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| Saturday, March 30, 2002 |
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Let the music keep our spirits high 
| | But before we do anything, we need to turn our attention to the "progress reports" on the Judiciary page, right above the link to User Comments. These are three .pdfs: 1) Letter by Craig R. Barrett, CEO, Intel Corp.; 2) AOL Time Warner - Intel Joint Statement of Principles; and 3) Letter by IT CEOs to Entertainment CEOs (2/27/2002). |
| | To get a sense of what they portend, call to mind the vast flying saucers parked over cities in the movie "Independence Day." Or Arthur C. Clarke's book Childhood's End. Or the scene in that Twilight Zone episode where happy vacationers from Earth start boarding the space ships of apparently benevolent aliens, when one smart Earthling freaks out after realizing that the book that had been given to the People of Earth by the aliens' upon their arrival was a cookbook. |
| | Got it? Good. Now read the first two paragraphs of the second document: "AOL Time Warner - Intel Joint Statemen of Principles" — |
| | Introduction: A Shared Vision
AOL Time Warner (AOLTW) and Intel succeed as businesses by delivering value to consumers. We believe that strong protection of intellectual property in both traditional and new environments is essential for realizing this value proposition. We have been working co-operatively, along with others, for several years to design solutions to the challenges posed by the digital environment so that its opportunities may be safely embraced to the benefit of all parties. While the issues are complex, we believe that focused cross-industry efforts have in the past and can in the future work well to meet the challenges. The process is not simple or easy; it involves the balancing of interests and demands negotiated compromises. Nevertheless, we believe that the lead must come from the private sector, complemented where necessary by targeted and constructive government action. We do not, however, think that the government can productively or effectively mandate broad design requirements across the spectrum of products, devices, and services. |
| | Achievements To Date
Over the past several years, Intel and AOLTW have worked together with other companies in private sector cross-industry efforts to develop several content protection solutions. These solutions include Content Protection for Pre-recorded Media ("CPPM") for protecting pre-recorded audio content on DVD Audio, and protection for digital content as it moves among devices in the consumer home and personal environment on digital networks (Digital Transmission Content Protection ("DTCP") and High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection ("HDCP") and recordable media (Content Protection for Recordable Media ("CPRM")). Both AOLTW and Intel have endorsed and are committed to the rapid deployment of all of these content protection solutions. The goal of these efforts is to create an overall architecture for protecting digital content throughout its distribution life so that it does not "leak" out in an unprotected manner for easy capture by digital pirates, including users who traffic in copyrighted works on peer to peer systems. In each case, the solutions have been developed by information technology ("IT") and consumer electronics ("CE") companies in consultation with studios and music labels and then implemented through private licenses. These content protection solutions are made available to all interested product manufacturers and content companies and are already enjoying adoption in the marketplace, with DVD video being the most notable example of wide marketplace adoption. |
| | Translation: the Web is a content distribution system that needs to be protected by digital rights management hardware and software, through every cog in every conveyor belt that runs from producer to consumer. The only beings that matter are companies. The Web was a nice experiment, but now it's time to get down to business and extend the world's supply-controlled malls and theaters into every consumer's home, car, PC and Walkman. |
| | Yes, friends, it's a cookbook. |
| | And to help us keep those pricks from herding us onto their ships, here's a song: Jackson Browne's Before the Deluge (from Late for the Sky). It's our story. Go read it. |
| | For me this comes full circle, as a second chance. My best years in radio were invested (not spent) at WDBS, a flower in the pavement that was the FM dial in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC in the mid-late 70s. Our slogan was "Let the music keep our spirits high," a line from the refrain in Before the Deluge. When the station's sale was announced, and it was clear the end was near, we played the song again. |
| | The DNA of WDBS and hundreds of other stations like it lives in the Web today, blooming in its hundred thousand stations, its million Weblogs. Its billions of sites. |
| | But this time we have a chance to save it. |
| | This time, let's give them the deluge. |
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