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Today’s Artist:Starfisher
Congress Pays You $3 Billion to Keep Watching TV Thirty-Four Years of eMail Web Chats Help the Chronically Ill
TWILIGHT [3:52]
Band: STARFISHER
Genre: Alternative Pop
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As many of you know, I think that technologists have a responsibility to be aware of the fact that their work most likely has political and societal implications. That’s why the EFF has had my personal support for a number of years.
If you are curious about the multiple issues the the Electronic Frontier Foundation or EFF is tracking, .
For example, I knew that there was an ongoing battle concerning the video broadcast flag – coming back to life like the villian in a teenage slasher movie.
“The Broadcast Flag, a plan to give Hollywood remote control of how you record, copy, transfer, or replay over-the-air digital television, was knocked flat by the courts. Now the film and TV industries are running to Congress to get the fix in.”
What I did not realize is that RIAA has legislation introduced to extend this to radio. This would hobble the new high definition (HD) radio technology, interfere with your right to record off the air, and block the development of next-generation devices that promise “TiVo-for-radio” capabilities.
Sometimes, there’s an issue of adopting a technology that seems like a good idea at the time.. but may have un-intended consequences – like RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tracking chips and California IDs. SB 768, a sensible bill with broad bipartisan support, would keep RFIDs out of the IDs you use every day – like your driver’s license or medical benefits card – until there are safeguards in place to protect privacy.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has been wreaking havoc on consumers’ fair use rights for the past seven years. Now Congress is considering the Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act (DMCRA, HR 1201), a bill that would reform part of the DMCA and formally protect the “Betamax defense” relied on by so many innovators.
There are links on SDR to the EFF - that I think you will find interesting and give you a moment to think about what’s going on behind the news each day.
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