[KLUG Advocacy] Re: [KLUG Members] DRM in every Samsung machine

[Adam Williams]

> > DRM is not the problem; STOP ELECTING IDIOTS!!!  
> They may very well be idiots but I doubt it. Ignorant? You bet.

Right.  Word choice for emphasis not technical meaning, my bad.

>  I can't imagine what it would take to keep up with all the issues.
> You gotta remember that these people are inclined to believe those
>  things that they hear most often - even if it's not true.

Yep,  watch anything technology related on C-SPAN;  the people on those
panels are so incredibly misguided, incorrect, and biased it would turn
the stomach of a used car salesman.

>  So, what's going on is the lobbyists are winning.

Or not.  Actually I think alot of damage has been done to UCITA, DMCA,
etc...  Those ships aren't sinking but they are certainly listing, and
don't have that maiden-voyage smell anymore.  We could be much worse off
than we are, and many people's dire predictions failed to come true.

> > The problem is a
> > tragically ignorant population (and that blood [along with lots of other
> > blood] is on the hands [and head, arms, and legs] of our educational
> > institutions).
> Well we certainly aren't generating to many thinking individuals from
>  our educational system. We teach our kids by repetition and memorization.

I don't have a problem with "repetition and memorization";  personally I
think that IS the most effective way to learn.  The problem in my
experience is apathetic staff that should have retired decades ago (in
the lower grades) and a social environment that really doesn't take
education seriously (in the higher grades).  American high-schools exist
as an excuse to have sports programs.

>  The schools don't teach our kids how to learn or any problem solving.

Maybe they do, maybe they don't.  They don't know enough basic
information to excersice whatever problem solving skils they may or may
not have.

>  They don't even teach the lids how to study.

They don't *SHOW* kids why they should give a damn about studying,
because most of the teachers don't give a damn about the topic they are
teaching.  This is in large part I suspect because of all the barriers
to entry to become a teacher; the certifications, etc... are
ridiculous.  I know some brilliant people who just bagged it and got
"real" jobs,  for the pay the official qualification levels are just WAY
WAY WAY too high.  That someone can get a job teaching matchmatics at a
*COLLEGE* and not be qualified to teach High School is laughably absurd.

> > We regulate firearms, telephone bills, nuclear weapons,
> > etc...  and all those can more-or-less be justified to reasonable people
> > because they have some idea what firearms, telephones, and nuclear
> > weapons are; information technology is an different and sadder story. 
> In what way?

Ask someone what a codec is lately?  Or what happens (even vaguely) when
a audio CD track is 'ripped' to an MP3?  Or the difference between "the
internet" and "the web"?   If you get blank stares, ask a few questions
about firearms, telephones, or nuclear weapons.

> > The purpose of government is to govern, the problem is that a democracy
> > full of people bewildered by what is going on won't be able to muster
> > the strength to make government do its job.
> Please remember that we live in a Republic, not a Democracy. Of course 
> that doesn't mean that most of us aren't bewildered. IMHO, most people 
> don't care until it affects them. By then, it's too late.

Sure.  But all these things DO effect them, demonstrably, they just
can't comprehend how.  What populace consumers more media at a more
voracious rate than Americans?  Short change our children, heck! use
them as cannon fodder, but don't mess with my HDTV or broadband!  The
ability to do things like record and play back a TV show is ultimately
what we are talking about here. I think people care - ALOT.  But they
can't understand the connections.