Our Rant –> Dr Gonzo

First off, what is theft? Go to Dictionary.com and you’ll find the following:

theft:

• The act or an instance of stealing; larceny
• Obsolete. Something stolen.lar·ce·ny:
• The unlawful taking and removing of another’s personal property with the intent of permanently depriving the owner; theft.

Seems pretty straightforward right? Maybe, it depends on who you ask. Here’s a little of what the bible has to say on the subject:

Exodus 20, verse 15
15: Thou shalt not steal.

Deuteronomy 23, verses 24 , 25
24: When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
25: When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s standing corn.

Apparently you shouldn’t steal, unless you’re fucking around in a farmer’s field, eating shit off the vine and such. Just don’t put any in your bag for future enjoyment and/or profit or else (God shaking fist). So when is taking something that isn’t yours theft? When should breaking the law be justifiable in the name of fair use? I’ll try to answer these totally unanswerable questions during a time where everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else and either calling them thieves, or treating them like potential ones. But if you take a step back, you’ll realize that what is truly being stolen are our rights of fair use as consumers.

Digital piracy abounds, why it’s so easy that even an 11 year old can pirate music, reprograms satellite cards and backward engineer the copy protection of an XBox all at the same time. But then what is ‘piracy’? Wasn’t it once only considered piracy if you made a copy of something and then sold it for profit? These days you can be considered a pirate, or a major felon (under the DMCA in the US) just by attempting to make fair and proper use of your music, software, or hardware, and I’m not even talking about using the old Napster or KaZaa Lite yet.

Here in Canada you’re even treated like a criminal, even if you haven’t committed a crime. Every time you purchase blank digital media (CD-Rs, CD-RWs), you pay tariffs which may soon increase, and begin to include MP3 players (increasing the price of a 20 GB iPod by $77 or more) or any other digital media that could potentially be used to store illegally obtained music files. There’s even a case currently being heard in the Supreme Court of Canada that may result in an increase to your monthly Internet bill. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bath water.

Although my definition of ‘fair use’ flies in the face of the what industry considers it to be, my idea (and that of others) of fair use is the reasonable expectation on the part of consumers to be able to use purchased content or hardware anyway that we see fit as long as it is for our own personal use. This includes (but not limited to) such things as purchasing and ripping a CD or DVD, or installing a mod-chip in your favorite gaming console (XBox, PS2, etc). Some of these activities are currently legal in Canada, or exist in that grey area just outside the scope of the Criminal code. This much is certain however, most if not all content creators are pushing for any use of that content that they don’t explicitly permit, to become illegal, and may very well succeed if we allow them to.

Here’s are more detailed explanations of the aforementioned fair use examples:

CD Ripping

CD ripping makes a near perfect copy of most purchased audio CD, and allows the consumer to use the ripped songs how he/she decides. A legitimate consumer can use these rips to make archival copies (for those hard to get imports, or rare other rare audio oddities), burn mix CDs, or carry their entire music library with them wherever they go using the latest generation of large capacity hard drive based MP3 players (most notably the iPod). Unfortunately some new CDs and re-releases have copy protection built in that can make this process difficult or impossible, and in some cases render the CD unplayable in some PCs, Macs, CD/DVD players, or worse.

DVD Ripping

DVD ripping is almost the same as ripping an audio CD, except with a few extra steps. Like CD ripping, this allows the legitimate consumer to make backups of rare or expensive imports, or carry their entire (or very large portion of depending on the size of the collection) DVD library with them on either their laptop or portable device similar to an iPod (sadly unavailable in North America). Anyone who scoffs at this type of use, obviously has never been on long plane or car trips, especially with a young child and their mother-in-law. This removes both the hassle of carrying around a bunch of expensive DVDs in the car, and listening to the nerve wracking drones, cries and complaints of the child/mother-in-law combo for twelve plus hours.

Mod-Chips

Illegal to install in the US because of the DMCA, legal or grey market in other countries like Canada, mod-chips allow the legitimate consumer to bypass game console copy protection, thus making it possible to use backups of their games that otherwise would not function (useful if you have children that use the console, and have no clue or respect of the value of a game disc). In the case of an XBox, a mod-chip will also allow the legitimate consumer to use their XBox in a multitude of new ways. An XBox mod-chip allows the consumer to install and dual-boot Linux, install a larger hard drive, and copy his/her game discs onto the XBox’s hard drive. The last two in my opinion being the most handy. I mean who wouldn’t enjoy the convenience of being able to carry their entire game collection with them on trips, or to LAN parties? The caveats to installing a mod-chip are that you instantly void your warranty, and you run the risk of either toasting your console with a bad install, or running afoul of your federal law where applicable.

Now I would be incredibly naive if I didn’t admit that by allowing consumers unrestricted use of their digital content or devices for legitimate purposes, we make real piracy easier at the same time. It may be a risk, but I think it’s a necessary one for content creators to take, and for consumers to demand. Besides, any economic downsides can and should be minimized with the introduction of new legislation and enforcement policies to properly arrest and prosecute those who are guilty of real piracy. It should be you the consumer that dictates how you want to be able to use your digital content and hardware, not the content creator or manufacturer telling you how you can.

So what’s my answer to the question of fair use? Simple, go after the real pirates, the ones that don’t pay for “their” digital content. Stop forcing legitimate consumers to use the tools of the devil in order to use their purchased digital content or hardware in ways that they want to.

Coming Soon, Part Two: Black, White & Grey

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