| March 16th 2006 is a sad day for France, where these pages are located. |
| A law called "DADVSI" (Droits d'Auteur et Droits Voisins dans la Société de l'Information, or authors' rights and neighbouring rights in an information society) has just been voted in. |
| One of the effects of DADVSI is to outlaw any and all software that will distribute media content without using DRM-style controls to ensure that the media is being sent to an end-user who has the right to access it. DADVSI outlaws the publication of software and information that would enable people to bypass the DRM, meaning that Free Open Source Software, of which the source code must be published, thus revealing the mechanisms that make it work (including the DRM), cannot be used for these ends. |
| Given the nature of several of the documents in this area of my site, I have had no option but to take them down in order to comply with DADVSI. |
| The pages are not, however, completely lost forever. An acquaintance in an area unencumbered with such political and legal ineptitude as is to be found in France has agreed to take over publication of these documents. |
| These howto pages will appear as and when they're transferred over to howto-pages.org. Please update your bookmarks accordingly. |
| Thank you for your patience while enduring this complete and utter stupidity. Also, many thanks to Howard for taking these pages over. |
| -- Godwin Stewart |