[FoRK] Re: Kindle first impressions

[Jeff Bone]

On May 5, 2008, at 4:28 PM, Luis Villa wrote:

>
> Ah, so you have the version of iTunes where you can rip a DVD to your
> iPod, just like you can rip a CD? Oh, wait, what, that doesn't exist,
> you say? Doesn't exist because Apple doesn't want to violate the DMCA?

Do you need Apple to do this?  I wouldn't, on the occasion when I  
might feel the need to accomplish this sort of thing...

> Huh, funny that. So you can do it... just without the polish,
> convenience, and commercial investment you (correctly) praise
> elsewhere in this thread.

True, and it's usually not worth the effort to me.  The point is, the  
*possibility* is there.  It's up to me to pay the inconvenience  
cost...  and over time, convenience will beat inconvenience,  
flexibility wins in the long run, the market works, business models  
are destroyed, those with vested interests curse and everyone else is  
happy.  Just doesn't happen as quickly as we'd like, usually...

> To be slightly less snarky, I get your point that the DMCA doesn't
> stop *you*, but it does stop lots of people (either because of their
> moral concerns

Then it's not the DMCA stopping them, is it?

> or because it reduces their access to
> knowledge/tools), certainly stops virtually all corporations,

Corporations aren't people, despite the fiction...

> and even
> in cases where lots of people aren't stopped (pot, speed limits, mp3s)
> it helps create cynicism and disregard for law, which admittedly is a
> sort of abstract problem, but I think helps reduce people's motivation
> to actually *fix* broken laws.

Or it motivates people to break laws en-masse, forcing the kind of  
standoff we see today w/ the RIAA.  You want to bet on the outcome of  
that one?

jb