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Antigua May Be Allowed To Violate US Copyrights
Skleed refers us to the NYTimes for an article on the high-stakes case the US is losing before the World Trade Organization. So far the US has lost an initial hearing and two appeals on its policies regarding Antiguan offshore gambling sites. Now the lawyer pressing the case has asked for a rarely invoked, but codified, recourse under WTO rules: letting Antiguans copy and distribute American music, movies, and software. The game may be to get Hollywood and Microsoft, et al., to pressure Washington to cut a deal. But their influence may not be sufficient to move lawmakers on the question of online gambling. From the article: "But not complying with the decision presents big problems of its own for Washington. That's because Mr. Mendel, who is claiming $3.4 billion in damages on behalf of Antigua, has asked the trade organization to grant a rare form of compensation if the American government refuses to accept the ruling: permission for Antiguans to violate intellectual property laws by allowing them to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products, among others."
I love it.
Intellegence indicates WMD hidden in Antequa. Marines sent to investigate.
Can you imagine a place in the world with no such thing as IP rights and regulations? It would be an information hotspot like the world has never seen. You want music/movies/files, you got them, on demand, piped through a broadband connection. It's like a geeky vacation spot, with uber-souvenirs.
Hey Pirate Bay! You just got your island!
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Fry: "What do we care? We live in the United States."
Leela: "The United States is part of the world."
Fry: "Wow, I have been gone a long time."
Thankfully, that is a transcript from the future, and America is not yet part of this "world" of which the UN speaks of
On the other hand, all those Al Queda terrorists that are using off-shore gambling in Antigua to launder their death money might provide the Whitehouse Junta plenty of ammo to freeze Antigua's assets that are in or pass through US banking.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Anyone offering odds on the outcome?
My god, man, we're talking about pirates here! High seas battles, raped women and children, missing gold, plunder at the bottom of the sea, "arg matey" and worse!
Those cretins are almost as bad as terrorists.
Unless you want to have your next sailing trip interrupted by these cannon-toting freaks, you'd better support a war!
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
ON DELETE CASCADE
We shall be initiating hostilities over "From Justin to Kelly".
That, and congress is full of ninjas. It's true.
On the plus side, with this sort of motivation behind Hollywood they might turn out to be good movies.
Of course you can't see them, they're Ninjas!!!
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
They're pirates. They're not a nation; no sovereign monarch rules over them.
Sure, you can have the Royal Navy cruise up, let fly, and hang the bastards, but that's not war, it's merely enforcement of the law.
(Yes, I'm trying to stop people from declaring war on piracy, because it is my life's goal to steal the HMS Victory, load her with cannon, and start sinking, burning or taking a prize any ship bearing the goods of the RIAA. Come to think of it, maybe carronades would be better. No one's going to suspect the HMS Victory of shooting at them.)
(Note for Government-Sponsored RIAA spooks: No, not really. I'm joking.)
(Note for Slashdot: No I'm not. Join me, mateys! The best in provisions, 16 ounces to the pound, free tobacco, mountain dew, bawls and shipwide LAN!)
Countdown to Antigua being declared a part of an "axis of evil" : 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
You know, compared to a Vista install disc, Sarin doesn't seem so bad.
Redundancy is good And also good.
Think of the damage if they used Gigli. Oh, the Humanity!!
Redundancy is good And also good.
Except that would ruin their economy and the world's too.
Other than being completely wrong though, you have a point.
I only go to buffets for the unlimited soft serve.
I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV...
Guy, you replied twice to the same post because I got you so twisted about being wrong.
That pretty much says it all.
Thanks.
I only go to buffets for the unlimited soft serve.
"Look, when you don't know anything about a subject you should keep quiet instead of proving yourself to be a fool."
And you should take your own advice cunt.
I posted a link to an analysis paper by the president of the federal reserve bank of St. Louis and two other well regarded economists. The best you could do was call it "old and poorly written", and you didn't refute a single point in it.
You posted NOTHING.
So how about you shut your idiot mouth now?
"Continuing after it's already been demonstrated is just silly."
You're right, but you decided to be a dick and attack me for proving you wrong anyway.
You lost, stop acting like a 4 year old and stamping your feet and screaming "YES HUH YES HUH!!!" when I posted proof and you posted fucking NOTHING.
Fuck off now.
I only go to buffets for the unlimited soft serve.