Politics

If you’ve been following the news carefully you have already heard that the South Dakota senate has passed a bill to ban abortion except in cases where the life of the mother is in danger.

Once again, via Digg: The U.S. is considering introducing legislation to ban DRM rootkits on consumer products. Apparently, Sony BMG even received some rather stern warnings from the Department of Homeland Security (it almost makes me feel friendlier to that agency) after their rootkit debacle.

Yet another important article on the RIAA’s shenanigans I found via Boing Boing. The RIAA is attempting to claim in its most recent filing that ripping a CD to your computer is not covered under fair use, and is actually unlawful!

Just read the about this quote from the head of the British Video Association via Boing Boing, which indicates that people who illegally download movies and films are actually see as many films legally as the folks who do not download.

I just found an entry on Boing Boing that informs us that Patricia Santangelo, the mother who refused to settle out of court when the RIAA’s goons came to her door.

For those of you who have not been following this case, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled against the school board who instituted a policy of teaching Intelligent Design alongside evolution in the science classroom.

Looking for more examples of corporations going too far in their misguided quest for DRM? Here’s Sony’s recent exploration into using rootkits to manage DRM on your computer without your knowledge.

I recently came across a blog entry describing a presentation an old friend from high school gave. Josh Casteel served in Iraq as an interrogator sent in to clean up things in Abu Ghraib after the scandal.

Go over and read this recent post on Boing Boing about how DRM is affecting attempts to advance mobile music. It is good stuff. You don’t want to make bunny cry do you?

Every time that you support the RIAA or MPAA in their misguided DRM crusade, whether it is to restrict innovations in technology or to sue their fanbase, it is also true that:

To begin with, my friend in London is safe. Chris, who my friends and I always refer to as “British Chris” for some reason, was unharmed in the bombings that took place this morning.

It is nice to see a lawmaker with the consumers of digital media forefront in his mind, rather than the entertainment industry’s lawyers and lobbyists. Read about it in Wired here.