<nettime> optical media bill

[<digiteer@ispbonanza.com.ph>]

my plans to go to london (to visit the queen) got scrapped because my
barrio-mate cum kamaganak (they lived just behind our house in Malolos)
had nurse duty this weekend-- no one to feed and shelter me! :p so now i
have the weekend to surf the net and look at news and of course react to it!

i won't even get to discuss piracy here but lets see the holes and the
bull in the optical media bill they passed (or will pass) in congress.

i'm not a lawyer but i think you need to register your CD/RW and (if
lucky enough) your DVD-RW once this bill is in force. I saw the news
item in inquirer about the statement of GMA made in the US about the 1B
lost by the government to video piracy (as if that 1B lost is big
compared to the billions being funneled to debt servicing, war materiel
against our own countrymen, and oh of course, jose pidal).

in the technical side, they would issue you a number/code that you would
put whenever you make an optical media product (which includes magnetic
media etc like casette tapes) so that they could track who is selling,
making etc such products. well, just to tell you how easy it is to spoof
such codes, try using your trusty CD burner software (in linux i use
cdrecord/xburn) to write down any RAW binary file and it will write it
down with a bit of determined tweaking (of course that would be illegal
too!). its not impossible but once done, it could be automated. even
their Regional DVD's and CSS codes in DVDs are now easily circumvented
by software. i wonder if this bill would make owners of CD/RWs in
computer liable. hmmmm. i guess it would. see the following paragraph.

Look at the provision of the bill regarding who has to get licenses.
Those who are engaged in:

"11.3.1 the importation, exportation, acquisition, sale or distribution
of manufacturing equipment, parts and accessories and manufacturing
materials used or intended for use in the mastering, manufacture of or
reproduction in optical media;
11.3.2 the possession or operation of manufacturing equipment, parts
and accessories, or the possession, acquisition, sale or use of
manufacturing materials for the mastering, manufacture of or
reproduction in optical media; and
11.3.3   the mastering, manufacture of or reproduction in optical media"

i doubt most of us are in 11.3.1 but with the relative cheapness of CDRW
and the cheap computer bundles they have now, we can be classified in
11.3.2 and if you ever back up your pictures and files, 11.3.3. so would
you be rushing up to get your OMB (optical media board) license? pano na
ang mga backup natin? to go back an era to make it sound absurd, would
you have taken out a license if your double-deck casette tape required one?

notice how fast the house and senate passed it? and why GMA certified it
urgent? who wants it to be this way? lets listen to the speech of the US
ambassador,

"Another measure needed to strengthen the Philippines in the global
competition for investment and jobs is passing the pending Optical Media
bill, along with serious enforcement of that and existing legal
protections for intellectual property. These measures are urgent and
essential to protect Filipino artists and designers in all fields,
especially as lower-skilled manufacturing jobs inevitably migrate to
lower cost labor markets. " -- Prospects for the Philippines, Francis J.
Ricciardone, Jr., FOCAP Conference, January 13, 2003
<http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/rp1/wwwhfjr7.html>

as the US cared about (for god's sake) Kris Aquino or Joey Marquez's
intellecual property! but look again at the statement, its like he;s
saying that we are now going to be dependent on the economic output of
Kris and her likes since the US is shifting lower-skilled manufacturing
jobs out of our country. (ah! unless we pass the Optical Media bill!).

also look at their Special 301 Report Summary last May 1, 2003 at
www.ustr.gov which lists the Philippines in their Priority Watch List
regarding countries that "do not provide an adequate level of
IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on
intellectual property protection." by the way, the same report "urges"
these countries to adopt legislation controlling Optical Media! how
'masunurin' can we get!

so now GMA comes knocking at Washington, delivers this speech and hopes
that her prayers to her patron (not a saint), Bush get answered (with an
endorsement in 2004 probably)! she also offers up this Optical media
billand many other offerings, like an open invitation to have troops in
our country etc. ah, just like a tuta doing tricks her master likes to
see. now why would we want that kind of person as president?

hay naku. those who are planning to get a DVD burner get one before its
illegal to buy one. and donate it to AGHAM or BAYAN para meron tayong
magamit. :)

ganni

---------------------
http://www.inq7.net/inf/2003/sep/28/inf_1-1.htm
Macapagal: Gov't loses P1B to video piracy
By Erwin Lemuel G. Oliva
INQ7.net

THE PHILIPPINE government loses about 1 billion pesos in potential
revenues to video piracy, said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as she
declared October as a national anti-video piracy month.

Ms Macapagal, who is now in New York, stressed in a statement that
government would remain steadfast in spearheading the nationwide
campaign against illegal production and sale of pirated movies in the
country.

She previously endorsed a pending measure regulating optical media in
the Philippines, which is now with the Senate.

The optical media bill will institute means to regulate the manufacture,
mastering and replication of optical media in the Philippines. Optical
media is any device that stores information digitally -- including
music, movies and computer software.

Proponents of the measure indicate that the measure aims to address the
issue of piracy at its very root by regulating the medium used to
distribute it illegally. This means that devices or optical media such
as CD-ROMs, DVDs, CD-R, CD-RW and others will be included.

Macapagal urged the cooperation of the public in battling video piracy
in the Philippines, noting "it is essential to elevate awareness of the
public regarding video piracy and its adverse effects in the entire
economy."

The optical media bill will also institutionalize an internationally
accepted system identification code, which will trace the source of all
optical media mastered, manufactured or replicated by any establishment.
This code will be embedded into the optical media.

The bill will also reorganize the Videogram Regulatory Board into an
Optical Media Board, which will be under the Office of the President.

The measure will eventually impose stiffer penalties on establishments
caught violating the provisions of this measure. Violators face
imprisonment of at least three years up to six years, and a fine of
500,000 pesos up to 1.5 million pesos, at the discretion of the courts.


Fátima Lasay http://digitalmedia.upd.edu.ph/digiteer/

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