Lockdown, The coming war on general-purpose computing

Boingboing.net ^ | 1/12/12 | Cory Doctorow

[Nachum]

General-purpose computers are astounding. They're so astounding that our society still struggles to come to grips with them, what they're for, how to accommodate them, and how to cope with them. This brings us back to something you might be sick of reading about: copyright.

But bear with me, because this is about something more important. The shape of the copyright wars clues us into an upcoming fight over the destiny of the general-purpose computer itself.

In the beginning, we had packaged software and we had sneakernet. We had floppy disks in ziplock bags, in cardboard boxes, hung on pegs in shops, and sold like candy bars and magazines. They were eminently susceptible to duplication, were duplicated quickly, and widely, and this was to the great chagrin of people who made and sold software.

[BenKenobi]

Love the article. Sums my feelings up just perfectly.

[relictele]

Beyond the practical considerations, the issue and the article demonstrate the folly of allowing novices to enact laws with no thought given to the consequences (intentionally or otherwise). See also: firearms, vehicles, alcohol.

[cuban leaf]

I’ve always enjoyed technology, but about 15 years ago it hit me that it WILL be our undoing more surely than the invention of the nuclear bomb. The article (which I just finished) touches on exactly some of the things that concern me.

It helps one understand the book of Revelation better too.

[cuban leaf]

He got into one very exciting, and scary thing” 3D printing, but sort of just implied gray goo without overtly discussing it.

[GonzoGOP]

The problem with congress regulating the internet can be expressed in one simple number; 58.2. That is the average age of member of congress. And the leaders are even older. Most don't know a darn thing about how the internet actually works.

In the beginning the internet was dominated by people who understood it. Most people had no contact with computers. That was something for nerds. Eventually the internet will in the same way most of us use a car. We can drive a car, but would never consider trying to decide what parts can be added or pulled out of the engine. OK Obama did just that with the Volt and we see how well that worked out.

Today we are now in the transition phase. Most people know just enough to be very dangerous. They think they understand the internet because they browse google or download an MP3 from iTunes. But they do not know what is going on in the black box. Worse yet they don't even realize that they don't know.

[mamelukesabre]

Seems to me we’ve already lost control of our own PCs and this is why the public is open to the concept of a “cloud”.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Oh Boy....

*****************************EXCERPT**********************************************

In fact, the Motion Picture Association of America, a SOPA proponent, circulated a memo citing research that SOPA might work because it uses the same measures as are used in Syria, China, and Uzbekistan. It argued that because these measures are effective in those countries, they would work in America, too!

[IamConservative]

Companies wanting to protect their copyright can. The technology exists to do it, it’s called encryption. However, these companies also realize implementing the solution will also dramatically reduce the opportunity for distribution.

[Myrddin]

I'm 55. Part of the group of people who built the internet and supporting infrastructure. I've hauled Luddite companies like PacBell out of the 7 layer ISO BS model into the world of TCP/IP. Once implemented, they saw the light. No further hand holding was required. It was a knock down, drag out fight for about 6 months. There are still many of us old "techies" working in the real world. It's not the old "techies" that worry me. It's whether the younger generation behind us can continue to carry the technical banner into the future. That's a key reason so many of us are still working in the trenches. There's nobody to take the baton and keep running the race.

[ctdonath2]

How could he write that much about that topic without mentioning the iOS (aka iPhone etc.) “walled garden”?

[buridan]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting!

[steve86]

That's a key reason so many of us are still working in the trenches.

I would have thought you were still working mainly to pay the bills :). Me, I'm paying my own salary to configure a DD-WRT router and Google TV today.

[Myrddin]

I've been putting in long hours since returning from Idaho on Jan 2nd. I have 48 hours since Saturday morning dealing with problems in an ESRI mapping product using C++ API. Concurrent with the mapping issue, my brother-in-law has been in the hospital and died at noon today. Lots of phone time with my wife and niece. We just interred my mom on Dec 19th. Didn't expect another funeral so soon.

I'm going home in a few minutes. Finished for the weekend. Not coming back until Tuesday morning. Hoping to see some sunshine for once. The Versys rolled over 15,000 miles on the way to the office this morning. Tomorrow will be my first "sleep in" morning since Jan 1st.

[indthkr]

General-Purpose Computing:
1. Price
2. Performance
3. Security


=> Pick two.

[roamer_1]

What a great article - Thank you.

I think it will always boil down to the idea that knowledge always strives to be free - As a programmer with a line of software, I have resigned myself to that ‘Open Source’ inevitability. Governments will never be able to fully regulate information because of that principle... Nor will I. Copyright is only useful in preserving the integrity of the knowledge, not the knowledge itself.

And even that is questionable in it’s ability to be enforced. Someone can DL my source, change one byte of information and claim a wholly independent fork - It is the moral fiber of the individual which is at fault - and there is really nothing I can do to stop that from happening, nor is there anything anyone else can do either... just from the sheer volume of replication that is on-going. And that is not going to change.

The hackers are always going to be a step ahead, and those who know (and those who know ‘those who know’) will always be able to circumvent prevention measures simply because any prevention is an artificially derived limitation which can inevitably be overridden... because knowledge strives to be free. It has ALWAYS been so.

[zeugma]

BFL. No time

[steve86]

Heartfelt condolences, FRiend.

[Myrddin]

Thanks. No end to unpleasant events lately. Take care.

[zeugma]

Worse yet they don't even realize that they don't know.

And the amount of stuff they know that just isn't so is staggering.