Posted on August 17th, 2007 by Rust
Thanks for all the great comments both here and on Slashdot about the Subscription Television article. Some people noted things that I missed in the original article, others had excellent points that should be taken into account, and some just had some great things to say. It seems that we at DRC are not the only ones dissatisfied with cable television and all it brings to the table.
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Filed under: Editorial | No Comments »
Posted on January 26th, 2007 by Rust
It’s been a number of years since I’ve subscribed to cable TV at home. Among other reasons, most of the shows are crap, what isn’t crap is interrupted constantly by commercials that are twice the volume of the show I’m attempting to enjoy, and I don’t really want to pay $100 a month to get the few channels I feel are actually worth watching on occasion.
The current model of subscription television works as follows. You pay a service provider (a cable or satellite company) a monthly fee for the right to view entertainment, news, and educational programming at their convenience. Your service provider will, at no extra cost, insert highly energetic and distracting untargeted advertisements at regular intervals. These ads will interrupt the broadcast so you don’t miss anything. As a special bonus, if the service is ever interrupted, you will need to wait for a period of time (potentially anywhere from a week to a decade) before you can watch a rerun of the show(s) you missed.
Oh, that is so worth the money!
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Filed under: Current | 41 Comments »
Posted on January 26th, 2007 by Rust
When Microsoft announced that Vista was reaching beta status, we rejoiced. Windows XP is a decent system (if you ignore the security problems), but it’s getting dated. Vista will have the new slick, the new polish, the new sheen - and new digital rights management?
The world I know, where I can use my computer as a PMR, is coming to an abrupt end. Hollywood has it’s fingers in my machine and is twiddling the dials without my permission. Join me now, in this world where the rights I already have are suddenly being monetized.
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Filed under: What If | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 12th, 2007 by Rust
The Digital Rights|Canada site is (now) going to be an unofficial companion to the Digital Copyright Canada community site (we are not affiliated in any way). Here, you will find mostly opinions of varying quality, some creative writing (also of varying quality), and the occasional rant (always of the highest quality) regarding the state of public rights in Canada when it comes to digital media.
If you want to make a submission to the site, please create an account here and email an outline of your proposed article or editorial along with your username to russ at digitalrights dot ca.
Thanks!
Filed under: General | No Comments »
Posted on January 12th, 2007 by Rust
This is an ombudsite investigating the effects - both real and potential - of copyright and fair use laws in Canada as they apply to digital media. As much as we can, we will write about what can happen if certain laws are passed, or if certain media conglomerates win or lose a court case, or what does happen when American interests are put ahead of Canadian interests.
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Filed under: General | 2 Comments »