lini, I'm not even sure that Linux will be able to save us if the controls are embedded in the hardware as well.
One can but hope -- if getting around the controls will be possible, then Linux is certainly the most likely candidate for an open platform, but what I've read so far about the whole Palladium thing really frightens me. I'm still not entirely clear on how it'll work though -- need to do some more reading.
One thing's for sure though... If Eldred v Ashcroft goes the wrong way, the DMCA stands its first serious test in court, shrinkwrap EULA conditions get upheld in trial, and Palladium is launched, we're looking at a future where customers are treated like criminals more than ever before.
The saddest part is that short of Disney et al, I don't know of anyone who supports these laws. Your average person in the street certainly isn't going to be too chuffed about an album they can't listen to on their MP3 player or what have you.
But nobody seems to be fighting. People just don't take an interest until it's too late. Same with Bush's suspension of habeus corpus recently. Where is the uproar? If that one slips by with nary a protest, how can we expect to have people showing their anger of content protection laws?
I predict that the content behemoths will win. I predict that the lawmakers will continue to laze comfortably in the pockets of big business. I predict that the vocal minority will get more vocal, and that the majority won't know or care enough to listen.
It's a sad time when legislation is bought and sold. I'm sure it's not a new thing, but I've not seen more obvious cases before than Eldred v Ashcroft.
