Previous message: U.S. says Ukraine turns blind eye to piracy, levies tariffs http://www.politechbot.com/p-02977.html --- To: declanat_private, gnuat_private Subject: Re: FC: U.S. penalizes Ukraine for refusing draconian media controls In-reply-to: <20020103023512.A5896at_private> Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2002 02:21:52 -0800 From: John Gilmore <gnuat_private> The "optical media licensing regime" that the US is trying to stuff down the throats of the Ukramians (and many other countries) is one that puts tracking numbers on every CD blank and on every CD master. These permit examining any retail CD to answer "which plant made this blank?" and "which mastering machine made this CD?". You can see these marks on your own CDs, if you look in the center of the shiny side. E.g. one CD I have is embossed "IFPI 2F82" on one part, "CMCA" on another, and in the silver is burned "CMCA" and a whole bunch of ID numbers and bar codes. This scheme does not 'preclud[e] piracy of such products'. There's that deliberately misleading "P-word" again. It's like calling someone a terrorist; if they're a "pirate" then we can do anything to 'em, and it's not only legal but fun too. Let's double the price of ordinary non-CD products made in the Ukraine and sold in the US, cutting off their foreign trade. Whee! There is a similar tracking requirement imposed on CD recorders (by the patent licenses issued by Philips). It requires that each CD burner record on the CD the serial number of the recorder, so that every burned CD-R can be traced back to which individual CD-burner recorded it. These schemes are described here: http://www.licensing.philips.com/information/sid/ The schemes were invented by IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the international version of the RIAA. The same companies run it, it's just another smokescreen for the music mafia. Here's their web site, and their comment on the Ukraine trade sanctions: http://www.ifpi.org/site-struct/frontpage.html http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20011220.html The Philips licensing site reports (in a PDF paper written by IFPI) that "While the SID Code programme is voluntary in most parts of the world it is now mandatory that all CDs replicated in Bulgaria, China and Hong Kong carry a Mould SID Code. Mandatory use of SID Code(s) is in prospect in several other countries which are presently considering the introduction of CD Plant Regulations." (i.e. IFPI and the US are actively pressuring them now with threats like these trade sanctions.) The equipment and blanks for pressing CD's are the musical equivalent of printing presses and blank paper for written works. In order to 'prevent' the 'piracy' of musical 'books', here's the direct translation of what the IFPI demanded of the Ukraine, and what the US Government spent years trying to force down the Ukranians' throats: * close down and prosecute printing plants that have been involved in high volume printing * seize and destroy all private property accused of copyright violation * carry out regular and unannounced inspections of printers * introduce and enforce strict paper production control regulations, includling the compulsory use of identification watermarks in the printing machinery, and control of trade in printers and blank paper * introduce new 'protection' laws for foreign record companies, and appropriate criminal penalties for copyright "and related rights" infringement Most of that is pretty straightforward censorship of the press, the kind that our own Constitution would not tolerate, we hope. Let me guess what that last sentence means: If they didn't also pass a DMCA-equivalent law in the Ukraine, then they would still have been penalized? Happily, a formerly Communist government had the sense to reject this proposed law, while the actively authoritarian government of the US is trying to force it on them (and us). Here's some more background against which to understand this. Reader, in case you didn't know, every color Xerox machine and color laser printer prints the serial number of the machine on every page they produce, covertly hidden in the output, under a long-standing private "arrangement" with the US Treasury Department. I have been unable to confirm whether this is also true of black-and-white xerox machines. Next thing we'll have telephone answering machines recording what phone numbers people are calling from....video libraries recording who borrowed each book and when.....Internet ads that track and record who saw them...hotel room doors that record every time each person goes in or out...cellphones that report every move we make to the authorities...tollbooths that record every car that goes through them... guards in every airport demanding to see 'our papers' before we are permitted to travel in our own country... ...in short, we'll be living in a POLICE STATE. The US just imposed 100% duties on the Ukraine because their legislature voted NOT to impose a piece of the US police state on the Ukranian citizens. I say bravo to the Ukranians! And maybe they can lend us a few freedom fighters, with experience in throwing off centralized control of markets by the oligarchy, and authoritarian control of the media and the citizens. We need 'em. John Gilmore ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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