Marshall McLuhan coined the axiom "The Medium is the Message" back in the 1950s. He was very interested in the "New Media" even back them. What did he mean by The Medium is the Message? We may be able to find out by looking at our changing mediums and the messages they possess. More Mcluhan...

Did you know when you buy a box of Girl Scout cookies you are not only helping to fund a young girls life experiences and learning, but you are actually helping them pay for Campfire songs? That's right, the Content Controllers (not the creators, but those who own the rights) charge the Girl Scouts for the right to sing very common songs. The Girl Scouts pay a royalty for this privilege. See for yourself.

How is this related to "The Medium is the Message?" Throughout human history knowledge has been kept, recorded and passed on in a number of ways. One of the most common ways is through writing. People read to learn.

At times this knowledge -- paper or otherwise -- has been recreated, controlled and lost. However, one thing remains the same. Knowledge and information need a medium to be transferred from one person to another.

How does this relate to eBooks you might ask? eBooks represent a type of new Medium. Long ago, the most common medium was papyrus (paper made of plants and reeds). More recently, the preferred Medium has become the new Medium -- Digital.

We like books. We like eBooks. However, we do not like the power grab they represent to large corporations. Currently, you have the right to copy parts of this "paper" in order to quote, relate and otherwise use what I have written. This is called "Fair Use."

However, with the advent of eBooks, publishers and Content Controllers would like to prevent you from copying "their" works. This is understandable to a point, however they have gone way past acceptable. They would like to charge you pay-per-view. Just like the Girl Scouts, you might have to pay whenever you want to read, sing or view content they control. We don't think this is right.

Furthermore, there is a law called the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which impedes certain Fair Use rights. For instance, you may not be able to digitally highlight and copy text from these eBooks to use somewhere else. You may not digitally backup your eBook. You may not lend the eBook. You may not Print the eBook.
See for yourself.

Don't think this law is limited to the US. Similar laws along with outrageous Search and Seizure laws are also being enacted around the globe. Why are all these countries suddenly taking oddly similar approaches? WTO + WIPO = DMCA. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is asking for stronger laws. Countries are implementing them. People are losing rights.

eBooks have also been developed which allow "pay-per-view" of the eBook. This is funny because we figure any book worth reading is worth reading again -- others may not. Also, Microsoft and the Association of American Publishers have developed an "Internet Surveillance services" to monitor eBooks.

However, this is not the only concern. Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested for trafficking in software which could circumvent (disable) these restrictions. He found a flaw in Adobe eBooks and wrote software using this flaw to allow purchasers of eBooks to backup and otherwise remove these restictions. Princeton Professor Felten and his research team found a flaw in a Digital Music protection scheme and received threatening letters aimed at preventing the publication of this flaw. Another researcher, Niels Ferguson, found a flaw in another Digital Rights Management (DRM) package and can't publish for fear of arrest.

Within the computer science community it is a common practice to "Crack" or attempt to break the protection of a piece of software. Why? Well, just like crashing cars results in stronger, safer vehicles, cracking software results in stronger, safer software. As we have seen with the proliferation of viruses, worms, and crackers breaking into networks, some software is not very strong. The DMCA criminalizes certain research work done to create and develop stronger software. Your digital information is put at risk by this Law. Adobe attempted to protect Author's and Content Owners work using encryption. Dmitry Sklyarov found a flaw in that protection. Don't let the FBI replace good software and security practices. Besides, that's our tax money being used to enforce weak research, development and security.

Also, let no one tell you software security testing is not as important as crash testing vehicles. Simply refer them to Phil Zimmermann's site to see the letters from Human Rights groups, Albainian citizens, Missionaries in Guatemala, thanking him for PGP and the and the level of security and privacy it provides. One even explains how a PGP user spent 13 days in jail for not revealing the passphrase. Another related by Phil himself detailed the use of PGP to organize the evacuation of a couple thousand refugees in Central Europe.

So, next time you see some Girl Scouts selling cookies, buy a couple and think about how Girl Scout cookies relate to Computer Science. Besides, their songs make them happy and they have to pay for that right.