or vice versa the latest in theater books art and performance what's new on
the Rialto and Ludlow Street and one or two of the 137 poison arts minutes of
plays radio minutes that take up to 12 and a half hours to produce a marketing
idea still ahead of its time listen to this tune oh I can see you cats now hey
stop clawing the furniture down head for the radio yes
cut radio cafe cat radio cafe Wednesday nights at 10 here on WBA I had a cat's
drink coffee if it's brewed with fish
you are writing very slowly this morning well that's because I don't always
remember how to spell certain words you mean potato no I can spell potato oh yeah
spell it don't ask me to spell potato why not because I'm trying to remember
how to spell WBA I WBA I made a membership pledge and I want to fulfill
it you haven't fulfilled your pledge yet I'm trying not to make any spelling
error you trying to be the last person to pay why is there a prize for that
maybe a potato I just want the spelling to be correct it's WBA I Pacifica well I
know how to spell Pacifica how do you spell WBA I W BA I oh just like it
sounds now spell potato I'm not writing a check to a potato no you're writing a
check to WBA I fulfill your pledge to WBA I spelled WBA I there is no prize
for being the last to pay no one will win not even a potato
and you're listening to radio station WBA I in New York the time is eight
o'clock on a Tuesday night time for off the hook
telephone keeps ringing so I ripped it off the wall
I cut myself while shaving now I can't make a call
it couldn't get much worse but if they could they would
bon dilly bon for the best expect the worst
I hope that's understood bon dilly bon
Bon dilly bon
Bon dilly bon
this function is void it takes two arcs
the first is SEC a pointer to a vector of 2048 unsigned bytes
that aren't the encrypted disk sector and will be the decrypted
the second is key a vector of six unsigned bytes the decrypted title key
local variables T1 through T6 are unsigned ints
local variable end is a pointer to SEC plus 2048
a DMCA steps on me I don't like the DMCA
it makes this song illegal oh DMCA
it steps on me it makes this song illegal
makes this song illegal yeah
retrieve byte 0 of key
XOR it with byte 84 of SEC
achieve the result as an integer
OR it with the hexadecimal constant 0x100
and store the result in T1 step 2
retrieve byte 1 of key
XOR it with byte 85 of SEC
and store the result in T2
step 3 take byte 2 through 5 of key
and XOR them with bytes 86 through 89 of SEC
store the result in T3
take the low order 3 bits of T3
which can be computed by the AND of T3
with the constant 7 and store the result in T4
I hate the DMCA
it makes this code I wrote
it makes it dumb it makes it legal
I hate the DMCA
it makes this stuff I wrote
it makes this song illegal
step 5 multiply T3 by 2
add 8 subtract T4 and store the result back in T3
step 5 and a half advance SEC by 128 bytes
step 6 store 0 in T5
step 7 begin a while loop
and 8 continue iterating while SEC does not equal
and use T2 as an index into table CSS tab 2
and retrieve a byte which we'll call B1 and T1
use T1 as an index into table CSS tab 3
and retrieve another byte which we'll call B2
compute B1 XOR B2 and store the result in T4
step 10 shift T1 right by 1 bit
and store the result in T2
step 11 take the low order bit of T1
which can be obtained by taking the AND of T1 and the constant 1
shift it by left by 8 bits
and XOR it with T4
store the result back in T1
oh the DMCA is so dumb
oh the DMCA is so dumb
oh it's so dumb
step 12 use T4 as an index into table CSS tab 5
and retrieve a byte store the result in T4
shift the constant of T3 right by 3 bits
XOR it with T3 shift the result by right by 1 bit
XOR it with T3 shift the result right by 8 bits
XOR it with T3 shift the result right by 5 bits
and extract the low order byte by ANDing it with the hexadecimal constant 0x
and store the result in T6
step 14 shift the constant of T3 left by 8 bits
XOR it with T6 and store the result in T3
step 15 use T6 as an index into table CSS tab 4
and retrieve a byte store the result in T6
step 16 add together T6, T5 and T4 and store the result back into T5
step 17 use the byte pointed to by SCC as an index into table CSS tab 1
and take the retrieve byte and XOR it with the low order byte of T5
which can be extracted by ANDing T5 with the hexadecimal constant 0xff
store the result back into the byte pointed to by SCC
and then advance the pointer SCC by 1 byte
step 18 shift T5 right by 8 bits and store the result back into T5
step 19 turn to step 8 to continue looping
20 this is where we end up when the loop is complete
21 return from the procedure
that's the end of the scramble folks
that's the end
that's the end of the scramble folks
that's the end
that's the end of the scramble folks
that's the end
I hate the DMCA
I hate the DMCA
I hate the DMCA
DMCA imprimises on me
it steps on me
it steps on me
it steps on me
I'm not free
it steps on me
I'm not free
it steps on me
I'm not free
well, I thought I'd seen it all
but that's the DECSS song
and I just hope we didn't break any law by playing that
I guess, you know, when you say something is speech
somebody is going to prove that it's speech
and that certainly was speech
it had a nice chorus, too
yeah, it did, it was nice
where can that be found, person who brought that in to us?
that can be found mp3.com slash don't eat Pete
all one word
don't eat Pete, okay
E-E-T or E-T-E
E-T-E
alright
that's quite an endeavor
an impassioned folk song there
this is exactly what we need
this is what we need to bring this to the streets
it's kind of a strange thing to be marching for
but it's important, nonetheless
I challenge anyone to memorize it
don't do that
because you know that there are people out there that will memorize it
and will come up here to the studio and recite it letter by letter
and there will be no end of it
it will just never stop
so, anyway
that's the latest as far as that goes
that song has actually been out for a while
and we've been trying for several weeks to get it onto CD-ROM
to play here on the show
and believe it or not
master pirates that we are in the MPAA's eyes
we could not get it together enough to actually play it on CD
until now
it took us several weeks just to find somebody who could do it
who could make a version that could be read by a CD machine
and all that kind of thing
and finally, finally we got it
so yeah, it's available on the net
I don't think this guy minds if you download it
I guess there's no other way to actually listen to it
it's not in the stores yet
but yeah, we'll see
does the song actually have a title?
do you know of?
no title?
I don't think it does
okay, well
actually, you know what?
I saw a list of songs on the website myself
and I think it was
I guess it was just called the ECSS or something like that
because there are several other songs as well
and I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet
but that's the latest as far as the ECSS
you see, this is what I mean
this is what's going to happen
the other one's a lot more lively
I don't even know where this is coming from
someone piped it into the studio
and all of a sudden we have it being read all over again
you know, it's just going to continue forever
people are going to
I read the other day on the net
that somebody posted it to all these Usenet groups
someone posted the ECSS code to Usenet groups
massively
and you know, while that's
while that's interesting to see people
engaging in, I guess
a form of civil disobedience in that way
you're kind of preaching to the choir
because most of the people on Usenet understand
the importance of this code
the importance of having
I don't know, the guys in RecPetsAquarium
may or may not be aware of
I don't know if it got posted to RecPetsAquarium
I think it got posted to a lot of computer news groups
but the point is
how do you get people out there in the street
people walking around
people, you know, that
all the cab drivers listen to us
or in the back seat right now
listen to this radio station for the first time
those people
understand the importance of the ECSS
what the ECSS is
and why
it's a big horrible mistake
to say that it's illegal
to post source code on a website
or even to link to websites
that have source code on them
and what does this source code do?
is it a tool to
to pirate DVDs
or is it something that allows you to play DVDs
on Linux machines
allows you to get around stupidity
like having to watch commercials
I'm hearing more and more from people
that get new films
that they have to sit through all these commercials
at the beginning
they can't skip over them
they can't skip over the FBI warnings
and then of course
you have the fair use argument
which is a very important one
oh, that whole little thing
and copyright law
fair use
yeah, I heard about that
it basically, you know
for instance, you could take
a piece of The Wizard of Oz
right
and grab an image from that
and put it on your webpage
make that your, you know
the background to your webpage
that's fair use
it is
you're not selling it
it's just something that you're doing
or make a poster to put up in your room
well, that's what came to my head right now
but with a DVD
you cannot do that
if they disable that feature
you know, you can
oh, sure you can
how?
the judge told us how
you have to go out and buy a VHS copy
of The Wizard of Oz
and use that as your source material
go back in time
of course, there are more and more films
that are coming out
that don't have VHS equivalents
they're only coming out on DVD
and, not only that
all DVDs have additional things in them
that are not included on the VHS version
nifty knick-knacks
where you can choose
what chapter you want to go to
a little shuttlecraft
this argument is going to get
more and more preposterous
as time goes on
anyway, some good news today
I don't know if you heard about this yet, Isaac
good news?
no, I haven't heard anything
good news
well, basically
you know about the little situation
we've had with Verizon
verizonreallysucks.com
oh, that whole thing
threatening us
the other people who want to sue you
yeah
well, they don't want to sue us anymore
they don't?
no, they
in fact, I found out about this indirectly
by reading the Washington Post
and the whole article about various websites
including ones with the word sucks in them
basically, it says how we tried to get
verizonsucks.com
but Verizon beat us to it
and they registered it
by the company
which also registered 56 other self-critical names
according to the Washington Post
so, 2600 registered verizonreallysucks.com
shortly thereafter, the magazine received a letter
accusing it of trademark infringement
violating the Anti-Cyber-Squatting Consumer Protection Act
and demanding the transfer of the unused domain name
to Verizon under threat of suit
the editors for 2600 fired back
that this was a misapplication of the Anti-Squatting Act
this law was designed to protect companies
against those who would register their name
and hold it for ransom, they responded
but this is a statement, an opinion
one which in no way would be confused
with the actual name of the company
the magazine essentially turned over
its Anti-Verizon domain name
to the Communication Workers of America
it now documents CWA's strike against Verizon
the magazine called on other hackers
to exercise their free speech rights
by criticizing Verizon and domain names
and registered for itself
Verizon should spend more time fixing its network
and less money on lawyers.com
at this point, Verizon confronted with websites
like verizondoesreallysuck.com
verizonmonopolisticbastards.com
and dozens of others that can't be printed in a newspaper
and my eternal gratitude to the people
that actually had the guts to stand up
and do things like that
Verizon now says it is so sorry
the whole thing happened
its original goal was to act against
200 or so genuine cyber-squatters
who had registered Verizon-flavored names
with the hope of selling them
its legal department sent lawyerly warnings
to everyone including the hacker magazine
according to Verizon spokesman Larry Plum
it turned out 2600 was the one exception
once we saw it met the standards of fair use
we decided not to pursue it
we're out to defend our brand
against confusion and dilution
not squelch free speech
well you know that Verizon really sucks confusion
I would have thought they owned that
and they would set up their own critical
well you know I am asking
I'm asking Verizon right now
how about that
how about verizonsucks.com
are you going to do something with it
or are you just going to sit on it
because if you're just sitting on it
that's cyber-squatting of a sense too
because you know no pun intended
it's basically you know
you should use a website for something
and if it's a critical website
let somebody criticize you
you don't have to take the name
and think someone's not going to criticize you
so I think it would be a good
a nice thing to do
to just release that name
so people can criticize the company
and this is a very positive step
I hope other companies will do the same thing
I really do
and also I hope other people
are not being harassed by Verizon now
I've gotten some bits of mail
I think you might have seen them too
things sent to OTH
basically people who have registered names
and one person in particular
registered a name
and then tried to sell it to them
for $500,000
now that's the thing
when you do that
you lose all credibility
you know all of a sudden
you're not engaged in freedom of speech
you're engaged in blackmail
or ransom
or something bad like that
so we can't support that
how can we support it?
we never did
so for those people
who are out there criticizing things
by sticking the word sucks at the end of it
and actually putting something up
that explains why that company sucks
great!
that's expression
that's usually helpful
if you actually have some sort of content
to deliver on that site
rather than just out of the blue
saying you know
IsaacSucks.com
putting up a little picture
no no no
that's a good site
it is it is
well as long as it has actual criticism
that's intelligently thought out
let it be
who told you?
no one told me
I picked that one out of the blue
oh
it was picked out specifically by somebody else
I see
I have some work to do when I get home
yes
speaking of retractions
Fiber
they retracted something didn't they?
he's in the studio
yeah here he is
I'm right here in the studio
wow
that's pretty wild
we got a really good phone connection
yeah
so we talked about Hacker News Network
and At Stake and Loft
and actually they're all the same people
we talked last week about them
basically closing the door in your face
after calling you into the room
they closed the door as you were approaching the room
and then they misrepresented on HNN
saying that you had applied for a job with them
when they in fact had invited you
they also made various references
to tattoos and body piercings
which I don't have
so I don't know
but yeah
two days ago
they printed an errata
contributed by editors
so we don't know specifically who it was
it says
in an article featured on September 4th
describing recent recruiting experiences of hackers
we incorrectly characterized the initial contact
between Mark Abene and At Stake, Inc.
in fact, At Stake contacted Mr. Abene first
through a typical recruiting cold call
we regret the error
cold call?
cold call
wow
that's where they just pick up the phone and call you
and you have no idea they're calling
and you have no defense
no defense at all
so that's what it was, a cold call?
it's a cold call
how about that
and then
I guess subsequent
a few warm calls
after that
well now
are you satisfied with this?
um
I'm satisfied with it
I mean
I certainly aren't going to hold a grudge against them
I think that this pretty much puts
the immediate matter to rest
but it certainly doesn't address the larger problem
of this duality that corporations are putting forth
basically out of one side of their mouth
saying that they don't hire hackers
and out of the other side of their mouth
they actually are hiring hackers
well just using the glory of being a hacker
to promote a company
right
or to promote a conference
uh huh
yeah so
cough cough
uh huh
well that's sad but happy
at the same time
that I think you've been vindicated to a degree
yeah
but I don't know how much more
this kind of garbage is going to go on
yeah
it's you know
it's a tough thing
I mean the allure of money and fame and fortune
and all that kind of thing
it's a big temptation to a lot of people
but you gotta think carefully
well are you selling out your values and your beliefs
at the same time by going down that road
sometimes you can do it without doing that
other times you think you're doing that
and then later on it turns out that
you've become a different person
that you didn't want to become
so I think it's good that this was revealed
maybe it won't happen again
well it goes back to that famous saying
what does it profit a man to gain the world
if he loses his soul
you hear that Isaac
I heard that
yeah
alright write that down
I know it by heart
well
um
what else do we have here
hey the DCSS thing stopped
you know what I think this CD it gave me was
I don't think it played all the way through
these are the people speaking in it
oh ok
yeah I think uh
I think it's defective
gasp
I'll start it again
Cyber Magi Productions present
alright we'll just start
where'd you find that one
well I hopped on IRC of all places
and said hey anybody got that mp3 that's out there
and someone sent it to me
so I didn't even hear it until I was actually in the lobby
pressed it this afternoon
ok
we uh we got a letter
Fiber I know you saw this
I don't know if you saw it Isaac
probably not
who was it sent to
I don't know if it was sent to a mailbox that you get mail at
uh but basically it's the first
that I've seen anyway
the first letter we've gotten
that's not in support of us in DECSS
I've seen I've seen opinions against us
but I've never I've never seen something sent to DVD at 2620.com
this is the first piece of mail I've seen
that did not say rock on guys
or you know down with the MPAA
or whatever else you know that uh
I guess is the appropriate thing to say if you're on our side
um this person though was not on our side
this guy had a real bug up his ass
well yeah I guess you could say that
well I see a staple in that
so I'm wondering how many pages long it is
it's pretty long I'm not gonna I'm not gonna read all of it
because uh it sure goes on for quite a ways
um he quotes us starts off
for that reason it's especially important
that as many of you as possible all throughout the world
take a stand and mirror these files
don't do this because you just want to copy DVDs
that's not what this fight is all about
uh this is about freedom of information
the right uh we all still have to learn
how technology works
then uh here's what this guy has to say
why do I think it's precisely because
people want to copy DVDs and CD-ROMs
and don't want to pay for them
even before they make their pirated copies
I hadn't heard of Napster until my teenage nephew
asked me a few months ago
what do you think about Napster
in the course of the ensuing discussion
he mentioned that CD-ROMs and DVDs are too expensive
why buy a cow if you can milk it through the fence
he referenced boys make the premarital sex
when I was a kid
did you know that?
today they've added why buy a DVD or CD-ROM
if you can get it for free on the internet
or why buy a DVD when I can make a copy of my buddies
why do I think it's precisely because
people want to copy DVDs and CD-ROMs
because unlike the Scarecrow and the Wizard of Oz
I do have a brain
okay well that's the first point I want to debate
uh this person has made all these accusations
without any facts
it's basically well you know I think you're wrong
and I said it like three or four times
I think you're wrong
why do I think you're wrong
well let's see if we can find out
why he thinks we're wrong
it would be nice
this is not about freedom of information
no it's not about freedom of information
you know it
I know it
everyone knows it
Robert you know it right
Isaac you know it
I know it
we all know it
I just don't think you can milk a cow through a fence
I don't think it can be done
well uh
you have to ask some teenagers about that
back in the 50s or whatever
the MPAA
the entertainment industry
and the judges
they all know it
it's about theft
stealing
stealing intellectual property
no more
no less
you and your compadres want to benefit
from the intellect
talent
and work of others
without paying for it
we do
that's what we want to do
we just want to benefit
that's what it's all about
benefiting
without paying for it
right
we want a free ride
don't want to pay the fare
don't want to pay the fee
jump in the intellectual property term style
hmm
you want the free ride of the 30s, 40s, and 50s
he makes reference to the cow thing again
I don't know what the thing is with the cows
he really seems to like that a lot
the people who download and use DCSS
want only the benefit of the use
of the decrypting technology
0xFFRIPE
less than less than a ripe rand pipe
I think your recording is getting a little old
it enables them to steal the intellectual property
of others
the developers may enjoy hackers' challenge
but the posters, mirrors, and linkers
are scofflars and conspirators
fellows who use fake internet identities
to mask who they are
fake identities because they know
what they are doing is wrong
like the cartoon burglar
with his two days' growth of beard
and his burglar's mask
but with facial features so striking
he's easy to identify through his little mask
hacker, cracker, safecracker, burglar
not an illogical sequence
murderer
terrorist
wild
leprechaun
perrin
sec
bang
equal
end
right
perrin
left
curly bracket
DECSS is one internet equivalent to burglar's tools
did you know you can be sent to prison
for having burglar's tools in your possession
at the wrong time and place, Isaac?
yes
in fact, you can go to jail
for having a screwdriver in your pocket
if the other end of it is attached
to the insides of somebody else
yes
or if you manage to actually burgle a house
your screwdriver is considered a tool of burglary
right
well, as you know
you can be arrested in Philadelphia
for having a cell phone
or for wearing a mask
a mask
or making a puppet
masks are illegal in New York, too
yeah, making a puppet
or all kinds of things like that
well, let's not go down that road
let's not even get into backwards caps
alright
yeah, let's not do that again
although I gotta say
with the simplex locks protecting the house
if you found breaking into a house with fingers
is that a burglary tool?
or maybe a brain?
intelligence is a horrible thing
anyway
yes, fellows who use fake internet identities
illogical sequence
that's just some pretty common tools
that are on the burglar's tools list
I, for one, don't care to gamble
that I wouldn't get charged as a conspirator
and then convicted for selling
the very specialized tools
used to fall into burglars
of course, I'm an adult
and can't willfully do something as a minor
and expect to get off with impunity
probation or some other slap on the wrist
the ones who care about the underlying principles
of how the technology works
those who want to learn how technology works
are few and far between
unfortunately
out of curiosity
I've executed a file named
decss.exe built 10-12-99
that's before we posted it
the only way for me
to learn about the underlying technology
would be for me to reverse engineer
decss.exe
actually, that's not true
because all the source is available too
I could do that
but I have no interest in doing so
um
reverse engineering software
is not the way to go
if one is interested in learning about
either cryptography
or writing software
alright, I think that's something very important
that people need to learn
you're not going to learn much from crypto
that you need to reverse engineer
because it's probably not very good
otherwise it would undergo peer review
and you can't learn anything about writing software
by reverse engineering software
oh, well, of course
you must be right
alright, well, that's the point
that's the point
oh, he must be right
this gentleman is enlightened
um
I don't want to read this whole thing
because it just goes on forever
are you familiar with the word consistency?
ah, here we go
if it's about freedom of information
why do you bother with copyright notices
on your own webpages?
here we go again
with the Judge Kaplan MPAA argument here
why bother with the copyright at all?
make your site public domain
I'll give you this
it takes audacity to post
an all-rights-reserved notice on your site
given that you're encouraging people
to ignore the copyrights
that you uphold and are trying to protect
you're encouraging people to break the law
any words on your site to the effect
that we're not going to tell people
what they should do are bogus
you start the very sentence
containing that quote
telling people what you want them to do
case closed
although it wasn't closed
because there's a few PESs and PPSs afterwards
now, again, for the last time
the copyright is to protect a piece of work
from being sold
from being reproduced in its entirety
you can make all kinds of conditions within that
as far as, like, distribution
you can distribute whatever you want
as long as you get credit, you can say that
but what is happening with the DMCA
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
is that all kinds of additional things
are being included with copyright
that I don't think was ever the intention
when copyright was first started
things saying how you may play something back
when you may play something back
where you can play it back
things like that
that really are physically impossible to do
in the analog world
and the only reason we're seeing it
in the digital world
is because more control can be enforced there
and to say we're breaking the law
is simply by telling people how something works
it's really simple-minded, I think
alright, here are some afterthoughts
let's see, I just want to get to the...
oh yeah, first of all
the MPAA has very, very deep pockets
as to their spending Boku bucks
to fight this all over the world
they won't have to do that
all they need is a couple of successes
sending a few of you lads to prison
you see their succession and thought now?
now we're going to prison
now we're criminals
well that's where it was all about
the people who are dealing with this program
aren't really the ones who are violating copyright
you have the folks down in Southeast Asia
that are buying a single DVD
and pumping out like 5,000 copies
now the MPAA has an ironclad case against them
they're actually selling this stuff
and making money
and they can be brought in
but the intent here
is to bring a few low-grade folks in
deal with the other side of the picture
which may or may not be illegal
regardless
we've beaten this horse to death
not to mention what will happen to them
once they're in prison
with the big boys
my advice, get your butt out while you can
while you still have one
it's always the same stupidity
because everyone who ever goes to prison
is automatically anally raped
that's just the rule
that's what television would tell you
you notice how they always use that
to try and get you in line
I'm not sure who is giving you advice on this
but your 830.00 addition to your site
shows contempt for the court ruling
and the judge who made it
perhaps you don't know
just how powerful judges are
appeal their decision if you want to
but don't go public
telling them how ill-advised
their rulings were
right, now we can't speak our minds
we can't criticize
we can't say somebody is wrong
because that's illegal now too
I'm not a lawyer though
so maybe you can be found in contempt of court
only for what you do
how about the conspiracy angle?
conspiracy to commit a crime
I have no doubt
there are files in your computer
that could be used as evidence
against you and your buddies
should you so be charged
better get some good disk cleaning software
to scour your hard drives
I think we send a few jackbooted thugs over
pull the thing out of there
warrant, what's that?
wonderful, ok
I like this man's world
it just keeps getting worse and worse
this is the first letter we got
I figured I'd devote some time to it
we've probably gotten
from people writing to us
I think it's probably a lot more than that actually
my mailbox is so completely clogged
dvd at 2600.com is the address
that we've given out over the last few months
concerning this
this is the first letter we've gotten
from somebody who really thinks we're wrong
it's good
it's sort of like with the free Kevin people
occasionally you get somebody who says
no, keep Kevin in jail for the rest of his life
you know, execute him
and they always got so
completely irrational
that just made you feel good
you knew you were on the right side
he pulls together a lot of very common arguments
such as
well, why are you hiding your name?
what is it?
what have you done?
jeez, I can't remember
I don't think this guy wants me to read his name over the air
so I'm not going to
of course, but the idea is that
no, I'm not going to do that
if you're a law-abiding citizen
why are you hiding?
you know, the classic 60 minutes
sort of
Barbara Wawa
if you're an upstanding citizen
why are you hiding?
very simplistic
Edward Meese is basically the one that said
if you're not guilty
you've got nothing to hide
exactly
thank you
he goes over a lot of that
the milking cow through the fence thing
is the new twist
yeah, I didn't know about that actually
nor did I
must have missed that whole cultural part of this country's development
212-209
cow tipping, I knew about cow tipping
212-209-2900 is our phone number
I guess we can take phone calls
what are you pointing at?
the attorneys for Metallica and Dr. Dre
sent a letter to 11 presidents of universities the other day
asking them to ban Napster at their schools
really?
so
they're just not stopping, are they?
no
wow
I heard about the guy that
one of the Napster people presented an award
at the MTV awards last week
really?
it was like boot off the stage or something
all these people were leaving
they just walked out
this is the first year I can think of
where I just didn't care at all
about the MTV awards
about the music industry in general
it's just so disgusting
it really is
I can't imagine why someone would even want to participate in that
last year the big thing that we were upset about at this time
was the MTV special on Hackers
remember that?
I remember that
that was a big deal to us then
look how much has happened since then
look at all the garbage that's going on
I don't know
it's madness
so
they're filing more
more petitions
more court papers too
this is just a nasty threat letter
but what's interesting is that
the corporation is trying to dictate university policy
yeah, I know
which is insane
well they already do
basically there are a lot of
I invite people to call in and give us examples of this
but there are a lot of universities out there
that are sponsored by corporations
so much so that they basically define it
this is a Pepsi university
what's that?
on the back of my student ID is a nice Citibank logo
you're kidding
your student ID has a Citibank logo on it?
let me see that
it's probably also a debit card
it can be turned into a debit card
at your local friendly Citibank
mostly it requires a Citibank logo
hold on a second
it's like the MasterCard logo next to it
hold on a second
what if you don't have a bank account at all
do you still get one of these cards?
yes
so you still get a Citibank logo
even if you don't have a bank account
or any money whatsoever
or if you have an account with the federal credit union
that's a non-profit institution at the school
let's say Citibank massacred your family somewhere
and you hate Citibank
where are you going?
I'm just making a theoretical example here
let's just say that Citibank to you is the antichrist
it's offensive
the very logo Citibank makes you wretch in horror
when you go to Columbia University
you're forced to have a Citibank logo on your card
even though you want nothing to do with them
and you don't do business with them at all
is that right?
tape it over
tape it over?
tape it over?
that's your solution to life?
tape it over?
fine, wipe it out
what do you want?
I think I want corporations off campuses
the other half of the student body is going to be complaining
about how well you know the guys at NYU
can use their ideas as a debit card
well, why can't people get debit cards?
I don't understand why it has to be married to a university
it doesn't make sense to me
what does it matter?
listen, you have this thing called tuition
you pay for the university that way
you don't need corporations paying for it
and if you do have corporations paying for it
then let's let the people in for free
how about that?
we can have corporate universities
and then just open up admissions
and then all the poor people can get education too
and we can thank Citibank for it
and you can have all the people in the dorms
pay for every meal with cash
and you can do all these other wonderful things
but guess what?
the students want these kind of services
so they don't have to play with dimes and nickels and bills
I don't know anyone who uses this service
no one uses this service?
Isaac says you want this
I don't
that's why they come in!
did you vote for this?
did we ever ask?
do you know how much it costs the university
to participate in a program like this?
I would hope it doesn't cost anything
I would hope they receive large influx of cash
I just don't understand why it's necessary
to have these corporations married to universities
and high schools now too
I mean, basically
I've heard of kids getting in trouble
for drinking the wrong soft drink in high schools
they have a Coke day
and someone wears a Pepsi shirt
and they get in trouble
that's sickness
we can go all the way back to the 50s again
with Eisenhower's warning
about the military-industrial complex
and how they're getting way too attached
to our colleges and universities
and blah blah blah blah blah
point is, it's irrelevant
military-industrial complex is not irrelevant
but that's not even this argument
this is the corporate-industrial complex
which I think is far more insidious
and a lot more powerful
but let's hear from our listeners
212-209-2900
if you've had experiences like that
I'd sure like to know about them
it's rather disturbing
all right, that's the rebel line
let's go over there
good evening, you're on the air
oh yes, hello
speak up please
oh yes, hi
I have a question about the DECSS
because I was wondering
if 900 MHz owns you
because 900 MHz...
OK, we had this guy on last week
good evening, you're on the air
hey Emmanuel, Isaac
and Fiber out there
I don't know who else is in the background there
it's Tommy Pickles
hello
formerly of MTV
yeah, I wish I was still there
because then I'd be broadcasting it all
about this DECSS thing
uh-huh
but they just let you broadcast
they just let you take over the airwaves
or cable waves, whatever they are
but you know, I still don't understand
the public about this DECSS thing
because ah, it's so easy
even if you don't DECSS
because on compact computers
their original DVD player
lets you even open files up
from your hard drive
so you can just open up
all those iPhone ISOs
be a little more specific here
you know, you just look at your DVD drive
you know, without double-clicking on it
just go right-click, open
you see all the files that a DVD is made of
right
and you can open up any of them
and this is on what kind of a computer?
this was on the compact Presarios
I think this is on anything with Windows
yeah, because...
and like, God forbid
oh my God, now I can drop these
four and a half gig files
to my desktop
and trade them that way
oh yeah, of course
that's the point we've been...
I wouldn't need DECSS at all
that's the point we've been trying to make
all summer
and it was lost
basically, you can take those
however big they are files
copy them
and simply trade them on the net that way
and as long as somebody has a DVD player
yes, it will decrypt them
I'm on my Linux PC
I can see the files
but I can't play them?
wait a second, what's going on here?
let's get DECSS
ah, DECSS makes my DVD player work now
is that how you say it?
DECSS?
is it a word now?
yes, DECSS
it's just easier than D-E-C-S-S
well, it was said many different ways in court
I heard people saying D-E-C-S
DECSS
who are you going to trust?
them or me?
yeah, well
it would be nice just to have a standard
so we know what we're talking about
we're going to just pirate all the standards anyway
yeah
the other thing is
on a personal note
did JohnnyX ever email you
about the freedom downtime thing?
I don't remember
I'm trying to
oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait
is this for Freaknik?
Freaknik, yeah
yeah, I think I saw an email
I have not responded to it yet
but yeah, we'd love to show it at Freaknik
which is taking place
it's taking place when?
November 3rd
it'll be at the Days Inn
right near the airport there
information is on Freaknik.org
that's with a P-H
because I guess we're all, you know
and that's in Nashville, right?
yeah, that's in Nashville
okay
November 3rd, the weekend of
I think it's the weekend after PumpCon
so it's not going to interfere this year
so all the little drunkers want to go get drunk
they can do that
and then all the hackers can go to Freaknik, I guess
yes
just keep stumbling south
it's not about getting drunk
it's about learning
it's about, you know, trading information
oh, learning to get drunk at PumpCon
I'm sorry
all right, I'll let you kids go
okay, I have learned things at PumpCon, though
I did
I forget where they were
but I definitely learned something
oh, that's telling
yeah
good evening
good evening
you're on the air
hello?
yes, go ahead
ah
uh
the end of the world as we know it has finally arrived
uh, yesterday's Wall Street Journal
page B1
the E-World column by Thomas Weber
has an article entitled
Protecting Copyrights
How E-Books Will Be Like Parking Readers
and I'll just read a couple of paragraphs
Isaac, read with him
Isaac has the same article
in stereo
and you're going to read at the same time
go ahead
ah, good
I thought Isaac did not obtain that
no, I did indeed
thank you for it
when you ask Isaac to obtain something, he obtains it
imagine a book
well, I'll let Isaac comment on this then
well, go ahead
get the gist of it out
imagine a book that you can't sell, give away
or even lend to a friend
imagine that this book refuses to wait patiently on your shelf
but instead demands money from time to time
and threatens to self-destruct if you don't cough up the dough
that book is here
and it's filled with pictures of teeth
it's a new kind of electronic textbook for dental students
being introduced right now at New York University and other schools
packing thousands of pages onto a glittering DVD disc
the e-book offers impressive potential for learning
but to safeguard it against copying
the book's creators have built in all kinds of restrictions as well
this is actually something that's a few weeks old
and the Wall Street Journal seems to have gotten around to it finally
now, basically this involves books for the school of dentistry
that are electronic in nature
they're electronic in nature
you spend about $5,000, I believe the article says
over the course of your education
in order to have access to the book
and when you stop paying
it stops working
you graduate and your book is no longer there
there's something in there too
from the company that makes this
about showing it to other people
and you're not allowed to do that
that's a violation
it's also required by the course that you purchase it
because they're still worried about people trying to bypass
whatever security they have in this thing
so they're removing the second-hand market
by requiring everyone to have a copy
they say it's a violation of the law
to actually show this to another person
wonderful
isn't that amazing?
that's basically the next step from this whole DVD thing
it's the same Digital Millennium Copyright Act
that allows them to do this
so people are asking
how does this affect me
if I don't want to play a DVD on a Linux system
this is how it affects you
this is the kind of crap you're going to be dealing with
for ages to come
so this kind of thing is marked as wrong
most definitely
Carl, are there any more comments on this?
yeah, this is the first millimeter of the sea level rising
and eventually it will be water world
every book will be like this
pretty sad
done
thanks for depressing us
we're going to move on
it's funny because that was posted all over the net
and the NYU FAQ about this went down
it's not up anymore
I don't know why they took it down
I think it was slash-dotted
it wasn't like you couldn't reach it
the file was taken away
it's just not there anymore
so maybe it was just wrong
maybe they changed something
maybe they're backing out of the whole thing
I'll tell you
the thing that can make this kind of garbage go away
is public pressure
public pressure made Verizon back down
public pressure is what will win in any particular case
and this is a good example
where it's early enough
people can still object
NYU is one school doing this
is Columbia doing this yet?
not to my knowledge
okay
you better check up on it
they're planning it
and if any other school out there is doing something like this
we want to know about it
alright, let's go over here
good evening, you're on the air
hi, great show
thank you
about two years ago
I was told by computer engineers
that the DVD will be the main computer backup
and I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting
do you know if anybody has hooked it up yet?
what, DVD-RW?
yeah, right
exists
but it's very expensive, right?
yeah, it's like 50 bucks a CD or something
yeah, but it's got to come down
yeah, eventually
much like the early CD-Rs and the CD-R media
were fairly expensive
it doesn't take too long
well, there are always other options
but yeah, okay
well, thanks for the great show
thanks for calling
okay, bye
212-209-2900
good evening, you're on the air
speak up
yeah, hello
go ahead
yeah, I just wanted to relate some of my experiences
at Penn State University
regarding corporation funding and things like that
okay, this is Penn State, where?
Penn State University in Pennsylvania
okay
home of the football team, the Nittany Lions
is probably what they're best known for
okay, go ahead
well, Penn State's a Pepsi school
ooh, it is
and on campus there was a very vocal
sort of movement that protested a lot of Pepsi's
human rights, possible violations
taking place in foreign countries and things like that
and I guess probably the thing that kind of surprised me
was that there wasn't
I never felt that there was
much response from the administration
towards the student movements
against Pepsi, sort of
so, I mean, people were saying Pepsi's bad
and the administration just kind of tended to ignore it
I thought it was more than
either deal with the issue or anything else like that
Isaac, you had a question, Isaac?
did the students come up with any means
by which to substantiate any of these claims?
yeah, oh boy, you know, I mean
you just like dropped this fact
or an apparent fact that
Pepsi is abusing people in third world nations
how, where, when, who?
right, I mean, I wouldn't know
first of all, Isaac, you're being unfair here
because this guy is just reporting what was there
he's not necessarily one of the people
that was saying these kind of things
second of all, I've seen people
in these kind of demonstrations
they have all the facts you could possibly want
you know, read a handout
go to a website, it's out there
alright, I can't be responsible
if you don't want to look into this kind of stuff
but it's out there, it's everywhere
I'm sorry, caller
another $1500 in tuition
caller, go ahead
yeah, so, I mean, I just wanted to
I think also there was
I think that Nike sponsors the apparel
for the football team and things like that
and of course
similar situation with their human rights abuses
in third world
people talk about them a lot
you know, so
so
I think that the
I don't know how the finances work
I'm sure that the university got some kind of
financial considerations for
for using the Pepsi and Nike
and whatever other brands
that they were sort of
using
you know, and as far as
but as far as how that
influenced the students
I think a lot of students
still were able to keep an independent mind about
you know, whether or not they chose to endorse
the products that the university was basically selling
them
so, you know, I just wanted to provide that perspective
ok, thanks
alright, thank you
I'd be selling coke on the black market
you know, and I bet it's illegal too to do this
I bet you're not allowed to like, you know
sell cans of coke out of your dorm room
you know, it's probably some sort of violation of university policy
it's not like they're any better
well, no, that's not the point, the point is just to like
do something to thwart the whole system
because it really is very silly
to tell people you have no freedom of choice
because, hey, we decide
that this corporation owns us
then you go to the board of directors and say
guys, we don't want Pepsi sponsoring us
the bags of money they're bringing us
you get rid of them
we want an extra $2200 a year in our tuition
we want, you know
to fund the
robotics lab ourselves
because we're not going to have Siemens come in
and give us some equipment
you know, Isaac, the whole point of tuition is to do just that
and I don't understand what has changed over the years
where we need all the corporate sponsorship
when you have outrageous tuition to start with
you know, when did this happen?
you've clearly never tried to get a meeting with a board of trustees
or regents, if you say that
yeah, I would imagine not
I mean, they don't exactly open up their doors
does anybody else in this room
find that college is idiotic, or am I just mad?
yes, yes
I proudly dropped out
why do people even go to college?
it's just all this idiocy
it's not about learning, it's about football
and it's about corporate sponsorship
and it's about getting a job when you get out
not about learning, not about socializing
not about, you know, expanding your mind
do people actually jump out of bed in the morning
all excited that they're going to a Pepsi school?
like, what the hell is that?
it's weirdness, I know
let's take another phone call
good evening, you're on the air
hi, good evening
I want to talk about
who is copywriting the airwaves?
now the airwaves
of radio stations
like the cable TV
and all those
corporations
now
are they supposed to be giving us money back for that?
no, it's FCC licensing
you buy a frequency from the federal government
and permission to use it within a certain range
at a certain wattage
it's not copyright, it's just a license
it's basically giving away the people's airwaves
to the highest bidder
well it is, I mean
I don't know how you can license bits of the electromagnetic spectrum
and basically say that
you can't do this, you can't use this
this is a private property
I see, thank you
ok, I'll just be real quick
oh god
ok
let's go over here, good evening, you're on the air
oh hey Emmanuel, hi it's Shana
good, hi Isaac Fiber
Mike, I think is there
anyway, so Isaac
I'll save you your Lyco search about
Burma and Pepsi
it's called Myanmar
not Burma, Myanmar
isn't it the people's
Myanmar I believe, isn't it people's republic of Myanmar?
anyway
oh, whatever now
you've corrected me, ok
so when I was at NYU
we had a Pizza Hut in our student center
Pizza Hut is owned by Pepsi
thank you
so, but we were
I did some stuff with students for a free
students for a free Burma
and we hunger striked
we had a hunger strike against Pepsi
you hunger striked against Pizza Hut and Pepsi
oh, we didn't just hunger strike
we had CNN in front of the campus
thank you very much
we were on a hunger strike
until NYU got Pizza Hut out
ok, we were really tired
after a couple days
so what was the effect, did Pizza Hut leave?
Pizza Hut did not leave, however
it did generate major publicity
and Pepsi actually
I believe reduced some of the
they didn't, I don't think they took them out
completely, but they did reduce a lot
of plants they had
in Burma, Myanmar
and you feel that your
demonstration had a direct effect
on them closing plants in Burma
well, I like to think that
it has nothing to do with the economic situation
in the nation, where it's no longer
profitable for them to operate
in that region of the world
this happened very soon after though
this happened very soon after our protest
well, we'd like to think that when our pets die
they go to a nicer place, but we don't really know that
for certain
no, you're completely right, however I do think though that
our demonstrations, as well as demonstrations
of a lot of students throughout
universities and through everywhere
there were tons of demonstrations
everywhere, I mean I know that
the ISO, we did a lot of demonstrations too
but
it was very important
it did have some sort of indirect effect
when students are getting shown on CNN
protesting
then you know that you are having some sort of
effect
that's true as far as publicity
publicity makes a great deal of difference
the thing that worries me though is the publicity
is the control of that
is being held by fewer and fewer people
so you know, if Time Warner doesn't want you
on their airwaves, they simply won't put you
on their airwaves, then the event that you went through
even if thousands of people participated
it never happened, it never took place
and it is totally frightening
oh, P.S. about corporations
and universities again too
did you know that corporations
are now paying high school students
to go to college and work for them
yeah
like they're getting paid
to build juniors and seniors in high school
that's actually a very good idea
hold on a second, everybody stop
they're paying all these corporations
I don't know which ones
it's actually very simple
hang on, hang on, I'm asking her
what are these juniors and seniors in high school doing
I don't know, maybe
Honor Society or Key Club
or Junior Achievement or something
but these corporations are recruiting these kids
and it's like the military
but it's corporate
and it's just as bad
wait, are they giving them a scholarship to the school or something
I'll give you a very simple example
I'm asking her, I'm asking her
we'll pay for your tuition
you go to college for four years
and then after that, we own you
no, you come work for us
we own you
for instance, Boeing has a
hold on, hold on one second
right
Intellectual property owners can do what they want with their property.
Unfortunately...
Oh.
Okay.
This is really...
I don't suppose that caller is still there in any form.
All right.
It's the code blue.
The crash card is on there.
There was only one line.
Somehow there were two lines on one there.
I don't know how that happened.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Okay.
You got to move fast, folks.
Good evening.
You're on the air.
Hello.
I don't appreciate Isaac's comment about the robotics lab.
Okay.
What's wrong with my comments about the robotics lab?
Well, you're suggesting that the robotics lab is not something that is worth being funded?
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm just saying that there are a lot of private corporations who have a vested interest in people learning about these fields,
and they're going to give them money.
Now, if you want to tell these guys, well, forget it, go away,
you're going to have to have the university pay for all this equipment
and actually buy the equipment from these various companies.
You're going to see tuition skyrocket to the point where they're going to start dropping labs like this.
You know, I have seen tuition skyrocket.
I have seen programs dropped.
I just don't get it.
I don't understand why it's necessary to sign these pacts with the devil as far as I'm concerned.
But we don't have any more time.
I'd love to keep going about this for hours and hours, and I'm sure we could.
If you want to write to us, oth at 2600.com or off the hook, care of WBAI, 120 Wall Street, New York, New York, 10005.
We'll be back again next week with all kinds of fun things to talk about.
Star, key, colon.
Yeah, many other things as well.
End of file.
Yeah, until next week, Manuel Goldstein for Isaac, Fiber, everybody else, have a good night.
Alarm beeping.
Again, I have no use for you.
Fire again.
April 29th!