“If consumers even know there’s a DRM, what it is, and how it works, we’ve already failed” – Disney Executive.
People wonder what this has to do with education and I think hackus post on slashdot explains it quite well. Heres what he wrote:
DRM is not about copying songs and video.
This is a much bigger issue than that.
It has to do with education, who gets knowledge, who can pay for knowledge and those that can’t are screwed.
This goes for anything science or technology related.
Throughout history corrupt regimes and governments have known all too well that citizens that can read or write, or are empowered to discover or reorganize information without dogma are “disruptive” to the state as a whole.
Whether you like it or not, Universities, school systems etc are not setup by what one accomplishes or contributes. They are setup for those who want to play “the game” so to speak. Don’t play the “game” and your out. This is painfully obvious if you are in a computer science department and are doing research. If someone doesn’t like your ideas, your out.
See it happen to my prof personally and the process is disgusting because it ties everything to money and corporate contributors and very little of it has to do with any real science.
What Stallman is really advocating is that information and technology should be available for all, free for all and there should be no barriers constructed artifically or legislated by governments.
Since most of his arguments revolve around software this makes sense because software is what directs computers to share or not share information. As the world becomes fully networked, obviously there is going to be a huge divide if something isn’t done about it soon.
The little guy here as you should point out is every Slashdot reader.
I also believe you made a interesting point about governments listening. If it hasn’t hit everyone in the head by now, governments ARE listening quite well to thier citizens. But these citizens are not individuals, they are corporations.
I do not even believe governments such as those in the US for example even listen to citizens as defined as “voter” anymore.
Which brings me to a rather not so nice future painting. The entire globe is one huge computer network. If you don’t work for a corporation, you can’t learn. Can’t learn, can’t get a job. Can’t get a job, your even lower than the guy working for the corporation so you get substandard or next to no healthcare, your kids can’t go to college because it is too expensive. (i.e. every public university will be corporate owned in about 20-30 years anyway at the rate its going. From a buget perspective anyway.) Furthermore, if you are caught making copies of information say about “Calculas” or “American History” DRM books you can instantly be imprisoned for hard labor with no trial.
Sounds absolutely ridiculous if it wasn’t for the fact that it has already happened.
Tell someone about DRM today and visit defectivebydesign.org for more information.
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