Saturday, April 27, 2013

So What's Been Happening?

Answer: both "a lot" and "nothing".

Apple and Amazon are frenetically busy in this area.  Google is worried about the DMCA.  Yet none of the three of them have called us up for help.  Because, of course, we're not 18-year old developers, how could we help them?  We're a solution, not an app.  But all in all, society is about ten years behind where it could be culturally because of a lack of understanding and embracing of the Exchange concept.  Those digital books that were supposed to be here by now?  They're still not here.  Total tragedy.

Oh. The Redigi case was decided since we last posted. We are happy that the Redigi  method was refused by the judge. Allowing people to resell their digital media without bothering to set up a registration system would have increased counterfeiting because it would've given the counterfeiter an extra incentive to counterfeit: remuneration from unsuspecting suckers. That being said, the judge's reasoning was faulty.

All this is going to do is encourage the forging of the atoms necessary to produce CDs or DVDs (or the pulp for books). Happy Earth Day everybody!

Because how does a judge stop me from ripping a DVD or CD or scanning a book that I own? He doesn't! He can't.

Even if the Redigi case is upheld on appeal, how does the Judge stop this scenario?:

  1. I put my CD or DVD in a "warehouse".  
  2. The warehouse rips it for me. 
  3. I sell the CD to someone else.
  4. The warehouse transfers the ownership to the new person.
  5. The new person asks the warehouse to rip it for him.
  6. Voila,  "digital reselling".