Posted by Paul Lutus on 12/04/06 18:59

jan kowalski wrote:

> APPLE iPOD USERS' BILL-OF-RIGHTS:
> 1. You have the right to sync to any computer at any time anywhere
> 2. You have the right to back up your iPod collection to any computer disk
> 3. You have the right to back up your iPod collection to any CD/DVD disc
> 4. You have the right to sync from any disk or disc back to the iPod
> 5. You have the right to sync on any platform (mac, winxp, linux, etc.)
> 6. You can own that computer or it can be your friend's computer
> 7. You have the right not to install any software on that computer
> 8. You have the right to store those legitimate MP3 songs anywhere
> 9. Any proposed solution must employ wholly legitimate freeware
> 10. None of these rights may at any time be infringed upon by anyone
>
> My current use model (i.e., SharePod on Windows) fits only nine (9) of the
> ten (10) basic rights above so I am still searching to meet that tenth
> unalienable iPod users' right.
>
> What solution meets all ten basic iPod users' rights?

Living on a different planet?

> What amendments should be added to this basic iPod users' bill of rights
> that I didn't think of yet?

Amendment 11: Don't let anyone in the legal or law enforcement professions
hear about the other ten.

There are a bunch of holes (both vague terms and overlooked combinations of
circumstances) in your bill of rights. It is obviously well-meant, but it
is not written clearly enough to serve as a guide to a consumer's
real-world rights, which certainly exist.

As just one example, if you backed up your collection to a friend's computer
and it led to a legal action, the judge would want to know what your
intentions were -- could your friend play the music you stored on his
computer? Would that prevent him from buying the same music? These are
relevant questions because this is all about intellectual property rights
-- yours, and those of the producers of recorded music -- and it is about
commerce.

BTW, IANAL.

> I am still searching to meet that tenth unalienable iPod users' right.

No civil rights are inalienable (the word isn't actually "unalienable",
Thomas Jefferson's use of that word notwithstanding). You have to fight for
them, constantly. If you don't live in a democracy, you have to fight just
for the conception of civil rights. If you /do/ live in a democracy, you
have to fight to maintain your rights, against corporations, against other
individuals, and against the government.

But you shouldn't assume that, just because rights are declared and made
part of law, that they will stay intact without any effort on your part.

Just remember that a government's interest, or a corporation's interest, is
not your interest. All three are different. The government is supposed to
be there to protect your rights, but it ends up spending more and more of
its time and energy asserting its own rights. The only check on its power
is angry, educated citizens.

The corporation wants to address the interests of its stockholders, and
their interest is not yours, unless you happen to be a stockholder.
Sometimes a corporation can get a government to go along with its
interests. Both entities are huge, impersonal, and driven. And both know
how much influence an articulate citizen can have. That's where you come
in.

So good luck in your project, and think harder about the wording of your
bill of rights.

--
Paul Lutus
http://www.arachnoid.com

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