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Creationists Violating Copyright

The_Rook writes "The Discovery Institute, more a lawyer mill than a scientific institution, copied Harvard University's BioVisions video 'The Inner Life of the Cell,' stripped out Harvard's copyright notice, credits, and narration, inserted their own creationist-friendly narration, and renamed the video 'The Cell As an Automated City.' The new title subtly suggests that a cell is designed rather than evolved."

98 of 635 comments (clear)

  1. It was planned. by badran · · Score: 5, Funny

    Harvard was created so that they would be able to copy it. You know part of a bigger plan.

    1. Re:It was planned. by loganrapp · · Score: 5, Funny

      Doesn't fair use handle satire?

    2. Re:It was planned. by Joebert · · Score: 5, Funny

      It all makes sense now.

      God didn't create the world, God stole the Devils' science project !

      --
      Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
    3. Re:It was planned. by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I doubt it was meant in mockery. Unfortunately, I think those guys are dead serious with this.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:It was planned. by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, suddenly MS, DRM and the Bush administration start to make a lot of sense.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:It was planned. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, Jesus copied bread and fish for over 5,000 people and didn't give a shit about bakeries' and fishermens' lost profits or copyrights.

    6. Re:It was planned. by jcr · · Score: 2, Funny

      Let's not forget that Harvard was founded as a bible-thumper school. It was basically the Oral Roberts University of its day, and as it became a secular institution, the one thing it preserved from its Puritan origins is the belief that Harvard graduates are entitled to tell other people what to do.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    7. Re:It was planned. by orasio · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah but according to the cult of the FSM pirates are cool and the lack of them is causing global warming. They're just being pirates in order to combat global warming! It's not a cult, Pastafarianism is a rrrreligion.
      Arrrrrrrr!
    8. Re:It was planned. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, Jesus copied bread and fish for over 5,000 people and didn't give a shit about bakeries' and fishermens' lost profits or copyrights. What do you think was the real reason why he was crucified?
      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    9. Re:It was planned. by leenks · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, Jesus just had a royalty-free licence to use his father's patents.

    10. Re:It was planned. by 3seas · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually he just gave the hungry people a way to eat and share the food they had brought with them, but hidden, and without exposure of what they had with them to those around them.

      Or do people really believe the people of that time were so foolish to follow someone teaching a better way of life than the dog eat dog world they were living in, without taking food with them and protecting it?

      As to the cell design issue, we do have the knowledge and ability to genetically design and create life today. Its only a matter of time before we come to understand gravity enough to create a universe and work it to generate another life cycle that will then repeat the process.

      Why? The fundamental, more fundamental than sex or pro-creation efforts, but that of survival.

      If you are all that exist, the only way to know you are alive, not dying, is to grow. So the big picture plan is to expand what all exist in existence and by way of creating consciousness and all that can exist in consciousness that allows further expansion of what exist in existence.

      And you don't need religion to know this, but only your own built in survival instinct and self consciousness enough to learn how to create things far beyond what other animals are capable of.

    11. Re:It was planned. by morcego · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't know, but I'm game for any religion where you can eat your idols, as long as you can have a nice Chianti with it.

      --
      morcego
    12. Re:It was planned. by securityfolk · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Well, if you really wanna know... It's not so much the worship of spaghetti, it's the worship of a spagetti MONSTER.. that flys!! And the fact that, if you legalize religion in schools, then you must legalize it for ALL gods - Old, fatherly, white men in clouds, Flying Spaghetti Monsters, Cthulu, Zeus, Osiris, all of 'em...

    13. Re:It was planned. by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The difference between a cult and a religion is just the number of people who follow it and whether it's tax exempt.

      Mostly the latter.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    14. Re:It was planned. by lysse · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Congratulations, you've just rediscovered Gnosticism.

      *ducks & runs*

    15. Re:It was planned. by mikael · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you have any discussion about the legal rights of any religion, then using one of the established religions as an example, you risk starting a flame-war. So you need to create a hypothetical religion based on a particular character. All religions have one or more gods who helped create the world, and stories about interactions with humans in the past, thus in the case of Pastafarianism, The Flying Spaghetti Monster fills the role of being a God, and allows the discussion to take place without insulting anyone.

      An exampled discussion: Should religion artwork be allowed in government buildings?

      If all religions are to be treated fairly, then if you are to permit marble sculptures of religions figures, then you must allow be willing to accept sculptures of His Holy Noodlyness. If you are to permit paintings of a guy in white robes, white curly hair, and a long beard, then you must also be willing to permit paintings of a plate of spaghetti reaching out.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    16. Re:It was planned. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Devil: Moooom, God stole my science project & told everyone it's his !
      God: What are you talking about, science doesn't even exist !
      God & Devils' Mom: Honey, does science exist ?
      God & Devils' Dad: Hell if I know, I've been out of school for 65 million years. Satan, quit tattling on your brother like a little bitch !
      Devil: I'll show all of you !


      And that boys & girls is where we came from. The Devil created us, God stole credit, & the Devil's been acting like a little bitch about it ever since.

    17. Re:It was planned. by UncleTogie · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, according to the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, creationists are a fruit of FSM's bizzare sense of humor. Or, to put it more bluntly, a sick joke

      ...and here someone pointed out earlier that the whole point of the FSM was not to be insulting...

      Tell ya what. I'll happily buy that when the FSM can be used in a discussion thread WITHOUT someone slamming the spiritual beliefs of others.

      Note: I did not use the word "religion". Big difference 'tween being religious and bein' spiritual.

      As for the CR violation? Take 'em to court jus' like anyone else. Get a C&D order. This isn't news... unless you were LOOKING for a flame-fest 'tween two opposing sides.

      --
      Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
    18. Re:It was planned. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Tell ya what. I'll happily buy that when the FSM can be used in a discussion thread WITHOUT someone slamming the spiritual beliefs of others. FSM doesn't serve to slam spiritual beliefs, only religious fanaticism and intolerance.

      Note: I did not use the word "religion". Big difference 'tween being religious and bein' spiritual. Too true. It's religion that causes the problems, not spirituality.
    19. Re:It was planned. by kramulous · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's not a cult, Pastafarianism is a rrrreligion.

      Can somebody please tell me why I read that in Futurama's Nixon Head Voice?
      --
      .
    20. Re:It was planned. by melikamp · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually he just gave the hungry people a way to eat and share the food they had brought with them, but hidden, and without exposure of what they had with them to those around them.

      Right. And he did not really resurrect, he simply went into the deep coma on the cross, and then woke up in the tomb, scared away the guards by covering his head with a white sheet with holes for eyes, and went to hang out with the Apostles. And in the end he did not rise up to heaven, but rather collapsed from excessive blood loss, which is sort of a vertical movement too, so the holy author is not stretching the (scientific) truth by much...

      Who cares what "really happened"? From the religious side, is that even remotely important for the statement of Christian faith, which boils down to accepting the message of peace and love from the Jewish god? From the historical side, what sources are you using? Not one of the primary sources gives us an indication that these short parables were fairy tail versions of actual events. Not one. The holy authors themselves considered them to be accurate. From the modern, scientific point of view, we cannot even be sure that these are not mere stories with Jesus cast as the main character. Whenever you come up with a rationalistic explanation of a myth, you just make up history. It is certainly possible that Jesus got off the boat and stood on the shallow place, which was perceived as walking on water. Who cares? We cannot even be sure that he was on a boat that night.

    21. Re:It was planned. by KDR_11k · · Score: 3, Funny

      So, Christianity it is, then?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    22. Re:It was planned. by shaitand · · Score: 4, Insightful

      'Separation of Church and State does not equal Sterilization of Church from State.'

      Actually it does, you see, after you separate things they are no longer combined. As you have already pointed out, it is not practical to represent everyone's beliefs (numbers are irrelevant, if a single person has a belief they are equally entitled to have that belief respected as another individual who happens to have a belief shared by many others); therefore the only way to respect ALL religions is not to represent any of them in government.

      As I am sure you will agree, the best solution is to not include religious representations on city halls at all (particularly since they lack any legitimate function). Just as religious moral values have no place in our laws and should instead be instilled by family and friends and enforced through stigma in those same circles. An excellent example is prostitution, without a moral component defined by religious values there is no justification for laws against prostitution and thus there should be none. Instead, families with those beliefs should teach their children not to be or solicit prostitutes and leave those with other values alone.

    23. Re:It was planned. by Anzya · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Unfortunatly I don't have time to answer all your idéeas but let me ask you this. What where the odds that all happenings in the exodus would happen just when Moses needed them? I got no problem with natural explenations to miracles. It's the timing that I find to be a miracle.
      Sadly I don't belive I can get you to see things in the same way.

      --
      "This message was brought to you by Sarcasm and Troll Feeders United (or STFU, for you un-hip people)."
    24. Re:It was planned. by shaitand · · Score: 2

      'Slamming my belief set without presenting evidence to the contrary isn't very scientific, Spanky...'

      Those who hold spiritual beliefs shouldn't really invoke science. Holding beliefs without evidence is as unscientific as you can get, in fact is it contrary to the very concept of science. Actually, holding a belief either way is garbage since there is no credible evidence to support either stance. Before any supposed Christian archaeologist calls out, archaeological evidence that corresponds with events in the Bible serves only to date the original writings and is not evidence of the spiritual concepts contained therein.

      That said, there is no question that the probabilities support the atheists. Occam's Razor tells us that a Universe is always easier to explain than both a universe and a creator capable of creating the universe. The probability of any of the given religions on Earth being correct are drastically lower and roughly equal to the probability of the FSM beliefs being correct. Some lend weight to religions simply because they are old or widely held, this is a common fallacy, things do not actually become more likely to be valid with age.

    25. Re:It was planned. by Tyreth · · Score: 2, Informative

      The stupid thing is that the FSM was invented as a parody to counter Intelligent Design, not religion in general. I've no idea how they think that FSM makes any telling point against ID, but sure enough:
      http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/

      Why is this stupid? Because if ID is correct, it allows for FSM as much as Christianity or any other religion that involves a creator. Asking ID to be taught in schools does not entail teaching any specific religion. To make this point clearer - ID is an overarching project that encompasses many religions and materialist scenarios - Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, ancient Egyptian beliefs, FSM, and more. So FSM is a *subset* of all the possible frameworks if ID is correct. So to ask that FSM be taught alongside ID is to show a category misunderstanding. ID does not stand in contrast with FSM, but rather FSM falls under ID (as does directed panspermia and other non-religious creation scenarios). Teaching ID in schools would *not* mean teaching a specific idea, such as Christianity, with it.

    26. Re:It was planned. by nuzak · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ooh, three squares on my ID bingo card.

      Gravity is a theory, bible boy.

      --
      Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
    27. Re:It was planned. by Anonamused+Cow-herd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So to ask that FSM be taught alongside ID is to show a category misunderstanding. ID does not stand in contrast with FSM, but rather FSM falls under ID (as does directed panspermia and other non-religious creation scenarios) Right. I'm not sure what immaterial fantasy world you live in, but clearly you're reducing ID to something that is basically worthless if you're going to reduce it to something "common to all religions" or some such nonsense. If all you mean by ID is that SOMETHING created stuff with an intelligent purpose, that's one thing, but it's completely Intellectually Dishonest (ID? =P) to claim that's what the ID debate is.

      It's only when you start making SPECIFIC claims about how/what was designed, and when, that the debate gets sticky. Go back far enough, we don't have any explanation for how things came about (e.g., far before the Big Bang) -- so Intelligent Design becomes as reasonable a candidate as any other. But what most ID proponents are talking about is the evolution (sorry, creation) of complex biological organisms. In that respect, FSMism differs GREATLY from Christianity. Furthermore, the "major" religions, and all the minor ones too, seem to be unable to agree on all that as well.

      So yeah, if you reduce Intelligent Design to a stupid undebatable metaphysical nothing, you're right that it's a class misunderstanding. However, for those of us that live in the real world, the ID debate is clearly linked to particular religious ideologies, and will be embraced with THOSE ideologies in mind if adopted in PRACTICE.

      Long story short: nobody buys the stupid argument that ID "isn't about Christianity" -- least of all the people who support it. ID proponents are clearly just using that as an intellectually dishonest shield from rightful criticism. And FSMism exposes such crap for what it is: an affront to the legitimate search for reasonable explanation of observable phenomena.
      --
      -----[0_o]-----
      We are not amused.
    28. Re:It was planned. by Anonamused+Cow-herd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      and is often represented as fact when it is still just theory And what would you propose calling it? Guess what -- any non-synthetic belief you have (e.g., anything you don't base solely on faith or math) is falsifiable, and therefore a theory. Everything you work under is a theory. Here's a theory I have: the Sun will rise tomorrow. It's true, the Sun could not rise tomorrow (some galactic cataclysm -- or if you prefer, God decided to eradicate the Sun overnight). Therefore, my theory could be proven wrong. But that doesn't mean it IS wrong. In fact, I would contend you'd be foolish to believe otherwise.

      Oh my god, the Sun might not rise tomorrow! It's just a theory! Strike all mention of orbits and our solar system from science textbooks; this is just a theory!
      --
      -----[0_o]-----
      We are not amused.
    29. Re:It was planned. by amRadioHed · · Score: 2

      Actually, evolution can't be given undue weight in the biological sciences since it is the cornerstone that supports pretty much everything. It's sort of like saying that the atomic theory gets too much attention in chemistry.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  2. Well... by Kierthos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a good thing they're a lawyer mill. Because Harvard's going to sue the shit out of them.

    Now, I'm not going to say all Creationists are dumb. I've met a few who aren't. But what in the hell were these guys thinking? "Oooo... let's use their video. They'll never catch on, and even if they do, what are they going to do about it?"

    Dumbasses.

    --
    Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    1. Re:Well... by AndrewBuck · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is going to be interesting...lawyer mill vs the number 1 law school in the country. Not only that but the poster above makes an interesting point about fair use (although I think it was more intended as flaimbait). Probably not fair use in this case though as they didn't "comment on" the movie ,they simply took a part of it and worked it into their own creation, derivative work if I understand correctly. Regardless of the legal merits of the situation, I hope the media at large pick up on this, after they posted fake DMCA takedowns to silence their opponents they go and do this...not exactly ethical, even if it was "legal."

      -Buck

    2. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      *in mr burns voice*

      Oooh, a lawsuit from "harvard"

      What are they going to do, row us to death?

      Oh no, I'm so scared!

    3. Re:Well... by rm999 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm not a lawyer, but sue them for what? Don't you have to prove that you lost money when you are suing for damages? Clearly what the creationists did was illegal/immoral, but it seems like people are blowing this our of proportion. I think what will happen is the creationists will remove the video and "sort of" apologize for plagiarism - by sort of, I mean they'll blame some scapegoat who "didn't know better, and has been removed from the organization. "

    4. Re:Well... by Kierthos · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It was intended to be sarcastic, if that helps.

      The Discovery Institute is almost certainly going to claim Fair Use or something similiar, but I don't see how they can justify that when they stripped out the credits and copyright notice. Not to mention the narration.

      Actually, I think it's the new narration that's going to get it disqualified under Fair Use. By taking the "opposite" tack of evolution (i.e. design), they're in effect, diluting the value of the original work.

      --
      Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
    5. Re:Well... by Volante3192 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I thought Fair Use required attribution of the source?... Stripping it out and claiming it as your own, that's a case example of copyright infringement.

    6. Re:Well... by belmolis · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Copyright Act allows the copyright holder to choose between actual damages and statutory damages, which may be as much as $150,000 per infringement. Furthermore, it is not out of the question that punitive damages will be awarded if the infringement is intentional and egregious, which is arguably the case here. Traditionally, it has been assumed that punitive damages are not available for copyright infringement, but courts have awarded them in some recent cases.

    7. Re:Well... by dbIII · · Score: 2

      Creationists haven't even read their favourite book as far as the bit written by Paul. It's not about rejecting evolution, biology, geology etc - it's about taking things one step further than rejecting an educated clergy like these groups did decades ago, it's about rejecting education in general.

    8. Re:Well... by belmolis · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, the $150,000 is a maximum, and it is available only if the infringement is intentional. If the infringement is unintentional, the maximum is $30,000. An additional financial threat is that the court may award costs and attorneys' fees to the copyright holder. Statutory damages do not depend on actual losses - that is precisely what distinguishes them from actual damages. Critics have been arguing that the damages demanded in the RIAA suits are excessive in comparison to the value of the songs, but at least as far as the law is concerned, those arguments are beside the point. The very purpose of allowing the plaintiff to select statutory damages is to break the connection to actual damages. Congress may have made a bad choice of policy, and there is an argument that the statutory damages allowed are in at least some cases so excessive as to be unconstitutional, but as the law now stands, in the United States, a copyright holder unable to demonstrate significant actual damages still stands to receive substantial statutory damages.

    9. Re:Well... by Hans+Lehmann · · Score: 2

      I agree completely, except the part where you claim that not all creationists are dumb.

      --
      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
  3. seen printed in the cell DNA.... by ross.w · · Score: 4, Funny

    (C)Copyright 4000BC God
    All rights reserved
    Reproduction other than by the means provided for in your licence agreement is prohibited

    --
    If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
    1. Re:seen printed in the cell DNA.... by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually it's 4000BCS. Before common sense.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. My alternative theory... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Doesn't it make more sense to believe that Harvard stripped out the creastionist commentary from the video and slapped on a copyright notice? It would be far too complex to edit a Harvard video to add commentary, thus I must go with this simpler explanation and blame Harvard.

    1. Re:My alternative theory... by gzipped_tar · · Score: 3, Informative

      It would be far too complex to edit a Harvard video to add commentary,
      Haha. More complex than editing your (posted) /. post?
      BTW: You can watch the harvard video here: http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/media.html
      That was a superb animation. I watched it for the first time 3 months ago. Another version goes with no commentaries but only music and you can find it from Youtube.
      --
      Colorless green Cthulhu waits dreaming furiously.
  5. Harvard Can't possibly have copyright by DullTrev · · Score: 5, Funny

    God created everything.

    --
    Trev - used to be interesting. Honest.
    1. Re:Harvard Can't possibly have copyright by flyingfsck · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hmm, does that explain "In God We Trust"?

      --
      Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  6. Surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They ignore common sense, who could have guessed they would ignore other peoples copyright?...

  7. So...what you're saying is by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...the film was originally intelligently designed. Then it evolved.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  8. Oblig. M.C. Hawking by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fuck the creationists, those bunch of dumb-ass bitches,
    every time I think of them, my trigger finger itches,
    They want to have their bullshit...taught in public class,
    Stephen J. Gould should put his foot right up their ass! ...

  9. What to choose... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Funny
    Creationists stealing from scientists because they cannot intelligently design their own presentation? The Discovery Institute unable to discover anything on their own? Ignoring morality as a means to their own creation? Dishonest lawyers? (OK, that last one's obvious.)

    What to choose, what to choose...

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  10. The new audio makes it worse! by or-switch · · Score: 3, Insightful
    What's really strange is that the original version doesn't say anything that would negate a creationists argument, and the creationist version doesn't say anything that would negate evolution. What I find bizarre is that they dubbed over it with a new track and edited the sequencing. The result is that they look like idiots because they get some information wrong, and the guy doing the narration says, "Uh," a lot and stammers his way through it. It's like the edited the original video and gave him one pass to explain what was happening and it was moving too fast. There was NO reason to dub over it.

    What's worse than peddling religion in the name of science? Doing it badly! Come on, at least believe strongly enough in your own message to articulate it clearly.

  11. Re:Look for the double standard. by dotancohen · · Score: 5, Funny

    The difference is, that the average downloader is not changing the words a little then claiming the work as their own. Those people are called "rap artists".

    --
    It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  12. Re:Slashdot is now KDawson's soapbox by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 4, Funny

    KDAWSON IS A FUCKING BITCH AND A CUNT
    I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
  13. What's the problem? by DrKyle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have used this video in my intro biology class, telling them it is an absolutely marvelous video and that by the time they graduate they will understand the complex processes depicted. I have spoken through it, thereby adding my own narration. Does this mean I am going to get sued too? In finding this video for my class I noticed many versions out there on youtube and other video sites, ones which had the copyright notice absent already, so does this mean I would get sued for showing those instead of the original? It's not like they posted the video on a site representing it as their own, it was part of a powerpoint presentation and I really doubt there is solid grounds to show they did anything wrong. Just because they are pushing their own agenda which the poster disagrees with does not mean they are any worse than other people making up a powerpoint presentation and not citing every graphic and video they find on the web.

    1. Re:What's the problem? by wickerprints · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That depends on whether you tried to pass the video off as your own creation. That, in essence, is the core of the issue with the Discovery Institute's usage. Despite the title of the summary, the copyright violation is not what lies at the heart of this matter--it is the plagiarism. Surely your students cannot reasonably assume you were the sole author of the video. The same could not be said of a large, well-funded organization such as the DI.

  14. Re:On which day did God create Cells? by wizardforce · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We know that, we just find it amusing that the same institute preaching that Evolution causes immorality is the one that is blatently stealing another's work [er infringing that is] it would be ironic if it were not preceded by earlier nonsense on their account.

    --
    Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
  15. Removing logo good thing? by Keruo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Isn't it better that they removed the logo?
    Otherwise it might appear to some person watching that the ramblings were actually created by harvard.

    --
    There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
  16. Not merely copyright violation by wickerprints · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To call the Discovery Institute's use of the Harvard video merely "copyright violation" overlooks the more fundamental problem, because the DI did not just copy and redistribute the content without permission, but in fact (a) distorted and misrepresented the meaning of the content via overdubbed narration, and (b) knowingly misrepresented the authorship of the content. The former is fraud (though perhaps not in a legal context), and the second is plagiarism (which does satisfy the legal definition).

    Violation of copyright is really only the superficial issue, and only addresses the ownership of the original work.

    The creationist/intelligent design cabal is successful because since the time of Darwin, they have understood that their views cannot be defended through legitimate scientific inquiry, and can never be by definition. Therefore, they attack evolution by natural selection by appealing to and exploiting public passions, fears, and ignorance, and cloaking themselves in psuedoscientific legitimacy. They hope to insinuate themselves into rational discourse by invoking a false sense of objectivity and open-mindedness, appealing to the public to "hear both sides," which is merely a sophistic tactic to put their position on equal footing with decades of confirmed and verified scientific theory.

    In the end, what I truly don't understand is why the creationists are so hell-bent on disproving evolution. History has shown us time and time again that when religion fights science, religion ends up with egg on its face. (Galileo and his support of Copernican heliocentrism comes to mind.) If I were devoutly religious, the last thing I would want is to try to prove God's existence, because then such a proof would obviate the need for faith in the first place. Such a desire to enshrine one's belief in the language of science seems horribly misplaced at best, and ultimately, is a far greater detriment and threat to religion than science. Meanwhile, the scientists can only follow the path that nature reveals.

    1. Re:Not merely copyright violation by novakyu · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Er, before you start foaming at your mouth, I recommend that you actually watch the original video with the original narration. Listen to every word carefully (I'm not a biologist, but I could understand most of it, so unless you are stupid or utterly unqualified to make the remarks you did, you should be able to also), and ask yourself: "Which part of that original narration supports Darwinian evolution?"

      Your integrity ought to be questioned if your answer is anything other than "Nothing!" The video does look like a ... very sophisticated computer animation with probably biologically correct description of the cell. But that's where it stops. It describes what happens in the cell TODAY, not what might have happened over last couple billion years (or, in the interest of fairness, whether it just had to be designed by a creator).

      Given this fact, your characterization of the modified presentation as "distorted and misrepresented" is ... well, let's say over-zealous. I'm not saying that the creationist is right in not correctly attributing the Harvard biologist who made the original animation. But, given that the original says nothing about "Creation vs. Evolution" debate, would his presentation have been any less effective if he made the correct attribution? No. After, all, creationists also claim to be (I'm not supporting or denying their claim) scientists, and it is no shame to refer to another scientist's work.

      As for the copyright aspect ... well, I am not a lawyer and I wouldn't be able to make a cogent argument for or against this particular use. But let me just say, what the creationist did looks very similar to what some people do to make those anime "music videos" on the YouTube. If you condemn him as "distorting and misrepresenting" the original work, by the same measure, you should condemn the people creating those music videos because they are putting the animation together with music that was never designed to be put together and creating possibly misleading atmosphere. Is that what you want to do?

      The whole "creation vs. evolution" argument has an effect on people that makes them utterly stupid and unable to make intelligent, rational arguments (yes, that goes for rabid creationists, as well as rabid evolutionists). If you want to save what is left of your intelligence, I advise you to take a step back and look at the debate from a distance. That's what I do as a believing scientist.

      As for what copyright ought to allow people to do and ought not, I invite you to watch Lessig's wonderful presentation and make up your own mind: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187.

    2. Re:Not merely copyright violation by wickerprints · · Score: 4, Informative

      You might want to read my response in another thread before you jump to conclusions about what I am or am not saying about intelligent design. I am hardly brainwashed.

      I stand by my claim that the DI misrepresented and distorted the original content of the video, precisely because the original narration does not make any statement about how these biochemical mechanisms came into being, and because it is reasonable to presume that the video's content was developed by scientists, they could not legitimately believe that intelligent design furnishes a valid scientific framework for these mechanisms' existence. The logical conclusion is that the subsequent use is a distortion.

      Furthermore, to compare this misrepresentation to an AMV on YouTube may be valid from a legal standpoint, but invalid from a sociopolitical standpoint. For instance, you would not want the media to similarly play fast and loose with content they did not author or to fail to cite or document their sources (though quite unfortunately, they often do--hence the introduction of the word "truthiness" in our modern lexicon). It is not reasonable to hold all such forms of content manipulation to the same standard, as those with a background in journalism and/or art history could point out.

      I find it interesting that so few people seem to have a problem with the failure to make the proper attribution, and the implications thereof. There is no reason not to, unless the intent is to mask the true authorship of the original work. That this is something that happens on YouTube does not make it less egregious, or any more justifiable. Perhaps these increasingly lax attitudes towards plagiarism is an unfortunate reflection of the great ease with which information is replicated and manipulated nowadays, and the corresponding difficulty in determining the original source.

  17. Re:Uh, fair use? by IllForgetMyNickSoonA · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually, no. You won't find ANY supporter of the "information wants to be free" idea arguing that taking somebody's work, striping the copyright, modifying parts of it and selling it as your own product should be somehow acceptable. Quite the opposite is the case: information DOES want to be free, but the COPYRIGHTS have nothing to do with it. Check tha recent law suits of BusyBox authors, or the numerous suits on behalf of the author of the netfilter software for example.

    But I suppose you already know that and you were only trolling, correct?

  18. Re:On which day did God create Cells? by MichaelSmith · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "God made it that way" ends all arguments for them so there is no rational thought behind their position.

    I am sure that most anti-evolution parents would want their child to grow up to marry a good looking person of the opposite sex with lots of money and no history of disease in the family.

  19. Re:"We're Right But They're Bigots" Continues by wickerprints · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your post isn't going to be modded down because the rest of us are bigoted (or even merely biased) against your viewpoint, but because it fails to address the reality of the situation. (1) The Discovery Institute did not secure permission to use the video. (2) The video was shown with the copyright removed. (3) The substance of the video was changed by overdubbed narration that implied that the video depicted evidence of intelligent design in biochemical mechanisms. (4) Through the removal of copyright information and failure to refer to the actual source, the DI plagiarized the video by presenting it as its own original work rather than a derivative work. This action is not covered under fair use.

    I would also like to point out that complaining that your post will be modded down is not somehow a sort of magical incantation to prevent it from actually being modded down. That sort of reverse psychology does not work, especially when you fail to have any legitimate points.

  20. Re:Uh, fair use? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You keep using the word 'parody'. It's not a parody. And it's one thing to borrow someone else's data... quite another thing to borrow their artistic representation of it.

  21. Re:"We're Right But They're Bigots" Continues by king-manic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So, when a darwinist copies something, it's fair-use, but if a creationist copies something it's a copyright violation? Darwinists do not exist. It's simply a pejorative label certain obstinate creation story supporters place on their opposition.

    What always gets me is that one group will flame another group, then call it bigotry if that group flames them back, or disagrees with them. This goes for copyrighted material users, file-sharers/industry, race, religion, Operating Systems, etc. Just read the posts above this one and you'll see a lot of bashing already in progress. See bigotry at its' finest. I wouldn't be surprised if my post gets modded down. I rarely see the "pro-science" side call creationists bigots. More often it's "knowledge deficient" or some synonym there of. Tolerance is a funny idea. You ought only tolerate what doesn't harm you or others. In this case I cannot tolerate creationism. You have already prematurely labeled me a bigot but if it means simply I am intolerant of inadequately supported ideas then thank you I must be a bigot.
    --
    "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
  22. Re:If the Creationists keep this up... by sqrt(2) · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's why I said good scientists. A PhD doing those things is actually just being a good politician. If you consider that their job is really to keep the money flowing into their department, then they ARE doing a good job. The problem is really that we've allowed a system to form where those types of people have a place.

    --
    If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
  23. kdawsonisatroll? by qmaqdk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you're a creationist, everyone in here is a troll. What, with the science-voodoo and all.

    --
    My UID is prime. Hah!
  24. Wow. by crowbarsarefornerdyg · · Score: 3, Interesting
    First off, this post is made in good faith; this is not intended as trolling, flamebaiting, or anything equally as offensive.

    I truly want to apologize for the criminal stupidity that perpetrated this.

    No, I don't work for DI or have any association with that particular group. I've been down this road before on Slashdot, but it bears repeating: I am a religious person. But I am not a "Christian", in fact, I am scored by Christians for the most part. I don't particularly believe in "intelligent design", because it doesn't make sense to me. I prefer to see God as a scientist rather than a "Creator". Anyone who has studied any kind of religion in college (most people at my old community college took comparative religion for an easy humanities credit) will realize that the Bible is full of allegories and euphemisms. Who are we to say that Adam and Eve were the first creations of God? Maybe they were the end result of an experiment being run by God; the first to understand, so to speak, what they are and their place in the natural order of Earth.

    To think that we sprung up out of the ground is preposterous to me. Fundamentalist Christians will point to the Bible saying "God created Adam from the dust of the earth" as proof of intelligent design. Is it at all possible that "the dust of the earth" is the primordial ooze scientists refer to? Could, as Robin Williams said, the passage "God said 'Let there be light'" be a euphemism for the Big Bang?

    I do believe in science as well; we have made some amazing advancements in the last 20 years. I am excited to read of a new scientific breakthrough or a new understanding of something that seemed miraculous not 10 years ago. Now, if you will all excuse me, I'm going to go back to reading. Putting something as ethereal as my religious beliefs into words is not nearly as easy as it might seem. And thank you for reading what to most would probably seem to be a psychotic episode put into words.

    --
    "Slapping lipstick on a pig does NOT make it Natalie Portman. Paris Hilton, maybe, but not Portman." - UncleTogie
  25. Re:Look for the double standard. by darknb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Rap Artists.
    I fail to understand why the parent is Modded 5. Have we at Slashdot become bigots? When a rock cover re-contextualizes a piece of music and gives it a new meaning, it is considered great (assuming you know, its not just some hero worshiping schlock.) When Jimi Hendrix covered "All Along The Watchtower" he took a previously good song and created a new (and in many people's opinion more powerful) piece of art. Even more radical was his cover of the American National Anthem, itself a 'cover' of an old drinking ditty. Art is made from the parts of other art, building on or refuting previous works to create new and more vibrant works much in the same way that science builds and refutes older science. Bookingkeeping the credits on art have not been necessary before, why now? Why is "All Along the Watchtower" more legitmate then "Planet Rock"? Please stop applying this shit-poor double-standard to techno/dance/disco/rap/hiphop/pop... Please stop telling people "Yeah, I like everything but country and rap". Please stop mentioning "Rap Artists" in that tone on Slashdot ever again- You shame us all. In the words of the great Afrika Bambaataa "Guys who say 'I'm just a hip-hop dj' don't know jack crap what hip-hop is."

    Justin Roberts

    Besides, any argument that can be used to prove daft punk sucks, is most obviously shit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJPdVVOmbz4

  26. Re:"We're Right But They're Bigots" Continues by wickerprints · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your post is misleading, because the controversy over intelligent design, and the problem that scientists have with it, is not that it is true or false. The creationists/ID proponents would like people to frame it in such a context, because it pits scientists against dogmatic faith in a supernatural creator. I will only say this once, because it is so obvious that it is a wonder that it needs to be said at all:

    The problem is that the theory of Intelligent Design* is not science.

    Note that this statement does not say anything about the truth of ID. It merely states that ID as a proposed explanation of the origin of life does not satisfy fundamental criteria necessary to be called science. I cannot tell you whether ID is true or false, because I DO NOT KNOW. But I can tell you that it isn't a scientific theory. Why its proponents seem so desperate to enshrine it as science and somehow believe that shrouding it in the mantle of science would increase its legitimacy, I cannot understand. I am perfectly willing to entertain the notion that the universe had a divine creator, as I am also willing to entertain the notion of a supernatural origin of life, as are many scientists. But as scientists, none of us can rationally place those notions in a scientific framework.

    *Note that I use the phrase "Intelligent Design" here in its broadest context--that the origin of life is supernatural, rather than in its specific statements that strive to demonstrate this claim (e.g., the argument of irreducible complexity).

  27. Re:Uh, fair use? by Sique · · Score: 4, Informative

    No. This is something completely different.

    It would be right if we found the video without any narrative buried deep in the remainings of an ancient civilisation or something else. Then both narratives would be part of a discourse how to interpret the video. Then the video would be the raw scientific data, and both narratives had their rightful purpose.

    Here it is different. The video is in no way raw data. It was choosen, cut, mounted together to help explaining something. In this case the narrative is the core of the video, and the pictures are merely there to illustrate. As someone who routinely draws comics as a hobby I always was playing with the possibilitiy to erase all words in a comic strip and then fill in something else which narrates a completely different story. Misinterpretation of a sequence of pictures is thus no "scientific discourse", it is always possible. At most it shows that the pictures alone are not enough to make the case for what Harvard wanted to explain with the video (but Harvard added the narrative anyway because the knew it was not enough). If the Institute wanted to show that, they might have a case, albeit a weak one.

    But in this case it is just making a derivative work of someone else's work without a) getting a permission and b) without attributing it correctly. This is purely a copyright case, nothing else.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*
  28. Re:If the Creationists keep this up... by sqrt(2) · · Score: 2

    If their beliefs are so fragile that they can be undone by a movie, I think they have some deeper problems to contend with. If they are truly comfortable with their beliefs they should welcome criticism because they know their ideas will be able to stand on their own merit, the only reason to be this protective is if they're fearful of people taking a critical look at their religion and realizing they don't agree. What scares them is free thought. It has for centuries.

    --
    If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
  29. Re:Uh, fair use? by Yokaze · · Score: 2, Informative

    > Scientists borrow representations from one another all the time

    Yes, with citing the correct source. Without it, it is plagiarism, which can easily mean the end of a scientific career.

    --
    "Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
  30. Re:Uh, fair use? by Holmwood · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's quite another to argue that it's okay to chop up, re-arrange, and misrepresent the message for propaganda purposes, and call that "freedom."
    One man's propaganda is another man's truth.

    And what you decry is a vital part of freedom, in my view.

    In the film "Bowling for Columbine", Michael Moore chopped up (and spliced in) copywritten videos of Charlton Heston speaking a set of words he actually uttered months apart.

    This was a distortion, a misrepresentation and, yes I suppose it could be said to be propaganda. It also made the point that a lot of people believe the NRA is too cold and uncaring about things like school shootings.

    He won an academy award for that film.

    Whether one is pro or anti Moore's arguments, surely we could agree that what he did should be constitutionally protected?

    And yet he did exactly what you decry.

    I'm not sure that what the DI did meets that test though. They apparently reproduced nearly the entire film, stripping out the narration. Unless we accept, as one commenter above argues, that the narration was the core of the copy written material, I don't think their actions pass muster.

    But I think that's because it's reproducing too much of the copy written material and not putting in enough of their own.

    If you don't agree with me, think about it like this. If you "chop up and re-arrange and 'misrepresent', what I've just said to argue against me, then you would, by your arguments, be breaking the law. This post, after all, is copyright and owned by me. It says so right at the very bottom of this page!

    Regards,
    -Holmwood
  31. Re:Uh, fair use? by Sique · · Score: 2, Informative

    It may or may not be valid scientific discourse (I lean to no), but if your argument is that someone making a mistaken (or even flawed or foolish argument) is therefore guilty of copyright violation when someone who does exactly the same thing but makes a valid argument isn't, then that would place a very unhealthy chill on free expression. You seem to argue that the video somehow was there, and then Harvard made a narrative for it, and later on Discovery Institute made another narrative. But the video was made by Harvard. They might have taken other sources (and they have to state so in the video, if they use another person's videos), but they did three things that makes this video a Work of Art on its own: a) They've choosen the pictures. b) They cut the pictures to length fitting their own intend c) They assembled them in a certain order. This technique is known as a collage, and thus it is by itself a Work of Art.

    Discovery Institute didn't do so. They took a prefabricated sequence of pictures. They didn't change their order. Their narrative might be their own and probably is entitled to its own copyright. But everything else violates Harvard's copyright to the collage of pictures.
    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*
  32. Slashdot complaining about copyright violations by OeLeWaPpErKe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Perhaps some kind of DRM on harvard's videos is in order ?

    Are slashdot writers truly this hypocritical ? If nobody gets to enforce copyright (especially not riaa) then why does slashdot get to ?

    1. Re:Slashdot complaining about copyright violations by Solra+Bizna · · Score: 4, Informative

      The majority view here on Slashdot is:

      • DRM is bad because it prevents people who legitimately own the media from doing what they want with it (including, in extreme cases, play it)
      • Copyright violation (at least as far as taking credit for others' work; we'll ignore the issue of piracy) is bad for reasons that don't warrant an explanation
      • The RIAA is bad because they're suing innocent people, and suing for much more than actual damages

      Does that answer your question?

      -:sigma.SB

      --
      WARN
      THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM
    2. Re:Slashdot complaining about copyright violations by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps some kind of DRM on harvard's videos is in order ?

      No.

      Are slashdot writers truly this hypocritical ? If nobody gets to enforce copyright (especially not riaa) then why does slashdot get to ?

      That's not hypocritical. They didn't just copy the Harvard video, they stripped the copyright statement! That's plagarism. Note that even the most liberal OSS licenses (e.g. the two-clause BSD) still maintain that you are not allowed to remove the copyright notice. And I doubt you'll find many slashdotters who would claim that plagiarism should be allowed.

      If they had just copied and distributed the Harvard video, I'm sure not many people here would have objected.

      I'm a scientist. If you make copies of my articles and propagate them, I'm happy. If you take my articles, change a few things, remove my name and add yours, I'm angry.
      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    3. Re:Slashdot complaining about copyright violations by phulegart · · Score: 2, Informative

      WTF???

      The GP said

      "Copyright violation... ...is bad." Now, there were other words in there, and some of them in parenthesis. If you want to insist that those other words not be ignored, then "Copyright violation, at least as far as taking credit for other's work, is bad." The addition of "for reasons that don't warrant an explanation" is relevant, but ignorable. Still, the most basic of reading comprehension will reveal that the GP said Copyright violation is bad.

      You said "This is not true." then said nothing about HOW it is not true. You began to attempt to attack software piracy. However, I am still baffled as to why you believe copyright violation is a good thing.

      Also, you really should spend a little more time in the real world, and also do a little research before you decide to refute other people's statements. The RIAA have sued the parents of children that have downloaded material, and while the children might have done something wrong, the parents certainly did not. "Single mom Tanya Andersen, a defendant in a previous lawsuit brought by the RIAA, was one of the first to have her case dismissed with prejudice (it cannot be refiled at a later date)." (you can look that quote up, research...).

      There's More. "In a lawsuit filed in January (2005), the RIAA accused 83-year old Gertrude Walton of sharing over 700 pop, rock and rap songs under the alias 'smittenedkitten.' What the RIAA didn't know is that Walton had passed away in December following a long illness. Her daughter, Robin Chianumba, has lived with Walton for the past 17 years and told the Charleston Gazette that her mother refused to even have a computer in the house."

      So there is MORE than ample proof that the RIAA have sued innocent people. Get your facts straight.

      --
      "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -D. Adams
    4. Re:Slashdot complaining about copyright violations by aussie_a · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The RIAA is bad because they're suing innocent people Wait, you only attack the RIAA when they sue innocent people? Because as far as I've seen slashdot rallies to the defense of any pirate!
  33. Re:A good example of "repurposing" by Sique · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yes, it is possible to create your own Work of Art based on another work. No one argues against that. I never claimed that DI's creation shouldn't be protected by the same copyright laws that protect Harvard's creation. If the Discovery Institute cries foul after you took their version of Harvard's video, stripped everything except the narrative and made new pictures that fit the narrative, but show something completely different, then the Discovery Institute might well go after you for copyright violation, if you don't ask their permission and don't give credits.

    --
    .sig: Sique *sigh*
  34. Um... all of it? by NIckGorton · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and ask yourself: "Which part of that original narration supports Darwinian evolution?" The entire thing supports evolutionary theory. This is because biology - in all its manifestations - cannot be understood without an understanding of evolutionary theory. It would be like trying to discuss or explain organic chemistry while denying the existence of the atom.
  35. Re:So, only 29 years left? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Funny

    (C)Copyright 4000BC God


    Considering that current law states that copyright is valid until 70 years after the author's death, that copyright will expire in 2036.


    Of course, since there's this other person who also died in 1966, the copyright period will probably be extended before it expires.

    Well, since Jesus is God, Jesus died when crucified at some time around the year 30, and the copyright law doesn't state that copyrights are reinstated on resurrection, the copyright has expired long ago.
    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  36. Re:If the Creationists keep this up... by 91degrees · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Speak for yourself. I, personally, am delighted that Christians have attacked The Golden Compass. For the first time I can remember, they've actually a picked a film that's anti-religion to attack as anti-religious.

  37. ID arguments fall apart under their own theory by jgoemat · · Score: 4, Informative

    ID arguments fall apart under their own theory. Their theory basically states that some things in nature are too complex to have come about randomly, therefore someone must have designed them. It's notable that this is a logical argument, not a scientific one. There is no testable statement here. The only valid test would be to put an empty jar in a room and wait for "the designer" to place a new form of life in it. I haven't heard of any successful experiments of this type :).

    Their current argument though would look at a tree's cells and all of the complexities that go on and say that there is no way it could have evolved. ID just says evolution is false, it doesn't try to explain anything itself. Take just the leaf of a tree though. If you just look at it, you would say someone designed it, placed everything exactly where it was and made this beautiful design. If you know anything about biology, or if you just watch a leaf grow from spring to summer, you will see that it wasn't placed there, it grew out of the tree. ID proponents would say that is hogwash. There's no way that a seed could turn into a tree. Just look at them, the seed is so small and the tree is a complex structure with many types of cells. Someone had to design each leaf and place it there, there's no way a single seed could become a whole tree with all the different leaves.

    ID proponents don't claim this that I know of because they can see it happen. Everyone can observe a tree growing and we know that it ends up the way it is because of a natural process that begins with the DNA encoded in the seed and that is modified by the environment the tree grows in. They can't 'see' evolution occur so they dismiss it in favor of something written in a book thousands of years ago with no proof that most of the world's population doesn't even believe. In reality, we've observed DNA mutations and even speciation events. They can't comprehend the size of the Earth and the billions of years that it has existed, so they claim evolutionists just "throw billions of years at the problem" to explain it.

    My favorite is when an atheist in a debate claimed that our large brain size was proof of evolution because prior to modern medicine, 20% of women died in childbirth due to the size of the babies' heads. The "true believers" claimed this was proof that natural selection was false because it caused the woman to die. If a larger brain gave even a 10% advantage to survival though, it would prove to be a total benefit to the species, and we can see now it has worked since we've become the dominant species on the planet due largely to our intelligence. If you look at it from a designer's perspective though, there is no plausible reason not to just make the woman's hips a little wider. From an evolutionist's perspective, the change just hasn't happened yet. Now of course there is little selective pressure since we have modern medicine and C-Sections available.

    1. Re:ID arguments fall apart under their own theory by werdnapk · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Nova covered ID/Creationism recently... http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/program.html

  38. Thank you letter by brennz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dear Slashdot community,

    The Discovery Institute would like to thank you for raising the visibility of our organization and our fight for justice. For many years we have fought to enable creation theory in the classroom alongside evolutionary theory. Your efforts have assisted us greatly in getting the word out on our issues. It is important to acknowledge that for too long, Christians have lacked legal representation. Now our law firm 'The Discovery Institute' fights for them in the courtroom. We would like for everyone to think of us as like the MPAA/RIAA, but motivated instead by "heavenly profits".

    Sincerely,

    Fun. D. Mental
    Esquire
    Director of Outreach
    The Discovery Institute

    * disclaimer - I love the potential for satire in this situation but I think darwinian evolution is a seriously flawed theory *

  39. Re:On which day did God create Cells? by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's like in the Simpsons episode where Xena explains the continuity goofs in Xena, "Whenever you see a continuity mistake, a wizard did it".

    Now replace wizard with God and you're set.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  40. DO IT AGAIN! by DynaSoar · · Score: 2, Funny

    Get the DI version. This time give it a narration about the Flying Spaghetti Monster and J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, and name it something like "Free Sex Money" so that everybody downloads it. Credit it to the Descovery Instantoot to make it obvious (at least to DI) where it was taken from. Add a text file to the torrent saying what was done and why.

    Since it's making fun of an existing work (whether stolen or not) it's a parody, and so protected as free speech from both Harvard and DI.

    --
    "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
  41. The Scientific Method by yintercept · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would actually go as far as to say that Science is largely built by people using the representations of others.

    If one scientist reads about a scientific experiment of another scientist. The scientist decides to try the experiment. The scientist sits down and repeats the experiment and carefully writes down each step he takes in the experiment. When he is done, he has a notebook full of information and test results that are surprisingly similar to the first scientist.

    So, we now have the case where scientist A has a notebook that says I did this and got these results. Scientist B has a notebook says I did this and got these results. The two notebooks are surprisingly similar.

    Is Scientist B a copyright violating plagiarist?

    There is one very subtle point to be made. Yes, there is an argument that Scientist B should cite Scientist A. However, this is countered by the idea that nature is the source of the information. Scientists may intentionally distance themselves the original experiment to make sure that information from the first experiment does not affect the second experiment; in which case it is easy to accidentally lose the citation.

    Science was built by people repeating the same experiments over, over and over again. When they repeat the same experiments, they come up with the same results. If we had a lawsuit every time one scientist repeated an experiment of another simply because the notes on the experiment came out similar, then science would halt dead in its tracks.

    Lets say Scientist A and Scientist B had different theories about what caused a result set. In that case the two scientists would have different narratives for the existing data. They then would put together a third experiment to test different predictions.

    It sounds likely that this Discovery group is engaged in crap science. There really is no experiment which can ever prove of disprove the disagreement between evolutionists and creationists. The fact that creationists can stick their narrative on the works of other scientists proves this point.

    We may hate creationists with every fiber of our being. They may be a thorn in our sides. But do we really want courts controlling the natural give and take that exists in the scientific community because we hate creationists? Do we really want science to be driven by our hatred of a group that is on the fringe?

  42. Beaker speaks! by NIckGorton · · Score: 2, Funny

    I used to work in a microbiology lab which worked on vaccine research. I can't think of anything I did there on a day-to-day basis there, or really anything anyone did there, required anything that vaguely resembled an understanding of modern evolutionary theory. Does it require evolutionary biology to do grunt lab work, run gels, grow cultures per recipe, etc? Not at all. Does it require evolutionary biology to understand how pathogens evolve to better invade hosts and evade their immune systems. Does it require evolutionary biology to understand how organisms evolve to better protect themselves from those? Yes. In fact, TFA was written by someone who studies that very thing. But if you were someone who actually did research in immunology, virology, and vaccine research you would know that.

    However if your contribution in the lab was as a tech running the experiments that people like the author of TFA designed, I could easily see why you wouldn't catch that link. So your bad there... but hey, awesome job showing yourself to be an ignorant tool who thinks he can argue vaccine science because he once had a summer job washing glassware and running the autoclave in a lab near folks who understand it. Just because the lab where you worked did research that doesn't mean you did.

    And it shows.
  43. It was his punishment,,,, by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Painful childbirth was eve's punishment for eating the apple, I love pointing this out to pregnant Christians when they discuss epidurals. I once pointed it out to a Christian obstetrician, that was priceless.

    Try it sometime, you'll see a perfect example of the cognitive dissonance Christians undergo when faced with some of the less savory aspects of The Bible. They've got prepared excuses for things like creation, but not childbirth pain.

    "It's SUPPOSED to hurt, and you're SUPPOSED to suffer. Epidurals are in direct defiance of god's wishes and you'll burn in hell."

    In fact...most of my arguing with Christians works this way these days. I've long given up trying to educate them - it's futile. Now I just point out flaws in their "Christian" behavior. A good one is to point out the bit where they're not supposed to own cars or TV sets, that they have to give everything they own to the poor and let god provide for their basic needs (Matthew 19:21).

    --
    No sig today...
  44. Re:Uh, fair use? by Danse · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It is possible that what this Discovery group did was illegal. Sticking a different narrative on a set of pictures is not illegal. Now, Publishing the new work and saying that the pictures were the creation of the new author would be wrong. It seems quite likely that the use of the video along with the removal of original credits and the replacement of the narrative would be considered a derivative work, and a violation of the original creators' copyright.
    --
    It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
  45. Re:It's actually quite simple. by Meorah · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You can be both quite easily. Darwin, Galileo, Einstein, Copernicus, and Tesla would all disagree with your supposition that observation and faith are mutually exclusive. I'm sure there are plenty of other giants I missed, but you get the idea.

    --
    Protector of Capitalist views,
    Meorah
  46. Cast the First Stone by StonePiano · · Score: 2, Funny

    Let he who has never violated copyright cast the first post.

    Oh, too late.

  47. Re:Look for the double standard. by darknb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I agree, Gold Digger is a much better song to use as it so closely resembles the original work. However, I take issue with your statement "It required little talent to do, just a 'Best of Ray Charles' CD." I am not sure what you mean by this. Are you defending Gold Digger or are stating that this is an example of poor use of sample which is detrimental to Hip-hop as a whole. If you mean the latter I have to cry foul on that logic. Let's imagine that you very much like Gold Digger and in your opinion find it to be a great work of Hip-hop. Your use of talent in your post is ambiguous to me: a talented minimalist composer can create great works out of very little music. This could be considered talent and therefore means that, Kanye, using a single looped sample (so extra drumbeats added, but mostly unchanged), has displayed much talent in using that one sample and his own rapping to create a song you find to be very good. However if talent means skill in playing music, or in the case of hip-hop many samples cooperating from many sources, then Kanye is no good. This opens up a terrific line of reasoning in which: The Beatles will always be greater then Fats Domino, Zepplin over the Clash, Dragonforce over everybody else. It specifically leads to the conclusion that Maximal music > Minimalism. This puts the whole of modern pop (itself very minimal relative to other genres like jazz and classical) in a very poor state.

  48. Re:Uh, fair use? by Holmwood · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Well, thanks for your sarcasm and condescension, Lained. "Are you this dumb" and "Tought [sic] I wouldn't have to explain everything like done [sic] to little kids... I was wrong."

    That sort of response elevates dialog everywhere.

    Now, take a deep breath. You evidently didn't read the post -- mine or the one above it. I'll try and refrain from casting sneering aspersions on your intelligence, but I certainly will raise an eyebrow at your limited reading comprehension.

    That OP (above my OP) made an argument that people who aren't having valid debate (in his view) aren't entitled to the defense of fair use in copyright. To cite again, since you must have missed it even though I quoted it right at the top of my post:

    It's quite another to argue that it's okay to chop up, re-arrange, and misrepresent the message for propaganda purposes, and call that "freedom."

    My argument was very simply that freedom depends on people being able to do precisely that. (I also noted that I don't think the DI passes as they didn't engage in fair use as I see it).

    I cited the Moore example: by sneakily chopping up entirely separate speeches of Heston's and splicing them together (with a cut in between the two sentences to obscure the fact that Heston was wearing a different tie in the second).

    It surely would be a bad thing to declare that Moore is "violating freedom" and deserves some judicial sanctions for that, would it not?

    Now, in your continuing effort to entirely miss the point, you say:

    "Depends... Did the viewers understood it was taken from two different footages?"

    This utterly irrelevant to the argument above, and shows an appalling degree of cluelessness, but ok, I'll bite. No, the viewers did not understand this. You know, I know, and the GP knows because we've read about it. I didn't notice the first time I saw the film because of the clever cutting of scenes.

    The Discovery Institute didn't cut&pasted the scenes... they striped the film of Harvards narrations and copyright info, and placed instead their own narrations, with no reference to the original author. So, for the Bowling for Columbine example to be comparable, Michael Moore would have to: have done the entire film on top of the original footage (all of the film, nothing more, nothing less of), and dub Charlton Heston voice

    And you're still entirely missing the point. For a sneering fellow who calls others dumb and muppets and dumb kids, you are remarkably dull-witted, aren't you?

    Read what I wrote above. No, go back. Read it ten times if you have to.

    The Moore response was not to justify (or attack) what DI had done. It was to comment on the item I quoted at the top of my post which was the original slashdot conversation, now repeated here, again:

    It's quite another to argue that it's okay to chop up, re-arrange, and misrepresent the message for propaganda purposes, and call that "freedom."

    Moore did exactly that: chopped up, rearranged, and misrepresented someone else's message for propaganda purposes (possibly good propaganda purposes if you happen to agree with his views). And that is indeed freedom. He has a right to take copyrighted video and do that; You and I have a right to take copyrighted words, statements and of Moores and present them to make our point.

    It's called fair use and the First Amendment.

    The clue to bad speech isn't to silence it by making it unprotected by fair use doctrines, it's to have good speech countering it.

    Yet you failed utterly to grasp this point, and instead launched off into a set of ad hominem sneers about the intellects of those adults around you.

    I agree that the Discovery Institute seems to fail, because it took an entire work and ran it in sequence. That doesn't look like fair use to me.

    The analogy is exact. And I am stunned that you are not only incapable of seeing it but that you fee

  49. So tell me... by Tony · · Score: 2

    These excuses are made up merely as an attempt at avoiding the arguments and scientific program they present.

    Exactly *how* is ID "scientific?"

    Is there evidence to suggest that an intelligent designer is required for life to form and evolve? So far, I've heard (and read) some hand-waving about "irreducible complexity," but in all instances, this has turned out to be merely, "I don't understand it, so God must've done it."

    Addressing the shortcomings of our current understanding of evolution is one thing. Claiming those shortcomings indicate a failure of evolution through natural selection as theory is a bit disingenuous. To further claim that they point to a mystical "guiding intelligence" buggers credibility.

    Basically, you are trading a natural complexity ("how did this evolve like this?") with a mystical one ("Who created us? And because they are certainly complex than even us, how did *they* get created?")

    All you're doing is moving the layer of complexity back a level, and declaring that level off-limits to science. And you're doing this with no real reason. Not only is it *more* complex than *any* "irreducible complexity," but it completely misses the point about what science *is*.

    --
    Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.