My vcr is illegal????????????

If you value your right to record on your vcr, cd burner or other device, and/or think that sharing files on P2P networks should be legal as long as there is a blanket fee to the music industries to pay the artists & writers for their work, much like broadcast rights for radio stations, please take note of the following. New legislation (formerly known as the INDUCE Act) being pushed through the Senate by lobbyists for the music and movie industries would override the Betamax decision. To quote an article on savebetamax.org "The Betamax VCR died more than 15 years ago, but the Supreme Court decision that made the Betamax and all other VCRs legal lived on. In Sony vs. Universal (known as the Betamax decision) the Court ruled that because VCRs have legitimate uses, the technology is legal—even if some people use it to copy movies. Of course, the movie industry was lucky it lost the case against VCRs, because home video soon became Hollywood's largest source of revenue. And the freedom to use and develop new technology that was protected by the Betamax decision set the stage for the incredible growth in computer technology we've seen in the last few decades." That Supreme Court decision is the only thing that protects your right to own a VCR, tape recorder, CD-burner, DVD-burner, iPod, or TiVo. "And if the the major record labels and the movie studios get the power of veto over new technology they'll use it: just as they tried to stomp out the VCR in the 70's and 80's, the music and movie industries want to force all content to go through their own restricted channels." This also effects P2P file sharing. As noted on the Electronic Frontier Foundation site "..the Copyright Office provided the Senate Judiciary Committee with recommended language meant to replace Senator Orrin Hatch's "Induce Act," S. 2560. The proposed language targets companies who make "public dissemination" technologies, where those companies make money from, or attract users with, copyright infringement. The proposal is a break with the doctrine established by the Supreme Court in its famous "Betamax" ruling, which says that technology companies cannot be held liable for copyright infringement by their customers, so long as the technology in question is capable of substantial noninfringing uses. In its ruling in MGM v. Grokster, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed that the Betamax doctrine applies to peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software. EFF represents one of the prevailing defendants in that case." Click the 2 links in the above to find out more & how you can help fight for your rights.

Rule Britannia

Friday, July 9th, 2004 will go down as a landmark date in British/American relations. That's the date BBC America began their weekly back to back offering of the popular'60's spy favorites, 'The Avengers', 'The Saint' & 'The Prisoner'. The only one missing is 'Danger Man' ('Secret Agent', with the Johnny Rivers theme song, here in the states). 'The Avengers' went through several Leading ladies including 2 future Bond women, 'Goldfinger's' Pussy Galore, Honor Blackman & Diana Rigg who went on to marry James Bond in 1969's 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service', starring George Lazenby as 007. As with 'The Saint', BBC America has decided to limit the showings to only color episodes of 'The Avengers'. However, all these episodes feature Diana Rigg's, athletic Emma Peel alongside Patrick McNee's bowler wearing John Steed. The black & white episodes are probably the best of each series, perhaps BBCA will treat us to them soon. All of these programs fared well on U.S. TV in the mid to late '60's and each took a different spin on the spy genre. Peel & Steed were a sort of English version of 'The Thin Man' with Nick & Nora as secret agents. The beautiful Mrs.Peel would use karate & judo to fight the bad guys, while the suave Mr. Steed trips up other foes with his his wits & his bumbershoot (umbrella), rarely even losing his derby. After all is said & done, and usually before as well, they share a convenient bottle of champagne. A typical Steed line, "What sort of fiend are we dealing with? A man who would bite the end off a cigar is capable of anything." Roger Moore as Simon Templar, 'The Saint' is an interesting premise devised by Leslie Charteris. Templar is not a secret agent. He's a suave scoundrel, with a reputation for being a bit of a Robin Hood. He is not above making a profit in his endeavors, usually on the side of law & order. Each episode begins with a pre credit sequence where his involvement in the upcoming adventure is usually unintentional, while at the end of the sequence somehow he is introduced as the famous Simon Templar. A white halo appears above his head & the familiar 7 note theme sounds as the opening credits begin to roll. The strangest of the three shows is 'The Prisoner', starring 'Secret Agent', Patrick McGoohan. He plays a spy who quits, retires and ends up being gassed when he gets home. When he awakes he finds himself in "The Village". This is a place headed up by....someone...or some foreign power or...something, where people of his ilk are taken to be pumped for information & are only identified by a number. "Where am I? In the Village What do you want? Information Whose side are you on? That would be telling . . . We want Information You won't get it By hook or by crook . . . We will Who are you? The new Number Two Who is Number One? You are Number Six I am not a number . . . I'm a free man! (Mocking laughter)" McGoohan is Number 6 and is constantly badgered for information by a different Number 2 each week, as he continues to plot his escape. 'The Prisoner' is not light entertainment & lasts just 17 episodes. McGoohan only wanted to do seven, but they convinced him they needed more episodes to sell it in the U.S. The show was shot at the picturesque Portmeirion Village. It's a thought provoking show that has a really surreal ending in the final two episodes. Give youself a treat and set Tivo to catch 'Friday is...' on BBC America on Friday nights from 8-11p Eastern. All shows are available on DVD The Avengers The Saint The Prisoner Secret Agent/Danger Man