"You can only play with our toys if you follow our rules"

[Matthew Astley]

On Fri, Sep 13, 2002 at 03:48:29PM +0000, David Wagner wrote:
> Brian Gladman wrote:
> >Matthew Astley wrote:
> >> I would summarise it as "you can only play with our toys if you
> >> follow our rules".
> >
> >Actually its slightly different: "you can only play with our toys
> >if you follow the rules we agreed with you at the time you
> >purchased them".

(I believe we later agreed this contract is a legal, not technical,
and therefore open to misinterpretation by both parties and the
software)

> This is probably a tangent, but I guess I don't see how it's
> different.

On the contrary it would seem to be central to TCPA's discussion, if
not actually UK _crypto_ policy.

> Disney is free to change its requirements after I purchase a TCPA
> machine: for instance, tomorrow Disney might allow anyone with a
> Win2000 or WinXP box to view their movies, but the day after that,
> they might restrict access to just WinXP users (after the next
> security hole in Win2000 is found, say).

This sounds like a real-world problem. 8-/

Presumably it could be used as an excuse to put in the "we may delete
our toys from your machine if..." clause with a straight face.

> Unless... maybe you meant that "Disney gets to require whatever it
> wants, changed at any time, in return for access to Disney movies"
> are the rules agreed upon at purchase?  If so, this strikes me as
> a distinction that makes little difference in practice.

Is there any legal body with an interest in keeping this EULA or
contract that one's machine agrees with Disney in line with the
current principles of copyright exhaustion/first sale doctrine?

Market forces can't be relied on given the presence of the Recording
Industry Monopoly Ass., and the governments of the world seem quite
happy to continue feeding the beast.


Actually it amazes me that Hollywood is playing a card like this so
close after the start of Lord of the Rings. Do they think their
customers are incapable of drawing the analogy between the Fritz chip
and a magical ring?


Matthew  #8-)