paularoid
07-05-2006, 06:01 PM
Perhaps this belongs in "The Zoo" but given the geeky/nerdy nature of it I'm putting it here. It's originally from "CD Freaks" at:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13639
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Senator questions need for new law to plug analog hole
http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_business/article/0,2232,REDD_17527_4822353,00.html
Hollywood received a bit of a shock in a recent special Senate hearing, from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. The gentleman from Pennsylvania questioned the need of creating new laws, to force the closure of the analog hole. The movie industry is pointing to this problem as it is a means of facilitating the illegal copying of copyrighted materials, such as DVDs. He suggested that the industry should form a voluntary agreement on their own, to get the job done.
This is certainly a bit of fresh air, as it seems rather puzzling that the government should have to create laws to police an industry.
The issue at hand is the use of the familiar red, yellow and white connections that still sprout from many a home entertainment device. People can use these analog ports to capture the converted analog signals from a digital source. Then, you simply convert the signal back to digital for storage to a computer disc or optical media. This, the movie industry contends, is the "analog hole".
The process can be a hassle, but Hollywood studios say it's a big factor in piracy. As broadcasters switch to digital signals, producers fear their shows will be copied and distributed over the Internet.
The chairman and top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee have introduced a bill requiring manufacturers to install technology that prevents the copying of digital images through analog jacks. However, the odds of a voluntary agreement are slim.
The scope of the problem of illegal copying through analog devices is subject to debate. "Pirates don't use analog-to-digital. They use digital-to-digital," said Matthew Zinn, TiVo's senior vice president, general counsel and chief privacy officer. "The only people affected by this legislation are ordinary law-abiding citizens."
It seems likely that the gentleman from TiVo is right in his assumption. Yet, who knows? One thing that's for sure, even though it is a hassle as mentioned above, it is a method of working around present laws. But, it seems to me that if the shows were copied using the analog hole, they would only be legal for personal use. There are already laws on the books for sharing of copyrighted materials over the Internet, no matter how they are captured!
It also seems wrong and redundant for the government to have to create a new law, that would basically force hardware manufacturers to do the bidding of the movie and television industry in this special instance. As Matthew Zinn mentions above, this law would not stop a pirate, it would merely just irritate and harm consumers. We would have to ask, in todays rapidly changing technical society: Where will it end? But, it certainly has happened before, the creation of new laws that is, and piracy was mentioned then as well. One such law is called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA and it totally trumped Fair Use rights for the consumer.
Once this law was in place, the legal right to backup was stopped in cases where an anti-copy protection was utilized. Nearly all DVD movies for example, contain a CSS scrambling code now. Since it is illegal to circumvent the protection, technically, you may not back up such a disc by removing the CSS portion on the disc. This is why the industry really wants the analog hole patched, as you are not circumventing the disc copy protection using this method! I suppose if you ever got caught with a ton of movies on your hard disc drive, this might be a good defense, to say you used the analog hole and that the files were for your own personal use.
.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13639
-----
Senator questions need for new law to plug analog hole
http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_business/article/0,2232,REDD_17527_4822353,00.html
Hollywood received a bit of a shock in a recent special Senate hearing, from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. The gentleman from Pennsylvania questioned the need of creating new laws, to force the closure of the analog hole. The movie industry is pointing to this problem as it is a means of facilitating the illegal copying of copyrighted materials, such as DVDs. He suggested that the industry should form a voluntary agreement on their own, to get the job done.
This is certainly a bit of fresh air, as it seems rather puzzling that the government should have to create laws to police an industry.
The issue at hand is the use of the familiar red, yellow and white connections that still sprout from many a home entertainment device. People can use these analog ports to capture the converted analog signals from a digital source. Then, you simply convert the signal back to digital for storage to a computer disc or optical media. This, the movie industry contends, is the "analog hole".
The process can be a hassle, but Hollywood studios say it's a big factor in piracy. As broadcasters switch to digital signals, producers fear their shows will be copied and distributed over the Internet.
The chairman and top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee have introduced a bill requiring manufacturers to install technology that prevents the copying of digital images through analog jacks. However, the odds of a voluntary agreement are slim.
The scope of the problem of illegal copying through analog devices is subject to debate. "Pirates don't use analog-to-digital. They use digital-to-digital," said Matthew Zinn, TiVo's senior vice president, general counsel and chief privacy officer. "The only people affected by this legislation are ordinary law-abiding citizens."
It seems likely that the gentleman from TiVo is right in his assumption. Yet, who knows? One thing that's for sure, even though it is a hassle as mentioned above, it is a method of working around present laws. But, it seems to me that if the shows were copied using the analog hole, they would only be legal for personal use. There are already laws on the books for sharing of copyrighted materials over the Internet, no matter how they are captured!
It also seems wrong and redundant for the government to have to create a new law, that would basically force hardware manufacturers to do the bidding of the movie and television industry in this special instance. As Matthew Zinn mentions above, this law would not stop a pirate, it would merely just irritate and harm consumers. We would have to ask, in todays rapidly changing technical society: Where will it end? But, it certainly has happened before, the creation of new laws that is, and piracy was mentioned then as well. One such law is called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA and it totally trumped Fair Use rights for the consumer.
Once this law was in place, the legal right to backup was stopped in cases where an anti-copy protection was utilized. Nearly all DVD movies for example, contain a CSS scrambling code now. Since it is illegal to circumvent the protection, technically, you may not back up such a disc by removing the CSS portion on the disc. This is why the industry really wants the analog hole patched, as you are not circumventing the disc copy protection using this method! I suppose if you ever got caught with a ton of movies on your hard disc drive, this might be a good defense, to say you used the analog hole and that the files were for your own personal use.
.