Recently i have witnessed a video library close down on the eastern outskirts of Melbourne, leaving legitimate customers of the old model no where to go within a reasonable distance to hire a video, they will just download a rip. my local video library is currently having a major purge of old DVDs to make room for Blu-Ray discs. the store seemed pretty quite. this will have an effect on the behavior next generation, where ripping without contributing is just a normal part of life. the industry is shooting them selfs in the foot by not allowing downloading of the material they own copyright to for an insignificant price which supports the industry.

I realize that without money being recovered from the production of films, that the funds available for new films will be harder to obtain, reducing the number and quality of new films, reducing choice for consumers.

The studios have long sort to control the equipment that the content is played back on, and this is becoming more evident now. an old example of what they will try and do if they can get away with is the DRM on minidiscs. and its the consumer that pays for it with more than just money. one example is that DRM slows down innovation, with the entry requirements to develop new applications for the technology far above the reach of the average person.

It is unlikely that the film industry is going to embrace the future, i think the quality of the material they have been releasing has been mediocre for the last few years and getting worse. we (the citizens of the world) need to take control of our own destiny.

I propose an alternative:
*Establish an entirely new movie industry funded from the general public donating to this body using a fund raising model of some form across the whole world, with a charter that ensures that greed is not acceptable practice.
* the management of the organization would be voted in by the people that donate. and have a wage that is not excessive.
* The donators vote on what projects get commissioned.
* The distribution of the final product should be encoded on an open source format, without DRM of any kind, and have a creative commons license after roughly one year from when it is released (so funds can be recovered post production for new productions), as well as all of the source material used to make the production.
* The decisions should be as democratic as possible.

There should be more than enough people in the world able to fund a vast array of productions of different generas, of which like minded people can contribute to what they want so see in one way or another. this would make for a very rich world culture.

I know some of you will be laughing at me now, put i don’t care.
You the citizens of the world can improve on my very basic idea. hopefully one day it will bear fruit.

Windows=huge market share.
Mac=not huge market share.

therefore, Mac seeks out Windows compatibility; not vise-versa.

not saying Microsoft is right, here. like, I know some mp3 players allow you to access them as usb mass-storage devices. This would give you easy access from Windows, Mac or Linux (probably even BSD and Inferno/Plan 9)…..

oh…. .flac, .wav or fuck you.

note: Not that I would ever suggest someone use a zune… Just saying

“1. Itunes uses Apple’s own proprietary encoding (with DRM) when you rip a CD by default. You can dig into the menus of iTunes to change this to MP3 (which is what IMO most people would want), but it’s pretty hidden.”

Firstly, it’s AAC by default which is not an Apple proprietary encoding (wikipedia is your friend here). Second, there’s no DRM when you rip a CD, it’s wide open, copy those files from iTunes directly to your desktop and send them to your friend/play them in a different app, no problem. Lastly, it’s not hidden it’s right there in the prefs pretty front and center.

“2. That stupid, stinkin keyboard that is frustratingly only compatible with Apple-approved software. You can run Windows VMs in VMWare:Fusion, but there are some (very useful) Windows and Linux key combinations that can’t be made on the MacBook/MacBook Pro keyboard.”

This is apple being worse than microsoft? Because they don’t limit their keyboard designs so that they’ll work perfectly with legacy operating systems? Silly. However, even if you did think that made Apple the bad guy, let me mention that I ran windows using virtual pc with a powerbook g4 and I run windows on my fiance’s macbook – the keyboard works great in both because Apple _supplies drivers to you_ for the keyboard. This’ll be a shocker, at work we’re forced to use windows (a decision which costs everyone plenty of time every week due to constant issues) and they supply the crappiest keyboards you could imagine. So what did I do? I _bought_ and brought in my own new aluminum apple keyboard and use it _every day_. Every ‘key combination’ works, and the amount of development I do I’d wager that I use more keyboard shortcuts than most.

A ‘legitimate’ user is forced through all kinds of bullshit security, and extra hoops to use what they have, and that functionality is crippled.

Somebody like me grabs the latest crack (like say the windows genuine advantage killer and the WPA goes the way of the dinosaur too) rips the software wide open and then happily goes about using the product he owns in the way he wants.

I recently upgraded my system and a buddy of mine nearly shit him self when I didn’t have to phone microsoft to reactivate my system when my hardware configuration changed, and yes i can still use the windows update page just fine.

Guess what? Instant convert to the dark side.

Oh and my movie and music collection? Stripped the DRM out in the cases where I couldn’t find versions with no DRM (and yea that means the pirate bay most of the time), this means I’m not living in fear that the company that thinks it ‘owns’ my media will decide to stop supporting a certain type of DRM. Which has happened in the past like the MSN music service.

Whats it all add up to? People like me who are now criminals for wanting to use the products they bought get an easier time of it than the people who follow the rules big corporations are trying to shove down our throats. More and more people are going the ‘illegal’ route just for peace of mind, I know people who payed for their copy of windows and then asked me to crack it anyway because it was that much easier to use with the bullshit gone.

I’m not a bad person, I’m not fucking with anybodies IP, but what I am doing is using a product I purchased the way I see fit. I bought it, its mine now. End of discussion.

All people who whinge at the thought of Linux because it is too hard, quit complaining. It is about as difficult as the difference between driving a manual and automatic transmission car… the choice is between a Pinto with automatic, or a free BMW with manual, and crap, you take the Pinto rather than learn to drive stick? You deserve your fate!

Seriously, the next person who says Linux is too hard to learn better be over the age of 70 and on AOL, or they need to be severely beaten about the head and neck with a duffel bag filled with their collection of For Dummies books…for our sake, not theirs.