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Scofflaw Lego Robot — Parallax Forums

Scofflaw Lego Robot

Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
edited 2013-09-09 14:53 in General Discussion
Here's a story about a Lego robot that comes close to breaking the law:

http://boingboing.net/2013/09/07/lego-robot-that-strips-drm-off.html

Comments

  • whickerwhicker Posts: 749
    edited 2013-09-08 11:35
    Why even buy e-books with DRM?
    Vote with your wallet to put them out of business.
    Now granted, textbooks will be a larger battle due to indoctrination.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-09-08 11:48
    whicker wrote: »
    Why even buy e-books with DRM?
    Vote with your wallet to put them out of business.
    Now granted, textbooks will be a larger battle due to indoctrination.

    No bias in that article. "DRM-crippled ebooks" as opposed to "DRM-protected ebooks" ????

    "this setup does not violate the law." Really? Since when does making unauthorized copies of something not violate copyright law?
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2013-09-08 12:01
    ElectricAye wrote: »
    No bias in that article. "DRM-crippled ebooks" as opposed to "DRM-protected ebooks" ????

    "this setup does not violate the law." Really? Since when does making unauthorized copies of something not violate copyright law?

    It's my understanding that prior to the DMCA, if you purchased copyrighted media you were allowed to copy it for your personal use to another media type. For example it was perfectly legal to make a mix tape of your CD's for to listen to in your car. However, the DMCA made it illegal to break DRM for this personal use.

    In this case he's exploiting the analog hole to side step the DRM, but not break it. So it might not violate the DMCA and be legal under previous law. I just thought it was kind of a riot since the Kindle DRM is supposed to be a bad joke anyway. It's clear that he built the robot for entertainment and not actually to pirate books.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-09-08 12:10
    Martin_H wrote: »
    ... It's clear that he built the robot for entertainment and not actually to pirate books.

    I guess I was emotionally responding more to whicker's statement about voting "with your wallet to put them out of business." I'm not sure how you put an owner of a copyright out of business without essentially stealing their stuff on an industrial scale. Also, I'm not sure how you would want to copy a textbook and "make a mix tape" of it so as to side-step "indoctrination," unless the indoctrination is that some people have a right to make enough money to pay their rent by writing and selling textbooks.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2013-09-08 12:37
    I think he means that you should buy from publishers like O'Reilly that don't use DRM to put Amazon out of business, and not that you should steal to put them out of business.

    I don't condone piracy and in academic circles they actually do create the equivalent of a mix tape of books for research purposes. Basically you might photocopy a page under fair use to properly cite it in an article you are writing. The problem with DRM is that it inconveniences the users who are willing to pay for the product, but not the people willing to steal from you. However piracy is a real problem because authors like Gordon find they can't get paid for their work. I have no idea what the solution is.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2013-09-08 18:19
    I agree with Marti_H about making a copy for yourself. It is perfectly legal to make a copy for yourself, as long as it is not sold or given to someone else. This also holds true for CD's and DVD's. This is how the CD ripping and DVD burning software compaines are able to make duplication software, so that the owner can make legal backup copies of something they already purchased.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-09-08 18:29
    I like the bot for its edgy cleverness. A very creative workaround that will get some smart people very upset. Per M_H, I don't advocate piracy and I don't have a solution. Clearly a distribution danger of the digital age, not unlike the BS2 clone which CuriousOne found on taobao.com.
  • prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
    edited 2013-09-09 14:53
    ElectricAye wrote: »
    I'm not sure how you put an owner of a copyright out of business without essentially stealing their stuff
    Martin_H wrote: »
    I don't condone piracy
    erco wrote: »
    I don't advocate piracy

    I thought Black Pearl was OK but Johnny Depp was a little over the top
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