4 ms·

> How much human progress has been lost to academic profiteering? More general: How much human progress has been lost to copyright laws?

squarefoot 8y ago
I have this recurring vision since years: scientists from a far remote future or planet attempting to study the remains of our society of a few decades from now, just like many did with ancient Egypt ruins and elsewhere. This time however all their efforts fail because of DRMed documents and strong encryption, including the only still working AI computer which refuses to share any data to protect its company from liability. That would make a plot for a short film maybe. To illustrate the problem, just think of what could have happened in the past had the Rosetta Stone been DRMed and encrypted.
- goliatone 8y ago
  So, maybe Indiana Jones was just fighting against arcane DRMs?
  - wolfgke 8y ago
    > So, maybe Indiana Jones was just fighting against arcane DRMs? Weren't the Grail trials in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade a kind of DRM to prevent people people who no license from accessing the Grail? And isn't the scene where the grail temple callapsed when Elsa tried to steal the Grail just a second layer of the Grail's physical DRM system?
    - tomxor 8y ago
      The lost ark had much more brutal DRM as far as I remember... rather than just scramble the picture they melt your eyes off.
      - TeMPOraL 8y ago
        I'm pretty sure companies would be happy to brick your computer for trying to access unlicensed copy of "their" data, if it wasn't for legal consequences that would follow.
        wolfgke 8y ago
        > I'm pretty sure companies would be happy to brick your computer for trying to access unlicensed copy of "their" data, if it wasn't for legal consequences that would follow. FTDI actually attempted to brick counterfeit chips via their Windows driver: See for example > http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-ftdi-ft232/msg536298/#msg536298 http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-... (HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8493849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8493849 ).
    - berbec 8y ago
      Grail trials were the Church's security questions. They should have used 2FA. :)
- justinpombrio 8y ago
  In Glasshouse, our time period is called the "dark age" for exactly this reason. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17866.Glasshouse https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17866.Glasshouse

squarefoot 8y ago

I have this recurring vision since years: scientists from a far remote future or planet attempting to study the remains of our society of a few decades from now, just like many did with ancient Egypt ruins and elsewhere. This time however all their efforts fail because of DRMed documents and strong encryption, including the only still working AI computer which refuses to share any data to protect its company from liability. That would make a plot for a short film maybe. To illustrate the problem, just think of what could have happened in the past had the Rosetta Stone been DRMed and encrypted.

goliatone 8y ago
So, maybe Indiana Jones was just fighting against arcane DRMs?
- wolfgke 8y ago
  > So, maybe Indiana Jones was just fighting against arcane DRMs? Weren't the Grail trials in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade a kind of DRM to prevent people people who no license from accessing the Grail? And isn't the scene where the grail temple callapsed when Elsa tried to steal the Grail just a second layer of the Grail's physical DRM system?
  - tomxor 8y ago
    The lost ark had much more brutal DRM as far as I remember... rather than just scramble the picture they melt your eyes off.
    - TeMPOraL 8y ago
      I'm pretty sure companies would be happy to brick your computer for trying to access unlicensed copy of "their" data, if it wasn't for legal consequences that would follow.
      - wolfgke 8y ago
        > I'm pretty sure companies would be happy to brick your computer for trying to access unlicensed copy of "their" data, if it wasn't for legal consequences that would follow. FTDI actually attempted to brick counterfeit chips via their Windows driver: See for example > http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-ftdi-ft232/msg536298/#msg536298 http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ftdi-driver-kills-fake-... (HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8493849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8493849 ).
  - berbec 8y ago
    Grail trials were the Church's security questions. They should have used 2FA. :)
justinpombrio 8y ago
In Glasshouse, our time period is called the "dark age" for exactly this reason. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17866.Glasshouse https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17866.Glasshouse