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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_17.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_17.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ea4d7b --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_17.html @@ -0,0 +1,456 @@ +<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. + +Free Software Foundation + +51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor + +Boston, MA 02110-1335 +Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. +Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted +worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is +preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations +of this book from the original English into another language provided +the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and +the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all +copies. + +ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9 +Cover design by Rob Myers. + +Cover photograph by Peter Hinely. + --> + + + <a name="The-Right-to-Read_003a-A-Dystopian-Short-Story"> + </a> + <h1 class="chapter"> + 17. The Right to Read: A Dystopian Short Story + </h1> + <a name="index-_0060_0060Right-to-Read_003a-A-Dystopian-Short-Story_0027_0027-_0028see-also-DMCA_002c-DRM_002c-fair-use_002c-and-libraries_0029"> + </a> + <p> + <em> + From + <cite> + <span class="roman"> + The Road to Tycho, + </span> + </cite> + a collection of articles about the antecedents of the Lunarian Revolution, published in Luna City in 2096. + </em> + <br> + For Dan Halbert, the road to Tycho began in college—when Lissa +Lenz asked to borrow his computer. Hers had broken down, and unless +she could borrow another, she would fail her midterm project. There +was no one she dared ask, except Dan. + </br> + </p> + <p> + This put Dan in a dilemma. He had to help her—but if he lent +her his computer, she might read his books. Aside from the fact that +you could go to prison for many years for letting someone else read +your books, the very idea shocked him at first. Like everyone, he had +been taught since elementary school that sharing books was nasty and +wrong—something that only pirates would do. + </p> + <p> + And there wasn’t much chance that the SPA—the Software +Protection Authority—would fail to catch him. In his software +class, Dan had learned that each book had a copyright monitor that +reported when and where it was read, and by whom, to Central +Licensing. (They used this information to catch reading pirates, but +also to sell personal interest profiles to retailers.) The next time +his computer was networked, Central Licensing would find out. He, as +computer owner, would receive the harshest punishment—for not +taking pains to prevent the crime. + </p> + <p> + Of course, Lissa did not necessarily intend to read his books. She +might want the computer only to write her midterm. But Dan knew she +came from a middle-class family and could hardly afford the tuition, +let alone her reading fees. Reading his books might be the only way +she could graduate. He understood this situation; he himself had had +to borrow to pay for all the research papers he read. (Ten percent of those +fees went to the researchers who wrote the papers; since Dan aimed for +an academic career, he could hope that his own research papers, if +frequently referenced, would bring in enough to repay this loan.) + </p> + <p> + Later on, Dan would learn there was a time when anyone could go to the +library and read journal articles, and even books, without having to +pay. There were independent scholars who read thousands of pages +without government library grants. But in the 1990s, both commercial +and nonprofit journal publishers had begun charging fees for access. +By 2047, libraries offering free public access to scholarly literature +were a dim memory. + </p> + <p> + There were ways, of course, to get around the SPA and Central +Licensing. They were themselves illegal. Dan had had a classmate in +software, Frank Martucci, who had obtained an illicit debugging tool, +and used it to skip over the copyright monitor code when reading +books. But he had told too many friends about it, and one of them +turned him in to the SPA for a reward (students deep in debt were +easily tempted into betrayal). In 2047, Frank was in prison, not for +pirate reading, but for possessing a debugger. + </p> + <p> + Dan would later learn that there was a time when anyone could have +debugging tools. There were even free debugging tools available on CD +or downloadable over the net. But ordinary users started using them +to bypass copyright monitors, and eventually a judge ruled that this +had become their principal use in actual practice. This meant they +were illegal; the debuggers’ developers were sent to prison. + </p> + <p> + Programmers still needed debugging tools, of course, but debugger +vendors in 2047 distributed numbered copies only, and only to +officially licensed and bonded programmers. The debugger Dan used in +software class was kept behind a special firewall so that it could be +used only for class exercises. + </p> + <p> + It was also possible to bypass the copyright monitors by installing a +modified system kernel. Dan would eventually find out about the free +kernels, even entire free operating systems, that had existed around +the turn of the century. But not only were they illegal, like +debuggers—you could not install one if you had one, without +knowing your computer’s root password. And neither +the FBI nor Microsoft Support would tell you that. + </p> + <p> + Dan concluded that he couldn’t simply lend Lissa his computer. But he +couldn’t refuse to help her, because he loved her. Every chance to +speak with her filled him with delight. And that she chose him to ask +for help, that could mean she loved him too. + </p> + <p> + Dan resolved the dilemma by doing something even more +unthinkable—he lent her the computer, and told her his password. +This way, if Lissa read his books, Central Licensing would think he +was reading them. It was still a crime, but the SPA would not +automatically find out about it. They would only find out if Lissa +reported him. + </p> + <p> + Of course, if the school ever found out that he had given Lissa his +own password, it would be curtains for both of them as students, +regardless of what she had used it for. School policy was that any +interference with their means of monitoring students’ computer use was +grounds for disciplinary action. It didn’t matter whether you did +anything harmful—the offense was making it hard for the +administrators to check on you. They assumed this meant you were +doing something else forbidden, and they did not need to know what it +was. + </p> + <p> + Students were not usually expelled for this—not directly. +Instead they were banned from the school computer systems, and would +inevitably fail all their classes. + </p> + <p> + Later, Dan would learn that this kind of university policy started +only in the 1980s, when university students in large numbers began +using computers. Previously, universities maintained a different +approach to student discipline; they punished activities that were +harmful, not those that merely raised suspicion. + </p> + <p> + Lissa did not report Dan to the SPA. His decision to help her led to +their marriage, and also led them to question what they had been +taught about piracy as children. The couple began reading about the +history of copyright, about the Soviet Union and its restrictions on +copying, and even the original United States Constitution. They moved +to Luna, where they found others who had likewise gravitated away from +the long arm of the SPA. When the Tycho Uprising began in 2062, the +universal right to read soon became one of its central aims. + <a name="index-_0060_0060Right-to-Read_003a-A-Dystopian-Short-Story_0027_0027-_0028see-also-DMCA_002c-DRM_002c-fair-use_002c-and-libraries_0029-1"> + </a> + </p> + <a name="index-DMCA-_0028see-also-_0060_0060Right-to-Read_002c_0027_0027-fair-use_002c-DRM_002c-and-libraries_0029-1"> + </a> + <a name="index-Digital-Millennium-Copyright-Act-_0028DMCA_0029-_0028see-also-DMCA_002c-_0060_0060Right-to-Read_002c_0027_0027-fair-use_002c-DRM_002c-and-libraries_0029"> + </a> + <p> + The right to read is a battle being fought today. Although it may +take 50 years for our present way of life to fade into obscurity, most +of the specific laws and practices described above have already been +proposed; many have been enacted into law in the US and elsewhere. In +the US, the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) established the legal +basis to restrict the reading and lending of computerized books (and +other works as well). The + <a name="index-European-Union"> + </a> + European Union imposed similar restrictions +in a 2001 copyright directive. In + <a name="index-France"> + </a> + France, under the + <a name="index-DADVSI-_0028see-also-both-DMCA-and-DRM_0029"> + </a> + DADVSI law adopted in 2006, mere possession of a copy of + <a name="index-DeCSS-_0028see-also-both-DMCA-and-DRM_0029"> + </a> + DeCSS, the free program +to decrypt video on a DVD, is a crime. + </p> + <p> + In 2001, + <a name="index-Disney"> + </a> + Disney-funded Senator + <a name="index-Hollings_002c-Senator-Ernest"> + </a> + Hollings proposed a bill called the + <a name="index-Security-Systems-Standards-and-Certification-Act-_0028SSSCA_0029-_0028see-also-Consumer-Broadband-and-Digital-Television-Promotion-Act-_0028CBDTPA_0029_0029"> + </a> + SSSCA that would require every new computer to have mandatory +copy-restriction facilities that the user cannot bypass. Following +the + <a name="index-Clipper-chip"> + </a> + Clipper chip and similar US government key-escrow proposals, this +shows a long-term trend: computer systems are increasingly set up to +give absentees with clout control over the people actually using the +computer system. The SSSCA was later renamed to the unpronounceable + <a name="index-Consumer-Broadband-and-Digital-Television-Promotion-Act-_0028CBDTPA_0029-1"> + </a> + CBDTPA, which was glossed as the “Consume But Don’t Try +Programming Act.” + </p> + <p> + The Republicans took control of the US senate shortly thereafter. +They are less tied to + <a name="index-Hollywood"> + </a> + Hollywood than the Democrats, so they did not +press these proposals. Now that the Democrats are back in control, +the danger is once again higher. + </p> + <p> + In 2001 the US began attempting to use the proposed + <a name="index-Free-Trade-Area-of-the-Americas-_0028FTAA_0029"> + </a> + Free Trade Area of +the Americas (FTAA) treaty to impose the same rules on all the countries in +the Western Hemisphere. The FTAA is one of the so-called free +trade treaties, which are actually designed to give business +increased power over democratic governments; imposing laws like the +DMCA is typical of this spirit. The FTAA was effectively killed by + <a name="index-Lula-da-Silva_002c-President"> + </a> + <a name="index-da-Silva_002c-President-Luis-Inacio-Lula"> + </a> + Lula, President of + <a name="index-Brazil-1"> + </a> + Brazil, who rejected the DMCA requirement and +others. +@let@textindent=@gobble +@def@hang{@kern-@defaultparindent}@hangindent=0pt@relax +@def@thisfootno{} +@dofootnote{ + <em> + ^1 + </em> + This note has been updated several times since the first publication of the story.} + </p> + <p> + Since then, the US has imposed similar requirements on countries such +as + <a name="index-Australia"> + </a> + Australia and + <a name="index-Mexico"> + </a> + Mexico through bilateral “free trade” +agreements, and on countries such as + <a name="index-Costa-Rica"> + </a> + Costa Rica through another +treaty, + <a name="index-CAFTA"> + </a> + CAFTA. + <a name="index-Ecuador"> + </a> + Ecuador’s President + <a name="index-Correa_002c-President-Rafael"> + </a> + Correa refused to sign a +“free trade” agreement with the US, but I’ve heard Ecuador +had adopted something like the DMCA in 2003. + </p> + <a name="index-Microsoft_002c-control-over-users"> + </a> + <p> + One of the ideas in the story was not proposed in reality until 2002. +This is the idea that the + <a name="index-FBI"> + </a> + FBI and Microsoft will keep the +root passwords for your personal computers, and not let you have +them. + </p> + <p> + The proponents of this scheme have given it names such as + <a name="index-_0060_0060trusted-computing_002c_0027_0027-avoid-use-of-term-_0028see-also-treacherous-computing_0029-1"> + </a> + “trusted computing” and + <a name="index-Palladium"> + </a> + “Palladium.” We call +it + <a name="index-treacherous-computing-1"> + </a> + “treacherous +computing” because the effect is to make your computer obey +companies even to the extent of disobeying and defying you. This was +implemented in 2007 as part of + <a name="index-Windows_002c-Vista"> + </a> + <a name="index-Vista_002c-Windows-_0028see-also-both-Windows-and-DRM_0029"> + </a> + Windows Vista; we expect + <a name="index-Apple-_0028see-also-DRM_0029"> + </a> + Apple to do something similar. In this scheme, +it is the manufacturer that keeps the secret code, but +the FBI would have little trouble getting it. + </p> + <p> + What Microsoft keeps is not exactly a password in the traditional +sense; no person ever types it on a terminal. Rather, it is a +signature and encryption key that corresponds to a second key stored +in your computer. This enables Microsoft, and potentially any web +sites that cooperate with Microsoft, the ultimate control over what +the user can do on his own computer. + </p> + <a name="index-DRM_002c-Vista_0027s-main-purpose"> + </a> + <p> + Vista also gives Microsoft additional powers; for instance, Microsoft +can forcibly install upgrades, and it can order all machines running +Vista to refuse to run a certain device driver. The main purpose of +Vista’s many restrictions is to impose DRM (Digital Restrictions +Management) that users can’t overcome. The threat of DRM is why we +have established the + <a name="index-Defective-by-Design-_0028see-also-DRM_0029-1"> + </a> + Defective by Design campaign. + </p> + <a name="index-Software-Publishers-Association-_0028SPA_0029-2"> + </a> + <p> + When this story was first written, the SPA was threatening small +Internet service providers, demanding they permit the SPA to monitor +all users. Most + <a name="index-ISP-_0028Internet-Service-Provider_0029"> + </a> + ISPs surrendered when threatened, because they cannot +afford to fight back in court. One ISP, + <a name="index-Community-ConneXion"> + </a> + Community ConneXion in +Oakland, California, refused the demand and was actually sued. The +SPA later dropped the suit, but obtained the DMCA, which gave them the +power they sought. + <a name="index-DMCA-_0028see-also-_0060_0060Right-to-Read_002c_0027_0027-fair-use_002c-DRM_002c-and-libraries_0029-2"> + </a> + <a name="index-Digital-Millennium-Copyright-Act-_0028DMCA_0029-_0028see-also-DMCA_002c-_0060_0060Right-to-Read_002c_0027_0027-fair-use_002c-DRM_002c-and-libraries_0029-1"> + </a> + </p> + <p> + The SPA, which actually stands for Software Publishers Association, +has been replaced in its police-like role by the + <a name="index-Business-Software-Alliance-_0028BSA_0029-_0028see-also-Software-Publishers-Association-_0028SPA_0029_0029"> + </a> + Business +Software Alliance. The BSA is not, today, an official police force; +unofficially, it acts like one. Using methods reminiscent of the +erstwhile + <a name="index-Soviet-Union-2"> + </a> + Soviet Union, it invites people to inform on their coworkers +and friends. A BSA terror campaign in + <a name="index-Argentina"> + </a> + Argentina in 2001 made +slightly veiled threats that people sharing software would be raped. + </p> + <a name="index-universities-2"> + </a> + <p> + The university security policies described above are not imaginary. +For example, a computer at one Chicago-area university displayed this +message upon login: + </p> + <blockquote class="smallquotation"> + <p> + This system is for the use of authorized users only. Individuals using +this computer system without authority or in the excess of their authority +are subject to having all their activities on this system monitored and +recorded by system personnel. In the course of monitoring individuals +improperly using this system or in the course of system maintenance, the +activities of authorized user may also be monitored. Anyone using this +system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if such +monitoring reveals possible evidence of illegal activity or violation of +University regulations system personnel may provide the evidence of such +monitoring to University authorities and/or law enforcement officials. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + This is an interesting approach to the + <a name="index-Fourth-Amendment"> + </a> + Fourth Amendment: pressure most +everyone to agree, in advance, to waive their rights under it. + </p> + <a name="References"> + </a> + <h3 class="subheading"> + References + </h3> + <ul> + <li> + United States Patent and Trademark Office, + <cite> + Intellectual Property [ + <em> + sic + </em> + ] and the National Information Infrastructure: The Report of the Working Group on Intellectual Property [ + <em> + sic + </em> + ] Rights, + </cite> + Washington, DC: GPO, 1995. + </li> + <li> + Samuelson, Pamela, “The Copyright Grab,” + <em> + Wired, + </em> + January 1996, n. 4.01. + </li> + <li> + Boyle, James, “Sold Out,” + <em> + New York Times, + </em> + 31 March 1996, sec. 4, p. 15. + </li> + <li> + Editorial, + <em> + Washington Post, + </em> + “Public Data or Private Data,” 3 November 1996, sec. C, p. 6. + </li> + <li> + Union for the Public Domain—an organization that aims to resist and reverse the overextension of copyright and patent powers. + </li> + </ul> + <hr size="2"/> + |