This morning I woke up and unlocked the back door to let the dogs out, then logged into my password-protected home computer, and entered a series of passwords to check news and banking, from the New York Times to TD Canada Trust.
To get to work as a television producer I then locked my house, unlocked the garage and my car. The car automatically locks at 20 kph and is pre-tuned to password-protected satellite radio where I listened to various authorized stations along the 407 toll highway (which tracks the vehicle via transponder signals that save money on tolls).
At work I used a card key to enter the garage, unlocked the main office, then the door to my personal office, and attached the combination lock to my notebook computer (it’s predecessor was stolen off the desk last year).
Signing in with a Windows password, I checked phone voicemail by entering a password while waiting for the computer to boot, then logged into the secure company network.
That’s over 15 physical and digital locks before 9:00am, without even thinking about it, let alone questioning it. Then I logged in with a password to a secure ftp site to review some CGI for one of our shows in production.
The fact is that we routinely accept the need to protect physical and intellectual property. And I don’t feel that my life is cramped, restricted or less creative by taking steps to ensure that my personal and corporate property is exclusively under my control.
So what’s all the fuss about protecting TV, film and music, all of which costs more to create than the assets I lock and unlock just to get to work on an average morning?
Stephen Ellis
August 24th, 2010
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