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/
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!".
5 minutes to recharge a battery sounds like a recipe for a housefire to me.
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.
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 sure hope it is
$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.
"With this rootkit installed, ANY file or folder starting with $sys$ is immmedately hidden from the Windows API."
So if I rename all my pirated MP3 files as $sys$, Sony won't know I've stolen them?
Well, I am a hitman, and I'm SO DAMNED SICK of people saying that what I do is murder. My clients pay me money, give me instructions, I go research the target, determine what tactics will be effective, and then I ASK THE CLIENT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.
Without the final "go" you'll never know how close you came to a copper migraine.
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 feel sorry for you. no, really. that must be awful, having all that SGI hardware around. in fact, at great personal sacrifice, i'd be willing to take it all off your hands. no, no charge. see, i'm better than a therapist! just trying to look out for you.
:-)
lemme know where i can pick the hardware up from.
i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
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.
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...