Geek Drivel

The DMCA (the Draconian Media Clobbering Act… sorry, I mean the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) has been used for some pretty jaw-droppingly stupid things since it was passed. This is just one of them, but it’s an important one, because the court just told copyright holders that they will be punished if they demand that something legal (under fair-use laws) be taken down under the DMCA.

In other words, copyright holders can’t just set a program to automatically scan everything on the ‘net and issue take-down notices under the DMCA for anything remotely similar to something they own — one of the most blatant abuses of the law, and apparently a very popular one until today.

As the first comment says:

A fair decision in a copyright case? I think this is one of the signs of the apocalypse… (I’ll be under my desk if anyone needs me)

I ran across this quote on the Tools For Thought blog (which is rapidly becoming a new favorite of mine):

From the film Roger Dodger: Nick: Like, what do you do all day? Roger: What do I do all day? I sit here and think of ways to make people feel bad. Nick: I thought you wrote commercials. Roger: I do. But you can’t sell a product without first making people feel bad. Nick: Why not? Roger: Because it’s a substitution game. You have to remind them that there’s something missing from their lives. Everyone’s missing something, right? Nick: Well, yeah, I guess. Roger: Trust me. And when they’re feeling sufficiently incomplete, you can convince them that your product is the only thing that can fill that void. So instead of taking steps to deal with their lives, instead of working to root out the real reason for their misery, they run out and buy a stupid pair of cargo pants.

Possibly exaggerated, but true nonetheless.

If the human brain were a piece of computer software, this would be considered a critical security vulnerability. The company responsible for it would be expected to patch it as quickly as possible, security software packages would add features to detect and prevent it, and the people exploiting it would be considered criminals. But since it’s human nature, the victims are expected to block or patch it themselves, and the people exploiting it best get six-figure salaries and corner offices in New York City.

Is it any wonder that logically-minded people (including us computer geeks) tend to look askance at the rest of humanity?