Are we going to let the Suits run the Internet?

http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/Cv...Pavloski2.html Napster now fights the Technologically ignorant! by Cvetan Pavloski "Sony is going to take aggressive steps to stop this, we will develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will firewall Napster at source -- we will block it at your cable company, we will block it at your phone company, we will block it at your [Internet-service provider]. We will firewall it at your PC. These strategies are being aggressively pursued because there is simply too much at stake." -- Steven Heckler Senior vice president of Sony Pictures Well if that isn't a ballsy statement. I'm not a huge Napster advocate, but the freedom that Napster is currently fighting for is even more evident after reading this statement. In my last article I was lambasted by a few, and hailed by others for my observations about Napster. The fact of the matter is this. The record industry is taking a huge front against this technology. Beyond that, they are technologically ignorant. Even Lars Ulrich of Metallica, one of the loudest voices against Napster, has admitted that he just started looking at the Internet when he first heard about Napster six months ago. This is what worries me, technologically ignorant people that hold high positions in corporate America. The one thing that Heckler seemed to forget in his little tirade (above) was how he was going to implement this dribble. In order to implement this, Sony and the rest of the RIAA inject themselves into the other corporations that carry my/your Internet services? Or ask for v-chip like technology to be put in computers to block Napster. This is truly BS, it won't stop with that. If it can be hacked it will be, that is evident and has been shown with DeCSS. It has been shown (so far) that hacks don't stand up in court, but have they ever needed to? Not likely once the hack is there, it will be there. Heckler shows his ignorance here with a view that is most definitely against freedom of speech. He instead advocates freedom as long as we (the big corporations) can keep an eye on you. Again that is not what the Internet is about. Personally this scares me. Napster is not an answer, but unfortunately for the RIAA, is a reality that they must learn to embrace, or they will go the way of the eight-track. When I say 'embrace', I mean work with to create a viable way of getting the compensation they want. On a final note, what is at stake? Is it the money that Heckler thinks he is losing, or is it the RIAA's business practices? In the coming years we will see what happens, it will be interesting, and probably more fun to watch than Jet Li kicking ass at your local cineplex. ... I say that in the coming weeks we'll start to see some very intersesting(and positive) changes in society brought about by a reaffirmation of the Net's core values of openness and diversity. :0) __________________ If these big corporations had their way these clueless suits would run it. Instead of embracing the net these companies fear it and want to control it. To harness all that the net offers and to mold it the way they want it to be. Sorry you corporate Stevie Wonders don't be surprised if people don't go along and resist your internet vision. I don't have much faith in the court system which itself is composed of technologically ignorant people. Its very likely Napster be taken down but other services will and already have arisen to take its place. Suffice to say the ending of this story won't be written for years. __________________ The Hell With Sony Vice President. __________________ The hell with SONY __________________ ...because he wouldn't want his favorite sites to get blocked ;0)