MPAA looks to bolster its dominance by plugging the analog hole

[BoyOfDestiny]

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/analog-hole.ars/

I swear if this somehow goes through, I will leave the U.S.

I'm not too pleased with UK and EU legislation either in regard to intellectual property...

Feel free to mention which country you come from if it enjoys freedom and isn't so easily bought. Thanks.

[23meg]

Europe already puts extra tax on anything that can digitize an analog input. DV camcorders with analog in and digital out are subject to extra customs taxes, so Sony for example makes cheaper variants of most models without analog input.

This news once more invalidates the "there's always the analog i/o; we can always copy it" stance. These guys are trying to gain absolute control over any copyrightable data stream, be it analog or digital. The point isn't that it can't be copied; every copy protection scheme will be hacked somehwhat, especially when it gets this restrictive. The potential problem for the masses is that with DRM leaking into every corner of daily life, true ownership of any cultural product in the sense we know today will become history and control will be in the hands of the big guys.

[Teroedni]

Were still pretty free Norway
atleast for now and for four years ahead i think(Social goverment)

[xequence]

Downloading copyrighted music is legal here in Canada. Atleast for now... Stupid liberal government wants to make it illegal. I dont know about movies or software, though it really doesent stop anyone.

The present copyright laws are the best thing about being Canadian ;)