January 6, 2008 • 4:53 am 0
As a follow up to my previous post I thought I’d share just a couple of links to artists I have supported directly by buying the media directly from them instead of third party intermediaries.
* Saul Williams’ album “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!“
* Radiohead’s album “In Rainbows” (unfortunately no longer available as a download)
* They Might Be Giants “They Might Be Downloads“
Filed under: Politics
• 4:33 am 0
I just finished watching Steal This Film II. It is a very well put together documentary about copyright, big media, and the cultural shift that is happening away from pure consumption to a much healthier consume/produce model. I highly recommend watching this film, and although it is a copyrighted work, the producers of the film want you to steal it, hence the name. If it weren’t copyright you couldn’t steal it. So here is part one:
Watch part two, three, four and five, on YouTube.
Now having said that I encourage you to support the artists you like. Attend their concerts, buy their music (when they’ll get paid, ie directly from them, not from iTunes), movies, books etc.
Remember, just because you paid for a CD or DVD don’t assume that the artists behind it will get paid. Just look at the current Hollywood writers strike for an example of where creative people behind the media you enjoy aren’t getting paid their dues.
Try and find artists out there who aren’t backed by big media. Support them. They need it more than Warner Brothers, Fox, and Sony.
Filed under: Entertainment, Politics
December 7, 2007 • 9:50 pm 0
November 28, 2007 • 2:50 am 0
An excellent article at the New York times proposes we turn back the clock on state endorsed marriage.
Filed under: Politics
July 27, 2007 • 2:31 am 1
I was reading another article by Cory Doctorow on giving away digital versions of the Science Fiction novels he writes which contained the line
They evangelize the books they love, form subcultures around them, cite them in political arguments, sometimes they even rearrange their lives and jobs around them.
This is so true. I work in a company almost exclusively populated with geeks and several of them took the last 3 days off to read the last Harry Potter book. I’ve never taken annual leave to read a book. I doubt I ever will.
• 1:57 am 0
In the July 2007 issue of UK Mac Format Chris Phin published an article entitles “Let the musicians keep making music!” where Chris makes his argument for DRM and paying artists for their creations. In that article he equated people who want DRM free music to communists. What follows is my rebuttal to him.
Chris, as an independent content creator you should in fact be against DRM. DRM is an attempt by media conglomerates to coerce technology companies to give them (and only them) control over the technology you use to be creative. Nothing more, nothing less.
Here are a couple of reasons why DRM on music is not required or desirable.
All music up until now has been DRM free (CD’s, LPs, Tapes, AM/FM Radio). Musicians still got paid (some very handsomly).
You can still walk into a store, plonk down your money, pick up a CD, take it home and rip it to your PC. You can then do anything you like with that music (within the limits of copyright statute and case law). There two stores within 2 minutes walking distance of my apartment that sell most of their CDs for $10AU. This is cheaper than the iTunes music store and the music will be unencumbered by DRM. What iTunes has over these stores however is convenience and selection. The buying experience is far better on iTunes. This is the value that iTunes provides to users. The value to producers is the near zero production cost of digital media (after recording expenses) and the ability to data mine and cross sell to their customers.
DRM locks you in.
So why do I still buy CDs and not use the iTunes store? Because I don’t want the music I buy to be locked to my iPod or Mac. In ten years I want to still be able to play my music on my iPod pico, my Linux TV, my Xbox 720, and my PlayStation 4. Just as today I can play the CDs I bought ten years ago on my iPod, Macbook, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It is only now that EMI have opened up their catalogue on iTunes as DRM free music that I’m interested in that service. I also find it illuminating that the DRM free music is encoded at a higher quality than the DRM encumbered tracks. If we’re all just nasty little communists who want to free load shouldn’t the music be of lower quality to encourage us to by the DRM tracks?
Piracy is harder than paying for it.
A good online music store should always be a better buying experience than piracy. I can listen to song snippets, get recommendations, see user ratings & reviews and with one click download to my iPod. This far and away beats the experience of P2P networks or The Pirate Bay. If you have access to cheap and easy services like a DRM-free iTunes and you still pirate something then you probably were never going to buy it to begin with. No loss to the producer.
I, like you, work in a creative industry. In my case I’m a programmer for a company who makes video games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I really don’t care if someone downloads or copies from a friend a game I worked on. What really gets my goat up are shops like GAME and EB Games selling 2nd hand copies of games for $10 off the retail price. This directly effects our income in a huge way. Someone who goes to EB and buys a 2nd hand game for 90% the cost of a new game means a loss of a sale to us the developer. A customer who buys something, be it 2nd hand or a pirate knock off is a paying customer who probably would have paid the extra 10% had the 2nd hand item not been right next to the new one. This customer is denied to us by the retailer who pockets all the cash on that deal giving none to the content producer. This is what really hits hard on the content producers, not piracy.
DRM locks you out.
Another thing that makes DRM bad as a content producer is that it locks you out. Unless you buy in to the DRM scheme, and I mean literally buy not just figuratively, you can’t access that market. The game consoles are a perfect example of this. Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 have DRM on their games. You can’t run a game on either without it being digitally signed by Sony or Microsoft. To get that signature you need to be an authorised developer. To be one of those requires that you pay up front for development kits and a publishing license. If you think the PS3 is expensive in the shops on high street you should see the price of a development kit. It is like 20 times the price. And for every game sold at retail the platform holder takes ~20% of the sticker price.
The game console market is huge at about 200 million customers world wide. Because of DRM if I was an independent developer I couldn’t just create a game, chuck it on the net, and get access to that customer base. Instead I have to go through the gate Sony or Microsoft controls. If I don’t play by their rules I can’t sell my product. Something that happened just recently to Rockstar with their game Manhunt 2. Because this game contains content deemed “objectionable” by the powers that be, Rockstar’s multi-million dollar investment in the development goes down the tubes. In truth this game is no worse than a film like Hostel or Saw.
Now imagine if all PCs and Music players could only play music encumbered by DRM authorized by the RIAA and to encode your music in this DRM encumbered format you had to get a license from the RIAA. Then imagine you were a plucky independent musician who wrote a catchy little song called “Fuck the RIAA”. (Props to NWA). Do you think that would get released?
As a content creator or artist the last thing you want to do is hand over your right to express yourself in your medium of choice to some corporate self serving entity. If you favour DRM then that is exactly what you are doing.
Filed under: Politics
February 8, 2007 • 2:15 am 1
MacNN is reporting that Jobs would offer DRM-free music in a ‘heartbeat’. And Jobs’ open letter on Apple.com seems to suggest the same. This is nice. I hope he gets to prove his word.
Maybe, just maybe, the tide is turning on DRM and we’re actually heading in the right direction away for DRM lock-in hell. Emusic sells DRM-free music, Yahoo is trying the odd song, and Amazon might be giving it a go.
Hmm. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Filed under: Computing, Entertainment, Politics
• 1:51 am 1
I was browsing the net tonight and stumbled on this, via digg.com… Photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bomb.
I’ve been here.
I’ve stood in the shadow of this wrecked building. Besides this, a few other monuments and the museums, today you wouldn’t know Hiroshima had been hit by an Atomic weapon.
At work I’m involved with making a video game about World War II. I’ve “enjoyed” playing WW2 shooters like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. It seems weird when you see galleries of images like those of Hiroshima to think about taking enjoyment from simulating the conflicts of the 20th Century on your couch in front of your TV.
I came upon these images via a blog post that has been on the front page of Digg. The post has attracted all sorts. Among them many ignorant people, people with various political agendas and biases, and some who are informed or more balanced, such as those who posted these nuggets.
“…the greatest thing in history.”
- Harry S. Truman
President of the United States during the Atomic Bombing“It always appeared to us that, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse.”
- General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold
Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Air Forces Under President Truman“I had been conscious of depression and so I voiced to (Sec. Of War Stimson) my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at this very moment, seeking a way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face.’ “
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower“Japan was at the moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of ‘face’. It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.”
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower“It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was taught not to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying woman and children.”
- Admiral William D. Leahy
Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff“I am absolutely convinced that had we said they could keep the emperor, together with the threat of an atomic bomb, they would have accepted, and we would never have had to drop the bomb.”
- John McCloy“P.M. [Churchill} & I ate alone. Discussed Manhattan (it is a success). Decided to tell Stalin about it. Stalin had told P.M. of telegram from Jap Emperor asking for peace.”
- President Harry S. Truman
Diary Entry, July 18, 1945“Some of my conclusions may invoke scorn and even ridicule.
“For example, I offer my belief that the existence of the first atomic bombs may have prolonged — rather than shortened – World War II by influencing Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and President Harry S. Truman to ignore an opportunity to negotiate a surrender that would have ended the killing in the Pacific in May or June of 1945.
“And I have come to view the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that August as an American tragedy that should be viewed as a moral atrocity.”
- Stewart L. Udall
US Congressman and
Author of “Myths of August”“Certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.”
- U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey’s 1946 Study“Careful scholarly treatment of the records and manuscripts opened over the past few years has greatly enhanced our understanding of why Truman administration used atomic weapons against Japan. Experts continue to disagree on some issues, but critical questions have been answered. The consensus among scholars is the that the bomb was not needed to avoid an invasion of Japan. It is clear that alternatives to the bomb existed and that Truman and his advisers knew it.
- J. Samuel Walker
Chief Historian
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
It’s too bad so many people don’t learn more about history than their high school history class. It doesn’t make your actions good just because the actions of your enemies are evil.
It makes no sense to discuss the legitimacy of dropping the Atomic bombs on Japan. You can quote whoever you want and there will be a counter to that quote, you can bring up any evidence you want and there will be a counter to that evidence.
These pictures should not be viewed as an indictment of the US, but as evidence of events we want never to see again.
On a separate note, it is easy to look back now and say that it is wrong, especially when viewing pictures such as these. However, it is also unfair and wholly reliant on hindsight.
It is unfortunate that lately it seems people have forgotten that war, or conflict of any type, is not necessary and those who seek it should be considered defective.
Filed under: Politics
January 26, 2007 • 12:36 am 2
With my iPod going the way of the Dodo I’m beginning to think maybe I should use a media player that is a little less focused on the roach motel business model.
But then I’d have to re-rip all my CDs again in MP3 (instead of iTunes’ usual AAC) format. And iTunes is actually a very good little (big) app. It’s pretty good at podcasts and managing your audio and has some nice bling. Guess I’m stuck in the roach motel.
Filed under: Computing, Entertainment, Politics
• 12:07 am 0
It seems the hackers have been at it again and this time profess to have cracked Blu-Ray disc encryption. Yeah for freedom.
A comment on this article notes that this initial cracking of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray encryption is only possible because people are using Windows XP. Microsoft’s new OS, Vista, is going to plug many of these holes. Microsoft did a deal with the likes of the MPAA and RIAA and have specifically engineered Vista to be much more “secure”.
If you look at the DRM technology in Vista, you realise they have implemented a framework there specifically for Content Protection. Stuff like polling the system a number of times per second, revocation of drivers if its a known leak of HD content, and checking for electrical fluctuations against possible tampering for hardware.
Such technologies will have an affect on system performance and stability. (It doesn’t take a genius to realise where there will be scenarios when the monitoring of certain components is too aggressive and causes problems for the user).
For an indepth analysis of the “cost” to users of Microsoft implementing this technology check out this article by fellow Kiwi Peter Gutmann. Also check out the Security Now podcast for other related stuff.
Not only is Vista more restricted, hardware vendors have been sneaking in hardware onto motherboards and such that has up until now remained dormant, but is poised to strike. Remember the whole “Trusted Computing” issue.
MS is basically “encouraging” hardware makers to implement crap like HDCP and in the future, extra chips in relation to sensing possible modifications to hardware. (called “tilt bits”). Hardware makers need MS, as MS controls 90% of the desktop market.
And implementing DRM technology doesn’t benefit the hardware makers. It doesn’t improve performance, provide new features worthy of selling, etc…In fact, hardware makers try not to emphasize it! (Otherwise, people won’t buy the hardware!)
Its interesting that the law makers have basically made the rules up of how a hardware company is supposed to act. That is, they must prove themselves worthy. What annoys me is that some of the technologies used to enforce DRM can also be used for security of the PC. So PR/marketing dept can use the excuse of security for selling the hardware, when the truth is, its to control the end-user.
And of course most countries have bowed to preasure for the US and WIPO/WTO hegemony and implemented stupid new digital copyright laws.
Stuff like DMCA or in Australia, the Copyright Amendment 2006. (America has infected Australia with a version of DMCA as part of the Free Trade Agreement).
So I’m going to stay away from Vista as long as humanly possible and to stick to open formats like CDs for music. As for movies, well the internet is rife with that stuff… Broadband is the future, not this optical media crap.
In the end industry will listen to peoples wallets. Don’t spend your money on products that restrict your freedom. Don’t buy mainstream dross, check out alternatives, use You Tube, etc.
Filed under: Computing, Entertainment, Politics
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