EFF co-founder John Gilmore rails against the licensing regime that the IFPI (the quaintly named "International Federation of the Phonographic Industry," which the international equivalent of the RIAA) is attempting to impose on the world. The scheme would require every CD burned to bear the serial number of the burner that made it, so it would be traceable back to its author. Gilmore lionizes the Ukraine for its resistance to the regime.
The equipment and blanks for pressing CD's are the musical equivalent
of printing presses and blank paper for written works. In order to
'prevent' the 'piracy' of musical 'books', here's the direct
translation of what the IFPI demanded of the Ukraine, and what the US
Government spent years trying to force down the Ukranians' throats:* close down and prosecute printing plants that have been involved in
high volume printing* seize and destroy all private property accused of copyright violation
* carry out regular and unannounced inspections of printers
* introduce and enforce strict paper production control
regulations, includling the compulsory use of identification
watermarks in the printing machinery, and control of trade in
printers and blank paper* introduce new 'protection' laws for foreign record companies,
and appropriate criminal penalties for copyright "and related
rights" infringement
(via Meerkat)
