Sony to Publish Aibo Specifications

teambpsi writes: "According to this CNN news report... 'In addition to the new hardware, the company has also begun publishing details of Aibo's system architecture on the Internet in an attempt to get developers to work on independent software for Aibo and generate more interest in the products.' This from the same company that used the DMCA as reported here on slashdot last fall to shutdown one fan/hack site."

Comments

DMCA

[DarkZero]

This from the same company that used the DMCA as reported here on slashdot last fall to shutdown one fan/hack site."

Yeah, and they should be applauded for being Reformed Assholes. Instead, every article about them on every tech site includes a little disclaimer like this after it, much like the ones that follow Current Assholes like Senator Hollings ("This is the man that supposed --insert evil bill here--") or any of the other Slashdot enemies of the week.

We should be patting them on the back for reforming themselves, rather than pointing out their past failures every time they pop up in the news. We're not going to get anywhere with these companies if we push and push against them, but then keep pushing once they come over to our side.

reformed?????

[www.sorehands.com]

Are they really reformed? Or did they find lacking interest and think we may be able to develop interest in it for them by writting some neat stuff for it.

How do we know that they won't try to shut down someone doing something that they don't expect or like later?

Fool me once, shame on you....Fool me twice, shame on me.

Re:reformed?????

[GlassHeart]

Are they really reformed?

That makes no difference. What you need to understand is that the corporate interest is in maximum profit, while the consumer interest is in having the best product most cheaply. These are not fundamentally incompatible, but are also not necessarily compatible. If there's something you want a corporation to do (clean up oil slick, open source code, etc), show them how it is in their interest to do so.

How do we know that they won't try to shut down someone doing something that they don't expect or like later?

By assuming they will. Specifically, this means you should go download a copy of whatever Sony publishes, and keep it around in case they change their minds and yank it from their website.

Sony, or any other large corporation, is not a single entity. Managers and policies change all the time. Get used to it.

Re:reformed?????

[martyn s]

But if we're not going to treat them like real people, and not hold them accountable, and admit that they are purely profit-driven, and are only doing they see this might improve their situation, then you shouldn't then be like "oh, we should give them the benefit of the doubt" or some crap like that. You give "the benefit of the doubt" to real people, real people who can be held accountable. But you seem to throw accountability out the window when you say stuff like they're profit driven, so "true" reformation is impossible. So, therefore, let's stop pretending that we're going to hurt their feelings or something, because, as you're contending, they're only profit-driven and if their move will dredge up some profit, they will go forward, otherwise they won't.

Let's stop pretending that patting them on the back or ranking on them is actually going to make a difference. What do you think? That they come here and when they see our applause, they'll feel good inside and continue to do nice things? Like you said, they're profit driven corporations and our benefit of the doubt is not going to make a whit of a difference. Get with it.

I wonder why...

[evilpaul13]

Now they can just accuse anyone who releases software for it that they don't approve of of violating the DMCA and not fulfilling the restrictive EULA they place on the specs. Call me a pessimist, but history seems to be screaming that in my ear.