesting point. MegaUpload operated using the same model for years. Somehow, once they talked about creating a service that directly competed with iTunes -- and charging artists less for the privilege of selling their music via the MegaBox service, the FBI got quite frisky. Seizing servers, requesting arrest and extradition, freezing assets, etc. Now MegaUpload is no longer a threat to iTunes. I wonder what changed?
[Removes tinfoil hat]
I'm not saying that Apple owns the FBI, nor am I saying that these events weren't coincidental. It just gives you something to file away for future reference.
Re:And the U.S. law is YOUR law now too (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Then buy NZ music (Score:4, Interesting)
Just wait until Peter Jackson or a delegate runs for office in NZ, and then there will be a re-focused priority on protection of intellectual property.
then don't buy any music ever (Score:5, Interesting)
NZ brings in more money selling music in the US than the other way around. And there are plenty of NZ artists that are signed under Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI). NZ citizens currently benefits from the laws and organizations of the US. But I guess everyone eventually complains after making a deal with the devil.
Re:Then buy NZ music (Score:5, Interesting)
They say NZ's nuclear-free law extends only to their territorial waters--12 nautical miles from shore--not even out to the the 200 nautical mile "exclusive economic zone"; 12 NM hardly qualifies as a "long way" around NZ, particularly for a nuclear powered warship, which would typically not come that close to shore unless the ship was already going to port.
So, like most blahblah-free zones, it's basically just a feel-good measure. It's almost certianly more of an negative economic cost to business in NZ than anything else, since even diesel-powered US warships won't be able to visit NZ ports for provisions or other economic purposes, as the US Navy will refuse to confirm or deny that they have nuclear weapons on board any particular ship. Also, in the event of a natural disaster, the people of NZ might be in for even more hurt. The US Navy, more than any other force on the globe, is a massive resource for quickly sending out a great deal of logistical support for disaster relief. I wonder if they would suspend that policy in the event of a disaster, even though I hope that need never arises.
US Gov't + Entertainment Industry = team fail (Score:5, Interesting)
The whole system we have set up here where the Govt passes legislature helping out lobbyists (in this case is so broken it's not even funny. I wouldn't go so far to say we are the sole enemy, but we definitely are not helping the situation.
I am 25, and the majority of my friends are way too busy trying to wiggle out from debt or job hunting in a stagnant environment to make their voices be heard (unless wikipedia shuts down [reuters.com]). Seeing as it costs time and money to make sure you actually get a seat at the table, it seems to me that a huge number of our generation is grossly misrepresented.
Is there someone/something out there that is working to involve our young adults in foreign and domestic politics... as opposed to telling them what to do/not to do? I cannot put it as eloquently as Jon Stewart did [washingtonpost.com], but our problems are only going to expand if we let people who refer to our type as "nerds" run the country.
We need to either a. Set up a strong lobby group to oppose heavy handed corporate driven legislature or b. change the system in it's entirety.
re: Dotcom - a "shady character" (Score:5, Interesting)
You know something? The more I read about Kim Dotcom, the more I get the idea "shady character" doesn't really fit him neatly. He reminds me much more of some of the "old school" computer geeks I knew from back in the mid 1980's and still run into occasionally. Many of them have a burning desire to make something of their lives ... to do something memorable, within the realm of what their talents are. They're a little eccentric or "off beat" by mainstream society's standards, sure. And maybe some of them are a bit guilty of being a little too materialistic. (But some of that simply comes with the territory of being interested in technology, IMO. If you spend much of your time working with computers and tech. - you develop an appreciation for all of those physical gadgets and devices that other people may not really have. It extends out towards all manner of complex machines and devices, too. Lots of I.T. hardware guys I know also get very interested in sports cars, for example. Even though they're not "gear heads" in the sense of putting in thousands of hours in someone's garage taking apart engines and transmissions? They appreciate the work that goes into building such a machine, and desire one of their own -- the same way they want the fastest PC out there, even if they don't really have a NEED for one that performs quite that well.)
Dotcom strikes me as all of the above, with a need to be recognized.... to be a "celebrity" of sorts, within his own circle of fellow geeks at least. (The fact he'd change his last name to Dotcom, alone, tells you how much he wants to be noticed as a "guru" in his field of interest.)
He was recently seen in photos hanging out with Steve Wozniak ... with Woz having nothing but good things to say about him. That's not quite what I'd expect if the guy was just your run of the mill online scammer, trying to make his fortune at everyone else's expense.
It's govt. and big media wanting you to think of this guy as something like a foreign leader of a drug cartel ....
Re:And the U.S. law is YOUR law now too (Score:5, Interesting)
Those behemoth Ultra Large Container Vessels consume an enormous amount of fuel bringing their shit from Asia to the U.S., and short of discovering some huge untapped energy source, I don't see that being sustainable at all in the long term.
The ultra-large container ships do consume ultra-large amounts of fuel, but they also transport ultra-large amounts of stuff. In fact, the bigger the ship, the less fuel is used proprtionally.
It takes about 20 days to sail a container ship from the UK to China. Based the Wikipedia article for the Emma Maersk (new top of the line container vessel), that comes to about 57 to 123 gallons of fuel per 20 foot container.
A 20 foot container holds a LOT of stuff. For most domestic manufactured goods, the amount of fuel used per item shipped from China is tiny: much much less than the amount of fuel you will use to drive to the store to buy the item, or the amount of fuel used to deliver it to your house.
It's pretty safe to say that private use of cars will disappear long before high capacity long range shipping of goods.
preceded by sanctions and ever-increasing limits on Chinese imports that will help to encourage domestic production.
I expect the latter will happen very soon. I don't know why it hasn't already: China has effectively used government money to shut down the rest of the world's rare earth manufacturing. I'm not entirely sure why this didn't cause the introduction of tarriffs.
I doubt war will happen. It would be much cheaper to build domestic factories and (NB) re-open domestic mines. Then use subsidies/import tariffs to protect an important strategic industry.
Re:And the U.S. law is YOUR law now too (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:And the U.S. law is YOUR law now too (Score:5, Interesting)
I work automotive logistics (Score:3, Interesting)
I do logistics work for automotive parts manufacturers. Forgive me if I cannot post in an account. I will tell you what I know.
Ford? Nope China parts, Assembled in canada and mexico.
Various bits made in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Canada. Shipped to various states, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, and China.
Some vehicles are made local, some are not. Local variants elsewhere in the world are assembled there with parts made here.
GM? as china as you can get.
Nearly identical to Ford. More parts are shipped to Michigan from Germany, combined with local bits, then shipped various places. Including back to a different company in Germany (this happens nationally as well with great frequency).
Honda? Yes they are more american than any american car brand, but parts are still China
In my line of work I handle no proprietary Honda parts manufactured in the United States. Toyota on the other hand is the biggest customer. Huge amounts shipped to Japan from Michigan for my company. The tsunami was a serious hit to our bottom line. Many people did not mind the refocusing on other partners as Japanese businessmen treat anyone of any ranking here like third world peons. Much gnashing of teeth over the disrespect.
My opinion of my little part of the world is that manufacturing seems to be a huge mishmash of middlemen doing slight work to products and moving them on to the next. It happens within countries, between countries, and between continents. There is no real way of telling where something came from with so many feedback loops and nondisclosure agreements. Though I should not complain. Knowing the system is what makes me money.
The deepest trading chain I could find beginning-to-end looks like this:
Spain (natural resources)
Italy (refinement)
Indiana (forming)
Michigan(more forming)
Michigan (stamping)
Germany (additive processing)
West Virginia (testing)
Michigan (finishing processes)
Ohio (assembly priming and packaging)
Japan (put in a vehicle)
All for a little fuel system fastener that you can get OEM for a fistfull of dollars.
Re:remember that raise you didn't get? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:And the U.S. law is YOUR law now too (Score:5, Interesting)
Which is roughly 1/2 to 1/3 the fuel capacity of a tractor trailer hauling one or two such containers. Basically, the fuel cost of trucking something a few hundred miles is more than the fuel cost of transporting it across the ocean via cargo ship.
Totally different story for rail, which is about 3-5x more efficient than truck, or about half the efficiency of cargo ship. But the U.S. mostly killed off its rail industry by subsidizing trucking. (The highways are paid for disproportionately by passenger cars - they pay about half the cost, while trucks cause most of the road damage which needs to be repaired. The average passenger car simply does not weigh enough to damage the highway appreciably.)