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Bruce Perens Plans On-Stage DMCA Violation
CensorshipPosted by timothy on Wednesday July 24, @07:58AM
from the performance-art dept.
cyber_rigger writes: "From this article at infoworld Bruce Perens said he plans to break the DMCA during a presentation on digital rights management (DRM) Friday afternoon at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in San Diego. Technically, under the DMCA, Perens' explanation of the technology makes him liable for a fine of US$500,000. You have to admire his spirit."

 

 
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· Triangle Boy Lives
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· Copyright Rules Eased For Distance Learning

<  Free Software Inflates BSA's Piracy Claims | Subversion Hits Alpha  >
Bruce Perens Plans On-Stage DMCA Violation | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 681 comments | Search Discussion
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(1) | 2 (Slashdot Overload: CommentLimit 50)
Do not try this at home (Score:1, Funny)
by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 24, @08:00AM (#3943390)
.. it is illegal
and morally wrong
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Supreme Court (Score:1)
by polin8 on Wednesday July 24, @08:01AM (#3943396)
(User #170866 Info)
Lovely, I hope the community can support a case all the way to the court.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
You have to admire his spirit." (Score:5, Interesting)
by phunhippy (phunhippy.evolutionarydeadend@com) on Wednesday July 24, @08:02AM (#3943398)
(User #86447 Info | http://www.evolutionarydeadend.com/)
You have to admire his spirit.

Translation: I'm an armchair activist.

I think everyone should go out and opportunities post information about to break stuff like that "violates" the DMCA.. printing flyers.. posting them everywhere.. hehe even sticking batches of flyers next to dvd players in major stores would be a good start.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • Why is it illegal? by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @08:20AM
    • Re:You have to admire his spirit." (Score:4, Insightful)
    by UVABlows (WhatStinks@ICrappedMyPants.com) on Wednesday July 24, @08:25AM (#3943491)
    (User #183953 Info)
    I think everyone should go out and opportunities post information about to break stuff like that "violates" the DMCA

    Except that if most people started doing this and got arrested, their families would go hungry. It's perfect for someone like Bruce, who has a bit of recognition surrounding him to go out and do this. Most people don't care about computer people getting arrested for doing things that they couldn't figure out how to do. The average person thinks it "serves them computer hackers right trying to be above the law." They think the law is morally right and is to be followed without question, otherwise "why would it be the law?"
    (The answer: Because the members of our lawmaking bodies are being bought left and right, with the notable exception of Rep. Boucher from Virginia)

    [ Reply to This | Parent ]
    • Re:You have to admire his spirit." by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @08:45AM
      • Boucher supported the DMCA (Score:4, Informative)
      by MagPulse on Wednesday July 24, @11:10AM (#3944501)
      (User #316 Info)
      A re-post from the Slashdot Boucher story [slashdot.org]:

      Before you support Rep. Boucher, you should know he supported the DMCA in 1998.

      "...I am pleased to rise today in support of the passage of H.R. 2281, which will extend new protections against the theft of their works to copyright owners."

      Full text of his DMCA speech:
      DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT (House of Representatives - August 04, 1998)

      Mr. BOUCHER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) for yielding this time to me, and I am pleased to rise today in support of the passage of H.R. 2281, which will extend new protections against the theft of their works to copyright owners.

      Madam Speaker, new protections are needed due to the ease with which flawless copies of copyrighted materials can both be made and transmitted in the digital network environment. Essential, however, to the creation of new guarantees for copyright owners is the retention of the traditional rights of the users of intellectual property. A balance has always existed in our law between these conflicting interests, and the major challenge in the writing of this legislation is to assure that no fundamental altering of that delicate balance takes place.

      Another challenge is to ensure that in the effort to eliminate devices that are designed and produced to make illegal copies of copyrighted materials, that legitimate consumer electronics products are not also placed in a category of legal uncertainty.

      Today I want to offer congratulations primarily to the Members of the House Committee on Commerce who have devoted long hours in the effort to assure that these challenges are met. Specifically, the Committee on Commerce has added provisions that protect personal privacy by clearly permitting personal computer owners to disable cookies that are placed on their disks by others; that allow the encryption research that will lead to a new generation of trusted and secure systems; that give equipment manufacturers the certainty that their consumer electronics products need not affirmatively accommodate all technological protection measures; and that creative procedure for assuring the continuation of the fair use rights of the American public, a procedure that will prevent material that is generally available today under fair use being locked away in a pay-per-use regime in future years.

      [TIME: 1400]

      Report language also specifies that the technological protection measure circumvention restrictions will not apply when manufacturers, retailers and technicians need to make adjustments to devices to ensure that their performance is not degraded as a consequence of the installation of a technological protection measure. These changes, taken together, significantly improve the original legislation.

      The gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Bliley), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Klug), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), among others, deserve thanks for their successful efforts to create new copyright protections, while ensuring that traditional user rights are not undermined.

      The Committee on Commerce has, in the manner for which it is known, mastered the intricate details of this complex subject and has produced a balanced result. I want to offer my congratulations to all who have been involved in that outstanding effort.

      It is my pleasure to urge passage of H.R. 2281.

      Madam Speaker, I will insert in the record correspondence from the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble), to the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell) and myself, which further defines the terminology that is used in the statute.
      To see the full text:
      1. Click here [loc.gov]
      2. Click on the link for #14
      3. Do

      Read the rest of this comment...

      [ Reply to This | Parent ]
    • Re:You have to admire his spirit." by Jeppe Salvesen (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @11:16AM
    • Although, how perfect is it? by sterno (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @11:29AM
    • Re:You have to admire his spirit." by kasparov (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @12:22PM
  • Re:You have to admire his spirit." by Weh (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @10:10AM
  • Could be a nobler purpose by AnhZone (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @10:51AM
  • Re:You have to admire his spirit." by praedor (Score:3) Wednesday July 24, @11:15AM
  • Well, as far as Perens-ish cries for attention go by Zico (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @11:28AM
  • Bruce Peren's ideas by pommiekiwifruit (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @11:56AM
    • Why am I doing this? (Score:5, Informative)
    by Bruce Perens (bruce@ p e r e n s . c om) on Wednesday July 24, @04:11PM (#3946881)
    (User #3872 Info | http://perens.com/)
    Hi folks,

    Friday's program at OSCON is

    Title: Digital Rights Management - How will it effect Linux and Free Software?
    Date: 07/26/2002
    Time: 2:30pm to 3:15pm
    Location: Sea Breeze I

    Demonstrations will be short as I want to put the majority of that 45 minutes into talking about the implications for Linux and Free Software.

    Is this a publicity stunt? Of course it is. Without publicity, without informing people through publicity, how can we fight bad laws?

    Am I personally getting publicity from it? Yes. I use my notoriety to get other people to write and think about issues like misuse of DMCA. If you feel as I do about those issues, I'd hope you appreciate that someone takes the trouble to do this work.

    Am I getting arrested? The people who would arrest me are probably smart enough to pick someone with worse P.R., like 2600 Magazine, to take the fall. They will probably not pick me to do so because there's too much chance that I'd win, and set a precedent against the law. Thus, publicity about bad law and informing the public are the main goal of my talk.

    Thanks

    Bruce

    [ Reply to This | Parent ]
    Re:You have to admire his spirit." (Score:4, Insightful)
    by renehollan (`rene' `at' `hollan.org') on Wednesday July 24, @08:25AM (#3943494)
    (User #138013 Info | http://www.hollan.org/ | Last Journal: Wednesday July 17, @05:47PM)
    1. I run DeCSS, or rather a derivative of it so I can watch DVDs on my computer running GNU/Linux.

    2. I am not a U.S. citizen, but am legally on U.S. soil

    3. Announcing this publicly places me at significant risk for indefinite incarceration, if the DMCA and Patriot Act were interpreted in the extreme (I may be a technical terrorist, bent on creating economic mayhem in the U.S., by encouraging the use of technology to defeat DRM for purposes of traditional fair use).

    Some of us do engage in civil disobedience, at some risk, though perhaps not as dramatically as Mr. Perens. But, laws like this can not ber permitted to go unchallenged.

    [ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • 6 replies beneath your current threshold.
Definition of Spirit in this case (Score:4, Funny)
by flipflapflopflup on Wednesday July 24, @08:02AM (#3943407)
(User #311459 Info | http://www.flipflap.co.uk/)
Spirit (noun)
The coming together of balls and stupidity.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Ssshhhhh! (Score:1)
by shr3k (shr3k@givemeaYanA ... hatsthatspell.com) on Wednesday July 24, @08:03AM (#3943409)
(User #451065 Info | http://slashdot.org/~shr3k)
Ssshhhhh!! Bruce, it was supposed to be a surprise!!
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
I'm suprised... (Score:1)
by nherc on Wednesday July 24, @08:05AM (#3943414)
(User #530930 Info | http://www.oddzdog.com/)
I'm suprised... reporting that he is going to explain it isn't a $50,000 fine. Have you editors read the fine-print?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
My question for Mr. Perens (Score:4, Funny)
by devphil on Wednesday July 24, @08:05AM (#3943415)
(User #51341 Info | http://slashdot.org/)


[...]similar to the case with Felten, because the presentation will occur at a conference that is charging attendees, both Perens and the show organizers could be subject to criminal charges in addition to a fine.

[...]

Perens said he is making a habit out of testing the limits of the DMCA, mainly to show just how trivial most DRM technologies are. Last year at the O'Reilly conference, he delivered a presentation during which he showed attendees the slides that got Sklyarov arrested.

Damn, Bruce, how do you walk with balls that big?

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
It won't be some major cracking effort. (Score:5, Insightful)
by Neon Spiral Injector on Wednesday July 24, @08:05AM (#3943416)
(User #21234 Info | http://www.clubneon.com/)
I'd guess his demonstration won't be something on the order of breaking the encryption scheme on DVDs. It will be something so obvious, that people will wonder, "why is that illegal?". Just to so how silly the DMCA is.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
I hope the presentation goes up on the Web (Score:1)
by seosamh on Wednesday July 24, @08:06AM (#3943417)
(User #158550 Info)
perhaps on a site hosted in some country that protects its citizens' right to free inquiry, and expression.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Atta Boy.... (Score:2, Interesting)
by tanveer1979 on Wednesday July 24, @08:08AM (#3943422)
(User #530624 Info | http://www.geocities.com/tsk1979 | Last Journal: Sunday March 24, @10:00AM)
Perens admits, "what happened to Dmitry could conceivably happen to me as well." However, he said he is willing to take the risk.

Thats a spirit... or is it? If he gets arrested and then jailed nothing would have been accomplished. Only if Lawyers can get him off the hook after he's done this, then it will be a victory.

But something tells me thats is being too optimist...such things happen in fairy tales.. or maybe i am too paranoid.. given the situation.

But every law has a loophole... and the day somebody finds it in here... we can all go home :-)
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • Re:Atta Boy.... by PastorOfMuppets (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @08:28AM
    • Re:Atta Boy.... (Score:5, Insightful)
    by Zathrus on Wednesday July 24, @08:33AM (#3943542)
    (User #232140 Info | http://slashdot.org/)
    If he gets arrested and then jailed nothing would have been accomplished

    Uh... I think you miss the point.

    He intends to be arrested. And jailed. And to fight the law in court, which is the only place it's ever going to be overturned.

    If he doesn't get charged with a violation of the DMCA then nothing will have been accomplished -- failure to enforce a law does not invalidate the law (there are caveats, but a singlular failure does not do so).

    I don't think he's looking for a loophole. I suspect he's planning to violate it in the most flagerant manner possible to ensure that he's charged with violation.

    The tricky bit is to violate the DMCA and only the DMCA. You really don't want to violate the DMCA and half a dozen other laws -- even if you get the DMCA ruled unconstitutional you'll probably be celebrating in jail.
    [ Reply to This | Parent ]
    Re:Atta Boy.... (Score:5, Insightful)
    by FreeUser on Wednesday July 24, @08:39AM (#3943580)
    (User #11483 Info | http://jean.nu/)
    Thats a spirit... or is it? If he gets arrested and then jailed nothing would have been accomplished. Only if Lawyers can get him off the hook after he's done this, then it will be a victory.

    It is called civil disobedience, and it is often the only way to get injustice corrected (and the DMCA is extremely unjust).

    If enough people are arrested for outrageously stupid reasons, public awareness of what is happening will be raised. I remember telling a non-technical friend of mine, who is a pilot for a major airline and served in the airforce (and saw combat in Yugoslavia), about the arrest of Dmitry and he was outraged. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen him as angry as he was that day. He took that injustice very personally, as do most people who believe in the ideals of democracy and not the rule of corporate oligarchs, cartels, and monopolists.

    The more lay people that are made aware of these injustices the better, and Perens is going a long way toward accomplishing this, whether or not he gets arrested. The excesses of copyright have only succeeded these last decades because the awareness of what has happened (chronic copyright extentions, and now fundamental changes in its nature from a civil to a criminal law, and from a largely commercial regulation to a profoundly invasive personal one) has been absent. Copyright law, in its current form, will likely not withstand public scruitiny very well, which is something that would be good for every one of us (returning it back to its pre-1970 duration, if not repealing the notion altogether and replacing it with a gentler, non-monopolistic regime for compensating authors and artists, but that is a discussion for another day).

    Raising public awareness of these issues is probably one of the most important things we can be doing, and if we as technically knowledgable people do not do so, no one will. Bruce Perens should be applauded for stepping up to the plate and putting his personal liberty on the line for the greater public good.

    If we had more people willing to do this sort of thing when the despots seize personal liberty after personal liberty we would live in a much better world. He is a man who clearly feels strongly enough about software freedom to risk jail time, up to 5 years, which is a hell of a lot more grave than the $500,000 fine mentioned in the article (I wonder why they played that down. That makes his actions even more impressive).
    [ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • ... gets arrested and then jailed nothing ... by dpilot (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @10:16AM
  • Re:Atta Boy.... by markbthomas (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @08:26AM
  • Re:Atta Boy.... by Pxtl (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @11:35AM
  • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
US (Score:1, Funny)
by dark-br (addario.at.unforgettable.com) on Wednesday July 24, @08:08AM (#3943423)
(User #473115 Info)
America: Home of the free (and the DMCA, MPAA, RIAA...)
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • Re:US by markbthomas (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @08:28AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
Spirit? (Score:5, Funny)
by mccalli on Wednesday July 24, @08:10AM (#3943428)
(User #323026 Info | http://www.eruvia.org/)
Technically, under the DMCA, Perens' explanation of the technology makes him liable for a fine of US$500,000. You have to admire his spirit.

Never mind the spirit. You have to admire his bank balance...

Cheers,
  Ian

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • Re:Spirit? by passion (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @11:36AM
  • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
Trial? (Score:2, Interesting)
by Quantum Singularity (milkyway65@juno.com) on Wednesday July 24, @08:13AM (#3943444)
(User #594841 Info | http://frame25.tripod.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday July 24, @01:38AM)
If he does get arrested for this, which I think he should not, the following trial may prove one thing: The DMCA is (partially) unconstitutional. I think enough people would voice their opinion that it would herald a major change.

Though he didn't really have to be so open about it.
"If you can get away with DMCA violations, why not?"
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • Re:Trial? by ramdac (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @08:24AM
  • Re:Trial? by inherent (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @09:39AM
  • Re:Trial? by jonnythan (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @10:06AM
    • Re:Trial? by Gorm the DBA (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @10:45AM
Why don't more people do this? (Score:5, Interesting)
by Pooh22 on Wednesday July 24, @08:14AM (#3943451)
(User #145970 Info)
Disclaimer: I'm from the Netherlands, so the heat is still a few kms in front of me...

What I don't understand is that Bruce Perens is an exception to the rule. Whatever happened to civil disobedience as a way to make unambiguously clear that the government has gone too far and needs to rethink it's policies.

If Americans don't stand up more forcefully, the US will either infect the whole world with their orwellian shite or (I sure hope this happens) they will at some point in the near future be ignored as something that a free country cannot follow without losing essential freedoms.

Three cheers to Bruce Perens and anyone who follows his example!

Simon
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
great idea (Score:2, Funny)
by tps12 on Wednesday July 24, @08:15AM (#3943454)
(User #105590 Info | http://www.columbia.edu/~tps12/ | Last Journal: Thursday July 18, @04:04PM)
I love the idea of grabbing "mindshare" (/me crosses himself after uttering evil marketingspeak) through good old-fashioned media whoring. Circus ring tactics are essential in the modern computer business. Remember Jay Leno's TV special introducing Windows 95? Or when that Microsoft dude was dancing or whatever? Steve Jobs practically invented tech-biz dramatics.

This will only help in the battle to get Free Software and the FSF taken more seriously by the public. Maybe we can arrange to have someone dressed in a Tux costume as well. Juggling burning Windows XP CDs.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
And after the presentation... (Score:5, Funny)
by CLIT on Wednesday July 24, @08:16AM (#3943460)
(User #581942 Info | http://slashdot.org/...pe=friend&uid=581942)
He'll put on his Village People outfit and sing "It's fun to violate the D-M-C-A!".

Good luck. I hope he gets further than Sklyarov.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Its absurd that this is a demonstration. (Score:2, Insightful)
by B. Vhalros (.nricci1. .at. .ic3.ithaca.edu.) on Wednesday July 24, @08:17AM (#3943467)
(User #468243 Info)
The fact that something like this is a demonstration shows how foolish a law the DMCA is. Basically, this is a presentation showing people how to play their own DVDs and yet this is some how illegal. The absurdity of this is stupendous. Hopefully, this will serve to enlighten people as to the idiocy of such legislation.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Where do I send the money? (Score:5, Funny)
by Sly Mongoose on Wednesday July 24, @08:18AM (#3943474)
(User #15286 Info | http://www.anjo.com/)
OK, I suppose half a million of us will all have to chip in a buck to bail his arse out of Jug. So where do I send the dollar?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Lot of money.... (Score:1)
by Hall on Wednesday July 24, @08:21AM (#3943479)
(User #962 Info)
So, what company or companies have already agreed to pay the fine if he gets in trouble over this ?? Sure, maybe the guy has got money, but literally throwing away a half-million dollars just to prove a point seems plain stupid to me !
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
about civil disobedience (Score:2)
by kipple on Wednesday July 24, @08:23AM (#3943483)
(User #244681 Info | http://www.muug.it/k/index.html | Last Journal: Monday July 08, @11:11AM)
I wonder what will happen if such mr. Perens refuses to pay the fine for the DMCA violation. What will happen? Will they put him in jail for civil disobedience?

I think an individual has the right to disobey to a law that he thinks it's not only useless, but also damaging to the community. If you think this is never true, think about that: 30 years ago black people could not sit in the front part of a bus. Was it right? No. It was a law that didn't affect anyone individually if it was not obeyed.

I know the issue is big, those are only my thoughts. I hope mr. Perens will take a stand against DMCA, and I hope that the media will farily cover this situation.

I also hope for my personal pig to start flying, but that's anoter story.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
In the Netherlands this is normal (Score:5, Interesting)
by bolke on Wednesday July 24, @08:24AM (#3943487)
(User #1416 Info)
In the Netherlands this kind of 'testing the law' happens whenever there is a new law which groups of people disagree with.

The standard procedure is as follows:
A member of a group that is against the new law invites several police officers, a district attorny and breaks the law in a trivial as possible way.
Then a big trial ensues in which each party hires the best lawyers he can afford to settle this case once and for all.

The only thing I don't understand is why this is such a novel idea for Americans.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Is it really illegal? (Score:4, Interesting)
by smiff on Wednesday July 24, @08:26AM (#3943497)
(User #578693 Info)
I do not think Mr. Perens will be breaking the law. The law forbids trafficking in a circumvention device. Speech is not a device except when that 'speech' can function, such as with software (or so the court ruled in the DeCSS case). Simply telling someone how to circumvent region coding does not violate the DMCA, unless you 'tell' someone by providing software that can do it.

It is true that Felton was threatened with a law suit if he were to present non-functional speech on weaknesses in SDMI, but the RIAA would have gotten no where with a law suit, because Felton's speech would not function on its own.

Sklyarov was not arrested for speaking at DefCon. He was arrested because his company sold a copy of its DMCA violating software in the United States, and because he held the copyright on that software.

You can read section 1201 [harvard.edu] for yourselves. It says:

No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that -

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof;

By the same token, you can publish specs on how to circumvent macrovision. You just can't traffic in the device itself.

I am not a lawyer. If you plan on taking my advice, talk to a lawyer first.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Gandhian resistance (Score:3, Insightful)
by BigJim.fr (liotier@@@for-president...com) on Wednesday July 24, @08:26AM (#3943500)
(User #40893 Info)

Taken to a larger scale, this is a classic tactic : flooding the oppressor with so many cases that enforcement of the law becomes impossible, provoking the oppressor into stupid actions. Trivial technical violations are to be favored over full scale confrontation because gradual erosion of the oppression in a non-violent way minimizes the likely damage to the parties. In the case of the DMCA, the battlefield is in the livingroom of the average consumer : the banalization of DMCA violations by consumers defending their right will be the turning point of the struggle. Until that point, open daylight is where everyone should stand to fight : a few activists are easy to control, tens of thousands of normal postings from perfectly legitimate sites all over the network are not. Keep posting comrades !

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Favourite quote (Score:2)
by forged on Wednesday July 24, @08:27AM (#3943505)
(User #206127 Info | http://slashdot.org/...pe=friend&uid=206127 | Last Journal: Tuesday July 23, @09:48AM)
    "This is becoming a tradition. I go there and break the law every year in the name of free speech."

For great justice !

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
DVD Region Absurdity (Score:2)
by Myco on Wednesday July 24, @08:27AM (#3943509)
(User #473173 Info)
This whole matter of DVD region encoding becomes absurd when you really look at it. Hacking a DVD player to be multi-region is illegal, according to DMCA. But I can import a DVD player from another region, right (if not, why not)? Or build one from scratch, as another poster suggested? So let's say I've got one hacked DVD player, and one imported from the UK, and they'll both play the DVDs I bought in London. They're essentially the same piece of hardware (ignoring for the moment that the hacked player also plays DVDs from my native region -- I guess I could disable that or something), and yet one is illegal. Whose interests are served by that, and why should we consider them to be legitimate?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Civil disobedience and money (Score:4, Insightful)
by Myco on Wednesday July 24, @08:30AM (#3943527)
(User #473173 Info)
I'm all for civil disobedience. It's a very noble thing to be willing to go to jail (especially give the state of our overstuffed prisons) for your ideals.

But in this case, they're talking about a $500,000 fine. I'm not sure how something like that works out if you can't pay it -- whether they substitute jail time or what. But supposing this guy was fined, and paid it, is that really civil disobedience? Somehow writing the bad guys a check and saying "in your face, man!" lacks the punch of imprisonment.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Nice stunt (Score:2, Interesting)
by xidix on Wednesday July 24, @08:31AM (#3943538)
(User #594440 Info)
Yeah, okay. It's a nice stunt. Like watching Evel Knievel jump over a flaming school bus. We all get to watch as the daredevil makes the jump and we are torn between hoping he makes it and hoping he goes barreling into the bus and gets burned alive. What a spectacle.

But what exactly does it accomplish?

I don't see Perens' stunt accomplishing anything except for boosting Perens' own notoriaty. All this does is create an image that "open source advocate == pirate." This is the political equivalent of a bunch of kids driving past the principal's house with their asses out the car window, honking the horn. It is entertaining in a juevenile sort of way, but it doesn't lower the price of pudding in the cafeteria.

If the Open Source community wants to gain respect from the powers that be, we need to stop acting like children. Check your "H4X0RS RULE!" t-shirt at the door.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
  • far from it.... by tanveer1979 (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @08:54AM
  • Re:Nice stunt by Salsaman (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @08:55AM
    • Re:Nice stunt by fyonn (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @09:10AM
    • Re:Nice stunt by Graspee_Leemoor (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @09:52AM
    • Re:Nice stunt by xidix (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @10:04AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Re:Nice stunt by wallsaroundme (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @08:58AM
  • Re:Nice stunt by Hieronymus Howard (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @09:00AM
    • Re:Nice stunt by a_n_d_e_r_s (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @11:52AM
  • Re:Nice stunt by altgrr (Score:2) Wednesday July 24, @09:07AM
    • Re:Nice stunt by Pig Hogger (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @11:14AM
  • Re:Nice stunt by matastas (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @09:16AM
  • Re:Nice stunt by xidix (Score:1) Wednesday July 24, @01:09PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
USA! USA! USA! (Score:2, Insightful)
by cybercuzco on Wednesday July 24, @08:33AM (#3943544)
(User #100904 Info | http://slashdot.org/journal.pl?op=list&uid=100904 | Last Journal: Friday July 19, @09:54AM)
Bruce Perens is my new hero, and the embodiment of the true american spirit. What most americans dont realize is that if they are subject to laws that they feel are unjust or unfair, it is their DUTY to disobey them. Now of course, they also must pay the consequences of that disobedience, but enough people protesting and disobeying unjust and unfair laws and those laws get overturned. Slavery, womens right to vote, civil rights, etc all involved people standing up and fighting for what they believed in, and I wish more people did that with respect to the DMCA.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Is this the fastest way to change a law in the US? (Score:1)
by NKJensen (news2000@e-box.dk) on Wednesday July 24, @08:39AM (#3943575)
(User #51126 Info | http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~nikrjel3/)
Does it always take a courageous guy to change the law in the US?

I'm not familiar with the law system of the US.

Which procedure is the "intended" way to change a law?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
More then just technology (Score:5, Insightful)
by famazza (mazza@altern.oRABBITrg minus herbivore) on Wednesday July 24, @08:42AM (#3943592)
(User #398147 Info | http://slashdot.org/~famazza/journal | Last Journal: Monday April 15, @01:17PM)

DMCA is not a specific case, it's just a case that is very visible to us (nerds, geeks, techies, whatever).

The problem here is not about a single law, but it is about a whole system that is showing signs of unrealibility, the so called Democracy.

"From the people, by the people, to the people". DMCA is the proof that the organization that we call Democratic Government and the Representative System is not representing the people, but interests to big corporations.

We need to stop right now this kind of attitude! Our elected representatives are not representing our interests, lobbyists are convincing them to represent their interests. What about the people?

Of course that a healthy economy and low interest rates keeps people satisfied, but this is bread and circus, they keep people working and consuming and keep us happy.

Maybe we should review our concept of freedom, and mainly our concept of democratic government.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Bruce Perens!!! (Score:2)
by djocyko on Wednesday July 24, @08:49AM (#3943617)
(User #214429 Info)
absolutely one of my most favorite posts ever on /.:

Will the Real Bruce Perens Please Stand up? [brown.edu]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Disgraceful Law Keeping by the USA (Score:1)
by t_allardyce on Wednesday July 24, @08:52AM (#3943627)
(User #48447 Info | http://www.tf94.com/ | Last Journal: Monday June 17, @06:30PM)
Well in that case, the police are incompetent and are _not_ doing their duty unless they arrest everyone in the USA who has modded their DVD player, playstation, or done any other DMCA violating action. I am in absolute _shock_ at the way the United States police forces and FBI are _selectively_ ignoring criminal actions and allowing _criminals_ to go free. This sort of lazy, policing of federal law is disgraceful, imagine if a large percentage of murderers went free simply because "there were simply too many" or "everyone does it, and we can only catch the ones that do it in public" or even because "some of us do it too anyway" :-)
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Last Year (Score:2)
by XBL on Wednesday July 24, @08:55AM (#3943644)
(User #305578 Info | http://www.mozilla.org/)
He did this last year at the conference also. I went to it, and it was very entertaining. It was more funny than informative though, but maybe this year he will do a better job of showing what he is doing.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
I'll contribute... (Score:2)
by Gryphon on Wednesday July 24, @08:57AM (#3943653)
(User #28880 Info)
... to the Bruce Perens Defense Fund.

Seriously. You've got to admire someone willing to stand up to stupidity on a grand scale (which the DMCA surely qualifies as).

Good luck Bruce!
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
I like the sentiment but why? (Score:1)
by alecbrown on Wednesday July 24, @08:58AM (#3943662)
(User #66952 Info)
Good on him for doing this, I'm glad he is, but the US get the cheapest DVDs anyway - why do you want to play non-US DVDs?

In the UK the DVD price is about twice as much for the same version with different region encoding so I can understand UK users hacking their DVD players and buying US DVDs from Amazon, but why in the US?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Better Civil Disobedience (Score:2)
by eples (eples@@@speakeasy...net) on Wednesday July 24, @09:02AM (#3943676)
(User #239989 Info | http://www.personal.psu.edu/rme128)

Even better would be to violate the DMCA, and then invite hundreds of people from the crowd to come up on stage and violate it as well.
Picture that on the world news : hundreds of computer users arrested for talking about DVD Region Coding.

One person thrown in jail = terrible shame.
Hundreds of people thrown in jail = message gets across.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
My prediction (Score:2)
by NumberSyx on Wednesday July 24, @09:02AM (#3943679)
(User #130129 Info | http://slashdot.org/)

Perens will not be arrested and other than Slashdot, little or no media coverage will take place. When asked, the official spokesman for the RIAA and the MPAA, will simply state, it is not their intention to use the DMCA to stifle free speech. It will be very anticlimatic.

The advantage to this is, it could be used as leverage in the future to get people off by proving the DMCA is being applied selectivly. Maybe the DMCA hasn't been proven unconstitutional at this point, but maybe the application of the law is unconstitutional.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Perens should do it on SNL..... (Score:1)
by Mozo (johnrnash@yahoo.com) on Wednesday July 24, @09:07AM (#3943697)
(User #22007 Info)
Am I the only one with a mental image of John Belushi, back in the heyday of Saturday Night Live?

"The producers have told me I can do whatever I want. I will now perform a live DMCA violation on stage."

(voice-over) "Go ahead, Bruce."

"...with a member of the audience."

(voice-over) "Okay, go ahead."

RMS jumps up on stage and... oh never mind.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Maybe I am too dense... (Score:1)
by onlyabill on Wednesday July 24, @09:08AM (#3943700)
(User #591213 Info)
It can happen, just ask my wife, but I do not understand how modifying a DVD player (that I purchased) to play a DVD (that I purchased) is in violation of anything. I completely understand that my copying a DVD and giving it to a friend (or god forbid, selling it) is wrong and a crime but we are not talking about that here. If the DMCA were not so broad and publisher friendly, this scenario would be considered far-use, right? So where is the problem, besides movie and record company greed?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
web site for Bruce (Score:1)
by D0wnsp0ut on Wednesday July 24, @09:09AM (#3943706)
(User #321316 Info)
Well, freebruce.com and freebruce.org are already taken. Someone want to register the .net, .tv, .info, .biz and .us domains to set up a "Free Bruce Perens" web site?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Circumventing Regio Coding (Score:1)
by Sique on Wednesday July 24, @09:11AM (#3943719)
(User #173459 Info | http://127.0.0.1/)
As far as I know erasing the regio code in a DVD player is pretty common here in Germany. It's even a service your electronic store offers to you for a small fee, if you are not able to do that on your own.

On the other hand a person had to give up the business to buy large quantities of Regio 1 DVDs (namely U.S. american ones) and sell them in Germany, after he got a cease-and-desist-letter.

So the situation in Germany is somewhat paradox. It seems as if a shop is allowed to offer the service to unlock the regiocode for a fee, but importing DVDs from the U.S. and selling them in Germany is not.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
correction: felten *did* publish (Score:1)
by nobody/incognito on Wednesday July 24, @09:13AM (#3943730)
(User #63469 Info)
Edward Felten, a Princeton University professor, set off another legal spark when he publicized a research paper that he claimed was the recipe for breaking the digital watermark technology Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI). Felten had planned to present the paper at a conference, but never did, after coming under legal pressure from the entertainment industry, which threatened to sue him and the show organizers.

felten et al. later published their paper in the usenix security conference, but only after usenix put its money and its reputation on the table by indemnifying the authors and (along with eff) countersuing the riaa and the department of justice.

usenix rocks.

nobody
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
It isn't a violation (Score:1)
by 91degrees on Wednesday July 24, @09:15AM (#3943742)
(User #207121 Info | Last Journal: Tuesday March 12, @05:06AM)
region coding isn't a copy prevention mechanism.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
If they don't shut him up first. (Score:2)
by supabeast! on Wednesday July 24, @09:17AM (#3943755)
(User #84658 Info | http://slashdot.org/)
Bruce Perens is planning to play DVDs from various regions on a modified player. Given that the DMCA covers devices as well as actions, the MPAA could just send in the cops to confiscate the player and arrest Perens for possession before he ever gets onstage.

Just a thought.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
why we are losing (Score:1)
by mboedick (mboedick@[ ]edick.org ['mbo' in gap]) on Wednesday July 24, @09:28AM (#3943829)
(User #543717 Info | http://mboedick.org/)

Our only hope in beating things like the DMCA is to use technology. Continuing to fight in the courts and in government is fighting on the enemy's turf, where he is strongest.

Our strength is technology. Efforts should be devoted to making laws like the DMCA technologically irrelevant or unenforceable, instead of spending time and money trying to work within a corrupt system that corporations defined and corporations control.

Further, if you fight with something universal, like technology, your efforts will help combat this type of thing throughout the world, and not just in the United States.

We will never win at their game. The only way is to make them play at ours.

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Future Crime? (Score:1)
by 0biJon on Wednesday July 24, @09:29AM (#3943832)
(User #593687 Info)
Having recently watched Minority Report, I can't help but imagine the DMCA Police arresting Bruce thirty seconds before he actually breaks the law...
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Bruce: get the details out early... (Score:1)
by surprise_audit on Wednesday July 24, @09:29AM (#3943834)
(User #575743 Info)
Presumably the authorities are not so stupid as to try to prevent Bruce from speaking, but as soon as he says something illegal, he's theirs...

So, Bruce, if you're listening, how about getting all the details of your speech printed up and distributed through the crowd by 100's of volunteers, and also via many websites all over the world??

It may or may not add to the size of the hole they dig for you, but at least those of us that can't attend will know what you said...

And anyone planning on attending, please take a video camera so that even if major news broadcasters decline to cover the event, the rest of us can inundate local news stations with outraged comments - "Arrested for playing a DVD" indeed!!

[ Reply to This | Parent ]
Where is the problem? (Score:1)
by selfsealingstembolt (markus@sablatnig.net) on Wednesday July 24, @09:31AM (#3943848)
(User #590231 Info | http://www.sablatnig.net/)
Here in Austria it is possible to buy code-free dvd-players completely legal in any shop. And most shops give you the possibility to remove the code-lock, if your player has one. So what?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
How specific do you need to be to violate DMCA? (Score:2)
by AtariDatacenter (jmccorm@yahoo.com) on Wednesday July 24, @09:34AM (#3943861)
(User #31657 Info | mailto:jmccorm@yahoo.com?Subject=SlashdotResponse)
I've always wondered how specific and clear you need to be in order to violate the DMCA? If I were to instruct people to, "disable the regional protection in the DVD", is that enough? Is a step-by-step enough if some people understand? Or is saying how to do it not a violation?
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
A good thing (Score:1)
by I_am_God_Here (A_Pair_of_Cat_Eyes@yahoo.com.spamsucks) on Wednesday July 24, @09:36AM (#3943874)
(User #413090 Info)
A true warrior for the cause. Many of us sit and complain because we don't have the power to change things, others sit and cry because they have the power but are to afraid of getting fined or going to jail. But sometimes people have to go to jail for the message to get out.

Throughout history the successful freedom fighters have been willing to be persecuted for their beliefs. Martin Luther King was jailed, Gandhi was persecuted, the Dali Lama, Jesus, Washington, the list goes on indefinitely...

The point is if something is worth fighting for you have to be willing to make some personal sacrifice.
[ Reply to This | Parent ]
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