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Do You Have A License For Those Facts?
spikedvodka writes "Wired is reporting that the "Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act (HR3261)" is under consideration. It passed the house Judiciary Committee, and is on it's way to the Commerce Committee. This bill would allow companies to copyright databases. (Think phone-number databases) and goes directly against the idea that nobody can own a fact." (See this earlier posting.)
So all I have to do is "Download the Internet" as Comcast's ads claim, then I can OWN the internet! Woohoo, where's my multi-terebyte disk array!
Does /. have the legal right to talk about this bill? I mean, that fact might be copyrighted!
I can see it now. An office with 2 lines. The first to file you copyright and the second to file a lawsuit against someone for violating your new copyright.
Evolution or ID?
This is a terrible idea... and that's a fact.
(Please see my lawyers if you'd like to license this fact...)
all the phone numbers of employees of
1. credit card companies
2. free vacation offers
3. home mortage companies
so I can harass them back...
-Grump
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
(c)SoupGuru Enterprises. Any use other than that expressly granted by the copyright holder is forbidden.
What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
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Licenses to use any of the information on my copyrighted list are available now at very reasonable rates. Discounts are available for bulk users. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Neal Stephenson!
Sounds like Webster's is in for a big payday. Every word is now owned by them.
Rule #1 -- Politics always trumps technology.
"The law of unintended consequences in this case has the potential to be huge," Brodsky said.
Actually, I think the law of unintended consequences has been licensed and copyrighted to the Elect Ralph Nader Committee for quite some time now.
> "The sky is Blue."(C)
>
> (C) International Business Machines, Inc. 2004
"The Screen is Blue." (C)
(C) Microsoft Corporation
Now I am sad.
Darn... after I spent an hour arguing over a word last night while playing Scrabble, I find out the word may have been fake after all !
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."--Benjamin Franklin
The parent post contains "$cientology". Beware!
You mean "nucular" isn't a real word?
Tarnation.
kind of the /. for librarians...
Oh God... I can see it now...
All your books are belong to us!!
In Soviet Russia, shelves book you!!
Imagine a Boewulf of those!!
Norman Cook's Ode to Sl
You can't handle the licencing fees for the truth!
Sorry, but someone had to say it.
...this story was brought to you by the letters "F" and "U" and the number "2", they aren't kidding!!!
I call 2+2=5.
Double plus good, eh?
If I wanted easy I wouldnt be an engineer or a patriot.
If one can copyright a riff, assuming a range of ten physically possible frets can be held in a chord, on a bass guitar, you get 10^4 chords per fret range. 22 frets, so 13 different ranges of ten frets, so 13*10^4 possibly chords. Assuming you can copyright a riff with as few as 4 chords, you could copyright 13^4*10^16 chords, and then sue all bassists, because (together, now)...
All your bass are belong to us.
That's right people, from now on, when you install a default SQL Database (read: empty), you OWE me $1200 licensing fee's as I've patented the idea of having an "EMPTY" and/or "DEFAULT" database. Also I've patented any database named "TEST" or "DEV". Send your payments to me so I can get taxed 55% by my gov't.
I also plan on patenting the subject line "FIRST POST!!!" - BEWARE!
Thanks.
-Patent pending-
Mod +5 Drunk
All your code are belong to us!!
The SCO Group announced today that they have a copyrighted database of all of the keywords and library function names from every popular programming language. CEO Dar-el indicated that they will file a lawsuit against a prominent standards organization within 48 hours.