Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: DRM, MPAA, ADSL
It's not evil, but just in case... gmr2048 writes "Sony seems to have heard the commotion. They have offered a "Service Pack" to uninstall the DRM Rootkit. From the announcement: 'This Service Pack removes the cloaking technology component that has been recently discussed in a number of articles published regarding the XCP Technology used on SONY BMG content protected CDs. This component is not malicious and does not compromise security. However to alleviate any concerns that users may have about the program posing potential security vulnerabilities, this update has been released to enable users to remove this component from their computers.'"
Obviously they have never heard the adage about deep pockets. Dieppe writes "The MPAA is at it again. This time they're suing a grandfather who didn't cave into the $4,000 blackmail offer for movie downloads his grandson downloaded from iMesh. Four movies in total, and they already owned 3 out of 4 with the grandson deleting them soon after download. This time the MPAA wants "as much as $600,000" in damages. The article also claims that "illegal downloading" costs the industry $5.4 billion per year. Not sure where the MPAA comes up with these figures."
Longer life and no charge time. It doesn't come easy writes "A press release from A123Systems announces another new lithium-ion battery technology that promises to deliver unprecedented performance (according to them). The technology is suppose to deliver 10 times the cycle life and 5 times the power over conventional lithium technology, and only require 5 minutes to recharge to 90% capacity. This is certainly not the first breakthrough for lithium based batteries that has been promised. I wonder if there is a patent lawsuit in the making?"
Fast net connection, but only if you live nearby. conJunk writes "The BBC is running an article about the ADSL2+ that touted a 24MB/s net connection. It seems that this number in fact only holds up if you live across the street from the service provider."
Always read the fine print. JeremyWall writes "The recent Netflix class action settlement has a catch. While it is nice that the average subscriber will be upgraded for one month for free, if you read the fine print in section 4.2 of the long form [PDF Warning] of the settlement you find that you will be automatically charged for the higher subscription going forward. If you don't opt back out when you get their email, you are gonna get charged from then on. If you opt in for the settlement - check your email box regularly!"
Know when to hold and know when to fold. psykocrime writes "According to a recent press release SGI stock has been delisted by the New York Stock Exchange, as a result of falling below the NYSE's minimum share price." SGI, the former darling of the high-tech world, has been in trouble for a while, perhaps this is really the end.
From their ass! They pulled it right out.
24mbit/sec? Sounds like "across the street from the provider" has suddenly become prime nerd real estate, beats the hell out of lakefront housing any day!
MoM++ - A Classic Expanded - [Master of Magic 1.5]
http://mompp.sourceforge.net/
Leave it up to the MPAA to go after a grandfather. Where is the accountability for this group? Who do we direct our hatred at?
Let's give the fuckers a name, and a face. No more of this MPAA, let people know who is behind it, which artists are in cahoots with this. Then we'll see how much we can really cost the industry.
While on the subject of settlements, did the MS/CA settlement vouchers ever go out?
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
The real question about the Sony "service pack" is whether it removes the entire software program, leaves anything behind, or simply replaces the old rootkit with one that's harder to detect and remove.
So to uninstall this mess, they want me to go to a web site, hosted by the company who wrote the spyware/rootkit, and run an activeX control. Hahahahaha.
This is exactly the sort of thing that makes me channel Nancy Regan, and "Just Say NO!".
This is sad that SGI cannot stay afloat. I put them akin to Next in that they both make(made) quality machines that not many people want to buy. Notice I did not say need to buy. SGI has been a perfect fit for many a project of mine, but for varied reasons no one wants to take them.
I guess this movie just isn't going to be accurate. One line I chuckled at during watching it was when it says, "Silicon Graphics Saves the World." Of course, this may be somewhat off...
Click here or here.
...resort to desparate and morally reprehensible measures to slow their decline, be they the MPAA or the RIAA. They're behaving like frightened, cornered animals. I'd expect both of these industry cartels to resort to some really scary shit in the next decade or so to try to cut their losses (like the east fork stuff, http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/18 11/), but they don't understand the difference between gliding along in a paracheut and flying. Ultimately, the industry megacorporations will tank (well, the music industry will, but movies are much harder to make than music), and our freedoms will be the real casualty.
The actual speeds usually ends up around 16-18Mbits, but we've had 24Mbit available here a long time. And, yeah, it's also ADSL2+
According to TechDirt the grandfather was sued for offering movies for download. Claiming that he isn't liable because his grandson was the one doing it, not him, is about as rediculous as saying that he's not liable if someone cracks their head open on faulty steps in his house because his grandson lives there not him. He owns the line, he's liable for any copyright infringement performed from that line. And no, it doesn't matter if it wasn't his son but some hackers who broke into his computer; if a burglar breaks into your house and puts his back out trying to lug away your safe, you're still liable. Much like copyright law in general, personal liability is insane and should be abolished.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Only works in IE.
How about a full exchange of that CD for a new one without the DRM and the rootkit?
I hope someone sues them just to get such an exchange program going.
Sure Sony will offer a remover to those who know enough to ask for it and are able to navigate the various hurdles. Meanwhile the rootkit will still get installed on the great majority of customers machines.
If this leads to security problems then the damage will still be done.
Just went to the Sony site to download the DRM removal tool, using Mozilla on Linux.
.... Just say NO!
Sony site initially says, I have to use MS IE.
I set my Mozilla to lie and claim to be MS IE.
Now Sony demands that I enable Javascript, along with instructions for IE.
I turn on Javascript
Finally I get to the download option and what do I see!? It's not a download at all, it's an "ActiveX" component that they want you to "INSTALL".
SONY
5 minutes to recharge a battery sounds like a recipe for a housefire to me.
The original email that I got from Netflix is taken nearly word-for-word from the settlement, but leaves out this tasty tidbit: ...the upgraded service shall renew automatically (following an email reminder) at the end of the upgraded month at Netflix's regular subscription rate for the upgraded program, unless and until the Class Member cancels the service or modifies his or her subscription.
I probably clicked to indicate that I read the full version at some point, but it's a seven page document and I suspect most people rely on the summaries of long legal documents, we not being lawyers.
I'm gonna count on them to send me a nice, clear email at the end of the month. We'll see. Usually they've been pretty good, but I know some Netflix subscribers have been unhappy.
*sigh* This is exactly the sort of game that always seems to come out of class-action lawsuits, which is why I ignore most of the ones that come my way. This one seemed chintzy, but not evil. "What could it hurt?" I figured when I saw it.
Now I know. Thanks, Jeremy Wall.
I'm just a bit curious... Does the patch keep the rootkit permanently disabled and removed? It seems to me that if we put a deviant Sony CD back into our computer that the rootkit would just be reinstalled. Then do we have to run the patch again? This is rediculous. I've do not intend on purchasing any music that has the SONY lable on it. This to me is just plain stupid. What gives Sony the right to install deviant software on "MY" pc and then make it stealth so that I don't know it's there. As far as I'm concerned I think that's the lowest a company can go. That's stooping to the level of those bastard red headed step children Spammers/Spyware installer/Virus/worm pushing assholes.
I'm to the point now watching this rediculous attempt from Sony to attach it's controls on something that I purchase the rights to use/listen/backup and trying to enforce through deviant means. What is this rootkit supposed to do!? They just wanted to install it for the Hell Of It? Nope, it's supposed to reinforce their stupid DRM bullshit and keep me from listening to the music that I paid for. I'm to the end of my rope. I think that there needs to be a group or mutiple groups put together that should purposefully break what Sony is trying to do. I've been years out of the programming/Computer industry and thus lack the skills to do it, but I think that we should form Anti-DRM, anti-Sony groups to demolish the protection that they put on their stupid CD's. I will not from this day forward purchase anymore music from Sony until they drop their Bullshit practices. I call for a Boycot of Sony's Music. I'm not sure what one man can start, but I'll be damned if I'm going to stand around any longer and watch Sony impose itself on me! They want me to buy their shit, then they want to enforce by deviance their policy, and after all that they hijack my PC for WHo knows what! Ahhh! Time for a Revolution. I love my PS2, but am refusing to play it again until SONY stops all this Bullshit! No more video games purchased either. Damn you Sony! Leave me the Hell alone! Stay off of my Computer and my CD's! Damn you!
With that said, I feel somewhat better, but am still disturbed deep inside that they would have to stoop to that level to try and enforce their protection. Maybe they don't realize that as the sound comes out of the speakers it can be recorded with a MIC and pirated that way, or through LINE OUT. Damn them. Rant Over.Generation Trance: What generation are you?
This is precisely the sort of thing that class action lawsuits should be used for. SONY should pay dearly for this crap.
No sig today...
When it comes to upload capacity, ADSL2+ is no better than plain ADSL. Therefore I don't see much of an improvement there. I think the 8/1 ratio in plain ADSL is dumb enough already.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
Obviously they want the largest figure possible to get the politicians in a spin ("OMG! We're not getting the tax on $5.4b!"), so factoring in relative prices of the media in different markets is probably fudged, and a cant towards the more profitable of the three options is quite likely. The mere possibility of the fourth option, that someone will have downloaded the file just because it didn't cost them anything and wouldn't otherwise have seen it the film before it hit the TV screen, if at all, almost certainly isn't going to be a factor of course.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
With the repeated extensions of copyright, essentially theft from the common wealth, they have bought a congress to enact, I don't think they have any ground to plead fairness. This would apply less to works created under the current law, but for works the copyrights of which would have expired under the law in place when they were created, they have no moral case I can see., beyond that one ought to give enacted law the benefit of the doubt.
The problem, as I see it, is that the notion of "intellectual property" is a fabrication of special pleading. Patents and copyrights are time limited monopolies in things that are not property granted by the government to encourage industry and creativity. Extending them without compensation is about the same thing as would be giving away our highways to private interests to turn into toll roads without any payment from them.
Say WHAT? ... I ... This.... WOW.
I cannot belive that they can say this. They released a rootkit, bloody damn general purpose rootkit, and it doesn't comprimise security? IT HIDES AN ENTIRE SUBSET OF FILE NAMES! With this rootkit installed, ANY file or folder starting with $sys$ is immmedately hidden from the Windows API. People are already using it to hide hacks for WoW. What happens if someone distributes a trojan, tells them to run Sony's rootkit to make sure they don't get caught by Warden, and the thing disappears and the user never knows the better.
Sony screwed up beyond reproach with this, and that comment just makes me scream.
You need a browser with Craptive-X enabled to download the fix - Unbefriggenlievable...
Oh well, what the hell...
Few people seem to understand that the statutes relevant to seeking remedies for copyright infringement explicitly state that the amount the copyright holder may seek is not tied to or even a function of actual damages.
So when you see these absurd amounts being sought by the RIAA, complaining that they do not represent - even correspond to - actual damages, misses the picture.
What we need are sane laws.
This component...does not compromise security.
The Sony CDs install a rootkit that virus-writers can take advantage of. How does making the job of virus-writers easier "not compromise security"?
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
Isn't it reassuring that the Sony DRM removal kit is an ActiveX object, only available with IE?
Allow popups from xcp-aurora.com? Always/Yes/Never
Purchase products from from Sony BMG? Never/No/Nada
So, $600,000 in damages for downloading a $20 DVD. That's 30,000 times inflated value. So $5.4 billion/30,000 = $180k/year lost to illegal downloading. That sounds about right.
If you can't prove harm? Then the flip side is that you can't prove benifit either.
I for one would still be upset at having purchased a CD where each time I loaded it in a windows PC the software would be installed and I would have to go through the whole process of removing it with their "service pack" I personally think that replacement discs without the Digital Rights BS are in order.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
- Winston Churchill
Ohmigod, a grandfather? How dare they? Grandfathers should obviously be immune to all lawsuits. Grandfathers are always nice, and we all know that nobody should be able to sue nice people. I say Grandfathers should be allowed to download all the movies, music, and porn they can get their liver-spotted hands on.
Find free books.
Another architecture bites the dust. Looks like we're down to POWER on IBM workstations and servers, SPARC for high-end Sun workstations, and x86 or x86-64 for everything else. (And no, embedded machines don't count).
I wonder if there will ever be another non-x86 architecture? The x86 is like the Windows of the architecture world; it may not be technologically the best, but since everybody needs it for "compatability"....
On Netflix's website they proclaim that "Netflix Ranks #1 in Customer Satisfaction", while at the bottom they carry a link to "Settlement".
Their marketing people must have completely detatched themselves from reality.
They must be taking some wicked drugs.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
"...and does not compromise security" and keep a straight face? It's a rootkit. It is concealing certain files from the OS. The hole is now known to every script kiddie and his baby brother. Countdown to the next virus/piece of spyware on the market which has a name starting with $sys$ - 5... 4...
Oh well. Yes, most people run Windows with "Hide protected operating system files" checked anyway. But from now on a geek would be well advised to look at the CD collection of every PC owner running in for help with an infected system.
I can assure you, the best way to get rid of dragons is to have one of your own.
As has been noted by many others before on the MPAA and RIAA, they don't necessarily want just money (although of course, they want that too), they want CONTROL. By controlling distribution channels, they guarantee profitability in perpetuity. So, the real way to hurt them is to use their attempts at control as fuel for the very revolution they are trying to quash.
Spend more money on "independent" filmmakers and musicians. Listen to more live music. Tell people why they should do the same (they've given us tons of ammo). Spread the music and films via P2P when the creators allow it. If you are a musician or filmmaker, see if you can do it without the studio and use the net to find your audience.
Thinking about profits and money is short term thinking, which many Slashdotters accuse the MPAA and RIAA of. I don't think they are actually that stupid.
"But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
To kick and take candy from respectivly. Of course, given the track record so far, I'd believe it the other way around just as well.
*** Sigs are a stupid waste of bandwidth.
I really hope it is.
I got their email notice the other day and I thought, "who would go through all the trouble of a class action lawsuit just to get approx 3-4 DVD rentals for free (assuming you'd watch about 1 of the upgraded DVD rentals per week)". Well, now I know, it reeks of publicity stunt (or the plaintiffs got seriously taken), because if you get sucked into the 'free upgrade' next thing you know, you'll be paying them more the next month. Netflix is bound to not only generate headaches as thousands of people try to retroactively opt out, but also make money. I hate to say these things because otherwise I actually like Netflix and I think they try to be a reasonable business.
A very bad sign in SGI's response to delisting on the NYSE. Unless a company is in deep trouble, they would normally do a reverse split to bring the stock price back over $1. In this case, chances are that SGI will be filing bankruptcy in the near future and cancelling all existing equity. Then create new shares in a debt for equity swap. No need to bother with a reverse split, since they would be delisted when they went bankrupt anyway.
Pretty sad, SGI pioneered some wonderful technology in its time. Too bad they never figured out business rule #1, ideas don't mean squat unless they make money.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
The article gives a name. Ms. Kori Bernards, vice president of corporate communications for MPAA.
Let's take a time out for a brief lesson on how the world works. People have some money. People give a little of this money to lawyers. Lawyers give some of the money that they get to politicians. Politicians pass laws requiring you to give more of your money to the people who gave a little of their money to the lawyers. A positive feedback loop. It continues to grow until (1) people kill the politicians, or (2) people kill the lawyers. This is how the world works.
The MPAA (or any group with money to pay for politicians) will continue to extort your money from you until you either (1) kill the lawyers yourself, or (2) pay someone to do it for you.
When the entertainment lawyers collectively realize that they personally will suffer as a direct result of their applying their professional expertise to the topic of randomly selecting someone who watches a movie or listens to a music recording and demanding thousands of dollars, then this shit will stop. Until then, it will continue.
Be real, this is America in the 21st century. The corporations own the three branches of government, the military, the media, the police, and damn near everything else. NONE of these avenues is open any more for a systematic redress of grievances.
What else is left?
I can not and will not in good faith condone murder in either a public or private forum. What I can say is that, from a historical perspective, violence is the fastest, cheapest, and most effective way to either institute social change ( for better or worse ) or to seek redress from injustice.
There are alternatives to violence. Reread the works of Dr. Martin Luther King or Gandhi for powerful accounts of effective alternatives. Nonviolent tactics did work against far more dangerous and evil enemies than the entertainment industry. Perhaps the newer communications tools such as the web can be used to organize effective boycotts and other tools of social change.
Nevertheless, you asked for a name and you now have it.
I just signed on to the class settlement today -- I'm a lapsed subscriber. I also noticed that fine print, and made a mental note to re-cancel after my free month. I suspect this is a tremendously good settlement for Netflix -- I wonder if the cost is going to be filed under "litigation" or "marketing".
For a second I thought it said 'w00t kit'. Need more sleep...
Of course, they do not take in account that, back in the day, many artists actually had whole albums worth listening (especially concept albums), whereas most pop shit bands now have one-hit-plus-filler... which is why people are more inclined to get the hit from p2p or the iTMS rather than wasting their money on filler.
Or maybe they just pull the numbers out of their asses. Most likely.
Circumcision is child abuse.
This "Service Pack" is not good enough except as an interim solution. As soon as you put the disk back in, the rootkit is installed right again. Yes I know the geeks here can get around it, but they always could get around it. Sony should replace all these disks. And what about Windows Vista? How much damage does it do to future versions of Windows?
I have a bunch of SGI machines that I use where I work:
2x 8 processor Onyx2s
1x 8 processor Origin 300
1x 8 processor Origin 2200
1x 32 processor Origin 350
1x 4 processor Prism
3x 1 processor Octane2s
and I hate them all with a passion. I've been fighting with software installation on the older Origin 2200 (8 400MHz processors, 6GB of RAM). SGI's crap compiler can't bootstrap gcc 4.0.2, their versions of common Unix tools like grep, etc., suck (forcing you to upgrade to the GNU versions, if their stupid compiler can build them), and IRIX has been at release 6.5 since 1998 or something. Sure, they want you to move to their new Linux-based Prism machines, and I've got one of those, too. Yippee, Itanics! What a super swell processor! I have an 8 processor Origin 300 where the total power consumption of all 8 processors is less than the consumption of 1 of the Itanics! See also, the poor code produced by gcc for this processor.
So, anyway. Upgrading SGIs sucks, their hardware is immensely fragile, its very persnickety about its environment (god forbid the temperature in the room not be in the 60s), licensing all their tools is hellish, their debugger is ancient and decrepit, my tech is a retard who tried to cable together the Origin 300 incorrectly and I had to fix it for him, and get this -- 8GB of RAM for an Origin 300 cost $25,000. That's right: $25k. You know what it is: it's PC3200 with some goddamn proprietary bullshit thrown in so you have to order your parts from SGI.
I'm glad you're dying. You've made every misstep possible: lets sell Windows NT machines! You sell Fuels in regular ATX cases with rockin' 800MHz processors that start at something like $10k. Your video offerings, once your strong suit, suck -- all you offer is older ATI cards in crap configurations -- $40k for two cards since I needed a new node (didn't buy it, duh).
The only reason to buy an SGI in the last five years or so is because of the good realtime performance of IRIX: I can sustain 16us interrupt times pretty much forever. But that's it. I'm not paying $130k for another slow-ass computer without even a damn video card for a console. And I don't need to: Ingo Molnar's realtime patches are coming along, and my quad Opteron box wipes the floor with the Origin and cost, oh yeah: $19,992 including shipping, and $7k of that is pimpin' SCSI disks.
Yay for your death! Ding dong, bitches.
Like other cases where computer tresspassing incurs lots of crippling damages against one hacker discovering a vulnerability, Russinovich should determine how long it took him to find the problem, how much his time is worth per hour, and how much work he lost because of his having to deal with this intrusion... and sue Sony.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I sure hope it is
This time the MPAA wants "as much as $600,000" in damages. ... Not sure where the MPAA comes up with these figures."
17 USC 504(c)(2) is where.
There are two types of damages available in a copyright infringement suit: actual and statutory. The plaintiff gets to pick which one he wants. The maximum possible statutory damages are $150,000 per work willfully infringed. In this case there are apparently four works. 4 times $150,000 is $600,000.
Of course, they would need to not only prove infringement, but that the infringement was willful. Furthermore, that only results in the court being able to award any amount it feels appropriate, within the range of $750 - $150,000 per work. The amount awarded may well be less than the amount sought.
-- 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.
Check this out:
XCP SUPPORT
ActiveX Unsupported
Sorry, your Internet Browser does not support ActiveX Controls.
Please use Microsoft Internet Explorer to continue.
Download Internet Explorer from the Microsoft website
More Lock in! Thank god I'm on Linux.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
"but Saddam was hardly running a regime friendly to anyone but himself and his cronies"
Boy does that ever sound familiar....maybe is should be written
"but Bush was hardly running a regime friendly to anyone but himself and his cronies"
2. If you only install the service pack once, then presumably there must be a service/daemon running to detect the insertion of future corrupt CDs to stop the rootkit being installed. In which case, the service pack will need to use continual PC resources to be constantly running.
3. If the format of the corrupt CDs is such that the rootkit needed to be in place to allow three rips of the CD to be made, what happens once the rootkit is disabled? Can you no longer exercise your fair usage rights to rip the CD for personal use?
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Send Sony some feedback about their DRM software: http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/form11.html I sure did.
UPDATE: They'll tell you when it's time (should have kept reading!)
"4.3 No less than four (4) nor more than seven (7) days before the end of the Class Benefit for each Class Member, Netflix will send an email to the Class Member reminding the Class Member that that he or she may elect not to renew the service at the benefit level (emphasis mine). Such email shall, at minimum, " [tell you what level you are now at, how much it will cost to stay at that level, how to change your level back, and the date you must change it by not to be charged for a 2nd month at that level].
Good for them. Based on this, why bother to submit the little extra "and that's how they'll get you" part to Slashdot? Oh, that's right, they probably didn't read it.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
XCP Support
ActiveX Unsupported
Sorry, your Internet Browser does not support ActiveX Controls.
Please use Microsoft Internet Explorer to continue.
Download Internet Explorer from the Microsoft website
The best test environment is production. - Me
chrome://browser/content/browser.xul
Take a peek out your front window. See that green tower looking thing in the corner of your yard? That is called a pedestal. It belongs to the phone company. Look two doors down and see that big green box thing, kinda like an industrial warddrobe? That is the phone company. It provides dialtone and internet to your neighborhood. It may contain a DLC, a DSLAM, or a BSLAM. The phone company can put one of these every 5000 feet and provide incredible broadband to every house. 24Mbit? Maybe not for most people. 15Mbit? Maybe. 10Mbit? Probably.
I know many businesses which run offices with hundreds of PCs, sharing a single 1.5Mbit connection. Their internal network might still run at 10Mbit speeds. And they work just fine.
10-24Mbit to my house? Sure, I'll take that with a grin on my face. To be honest, I'm impressed with my 0.768Mbit connection. I'm not sure I would notice the difference of a connection that is 10-20 bigger.
IAAL working in IP and media law and I take strong exception to your attitude. Lawyers are not the cause of this problem. Lawyers are paid money to argue for their clients interests (or perceived interests). If the MPAA pays money to a good lawyer and gives them instructions, that lawyer goes and researches the law, determines what tactics will be effective, and ASKS THE CLIENT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. It is the client who decides to go ahead and sue a grandfather for $400K, and the client who decides to lobby Washington.
If you want to obliquely suggest killing any group of people because you think this will solve the problem I suggest you review and include (in reverse order):
4. Artists who continue to participate in the corrupt entertainment industry
3. The MPAA for ruthlessly trying to protect its own profits and interests
2. Politicians for being so pathetically weak that they can be bought and sold like prostitutes
1. Yourself and everyone else who does not fall into 4, 3 or 2 but who (a) funds the MPAA and the artists by buying their crap, (b) funds the politicians with their taxes, and (c) allows the politicians to get away with it by being politically disengaged and reelecting them all the time.
Do not blame lawyers. In my experience most lawyers tend to be more sympathetic to the views of people like us who are unhappy with these stupid laws and stupid lawsuits than they are to the views of organisations like the MPAA. Most lawyers I know think that the DMCA and its international equivalents are idiotic and outrageously biased, for example. But lawyers are part of an adversarial system, and their duty is to represent the interests of those who retain them to the best of their abilities. So instead of attacking lawyers, why not pony up some cash for your beliefs and help the EFF or someone like that get their own kick ass legal team.
I am so sick of people who bitch about the corporations owning everything but ignore the fact that the corporations only have as much power as you, the consumer, gives them. And I am SO SICK of people bashing lawyers, who tend to be progressive, intelligent, and politically and socially engaged individuals (real lawyers, not ambulance chasers).
Read Pynchon.
I feel it's highly selfish and over the top that Sony would attempt to control their 'intellectual property' by forcing it on other's own properties without their knowledge, and turning their home computers against them. In this respect, Sony have done something far more 'evil' than anything that Microsoft have done in a long time.
After looking at the First 4 Internet site, I found their press page for their DRM technology, and the link called copyright crackdown has this to say:At the same time, Sony are currently down in profits, because of the drop in TV prices and costs to launch the Playstation 3.
While I think a boycott of Sony CD's will help in the short term, the best way of countering DRM is to talk to people you know about these issues, and how their fair use rights are being eroded.
If there's going to be a boycott on Sony CD's, then it should be extended to be a boycott of all Sony hardware, and encouraging friends and family to do the same, as they have moved closer to restricting people's rights this way. This includes the Playstation 3, which will have Blu-Ray discs, and any expensive purchase like a laptop or TV.
I feel better for getting that out of my system, I hope that Sony will be able to see how they're affecting people by their decisions in time.
I had over 27 hits on my blog today for "sony rootkit" or something similar to that search.
Here's where you can complain to Sony about DRM and Rootkits:
http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi
Here's my letter, please modify it if you use it:
Dear Sony,
I'd like you to know how displeased I am that you've put DRM in your Compact Discs, and I'm shocked that "Van Zant's" CD is reported to have a "rootkit" virus that infects Windows so that certain file names remain hidden from even anti-virus scanners. Your product has endangered thousands of music fans, by crippling their Windows system in yet another way that virus writers can exploit.
I think you owe your customers better.
Sincerely,
Saskboy
Yorkton, SK CANADA
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
I got royally pissed that they didn't ship after recieving movies for several days and cancelled them, much happier on Block Buster that also doesn't get movies turned around same day, but at least gives us cupons to take to the local store for those days.
NetFlix certainly isn't going to get our business again as part of this settlement. Was a loyal customer for several years, even with that BS, but enough was finally enough.
I just wish more people would DO some of the things suggested rather than sit back and watch another DVD/Tivo.
They are just conditioning you for the total control of distribution they desire. They got it for the most part through retailers, so they'll probably win this one too.
My hat is off to them on their ability to sway public behavior/opinion. I just wish I could be so influential.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
OMG, WTF, BBQ?
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
Dunno, I've been with netflix for about ~5 years now, (early adopter,) and the turnaround time has been pretty stable, no matter where I lived. There are times of year when there might be another day, but it's usually a day there and a day back.
That includes the backwoods of northern new england...
Of course I don't qualify for the settlement anyway, I already get 4 at a time.
But you know, netflix wasn't meant for people in a hurry...
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
$5.4billion per year loss is probably how much they spend on their lawyers. :-)
Ah yes, the Nuremberg defense. And you people can't figure out why normal humans all hate you.
I read in a previous post that the rootkit installed various activeX controls on your system. This would explain it being IE only, and would be counter to the objection that they aren't dumb enough to try the same trick twice.
Never underestimate the power of stupidity in the face of possible profit.
are on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. I always extend my upraised middle finger when passing their accursed lair. :P
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Claiming that he isn't liable because his grandson was the one doing it, not him, is about as rediculous as saying that he's not liable if someone cracks their head open on faulty steps in his house because his grandson lives there not him.
You have no understanding of the law at all, so please stop posting about it.
The owner of a device used in the commission of a crime does not become, by reason of property ownership, liable.
If your neighbor borrows your machete "to clear some brush" and hacks his ex-wife to bits with it, are you liable for his crime? If you go to the library and use their computer to download copyrighted music, are the librarians liable for your copyright infringement? If you borrow a DVD from Blockbuster and make copies of it, are they liable for your crime? Of course not.
As to slip-and-fall, that's completely unrelated. That is an issue of the owner's negligence resulting in someone being injured. This case is more like your grandson pushing someone down the steps and you being sued for it. That you owned the steps does not make you responsible for his actions.
In other words "oh noes! they figured it out! - We'll try again later when there's less attention on it"
...
Think about the bills that the US gov't passes that get sent through with other bills. If it gets voted out, they just resubmit it with other things
I have no faith in my country anymore.
No, I am not an English major. My posts are subject to typos and incorrect grammar. Do not expect perfection.
"but Bush was hardly running a regime friendly to anyone but himself and his cronies"
You'll get no argument here, but in all fairness Bush hasn't unleashed chemical weapons on his own countrymen.
I won't argue that he has done a terrible job in justifying or executing this war, but Saddam isn't exactly a posterboy for anyone to emulate.
The only redeeming value that Saddam had was that he was the only Arab country to defy the 1972 oil embargo and sell crude to the US.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
At the risk of being modded redundant, please stop buying Sony products, and get your family and friends to do the same. They are an evil company who are now betting the farm on the PS3/Blu Ray combo. Make that a failure and Sony will collapse.
-Copyright law #69:Whenever Mickey Mouse is about to enter the public domain,copyrights get extended by 25 years.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
You are receiving this notice because you were a paid Netflix member before January 15, 2005. Under a proposed class action settlement, you may be eligible to receive a free benefit from Netflix.
A class action lawsuit entitled Chavez v. Netflix, Inc. was filed in San Francisco Superior Court (case number CGC-04-434884) on September 23, 2004. The lawsuit alleges that Netflix failed to provide "unlimited" DVD rentals and "one day delivery" as promised in its marketing materials. Netflix has denied any wrongdoing or liability. The parties have reached a settlement that they believe is in the best interests of the company and its subscribers.
Netflix will provide eligible subscribers with the benefit described below, if the settlement is approved by the Court.
* Current Netflix Members: If you enrolled in a paid membership before January 15, 2005 and were a member on October 19, 2005, you are eligible to receive a free one-month upgrade in service level. For example, if you are on the 3 DVDs at-a-time program, you will be upgraded to the 4 DVDs at-a-time program for one month. There will be no price increase during the upgraded month. (If you cancel your membership after October 19, 2005 and before you receive the upgrade, you will have to rejoin to get the upgrade.)
* Former Netflix Members: If you enrolled in a paid membership before January 15, 2005 but were not a member on October 19, 2005, you are eligible to receive a free one-month Netflix membership on your choice of the 1, 2 or 3 DVDs at-a-time unlimited program. (If you rejoin after October 19, 2005 but before you receive the free one-month membership, you will receive a credit for the free month when it becomes available.)
These benefits will be provided after the Effective Date as defined in the Settlement Agreement. Your eligibility for the benefits is based on your membership status as of October 19, 2005. The full Settlement Agreement is available for review at www.netflixsettlement.com.
You have four options to respond to the proposed settlement. You have until December 28, 2005 to make your decision:
Option 1. Sign Up For The Benefit As Part Of The Settlement
To receive the benefit, you must complete the online registration process no later than February 17, 2006, at www.netflixsettlement.com. By signing up for the benefit, you waive your right to bring a separate lawsuit against Netflix concerning the Released Claims (as defined in the Settlement Agreement found at www.netflixsettlement.com).
Option 2. Do Nothing
If you do not wish to receive the benefit, do nothing. You will not receive the benefit but will remain a Class Member. You therefore waive your right to bring a separate lawsuit against Netflix concerning the Released Claims.
Option 3. Exclude Yourself From the Class
To exclude yourself from the class, you must mail a letter by December 28, 2005. By excluding yourself, you preserve your right to bring a lawsuit against Netflix concerning the Released Claims. However, you will not get the benefit described above.
Option 4. Make An Objection To The Settlement In Court
To object to the settlement, you must file legal papers in the San Francisco Superior Court by January 5, 2006.
To receive your benefit, you must register by February 17, 2006 as described above in Option 1. You will not receive any other reminders to register for the benefit. If you have registered for the benefit and your eligibility is confirmed, then you will be provided additional information by email following the Effective Date as defined in the Settlement Agreement.
After the benefit period ends, the new or upgraded level of service will continue automatically (following an email reminder) and you will be billed accordingly, unless you cancel or modify your subscription. You can cancel or modify your subscription at any time.
In addition, if the settlement is approved by the Court, Netflix will modify portions of its T
Your comment got me digging deeper. They have some good information here: http://www.a123systems.com/html/tech/overview.html .
The key seems to be some modified chemistry and electrodes that allow smaller lithium particles. Since the smaller particles have greater surface area per unit volume, more electro-chemistry, such as charging or discharging happens in less time. They mention that they have lowered the resistive load, as you suggested. Read the material for a more coherent explanation than I could hope to provide.
Personally, I'm very excited about this whole development. This is the kind of battery breakthrough that electric and hybrid vehicle enthusiasts have been waiting for. Not only are they claiming substantially better power densities (that means the rate at which they provide energy, 3000W/kg, not the total energy storage), energy densities (2x over conventional Li-Ion) and charge times (5 minutes), but they also claim to operate over a wider temperature range (-30 to + 60 C), have longer lifetimes and have greener (no heavy metals) and safer (less fire/explosion risk) chemistry . For hybrid cars the end result should be more energy captured by the regenerative braking systems, better cold weather performance, less battery weight, better gas mileage, no more battery swapping at 100,000 or so miles and, most important of all, better acceleration!
Time will tell if this is vapor(hard)ware, although the fact that they have products currently being manufactured for sale next year suggests otherwise.
PS Coding may result in the false belief that adding parenthesis is the perfect substitute for clear, linear writing.
So basically, for being a big customer, I get jack all from the settlement.
Even if they make available a method to remove the "cloaking" of their DRM system, they still have a huge installed base whose users may or may not be aware of what is running on their PC. There exists a huge physical inventory of CDs that will install this software. Are they going to recall these CDs?
Even if they do, Sonys crudely crafted system is still eating, according to reports, single digit % of CPU on their installed base. The installation of this software is in violation of consumer expectation and possibly the law as well.
This forum has exposed the "rootkit" element of their system, and they have backed off amazingly quickly for an organization of their size. This forum needs to hit back fast on the issues that are not as easily addressed by them: huge installed base and how they are going to undo what they have done, the leaching of resources on that installed base, and the huge inventory of unsold CDs awaiting to unleash this on unsuspecting consumers.
I'd go with recall of the CDs. Only that would demonstrate their commitment to remediating this problem.
I just checked your website... looks like a kid designed it.
If SGI does go under, it looks like we will see the demise of yet another commercial UNIX. Just a few years back we had Wind River outright destroy BSD/OS. Tru64 basically died after the HP/Compaq merger. SCO UnixWare and OpenServer aren't in a very sound position, either. And if SGI does meet its demise, we may very well lose IRIX.
Indeed, the UNIX world will not be better off with less competition. Competition is what breeds innovation. That said, at least the source code to Solaris has been released. It will live on, even if Sun goes out of business. And at least Linux was able to gain XFS from IRIX, arguably one of its most prized features.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Verizon is offering 30Mb down and 5 Mb up with a fiber connection.
The base connection (which I have) is 5 down and 2 up. Still very nice.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
...the temperature being in the 60s is that the processors can't handle any more LSD.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Do you know HOW much it cost the lawyers to actually a) find the ads with the word 'unlimited' in it. 2) look up the definition of 'unlimited'. 3) Type it up and file it.
from the article...
"Basically what you are doing when you use peer-to-peer software is you are offering someone else's product that they own to thousands of other people for free, and it's not fair," Bernards said.
it's not fair
so we'll sue your ass cause that's fair, when we've got millions and your a grandpa/kid from the projects/single mom and you've got no money
Don't forget they stopped using the cool cube logo, too.
Managers and clients don't want to see an effete little "sgi," that hardly inspires confidence.
Where's the logo that booms, "Damn straight, I AM graphics?"
"And in a strange move, Sony sues itself over possible violations of the DMCA" Hah!
Another option is to choke off MPAA's money supply. I have stopped buying all Sony products. Period. They support MPAA and if we loudly boycott Sony, there's a chance they will sit up and listen. I've stopped buying any music CDs, as well.
I don't download their stuff either. I'll spend my money on the net and my bicycle.
Place nail here >+
The whole ADSL thing, these days, has grown tired. There is more than enough capacity to switch everyone to a full SDSL connection - and with the not-so-veiled threats from telecos, it might even be in the best interest of ISPs to push Internet technology to the absolute limits, even if it does cost them some profit in the short term. In the longer term, it might save their necks, which (I would have thought) they would consider rather more valuable.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
24mbit/sec? Sounds like "across the street from the provider" has suddenly become prime nerd real estate
When you combine it with fiber to the curb (FTTC) you get your 24 Mbps just fine all over the place, not just on the same block with the Central Office (CO).
The fiber carries the signal to the RT ("remote terminal" in telephone parlence: a line concentrator located outside the CO). That is located within a couple blocks of your house. The ADSL2+ carries it from there to your house over a copper pair.
Even if your neighborhood is too sparse and/or the company planners goofed and put the RTs too far apart for everybody to get full speed, you'll do a lot better with ADSL2+ than with the older ADSL standards.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Iraq most certainly possessed WMD during Saddam's reign and used them without mercy on civilian Kurds.
Well, DUH! Of course he had them, once upon a time - We (I say this as an American) sold / gave them to him! And did our damnedest to look the other way and blame Iran when he used them on the Kurds.
Did he have them in 2003, though? And even if so, did they pose any threat whatsoever to the US, with their whopping 700-mile range 50-year-old tech SCUDs?
and the fact that he had started a nuclear reactor construction program for any purpose he chose
Oh no! Not "any purpose he chose!" anything but that, for the democratically-elected leader of the once-sovereign nation of Iraq, as regards an internal domestic Iraq research program! The horrors! Where oh where will it all end, this bloody race toward energy independance... Fission plants that don't waste 90% of their fuel? Fusion? Antimatter? WIND TURBINES??? YOU BASTARDS!
The US does not have the right to impose nuclear hegemony over the rest of the world (except those who might actually have the capacity to fight back, such as N. Korea, which we have pretty much left alone). Our actions in Iraq count as nothing short of an atrocity, and I can only pray that the rest of the world, when sanctioning us for our crimes, will consider that Bush never actally legitimately won a US presidential election.
I'm not a great fan of how this war was justified, but Saddam was hardly running a regime friendly to anyone but himself and his cronies.
If you accept that excuse, you need to ponder why we still consider the Saud royal family our allies (y'know, the country currently ruled by a theocratic monarchy, and from which all but three of the 9/11 hijackers came?). Why we didn't go after half of the petty African tyrants currently still in power. Why we didn't revolt at the sweeping of Ohio under the rug.
But hey, what do I know? I just watch Fox and vote a straight Republican ticket like any Good Christian American.
you think with all the money that we are supposed to be ripping off of the mpaa and the riaa that they would be out of business already.
guess they are still doing pretty good to last this long.
I don't know the DMCA that well, but isn't there clauses regarding 'circumventing protection' ?
Isn't that what they're doing by hiding files from the Windows API, and possibly virus scanners? How about the removal tool as well, what are the exceptions to the anti-circumvention clause? Does it specifically state that the parent company is exempt?
just hoping the DMCA will devour itself
and how many companies does sony parent where its not clear you're buying a sony product, they are in many venues.
Didn't you know???
72.36458% of all statistics are are made up on the spot!!!!
-Mohan
Seems fishy to me that this guy would be sued for downloading movies. Usually, the **AAs go for the distributors, not the leechers. Any man could beat a charge of downloading a movie by buying a used DVD and claiming that he owned the movie all along and only wanted a backup or some such. I'd be shocked if a jury or judge didn't aquit him.
Apparently Universal uses a similar system:t ml
http://techdirt.com/articles/20051102/103241_F.sh
IMHO (IANAL) the copyright law recognizes that catching any particluar copyright violator and collecting actual damages is a low-probability thing. So if the law only awarded actual damages it would not deter, because the expected cost would be so low.
(If you've got a one-in-20,000 chance of being caught for cloning a $20 movie, and the punishment is to pay the $20, your average expected cost from violating the copyright is a tenth of a cent. That's far less than typical sales tax on the medium you use to make the copy.)
So the law compensates by applying a draconian penalty to those who do get caught - bringing the expected average cost of violation up to something big enough to hurt - and to give the copyright holder some significant recovery.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
We would be interested in speaking to any California residents that have experienced this problem before the EULA was changed. We have looked at many DRM cases and Sony went too far with this particular scheme. You can contact us at gw@classcounsel.com or by visiting our web site at http://www.classcounsel.com./
Here is an abstract of doe grant taken from:
s birsttr/cycle20/phase1/071.htm
_ ________________
http://www.science.doe.gov/sbir/awards_abstracts/
_________________________________________________
An Advanced Cathode Material for Li-ion Batteries--A123 Systems, 8 Saint Mary's Street, 6th floor, Boston, MA 02215; 617-250-0566
Yet Ming Chiang, Principal Investigator, yet@a-123.com
Ric Fulop, Business Official, ric@a-123.com
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-02ER86138
Amount: $100,000
Research Institute
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge , MA
Currently available Li-ion batteries do not meet Department of Energy targets for electric vehicle (EV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications. The specific problem is that currently available cathode materials do not allow the specific energy and power density targets to be achieved while simultaneously being low cost, safe under abusive conditions, and environmentally benign. This project will develop electronically conductive lithium cathode materials, which have low raw materials and manufacturing costs, high energy and power density, and are environmentally benign and electrochemically stable. These materials are expected to be the first low-cost Li cathode materials to exhibit high electronic conductivity at room temperature. Phase I will synthesize and characterize the lithium materials with high electronic conductivity in the complete absence of conductive additives. Novel particle morphologies, consisting of nanoscale primary crystallites in partially-sintered aggregate particles, will be used to optimize power density.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: In lithium ion battery cathode applications, the high electronic conductivity coupled with tailored particle design should allow near-theoretical energy densities to be achieved at high power densities and operating conditions relevant to EV and HEV technology.
'This Service Pack removes the cloaking technology component that has been recently discussed in a number of articles published regarding the XCP Technology used on SONY BMG content protected CDs. This component is not malicious and does not compromise security. [snip]'
Doesn't compromise security MY ASS! What about that little "feature" where any file name starting with $sys$ is hidden from the user? I can do that right now with some sort of keyboard snooper if I wanted to.
I can see it now... my boss goes to log in, but first I intercept him: "Hey boss, I bought you this CD... give it a listen, I'll wait"
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
Well, DUH! Of course he had them, once upon a time - We (I say this as an American) sold / gave them to him! And did our damnedest to look the other way and blame Iran when he used them on the Kurds.
Are you looking for an argument about who sold them to him? I'm not here to defend the West's sale of arms to Saddam. Hell, everyone did.
Did he have them in 2003, though?
Nope. As I said, at the time of the invasion is different that inferring that he never had them at all.
And even if so, did they pose any threat whatsoever to the US, with their whopping 700-mile range 50-year-old tech SCUDs?
In case you didn't get the point, Saddam didn't need to threaten the US directly. If he threatened our interests in the region it was provocation enough.
>>and the fact that he had started a nuclear reactor construction program for any purpose he chose
Oh no! Not "any purpose he chose!" anything but that,
We sold him chemical weapons for "any purpose he chose". You seem to have a problem with differentiating your disgust.
for the democratically-elected leader
Right. Democratically-elected.
of the once-sovereign nation of Iraq,
Kosovo was part of the sovereign nation of Serbia. Now it is a UN protectorate. Is there a difference?
as regards an internal domestic Iraq research program!
The Iraqi reactor was not a research-scale reactor.
The horrors! Where oh where will it all end, this bloody race toward energy independance... Fission plants that don't waste 90% of their fuel? Fusion? Antimatter? WIND TURBINES??? YOU BASTARDS!
You obviously don't argue from logic, do you?
The US does not have the right to impose nuclear hegemony over the rest of the world (except those who might actually have the capacity to fight back, such as N. Korea, which we have pretty much left alone).
Yes, we do. If we don't please explain why not.
Our actions in Iraq count as nothing short of an atrocity,
And Saddam's extermination of Shi'ites in the south and Kurds in the north was a "what"?
and I can only pray that the rest of the world, when sanctioning us for our crimes, will consider that Bush never actally legitimately won a US presidential election.
Actually, he did. You and the Democrats just never got over it.
>>I'm not a great fan of how this war was justified, but Saddam was hardly running a regime friendly to anyone but himself and his cronies.
If you accept that excuse, you need to ponder why we still consider the Saud royal family our allies (y'know, the country currently ruled by a theocratic monarchy, and from which all but three of the 9/11 hijackers came?).
You've got me. I guess it is because they are awash with oil and have fairly friendly ties to the US. I know you have trouble believing that, but consider the theocratic republic on the other side of the Persian Gulf and how they regard the US.
Why we didn't go after half of the petty African tyrants currently still in power.
They don't threaten US interests.
Why we didn't revolt at the sweeping of Ohio under the rug.
What are you talking about? If you are going to claim that the Republicans stole the election twice, then you need to polish your rhetoric. Either he lost in 2000 because he didn't get the popular vote, or he won in 2004 because of it.
You need to be consistent or your will turn into a Republican.
But hey, what do I know? I just watch Fox and vote a straight Republican ticket like any Good Christian American.
Well there's your problem. You need to jettison that bullshit and start voting for a change. Vote Libertarian.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
When it comes to cases involving personal memories of times gone by, who do lawyers believe, the person whose memories have the normal affections of time, or the person who's augmented their memory by records or simply making stuff up.
r s
Hint: http://www.google.com/search?q=court+credible+yea
The MPAA (or any group with money to pay for politicians) will continue to extort your money from you until you either (1) kill the lawyers yourself, or (2) pay someone to do it for you.
(Wasn't this an audio disk? That would be the RIAA.)
Given the RIAA's origin in organized crime (the jukebox syndicate) and ongoing business model (extortion), I strongly suspect that even going after them with tommyguns - and killing off a number of them - would affect their strategy. (In fact, some of them might find it a refreshing return to the good old days of gang wars - and come after you in return. B-) )
There are alternatives to violence. Reread the works of Dr. Martin Luther King or Gandhi for powerful accounts of effective alternatives. Nonviolent tactics did work against far more dangerous and evil enemies than the entertainment industry.
The canonization of King and Ghandi is convenient for the ruling class. But claiming they prove the success of non-violence is a rewrite of history:
Ghandi succeeded in India - against the British colonial occupation, when a major British government faction was already trying to unload the colony. Ghandi's movement helped empower them to achieve their aims. But remember that he started his political carreer in South Africa, attempting to end Apartheit by similar tactics - a dismal failure. And his prescription for the Jews in Nazi Germany was to commit mass suicide in protest of their treatment.
MLK's non-violent opposition to Jim Crow segregation was a necessary step in the Civil Rights movement. But the movement didn't succeed until it switched to violence after his assasination and cities burned. King's contribution was to sieze the moral high ground, enabling the claim that non-violence had been tried and had failed.
(Ghandi's revolution was getting a bit bloody toward the end, too.)
The current ruling class raises King and Ghandi as role models and conveniently forgets the roles of people like H. Rap Brown an Muhammad X. This detours people from the not-so-non-violent tactics that finished the job - and were the whole of many other successful revolutions - and gets them stuck in an endless loop of non-violent and ineffective protests that can be easily ignored.
(Please note that I'm not advocating the use of violence - merely trying to correct the never-ending misstatement of the historic record.)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
...
2. Politicians for being so pathetically weak that they can be bought and sold like prostitutes
Let me let you in a little secret. People here don't hate corporations per se. What they hate is how most corporations put money ahead of little things like, oh, the greater good of society. Ask yourself if the ones you're defending are doing the same thing.
heh
...when they claim this is to protect their disks from piracy, or 'enhance' them?
/. but this deserves the rant, I feel slightly better now, but like many here I'm sure as hell never buying DRM disks now. There are Sony products I absolutely adore, their style is wonderful (PSP, viao etc, though I own none) I'd hate to see it lost, but they really need to be utterly nailed to the wall for this to absolutely stop this kind of thing happening ever again.
I mean, it doesn't take a hacker to bypass this, it takes anyone not running windows, or a kid with the tiny bit of a clue about whats going on.
they're putting this rubbish on millions of CD's, that will infect hundreds of thousands of machines, if not millions, and it does, absolutely nothing, 0, not one single positive thing, for anyone, including sony themselves (and i'm not just talking from bad PR)
on the flip side your system security is absolutely hosed, your ability to remove the kit is also non existant without insecure web access (the sony patch requires you / your network admin to allow activeX controls). your system performance is reduced, your open to any memory loss from their sloppy coding, BSOD's are not uncommon, vista is apparently completely totaled.
you have to waste time, energy,bandwidth, you name it on installing their 'upgrade' on any new, or reinstalled machine you happene to let the CD run on, you can never patch the CD.
Sony do you want this program running on YOUR OWN PC's even?
People are already apparently using it's ability to hide cheats from games by prefixing files with $sys$. the first virus's are moments away. DOS attack bots using 'sony's free "legal" rootkit' are probably already circulating.
A downloadable patch to stop the rootkit hiding things IS TOO LATE, the CD's are already out there, people are still infected, many who will never bother, or actually can't run the update sony suggests.
Personally I think it's shocking secunia is listing this as 'less critical', when any other bug in an application you know you installed, with the ability to "compromise a users system" normally gets shooed in as highly critical straight away.
Wake up Sony, if you want a CD to still be an audio CD, ie still play on home CD-audio players, then anything you add to it to reduce functinality on a computer WILL NOT PREVENT PIRACY, *EVER*, not even slightly, the people selling you this crap are LYING TO YOU. WAKE UP.
It takes one person to rip and distribute a CD, ONE, and to stop that one person you would have to come up with something that would stop the most hard core cracker you could possibly imagine that lives and breaths in assembler, because they see this kind of thing as a challenge, for fun.
and if your content is available in another non DRM'd format, or just a less secure one? then forget it, you've allready let the cat out of the bag. really, just stop screwing the people actually paying you.
I don't condone piracy, it's just a fact. When a 6 year old with 3 weeks PC experience, and the basic rudiments of SAFE COMPUTING PRACTICES, or COMMON SENSE ("don't agree to installing anytihng you weren't expecting a popup message for, ever") can circumvent the protection on your discs ENTIRELY so he can still copy it to his ipod, you need to seriously rethink what your doing, where your ploughing your millions of pounds, and whats the IQ of your managers and test staff.
'DRM enhanced' is truly a joke, what does it enhance exactly? it's actually WORSE than trying to explain how gift vouchers that can be used to buy stuff in any of 100 stores are somehow better than MONEY that can be used in any store anywhere. (worse as there are arguments for vouchers, trying to encourage a child to buy a book instead of sweets, etc)
I fully support the "DRM infected" rebranding.
I know I'm preaching to the converted here on
Current Netflix Members: If you enrolled in a paid membership before January 15, 2005 and were a member on October 19, 2005, you are eligible to receive a free one-month upgrade in service level. For example, if you are on the 3 DVDs at-a-time program, you will be upgraded to the 4 DVDs at-a-time program for one month. There will be no price increase during the upgraded month. (If you cancel your membership after October 19, 2005 and before you receive the upgrade, you will have to rejoin to get the upgrade.)
That's all well and good -- I know a lot of lawyers, and as you say by and large they don't support stupid laws or overbearing tactics. But clearly there are also far too many lawyers who put the job (and the paycheck) ahead of personal ethics -- after all, your client didn't put a gun to your head and force you to engage in slimeball tactics against people who cannot reasonably defend themselves.
It occurs to me that this is much like the situation of a military grunt receiving an illegal order from his commanding officer. The grunt's legal and ethical duty is to refuse such an order. Likewise, it should be a lawyer's ethical duty to refuse orders from a slimeball client who uses coercive, illegal, or legal-but-unfair tactics.
Perhaps if more lawyers would stand up against such clients (despite the enticing mega-fees), lawyers would be perceived as heroes rather than as demon familiars.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
ha! screw you guys im getting FiOS! (30mbit/sec) http://www22.verizon.com/FiOSforhome/channels/FiOS /root/package.aspx
So the lawer who sued Netflix gets paid $2,528,000.
The "Class Representative" gets $2,000. Everyone else gets just about nothing but a junk email.
If you did not use an OS with silly stuff like activeX, you would not have a root kit installed. You might not have been able to get anything out of the CD, but that's OK, you could have taken it back as defective. I suggest you do the same with your OS.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c399/thepotoo/Da nGlickman.jpg
sorry, couldn't resist
Obligatory Soundbite Catchphrase
Hitmen are paid money to carry out kills for their clients interests (or perceived interests). If the MPAA pays money to a good hitman and gives him instructions, that hitman goes and researches the target, determines what tactics will be effective, and ASKS THE CLIENT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS / CONFIRMATION. It is the client who decides to go ahead and take out a grandfather for $400K.
Yeah, not the best analogy, but saying the enabler for wrong doing is not at fault is a bunch of crap. What good is being sympathetic (as you suggest lawyers feel for the common man) when you pretend you're sorry for pissing on the common man and do it anyway? It's OK if it's something you're paid to do? Give me a break.
That is much worse than simply being uninformed because you KNOW what you're doing is against the interests of the commons. And sure, there's groups like the EFF and others, but Capitol Hill is largely run by ex-lawyers (both gov't and lobbyists... as if there's a difference in most cases) and they strike me better than the sympathetic lawyer picture you've painted simply by being unashamed of their utter contempt of people in comparison to their corporate masters.
If I did redo your list, it would be as follows:
Smack in the head list:
2. Artists who continue to participate in the corrupt entertainment industry. You can make it as an independent, and the more that do drive more nails in the coffin of the evil empire.
1. Yourself and everyone else who (a) funds the MPAA and the artists by buying their crap, (b) funds the politicians with their taxes, and (c) allows the politicians to get away with it by being politically disengaged and reelecting them all the time.
Smack in the head hard enough that they're out of the picture:
2. The MPAA for ruthlessly trying to protect its own profits and interests. Nuff said.
1. Politicians for being so pathetically weak that they can be bought and sold like prostitutes - probably the worst offender since they pretend to be for the people until elections are over, and then it's greed and politics as usual.
And as for the lawyers... sure, they're not the cause of the problem anymore than not brushing your teeth is the cause of bad breath, but it sure makes the problem worse.
Where the fuck are the high moral standards the legal system is supposed to uphold? Oh, wait, morality is determined whoever the greedy fuckers are that can afford to pay the greedy fucking lawyers.
... the lawyers have to get paid in exactly the same specie as the class. Cash for the class, cash for the lawyers. Coupons for the class, the lawyers get coupons, and coupons only. *That* would fixed the f/u'd class action system pretty quickly.
So, the question is... What software do they need to install on my machine without my permission to remove the software they installed without my permission?
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
No, no-one holds a gun to your head. But the parent and grandparent are incorrect to assert that a lawyer in the civil sphere can simply refuse to represent a client whose position they disagree with. There is a rule called the 'Cab Rank Rule' which is exactly what it sounds like: when a client comes to you asking you to represent them, you must take their case whether you like them or not. The only grounds for refusal are if you are too busy to adequately represent them, you lack the necessary exptertise, you are personally involved in the case in some way, or you are so horrified by the client that you would be unable to fully and fairly represent them.
Admittedly some of you no doubt would say that the last category is sufficient basis to refuse to represent the MPAA, and I tend to agree from a personal perspective. But a lawyer is actually being unethical if he or she refuses representation simply because of a disagreement about ideology.
Read Pynchon.
No, people don't hate corporations, and maybe that's the problem. Because what is a corporation? Answer: a legal structure with the sole objective of maximising profits for its *shareholders*. Therefore, unless you are a shareholder, a corporation is on some level going to benefit from not being as fully fair with you as it could. Even if it's something as simple as taking a profit margin out of the price it puts on its products (i.e. charging you more than the product is worth), that discrepancy will always be there.
So maybe instead of slagging off lawyers you should think about how the corporations laws should be amended to require corporations to put other objectives ahead of their shareholders. Some laws (e.g. environmental) do this already, or they did pre-Bush II, but fundamentally the system is flawed if what you want it to produce is good social outcomes.
Let me put it this way: the MPAA would not be suing some old man for $600K or whatever it is if the MPAA didn't believe this would give the most benefit to the shareholders of the MPAA's members. I do not believe lawyers are responsible for this.
Read Pynchon.
You should really read up on legal ethics before you post. Lawyers do have a duty, to the Court, to uphold the integrity of the legal process above all other interests. A lawyer may not knowingly engage in unfair or illegal activities for a client. For example, a lawyer is absolutely forbidden to lie in court, or allow a client to lie in court, or to institute legal proceedings for a client with the objective of gaining some collateral commercial advantage. And so on.
I think that perhaps the MPAA's lawyers are breaching these ethical rules quite seriously. But if that is the case, you should blame the system that lets them get away with it: they should be punished for abuse of process and contempt of court if they truly have no case against these people.
Read Pynchon.
Time will tell if that's true, but the massive increase in power density is great news for hybrids. To really make hybrids shine, you need to do as much regenerative braking as possible - which means capturing braking energy at high speeds - which means very high power requirements. As you said, the good news is that if the drivetrain is good for near panic stops in regenerative braking, then the accelaration should be spectacular.
It will be an interesting race between ultracapacitors and these batteries - the ultracaps have the edge in power density (already 3kW/kg) and cycle time 10E5 or more charge/discharge cycles - but Li-ion has the energy density.
This time the MPAA wants "as much as $600,000" in damages. The article also claims that "illegal downloading" costs the industry $5.4 billion per year.
It is obvious how they got their figures. 9000 people caught, sued for $600,000 in damages each, makes a total amount of damages to the industry of $5.4b.
Of course this means that all the other file downloaders are doing no damage at all.
I think I would be quicker and easier just to charge everyone on the planet $5 a year and let them download as much as they want. Then they would quickly get their $5.4 billion, plus more. And happy customers.
I'll probably be modded down for this...
Their stock price lost about 1/3rd overnight, 1/100th of what is was in their glory days. It's interesting that they peaked in late 1995 while most other software companies hit their peak in 2000. Their stock chart looks like a big triangle, and you barely see it wiggle when the dot com bubble burst. Too bad for all those XFS users out there. At least it's open source.
A few reverse splits ought to help fix their delisting problem, depending on the extra requirements they must meet to be relisted.
"your browser does not support active X, please download the Micro$oft Internet Explorer to use this download" Hmm.. given their previous behaviour with there Digital Rights Restiction software, do i really want to run activex components from sony... hmm lets think about this... elapsed time .000000000001 Sec.. NO!!!!.
glad to see info on DRM, I'm writing a research paper on DRM for one of my college classes
Wow! ADSL2 at 24Mbps. It's not like any US provider offers ADSL2 at 24Mbps.
s /HighSpeedInternetForHome.asp
Well, actually:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/52221
And if you want fiber to your house:
http://www22.verizon.com/FiosForHome/channels/Fio
Trust me, insane quantities of bandwidth are overrated. I regularly get 50Mbps to Akamai sites (local mirror on campus), 30Mbps to other universities (Internet2) and around 10-20Mbps to everywhere else. In reality, the connection doesn't "feel" any faster than the 4Mbps Comcast service I had before.
As much as I hate the people writing worms and viruses, I hope that we will see the next generation of worms naming their files $sys$something. That would teach Sony a lesson and prove that their stupid file hiding technique is really a big security threat for the average computer user. For all I know, such worms or viruses may already exist...
For that kind of service I just might expatriate myself to France too.
If people do not stand up for business running slipshod over us, we give up any rights at all we have to expect functional trustworthy code.
Some of us are consumers, not businesses. We simply can't do things "The Microsoft Way" and force the end user agree to hold us not responsible. Only businesses that don't think much of their customer base could ask such a thing.
I recently had to pull all of my retirement accounts from a broker because his business site required me to use Windows and disable my security firewall. Ehhh.. disable security so I can talk to a financial institution???
Using JavaScript directors and sneakycode only leaves me wide open for a phishing spree for anyone planting a "drive-by" download on me which checks which financial institution I am using and leaves a delayed JavaScript applet waiting for me to attempt a logon, then relay said logon info to the phisher.
Why is it so frowned upon if I should walk into a bank wearing a ski mask, but its considered OK for a bank to require me to use a products and methods ( Javascript ) that I cannot verify?
As businesses proudly display the little tag that says "Best Viewed with IE", it only tells me they used quickie no-brainer web authoring technology that creates flakey code likely to foul up anything else. That kind of technology is best used for non-critical things such as the embedded OS at record-store listening kiosks. It really does not matter much if one passes by the kiosks day after day seeing an error screen.
I can't say the webmaster is dumb though... he did find someone out there who would hire him despite his inability to create web pages compatible with web standards.
Yeh, mod me flamebait. I am very pissed over what I am seeing happen these days as trying to make quick-and-dirty products overrides the need to build quality designs. Believe me, I would much rather have a century-old hammer any day than some modern all-in-one gizmo that will barely drive a nail before coming apart. Let the business man who doesn't have to watch is money and live within his budget buy that kind of stuff. Shake his hand and call him a technology partner, butter him up real good. Talk and handshakes are damned near free. I want something that works. And does not try to trick me.
Sorry to post anonomously, but I want to lay low when I speak of my financial affairs.
...people could just grow a pair of balls, vote, and stop buying music.
Any idiot can run for office. Just because people are dumb suckers who are attached at the hip to a party or morons who vote for the guy with the best marketing scheme doesn't mean the democracy is dysfunctional. The dysfunction is in the people. The people could vote for anyone they damn well pleased, but they just don't. If you can't get people off their lazy asses to vote, good luck starting the violent revolution. The system is in place to remove these people peacefully. You just need a fraction of the population to get off their asses and act. Hell, you don't even need a majority of the people to rock the boat.
The only thing easier then voting in new politicians is toppling corporations. Corporations are pushovers, especially on the consumer side. If the people collectively decided to topple Walmart, the corporations in league with the MPAA or RIAA, or any other corporation, it would be a trivial matter. Just don't buy their shit. If everyone decided not to buy from one of these companies, these companies would be out of business in a week. Even if people kept buying their shit they would flee the US in a few weeks. Corporations need cash flow. Cutting off a corporation's cash flow for even a few days is enough to kill off most corporations.
The US won't have a violent revolution any time in the foreseeable future because all of the mechanisms to fix these problems already exist, and they are a hell of a lot easier to use then taking on the US military. The problem is that people are just dumb cows who don't want to be bothered to use these mechanisms. Everything need for change is there, it just takes people to stop buying shit they don't need for a few minutes and voting like they have a brain.
Lawyers do have a duty, to the Court, to uphold the integrity of the legal process above all other interests.
... unless you're a "Jobsworth".
In the UK, that's called being a "Jobsworth" --- a person who does something because "It's more than my job's worth" not to. It equates to doing highly unethical and unfair things because "the system" says that they have to, orders unquestioned.
And that's the problem here too. Lawyers are oiling the wheels of something that's pretty close to being an extortion racket, and yet are happily claiming that no mud sticks to them.
I know that you are not directly condoning the MPAA/RIAA excesses, but somehow your words read like a defence of what your professional colleagues are doing anyway.
The train wouldn't run if the boilerman weren't stoking it.
It's high-time that someone high up in the judiciary pointed a finger at the MPAA/RIAA legal departments and said "What you're doing is legal but is not fair. Be fair. Be ethical." But elephants will fly before that happens, because there's just too much money flowing into people's pockets from the racket, and that includes lawyer's pockets.
It's pretty damn sad, and indefensible professionally
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
The big problem with this scheme is that netflix denies it exists, until you get to the third tier of customer service. I went back and forth with them for a couple of weeks, took screen shots of multiple accounts that had different wait times for the same movies (a brand new account had "ships in 24 hours", the old account had "very long wait" on a film that when first reached the top of my queue was "short wait"). A much bigger problem is that your priority is the highest during the 14 day trial period, and the moment they bill your credit card your priority drops. Which probably is a type of false advertising, as they advertise the 14 day trial period as just that, the type of service you should expect. However that is not the service you receive, unless you zero movies out in a billing cycle. Also this algorithm creates artificial shortages in films that they don't have a large stock of as those films will end up on the top of the DVD players of people who simply never send back their films.
In the end, my complaining to netflix, the BBB, and the FTC I got back two months worth of netflix service fees.
9 MBytes that are well worth it: http://www.undergroundfilm.org/media/2005/1017942_ lar.mov
The Parent agrees with you. Shortly after posting this someone else check out my observations and posted a witty ditty that said basically the same thing and they got modded up.
For the record I've a ton of Sony titles on my hard drive. I own every damned one of them, ripped them myself using AudioGrabber and the Lame codec so I can play them on any computer on my network that I happen to be sitting at or burn to CD-R and play on my Sony Mp3 car stereo system or take my Sony Vio laptop out onto the back patio and listen to music while working etc.
I've said it before and I'll say it again I'll never purchase or recomend another Sony product.
No, it doesn't. It just makes the files visible again, but leaves everything in place. It just removes the opportunity for virus writers to hide files by naming them $sys$foo. So you could consider that it removes the most dangerous part of the rootkit, but it still cripples your system (scanning active processes periodically) and cannot be uninstalled easily.
It does not have to do that, as the original DRM software ("rootkit") is still in place. That one consumes resources already, so there is no need to consume even more resources with another daemon. As the DRM software is still running, re-inserting the CD will not change anything because the software will detect that it is already installed. The only difference is that the files are visible instead of being hidden.
This is irrelevant, as they do not uninstall the DRM software. So it still counts the number of copies that you make. If you have already made your three copies before applying the "service pack", then you will have none left afterwards. Guess why they do not make it easy to uninstall the software?
-Raphaël
All of the major ISPs are rolling out ADSL2+ "triple play" services. Video, telephone service, and internet. The underlying ATM runs at 20Mbps/4Mbps for copper runs up to 800 metres, and even at 5000 metres you can get 12/1Mbps. Of this bandwidth, phone and television get dedicated timeslots, and what is left over can be used for internet. Typically there is 2Mbps for video, and 64/64kbps for voice.
.UK is years behind the rest of europe, because they don't have a regulator who can keep the marketplace honest and fair. Ofcom has been BT's bitch for years now, and with the current government it isn't going to change anything soon. The only way it could get worse would have them adopt FCC style pro-active industry support, where not only does the one big powerful monopoly get everything it asks for, but gives them even more.
The fibre ATM backbone has dedicated bandwidth to each of the three services. There are hundreds of VPIs carrying an MPEG4 video stream, the DSLAM (or the BAS) chooses which one to send down the pre-defined video slot to each subscriber. When you change channels on the CPE box, a message is sent to the DSLAM controller to change which VPI is sent to your box. There is a network dedicated to VoIP, so a telephone can be plugged into the box.
The
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
How can you expect to be taken seriously if you won't give any attention to your writing?
The people who make this odious software have contact details.
http://www.xcp-aurora.com/contact.aspx
Let them know how much you love them!
If a square is really a rhombus, why aren't all triangles purple?
Has anyone set up a mail server that you can; 1)Log into 2)Set up an email account 3)Tick a series of concerns that you wish to protest against 4)Have them send out emails using your address to the politicians/companies involved. 5)Get a weekly update of news, eg replies, new concerns you may want to be a part of. This wouldn't be spam as it was with your permission and it would be easy to do and keep track of for the average joe. Good idea/Bad Idea.....Got a better one?
/. bug #926803 - Why I can post.
What Sony is doing is reprehensible, but there is a second large problem there.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
http://www.reputable.com/images/ciscocam.jpg
Well, this is actualy driving honest customers to become pirates as well. I don't mind buying music - but I do mind companies to install software on my computer without my consent.
But then I have a Linux Box handy and prefer OggVorbis to mp3 anyway.
A rootkit is a tool that modifies the OS to make files invisible.
DRM is Digital Rights Management. It's the part that makes the discs uncopyable.
Their CD delivers both a DRM package and a rootkit to hide their DRM. Their uninstaller tool supposedly removes the rootkit portion, leaving the DRM code in place to continue to prevent copying. Although according to other posters, the software still leaves their machine in a corrupted state even after running the tool.
This isn't to say that their DRM code isn't destructive crapware. You appear to have simply confused the names of the different evil components.
John
Kids today are tyrants. They contradict their parent, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. - Socrates 400 BC
EVs use a LOT of power. We're not talking about 100-watt light bulbs here, folks; we're talking about 3,000 pounds of metal and flesh moving at expressway speeds for 30 minutes to an hour. The average power consumption of modern homebuilt EVs is around 250wh per mile. So drive 20 miles to work and you've just used up 5 kilowatt-hours. If you want to put that back in 5 minutes (1/12 of an hour), you'll need an electrical outlet capable of carrying 60kw plus losses. Good luck; let me know when your employer installs one for you, because mine sure won't.
The temperature range is not that much better than existing LiIon solutions. And I'd really like to know how anyone can claim "the active materials in A123's technology are not combustible and do not release oxygen if exposed to high temperature or in the event of battery failure or mechanical abuse" when we're talking about lithium. Expose it to oxygen, watch it burn! And don't pour water on it: that's just providing oxidizer.And the battery-swap at 100,000 miles is rapidly becoming a myth. The Toyota RAV4 EVs used NiMH packs that achieved 100 miles per charge, and were still above 80% capacity when the majority of them were turned in off lease. (Even Wikipedia has some information on that.)
For geek dads: Contraction Timer
Agreed to a point. Unfortunately, the only way to make a living as a musician is to participate in the corrupt entertainment industry. Since popular musicians provide real value to society, it's hard to fault this group. They could work in another profession as a day job, but then they could not concentrate on their chosen profession, and the public would not benefit from their musical talent.
This one is obvious. As with any megacorp, the MPAA members are responsible for doing everything in their power to maximize their profits. This includes exploiting artists wanting to make a living, exploiting the public domain by extending copyrights, and exploiting a weak government by bullying in the courts and buying laws protecting their profits.
Unfortunately, this is primarily the result of living in a republic with lax campaign finance rules. Since with our "fat and happy" populace and two-party system, votes can essentially be bought and sold with media exposure, political money is what is required to be reelected. Those politicians who stand up to the big corporate interests will fail to receive campaign funding and will not be reelected. Those who are left are the "weak" or corrupt ones who do whatever the corporations ask of them.
This is really three groups.
When it comes down to it, we have a self-sustaining system where corporations pay to elect politicians, politicians establish and protect the corporations, and politicians further protect the right of corporations to do so by not enacting real campaign finance reform. To sustain the system they must keep the populace happy and well-fed (give them their soma, as it were) thus preventing violent revolution and maintaining the ability to buy votes with media attention. For the people to effect any real change in such a system is difficult, since it is virtually impossible to get a sufficiently large group to care, especially since the two-party system ensures that everything but the largest or most well-funded group gets zero voice in government.
As for your overall point, I agree, lawyers in general are not the problem. However, the profession has become a poster child for a profession full of corrupt individuals, and with good reason. Like politicians, there is more work available for the lawyer who is willing to produce frivolous lawsuits for a client, and our court system makes such lawsuits prof
Here's two for ya, both from Canada (where we stupidly consider ourselves a lot less lawsuit-happy than the US):
1. Woman goes to an office Xmas party, has a few to drink. Boss offers her a ride home, in fact pretty much insists on it. Offers to give her cab money. Woman declines, and short of physical restraint, what can you do? She drives to a bar, has a few more drinks. Bartender offers her a ride home. She refuses. She crashes her car and injures someone. Her employer and the bar are both found partially at fault for the accident.
Ok, the bar I can almost see. We have laws to prevent them from serving alcohol to people noticably drunk. But her employer?? For years after this, office Xmas parties were either cancelled or severely curtailed. Chilling effect indeed.
2. Man goes to house party. Friend has swimming pool in the back yard. man gets extremely drunk at party and decides to jump off roof of house into pool. Misses pool, sustains severe injury. Sues homeowner, and wins.
These 2 cases were well documented. I worked in the insurance industry at the time (mid 90s), and they caused a bit of an uproar.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
The email I got from Netflix notifying me of the settlement clearly states:
"After the benefit period ends, the new or upgraded level of service will continue automatically (following an email reminder) and you will be billed accordingly, unless you cancel or modify your subscription. You can cancel or modify your subscription at any time."
Whoever wrote the summary clearly didn't RTFA.
Well, the grandparent poster confused them and I should have been more careful in my reply. Also, some reports appear to be contradictory about whether or not the rootkit part is disabled or completely removed. On the F-Secure weblog, they write that the hiding part of the rootkit (the aries.sys) is removed by the update. I suppose that I should believe them, but the information available from various sources is a bit confusing and I do not want to cripple my own system by installing that rootkit+DRM and checking what is left after I run the "service pack". I hope that this whole mess will be clearer in a couple of days and that some reliable information will be available from other places than just some blogs and their comments.
Anyway, the grandparent was hoping that the software that cripples your system (the daemon that checks what programs are running and modifies your CD driver) would be removed after the update. This is clearly not the case. It appears that the programs that consume resources and may break your system if you attempt to uninstall them are part of the DRM system, not part of the additional rootkit.
-Raphaël