[p2p-research] Fwd: [fcforum] Fw: iPad DRM is a dangerous step backward. Sign the petition!

[Ryan Lanham]

On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 6:11 AM, Andy Robinson <ldxar1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Technology which can be remotely told what to do without permission from
> its user is scary.
>
> ...
>


> Basically, we don't need technologies making our decisions for us,
> distinguishing what uses they want to allow.  It gives far too much power to
> the tools, and therefore, to whoever is sending the long-range responses.
> Things have already gone too far in this direction with mobile phones.


This is the framework for the 21st century defined in a few words.  I
disagree with your views.  But the statement is very much correct as to the
point of debate.

To me, the only hope is autonomous machines.  We are rapidly headed there.
The intermediate step is machines controlled by regimes from afar--DRM is a
logical enabler of that.  I see nothing evolving which isn't predictable in
terms of technology.  It is the social/political systems evolution which are
unpredictable.  That's because we don't have good modern theory.  We keep
going backward looking for answers.  If we had hundreds of Romer's...the
real scarcity, we'd have options.  All the Marx's, Smith's, Jefferson's and
Keynes's have little to say to us about were we are headed.  That's because
it is technology that defines society, not vice versa.

Ryan


Ryan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20100131/25e27826/attachment.html>