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A Legal Deep Dive on Mexico’s Disastrous New Copyright Law
- ve55 6y agoSometimes I feel like it's only a matter of time laws in this area take an unfortunate turn for the worst in many other countries (US obviously being one of the biggest). Every time we fight tooth-and-claw to get a terrible act from passing, a new one pops up a few months later.
- TeMPOraL 6y agoIt's because we're fighting the symptoms, not the disease. Behind each of these proposed law reforms are the same private actors that try to make their business models legally protected, to use the might of the state to force people - both would-be competitors and regular citizens - to play by incumbent rules. Beyond protesting every single one of these bullshit copyright "reforms", we need to start hacking closer to the root of the problem. That includes limiting the ability of corporate entities to dictate - or even propose - policies, and - in my personal opinion - burning down the whole concept of "intellectual property" and building it back up, in a form that serves the betterment of society instead of just the rent seekers.
- MrYellowP 6y agoIt's because we're fighting the symptoms, not the disease. First you state this, then you state this: Behind each of these proposed law reforms are the same private actors that try to make their business models legally protected The disease are politicians willing to create laws that do not serve the public. If they didn't exist, private actors would have no leg to stand on. That's the disease. NOT the private actors.
- einpoklum 6y ago> The disease are politicians willing to create laws that do not serve the public. If they didn't exist, private actors would have no leg to stand on. That's the disease. NOT the private actors. I think you're still describing the symptom. These politicians are also "actors", part of a system. It's not that there are too many bad politicians and not enough good ones. It's the socio-political system which is designed so that companies and people who own large amounts of money - capitalists if you will - have much more influence on the political process than most people, individually and even combined. However, when we generalize to this level - it becomes exceedingly difficult to attack the root cause rather than the symptoms.
- qwerty456127 6y agoWho cares about the laws in Mexico?
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- dhosek 6y agoWhile I respect the EFF, they do have their own ideology that makes them not necessarily able to give an objective summary of the law. Is there another account of what the Mexican copyright law does anywhere?
- gamblor956 6y agoAs just one example of the EFF's many nonsensical ideology-driven arguments, the EFF claims that the DCMA is an "unconstitutional" law because it enshrines the right of an IP holder to utilize digital copy protection mechanisms...Ignoring that copyright law is one of the few areas of law that the U.S. constitution specifically empowers Congress to legislate (Art I, sec 8 cl 8). It's silly stuff like this that keeps the EFF on the fringes of tech law instead of being at the forefront. (It's also disconcerting that they claim credit for legal outcomes that were achieved by others.)
- grandmczeb 6y agoThis is a totally unfair representation of the EFF's arguments, which apply specifically to Section 1201 of the DMCA (the "anti-circumvention" section). https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/07/section-1201-dmca-cannot-pass-constitutional-scrutiny https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/07/section-1201-dmca-cann...
- syshum 6y agoAuthoritarian copyright maximalists like yourself are the fringes of society and are an enemy to a free society. People just want to enjoy the content they purchase with out having layers up on layers of DRM and other broken non-sense blocking that enjoyment at every turn and spying on their every action >> the EFF claims that the DCMA is an "unconstitutional" law because it enshrines the right of an IP holder to utilize digital copy protection mechanisms ... .Ignoring that copyright law is one of the few areas of law that the U.S. constitution specifically empowers Congress to legislate (Art I, sec 8 cl 8). They are not ignoring that at all, while Congress was given the power and authority to enact limited copyright laws to promote the useful sciences, that authority does not extend to violations of Bill of Rights, or other provisions in the constitution or other Amendments For example using the copyright law as a justification Congress could not pass a law saying general warrants could be issued for an entire apartment building to look for copyright infringement, as that would be a violation of the 4th amendment. The EFF is making that claim the some sections of the DMCA violate the Bill of Rights, namely the 1st amendment
- pier25 6y agoMany laws in Mexico are not enforced. I'd be very surprised if these copyright laws were. It's extremely common to find street vendors selling pirated movies, software, etc, with absolute impunity. I'm not referring to guys with a backpack selling DVDs or USBs in the Mexico City metro, but entire street blocks full of permanent markets. If you're ever in Mexico City go to the MEAVE market a couple of minutes from the Latino Tower (also called "la plaza de la tecnología"). It's a huge labyrinthian cyberpunk market of pirated, software, hardware, second hand devices, phone repairs, etc.
- 29athrowaway 6y agoThe unsolved crime rate in Mexico is over 90%. That means, most crime goes unreported or uninvestigated. That includes the worst types of crime.
- greggman3 6y agoWhat is that number in other countries?
- zarkov99 6y agoBe aware that a lot of that business is ultimately controlled by the drug cartels.
- ASalazarMX 6y agoThis is a rare instance where violations can be monitored and punished automatically, and the punishment has very personal consequences, like losing your internet access. I hope our government fumbles this, as it has fumbled anything actually important.