Luckily, we may yet someday see DVDs, because several companies are developing copy protection
schemes for them, to stop the casual home hacker/copier. Macrovision, for instance, is producing
hardware for the DVD player that will make them incompatible with VCRs (the easiest dubbing-to platform, the equivilant of CD to audio tape). It will send output through the audio/video out ports that when played on a TV, will appear normal, but when played through a VCR, will have color stripes running sideways across the screen. This is due to the differences between the ways the two work (Ross 134-140).
So as you can see, current methods of protecting software are a hinderance on the software
industry. The problems outweigh the benefits, but with a new law, the industry would be able to keep the benefits and minimize any drawbacks. Instead of having to nitpick over who wrote something that did something similar, it would be back to who wrote something more powerful than the other guy, and thats what makes the industry great, competition. Oh, and I'd like to add that I broke copyright law a total of 13 times in the making of this report, when I made a copy of each reference with the school copying machine (James 16), although it was fair use, so I'm not in any trouble (Ruth).
…
