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McCain Releases Technology Platform
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "John McCain has finally released a technology platform. Most of it is the same old stuff; lower corporate taxes, protect children from porn, and avoid Internet regulation unless 'necessary.' Alas, in his view, helping the RIAA's War on Sharing is necessary to stop the 'global epidemic' of piracy, while Net Neutrality is something he 'does not believe in.' Ars Technica has a review of McCain's platform."
A brief analysis is also available from Federal Computer Week. In addition to the technology policy, McCain has also released a paper describing his stance on security and privacy. We've previously contrasted his views with those of Barack Obama. Obama's technology policies are also available online.
Oh great. Yet another Linux distribution that www.distrowatch.org is going to have to track. "McCain-ix"
Probably needs 1GB just to load. I'll stick with Obama-mama-ix thanks.
Karma: Excellent. 15 moderator points expire sometime.
Sounds to me like McCain's "platform" is centered around trying save a sinking ship. That's too bad. He's lost my vote on that issue alone.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Yay for contradictions?
In 2006, John McCain gave the commencement address at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, and took the opportunity to mock individual expression:
His contempt for citizens expressing their views is, presumably, why he introduced legislation that would basically have shut down comments on blogs and on sites like Slashdot. Under John McCain, if you are an individual blogger and you allow user comments or user profiles, you'd have to follow the same reporting rules as an ISP, but you'd be subject to even harsher penalties. The EFF called McCain's bill a "constitutionally dubious proposal ... made apparently mostly based on fear or political considerations."
I wonder how he'd go about doing that. Probably the same way they (most of the Republicans) go about protecting children from STDs, by preaching abstinence. Keeping children away from computers would probably work about as well.
That would be ironic if they preached using parental protection software, which by analogy could be compared to using a condom. Cue the "it's not the same thing" replies.
You just got troll'd!
Actually, McCain is using the Abacus for his daily work. Someone just introduced him to a $5 Sharp calculator.
slashdot rocks
Oh, do tell. What does government regulation do to make things so terribly bad? Please cite your sources. And do tell us how much better things are now that the cable and telephone companies are less regulated than they used to be.
John McCain's stance on copyright infringement is hypocritical. The reason is that he is currently being sued by Jackson Browne for copyright infringement because he used the song "Running on Empty" without permission. This looks to be yet another Republican professing high fallooting morals but who by his deeds is shown to believe that morality is for the populace and doesn't apply to him.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
The Summary: "Net Neutrality is something he 'does not believe in.'"
The Website: "When Regulation Is Warranted, John McCain Acts. John McCain does not believe in prescriptive regulation like "net-neutrality," but rather he believes that an open marketplace with a variety of consumer choices is the best deterrent against unfair practices."
The Summary: "helping the RIAA's War on Sharing is necessary to stop the 'global epidemic' of piracy"
The Website: "While the Internet has provided tremendous opportunity for the creators of copyrighted works, including music and movies, to distribute their works around the world at low cost, it has also given rise to a global epidemic of piracy. John McCain supports efforts to crack down on piracy, both on the Internet and off."
The Summary: "avoid Internet regulation unless 'necessary.'"
The Website: "Keep the Internet and entrepreneurs free of unnecessary regulation" and "John McCain understands that unnecessary government intrusion can harm the innovative genius of the Internet. Government should have to prove regulation is needed, rather than have entrepreneurs prove it is not."
Sadly when it comes to things such as network neutrality, MAFIAA litigation, censorship of the internet, and understanding how the internet has the potential to be an unstoppable force of intellectual freedom most U.S. citizens are woefully ignorant. They care about gas prices, making sure that they are not responsible for raising their kids, ensuring that gay couples are not recognized as a legal union, and which religion the candidate subscribes to. They have forgotten that there is a reason the the freedom of speech was the very first amendment, I have met very few that ever read the Federalist Papers, hell half of the people that I talk to have never even read the constitution or have the most basic understanding of how our government works. The internet has the power to be the most perfect force for the first amendment which is essential to the rest of the Constitution and in all honesty I don't think the GOP really wants the average citizen to have that kind of power.
"Some books contain the machinery required to create and sustain universes."-Tycho
Oh great. Yet another Linux distribution that www.distrowatch.org is going to have to track. "McCain-ix"
Probably needs 1GB just to load. I'll stick with Obama-mama-ix thanks.
I can't wait for the Barack Software Distribution. There's no way in hell McCain-ix can beat BSD.
I knew this kind of position was coming as soon as he said he didn't know how to use a computer. He obviously doesn't understand the issues, so naturally he is just going to default to his party's (or contributor's) position.
If I were in his place and somebody asked me to formulate a position on farming, I would do the same thing. That's why it is important to look at what party a candidate belongs to and who is giving him money.
weirdest thing I ever saw: scientology advertising on slashdot.
In regards to this issue, it's safe to say that once in office, McCain or Obama (I'm still voting for Barr) will do what the big corporate money wants and throw in a little something for the "regulate the pedophiles" crowd - to keep the hysterical parents and bible thumpers happy.
I am not sure why I would trust a politician to protect my children. I know myself, and I don't take government money and use it to buy sex. Why would I let such perverted old farts baby sit my daughters? And as far as technology, I trust them less with technology and my freedom than I do with my daughters.
Arguably one of the worst leaders in the tech industry. It's no wonder his technology positions don't make any sense. That's like picking Jeffery Skilling as an energy advisor...wait, he doesn't need him, he's got Phil Gramm. With the added advantage that Gramm isn't in federal prison...yet.
Let's just pick the most incompetent, corrupt people from every industry we can find and bring them together in one party. It's no wonder his positions on technology don't make any sense. A classic case of the problem dictating the solution.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I don't think the GOP really wants the average citizen to have that kind of power.
And don't believe for a New York second that the democrats are any better. Both are authoritarians who think that ignorance is strength.
What?
Violating other people's legal rights is not "sharing".
Granting legal rights of excessive scope and duration is not "good government" either, especially when sites such as opensecrets.org demonstrate the bribery that prompted things like the Bono Act and the DMCA.
Grow the fuck up, asshole.
Nor is comparing somebody to an anus "civil".
Technology is my area of expertise, and I guess it's that of many slashdot readers. There is probably no other area where we can judge a candidate as well; therefore if his program sucks balls in this respect, it's probably just fair to extrapolate to the others.
Besides, McCain is Bush III. He's pro war, pro war on terra, and so on.
"Legal" doesn't always mean right.
Apply your sig to yourself.
What?
How about, "I'll protect the American consumer, and I'm against net-neutrality[sic]"?
I'll stick with Obama-mama-ix thanks.
That's still vaporware. :)
"The fight for freedom has only just begun." - Geert Wilders
... but what's his position on tubes, and whether a truck will fit in them or not? There's serious issues here which demand real answers!
... and then they built the supercollider.
I'm not American, but I took at look at the two programs... And McCain is clearly the dumbest of those two (no offense, just plain sense)... :) :)
I got quite a laugh from reading his weapon policy... And the rest of the "isues" aren't that smart either... Just look at the top of the page, if anyone my country looked in the air next to a sign that said "Country First", I'd probably find myself violating Godwin's law
(And I'm not German).
Anyway, Obama isn't quite socialistic enough for me... But I guess he'd get my vote, if I was American...
I took a look around the different campaign sites it's clear McCain is EVIL!
Links at McCain site:
johnmccain.com/Blog/Read.aspx?guid=3d8ee2ad-d7f2-4f3d-ad9f-ffe1b41ca178
Links a Obamas Site:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
Clearly, McCain is using a Microsoft server and Obama is using mod_rewrite or similar technology... Probably a rather none-evil technology...
Also at validator.w3.org:
McCain has: 124 Errors, 44 warning(s)
Obama has: 8 Errors
I'd say this proofs McCain is evil!
How does either candidate expect to move interest in science forward in the US when you can no longer: a) buy a home chemistry set, b) you end up with government agents raiding your house if you have a LEGAL home chemistry lab (ala Mass.), c) experimenting with home-built fireworks or small-scale explosives is now an act of "terrorism"?
No kids are going to get interested in science anymore because all of the cool things we did as children to pique our interest in science are now illegal or acts of international terrorism.
Duris MUD - The best pkill MUD. Ever.
This is more reason to vote for Obama who has for sanity on these issues. McCains positions are designed to help corporations, and basically screw the people. He supports regulations on the internet wherever it benefits big corporations. Only an idiot would call net nuetrality "regulation", but in McCains twisted mind it is, and he opposes it because it would help the people and assure their free speech rights, but it does not help corporations. Net nuetrality would in fact prohibit regulation of the internet by corporations, but he only sees corporations as having rights, people dont have rights, and McCain is elected by and only respond to corporations, people mean nothing to him , the only concern he and other republicans have about the people is to trick and lie to the people enough to make them think republicans care about them, when all their care about is corporations and the super rich. So something which takes away peoples freedom and gives more power to corporations (quasi-government) is not regulation, in McCains twisted mind.
His idea of "protecting children" means "lets censor the internet for consenting adults and arrest consenting adults for accessing porn of consenting adults". It is just another trick by republicans to take away more freedoms and rights from people, infringe on their free speech, and broaden their powers to incarcerate people for non violent non-crimes which hurt no one (pornography).
My scorecard for the McCain platform. Rated on a uninflated A-F grading scale, where a "C" means the norm.
John McCain Supports Risk Capital For Investment In American Innovation
Grade: C. OK; nothing specific to the tech sector, though.
John McCain Will Not Tax Innovation By Keeping Capital Gains Taxes Low.
Grade: C. A good idea in general, but not of particular help to technology.
John McCain Will Reform And Make Permanent The R&D Tax Credit.
Grade: B. Good idea.
John McCain Will Lower the Corporate Tax Rate To 25 Percent To Retain Investment In U.S. Technologies.
Grade: C. Again, a good idea for the economy in general, but doesn't do anything to specifically address technology.
John McCain Will Allow First-Year Expensing Of New Equipment And Technology.
Grade: B. Good idea.
John McCain Will Ensure Technology And Innovation Is Not Hampered By Taxes On Internet Users.
Grade: C. OK, fine, but I'm not buying the rationale at all here. I think this is code for "no government regulation". A vast amount of bricks-and-mortar commerce has been moved onto the Internet. If we accept taxation of commerce, we should have no problem accepting taxation of it on the Internet.
John McCain Opposes Higher Taxes On Wireless Services.
Grade: C. OK, lower taxes, yeah, but what we are buying with our taxes in the first place?
America Must Educate Its Workforce For The Innovation Age.
Grade: B. Grants for higher ed are a good bargain for taxpayers.
Fill Critical Shortages Of Skilled Workers To Remain Competitive.
Grade: B. Good idea. More flexibility on H-1B visas will help.
John McCain Has Been A Long And Ardent Supporter Of Fair And Open World Trade.
Grade: C. Nice to know.
Competition Has Been A Great Strength For America -- Offering Opportunity, Low Prices, And Increased Choice For Our Citizens. Markets work best when there is robust competition.
Grade: D. McCain had a chance to address the real problems of non-competitiveness that plague the technology sector, and ducked.
John McCain Will Protect The Creative Industries From Piracy.
Grade: D. Another disappointment. The "creative industries" already have plenty of money, lawyers, lobbyists, and memberships in the exclusive clubs needed to get the protection they need. Who's giving the people the protection they need? Not the government, apparently.
John McCain Will Push For Greater Resources For The Patent Office.
Grade: C. Obviously needed; basic good management.
John McCain Will Pursue Protection Of Intellectual Property Around The Globe.
Grade: C. OK, fine; more good management.
Provide Alternative Approaches To Resolving Patent Challenges.
Grade: B. Some innovation here is long overdue. Good idea.
John McCain Will Preserve Consumer Freedoms.
Grade: B. Freedom is good, and additional attention in this area is needed to keep a level playing field.
When Regulation Is Warranted, John McCain Acts.
Grade: C. OK, that's the right pattern, but McCain seems to not get the fact that the tech sector really needs some tough love from the government right now. If regulation is not warranted now, when would it be?
John McCain does not believe in prescriptive regulation like "net-neutrality," but rather he believes that an open marketplace with a variety of consumer choices is the best deterrent against unfair practices.
Grade: F. The telco marketplace is anything
"We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
And don't believe for a New York second that the democrats are any better
The difference is that Democrats will get more votes from young people who think that only chumps (and old people like McCain) should have to pay for movies, and who capable of compartmentalizing their "respect" for their favorite musicians separately from their willingness to happily rip them off.
The hypocrisy is stunning. They don't want to be told what they can and can't do online (including burning a huge portion of the available bandwidth while ripping off entertainment), but they want the ability to tell a business that builds and sustains a network how they should operate it.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
At your house you have at least one appliance with a digital clock on it. What time does it read now and is it flashing?
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
There were two parts of the platform related by Ars Technica. The first part was increased copyright enforcement, and the second was patent reform.
The question's coming up, bear with me, some setup involved.
There are, basically, 3 industries that benefit from copyright: Music, Movies/TV, and Software. Copyright enforcement helps all 3, but (at least for short term profits) patent reform is not good for the software industry. So overall, this part of McCain's platform really only helps the Music and Movies/TV industries.
That's part 1 of the setup. Here's part 2:
The Music and Movies/TV industries are populated *mostly* by people who support Obama. Furthermore, the Christian Right in this country very much hates those two industries and would like to see them die in fires of hell for promoting vice. Oh, and the Christian Right hates the software industry, because all they do is make games full of murdering.
That's part 2. Here's the question:
Is there a reason that McCain's platform serves to (1) increase the profits of industries that hate him and give TONS of money to his opponent, and (2) Provides legal protection for industries that his primary voting base despises?
Nobody wants to "rip off" the musicians. But nobody wants to be ripped off by the publishers, with their corrupt, purchased legislation. Their privileges are supposed to be of a limited time. And we have to remember, copyright is a government granted privilege. And I, for one don't care how a business operates its network. I only want proper labeling, stated in plain English(or language of your choice). At the same time, it's the customer, or more specifically the end user who should dictate the terms of service. And that's fairly difficult to do when dealing with state protected monopolies, who also buy legislation to protect their interests. In an open, fair market, where even the government is allowed to compete(not monopolize), chances are we will have net neutrality.
What?
I love it when Baby Boomers get on generational tirades like this. It has genuine comedic quality about it, particularly given how ridiculous and hypocritical it is.
But since you seem to be a true-believer, let me clear it up for you, old timer. "Young people" are, knowingly or not, rejecting the flawed assumptions and unjust laws that have effectively attempted to privatize human culture for the benefit of a greedy few at the very top of content distribution companies who are better at bribing the legislature than serving their own customers. What you describe as pathological compartmentalization is, in actuality, the very natural returning shift in public values to a more balanced, modern view of copyright protections. In short, the pendulum is finally swinging back towards the social-contract view of government-granted, temporary monopolies described in Article I section 8 of the constitution, which references not the "rights" of companies or starving artists but the "progress of science and useful arts".
-Grym
Has it ever been scientifically demonstrated that porn is harmful for children? Just curious - if it has, I would be genuinely interested to heard about it.
You're accurate with the libertarian, but the 'right' is just wrong. slashdot has a fairly even spread across the libertarian side of the scale, from totalitarian to anarchistic. It's one of the reasons I like /.
In no contemporary use of the word can slashdot in totality be considered 'right'...like it or not, right now, 'right' and 'republican' means NEOCONs.
NeoCons represent far-right totalitarian corporatists who cloak themselves in Victorian-era Christian 'values' marketing and PR rhetoric. I see VERY few comments on /. from this NeoCon perspective.
Please remember, 'politics' is not a linear, one-axis spectrum. It's two axis at least...
Thank you Dave Raggett
Was I the only one that read that and though: "Abortions for some, tiny American flags for others!"
Will the new platform run on Linux??
But McCain-ix is undeveloped, closed source abandonware.
I actually get my MP3s off the intarwebs for free and then mail the artists the 10 cents per album they would have gotten if I bought the CD.
Pravin Lal, Alpha Centauri (1999) (VG)
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master.
Before worrying about someone who slips and claims SUdan And Somalia are the same, shouldn't you seek someone who knows at least the US is not composed of 57 states?
The campaign is hard on people, give them a break with small slips. Both sides.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
He was saying Children should be heard, but also listen - not that they should not talk at all, but that other viewpoints besides that of the angry youth should be considered as well.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1st amendment (which protects _political speech_ and no other type)
I see this assertion on Slashdot here now and again, and while I'll certainly agree that political speech was probably the type of speech which the Founders were most concerned with protecting, I see no basis for the assertion that that was all the First Amendment is meant to protect. Quoth the Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Seems pretty broad and universal to me.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
Traditionally all of these would be considered conservative positions. What's calling itself "conservative" now would not be recognized by Edmund Burke or Barry Goldwater.
From TFA..
As President, John McCain would continue to encourage private investment to facilitate the build-out of infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet connectivity all over America. However, where private industry does not answer the call because of market failures or other obstacles, John McCain believes that people acting through their local governments should be able to invest in their own future by building out infrastructure to provide high-speed Internet services. For this reason, Senator McCain introduced the âoeCommunity Broadband Bill,â which would allow local governments to offer such services, particularly when private industry fails to do so.
He may be against net neutrality, but he can at least see that local government could provide services when the private industry fails to do so. So there is hope that if a Community Broadband Bill does pass Congress he will sign it, and that would allow local governments to build out broadband infrastructure.
You missed who wrote his platform! He believes in Fictional Employment Theory, a little known contrived system conceptualized by a lobbyist near you! McCain likes to spew this rot to workers who just lost their jobs. Either McCain has to be one of the best snake oil salesmen of all time or someone has implanted a diode in his head to turn off his brain.
http://blog.noslaves.com
1. REAL Campaign finace reform. Our congress is wholly-owned. The administration is wholly-owned. It's what Bush must have meant when he spoke of an "ownership society." We live in a plutocracy. It's not one man, one vote. It's one dollar, one vote. Anyone who can gather 5,000 signatures should get 100% federal funding for running for the House. For 15,000 signatures, you get funding for Senate. For 15,000 signatures 40 or more states, you get funded for president. It should be 100% illegal to give any amount of money to any elected official in the Federal Government. Period. The reason this is the #1 issue is it underpins the entire system. 2. Energy independence. We are warping our foreign policy because we're addicted to cheap foreign oil. We need to fix this by reducing our dependence on oil as a transportation fuel and eliminating our depenence on oil as a fuel for electric generators. Funding mass transit in our 50 largest cities would be a good start. Taxing gasoline to pay for it would be even smarter. With the $1.5 trillion we've wasted in Iraq, we could have built out 10 subway lines in EACH of our 50 largest cities. The majority of our population lives in these big cities. If we shift en-mass to mass transit, we'll lower our oil consumption by millions of barrels per day and that will have an effect on demand which will make it more reasonable for rural citizens who cannot use mass transit efficiently to get around based on oil. Geothermal systems can be installed and homes in the NE can be converted from oil to electricity produced by wind and wave farms. 3. Increased funding for scientific research. Because we get better batteries, better generators, better wind turbines, and better all kinds of stuff. We're under funding our basic science. 4. Increased funding for maintenance of existing infrastructure. No more collapsing bridges, please. 5. Stop funding Ethanol. It's stupid. 6. Stop subsidizing the RIAA. Don't regulate the internet. 7. Continue to let individuals decide if Abortion is right or wrong. Land of the Free means people are free to live in ways that do not meet your approval. 8. Give every law-abiding citizen over ten years of age 15 RPG's and an AK47 and 5,000 rounds of ammunition. After the carnage ceases, have a reasonable discussion of gun ownership rights and responsibilities.
The hypocrisy is stunning. They don't want to be told what they can and can't do online (including burning a huge portion of the available bandwidth while ripping off entertainment), but they want the ability to tell a business that builds and sustains a network how they should operate it.
Your hypocrisy is stunning.
The ISPs didn't build and sustain the networks. We the people were robbed at gunpoint to pay for them to do so. They refused to deliver what we already paid them to do and instead siphoned off the money to executive salaries and bonuses.
So until they deliver what they lobbied to force us the pay them to do, they have no rights and no legitimate authority over *our* networks.
If they wanted intelligent, informed people (unlike yourself) to support their right to own their network, then they should have actually paid for it themselves. So by your delusional statement that they should be allowed to screw over my use of *my* property which *I* paid for you demonstrate not only hypocrisy, but the belief that you, me and everyone else in the country are nothing more than the slaves of whoever bribes the government enough.
You really should consider relocating to a country like China or Saudi Arabia where they already share your values rather than trying to drag this country whose values you despise down to their levels. It is, of course, the ethical thing to do which is why I'm not holding my breath waiting for you to do it.
Then they're up for a huge disappointment. It doesn't matter which candidate wins, they'll both push for ACTA. Network neutrality won't make it any easier for young people to "happily rip [artists] off".
A few weeks ago, McCain said "nuclear" and the discussion here and elsewhere went nuts with people saying, "OMG He's going to give us nuclear power!!!1! Vote him! Vote him!" Another time, he mentioned a possible manned mission to Mars, and a similar geek-gasm ensued. Interesting that both of these proposals are conspicuously missing from his technology platform, which includes pro-BSA/RIAA/MPAA language.
Didn't he get the memo that he's supposed to keep hyping the promises that will get Slashdot commenters in a tizzy until he's elected? I guess Rove's hubris has infected every level of the GOP leadership-- they think that they can get away with being honest about being sold out* because they think they'll get the White House anyway. If McCain falls below 40% in the polls, I suspect Cheney will attack Iran and Russia to give the old war veteran an opportunity to give the appearance of leadership. That way, even if McCain loses, Obama is stuck with a multi-front war that he cannot win.
* Granted, Democrats are no better in this regard. In my state, Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein both are corporate shills, but the Democrats keep them because they are ace fundraisers.
"We are Microsoft. You shall be assimilated. Competition is futile."
the pendulum is finally swinging back towards the social-contract view of government-granted, temporary monopolies described in Article I section 8 of the constitution
Which provides, in which way, for legal cover when millions of kids grab ripped-off copies of a newly released recording the day after the musician in question publishes it for sale?
social-contract view
So, an artist who spends years putting together a recording, or novel, or opera, etc., has no social contract upon which to lean? Only the people who want the material at no charge get to invoke that concept in the spirit of pendulum-swinging? If you don't like the fact that your favorite musician wants to charge you for their work, walk away. The only social contract that matters here is the one where the people who want the artist to work for them either meet what that artists asks as a price, or they take their entertainment-buying dollar elsewhere. You're doing your level best to excuse people from ripping off the entertainment they want because they can. Songs for a dollar? A movie appearing on your TiVo for $1.99? The horror! It's a good thing that we have earnest young rebels willing to forward the useful arts by ripping that stuff off, instead.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
That's McCain for you. He flip-flops and when he doesn't, he outright lies about his current and past positions. Quite frankly I wouldn't be surprised if even McCain doesn't know what the bloody hell he would actually do as president, but it cannot include half the stuff he's promised because of logical, financial and other impossibilities.
My sig will be released in 2015 third quarter. Rating pending.
The problem is despite what they "say" they are for/against in the end it ends up SSDD. It is one hell of a shame the man died,because Bill Hicks after all these years is still right on the money. In the end it doesn't matter what they say,because they get a giant check thrust at them and go "How much? Really? Okay,anything you say!". I mean,look at how quick Obama flipped of FISA. Does anyone doubt he got a really fat check? But as always this is my 02c,YMMV
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
I can't wait for the Barack Software Distribution. There's no way in hell McCain-ix can beat BSD.
Sorry to disappoint you, but Netcraft confirms it- Barack's campaign is dying!
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Uhhh, please explain. Slashdot is generally pretty right-libertarian leaning. Hardly 80% strongly liberal.
I don't agree with that at all. I'd say its more to the left-libertarian side, and there's a big difference. I think the audience has moved somewhat to the right, at least on some issues, but I'd wager the majority of people here are still mostly on the left. Look at attitudes towards religion, conventional morality, drug use, and right wing political figures. And then tell me Slashdot is "right-libertarian". Not yet, it isn't.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Yay for contradictions?
There are ways to keep porn out of the hands of children without regulating the Internet itself. That isn't a contradiction. Using your logic, I could also say "Protect people from libel and have a free press. Yay contradiction".
No freedom we have is completely unencumbered. There are always limitations, like yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. No judge is going to let you slide on that one with a free speech argument.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Can pudge please refrain from spewing his partisanship so blatantly around slashdot?
Isn't the readership biased enough without slashdot staff egging us on?
The last political article on slashdot stopped me reading it for two weeks, and this did not help.
std::disclaimer<std::legalese> sig=new std::disclaimer; sig->dump(); delete sig;
File sharing, for most, is probably a civilly (sometimes criminally) liable act. Maybe even those who fileshare are committing a morally offensive act. That's really not the point. The privatization of human culture and the gutting of the public domain is similarly unlawful (via its unconstitutional lack of realistic limitations and hindrance of scientific and artistic progress) and arguably immoral. Furthermore, the means by which these industries foist their will upon the less-organized public (by bribing the legislature and, in some cases, actually writing the laws which regulate themselves) is also shameful and morally tenuous.
The situation is analogous to speakeasies during the prohibition era which were ostensibly illegal but, in actuality, a reflection of the failure--not of the people--but of prohibition itself. There were probably people back then who also tried to blame the entire situation on the hedonistic , law-breaking drinkers. They, like you, were misguided relics of a failed way of thinking.
Regardless, the writing is on the wall. One way or the other, "intellectual property" reform is coming. The only question is whether it will be from those in power waking up to the changing of the tides and acknowledging the failure of trying to pretend that ones and zeros are limited in supply or simply the result of demographics, when all those dirty file-sharers start taking political power.
-Grym
he wants to bolster business, but he wants to kill what made internet so big a field for doing business in - network neutrality, which ensures that the small entrepreneur and the big boy start equal on everything ? at least almost ? and turn the tables for benefit of big buck corporations ?
well, thats quite republican.
Read radical news here
Excluding the biggest terror attack in US history as a means to measure "keeping us safe" is more than a little disingenuous, don't you think? Besides, the Administration itself acknowledges that terrorism is stronger now than in 2000.
Troll? Did I actually say something that wasn't true?
This:
And Obama is set to pick Kerry
This:
he'll stand by his stance of executing children who accidentally escape the abortionist's, knife.
Support more scientific education for children and independent research is ONLY one stance needed to bolster this country's technology platform. Every other talking point is pure diversion and a waste of time. The Internet was not invented by politicians, lawyers, or company heads (no not even Al Gore). Creative people don't just start inventing things just because they thought there's a tax break involved. Don't make me fucking laugh. Corporations don't need protection from piracy. It's the little guy who invented something great and get stolen by the big corporations that needs protection. The common fucking political wishful thinking is "science will save us" yet kids look at the society and learn that the only way to power and riches is by lying and cheating and fake, blind leadership.
Umm, did Ron Paul not withdraw from the race several months ago? Perhaps you're thinking of Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate?
But Obama reversed his position on booting being a necessary step for PC operation, for booting pc's is bad for global warming, therefore Obamanix will not have the option of creating a bootsector, nor will it come with one.
When I enquired about exactly how he used this empty black screen of his, I was called a racist, beat up, and thrown out of the building (from the third floor window).
Fortunately the massive quantities of hot air in the head of one of his former fans broke my fall. To those who weren't there it might seem that it'd be very hard for mere hot air to break a fall from a third floor window, however to those I would say that that depends on the quantity. Think big.
The rest of his fans don't care, after all, Obama promised Obamanix would come with Duke Nukem Forever pre-installed.
The distributions release date is said to coincide with Duke Nukem Forever's release date : the day after installing Obama in the white house and giving him the power of preventing a single word about the curious absense of said distribution being published, with laws that would let less bytes pass on *any* router than "prophets suck" articles can be found in this year's "taliban chronicles".
McCain is a cross-dresser: He's a Democrat dressed in a Republican's suit!
McAble
More people have died in Iraq and Afghanistan than died in 9/11 not even counting Iraqi civilians.
1) http://wbztv.com/politics/jonkeller/john.kerry.vice.2.796143.html
Hey, look! A guy with a blog spouted unfounded rumor! It must be true, I read it on the internet. Did you even bother to read the random blog entry?
2) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/17/politics/main2369157.shtml
Please show me where in this article that says that Obama wishes to execute babies? THAT is why you are a troll. All the stuff you are spewing are incendiary lies at worst and unfounded rumor at best.
Shut up you little pussy coward. You can talk to me when you have a spine.
Now go off and die in a fire.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
So you admit that it is violating other people's rights. That is good. Now, how about actually doing the right thing and changing the laws instead of violating them.
Or are you such a self-centered, egotisitcal asshole that you feel you should be able to break the law?
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
...die in a fire...
Settle down, Beavis.
Gosh darn it. You're almost funny. Not quite, but I did smile for an instant. You just don't have what it takes. Or you're all of 7 or 8 years old. Besos. Don't step in the horse poop.
What?
Wait, what? I believe you're doing exactly what you accuse Jamie of doing.
OK. But you're wrong.
It's ironic you accuse him of being "overtly partisan"
I never did any such thing. Please read it again. I chastised him for expressing overtly partisan hypocrisy. You left out the antecedent. I did not say HE was overtly partisan, I said his hypocrisy was.
Hypocrisy, BTW, is not unique to any party.
I never in any way implied that it was.
Anyhow, McCain was complaining that youngsters dare question their elders.
Absolutely false. He never in any way implied that it is wrong to question.
Though I wonder what you'd have said if the "McCain is a closet Buddhist!" story got published.
The exact same thing that I would say if "Obama is a closet Muslim!" got published. Indeed, I received many emails from friends saying he was, and I replied to them with the facts, sometimes including a link to snopes. I personally researched many of the claims so I could disprove them.
In chastising Jamie for distorting McCain's words, you have done the same with Obama's.
I did no such thing. You apparently base this on the flawed premise that in comparing Obama's words to McCain's, that I am misrepresenting Obama, since McCain meant something and Obama meant something else. But in doing so, you misrepresented McCain.
McCain was doing the SAME THING as Obama: chastising people for saying untruth is truth.
Well, McCain is older than Duke Nukem Forever's first leaked screenshot! Wait, he actually is. Damn, that's old!
If you are basing your vote solely on technological issues in a presidential election, you really need to get out more. There are much more important issues that the President should be considered about (economy, jobs, defense, etc).
A good economy and a good job market are directly related to whether technology is treated as a danger or as an opportunity.
Why is it not OK for a presidential candidate to admit that he doesn't know something?
Perhaps because it's his damn job to know these things? You know, elect the guy who knows what to do?
Why is it that so many Americans actually want their president to be dumb?
I'd vote for this guy just to see what he actualy does. =p
I know full well that tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack
PS Mods, can I have what you are smoking?
I know full well that tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack
You don't seem to understand what you've linked to. No matter how you stretch it, I didn't even "correlate" anything. I used the word "extrapolate," which doesn't mean the same thing. At all.
But, well, if you can't tell the difference, go ahead, vote republican, that's what you "special" people do.
Tell it to Medgar Evers, tell it to Gandhi.
But I suppose, you are more prone to violence?
Tell it to Sam Adams, then.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Don't assume that you need a regulatory regime to do things right. Many of the subscribers to slashdot participate in the decisions that make the internet what it is and ultimately what it will become. They do so not by "technology policy", but through ideas, through what they build, and through what they attempt. If they cannot be trusted (or perhaps they are not trusted even by themselves) to do the right thing the vast majority of the time, then there is no amount of regulators that can fix the problem. I know there are all kinds of unintended consequences scenarios. I know there is no consensus on all the possible issues. Even so, there is a lot of power in the decisions we make. It is not about militancy, it is about taking responsibility for the consequences for our decisions and not abdicating it to others. We should not get so caught up in a candidate's technology policy that we forget the role we play.
Little does he know that monkey spittle cures cancer, and it's an aphrodisiac. I can hardly wait for DaveV1.1
What?
Demonstrating that, not only does he not know much about science & tech, but he doesn't know anyone who knows anything. But it's not as though Barracks O'Bama had a clue, either. I'd much rather see Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin getting some media coverage. "Half of knowledge is knowing where to find knowledge."
This disgusts me, but I don't see a more-responsible way to use my vote AND make sure it counts for *something* in the final tally.
I used to support this tactic. Now, I'm thinking more strategically.
The old me would have voted for McCain because he's slightly less socialist than Obama. In some respects, not all.
Now, I'm sick of "both" parties, especially the Republicans, for giving us socialist candidates who completely disregard our Constitution. So, I'm writing in Ron Paul and asking as many people to do so as possible, at least Rule-of-Law types. I even made a couple bumper stickers to spread the word.
Because, I think if McCain loses to Obama by a margin that is less than the number of people who vote for Ron Paul, the Republicans will reconsider their platform. Or, if not, it'll lend quite a bit of credence to a new party that might be able to start restoring the Republic. The number to beat is about 1 Million, the last biggest write-in vote getter, about 90 years ago.
So, consider that your vote may "count for *something*" this time around, but does it really count for anything beyond November, besides empowering the current dysfunctional two-party system? Like McCotter said, "Let It Bleed".
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Now, how about actually doing the right thing and changing the laws
How do people do that if neither major U.S. political party's platform has copyright reductionism as a plank?
Wow, you are an idiot aren't you? Maybe you should try learning about politics before you spout off.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Oh, please, Great One. Enlighten us. We can assure you that the revelation of your all knowing ways will not be casting pearls before the swine.
Say "Cheeeese" :-)
What?
Having just studied up on the Council for Foreign Affairs and how they attempt to control public views and government policies via the media, anyone against Net Neutrality is, in my mind, suspect not only as a candidate for any high office, but even potentially a traitor to the United States and an enemy of the its citizens. John McCain has shown repeatedly that he is no different from any politician of any stripe (although most typically the GOP these days) that supports the destruction of our Constitutional rights, the exploitation of our resources, and enrichment of corporations to the detriment of the greater good, and who is willing to alter his stated position, in denial of his resume, in order to retain and acquire more power.
Opposition to net neutrality is the desire to suppress free speech, disguised in a business suit with an American flag lapel pin.
*** *** You're just jealous 'cause the voices talk to me... ***