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Dianne Feinstein on the Broadcast Flag: Idiot or liar?
BoingBoingBlog ^ | June 24, 2005 | Cory Doctorow

Posted on 06/24/2005 9:14:47 PM PDT by Gomez

Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote back to constituents who complained about the Broadcast Flag with this amazing, disingenuous note:

Thank you for writing to me about the digital broadcast flag. I appreciate hearing from you.

I feel strongly that we must prevent the theft of copyrighted works, and that includes digital television (DTV) programming. As we move forward in the digital age, it is increasingly easy for unauthorized copies of copyrighted works to be made and illegally distributed. Over-the-air digital content is the easiest to pirate.

As we contemplate the use of new technologies to protect copyrighted works, we must pay careful attention to ensure that a balance is struck between competitive protections and individual consumer interests. It is important to allow for the continued fair use of copyrighted material, even while we seek to stop unauthorized reproductions from being illegally distributed outside the home and over the Internet.

Again, thank you for writing. Please know that as the Senate considers legislation of the broadcast flag, I will be sure to keep your views in mind. If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, DC staff at (202) 224-3841.

Practically every sentence in this letter is a lie:

As we move forward in the digital age, it is increasingly easy for unauthorized copies of copyrighted works to be made and illegally distributed.
Lie: Steps needed to put analog-broadcast video on your computer: 1. Install capture card; 2. Press record. Steps needed to put digital-broadcast video on your computer: 1. Install capture card; 2. Press record.

It is important to allow for the continued fair use of copyrighted material
Lie: TiVo's TiVoToGo service -- designed to comply with the broadcast flag -- limited the number of devices you could watch your recorded videos on to a set number. Nothing about fair use says that n devices is permissible, but n + 1 isn't. TiVoToGo was one of the more permissive services -- systems like 5C and 4C have no consideration for fair use (for example, you can't tell a 5C device that you need to the ability edit a show that you plan on using in connection with criticism or classroom use).

even while we seek to stop unauthorized reproductions from being illegally distributed outside the home and over the Internet.
Lie: because the broadcast flag does not restrict analog outputs, there is nothing about the broadcast flag that prevents Internet redistribution of digital television (steps needed to put broadcast flag content on the Internet: 1. Connect tuner to PC via analog cables; 2. Press record.)

This leaves us with only one question: is DiFi stupid, or is she a liar? Either way, Feinstein should be ashamed of herself.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: 109th; feinstein
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1 posted on 06/24/2005 9:14:47 PM PDT by Gomez
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To: Gomez

Both!


2 posted on 06/24/2005 9:18:24 PM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: Gomez

Gotta protect that brilliant material/
Too bad they don't care as much about personal property.


3 posted on 06/24/2005 9:18:57 PM PDT by mabelkitty (Lurk forever, but once you post, your newbness shines like a new pair of shoes.)
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To: Gomez

Tough call. She could be an idiot AND a liar. She could also be an idiot, but no a liar. If she is a liar though, she is also by definition and idiot, since all liars are idiots. However, not all idiots are liars. It really is a tough call...


4 posted on 06/24/2005 9:19:06 PM PDT by Hurricane Andrew (History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.)
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To: Gomez
This leaves us with only one question: is DiFi stupid, or is she a liar

Hey, watch it now!

You're talking about one of my esteemed senators.

And don't forget - she's the smart one.

5 posted on 06/24/2005 9:20:25 PM PDT by skip_intro
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: Gomez

Well, as one who has copyrighted works, I would say she is right on the mark.

You would never dream of going to work if you knew you weren't going to get paid for the work you do. If you knew someone was going to steal your paycheck each and every payday. And that's what the copyright argument is all about. People are stealing other people's livelihoods.

I personally think some in the arts are way way overpaid but to me, so are those in the NFL, NBA, and the NHL. But you don't go to the games and try to get in without paying for a ticket.

But further then that. It costs millions of dollars to make a movie. If they don't take in enough money to pay for making the movies we all love to watch, then they will just stop making them. They're not going to make them for free.

Same thing for music. It costs a lot of money to produce a quality CD. If you can't make enough money to pay all the costs because people are stealing instead of buying then the music stops.


7 posted on 06/24/2005 9:26:16 PM PDT by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: Gomez
This leaves us with only one question: is DiFi stupid, or is she a liar?

Why must we choose only one??
8 posted on 06/24/2005 9:28:15 PM PDT by CO Gal (Liberals should be seen, but not heard..)
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To: GloriaJane
If they don't take in enough money to pay for making the movies we all love to watch

You may be making a false assumption here.

9 posted on 06/24/2005 9:30:50 PM PDT by skip_intro
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To: skip_intro

LOL! You can't think of even one movie you love to watch?

Well, I was talking about that one! LOL!!


10 posted on 06/24/2005 9:32:02 PM PDT by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: GloriaJane
You can't think of even one movie you love to watch?

Well, yeah, but they made that one back in 1942.

11 posted on 06/24/2005 9:35:53 PM PDT by skip_intro
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To: skip_intro

I love the older movies too. I'm no good with the names so I could never tell anyone which ones I like the best. But they were all in black and white. LOL!!


12 posted on 06/24/2005 9:38:27 PM PDT by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: GloriaJane

"But they were all in black and white."


And if you have not seen the colorized version of the Maltese Falcon consider yourself LUCKY.


13 posted on 06/24/2005 9:42:38 PM PDT by commonasdirt (Reading DU so you won't hafta)
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To: GloriaJane
If you can't make enough money to pay all the costs because people are stealing instead of buying then the music stops.

I doubt it. Music existed a long time before the Hollywood lawyers came along.

14 posted on 06/24/2005 9:43:16 PM PDT by HAL9000 (Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
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To: GloriaJane
Not all of them were. 1939 Had Gone With the Wind and The Adventures of Robin Hood in Technicolor. Disney's classic cartoons were all in color, and I'm sure there were others, as well, although I can't think of any.

Anyway, Black & White is cool.

15 posted on 06/24/2005 9:43:43 PM PDT by skip_intro
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To: GloriaJane

Well, I'm not going to argue against some fair protections but I think both sides have some things wrong on this. On the one hand, I don't want ANY sorry SOB making money off my work...there's no way around that in any ethic you can propose...but OTOH, if the action isn't costing me money (for instance, distributing a work of mine which is not offered for sale) and is reaping no financial reward from it, then I don't care because I crate what I do in the hopes that people will read and enjoy it.

A true musician makes music first and foremost for that music to be enjoyed - I doubt the work of a cynic who makes money for the sole purpose of inflating his bank account is much worth listening to in the first place.

Likewise, if I want a copy of a song that I can't buy individually for a reasonable price and a reasonable expenditure of effort, then I will simply not own it if I can't download it. And the artist in question will still receive no compensation. But if the selection is made available to me (as is being done now with some pay download services) then I will happily pay for it.

To stretch the analogy out into the gray one more step, let me give you an example: I am a Star Trek Fan. I like some of the series more than others but let me assume for the sake of this story that I love all of them. Each season of each series is roughly $100. Now, there is no freaking way those DVDs cost remotely that much to produce, so it's not a matter of recouping investments. Other, less popular, series sell for half that for the same hours of viewing.

now, I don't know if you are aware of this but each of three modern Trek series lasted 7 seasons, and the original lasted three, and the latest lasted 5. That's 29 seasons for a total investment of $2900.

I'm sorry, if the only way I can ever own those DVDs is to drop over 3K on them (tax and all) I will simply never own them. So as it stands right now, Paramount has made and will make exactly ZERO dollars off me buying Star Trek DVDs.

So let's say, theoretically, that a friend of mine offers to rip me a copy of his set of DVDs. He is doing an illegal thing under copyright laws, but has he cost paramount any money? not at all. Because I'd never pay their insane prices. They haven't lost any more money than if I bought these DVDs at a Yard Sale.

Now, I did not say all that to say it should be a free-for-all, or that there are not pirates out there lining their pockets with other people's creative work because both are real issue. I merely wish it to be said that not everyone who copies a copyrighted work is costing the original artist money, or making any themselves.


16 posted on 06/24/2005 10:12:19 PM PDT by WillRain ("Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one.")
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To: commonasdirt

LOL! I haven't seen it... but from your post I can tell it must be pretty bad.


17 posted on 06/25/2005 4:20:31 AM PDT by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: HAL9000

Yes, it did. But musicians made their money playing in public. They traveled the roads, played a new town every night. But people still had to pay the cost of admission to hear them.

Once the record was invented, we suddenly had the luxurey of hearing them in our homes. And we could hear them thousands of times just for the cost of the record.


18 posted on 06/25/2005 4:26:51 AM PDT by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: skip_intro

We didn't get out to the movies very much when I was little so I didn't get to see very many movies back then in color.

Believe it or not... but my Father worked in television broadcasting and wouldn't buy a color TV LOL!! When ever that old black and white RCA we had broke he'd just fix it. He got more miles out of that TV then probably any other TV in history LOL!!


19 posted on 06/25/2005 4:42:13 AM PDT by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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To: WillRain
But no matter how one tries to frame it or rationalize it, stealing is still stealing. If one didn't buy it, sure the producer of the product would not make any money off of a sale. But if someones friend commits an illegal act by burning another friend off a copy, that receiving friend is still receiving stolen property. They are still enjoying the fruits of someones labor without paying for them for it. There are a lot of places online where you can download free legal music from indie artists like myself. We all put some of our music up on the free online music sites and offer it free to the public. Download.Com Is one of the best. All the music there is free and legal and now they have streaming so you can listen before you download. There are bands from all over the world offering their music free even though they may have some of it for sale on itunes or MSN Music because they are trying to make a name for themselves. Check it out. You might find a new group you really like. And the best part is it's free and it's legal!
20 posted on 06/25/2005 5:11:14 AM PDT by GloriaJane (http://music.download.com/gloriajane "Seems Like Our Press Has Turned Against Our Country")
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