Finally, there’s a way to get a wireless network that actually does deliver on simplicity. Early this morning Cisco announced the Valet and Valet Plus Home Hotspots, and in doing so they’ve completely revolutionized how we should look at home wireless.
Let’s be clear: Valet is really, really easy to use. I’m used to setting up wireless networks and it’s still a process that I’m usually not too thrilled with. I dislike having to deal with out-of-date setup disks, unresponsive routers, and having to come up with esoteric network names and passwords. After using the Cisco Valet Plus I can safely say that it’s going to be my first choice when someone asks me to setup their wireless network again.
The best part about that? I won’t need to be there. Setting up Valet really is as easy as advertised. To test it I unplugged my current router (an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station) and powered my modem down. The Valet Plus Hotspot comes with a USB key, so I plugged the Hotspot into power and plugged that key in (that’s STEP ONE in the instructions – one of three steps printed right on the box).
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There once was a foolish prince. He was aware that he was foolish, and certain that he was never right. As such he spent his days at peace, for he knew he could never truly be of use to anyone. The prince was, however, still a prince, and despite his shortcomings had a gallant streak in him that couldn’t be swayed.
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MP James Moore seems to be angry. He has begun lashing out at people–the self-same people he wanted to work with only a year ago. He is claiming that we don’t know what we’re talking about, that we need to be confronted, that we need to be defeated. He makes claims that we do not believe in copyright (which is wrong) and that we do not want copyright reform (which is also wrong).
Mr. Moore, you’re a coward. Anyone who would rather block debate than engage in it has no place in parliament in my books. Mr. Moore, you’re a fear-monger: suggesting that we’re radical extremists is the worst kind of polarizing politics. Mr. Moore, you’re wrong: we don’t want to eradicate copyright reform, we want the best copyright bill for artists and consumers.
We want to talk. We want to work together with you and with the industry. We want things to improve. We will not, however, stand idly by as you malign us, nor will we stand by as you hand Canadian rights, lock and key, over to massive media conglomerates.
Your about-face is fascinating. Perhaps you can explain why it happened. Maybe you can tell us why you’re so angry and why you refuse to listen to people.
Or maybe you’re happy in your new position, parroting talking points for an industry that’s so very frightened of change. Which is it?
The digital locks provision in Bill C-32 is anti-consumer and it has to go. Here’s a rough transcript of the video above:
Hello! Graham here again with a bit more on Bill C-32.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who watched and shared the original video, and I hope you’ll pass this one along too.
So – back to Bill C-32, the Canadian DMCA. As I mentioned last time, the bill needs work, but there’s one part that needs to be removed entirely: the digital locks provision. it’s anti-consumer, and does nothing to actually help the artists and creators who write, compose, and create. As a content creator myself (I won’t be so crass as to call myself an artist) I know that digital locks aren’t the right answer, and here are a few more reasons for you.
First: These are HD-DVDs. You might remember HD-DVD from such great format wars as HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray. HD-DVD, despite being a pretty awesome format, lost the war.
I paid over $900 for the discs that you see here. The problem is: my HD-DVD player is broken. What’s worse: they don’t make them anymore. that means $900 down the drain, useless.
Unless! Unless I can use the HD-DVD drive in my computer to break the digital locks on these files… which I can. Then I can extract the movie information that I paid for and watch it on other devices, like my computer or my PlayStation 3. Under Bill C-32 doing exactly that – breaking the digital lock for my own personal use – would be illegal. And I’d be subject to fines of up to $95,000. Nearly one hundred grand for something I paid $900 for.
Think about that – I’m not selling these discs. I’m not giving the content away. I’m just breaking that lock so I can use them again. Something I’m doing in the privacy of my own home without affecting anyone else… and the government wants to stop me. That’s wrong and it’s today’s first reason for why digital locks have to go.
The second reason? Well, Heritage Minister James Moore sent me a message on twitter saying I should buy discs with digital copies if I want to use them on other devices. He then blocked all communication on twitter from me – which is a pretty undemocratic and cowardly thing to do.
Now Mister Moore completely ignores the over 500 DVDs that I own that I purchased before digital copies became available – he’d still like me to be classified as a criminal for using them the way I want. But I do have some discs with digital copies, so I thought I’d take his advice and get started with them.
I have 15 discs with digital copies. Only 7 of them actually work. The remainder time out when I try to activate them, or the codes have expired. Can you imagine that – a DVD expiring? Is this what we, as consumers, want?
Of the seven that I was able to get working, none of those digital copies will play back on my BlackBerry, or my PlayStation Portable. None of them will stream to my Xbox or my PlayStation 3.
Some of the Blu-ray movies with digital copies came with DVD versions. I ripped them. They worked on everything immediately. So your second reason is: if the product I buy in the store doesn’t work as well as the quote unquote illegal product, then the law is bad and needs to be changed.
To recap: digital locks will prevent you from using stuff you’ve paid for in the future as technology moves on. And secondly digital locks prevent you from using the stuff you’ve bought now in a normal, reasonable manner.
Contact your MP and let them know that the digital locks provision is consumer hostile and will negatively affect how much money you spend on games, movies, music, and books. Tell them it has to go. We can fix Bill C-32 before it’s too late.
