Not A Blog™

The streets were filled, yesterday, with maddened throngs protesting recent newspaper censorship. The paper against which the bulk of protests are levied is the Daily Intelligencer Gazette of Greenfield, Indiana. They ran an article discussing the ineffectual copy-right protection mechanism which has been put in place on printed works published by Cooper Press Ltd. Upon publication, they were approached by Cooper Press who insisted the article contains information detrimental to their patent. The Daily Intelligencer Gazette willfully censored all copies—which were promptly removed from the newsstands—and prohibited any mention of the Book Vault in their pages—including letters to the editor inquiring as to the whereabouts of the original article. Due to the fact that Cooper Press supplies the Daily Intelligencer Gazette with inks and papers, many believe that this prevented the newspaper from reporting a forthright critique of the mechanism.

The mechanism known as the Book Vault has had detractors since its debut some months previously. According to Cooper Press vice president Milliard Fenney, the Book Vault was a necessary step to protect its readership. However, due to the necessity of acquiring another device simply to read the books, its widespread adaptation has met with hostilities.

“It is true the Book Vault requires the purchase of the Foundation. But, once this has been acquired by the reader, it will continue to work with Cooper Books for years to come. In the process, the Cooper Press Book Vault will increase our readers enjoyment by an immeasurable amount.”

As many know, Cooper has begun releasing the entirety of their library with their patent pending Book Vault mechanism. Rather than an unadorned leather bound volume, the books from Cooper Press are being sold in a heavy iron box. In order to read the volume, one must also purchase the Foundation. The works in the box intermesh with the works in the Foundation. Provided with the mechanisms are two keys. The Foundation has its own key, without which it will refuse to allow the book to be opened. Every book, likewise, has its own key, without which it cannot be opened, even when placed in the Foundation. Together, however, the Foundation and its key permit the book to be opened with its key—and the contents can thus be read.

Milliard Fenney illuminates the need for such a device: “it came to our attention that many were passing books between hands, to be read by acquaintances. Yet these second- and third-hand readers never purchased the books themselves. This is dishonest. Imagine the havoc if all men owned a private printing press! These modern-day buccaneers would think nothing of reproducing a tome to be indistinguishable from the original, and pass that around in its steed. Our intention is only to prevent these acts before they can occur.”

But there is a significant number that finds the device cumbrous. Librarian Betty Primrose says, “It is troublesome to take a Cooper book to bed with me. The monstrosity required just to get at the text is unbearable.” She explained that she circumvents Cooper’s Book Vault mechanism by ripping out the pages of the book and reassembling them by hand.

Cooper Press has lobbied the United States Congress in order to make this act illegal. “The strength of the mechanism,” said VP Fenney, “Comes from it being intact. If those who purchase our wares are free to disassemble them as they see fit, there can be no justice for us and our authors.”

This is precisely what has been done with the Foundation’s key. Every key manufactured for every Foundation is equivalent, but the inner workings of the mechanism have heretofore been shrouded in secrecy. Machinist Harold Smythe was the one who derived the key necessary to bypass the Foundation altogether.

“What angers me is the extra cost incurred due to the purchasing of additional materials to ‘protect’ the book. I do not wish to have three pounds of iron for every tome; I only want the words contained therein. Still, I must pay for this with every book I buy. I endeavored to make life easier for myself by studying the works within the Book Vault that the books themselves may be freed from their shackles.”

“I came to the revelation that the meshing cogs activated by the Foundation’s key could be reproduced simply by cutting a key to insert into the back of the book’s box itself. Because all of Cooper’s Foundations use the same series of works, it will successfully unlock any of their books, without the Foundation needing to be present.”

In locksmithing parlance, the cuts are: 1-7-9-4-4-0-6. Anyone can take this series of numbers to a machinist—or, should they be industrious enough, they can file a key themselves—and have made a simple piece of metal which will circumvent the expensive patents of Cooper Press Ltd.

It was this which Cooper asked the Daily Intelligencer Gazette to remove from their pages. The newspaper complied, inciting its readers to take to the streets in protest.

“Our freedom of speech is a right granted by the Constitution,” said Samuel George, a participant in the rally. “That any corporation can sensor a newspaper over a series of digits is a terrible sign.”

The editor of Daily Intelligencer Gazette, Anthony Newton, upon hearing the protests issued a statement in his paper promising that further letters discussing the matter would not be held from publication. “Our readership have made it clear that the freedom of speech is foremost in their priorities, and we intend to honor that. If Cooper Press takes legal action against us, so be it.”