I don’t know whether any of you have been reading about these issues, but there are things stirring in the US that could have bad consequences for PC users everywhere, and I haven’t seen anyone but IT journalists talking about it so far. 1. The music industry’s alternatives to Napster are coming online. Be careful, because with some alternative services: You never own the tracks in the way you do a CD You can only play them as long as you are a member (if you unsubscribe your downloads won’t play anymore) Terms and conditions can be altered at some future date and if you don’t agree to them, you can kiss “your” collection goodbye. You have to renew the licence for EACH track EACH month via the internet You only have permission to play tracks on two computers, both of which need to have the relevant software installed (which rules out your MP3 player) 2. Sen. Hollings and his friends in the music/studio industries are attempting to introduce a bill which will make it illegal to manufacture PCs with the ability to copy files. To get a PC that can copy you will need a special license and you will be grilled about what you want it for (but hey, if you want to buy an assault rifle, just promise the storekeeper you won’t shoot anyone with it OK?) And they are all looking into ways of giving all types of electronically recorded media a limited lifespan either in number of plays or periods of time - you’ll end up never owning anything you pay for. Its like the automobile manufacturers designing a car where the wheels fall of after 5,000 miles or 6 months - they wouldn’t be allowed to get away with it so why should anyone else? 3. I’ll state up front that like Microsoft products, but they are spearheading the most sinister development of the lot! Under the guise of providing more secure PC operations Microsoft and other manufacturers are working to introduce chips that will run your computer - check out stories on Microsoft’s “Palladium” technology. They will decide what software and hardware you can use, impose Digital Rights Management without having to tell you, report back who knows what kind of information about your surfing habits and can even read and access your personal files! It was US users who started the fight which made Intel back down on their plans for the P3 chip, and it will be down to them to start the fight against these latest attacks on our freedom. So, if you don’t want the day to come when you switch on your PC and only have access to what they want you to have (and paying each time for the privilege) - start bitching now

i think that is rediculous! (i know my spelling stinks) but still, paying for something that you will lose ability to enjoy? it's not like they are ice cream cones that you pay for and eat....HOW RUDE

We get plenty of looney bills over here in the UK as well - fortunately not to many convert into new laws. If only they'd concentrate on more important issues! Rgds Dennis

Believe me that not beaing ably to listen to music files when you want is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Palladium and DRM tech goes. Joe Homeuser is going to be screwed royally if this ever takes off. MS is slowly introducing this already, ie product activation, media player user identification, secure(crippled) file formats (wma), etc. Personally I believe that the US DoJ has its hands so full with corporate fraud they aren't seeing the threat posed by MS and which Intel and AMD have plans to implement circuits to support DRM. It's not like they have a choice as MS has become such a big monster but they are not fighting it either. When the new OS from MS comes out it will require new hardware support as well. Once someone uses this tech then anybody not using it will not be able to share info with that person, so they then must 'upgrade' to be able to do so. This is wher Intel and AMD start frothing at the mouth because that would cause an upswing in the PC market and put money in their pockets. Now know this that simply having the ability or compatibility to share info does not mean that you will be able to. DRM dictates that your info must be 'verified' by some remote server as being elligible to be shared or even used on your own PC (yes your documents may not open and will be lost, your music, pictures, videos may no longer open etc) You get the idea. This is very dangerous ground they are treading and there is nothing positive about it for consumers.

Here's a thought; buy the CD! :)

The new technology that Sony developed for preventing the copying of CD's was defeated by a felt-tip marker. Money alone will never defeat ingenuity. If it does, there's always Linux.

Here in Switzerland we pay a certain "fee" for every empty cassette we buy in shops. This was demanded and pushed through by SUISA (musicians rights and licencing organisation). They don't care whether you're going to record the sound of your new sports car or a speech you're going to make. You pay the fee no matter what. The US musicians' rights and licencing organisation closed down and threatened to sue (for millions of dollars) a friend of mine who ran the world's largest online source of song lyrics (no music, no mp3s just lyrics). Apparently they wanted his files and by threatening to sue this young man, who had spent years typing in all the lyrics they managed to get them. The police - at the wishes of the US organisation via SUISA confiscated all his equipment including: - home CD players - His entire collection of (purchased !!) music CDs - His computers - All his software - Every floppy disk they could find - Every Jaz disk they could find - His second computer which acted as a server on which he hosted several websites for other people (me included!!) He got *most* of his stuff back, and the court threw the case out, although he still had to pay the equivalent of $15,000 "costs" to the US organisation for "breach of copyright". This is only the first step. Fairplay in music is one thing, but this is going too far. Dane