[sldev] Permissions

[Callum Lerwick]

On Mon, 2007-09-24 at 11:25 +0200, Dale Glass wrote:
> Not my personal opinion, but content providers argue that even if a perfect 
> solution isn't possible, permissions should still exist, if only as a way 
> of indicating the will of the author.
> 
> There is a certain  sense in forcing people to bypass the system, even if 
> it's very weak. If you bypassed it, you can't really argue you didn't know 
> what the creator wanted.
> 
> Really, IMO, the permissions system should continue to exist. If you don't 
> want to restrict your own stuff, then don't, and just release all your 
> stuff as full perms. But there are a lot of people who will be really 
> annoyed should it vanish completely.

Well, the real issue with DRM systems is, should the will of the author
be allowed to usurp the legal rights of the purchaser?

Should Apple be able to dictate what software and hardware I can use to
play the songs I "purchased" on iTunes?

Should Sony be allowed to rootkit any machine I wish to use to play
their CDs?

When I purchase an avatar on Second Life, should the avatar creator be
able to tell me what grids and what sims I can use their avatar on?
Should they be able to prevent me from making a backup copy, and prevent
me from modifying it?

If the answers here are "Yes", then IMHO you really haven't bought
anything. I find it ironic that the classic cold war straw man argument
against communism was "You aren't even allowed to own your own
toothbrush!", and yet, if the poster boys of capitalism such as the
MPAA, RIAA and Microsoft had their way, you wouldn't own anything
either. You'd merely be purchasing a limited license to view their
content, on their terms, on a revocable basis. You're renting, not
buying.

And guess what, they're already getting their way.

(Not that there's anything wrong with renting. Netflix is awesome.
However, telling someone they're buying something, when they're really
not is *evil* and *wrong*.)

(And lets get one thing straight, I'm all for free market capitalism.
What the MPAA, RIAA and Microsoft are trying to do, is not a free
market. Are we deep enough into politics yet? :)

For further study I recommend everyone just go read (or watch) Lawrence
Lessig's "Free Culture":

http://www.free-culture.cc/
http://randomfoo.net/oscon/2002/lessig/

And while we're at it:

http://www.lafkon.net/tc/
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
Url : http://lists.secondlife.com/pipermail/sldev/attachments/20070924/7b9d67e6/attachment-0001.pgp