[KLUG Members] "Big media" and the laws they pass that destroys everyone's freedom -- WAS: And the Spam Wars continue...

[Jamie McCarthy]

b.j.smith@ieee.org (Bryan J. Smith) writes:

> You see, I don't mind so much that organizations and companies
> try to "control" a product in how it is created, how it can be
> used and how it can be marketed.  That's just what happens in a
> free society.  If the DVD consortium wants to screw companies,
> consumers and what not in the way they try to "control" their
> products, that's their business.
> 
> Because, in the end, the worst case is that they are only going
> to hurt their consumers.

Um, which is everyone.  In case you hadn't noticed, there are no
alternatives to the DVD consortium.  Unless you know of some
independent manufacturers and distributors who will handle the DVD
release of Harry Potter II.

Which society has more liberty?  The one where Bill Gates and Andy
Grove are "free" to drive competitors out of the hardware and
software markets and in 2020 there are no longer PCs sold that will
run Linux?  Or the one where you and I and billions of other little
guys are free to run our software because the government stepped on
the "rights" of a handful of billionaires?