The links below are the "Were about to get screwed, in the process of being screwed, oouch well shafted!".
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/4278.cfm
Germany becomes the fifth country to implement EUCD
15 July 2003 6:07 by dRD
[picture]Friday, 11th of July, was truly a sad day for Europe, free speech and fair use rights. The largest European Union member country, Germany, passed its own implementation of draconian DMCA-like law called as European Union Copyright Directive.
The law, that is now in effect in five member states (Germany, Austria, Greece, Denmark and Italy) makes it illegal to distribute (even for free), sell, manufacture, develope or advertise tools or software utilities that allow circumventing copy protections. This applies to all copy protection mechanisms, including cracking the CSS that's found on most DVD-Video discs, circumventing audio CD copy protections, etc.
German implementation of the law went even further than what the EUCD itself required -- German version of the EUCD implementation makes it illegal to even discuss about circumventing copy protections in public (as on Net pages).
The chilling effects of the German law can already be seen here and there -- most obvious is the fate of the Linux DVD ripper, dvd::rip. The new versions of the software don't include settings for cracking the CSS code at all as the software is being hosted and developed in Germany.
Rest of the Europe should follow the suit within next couple of months -- United Kingdom has already published its draft of its own implementation and other member states are preparing (or have done so already) to do so very shortly.
http://www.fipr.org/copyright/guide/uk.htm
http://www.spr-consilio.com/artip16.htm
YET AGAIN, those who are put in power as _our voice_ using our tax payers money, use that money to keep themselves in power, and are using our money to do whatever companies who's extorionate profits are made from our money, to shaft us, AGAIN!
If I didn't pay any attention to politics at all, then I probably wouln't be so cynical at a young age, they wonder why there's so much apathy. Its a deffence mechanism so you don't find yourself thinking "what a load of bollox a democratic capitalist society we live in", you just ignore it and get on with making the best life possible and hopefully enjoying most of it. As soon as you start looking into any aspect of western life, you see money corrupting everything. Of course most of us are very lucky to have this way of life compared to a lot of people, and yes I'm well off down a deep ranting road, but damn it, a lot of top business and politicions appear to
a. not have a clue
b. not give a shit
c. be lying manipulative TWATS
Its a big brush and Im tarring a boat load of people with a not very linux related rant, but it does make you feel tired.
I think Im off to buy a shack in Nepal..... just as long as they've got broadband
