The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Cory Doctorow pens a scathing blog piece about the anti-consumer maneuverings (once again) at the big studios and movie houses.

Bottom line: The people who tried to take away your VCR are at it again. Some excerpts...

"The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed the "Content Protection Status Report" with the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, laying out its plan to remake the technology world to suit its own ends. The report calls for regulation of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), generic computing components found in scientific, medical and entertainment devices. Under its proposal, every ADC will be controlled by a "cop-chip" that will shut it down if it is asked to assist in converting copyrighted material -- your cellphone would refuse to transmit your voice if you wandered too close to the copyrighted music coming from your stereo.

The report shows that this ADC regulation is part of a larger agenda. The first piece of that agenda, a mandate that would give Hollywood a veto over digital television technology, is weeks away from coming to fruition. Hollywood also proposes a radical redesign of the Internet to assist in controlling the distribution of copyrighted works.

This three-part agenda -- controlling digital media devices, controlling analog converters, controlling the Internet -- is a frightening peek at Hollywood's vision of the future.

...Hollywood's legislative agenda may be ridiculous, but it is hardly unlikely."

I have a certain amount of sympathy for producers of copyrighted works. Everyone has the right to make a living. That sympathy turns to anger in a hurry, however, when it becomes an excuse for Big Brother behaviours and proposals that would block lawful conduct and inhibit innovation. The RIAA and MPAA crossed that line a long time ago, and if they're not brought to heel in a hurry we're going to find that private sector oligarchs can be every bit as much a threat to our privacy and liberties as any government agency.

I'm a big backer of the private sector. But this is not what I signed on for.