e of the greatest advancements in the ! short history of computers, but because of the shadier uses it could be used for, we'llnever see it. I like to compare it to the Internet, its very useful, but it can be used for illegal purposes. You be the judge (Ross 134-140). Luckily, we may yet someday see DVDs, because several companies aredeveloping copy protection schemes for them, to stop the casual home hacker/copier. Macrovision, for instance, isproducing hardware for the DVD player that will make them incompatible with VCRs (the easiestdubbing-to platform, the equivilant of CD to audio tape). It will send output through the audio/video out portsthat when played on a TV, will appear normal, but when played through a VCR, will have colorstripes running sideways across the screen. This is due to the differences between the ways the twowork (Ross 134-140). So as you can see, current methods of protecting software are a hinderance on thesoftware industry. The problems outweigh the benefits, but with a new law, the industry would beable to keep the benefits and minimize any drawbacks. Instead of having to nitpick over who wrotesomething that did something similar, it would be back to who wrote something more powerful than theother guy, and thats what makes the industry great, competition. Oh, and I'd like to add that I brokecopyright law a total of 13 times in the making of this report, when I made a copy of each reference with theschool copying machine (James 16), although it was fair use, so I'm not in any trouble (Ruth). ...
