p2pnet - rss feed: The Analog Hole bill —-
p2p news / p2pnet: F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr, is well known both for his position as the house judiciary committee chairman, and as an enthusiastic supporter of the entertainment industry cartels.
In March last year, the Webcaster Alliance thought the at the time latest CARP (Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel) proposal looked like "another classic case" of Sensenbrenner, "abusing his power for the benefit of the Recording Industry".
The Alliance also had, "serious questions about the RIAA-[Recording Industry Association of America]-financed $18,000 trip Chairman Sensenbrenner took to Thailand and Taiwan in January 2003" and thought, "there needs to be an investigation into that."
The RIAA is owned by the Big Four Organized Music cartel, Sony BMG, Vivendi Universal, EMI and Warner Music.
And together with messrs John Conyers, Jr, and Lamar Smith, (chairman of house judiciary committee’s subcommittee on courts, the internet, and intellectual property) he worked hard against the Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act (DMCRA, HR 107).
Smith, too, is an entertainment industry enthusiast >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A Lump of Coal for Consumers: Analog Hole Bill Introduced
By Danny O’Brien - Deep Links (EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation)
While the Senate was standing up for civil liberties, the House was handing out a Christmas gift to Hollywood. For digital consumers and innovators, however, it looks to be a nasty stocking-filler.
Representatives Sensenbrenner and Conyers have introduced H.R. 4569, the "Digital Transition Content Security Act of 2005," a.k.a. the return of the MPAA’s "Plugging the Analog Hole" scheme, which is itself just a variant on the dreaded "Hollings Bill" introduced back in 2002.
The new bill is a rehash of the one we first mentioned on Halloween. It would impose strict legal controls on any video analog to digital (A/D) convertors "manufacture[d], imported or otherwise traffic[ed]" in the United States.
Digitizers and digital media devices that won’t jump through the specified outrageous regulatory hoops - automatically deleting protected analog content after ninety minutes; outputting only "down-rezzed" images, and satisfying "robustness criteria" that weld the hood shut against user modification and open source developers - are expected to simply turn off and refuse to convert watermark-protected analog video.
And how is this analog video protected? Using an old broadcast-flag like technology called CGMS-A and a new watermarking system called VEIL.
Mandating the VEIL watermark on all video A/D devices is particularly remarkable, as VEIL has had no independent testing as a copy protection technology. In fact, VEIL’s main use until now has been in a series of Warner-licensed Bat-Toys!
Yet, if H.R. 4569 becomes law, technology companies would be bound by law to support this Bat-Toy technology in their products. Anyone who creates a new device that cannot pass on the VEIL watermark, or somehow overrides it, is breaking the law. If he does it for "purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain", he’s a bona-fide criminal.
And if VEIL is so widely broken as to be deemed unusable (couldn’t happen to a Bat-Toy technology, could it?), the U.S. government, in the form of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), will be expected to devise and enforce a new solution. So the Bat-Toy is only the nose under the technology mandates tent - if VEIL doesn’t work out, government bureaucrats get to replace it with whatever strikes them as a good idea at the time.
The Analog Hole law is just the first of the MPAA/RIAA’s Horror Triple Feature to be introduced into Congress. The others are the Broadcast Flag and technology mandate for digital radio. Perhaps they think that Congress will "compromise" by passing one of the three. Or perhaps they’re hoping for a troika of victories in 2006 in their endless campaign against their own customers.
Also read:-
abusing his power - Webcasters attack new CARP bill, March 11, 2005
John Conyers - Sensenbrenner attacks Fair Use bill, June 24, 2005
Lamar Smith - Lamar Smith crows over victory, October 3, 2005
December 18th, 2005 at 9:03 pm
Hey guys, make sure to stop by the EFF Action center and send your representative an email opposing these bills. http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=181
December 18th, 2005 at 10:37 pm
“F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr, is well known both for his position as the house judiciary committee chairman, and as an enthusiastic supporter of the entertainment industry cartels.”
Is this not the same F. James Sensenbrenner that promised about four years ago to revamp the broken the judicial complaint system that is so fu…d up that no judge has ever been removed from the bench since 1936 even though hundreds of complaints are filed each year? And that complaints were beind discarded without any investigation?
But then the corruption of judges continue on an upward spiral with no improvement in sight. Where is Sensenbrenner? Maybe Sensenbrenner is too busy helping the cartels, in addition to getting reelected.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
December 19th, 2005 at 5:41 am
I don’t know why this website insists on printing SHIT…………
The Us congress is going to do whatever it wants to do and they all take kickbacks and bribes from the MPAA and RIAA and they will continue to fuck the average consumer with EVEN MORE OBSTACLES AND OTHER BARRIERS TO KEEP THE CONSUMER FROM GETTING THE MOST OUT THEIR COMPUTERS AND OTHER HARDWARE.
Remember it takes a load of cash to get reelected to congress these days and the 2006 congressional elections are just around the corner.
DONT’T ALL OF YOU DUMBASSES KNOW THAT PUBLIC AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE UNITED STATES AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS ARE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR AND PAID OFF BY THE CORPORATE SWINE CARTELS IN THE UNITED STATES ?
COMPARED TO SOME OF THE ISSUES AFFECTING THE UNITED STATES (WAR IN IRAQ, THE NATIONAL DEBT AND TRADE DEFICITS AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION JUST TO NAME A FEW )THESE DAYS KEEPING PEOPLE FROM ILLEGALLY COPYING DVDS AND CDS IS RELATIVELY MINOR AND SMALL ISSUE
My Question is where is the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the people in the hardware business ?
Seems to me they have the most to lose and they would get fucked the hardest from this proposal.
The entertainment cartels keep insisting that they will keep fucking the buying public until there is a huge consumer backlash in both the software and hardware market and they will start a self inflicted business recession and they will fuck themselves in the ASS.
AS IF I CARED…………………………..
December 19th, 2005 at 10:21 am
you know, the day this all goes down is the day i turn off any form of media that comes out of my pocket.
i see it as a brighter day.
December 19th, 2005 at 10:24 am
when a business lobbies (bribes) government officials to look the other way on illegal immigrant workers, the government is only pocketing your tax dollars through bribes and you foot the bill for the immigrants paycheck that goes back to THEIR country!!
when the government goes bankrupt, and the corporations hold EVERYTHING, what are you gonna do.
December 19th, 2005 at 11:24 am
The corrupt judges and judicial system are necesary to sustain the corrupt cartel on artificial respitation.
Look, the judicial system is utouchable. In government and in the legislatures we have some election power, but the judges are sacred lawyer gods that respond to no one.
December 19th, 2005 at 4:07 pm
When people’c complaints are ignored for a long period of time, violence ensues. Look at what happened to Joan Lefkow’s family. I do not condone the killing of innocent people, but that is what happened in this case. Apparently, the bullets had Joan’s name on it, but it made it to her innocent husband and mother. Will the lack of response to people’s grievences and the number of hoops people have to jump through in order to receive permission in order to something that they should be free to do in the first place, it is a wonder why more people do not do crazy and violent things.
Acually, I have to admire what Marvin Heemeyer did in Granby, Colorado. He build a tank out of a bulldozier. Rather than go on a wild rampage and kill innocent people, he used his tank to mow down the buildings of those with whom he had his grievance. It looks like if he wanted to hurt, maim or kill, he would have amply opportunities to do so. Yet he did not. Look at http://www.nobsnews.org/gpageMarv1.html to learn more. One can also google the web and get other reports as well. Of course, the LameScream press paints this guy as a real madman, but is he?
December 19th, 2005 at 4:29 pm
To answer a few questions…
“I don’t know why this website insists on printing SHIT”
This is P2Pnet, not the Anti Iraq war web site, and sorry dude, but having the RIAA, MPAA mandate all that you see and hear IS an important issue.
“My Question is where is the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the people in the hardware business”
Because some of them, think “Sony”, are both hardware manufacturers and record/movie companies. Most of the rest probably just don’t care, as they will pass on any added expense to the consumer. That’s right boys and girls, you get to pay more for features you don’t want. What a bargin!
“AS IF I CARED”
Then why bother posting here, go hang out at an I hate Bush site.
December 19th, 2005 at 4:37 pm
I can see it now:
Watermark prevents video cameras from recording water marked movies.
This will make criminals invisible from surveillance cameras. All one has to do is play “premium content” in a portable DVD player and point the screen in the general direction of a surveillance camera. The surveillance camer must by law disable video recording in order to prevent the unauthorized duplication of said “premium content.” An innovative hacker could make a quite a good living by producing a small device that transmits watermark signals that jams surveillance cameras everywhere. This same hacker could also make a device that causes analog video devices to misread a copy protection signal allowing the copying of premium content to continue.
December 19th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
Well If Bush adds More superpower and revives the patrioit act then ALL of US is screwed and the US will become a police state
December 19th, 2005 at 11:32 pm
“I don’t know why this website insists on printing SHIT”
This is P2Pnet, not the Anti Iraq war web site,”
If you look for a link betwee P2P and the Iraq war, you will find it. The link is in the arguments. Yesterday Condolesa Rice (Bush) said on national television that the objective in Iraq was to achieve democracy for the Iraqui people. Knowing that the allies of Bush are non democratic corrupt monarchies hated by the people of their respective countries (example - Saudi Arabia) you must know that the democratic line just spitted out by Rice is not true, the truth being that the war in Iraq is to protect the oil interests.
The link: With liars in the presidency and in congress you cannot expect a reasoned copyright reform. Now only big copyright cartel interests are protected. Without a reasoned copyright reform P2P will continue to be hounded by the cartels.
In the meantime the best strategy for P2P believers is to hound elected class and the cartels until a new president or congress is elected. Then, maybe we will see some honest changes.
When in war, attack all fronts. The P2P war is between the people and their disoriented government. A government that is criminilizing American youth that only wants to play, copy and share music.
December 20th, 2005 at 6:09 am
Do the politicians think that by passing a bill like this that all of the D/A and A/D converters (billions and billions of them, as Carl Sagan would say) that currently exist are simply going to disappear? Or perhaps there will be a collection drive for them, complete with with lackey going about the town with a cart (a la Monty Python) droning “Bring out your converters! Bring out your converters!
This is such an insipid idea as D/A or A/D converters are such a basic staple of electronics and intergrated circuits that you can fashion your own out of parts scavanged from old TV sets, etc. Or, one can go about it the other way and use a microprocesser (overkill) to accomplish the same function.
If you take a look at the previous professions and/or educational backgrounds of most Congressmen and Senators, you are unlikely to find many engineers at all, with the exception of those that went to the US Military Academies. It’s unlikely that those individuals got to use much of that knowledge once they went on active duty.
This isn’t the first idiotic proposal of this kind that’s been batted around and it certainly won’t be that last. Unfortunately.
–TurboGeek
December 20th, 2005 at 10:41 pm
I still stand by my original reply. The initial post seemed to criticize p2pnet for concentrating on p2p issues while the more “important” Iraq issue was ignored. As there are many anti Bush/Iraq sites the original poster would be better off going to one of those rather than criticizing p2pnet for not focusing on that issue.
As I said in another post the best way to deal with the cartels is to refuse to buy their product. They will never change, the only hope is to drive them out of business. As for political action, I would advise people(in America)to stop listening to the media when they start chanting the “you are wasting your vote if you cast it on a third party” mantra. If everyone keeps voting Democrat/Republican then you are not going to see any change.
December 21st, 2005 at 4:49 am
But then i really don’t give a fuck what YOU think but this is the internet and i will post anything i feel like saying and there is NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.
But there is something i really want to know.
Don’t you have anything in your life that is more important than worrying about how the entertainment cartels protecting themselves (rightfully so ) from internet pirates like yourself from stealing from them ?
There is NOTHING you or anybody else can do about the political scene in the United States Congress.
The Democrap - republicon political system is NEVER going to change.
It sounds like you don’t have a life.
Or let me quess.
You are young and you involve yourself with causes that will not personally make YOU rich or financially well off.
Worrying about things about the inherent unfairness about american capitalism will never make people like yourself financially prosperous.
Most of the american public does not care about young naive fools ripping off the entertainment cartels and getting rightly sued for it.
The record and movie companies have no intention of changing their retail business and that too will never change.
The general buying public will still buy drm laden junk and that will never change either.
I don’t know what country you are from but downloading crap like rap music in the united states without paying for it is THEFT.
I hear basically why young people steal music on the internet is basically the same reason during the woodstock - isle of wight era is young people then would have crashed a music festival you had to PAY to get into even if it was only 15 cents it would have been 15 cents too much and they would have wanted free admission.
But i quess for most people the idea the whole world is motivated by money and profit and greed and YOU HAVE TO PAY TO PLAY is just too profound for their minds to comprehend.
December 21st, 2005 at 6:51 am
“Analog hole” legislation introduced
12/18/2005 7:28:09 PM, by Eric Bangeman
A frightening bit of legislation was introduced to the US House Judiciary Committee on Friday. The Digital Transition Content Security Act of 2005 (PDF) is sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) (PDF) and would close that pesky analog hole that poses such a dire threat to the survival of the music and movie industries. The bill was originally planned for introduction in early November, but was tabled after hearings held by the House Subcomittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
Calling the ability to convert analog video content to a digital format a “significant technical weakness in content protection,” H.R. 4569 would require all consumer electronics video devices manufactured more than 12 months after the DTCSA is passed to be able to detect and obey a “rights signaling system” that would be used to limit how content is viewed and used. That rights signaling system would consist of two DRM technologies, Video Encoded Invisible Light (VEIL) and Content Generation Management System—Analog (CGMS-A), which would be embedded in broadcasts and other analog video content.
Under the legislation, all devices sold in the US would fall under the auspices of the DTCSA: it would be illegal to “manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide or otherwise traffic” in such products. It’s a dream-come-true for Hollywood, and in combination with a new broadcast flag legislation (not yet introduced) would strike a near-fatal blow to the long-established right of Fair Use.
According to Reps. Sensenbrenner and Conyers, the legislation is absolutely necessary because of the dire threat PCs and the Internet pose to the content-creation industry’s very livelihood. Apparently, it’s not nimble enough to keep up with advances in technology. Says Rep. Conyers:
“As one of our most successful industries, it is important that we protect the content community from unfettered piracy. One aspect of that fight is making sure that digital media do not lose their content protection simply because of lapses in technology. This bill will help ensure that technology keeps pace with content delivery.”
Ah, yes. The piracy bogeyman. In the same press release, Rep. Sensenbrenner points out that a “software pirate” in Alexandria, Virginia pled guilty to “making $20 million in sales of counterfeit intellectual property.” However, the honorable representative from Wisconsin fails to understand that the software market relies on a completely different distribution model than does broadcasting, instead choosing to throw big numbers around in an attempt to make this misguided bill sound like it makes some small shred of sense for consumers.
Reading through the proposed text of the DTSCA, it is easy to see the hand of the MPAA at work. The proposed legislation defines four “Technical Content Protection Responses” that consumer devices will have based on the type of signal transmitted in a broadcast.
Copy Prohibited Content, which would mark the transmission as off limits for copying or recording of any kind
Copy Unlimited No Redistribution Content, which means that the analog content could be passed through to a digital device for copying, but redistribution would be limited
Copy One Generation Content, which would allow viewers to make a single generation of copies
No Technical Protection Applied, programming that could still be recorded.
It doesn’t take too much imagination to see where this is headed.
Once the MPAA and pals have their way, you’re going to pay through the nose for even the most basic of Fair Use rights. You’re going to pay for the right to rewind and “re-experience” content. The Copy Prohibited Content class, complete with its asinine insta-delete feature is nothing but a back door into attacking what the content industry hates most: your ability to timeshift content.
And this bill is ridiculously hard on timeshifting. Section 201 (b) (1) of the DTCSA gives you all of 90 minutes from the initial reception of a “unit of content” to watch your recordings. Heaven forbid you get a long phone call or an unscheduled visit from a neighbor when you’re engaged in some delayed viewing—once that 90-minute window closes you’re out of luck until the next broadcast.
Our Fair Use rights have been on the endangered list for the past several years, and the passage of this legislation would mark a habitat loss so severe that it would threaten the very survival of the species. No matter what the MPAA and RIAA tell us, it’s not about piracy. It’s about squeezing every last dollar out of our pockets if we want to do anything other than watch a live broadcast.
This is bad legislation for everyone except Hollywood and its lackeys. If you are represented by a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, contact him or her and make your feelings known. Given what’s at stake here, expressing your views to your congressional representative and senators is an excellent idea as well.
December 21st, 2005 at 12:05 pm
“Most of the american public does not care about young naive fools ripping off the entertainment cartels and getting rightly sued for it.”
Wrong. It is not that the Americans do not care. It is they do not know and realize how lives are disrupted and damaged by frivolous lawsuits. Then many Americans have been formed so as not to question things that are political and religious. Put differently, they have been brainwashed.
“I don’t know what country you are from but downloading crap like rap music in the united states without paying for it is THEFT.”.
Downloading cannot be theft because nothing is taken. I saw a recent DVD that has a message: possesion of a pirated DVD was a crime. A friend, a movie fan, who just arrived from a trip to a Latin American where it is rumored that 90 percent of the sold DVDs are pirated, a fact (if a rumor can be a fact) that I know but my friend does not. In that country my friend purchase several DVDs for the simple reason that he wanted them and they are not sold locally, so he thought.
Now, it turns out, my friend could or could not be a criminal and a thief, depending on whether the DVD’s he owns were pirated or not, something he has no way of knowing.
I myself admit that I use to copy LP records to cassettes, without the record manufacturer’s permission. All my friend and adult relatives did it too. Many of these are fine honest people and well regarded professional. If I thought of them as thieves, I would be MAD. After all, then we are all thieves.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
December 21st, 2005 at 5:43 pm
House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI):
Criminals “obtain copyrighted content and then redistribute for profit at the copyright owner’s expense.”
And criminal will continue to dot it. The FBI and the rest of the federal government could not stop bootlegger, who had to distribute tanks full of beer and whiskey on mafia run bars. Like now everyone knows where drug is sold except the police, back then everyone knew where to buy booze but the police.
Back then many knew where the Kennedy money came from (contraband whiskey) but that same money bought the police. That did not stop America from naming Kennedy ambassador to Great Britain. Well, nothing has changed.
Aprently Mr. Sensenbrenner knows nothing about history and technology and thinks that criminals can be stopped from selling pirate DVDs or that downloaders can be stopped.
It is amazing how the people’s money is stolen by legislators that have no idea as to whom they work for and what should be legislated and what should not.
The new motto should be “fight drugs, not cds and dvds”.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
December 21st, 2005 at 5:49 pm
House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI):
Criminals “obtain copyrighted content and then redistribute for profit at the copyright owner’s expense.”
And criminal will continue to dot it. The FBI and the rest of the federal government could not stop bootlegger, who had to distribute tanks full of beer and whiskey on mafia run bars. Like now everyone knows where drug is sold except the police, back then everyone knew where to buy booze but the police.
Back then many knew where the Kennedy money came from (contraband whiskey) but that same money bought the police. That did not stop America from naming Kennedy ambassador to Great Britain. Well, nothing has changed.
Aprently Mr. Sensenbrenner knows nothing about history and technology and thinks that criminals can be stopped from selling pirate DVDs or that downloaders can be stopped.
It is amazing how the people’s money is stolen by legislators that have no idea as to whom they work for and what should be legislated and what should not.
The new motto should be “fight drugs, not cds and dvds”.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
December 21st, 2005 at 6:20 pm
Yes, I guess it is more fun to be a TROLL, which is what you are.
“Don’t you have anything in your life that is more important than worrying about how the entertainment cartels protecting themselves (rightfully so ) from internet pirates like yourself from stealing from them ?”
Other than bitching about Bush, pray tell us what is so important in YOUR life, and if you are so busy with other more important matters, why are you here? If you are so noble and concerned why don’t you go to Iraq as an aid worker. Then I could laugh when you got captured and they cut off your head with a dull knife.
I guess by “protecting themselves” you mean by installing rootkits on people’s computers, even though that leaves them vulnerable to hackers? The funny thing is that the people most affected by this are not the so called “pirates”, as they are not buying the drm infected CD’s.
“The Democrap - republicon political system is NEVER going to change.”
It probably won’t, because idiots like you keep supporting the status quo.
“Worrying about things about the inherent unfairness about american capitalism will never make people like yourself financially prosperous”
Not buying overpriced CD’s or restrictive drm junk has certainly helped my bank account.
“The record and movie companies have no intention of changing their retail business and that too will never change.”
Neither will p2p(except to adapt to and overcome any RIAA security measures), it has already been proven that in a capitalist economy businesses that can’t adapt die.
“The general buying public will still buy drm laden junk and that will never change either.”
Possibly, it depends on just how restrictive it is and how much publicity there is about it.
“YOU HAVE TO PAY TO PLAY is just too profound for their minds to comprehend.”
I guess that concept is difficult for the record companies, who keep getting sued by artists for non payment of royalties. They like to apply that by way of illegal payolla to radio stations in order to get their latest junk on the air. Bitching about file sharers stealing from the record companies is like complaining about someone stealing from the mafia. It may be illegal, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy in either case.
December 21st, 2005 at 6:48 pm
Actually i am a civil servant attached to the united states marine corps in the continental united states and everytime i hear hear about uncle sam’s finest killing a bunch of fucking diaperhaed terro - ists i think it’s funny than hell…………
Hell i got one hell of a sense of humor .
When i was on active duty devil dog in the marine corps i could pick off dickheads like you in the head with a good clean head headshot with my trusty m- 14 or m-16 at 500 yards.
I think it’s fucking funny when a b - 52 bomber drops a bunch of 500 pound dumb bombs on a bunch of islamic diaperheads.
If you hate george bush and the united states that much why don’t you go to iraq and join the insurgency ?
Now that you mentioned it you can go to savage nation website and you can watch a video of nick berg getting his head whacked off with a buck knife.
It’s pretty gruesome.
If a fucking puss like yourself has a weak stomach i suggest you don’t watch it.
The only bad part about is too bad it was not you ………………
SO SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AND A EAT A BANANA.
AND THEN YOU CAN EAT THE PEANUTS OUT OF MY SHIT.
MONKEY OH MONK MONKEY