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MediaSentry Hired By People's Republic of China
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Aug 07, 2008 06:59 PM
from the well-if-it-worked-for-those-guys dept.
from the well-if-it-worked-for-those-guys dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "MediaSentry, now called 'SafeNet,' the RIAA's illegal, unlicensed investigator of choice, has been hired by the People's Republic of China to provide DRM for the Olympics coverage. The PRC says it 'owns exclusive rights to the broadcast of all audio and video content via online and mobile distribution channels across Mainland China' and wants to protect it from 'piracy.' I wonder if the Chinese government is aware of MediaSentry's track record — i.e. all the good things it has accomplished so far for the Big 4 record companies."
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a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder if MediaSentry is aware of the Chinese government's track record?
Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
I wonder if the Chinese government is aware of MediaSentry's track record
I wonder if MediaSentry is aware of the Chinese government's track record?
Meh. They're perfect bed fellows and we all know it. They both excel at exploiting an ignorant public.
Parent
Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder if the Chinese government is aware of MediaSentry's track record
I wonder if MediaSentry is aware of the Chinese government's track record?
Meh. They're perfect bed fellows and we all know it. They both excel at exploiting an ignorant public.
No kidding - I've no need of organizations that exploit an ignorant public like China and MediaSentry. I'm perfectly content with the US government and Apple.
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Victims don't have a choice. (Score:4, Insightful)
No kidding - I've no need of organizations that exploit an ignorant public
I think you misspelled oppress above. People do not chose to live in China, inadequate state education, or to be the targets of RIAA attacks. Please do not insult people stripped of their homes and political prisoners with such trivializations. These thugs punish innocent people.
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Re:Victims don't have a choice. (Score:4, Interesting)
These thugs punish innocent people.
How do Chinese censorship laws differ from American drug laws? If the Chinese "thugs" punish innocent people, the American secret police (AKA "undercover agents" and "plainclothes police") and the masked thugs from the DEA also punish innocent people. I was one of their victimes last year; searched without warrant, made to stand in the July Illinois heat for an hour, and let go because there were in fact no drugs.
Glass houses, folks. If you're American, rather than working to free the Chinese, how about working to free us Americans?
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China see, China do? (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you suggesting that Twitter has no right to comment on the actions of the PRC or MediaSentry? If you are, then you are following in the footsteps of the PRC and their wish to control information and suppress free speech.
I agree that Twitter is being stupid when he engages in one of his "single-person, numerous-monikas" conversations, but if he wishes to join in an intelligent conversation that he has as much right as you or I to do so.
On the other hand, if you were just informing the GP that Twitter uses a specific monika then I am confused with that fact's relevance to the topic under discussion.
Parent
Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Interesting)
Funny that you should bring up Adolph Hitler. This is a replay of the 1936 Olympics and I was in Beijing the week before the Olympic commmittee traveled there to choose it - there was an army of people out picking up garbage and what not. I guess they did not have vacuum cleaners large enough to clear out all the dirty[1], polluted air though.
Indeed, Media Sentry + PRC is a match made in ... well somewhere I'd rather not go.
[1] On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the least polluted air and 10 is max polluted, Los Angeles CA USA, where I lived for almost 2 decades ranked about a 5 when I moved away. Tokyo Japan ranked about a 7 when I lived there 2000-2003, and Beijing in 2001 ranked 10. I hope someone does not die in the marathon, but I won't be watching to find out.
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Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:4, Funny)
All that these marathon men are asking is: Is it safe?
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Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't this typical of most current governments?
I'd love to disagree with you (you're the only foe I've managed to acquire on /. so I guess I just want to nurture the relationship =) ). But I can't - At least not entirely. Governments are a necessary evil - It makes good sense to organize a system of laws/enforcement, public services, national defense, etc. But, once established, it is a constant struggle to keep the government a public service entity instead of a mechanism for oppressing the public in favor of those that have the most influence over the "public representatives".
Also, I believe that the system in America isn't entirely broken. We have a lot of uninformed people electing bad representatives, but our elections are at worst slightly rigged (too much, but better than many and we're working on it - Even a 1% majority would stifle crooked polling IMHO - Major problem, but the world has no system that's unscammable). The biggest exploitation here is people not bothering to research dodgy information they've been fed and acting on bad pretenses. And, this happens much more on the corporate level than the political level which gives the major corps power to lobby/endorse/bribe the government reps.
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Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Funny)
Why would anyone want to Pirate the Olympic broadcasts?
Spite? Simply to piss off MediaSentry?
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Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you have to pay to watch the Olympics in China?
I don't know. Didn't we have to pay to watch them here?
Not as in "pay-per-view", but as in "over broadcast TV"?
Even if we're talking about actually-free channels (do any still exist?), there's still the matter of ad revenue. If people just put clips up on YouTube, that means Google gets the revenue, instead of the Chinese Government.
Parent
Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Informative)
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It's possible this DRM enforcement push is directed against non-endusers, as non-licensed media outlets are also 'without rights' to the material..
Cue shocked realization from a bunch of media execs.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
No, Channel 7 (here in Aus) is paying for it from the revenue they raise by selling advertising time.
The channel is a free-to-air channel, so viewers are definitely not paying for it.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
People may view the ads, but they are the product being sold to advertisers by television stations. They have no obligation to buy anything.
There's a very indirect link that's possible here, but no money moves from a viewer to the IOC here except at the sort of remove where you can link everyone on Earth, via Kevin Bacon, to the IOC.
... and please, *never* use the phrase "pray tell."
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Would many people pay to watch the Olympics?
Probably. If my wife demanded it, I would. I tend to watch the summer Olympics if it is convenient (I'm not much of TV watcher) because it brings back memories of track & field in my school days.
Of course, after being spoiled by broadcast TV coverage of the Olympics in Tokyo where there was 4 or 5 channels of different events to choose from, I would never ever willingly watch US TV coverage unless they paid me (a lot) to do so.
When my children get older, I'll probably reverse myself. The Olympics is
Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:4, Interesting)
Why would anyone want to Pirate the Olympic broadcasts?
I'll name one. Compare TV coverage in the United States versus a truly free country like Japan. Exclusive broadcast rights truly sucks, big time.
Are you allowed to change channels if you do not like the particular Olympic event being shown?
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Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
The Olympics sucks. I wont even bother watching them. The coverage is fucking pathetic. If you are not interested in one of the top billing events, you can forget seeing the event at all. last time around I tried like hell to watch TaeKwonDo to no avail. I could only catch some of it in Canada since I live in Detroit. Otherwise, it was a waste.
This time I would like to see some mountain biking. My hopes are not high.
Pay per view Olymipcs. The thought is laughable.
Parent
Re:a match made in heaven . . . (Score:5, Funny)
If they are paid enough, I'm sure they'll causally ignore it.
A fine example of standard corrupt business finest.
Just think, now you can use Bittorrent to bypass two evil organizations at the same time!
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
> I wonder if MediaSentry is aware of the Chinese government's track record?
Like the excellent 'rescue' of the people hit by the recent SiChuan earthquake? That efficiency and scale of that effort puts many countries efforts in similar situations to shame IMO.
It's not all bad - which is something I have trouble saying about the RIAA, though the comparison in poor taste, IMO.
BWAHAHAHA (Score:5, Interesting)
This is such a crock.
China doesn't own the broadcast rights to the Olympics. The Olympic Committee does.
I wonder what other compromises the Olympic Committee made in Red China?
Besides, Media Sentry is a joke. They will soon be hacked out of existance.
Re:BWAHAHAHA (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
If we're lucky ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If we're lucky ... (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
This is rich (Score:5, Insightful)
China is arguable the largest pirate nation on the planet, who has next to zero respect for intellectual property of other nations.
Now that their money is at stake here, they want to protect their content.
Funny, that.
Enough, already (Score:4, Insightful)
Is there a way to hide copyright/RIAA/MPAA/piracy stories? They don't seem to show up under any consistent category or author. I know I can just scroll past them, but then I'm still stuck reading the summary of every blow-by-blow account of the copyright wars. I know, the *AAs are evil, copyright terms are too long, yeah, I get it, I got it ten years ago, I don't need to hear it repeated ad nauseum.
(Cue -1, Cares About Quality Of Slashdot mods)
sprit of freedom and openness my arse (Score:4, Interesting)
"Aren't they supposed to be held in the spirit of freedom and openness?
Not in China."
yeah, blame china... The IOC doesn't have a track record for sending takedown notices / sueing to people displaying anything remotely Olympic branded:
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/ioc_sues_website_using_olympics_logos_552593 [sbs.com.au]
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7217512_ITM [accessmylibrary.com]
the IOC are just as bad as the MAFIIA, but they've got a perfect scapegoat to trial DRM this time around because the West aren't big fans of china as it is, so the IOC spin doctors say "we didn't want drm" publicly, while privately supporting the concept.
The Olympics are pointless... (Score:4, Insightful)
If they do return and win, they may land contracts for a breakfast cereal or two of note and they may appear on the box for a year or two until they have been largely forgotten by the public. Then they go on to write an 'inspirational' book about their 'struggle against all odds' to achieve Olympic stardom. Finally, as their notoriety reaches its nadir, they sign on to do a reality-based television show on the E! channel that exploits their pathetic downward spiral and their life on the lecture circuit 'inspiring' people.
The geek is invincibly parochial (Score:3, Interesting)
.
Rarely, if ever, do any of these participants return for another try at Olympic glory after they have achieved -or failed to achieve- the brief stardom of the podium
Athletes do return to the games.
That is an extraordinary achievement in itself. It means, among other things, that there is training and financial support for the older athlete who wants to remain competitve in world competition.
Look
Events for Hacker Olympics (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I was the first to mod it funny. What did I win?
A merger in the future I think (Score:3, Interesting)
New meme alert! (Score:4, Funny)
MediaSentry and DRM: good enough for the Commies!
Re:Why still 'MediaSentry' (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Why still 'MediaSentry' (Score:5, Informative)
Everytime I see this company mentioned on Slashdot, they're still referred to as 'MediaSentry (now SafeNet)'. Why? Is it because the MediaSentry name is still so evocative?
It's because the name change is just a cynical attempt to try and get rid of a name that has 'negative connotations' attached to it, like Palladium becoming the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base [wikipedia.org], or the Security Systems and Standards Certification Act becoming the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act [wikipedia.org]. The new name is just designed to confuse people, so we list it alongside the old name to emphasize to everyone that nothing has changed, SafeNet is MediaSentry.
Parent
Re:Why still 'MediaSentry' (Score:5, Insightful)
Everytime I see this company mentioned on Slashdot, they're still referred to as 'MediaSentry (now SafeNet)'. Why? Is it because the MediaSentry name is still so evocative?
It's because the name change is just a cynical attempt to try and get rid of a name that has 'negative connotations' attached to it, like Palladium becoming the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base [wikipedia.org], or the Security Systems and Standards Certification Act becoming the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act [wikipedia.org]. The new name is just designed to confuse people, so we list it alongside the old name to emphasize to everyone that nothing has changed, SafeNet is MediaSentry.
Well spoken. I'm not as eloquent. So I just say that a crook shouldn't be able to clean up his reputation by changing his name.
Parent
Re:Why still 'MediaSentry' (Score:4, Insightful)
Everytime I see this company mentioned on Slashdot, they're still referred to as 'MediaSentry (now SafeNet)'. Why? Is it because the MediaSentry name is still so evocative? Just call them what they are and reference the fact that they are in fact that company that used to be called MediaSentry.
Mea culpa. I refer to them as MediaSentry. I don't think a crook should just be able to change its name and clean up its reputation that way.
Parent
Re:Why still 'MediaSentry' (Score:4, Informative)
Just call them what they are and reference the fact that they are in fact that company that used to be called MediaSentry.
Oh, I get it, so you'd rather it was "SafeNet (Formerly Known As MediaSentry)"... What difference does it make? I'm sure a lot of people still refer to them as MediaSentry, either because they prefer to, or because they still think it's called that, internally and publicly, most likely because that is what it is still called.
Besides, there's no Wiki for SafeNet yet, only a line: "SafeNet - Owner of the online investigative company MediaSentry [wikipedia.org]."
Considering I don;t really give a damn, and wont bother to invesitage further, I find it interesting that A: There's no Wiki, and B: On the MediaSentry wiki, it says they were hired for this, and C: http://www.mediasentry.com/ [mediasentry.com] does not redirect to http://www.safenet-inc.com/ [safenet-inc.com] it only mentions that SafeNet now owns MediaSentry, but MediaSentry still exists as a company.
Parent
Re:Tell me again (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Tell me again (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I hadn't thought of it before but realised when I saw the starting time for the Opening Ceremony.
08:08pm 08/08/2008.
8 is a very lucky number in chinese culture. So I imagine they had a very big incentive to "win" the 2008 Olympics. Add this to Chinas amazingly strong economy, and the IOCs......questionable ...ethics in regards to bribes/payoffs then I think you can get the picture of how this one played out.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I thought they added it as an Olympic sport this year?
Re:Who'd want to pirate the Olympics? (Score:4, Interesting)
If I want to watch people running, I can go to my local park and do so for free.
Out of curiosity, does this kind of fallacy have a name yet?
Try this: Why would anyone pay for WoW? If I want to play a game, I can fire up GnuChess [gnu.org] for free.
Although, it would still be more interesting to watch what the athletes do [scotsman.com] in their time off...
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Fallacy of accident? [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
They see a highly consumerist country that weilds their power and lays countries to waist.
Much like the many a muslim fundamentalists think of the US.
Imagine walking the streets of NY, and seeing people spending their resource buying crap.
Thinking they need crap, using practicaly naked bodies to sell crap
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self.shtml
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Funny that, they think the same for the US. Not that they are not in their own bubble.
They see a highly consumerist country that weilds their power and lays countries to waist.
No they don't. Please ground yourself back to reality.
If you ever been to a modern city in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu..etc), you will find everyone is living a capitalist lifestyle. If someone isn't getting into your face to sell you something, they are at least buying goods for themselves at supermarkets such as Car
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
This all kinda reminds me of a Star Wars prequel plot...
Where'd you find that? One of the extras DVDs?