A random thought about DRM

DRM is Digital Rights Management. It is the technology implemented by content creators and distributors which technologically enforce the limits of rights granted to the licensee.

Sometimes you can get content without DRM. For example, if I buy a CD from JB Hi-Fi, the licence would mean I could play it at home, but not publicly. I would also be not permitted to copy this CD (the right to reproduce is 'reserved' by the artist or the recording studio etc). According to copyright law (sect 109A Copyright Act 1968), however, I CAN (no matter what the recording studio says) rip the CD to my computer (thus converting it from PCM to MP3), and transferring it to my iPod.

Furthermore, despite the restrictions described by the licence (for example, not being allowed to make 100 copies to give to my friends), there is nothing physically stopping me from doing it.

This is content without DRM. The licence and the law say you can and can't do certain things. Physically, though, (whether legally or illegally) I can do anything I want with it.

Enter DRM:

For example, say I buy a song from iTunes, and the licence to that song says that I (the licensee) can:
* play this song on 5 authorised computers, and
* play this on iPods registered to me
* burn this song to CD 3 times.

Once I burn the song onto CD 3 times, it will no longer burn to another CD. iTunes will recognise what's already happened to the song and prevent the burning. Furthermore, if I email the M4A song file to a friend, he won't be able to play the song (which MUST be iTunes) until he enters my username and password, thus authorising his computer in my name. Again, the file itself, in combination with the player (iTunes) actually physically control what I can do with the file. That is, the DRM technology physically limits which I can do in accordance with the licence.

In this sense, the licence and the law say what I can and can't do, and the DRM controls what I can and can't do in accordance with the licence (even if the law says I might be allowed to do something else beyond the licence permissions).

My question is, why bother with DRM? Isn't the law and licensing enough to protect the interests of copyright holders? Aren't all consumers law abiding citizens? Okay, maybe not. In acknowledging and conceding that THE LAW AND LICENCE IS NOT ENOUGH to guide the behaviour of some consumers (i.e. the 'pirates' argh), copyright holders implement measures (DRM) to physically (rather than legally) 'guide' the behaviour of those consumers.

DRM measures are now protected by law. Section 116AN will treat someone who circumvents a technological protection measure (TPM, the legal, generic reference to DRM) as if they had infringed the copyright holder's rights (e.g. copying etc).

But my question is, why bother protecting DRM with law? Law and licence doesn't guide the behaviour of pirates. That's why we have DRM in the first place. So it seems logical to assume that pirates aren't going to have regard to the law when it comes to circumventing a TPM. If an iTunes song holder wants to burn a 4th CD of the song, they'll just rip one of the CD's they burnt before. Burnt CD's are DRM free (just like the ones from JB Hi-Fi).

So why have a legal regime (s116AN/TPMs) designed to protect a technological regime (DRM) designed to protect another legal regime (copyright licenses and statutory exceptions), when pirates don't respect the copyright licencing regime in the first place?

This seems silly to me, and this is without even considering the fact that DRM has the potential to:
* stifle innovation
* restrict competition (iTunes and iPod are dominant for more reasons than the style of the iPod)
* prevent a consumer from exercising their extra-licence fair use/dealing statutory rights.

What are your thoughts? It seems to me that the marketplace is in need of another regime to protect the rights of copyright holders, without making life supremely difficult for everyone else (whilst at the same time undermining the respect people have for the law)**.

** According to the Australian Copyright Councils Information Sheet G25 TV and Radio: home taping ("time-shifting"):

Q: Can I record programs that I'm watching or listening to so that I can enjoy them again later?
A: NO, You can only record programs that you are NOT watching or listening to. This is because the new time-shift provision says that you can only make the recording in order to watch it or listen to it "at a time more convenient than the time when the broadcast is made" Section 111.

I wonder what happens if I decide to record NCIS tonight on tape, and instead of changing channels or going to bed, I decide to watch the first 5 minutes while it's recording and then go to bed. Uh oh....

Graduation photos

If you're looking for graduation photos, scroll down after the article about Easter.

Why Easter is like Company Tax

When I say the word “imputation”, what do you think of? ‘Franking credits’ or ‘Jesus’? Well, it can be both!

The company tax system passes on ‘franking credits’ to its shareholders. Shareholders are effectively given an income tax credit for the income tax paid by the company in which they are a shareholder. Let’s say Company XYZ makes $100 profit. It pays $30 company tax (company tax rate = 30%), leaving $70 profit after tax.

Imagine now that Company XYZ has one shareholder, Tim. Company XYZ pays Tim a $70 dividend. Attached to that dividend will be a $30 franking credit. Some people call it an imputation credit. In Tim’s individual tax return, he’ll include the $70 dividend as assessable income, AND the $30 franking credit as assessable income. That totals $100.

Assume that Tim has lots of other money coming in and that his marginal tax rate is 30%. The tax on his dividend and credit is $30. Since Tim has a franking credit $30, it will reduce the tax payable on the dividend back to $0. That is, the company has effectively paid Tim’s tax bill on his dividend.

To put it another way, the tax the company has already paid through the company tax system has been IMPUTED to Tim instead. That is, the company tax has been CREDITED to Tim. That’s why it’s called the imputation system.

In some ways, the company is really the shareholder’s representative when it comes to paying tax, despite the fact of it being a separate legal entity. The company tax system merely brings forward a tax payment to Consolidated Revenue rather than waiting for a shareholder to pay the tax when they lodge a tax return.

Okay, so what does this all have to do with Easter and Jesus and stuff?

Firstly, a quote from the Bible:
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
“God made him (i.e. Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

When Jesus died on the cross, he was actually acting as our substitute and representative. On the cross, he dealt with the problem of our sin (i.e. our rejection of and rebellion against God). That is, he paid the penalty of our sin (i.e. death and God-forsakenness). In other words, our debt is transferred to him, and he pays it.

The second part of that Bible quote is about us becoming the “righteousness of God”. What this means is that we have our previously very bad relationship (remember the rebellion?) restored. That is, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we can have a right relationship with God. The presumption is that Jesus was sinless and already had a right relationship with God; “him who had no sin”.

This status of a right relationship (i.e. ‘righteousness’) is credited to us, or imputed to us. That is, we have the status of being righteous, when we well know that we are far from righteous. Everyone has rebelled against God in some way. (Romans 3:9-20)

Company Tax = Easter
In many ways, the company tax imputation systems provides a useful illustration to explain some key points about Easter and the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross. Those who don’t pay the liability are treated as though they have paid it. This is only possible because someone else has paid it on their behalf.

Company Tax ≠Easter
There’s one important thing that company tax won’t tell you: Jesus didn’t stay dead. The big idea behind Easter is that Jesus rose again (i.e. the resurrection). Do you really think we’d have a 4 day long weekend in honour of some 33 year old ‘moral teacher’ that died and stayed dead? If we did, we'd never go to work.

They grow up so quickly....

*sniffles*
Today's grads and cadets who have finished their respective development programs. Special Guest: The Commish.

The shot with five people is the cadets with the Commish.

Apologies for the graininess. I turned off the flash and the camera automatically cranks up the ISO, hence the excessive digital noise.

I used Picasa to tidy it up a bit.

I HAVE REMOVED THESE PHOTOS. IF YOU WANT A COPY, EMAIL ME.

Try This

One day I'll make this...

Poor Form

Wow - it's been August since my last post. Hopefully I'll think of something to put here soon.

Swiss Train Video

Here is a video of our train ride. We are in a tunnel, and are getting out.


I hope this works.

Paris

Hey, guess what, BJ and I met up with...

oh wait, I'll give you some time to guess first.

Okay.

BJ and I met up with Kev Chan in Paris the other day. It was a lot of fun. I tell you what, Kev lives on the edge when it comes to travel. Anyway, we saw lots of things: Notre Dame, Montparnasse Tower, St. Germain Des-Pres, The Sacred Heart, and just a lot of walking around.

Montparnasse Tower is the only skyscraper built within the Paris city-walls. It's quite low rise across all Paris, and the only 2 tall things are the Montparnasse Tower (its really a big building) and the Eiffel Tower.

The tour guide said it was better than the Eiffel Tower because:
a) You can see as much as you would if you were on the Eiffel Tower
b) You can see the Eiffel Tower
c) You can't see the Montparnasse Tower
d) It's cheaper to go up than the Eiffel Tower
e) The queue is shorter than the Eiffel Tower
f) There are less people at the base of the Montparnasse Tower trying to sell you keyrings.

Anyway, here is a picture that BJ took of Kev and I at the top of Montparnasse Tower:


Ahh... it's getting late. I might just publish this now. Just in case I fall asle...

Montreux - chocolate hangover

I was very close to leaving BJ behind in Montreux. She liked the placed so much, I was afraid that she didn't want to leave.

Funny story, there is a casino in Montreux. Montreux sounds like a nice place, right? You'd think the casino would be a flash, trendy place right? Well, not in Montreux. After dressing up nicely, we arrived at what could be described as "Hornsby RSL but not as nice". I think the Irish Pub at Asquith Leagues might even be a toe ahead.

The casino was signposted with a CASINO sign, in red neon lights. We were a little let down. The food, however, redeemed the institution. We didn't even take a picture of the place. Sorry. What, hang on, BJ DID take a photo of it. Ooops. Here it is in the day light:



But do you know what was cool? The train ride there was something else. We took a "panoramic" train ride from Lucerne to Montreux. We were at the front of the train. "The front?" you ask. Yes:



Cool huh?

We also took the liberty of paying a visit to the Nestle/Cailler factory. Free samples. BJ enjoyed it, and I managed to exhaust a vial of lactase pills in one hit.



We also stopped by an old castle in a place called Gruyere. They have a cheese factory, but they also have a castle. Check out the view from the castle:


After Montreux, we went to Paris. I'll blog that later. We're in Amsterdam right now.
We met up with Kevin Chan in Paris. His blog is http://inkev.blogspot.com/ hopefully he'll updated it before us, so you can have a look see about Paris.

Montreux

BJ broke the "world's most photos taken in one day" record.
We'll need to wade through the photos to find some pithy-ergo-blog-worthy shots to post here.

In the meantime, it's 2:30am here in Paris, and I should really be going to bed.

Bye for now.

Lucerne (or Luzern)

The picture is the view from our hostel room in the late arvo. Not bad huh? Lucerne is a smallish town in Swizterland, where the people mainly speak German first, then French, then English. The town has a river running right through the middle (the Reuss River), flowing from Lake Lucerne, through goodness knows where to eventually end up in the Rhine River. The river flows really quickly, and I'd say that if you fell into it, you'd have buckley's chances of saving yourself. (you'd probably get hypothermia first).

The weather is cool and fresh, a welcome change from the hot and humid weather of Rome and Venice. Lucerne is a small town, and there wasn't much to see except for landscapes. Plenty to see in terms of mountains etc. There are several bridges crossing the river, and one of them is a big old wooden one, and the picture below was taken from it. As you can see, its got lots of flowers lining it. They really like flowers here.



It was cool having a river racing past outside your hostel window. Just the novelty I suppose. The place seems really laid back too. Not over-populated by neither citizens, tourists or traffic.

Oh yeah, if you DO fall in the river, your best bet is to be save by someone wielding this hook.


Also, there are lots of ducks and swannings paddling about in the River. How they get from one side to the other without being swept away beats me. Anyway, you already know what a swan looks like. But do you know what a swan looks like when its getting food from the river bed?

Venice

Welcome to Venice. It was really warm here, and of course, humid. We got off the train station, and were met with the big canal. Quite a novelty really, being met with a canal minutes from leave the train. People get around in mini-ferries, or water-buses, or "vaporetto". There are not "streets" in Venice, just pathways, some quite narrow. Pull up any map of Venice, and you'll see that it is built like a maze. Alot of paths don't meet at the end. So when your directions say "take the first right", don't think you can get away with taking the second right and find your way around. Some of the pathways are really narrow, like the second picture above.

Besides the pathways, there are lots of mini canals feeding off the main big one. The mini canals can only fit small private boats and gondoliers. There are LOTS of gondoliers. Some of the mini-canals are a bit smelly, as the water doesn't ebb and flow as well as the main canal. The first picture above is an example of the mini canals.

There are LOTS of vaporettos going back and forth. They are also very regular. The vaporetto is operated by 2 people. One drives, and the other throws the rope on the big metal thing at the stops. The third picture is of a vaporetto rope-throwing operator. We took a picture of him (well, BJ took it at my insistence) because I thought that he looked like a chubbier version of Vin Diesel (that one's for you Glenos). BJ doesn't know who Vin Diesel is. That's to her credit I suppose.

Another thing, what I've seen of Italy, can be summed up thusly:
The top 5 most prominent things Italy has:
1) Big old churches
2) Smaller, but just as old statues and monuments
3) Scaffolding on said churches
4) Scaffolding on said statues and monuments
5) Italians

After Venice, BJ and I caught the train to Lucerne (Switzerland).

Okay, here's some scaffolding...


There's a church under there somewhere...

Pompeii and Naples

 

Hi all. We made a day trip to Naples (Napoli) and Pompeii the other day. It was REALLY hot, and I was willing to pay exorbitant prices for some lemon sorbet, or lemon granita or SOMETHING cold. Anyway, here is a picture from Pompeii. See if you can have a guess of what it is.

I'll give you some time to guess.

Ready?

Okay now?

It's a kitchen! The hole on the right is a oven (a pizza oven if you will - your original wood-fired oven!), and the 2 round things on the left are grain milling machines. So you put the wheat grain in there, shove a big cylindrical stone in the middle, and rotate the stone (with human power or animal power?) and out comes flour. (pronouced = flower - that's for you Glenji).

Of all the things I could have shown, why show a kitchen? Well, you should know me enough by now not to even ask that question.

The other thing is that the whole complex is still unfinished. That is, most of the city is still underground, and archaeologists are still digging it up now. The area available to tourists is only about 20-30% of the total Pompeii city area.

And another funny thing. I have experienced the definition of a Tourist Trap. When we booked the tour, it was pretty straightforward. The bus picks us up outside our hostel at 7:00am, and we drive to Naples, have a look around, then drive to Pompee and have another look around, and catch the bus back home. Somewhere in there, we have lunch.

The first part went to plan. We had a tour guide on the bus, who talked about Rome etc, and when we arrived in Naples, she got off, and swapped with a dude who got on - the local guide. The local guide was easier to understand, and we actually got off the bus and walked around Naples for a bit. The coastline is REALLY nice, and the rest of the town can be characterised with:
a) historical buildings
b) historical statues
c) rubbish on the streets
d) graffiti on said buildings and statues

Bit of a shame really.

ANYWAY, afer baking in the sun, we hoped back onto the bus and headed for Pompeii - YAY!

When we arrived in Pompeii, its not just ruins. There's a hotel right next to the entry, and lots of places selling gelato. (by the way, I'm sick of gelato now, the novelty has well and truly worn off). We got literally FUNNELLED into some random shop, that makes some kind of jewellery out of sea shells. It was very nice. But the issue is that this was never on the itinerary, and thus we had no opportunity to object. Before we knew it, BJ and I and a hundred of other tourists plebs were being assaulted by salespeople.

We got out of there. Then we HAD to have lunch at the hotel's dining area. (The jewellery shop is in the same building as the hotel). The dining area was HUGE. I'm not kidding, this place was designed to serve food to about 20 coaches of tourists simultaneously. Whilst waiting 20 minutes for our food, BJ and I talked to 2 couples from the UK on holidays. I think they were retirees/empty nester types. They seemed really laid back. Anyway, we finally got served semi warm food by very sweaty waiters. Running around in a double breasted suit never helps the temperature.

The very fact we were FUNNELLED into a jewellery shop and a cafeteria posing as a hotel restaurant tells me I must have experienced a tourist trap. I wonder, between the bus company, the jewellery shop, the hotel, and the Pompeii site, who was paying who commissions. Ultimately, it was US!

Back online

Hi all,

I'm in Paris now, with some spare time, and a net connection, so hopefully I'll fill you in from between Rome to now.

Timmeh