(From blogcritics.org)

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), in connection with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and several other groups, today announced the launch of the Digital Freedom Campaign. The stated goal is to kick start a grass roots effort to restore balance to copyright law, which they believe has swung too far in favor of protecting the interests of publishing agencies at the expense of consumers, creators, and manufacturers. The initial funding will come from the CEA, with the hopes of encouraging grass roots support as the advocacy effort gains momentum in its aggressive campaign.

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I am declaring war on copyright.

The corporate interests, which hold the majority of copyrights in our country, have distorted copyright beyond all constitutional recognition, and replaced it over the years with something that does little to “promote the progress of science and useful arts.” 

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One of the promises of the the next generation heavyweights is the community aspects and user content expansion that a broad network of gaming enthusiasts might provide.  Both the PS3 and the 360 have promised that we will have some great community integration into our gaming experiences in the next year and beyond. 

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An admitted Xbox 360 Fanboy, I’m still amazed at how much ammunition I can find after a cursory inspection of the web.  GamesIndustry.biz has a great interview posted from Jamie McDonald (SCE VP of Europe) containing several rather absurd responses to some non-too-softball questions.  It’s a very funny read.

The real question, though, is, "Are they fo’ real?"  I honestly can’t imagine such successful business people in the corporate world continually spewing such ridiculousness.  (Such absurdity has provided a large percentage of recent fuel for the truly hilariously-titled "CE-Oh no he didn’t!" series of articles over at Engadget)  I’ve been in the corporate world for 7 years of my adult life (in varying forms and levels), and people who say this crap generally don’t exist.  Much less head an entire division?  It just reeks of fake to me now and again.

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I picked up the diminutive but impressive Xbox Live Vision Camera last week, receiving it as birthday present in the mail from my good friend TygerFyr.  After plugging it in (properly), it lit up with a signature green ring of light around the lens and was immediately recognized by the 360.  The dashboard effects alone (although more than three would be fabulous…) are funky and fun, not to mention the intense joy of "video Uno".  A great value overall (even if I paid for it ; )

Somewhat disappointing was the lack of Totemball "out of the box".  Even more disappointing was finally getting to play Totemball, though…

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This week, the Blogcritics mailing list was abuzz with the issue of copyright infringement. Not the kind that only happens when kids use their grandparents’ computers to download the latest Black Eyed Peas tune; but the darker kind, namely: taking the work of an author, say, a talented Blogcritics contributor, and reprinting that work, under your own name, without proper attribution. 

This is a topic that is near and dear to the hearts of journalists, and as a result, one that doesn’t often get very balanced coverage. As writers, we believe that our creative work is sacred, and the United States, and International Law assures us that we retain certain rights in that work, including the rights to copy, alter, and distribute the work. In order to get published though, we often have to give up some of those rights, to let the websites, journals, and publications printing our work do their thing. 

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I have a few minutes at my "real job" to put up a post, so I figured I would send out a question or two to the masses:

What type of interactive, "worldly" features would you like to see with your console?

Perhaps:
1. – A calendar of upcoming events, demo rele
2. – Leave a note for someone else.
3. – Streaming media, anyone?

Do you think these features are going to make-or-break the next generation of gaming?