Digital rights management

Overheard - RealDVD and the power of the MPAA

“It’s perfectly legal to rip music from a CD and upload it onto an iPod for personal use; why can’t a person do the same with their own copies of movies?” Brennon Slattery, Why Pick on RealDVD?

It’s sad that RealDVD, with its sophisticated and lawful approach to DVD-copying, had to swallow the wrath of the MPAA. It’s also clear that the DMCA [Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998] needs to be updated to reflect the changes in media distribution 11 years later.

Overheard: Who gets to be the copyright police?

Network-level filtering means your Internet service provider – Comcast, AT&T, EarthLink, or whoever you send that monthly check to – could soon start sniffing your digital packets, looking for material that infringes on someone’s copyright. Brad Stone, AT&T and Other ISPs May Be Getting Ready to Filter

All this talk about the future responsibilities of ISPs reminds me of a jigsaw puzzle. I’ve been saving all the pieces and putting them together in various ways, but the picture always turns out the same. Tiered Internet Services.