Follow-up

You might think I'm a bit mental for the previous post, but here's some source material to show you that I'm not completely crazy. (See, other people think this Disney BS is ridiculous too!)

In other copyright ridiculousness, politicians in New Zealand are trying to pass a bill that would cut people off from internet usage after three accusations of copyright infringement. (ie: downloading illegal MP3's or movies, copying information that they hadn't officially bought, etc.) This means that, if this law passes, a company like EMI or Virgin or Warner Bros. have to accuse someone three times...without needing any evidence of any sort...and then that person will have their internet "privileges" revoked. (I don't know for how long, maybe forever?)

Big deal, it's in New Zealand. Except that the comparison has been made between copyright infringement, (MP3's), and the owning of child pornography. Do those things seem connected to you at all?

Closer to the home front, Canada's potential DMCA bill would constrict copyrights in that country to such an extent that it would become illegal to possess a region-free DVD player. It would also become illegal to backup your movies and music...copying files at your leisure, even for your own purposes would become illegal. You wouldn't even be able to send your kids' school pictures to their grandparents. This bill hasn't gone through yet, but some people are trying very hard to make it happen.

If you think that this kind of thing could never happen here in the states, I have something to tell you: There is an idea being kicked around these days that would have you concede control of your electronic devices in certain buildings/areas. The up side is that movie theaters could automatically turn off your cell phone when you entered the theater. You gave them permission just by buying a ticket and walking through the door...sounds convenient. But who actually owns the phone? Who owns your computer? One would think that you do, since you bought it, but if someone else decides what you are allowed to do with it, then you don't own it anymore.

And here's something just for fun for people who saw Wall-E. Wall-E is a criminal! But Pixar works for Disney and the robot Eve looks like an iPod...