So you don’t like draconian copyright?

Then quitcher bitchin and do something about it.  BoingBoing writes:

FAIR Use Act: copyright reform bill introduced in House

By Xeni Jardin

Xeni Jardin: Derek Slater from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says, Reps. Rick Boucher and John Doolittle’s FAIR Use Act [PDF] would remove some of the entertainment industry’s most draconian anti-innovation weapons and chip away at the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) broad restrictions on fair use. Take action now and tell Congress to help restore balance in copyright now.

This bill wont “fix” the situation, but it’s a chip in the wall.  We all just have to keep swinging our hammers.

Speaking of the Simpsons,

Nelson says, “HA HA, yer fancy-schmancy DRM sucks!”

BluRay and HD-DVD cracked. Beautiful commentary at Boing Boing:

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/13/bluray_and_hddvd_bro.html

So yeah, people will steal movies this way; nothing has changed. Aside from illegal bootlegging, people will make legal backups too, and other people will creatively edit Jar-Jar out of terrible movies and make the world better. The studios still have no clue, and no one is surprised. Thanks hackers, for pwning the studio n00bz. Again.

I don’t condone theft, but the music and movie industries have made an awful mess for themselves. Most movies suck, and most music sucks. Plenty of attention is paid to production values, but little to no effort is put into writing a song or telling a story. These industries mass-market shiny garbage and are wholly responsible for their products’ absurd lack of perceived and actual value. The product has become disposable to the consumer. No value, no pay. Tough nuggies.

If music studios and record labels would stop relying on formulas and trends, have faith in their audience, and actually have the stones to take chances, develop artists, and reward artistic courage, they’d have a shot at turning things around. Unfortunately, in addition to flooding the market with dried beer puke, they’ve also been treating paying customers like thieves, so they’ll have quite a job of earning back consumers’ trust. In the meantime, people who really care about music and film just do it themselves however they can, and learn as they go. It makes for mistakes with heart, and a growing number of people will empty their wallets for that kind of honesty.