Re: [dvd-discuss] Geeks in government: A good idea?

[Tom <tom(at)lemuria.org>]

On Fri, Aug 16, 2002 at 12:24:47PM -0700, Ken Arromdee wrote:
> The inability to manufacture such players in Europe is a consequence of the
> laws in the US--companies who need the license to enter the US market are
> forced to conform in Europe.  It's still an effect of the law, even if it's
> a little indirect.

Very indirect. What's forcing them is the license, not the law. I see
your point, but I believe the licensing and cross-licensing system is
more powerful than the DMCA in this respect.


> There are also patent problems with making unlicensed DVD players, IIRC,
> but patent laws are laws too.

I agree. I didn't say law has no effect at all. Of course we're all
happy that there are laws against burglary. What I'm saying is that
there are still burglars anyway. There are comparable number of drug
users no matter how harsh the anti-drug legislation. And people will
still read books even after the MPAA gets them outlawed in their 2009
"reading kills movies" campaign.

My translation of Declans argument is that burglar alarms and advances
in lock technology have a stronger impact on burglaries than new laws
could ever have. New drugs (e.g. ecstacy) will change drug consumption
more than new laws. And writing code will do more to ensure the freedom
of information than lobbying politicians that are already so deep in
other people's pockets that they can barely see out.

Neither lobbying nor laws are entirely without effect. However, they
are ineffective ways of reaching geeky goals compared to writing code.



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