Slashdot Mirror


Slashback: Bnetd, Salmon, Towers

Slashback tonight with more on Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers, specifically), various ongoing court battles, the true color of the universe, and more. Read on for the details.

All I'm certain of is my true love's hair. CompaniaHill writes: "As previously reported on /., first they though it was turquoise. Then they found an error in their early calculations, and announced it was really beige. But doubts lingered, and color experts pointed out that an objective color as viewed from the theoretical blackness of space would appear different when viewed on Earth in typical daylight. So adjustments were made, and calculations were revised and rechecked by color scientists Michael Brill of McClendon Automation Inc. and Mark Fairchild of the Munsell Color Science Laboratories. And now, at last, Ivan Baldry and Karl Glazebrook, astronomers at Johns Hopkins University, using spectral data from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, have announced the final result: The universe is decidedly salmon. Really."

The milestones are getting closer together. Dare Obasanjo writes: "Xindice (http://xml.apache.org/xindice), the Apache native XML database has finally reached version 1.0. Xindice used to be called dbXML and was mentioned in my article on XML and databases."

Three From the Courts TheFrood writes: "It looks as though the battle between Blizzard and bnetd (as reported in previous stories here(1), here(2), and here(3))is heating up. Vivendi has sent another letter to the EFF, which has wasted no time responding."

ElitusPrime writes with an update in the strange case of Ken Hamidi, the Intel employee whose mass-mail to Intel employees brought charges of trespassing. Now the California Supreme Court may take another look at the case. Says ElitusPrime: "If this guy is put in jail, I can think of more then a few other spammers that need to go up the creek with him..."

In a very different case, pagan26 writes: "It seem that DMCA will have its day in court. With ElmcoSoft."

Well, at least you can trust their word, right? Masem writes: "According to MSNBC, the developers of the spyware program WinWhatWhere will no longer have their install program trample the bits of anti-spyware programs, after word broke that this behavior was occurring. However, no word has been made by a similar spyware program developed by SpectreSoft that does similar damage."

I will fork out to see this, happily. Pingsmoth writes "It looks like the faithful fans of Peter Jackson and Tolkien will be able to catch a glimpse of The Two Towers this Saturday. Lordoftherings.net is reporting, through a video of Peter Jackson, that a preview (read: not a trailer) of The Two Towers will be shown in theatres this Saturday, presumably attached to The Fellowship of the Ring. Maybe at the end? At any rate, it looks like I'll be seeing the film at least seven times now, and it's a good thing I got a morning shift tomorrow." For a more colorful description of this 4-minute tease, check out Ain't it Cool News' version.

9 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Bnet D dosn't exist by danny256 · · Score: 1, Informative

    They have completly disbanded, all the current development is being done by Warforge and to a lesser extent Warez-U.

  2. Email the media! by HanzoSan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Oreilly@foxnews.com

    tell them you hate DMCA and why

    --
    If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
  3. example of more DMCA uselessness by CoreDump · · Score: 5, Informative
    In this article, here's another stunning example of how the DMCA doesn't bring anything new to the table in terms of preventing piracy/copyright abuse.

    The man in question, pleading guilty under both Copyright law and the DMCA for illegally copying video tapes, faces the following sentances:

    • Copyright law: 60 years imprisonment and $3,000,000 fine.
    • DMCA: 5 year imprisonment and $500,000 fine.

    What was so lacking in the punishment for violating the copyright laws that the DMCA was needed?

    This and the Blizzard BNETD case show, IMHO, that the DMCA is nothing more than a legal weapon paid for the entertainment industry to chill any speech or action that they feel cuts into their profits. It does not impact the 'for-profit' pirates that actually cost the industry revenue, it tramples on the average consumer.

    Copying copyrighted video tapes was illegal before the DMCA. There is no need for an additional law like the DMCA to put "fear" into the pirates like this guy. They face stricter punishments for violating copyright laws than they do the DMCA. The DMCA just broadens the scope to include that so-called gray area that is the average consumer wanting to time-shift/space-shift their belongings, which happens to cut into the entertainment industries profits.

    Fuck the DMCA and Jack Valenti and Hillary Rosen.

    --

    ---
    Segmentation Fault ( core dumped )

  4. Email trespassing url by Blasphemy · · Score: 2, Informative
    The url for the story on CA's supreme court taking another look at the intel employee banned from emailing anyone at intel isn't quit right.

    The correct url is here.

  5. LOTR: TTT preview / trailer on Fri., *NOT* Sat. by binaryfeed · · Score: 5, Informative
    According to the cited LordOfTheRings.net, the preview / trailer will be shown as early as Friday, not Saturday as was reported above.

    That was close! I already have my tickets for my 5th screening tomorrow (Friday).

  6. Re:DMCA in action by Col.+Klink+(retired) · · Score: 5, Informative

    How is what bnetd doing OK in any way?

    Perhaps you should read EFF's response, and possibly even Title 17, Chapter 12 where it says (as referenced by the EFF letter):

    1201 (c) Other Rights, Etc., Not Affected.

    ... (3)

    Nothing in this section shall require that the design of, or design and selection of parts and components for, a consumer electronics, telecommunications, or computing product provide for a response to any particular technological measure, so long as such part or component, or the product in which such part or component is integrated, does not otherwise fall within the prohibitions of subsection (a)(2) or (b)(1).
    1201 (f) Reverse Engineering

    ... (3)

    The information acquired through the acts permitted under paragraph (1), and the means permitted under paragraph (2), may be made available to others if the person referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), as the case may be, provides such information or means solely for the purpose of enabling interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, and to the extent that doing so does not constitute infringement under this title or violate applicable law other than this section.
    --

    -- Don't Tase me, bro!

  7. Blizzard doesn't have a leg to stand on. by binarytoaster · · Score: 5, Informative

    Vivendi knows it, and the EFF knows it, and it's easily made obvious by this overwhelmingly clear statement:

    We have reviewed the arguments in your letter, and do not find them convincing. We continue to believe [that bnetd is] an infringement of VUG's copyrights. Those activities implicate a number of VUG's exclusive rights under copyright... etc etc.

    Their response is classic, and I love their lawyer.

    It would be more helpful in the future, however, if rather than summarily claiming that you believe that "the activities engaged in by www.bnetd.org" violate "a number" of your copyrights, you would state specifically what portions of the website and which particular files you believe are infringing, which of your copyrights you believe are infringed and how. We are also uncertain about the exact nature of the technological protection measure you believe has been circumvented...

    The CD-Key protection isn't really a "protection measure" per se. You can install the game without using a valid key, you can even play the single-player mode (well, there IS no SP mode in the beta, but you know what I mean) without a true key. Ergo, a circumvention has only occurred if I loaded a program that caused your official server to validate my fake key.

    Vivendi knows this, and that's why they're unclear about the "several copyrights" that were infringed. The copyrights were to the "for" method, the "if" statement, the "void" function type and the "main()" function, is the only thing I can see here...

    But I suppose I shouldn't joke about that, or we'll have some bright guy trying to patent them, eh?

    Bah. I find this highly amusing....

  8. Re:preview vs trailer by BenHmm · · Score: 2, Informative
    Not so.

    Trailers have always been shown before the film: Origins of the word trailer says:
    To understand this, you have to harken back to the days when movies were shown continuously in theaters and audiences were allowed to sit through multiple showings of the same movie--the start times were published, and if you came in late you simply sat through the next showing until you came to the point "where you came in." This is not that long ago--I remember when this used to be the practice.

    The coming attractions reel would be spliced onto the end of the last reel of the movie, hence trailer. From the perspective of the audience member who arrived on time or a little early, the coming attractions would appear before the feature, even though technically it was at the end.


    "Preview" just refers to the fact that it is a "preview" of a forthcoming movie. Grammatically, this is more correct, or else the "preview of The Two Towers" would actually be the "preview of The F of R, which shows clips from TTT."
  9. LotR - NOT SO FAST!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Hey all, it seems there's a mistake in this article! Here it says that it's on FRIDAY!! Hope you guys catch this before you go on Saturday!! :-P