I'm already doing that... But copyright violation is one of the biggest
issues facing image-based websites, and it's astonishing that Microsoft
and
other vendors have put forth no thought into ways of protecting images...
they've certainly done somersaults to protect music!
You don't understand the problem. Computers are just fancy adding machines.
An image is simply a very long array of numbers. It is the computer that
translates these numbers by painting pixels on the computer screen, or to a
printer. When you view a web page, your computer must download these numbers
from the server in order to be able to display them. It's not a television,
you know. Now, imagine that you went to a library that contained lists of
numbers, and you borrowed a list of numbers from the library to take home
and read. Once you get the list home, what's to stop you from copying those
numbers onto a piece of paper?
In fact, copyright laws were created because it is simply not possible to
prevent ANYTHING from being copied. People think that this is a new issue.
People have been copying "intellectual property" ever since the invention of
language. Before the invention of written language, they memorized what
people said. Then they copied written language by hand. This is what the
Scribes of Biblical fame did. The invention of the printing press enabled
information to be copied quickly using an automated process. And of course,
artists have "copied" what they saw since cave men. Later,this was improved
with the invention of photography. And the computer was preceded by many
such inventions, such as phonograph records, magnetic tape, photo-copiers,
radio and television (ever video-taped a program off of your tv?).
Now, consider the computer, a machine that was invented to be able to copy
and manipulate numbers perfectly. Anything stored in a computer is stored as
numbers. So, rather than getting a facsimile of the object being copied,
like a copier does, a computer creates an *exact* copy, as easy as pie. In
fact, that is what downloading *is*.
As for the "somersaults" you mentioned, let's just say that, regardless of
the ignorance of the average human being regarding such things, companies
like Microsoft make money by giving people what they want. When large groups
of people ignorantly clamor for something which technicians know darned well
can't be done, the dance of perception begins. You don't increase sales by
telling people that they are ignorant, and that they are asking for
something impossible. But sales are increased by the perception of the
customers. Or, as the old saying goes, "perception is everything." So,
software and hardware companies make every effort to create the *perception*
that they are solving the problem. Fooled you, didn't they?
--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Professional Chicken Salad Alchemist
What You Seek Is What You Get.
