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World Intellectual Property Day

Dotnaught writes "The Business Software Alliance wants everyone to know that today is World Intellectual Property Day, 'an initiative to educate young people about how intellectual property rights foster innovation, creativity and economic opportunity.' To mark the occasion, CopyNight, a monthly gathering of people interested in restoring balance in copyright law, is hosting a get-together tonight in various cities throughout the U.S."

68 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. World Intellectual Property Day by nebaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmmm....
    WIPD (whipped).

    Sounds about right.

    Not even subtle.

    Oh well.

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
    1. Re:World Intellectual Property Day by cookie_cutter · · Score: 4, Funny

      and it's from the BS alliance ...

    2. Re:World Intellectual Property Day by AdmiralWeirdbeard · · Score: 2, Funny

      did I miss something?

      did they seriously make it WIPD today? ... BS alliance...

      is it april fools day again? whats going on?

      on a tangent... how do you create a World Whatever Day? is there some sort of adjudicating body that approves these days, or is it entirely ad hoc?
      Cause if it is... I declare tomorrow World Fling Feces at Bill Gates and Pirate the Living Shit out of Microsoft Day. Not a catchy Acronym, but i think with everybody's cooperation, we can make WFFBGPLSM Day a roaring success.

      --
      Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
  2. Update!! by peculiarmethod · · Score: 4, Funny

    It was just recently reported that 6 of those cities events were cancelled by an injunction filed by national porn chain, Copy Night.

    --
    ** "It's not my job to stand between the people talking to me, and the ones listening to me." -- Pego the Jerk
  3. Examples? by Chemisor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, who wants to be the first to give us a list of all those wonderful inventions that would have never been invented if it wasn't for the copyright law?

    1. Re:Examples? by Mr+Ambersand · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'll take a stab at this...
      GCC
      BASH
      GNU/HURD
      Linux
      Minix

      Those are a few of the things which would not have been invented had it not been for copyright law and the restrictions surrounding the use and distribution of UNIX.

      --
      "Your admirers in the street
      Got to hoot and stamp their feet
      in the heat from your physique" -King Crimson
    2. Re:Examples? by McGiraf · · Score: 3, Funny

      SCO Unix sagas ....

    3. Re:Examples? by MrAnnoyanceToYou · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The amusing thing is that there is a huge list of inventions that are reliant upon both. Ex: the modern RAM module.

      Noone would have put the funds into designing it if they hadn't had the ability to patent the thing. Once they developed it, they patented it. This is just fine with me. However, what's really neato is that all these other companies decided they would reverse engineer / one up them, and therefore a year or two later have faster chips. Works all good.

      The real problem I have with patents / copyrights is more in the software and artistic industries. Once you have a creative community that is farmed like today's music and movies are, your creative community is, well, a victim rather than a beneficiary. Everyone feels as if they depend upon making it big, and therefore supports the idea that if you 'make it big' you should still 'own' all the 'content' you have produced for your entire life. This seems fair, but more and more artists don't own this content.

      When it comes to software, people are trying to patent / copyright basic interface. There's often not much new in the interfaces / systems being patented except the involvement of lawyers. This is lame.

      But there still needs to be room somewhere for people / companies to create and have a window of profit based upon this creation if it is useful enough that people will pay for it. Without that, we wouldn't have many of our modern items. Think Bell Labs ran on sheer good will? Just because a few knowledge-producers have been world-class jerks doesn't mean the system is COMPLETELY broken.

    4. Re:Examples? by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Patents protect inventions (and other assorted brain farts that made it past the patent office screening procedure), copyright protects creative works.

      Anyway, do you think companies like IBM would be so enthusiastic in their research into new technologies, if any competitor were allowed to just sit back and copy IBMs methods as soon as they hit the market? In such a patent-free market, those doing the research would actually be at a disadvantage. They'd be first to market, sure, but their competition would not have to recoup any investment in research, which can be substantial.

      Similarly, do you think it's right that a publisher in Russia can just bang out copies of O'Reilly books, without a penny of the profits going to the authors or original publisher? Copyrights and patents exist for a good reason, even though we have let certain people get away with patenting things that should never have been granted one. On the other hand, I think copyright law works quite well and fairly.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    5. Re:Examples? by Mr+Ambersand · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Re: minix
      I deliberately chose that example not because it's Free Software but it was still created in response to the restricted nature of the UNIX source code.

      Andy needed something to base his class on, copyright law kept him from being able to use UNIX, so he wrote Minix. The license he distributed it under (which was a result of the needs of his publisher, if I remember right) is neither here nor there to the point I was making.

      --
      "Your admirers in the street
      Got to hoot and stamp their feet
      in the heat from your physique" -King Crimson
    6. Re:Examples? by MushMouth · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I am a fan of IP as well. that last line of your post I take issue with. Every day patents expire, even software patents, however, here in the US copyrights have not expired in years, and it is quite likely no copyrights ever will.

    7. Re:Examples? by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, you are quite right. I too am not a big fan of these eternal or hereditary copyrights.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    8. Re:Examples? by Mr+Ambersand · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'd be surprised if he did beg to differ. Without copyright law, it would not have been necessary to re-create Unix and the Unix infrastruction (including the C compiler).

      --
      "Your admirers in the street
      Got to hoot and stamp their feet
      in the heat from your physique" -King Crimson
    9. Re:Examples? by muonman · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think you have just given the World's Best Reason for eliminating copyright.

      --
      Anything NOT worth doing is NOT worth doing well...
    10. Re:Examples? by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Anyway, do you think companies like IBM would be so enthusiastic in their research into new technologies, if any competitor were allowed to just sit back and copy IBMs methods as soon as they hit the market? In such a patent-free market, those doing the research would actually be at a disadvantage. They'd be first to market, sure, but their competition would not have to recoup any investment in research, which can be substantial.

      Yes, I think they would be. I think that a great deal of the stuff they get patents on would be worth working on even without a patent. And there are research costs involved in competing, since without patents there isn't as much disclosure either.

      Patents serve as an incentive to get people to invent when they otherwise would not. If they would anyway -- as is the case for probably the vast majority of software patents -- then it's a waste of public resources to grant a patent.

      Plus, invention isn't the end-all be-all of patents. You only want to provide the minimal possible incentive. This is because the public is just as interested in having a public domain as it is in having new inventions. Inventions do the most good when anyone can use them for free. Restricting freedom is merely how we pay to get them created -- it's not a goal, it's an unfortunate compromise that should be carefully reexamined lest we over-incentivize.

      Similarly, do you think it's right that a publisher in Russia can just bang out copies of O'Reilly books, without a penny of the profits going to the authors or original publisher?

      Doesn't bother me. Would O'Reilly have written those books if there were a wall around Russia and no Russian could possibly buy them? I bet they would. In that case, they don't need the incentive of the Russian market.

      Plus, it's for the Russians to decide. If they want to encourage creation, they'll do so. If they want to encourage competition, they'll do that. They are the best judges of their own best interests. Whatever they decide, I support their right to pick for themselves. We shouldn't lecture them. We too should pick what we think is best.

      If our system is really all it's cracked up to be, it will get adopted elsewhere on its own merits; because it serves the best interests of other countries. If not, then maybe we should rethink what we're doing.

      Certainly I'm against copyright treaties, patent treaties, etc. I think that the whole of international copyright should be 1) national treatment, 2) formalities are okay, but shouldn't be such that authors are forced to choose between two mutually incompatable countries.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    11. Re:Examples? by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 2

      Erm, WHAT?

      These utilities of course wouldn't have to be created if not for the _restrictive_ nature of Intellectual property in the software industry! It's like saying that everyone who uses electricity produced from fission driven power plants should thank the 1930-1940's nazi germany for starting WWII because it propelled the inventions surrounding atomic energy (yes, the example is deliberately harsh).

      If not the restrictive nature of the copyright law, those utilities wouldn't have been created in the first place because everyone would have been working on the original ones, saving the hassle of duplicating them thus your examples are examples where copyright law/intellectual property stiffled innovation, not helped it. Your examples show the perfect case of sociological reaction to unnatural barriers, but in no case can those barriers be titled something that helpes innovation.

      --
      It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
      Be yourself no matter what they say
  4. Cool! by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Funny

    CopyNight, a monthly gathering of people interested in restoring balance in copyright law, is hosting a get-together tonight in various cities throughout the U.S.
    Cool! Does that get-together include a CD/DVD swap session?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  5. These guys are getting worse by LittleLebowskiUrbanA · · Score: 4, Interesting

    has anyone here seen the online ads where they ask if you want to get back your old employer by reporting them to the BSA?

    1. Re:These guys are getting worse by bersl2 · · Score: 2
    2. Re:These guys are getting worse by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bah - just accuse them of being gay or an atheist - the BSA will deal with them in no time.

      No, you're thinking of the Republicans.

      --
      Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
    3. Re:These guys are getting worse by LittleLebowskiUrbanA · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've seen the link but can't find it right now. Here's an old article on it.

  6. Copyright is outdated by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Copyright was intended as a way of protecting the rights of a person to their works. That is fine for something like a book etc.

    Software, particularly OSS, is very different. Much of the value in software is derived from all the testing etc that is done to prove the software and flush out the bugs. I have heard of this being compared to the "stone soup" story. Throw out any (sometimes crappy) software and let people give you feedback. Copyright only protects the interests of the authors - not of those who do all the testing etc. Often the value added by the testers etc is many times the value added by the original authors.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:Copyright is outdated by uberdave · · Score: 2, Funny

      Real programmers have sixteen fingers.

      Real programmers have 0x10 fingers.

    2. Re:Copyright is outdated by Dav3K · · Score: 3, Insightful

      and as such Copywrite WAS fine, so long as the author was alive. Why the hell Disney needs copywrite on Mickey Mouse 70+ years after he is dead is beyond me.

      It's no longer fine for things like a book, etc. The whole system has been perverted by corporate interests and needs an overhaul.

    3. Re:Copyright is outdated by Noksagt · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Copyright was intended as a way of protecting the rights of a person to their works. That is fine for something like a book etc.
      Modern copyright probably starts with the Statute of Anne. It lasted 14 years, with an option to renew for another 14 years. Content consumers were granted freedom from publishers to do with their purchases as they wanted, but content creators were given the right to say who could publish (or republish) their works when, where, and how. This exclusive right was strong incentive to be a content creator. Society likes creation, but creation is costlier and possibly less profitable than copying. So it was a good thing.
      Software, particularly OSS, is very different.
      No. We also need to promote creation of software & granting creators the right to decide how their works might be copied is a still-used incentive. Granting consumer rights would not be enough.

      What is harmful is all of the stuff that has been added onto copyright law. With the DMCA, content consumers no longer can do whatever they want with their purchases! They've taken away explicit consumer rights in favor of the publishers. Also, no longer does a work pass into the public domain after 28 years, but is tied up in a vitually un-ending term which eclipses the conceivable lifetimes of the creators.

      I do believe that the economic lifetime of an individual piece of software is shorter than the books, plays, and music which the Statute of Anne protected. The rate of improvement is also much quicker. So an even shorter lifetime would make sense.

      However, I wouldn't say that copyrights are "outdated." Rather they are abused by some corporations/lobbyists.
    4. Re:Copyright is outdated by haeger · · Score: 2, Funny
      Mickey Mouse is dead? Please say it aint so!

      .haeger

      --
      You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -- Harlan Ellison
  7. BSA ? by Rodness · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The BSA.... aren't they the ones that terrorize small businesses and threaten to audit their software licenses? (And without a glimmer of a search warrant, either.)

    1. Re:BSA ? by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 2, Funny

      They did it to my company one time and let me tell you, it's no picnic. But I got revenge by having Michael Jackson pay a surprise visit during one of their camping trips.

    2. Re:BSA ? by rbochan · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My chiropractor found out about the BSA the hard way.
      He had 2... count 'em 2, machines in his office, both running Win2k, Microsoft Office, and some accounting and scheduling software. He got a nice little letter from the BSA saying they wanted to do an audit.
      He had no idea where his license info was, it's just him and his wife running a 2-exam-room office and he called me in a panic. I had told him about the Ernie Ball Case previously - he was all sorts of freaked out. Short of shelling out hundreds of dollars for new licenses, he was screwed. Granted, Ernie Ball is a larger company that might be able to suck it up, but it could mean financial ruin for a husband & wife operation.
      He's now happily running Debian and OpenOffice on both machines. He had been planning on buying an updated version of his accounting/scheduling software regardless, and we found that it runs perfectly under wine.
      He won't be hearing from the BSA again any time soon.

      --
      ...Rob
      The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
  8. Celibrate by 9mm+Censor · · Score: 4, Funny

    I Celibrated by downloading some music and a couple movies.

    *Cheers*

  9. Software Freedom Day by HenrikOxUK · · Score: 4, Funny

    Amazing! This is almost exactly the opposite of Software Freedom Day!

    1. Re:Software Freedom Day by uberdave · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, hey! Any excuse to party, you know.

  10. CopyNight by bailster · · Score: 5, Funny

    Strange, I thought "CopyNight" referred to the legendary obscene things people do on the Xerox after returning drunk from the office Xmas party...

    --
    ...
  11. Economic opportunity maybe... by Artax · · Score: 2, Insightful
    but innovation and creativity?? Since when does ownership of ideas make people more innovative?

    The far more creative method of human thinking is to express ideas to as many people as possible and have those people alter and improve upon the original. One person sitting in a box alone will come up with boring ideas (unless they are crazy).

    --
    Don't mod me up.
    1. Re:Economic opportunity maybe... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2, Insightful
      but innovation and creativity?? Since when does ownership of ideas make people more innovative?
      Ownership of ideas encourages people to invest into research or creating an original work. Research can be a costly undertaking, and even an activity like writing a book requires the writer to invest a great deal of his time. Would a writer make that investment if he knew that anyone at all would be free to copy his work without compensation? Would companies do any research or keep the results of their research a secret, instead of publishing and licensing it?
      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Economic opportunity maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Of course the writer bloody would, they are writing for the love of it, otherwise they would get a job counting beans or something.

      Why is it so hard for captialist pig dogs to grasp the simple concept that money != motivation, the accumulation of wealth is not the purpose of life.

      Writers write as they have a story they want to share with others.

      Companies would have to do research, or they wouldn't have anything to sell to keep them going. or do you think that when this happens now they should be able to make money by making up false legal accusations, ala SCO ?

      Creativity has bugger all to do with money.

    3. Re:Economic opportunity maybe... by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, copyright is about the public interest, it's just being perverted out of greed and idiotic romantic notions about being an author.

      I don't think that it's all that beneficial now, but I do think that it's generally possible for it to beneficial to the public if done right.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
  12. I celebrated by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 5, Interesting

    By signing up with allofmp3.com. Wish I had done it sooner, it's absolutely fantastic.

    --
    Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
    1. Re:I celebrated by natrius · · Score: 2, Informative

      The whole point of paying for music when you could get it off P2P networks is to support an artist whose work you enjoy. If you buy music from allofmp3.com, none of that money goes to the artists. If you want to support artists without getting DRM-laden music, then buy CDs. If you really don't care about the artists and just like how convenient allofmp3.com is, then by means, continue. Making money off of other people's creative works without compensating them is under plain copyright infringement on my moral ladder.

  13. HEY, WAIT! by lottameez · · Score: 5, Funny

    World Intellectual Property Day Was My Idea!

    --
    Yeah? Well I think you're overrated too.
  14. Yay! by syousef · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let's celebrate!

    There's so much to celebrate.

    Laws that allow others to lock their ideas away so no one can use them.

    Laws that allow organised price fixing.

    Laws that allow people to own ideas that should belong to everyone. Everything down to your own DNA has some form of IP on it.

    Rejoice world.

    Gimme a break!

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    1. Re:Yay! by Dan+Up+Baby · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Laws that allow creators to benefit from their works.

      Laws that mean companies must innovate to succeed.

      Laws that allow people to own ideas that are the result of their time.

      Laws that incite people to go over the top at Drudge-esque lengths by claiming that somebody's going to copyright your DNA.

      Okay, well, I like the first three things.

    2. Re:Yay! by RagingR2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But it doesn't profit me for creators to benefit from their works. In fact, that benefit probably derives from me, so in fact it's harmful. How can you justify harming me so?

      This is complete nonsense. Anyone who produces something is allowed to benefit from it. How is producing software any different? If you considering paying for stuff you use harmful, then maybe you shouldn't buy anything from now on... at all. But if you decide to keep buying stuff, be so kind to explain why paying for software is more harmful than paying for other things. The only difference is that with software you CAN use it without paying for it. But is that the only criterion? How can you be so self centered?

      Innovation is good, but refinement and commoditizing are also good. It's great to invent the first light bulb, but light bulbs are better when they last longer, are very inexpensive, are very cheap, and can be had anywhere or made by anyone. Innovation alone isn't enough, and so we must avoid encouraging it at the expense of all else.

      I think you're getting carried away. How is innovation encouraged at the expense of "everything" else? The one who invented the first light bulb probably didn't want people running in and out of the factory either. Of course, people were free to buy a light bulb in the store, study it closely and make a competing product. In your analogy maintaining ownership of intellectual property would mean that 25 years later there'd still only be 1 producer of light bulbs? Come one... the world doesn't work that way man. People can have the right to benefit from their own works and be stimulated to innovate even further without the loss of commodities you are talking about. Ideas will spread anyway as they have done in the past when there were copyright laws.

      why should we allow people to own an idea at all? Can you name an example of when we have done so? (n.b. inventions are not ideas; they're more refined and are much rarer)

      You want a reason why people should be able to own their intelligent work? Because some innovation requires a lot of money. Without the safety of returned investments, some innovations won't occur. We all like innovation don't we? Well, property of ideas is a great motivation to come up with one. I think you can think of plenty of examples both in the software market and in other markets.

    3. Re:Yay! by Dan+Up+Baby · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But it doesn't profit me for creators to benefit from their works. In fact, that benefit probably derives from me, so in fact it's harmful. How can you justify harming me so?

      It's not harming you, you're not entitled to their work. That's like saying Bill Gates is harming you by not letting you crash at his mansion(s). When George Lucas owning the rights to Star Wars shivs your parents, let me know and we'll work this out.

      Innovation is good, but refinement and commoditizing are also good. It's great to invent the first light bulb, but light bulbs are better when they last longer, are very inexpensive, are very cheap, and can be had anywhere or made by anyone. Innovation alone isn't enough, and so we must avoid encouraging it at the expense of all else.

      I'd argue that a better lightbulb is an innovation, too. Then you sell it, and the original lightbulb owner has to justify purchasing his product or fall under. He can make it cheaper--helping the consumer--or he can make it better--also helping the consumer. Remember, patents are granted for refinements of inventions, too.

      But that merely rewards people for spending time. If I spent a lot of time inventing the wheel, should I get to own the idea and charge you for driving to work? In fact, why should we allow people to own an idea at all? Can you name an example of when we have done so? (n.b. inventions are not ideas; they're more refined and are much rarer)

      By ideas I meant the typical intellectual properties; books, movies, music, etc.

    4. Re:Yay! by Trepalium · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Laws that allow creators to benefit from their works.
      A useful means for expanding the state of art and science.
      Laws that mean companies must innovate to succeed.
      Except when the protections and terms get longer and longer that companies can sit back and simply collect rent on their old creations. Reasonable limited terms are useful to ensure that this doesn't become the norm. As for the people who want copyrights to last so long that they can 'provide for the authors dependants', I don't know about you, but I have to work, if I want to eat.
      Laws that allow people to own ideas that are the result of their time.
      As long as those ideas must be renewed and expanded through market forces over time rather than just collecting monopoly rent in perpetuity.
      --
      I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
  15. A perfect judo move by Infonaut · · Score: 2
    I've got a feeling this is going to be like a lot of those Klan marches, where about 50 idiots in white sheets show up, and 4,000 demonstrators are there to greet them.

    WIPD is a protest-magnet, and the CopyNight people have simply used WIPD's big-money marketing of the event against them. It will be interesting to see if WIPD is "quietly" discontinued next year.

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  16. Wow! by ta+bu+shi+da+yu · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can we also have a "jail BSA executive day" as well?

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  17. And after the announcement...... by mangus_angus · · Score: 2, Funny

    32 different companies filed law suites stating that this was infact a violation of something they had patented earlier.

  18. How About A Libre Software Day? by Goo.cc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Personally, I would love to see a worldwide Libre (Free) Software Developer Appreciation day. The authors of free software have given all of us so much, that some thanks and recognition would seem to be the least we could do for them.

    1. Re:How About A Libre Software Day? by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sounds fine and dandy, until you realize that the general population only thinks of "libre" as a style of body piercing through one's lower lip.

      --
      Moderator hint: a comment is neither "Flamebait" nor "Troll" if it is true.
  19. Timing is crucial. by Foktip · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Notice how they made it DURING EXAMS?

    That way, all those free-spirited, pirates will be too busy studying their asses off to give a hoot about it. "intellectual property day". LOL.

  20. Original Copyright by daigu · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You mean all that innovation that comes from 1-Click software patents, the Happy Birthday song, Winnie the Pooh, etc.

    If you look at the Constitution, copyright covers: "[o]nly the writings and discoveries of authors and inventors...and then only to the end of promoting science and the useful arts."

    Original ideas should not become commodities that are transferred to purchasers and assignees - which is the problem with all the examples above.

  21. But of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We already have a World Cancer Day and a World AIDS day, why shouldn't we have a World Intellectual Property Day too? I'd like to give my support to all the victims of Intellectual Property and I'm sure a lot of other people would too.

  22. Language change please by cookie_cutter · · Score: 2, Interesting
    We'll never be able to deny IP rights as long as we call them rights. After all, denying someone their rights is wrong by definition.

    We have to recognize, and incorporate into our dialogue, that these concepts are better termed IP conventions; ie, things which are adopted because they are convenient in practice.

    Only then will we be able to cogently argue against them when they cease to be convenient for the public as a whole, and decide how to adjust them to maximize their convenience.

  23. Fish by junkmail · · Score: 3, Funny

    Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. License a man to fish using your technology and you eat for the rest of his life.

  24. Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along. by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2, Informative
    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  25. Classic.. by __int64 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "We must continue our shared public-private efforts to deter piracy and promote intellectual property rights in every corner of the globe. Our children's ability to learn, create and innovate must be protected now and in the decades ahead."

    A classic maneuver; stating two unrelated topics in the same paragraph deceiving lay readers into drawing nonexistent conclusions between them. This is especially prevalent with statistics, where correlations between two data sets are often shown (which do exist), but where any actual connection between the two is purely happenstance. For example: "After using product X for 2 weeks Rob's weight dropped 25 pounds." At first glance Rob's use of product X and his weight seem to be related, but their not. The real reason for his weight drop was he stopped having his hourly burrito during that time period.

    - Piracy and children have nothing in common, and this man's an asshole for even implying such a connection exists.

  26. Re:Remember when copyrights were 17 years? by crow23 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I think you are confusing patent terms and copyright terms.

    Patent term in the United States used to be 17 years from the date of issue, now it's 20 years from the date of filing.

    Copyright term in the U.S. was originally 14, extendable for another 14. Subsequent developments have lengthened the term to what it is today.

    See this website for the history of copyright http://arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/timeline.html

  27. Did you catch the text at the bottom? by mikeophile · · Score: 4, Interesting

    P.S.: apologies for the very US-centric map which makes Toronto appear not to be on dry land - I'd welcome pointers to any usable (public domain or Creative Commons) maps that include Canada. - David

    What a surprise, they don't want to pay for intellectual property either.

  28. GNU/Hurd by commodoresloat · · Score: 4, Funny
    There is no stable release (but it is still under rapid development).

    Interesting. Please share your definition of "rapid" with the rest of us.

    1. Re:GNU/Hurd by Noksagt · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Interesting. Please share your definition of "rapid" with the rest of us.
      LOL. Perhaps "rapid" is an exageration. But tens of commits a month is a huge improvement over what was happening the second half of 2003...
    2. Re:GNU/Hurd by suitepotato · · Score: 2, Funny

      Rapid, *nix defintion: Any timeframe shorter than a Debian stable release.

      --
      If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
  29. A Bitter Protest Against Copyrights by argoff · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well I for one intend to celebrate by reposting this ....

    A Bitter Protest Against Copyrights

    If they said there was no incentive to do good things unless the government could choose your religion ... or they said there is no incentive to grow food, unless farmers could rip up your garden ... most people would see these as the awful values that they are. But if they say that there is no incentive to make beneficial or creative works without the power to restrict what people copy (copyrights), then all too many people just take it on faith. They don't even question it, as if incentive makes rights, as if society would fall apart without them. But just as much of the Renaissance happened without copyrights so should the information age.

    Calling copyrights "intellectual property" is intellectually dishonest. The moral and historical foundation of property derives from mutual respect and the fact that not everybody can posses something at the same time. The foundation of copyrights derives from kings who granted publishers monopolies in return for not publishing bad things about the monarchy. Copyrights are about control, censorship, and not a free market property. In fact, they cheapen property rights by treating things that have natural limits in supply such as food, shelter, and medicine like information that does not.

    Worse, is how people who copy are slandered with names such as "thief" and "pirate", as if copying was akin to boarding a ship and murdering people. They are even accused of stealing food out of the mouths of starving artists. Yet these verbal assaults hide a cold and calculated lie, the one that says "copyrights benefit creative people". The truth is that for every artist or writer that has made it "big", there are unmentioned thousands whom copyrights haven't helped a bit, hindered, or even destroyed. Some are even barred or sued from sharing their own creations in public, while others die with the world never truly knowing their artistic genius as the mass media drowns them out. Most creators are far better off sharing and distributing their creations freely to make a reputation for themselves. Copyrights not only cause them to be drowned out in a sea of hype, but do so deceptively.

    However, these aren't the only problems related to copyrights. They are just a sample of many that are constantly blown off, glossed over, or ignored. Like the failures of Hollywood culture, the failures of big media to offer quality material, the failures of the market to offer competitively priced books for college students while tabloids are dirt cheap, and massive anti-trust behavior in the software industry to name a few. Their hypocritical pleas like, "how will we make money without copyrights?" is like a mobster asking "how will I make money with out victims to extort?"

    The burdens of imposing copyrights might have been bearable a quarter century ago when the biggest issue was copy machines. But today in the information age there is no technical distinction between copyright content and free speech content. Information is so easy to copy and manipulate, there can be no "middle ground". Our society must make a choice: Our communications will either have to be monitored or free, our privacy will either have to intruded or protected. Our speech, writing, and free expression will either have to be abridged or unabridged. Any institution that has the power to control one, must have the power to control all. Copyrights are like a vine that will never stop growing to choke off our freedoms until we cut it off at the root!

    Consider parallels to other periods of transition like the industrial revolution:

    History teaches that during the 1800's there were many people who believed that the entire meaning and purpose of the industrial revolution was to leverage inventions like the cotton gin to expand their plantations for unlimited growth and profit. Ironically just the opposite was

    1. Re:A Bitter Protest Against Copyrights by RagingR2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If they said there was no incentive to do good things unless the government could choose your religion ... or they said there is no incentive to grow food, unless farmers could rip up your garden ... most people would see these as the awful values that they are. But if they say that there is no incentive to make beneficial or creative works without the power to restrict what people copy (copyrights), then all too many people just take it on faith. They don't even question it, as if incentive makes rights, as if society would fall apart without them.

      This is a very strange comparison really. In the first case it's quite logical that people would protest; after all something important gets taken from you namely your potatoes or your freedom of religion (excuse me for the hilarity but they were YOUR examples). In the second case, all that is harmed is the right to own everything, even that what belongs to others. Since when is that a basic human right?

      But just as much of the Renaissance happened without copyrights so should the information age.

      This comparison is even stranger. If you don't see the essential difference then let me explain. In the information age, large groups of society depend on selling copyrighted material for their living, such as music, movies and software. In the period of Renaissance, there weren't. I love all your utopian idea's about absolute freedom of speech and everything being owned by the community instead of individuals, but are *you* gonna feed all those people that lose their jobs?

      The truth is that for every artist or writer that has made it "big", there are unmentioned thousands whom copyrights haven't helped a bit, hindered, or even destroyed. Some are even barred or sued from sharing their own creations in public, while others die with the world never truly knowing their artistic genius as the mass media drowns them out. Most creators are far better off sharing and distributing their creations freely to make a reputation for themselves.

      Yeah, and there are probably even more who make a living *thanks to* copyrights. Where do you get all these vaguely statistic statements? I'd like to see some figures here. And by claiming that creators are better of sharing everything for free, I understand that you yourself aren't depending on it for a living?

      You have some nice utopian ideas man. But I'm affraid it's never gonna work out. Collective property has been tried before and it didn't work... people got lazy because there was no motivation. Besides, I really wonder how you want to make all this happen without ridding huge groups of people of their daily source of income.

    2. Re:A Bitter Protest Against Copyrights by fearofcarpet · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...In my humple opinion, only then can society reap the benefits the information age has to offer.

      Uhm, would you settle for better limits on copyright laws? If I understand correctly, you want to toss IP laws out the window because of draconian measures like the DMCA. That is sort of the definition of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I mean, patents, copyrights, trade secrets and the like are meant to allow people to protect their IP for a short time before it becomes public property. In my line of work, I'm basically paid for my ideas and I think I have a right to make a living at it, which wouldn't be possible if I weren't able to protect my ideas from being spun-off after I do all the hard work (too bad I can't get paid for run-on sentances and poor spelling).

      Let's say we had no IP laws. In our capitalist society there would be an entire industry created around snatching up the work of others and profiting on it. Imagine a company that scours the country for inventions that are just about to make it to market - but have no IP protection. They then swoop in at the last minute and bring the product to market, while I've invested all this capital inventing, testing, streamlining, etc. The same applies to copyrights... One could wander around compiling hit-songs by simply recording live performances and selling them before the artist can even make enough money to buy a CD burner... Moreover the level of secrecy that would have to be maintained in order to prevent the poaching of your ideas would stiffle progress and creativitiy as it would rob us of the right to "stand on the shoulders of giants" as it were.

      Now in the real world, copyright laws have gone too far. Companies do wander around finding the next greatest hit, but they sign artists into shit-end-of-the-stick contracts (sometimes going as far as "purchasing" the IP from the artist), lobby the government to extend copyrights indefinitely, and sue people who don't adhere to their square-peg-in-a-round-hole business model. Disney has managed to extend the copyright on Mickey for how long..? Drug companies are able to weasle out of patent restrictions through a myriad of poorly thought out laws (often drafted by the very lobbiest that represent said drug companies) and when that doesn't work they just ban re-importation from countries that don't respect those poorly written laws.

      Look at it this way; I should have the right to make a career out of creating things. If those thigns happen to be ideas, I should still be able to make a living at it. What if, at the end of the month, everyone's paychecks were dropped from an airplane and the first person to the bank had the right to cash them? Would that be fair?

      --
      Actually, I wrote my thesis on life experience.
  30. More like AllOfPayPal by tepples · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you buy music from allofmp3.com, none of that money goes to the artists.

    That's why you follow up by tipping the artist directly at allofpaypal.com, short-circuiting the vulture-capitalist labels.

  31. Re:Nothing for you to see here. Please move along. by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2, Informative

    Turk - in this instance - is used as a generic term for Musulman or Moslem. This was a common usage from the 14th through 18th centuries. It is not nominative of the Turkish nation-state, arising in the late Ottoman times, nor does it refer to the dominant ethnic population of Anatolia.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  32. Future World, vigorously protesting its demise. by newpath4comVersion2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    On the surface David, it looks like you're someone who wants their hands on everything for free. If you want to replace this system -or any system of ANYTHING- you're going to have to replace it with something better. Maybe it's true what you say that the copyright system has its roots in evil but that isn't good enough. WHY?! Because man we don't live in the Past. We're in the Here, the Now. My first copyright I was real poor. I wrote a small instructional booklet that I would later market in the National Enquirer Classifieds. My wife & I were separated. Her and my 2 kids lived with her Mom. I talked her out of her share of our income tax return that year to pay a professional printer close to $400.00 to help me in the pre-print re-write and printing of several hundred initial booklets. The first one off his press, WOW, I was really proud of it. And we walked over to the Mall in Richmond VA to get some film for his camera to take pictures of me to use in the marketing as I needed. I was hopeful of getting my family back together on its feet. I showed my booklet to the saleslady. WOW. She liked it so much she asked to show it upstairs, or at least that's what I THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO DO. The b^tch took my booklet to the upstairs COPIER and brought it back... Since then I've become an inventor. I've gotten my websites copyrighted mostly, but not for Copyright protection as I realize that is an illusion. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PROTECTION FROM A WIRED SOCIETY. I copyrighted my sites because I released several of my inventions there and I wanted legal Proof of Invention, using my Copyrights as "documentation", what's called a "Record of Invention". And even that didn't save me. Oh, it would IF I had money to hire a lawyer and contest the rip-offs, which I don't because I'M STILL POOR. And my family had the wonderful experience of learning to buy their clothes at the Goodwill Store because I pursued my course. Oh yeah, we also became the buying poor who buy stuff at flea markets and yard sales. Seems to me that your long diatribe there would put the World's creative people in my shoes, living my life, and staying poor. I don't think you're going to be successful selling that LIFE PROSPECT TO ANYONE. But, like I said, if you had a better system where people still got paid, might would work. However, for that to happen you'd have to GET ALL THESE CREATIVE, IDEA-RIDDLED PEOPLE TO AGREE WITH YOU "ACROSS THE BOARD". How are you going to accomplish that?! Do you have ANY IDEA HOW HARD IT IS TO SELL PEOPLE ON ANYTHING?! I fixed an engine that runs on 2 energies (hot/cold energy riding in on two inert elements of steam & liquified air) instead of one (gasoline, diesel, fossil fuel), a non-polluting engine. After 21 Months of telling it freely, word of mouth has refused to kick in, AND THE VERY IDEA OF AN ENGINE THAT DOES NOT POLLUTE IS SO CONTRARY TO WHAT PEOPLE CAN DIG DOWN INTO THEIR SOULS TO ACCEPT THAT IT SEEMS LIKE IT WILL NEVER BE PICKED UP AND BUILT. I can't do it because I'm on disability, never getting paid for my creations (at least not yet eh?). I MAY HAVE JUST AS WELL SLIPPED FROM MY MOM'S WOMB YESTERDAY. But, I'm learning. I have what I imagine to be my last great invention. I combined some aspects from 16 years of inventions to put together an engine that accomplishes an over-gravity force. A "Space Engine" that overcomes Gravity, reaches Earth orbit without needing to hurl people at 18,000 mph for "Escape Velocity"... and once such a craft (yes, I've designed the craft also) gets out far enough to be free of Earth's gravitational field it should go EXTREMELY FAST. Possibly close to Light Speed. But this time I've put a modest price tag to it instead of freely printing it online. After a few months, nothing. Imagine, an engine that could raise a person's car above an earthquake or tsunami, an engine that -attached to each floor of a building- would yield a building that no earthquake could bring down because it would be floating. EACH FLOOR WOULD BE INDEPENDENTLY FLOATING INSIDE A PAPERLIGHT FRAMEWORK, MAKI