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diff --git a/markley/blog/06_med_object b/markley/blog/06_med_object new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ba30e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/markley/blog/06_med_object @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +After watching the mini-lecture on the Medical Object Video Project, +consider what kind of medical object you would like to research further. +This is an opportunity to start thinking about your final project. You +should spend time looking at different resources to generate ideas. If +you already know what medical object you’d like to research, spend time +looking into the object further and discuss what kind of object from our +reading it most closely resembles. Your post should be between 250-500 +words and should include links to different websites, embedded video +content, and other supporting images. + +# Medical Devices, the DMCA, and the corporate profit motive + +The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) section 1201 makes the +circumvention of Digital Rights Management (DRM) illegal, even when +doing so wouldn't violate any other copyright protection. +The DMCA allows companies like Netflix and Amazon to punish piracy of +the movies and television they stream, but, [until +recently](https://gizmodo.com/its-now-legal-to-hack-drm-to-repair-your-own-devices-1830002757), +it let manufacturers like John Deere prohibit you from repairing your +own device (like a tractor), and [it lets +medical device manufacturers like Medtronic prohibit you from testing +their security](https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/03/turnkey-authoritarianism/#minimed) +or repair their ventilators without [requiring an overpriced, +unavailable Medtronic mechanic come type in a special +code](https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/10/flintstone-delano-roosevelt/#medtronic-again). +It's ``felonizing contempt of business model,'' as [consumer advocate +Cory Doctorow puts it](https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/24/1201-v-dl-youtube/). + +[IMAGE: An xkcd comic about the DMCA. CAPTION: While not as draconian as +this comic portrays it, the DMCA has empowered groups like the MPAA and +RIAA to enforce private contracts in order to forward profit motives, +very often in a way detrimental to the consumer. SRC: +https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/1337_part_4.png] + +But these problems aren't exclusive to the DMCA. +The DMCA is just one way in which megacorps, often with monopoly or +oligopoly status, maintain their profits---at the expense of customers. |