So, I wrote a post about the DMCA earlier today in a somewhat peeved state of mind. It is still a little annoying to me now, but after re-reading my post, I think I went about it pretty immaturely. And I mentioned something near the end about not addressing the question of whether or not a Christian should obey the law even if it's ridiculous. I still don't want to bring it up, but by the way I phrased that comment in the previous entry, I think I was leaving the door open to do what I wanted to do, whether I found it to be binding or not, which isn't a good attitude either. I apologize for those things if you read the first entry already. As I remove my foot from my mouth, I have edited it below and hope this is more tactful. And while I am still annoyed at the ignorance of the law, I hope the presence or lack of ignorance in the law doesn't affect my decision about it - that is, whether it's binding, or whether Fair Use would provide an exception to the DMCA. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just read the post below.

That's all a little jumbled. I hope it makes sense!

Original post:
This article is a little old, but as far as I know it's still the way things are today.

We all probably know that it's illegal to share copyrighted audio (like CD tracks) and video (like commercial DVD movies) online or with friends, and especially illegal to sell it. Unfortunately, it's not only illegal to do that, but it's illegal to copy most commercial DVDs due to the 1998 DMCA. More accurately said, it isn't illegal to copy DVDs, but it is illegal to circumvent copy protection/encryption which is present on nearly all commercial DVDs. So effectively, it's illegal to copy them, whether you intend to share them with the world online, or just keep a personal backup on your computer (or put it on your iPod).

This is frustrating to me, because it does nothing but to limit the conscientious, law-abiding citizens in their use of the DVDs that they have already paid for. If someone is intending on sharing copyrighted content and know full well that it's illegal to do so, are they going to be stopped by the DMCA? No, the only people it will stop (for the most part) are people that are intending to use it personally, and lawfully. People who pirate media don't care about the copyright law, so there's no reason for them to care about the DMCA.

Now, some producers (go Disney!) have overcome the mistakes of those that came before them, and include an unencrypted digital copy with their DVDs so as to let people put their movies on their own computers legally. Granted, you have to link it with your iTunes or equivalent account which makes it difficult to spread it to other people. But if you're not intending on doing that, I don't think that would be a problem.

My question is (and perhaps you can help on this!) is whether Fair Use would legally cover circumventing the copy protection for personal use. My guess is no, since the DCMA is so specific about breaking the copy protection. But, that article says that "The DMCA focuses on the circumvention of copy protection and does not take the intentions of the user into account." - so maybe there is a little hole for Fair Use to get in. I don't know. Law isn't really my thing. Tell me what you think!

And again, whether this law is irksome or not, I hope I don't use its silliness or inconvenience as a license to break it if I decide that it can't be gotten around under Fair Use. I'm curious to see what you all think!


Oh, and happy Thanksgiving :D

made it home. Wow, so many things to think about. Met so many people whose spiritual lives were immensely encouraging. Also met a few that were incredibly heartbreaking. All in all, I think God has been able to use us to His glory and to help His children, which is what I hoped and prayed from the start. I guess that makes it a success :) THANK YOU ALL so much for the prayers! They were answered!

We visited 6 separate cities with brethren, so I hope to make individual posts about each city, and possibly a few separate ones about Brazil in general and my experience with Portuguese (and what an experience it was :P). They will likely be private, so if you're not my friend on pleonast, I accept monetary donations....although if you just ask, that'll probably do too :) I will also probably be able to link photos on facebook to pleo as well. Once I get the photos on facebook, that is!

Leaving here in 15 minutes to fly respectively to Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Chicago, and Louisville. Some 15 hours on planes, and 10 hours in airports. Looking forward to being home!

I'm glad Gary talks with people from the States so much; it gives me a chance to do the same! We're back in the cyber cafe today for a bit.

I can't remember if I said what our itinerary was. We arrived in Porto Alegre last Friday, and left for São Carlos via plane and bus the following Tuesday (EARLY) morning. We're staying here a bit longer fortunately because some of the people we're staying with are driving us to Flora Rica instead of us taking a bus, which would be much longer since Flora Rica is very small. That's really good because we can give the money we would have spent on buses to brethren instead, we'll have more company, and the church at Flora Rica can see brethren from São Carlos, with whom they are very close (they don't often get to see them, as it's about a 5 hr drive).

We'll be leaving for Flora Rica Friday the 6th (tomorrow) around noon, marking one week since our arrival. We'll leave Flora Rica early Monday morning for São Paulo, a SPRAWLING city of about 10 million. I think we'll be flying from São Paulo on Wednesday morning the 11th (I think) for Jequié.

I can't remember how big Jequié is, but we will only spend a couple days there.

After Jequié we will go to João Pessoa for the rest of the trip. We'll be leaving João Pessoa on a Wednesday, flying (I think) to Rio, Miami, Chicago, and Louisville, respectively. I may be tired enough of planes that I might try to jump out of the plane when we're flying over Indy before we get to Chicago. So, we'll get back on Thursday the 19th, exactly 3 weeks after we left.

I really hated to leave Porto Alegre; I had just gotten to know everyone there. But I'm really glad to have been in São Carlos, and really don't want to leave here either! I have a feeling this will happen again and again ;) It's a bittersweet feeling, but I'm sure I'll be very glad to be back home eventually too.

I don't know what our internet access will be like from now on, so this may be the last update for a while. Bye!

---

Another update:

A few things I had wrong...São Paulo is closer to 20 million, not 10. Definitely still sprawling, though

We will be flying from João Pessoa (we just got here on Sat) on Wednesday to Recife (a whopping 20 minute flight!), then Rio, Miami, Chicago, and Louisville. I think I will have flown more in Brazil in my entire life than in the USA by the end of it :P

not time for much, but go check out Gary's blog (pregador - can't find the vertical bar on this brazilian keyboard to do the link!) for an update.

thank you all for the prayers. things are going well, and it is getting easier for me with the language.

tchau!