[off] Do me a solid

[Mark Wieder]

On 09/29/2018 05:14 PM, John McKenzie via use-livecode wrote:
> 
>   Mark, I am glad I am not the only one who remembers Lee selling us
> out. I do not put more validity or faith into the project because of
> him. I just mentioned him because he was doing it. Still, mostly I want
> to understand it. What really is it? The article just says it is to
> create something we have.

Dunno yet. The article and the others just like it have a bunch of 
startup pr hype and not much else. The Solid platform is up and the api 
should be online Real Soon Now.

> 
>   I for one say you are right to mention the DRM thing. We cannot forget.

To put it in some perspective, DRM itself isn't the problem, it's more 
the nuances involved, especially as pertains to section 1201 of the 
DMCA. Well, yes, DRM does remove all the user's rights in copyright, 
letting corporations decide what your legal rights are. But legit things 
people want to do with web technology are off limits, even talking about 
defects in DRM that expose users to privacy breaches.

Case in point: some years ago I bought a DVD, stuck it in the DVD player 
connected to the aux input of my TV, and found that I couldn't view it 
because the TV had integrated anti-piracy software. The TV was a combo 
TV and VCR, so obviously I was going to copy the DVD to videocassette 
(remember this was some years ago) and the system was helpfully going to 
stop me. The only way I could view the DVD was to rip it to a digital 
file and watch it on the computer. Forced into piracy even though I had 
purchased all the equipment and content. (OK - according the modern 
EULAs I don't actually own anything, but that's a different subject. But 
related.)

from Cory Doctorow's report from last year:

EFF proposed a simple compromise: extend the W3C's existing membership 
agreement (whose patent rules make DRM possible in the first place) so 
that W3C members couldn't sue people for bypassing DRM unless there was 
also some kind of copyright violation or other illegal act in the mix.

The DRM advocates at W3C rejected this. After a perfunctory discussion, 
they walked away from the negotiations and proceeded to ignore anyone at 
W3C or on the web who disliked the idea of corporations getting to boss 
around librarians, accessibility workers, security researchers and 
innovators.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/07/amid-unprecedented-controversy-w3c-greenlights-drm-web

-- 
  Mark Wieder
  ahsoftware at gmail.com