O.K, i want people to understand whats happening before i see any more posts that state "The posts contained copyright information so Microsoft are right"
Yes, some of the posts did contain information copied directly from the Microsoft document. This is wrong, it clearly violates copyright law. This is also not the problem.
The list of posts Microsoft suplied included a number of posts that gave some simple instructions that basically said you could avoid the EULA by using a standard ZIP utility such as WinZIP. Other posts gave links to sites where the document could be downloaded without having to go throught the EULA.
If you think real hard now, you can see that the posts that Microsoft are asking to be removed do not infringe on Microsofts copyright. The other posts are in fact covered by the freedom of speech and freedom of expresion. Microsoft have no right to challenge the legality of these posts.
This is why Microsoft is so utterly morally wrong in it's request to censor Slashdot.
What the slashdot readers posted in those few comments was not their content!
This is a common belief that many people have thrown up since this all started. It is wrong.
Some of the posts that Micrsoft have requested Slashdot to remove did include quoted information taken from the Microsoft document. But many of the posts had no such information in them. They were simply instructions (Very simple, obvious ones, at that), on how to unzip the.EXE file and extract the document without having to go through the EULA.
This is in fact why the whole situation is so utterly worng. Microsft should have no right to remove posts that do not in any way affect their Copyright.
it must be us loyal RedHat users driving it, I guess.:)
Actually, I run Redhat 6.1, and I use KDE. Although the damn Redhat installer always insists on installing and setting my default wm to Gnome, even if I tell it to install as a KDE workstation and deselect the Gnome package.
O.K, i accept the criticism of all four (At the time of posting) comments above. All are quiet correct when they say that i cannot and should not have posted on behalf of all Slasdot readers. In hind sight, a better opening phrase to my original post would have been:
I'm 100% certain that when i say this, i am saying it for most of Slashdot's readers:
I am still 100% certain however. If i were only 99% certain of my post, i would not have posted it:) Sorry if i upset anyone with my rather general statement.
This is extremly interesting. All i can see in that post are some basic instructions for opening an archive file in Windows. Someone want to explain why that post violates the DMCA in anyway? Does this also mean that if i write this:
How to kill a person with a gun
Load the ammunition into the chamber. Ensure the safty catch is off. Point gun at victim. Pull triger.
I can be considered as a criminal (Possibly for insighting violence?) If i remember US law (I'm from the UK), arn't things such as the above actually protected by the right to freedom of speech and freedom of expresion (I.E documents such as the Anarcists Handbook?) Why did this crazy law ever manage to get passed?
But they can have the posts removed from Usenet once they find their way to a UK server...or i'm i thinking of another type of censorship? I'm confused...
I'm 100% certain that when i say this, i am saying it for all of Slashdot's readers:-
No matter what Microsoft threatens, no matter what they say, do not give into them. This is not because it is Microsoft, but because Free Speech is far too important, especially on a forum such as Slashdot. Give them hell.
As a side issue, i have a feeling this could turn into a very intersting thread. It covers all the things Slashdoters love to hate: Microsft, the DMCA and Censorship.
Not only does it cost a lot for electronic goods like PSX's, we also have to wait a lot longer for them.
I've ofton wondered, does anyone actually know what advantage companies such as Sony think there is in delaying release's to diferent parts of the world? I'm sure it can't be purly technical.
Yup, you're right when you say that OSS won't help bespoke systems. One of the most commonly given explanations of why someone codes OSS is that "The coder has an itch, so they scratch that itch", I.E if you want something doing, do it yourself.
With OSS coders being geeks, this tends to mean that they go off and code a peice of "cool" software that they want to have. I can't see many geeks sitting down and thinking "Hmmm, i know, i'll write a warehouse management package/call centre management package/stock control software etc". These just arn't "cool" projects, and it's unlikly that many geeks would have a need for their own software to do these things.
When it comes to specialased, mundane software that big businesses tend to use, OSS just doesn't fit unless you have the suits who tell the programers what to write. Without the suits, all the coders would be playing Quake and writing "cool" software...
Intead of setting coders against each other to port the MPEG4/DivX codec, shouldn't they be encouraging them to work together, share the work load and the source code between the developers, and um, get the job done quicker?
5v at say 1 Amp is way powerful enough to worry you, expecially if you have wet hands and are stood bare foot in a puddle while you bite a bare coper cable;)
Dunno, i'll think of something later. You were very quick by the way. Amazing how quick the repspective heads of state responded.
one word answer: Freedom
Ahahahahahaha! Sorry, hang on, let me have a roll on the floor. Oh my...
Oh thats better. My sides hurt now. Freedom you say? Yeah, it's so free you have your politicians in the pockets of major corporations, you snatch 6 year old boys away at gun point to send them back to Cuba, the RIAA & MPAA are jumping all over a couple of coders who dared to defy them, WAVE is in the offing across several states. You say you have Freedom? You think you're free because you have a constitution that isn't worth the paper it's written on provided it suits the politians? You can own a lethal firearm, so you must be trully free, right? Oh please.
Who said any of the other countries in the world can't be free? Australia isn't free? Western Europe isn't free? My, i feel opressed.
Just because you don't like capitalism
That's a rather general statement, made by someone who doesn't know me, don't you think? FYI (Although really, none of your business), I tend to lean to the right (That is, Conservative) politically. I do believe in free health care and education for all however.
Your comment comes across as though you believe the old US "Commie bastard" crap from the 50's & 60's that was spread like manure across America. Communism isn't actually evil, it's just that the means to implement Communism tends to be violent, and the leaders in the past have tended to be a little mental.
BTW, calling me an asshole tends to confirm to me even further, that because i dared to question the good ol USofA, i must in some way be abnormal. Bzzzzt. Go travel the world a little why not.
You are? Best go tell Japan, China, North Korea, almost all the South American countries, the Middle Eastern countries, half of Europe.....
Honestly, statements such as this simply reinforce my view that most Americans are arrogant & ignorant when it comes to non-American matters. What's so great about America that means the rest of the world shoukd want to be like them?
I'd hardly call Russia a Western country by any stretch of the imagination. And even if the copyright law is similiar across countries, it still isn't the same law, and shouldn't allow one person in the US, to sue another person in a diferent country, under the US law.
World leaders need to start to understand the whole Global Internet thing, existing laws just don't work.
I'm sure it would look really cool, if they didn't use a stupid Javascript download form, so that i can't just download the QuickTime and use RealProducer to convert it to something that i can actually view. Bah.
Sure is. Have a simple script that has to be run first. Ask the user for the new password, encrypt it, and set it in a relevent header file, along with a magic number. Make it so the code won't compile without the encrypted password and the magic number set; that way, the user _has_ to run the script first.
This doesn't stop the code being any less open source, although if the user really wants they can extract the magic number and bypass the setup script. But then, what benfit to the user is there in doing that?
Ah, well now i'm asuming that this is an American only thing. To be honest, i've never even seen/heard the word "Banc" before today, and i'm guesing it's a bit obscure for average Joe to get. Add the fact that the Internet is international, i would still think.bank would make more sense...
Slashdot Mirror
Um, i seem to remember saying exactly that in my original post. Like i said, the breach of copyright is not an issue at all.
O.K, i want people to understand whats happening before i see any more posts that state "The posts contained copyright information so Microsoft are right"
Yes, some of the posts did contain information copied directly from the Microsoft document. This is wrong, it clearly violates copyright law. This is also not the problem.
The list of posts Microsoft suplied included a number of posts that gave some simple instructions that basically said you could avoid the EULA by using a standard ZIP utility such as WinZIP. Other posts gave links to sites where the document could be downloaded without having to go throught the EULA.
If you think real hard now, you can see that the posts that Microsoft are asking to be removed do not infringe on Microsofts copyright. The other posts are in fact covered by the freedom of speech and freedom of expresion. Microsoft have no right to challenge the legality of these posts.
This is why Microsoft is so utterly morally wrong in it's request to censor Slashdot.
Yup. I would quiet happily donate a weeks wages (~£270) to a defence fund, if one were needed....
:)
However I have a feeling VA have plenty of cash for a good lawyer, and Slashdot have a good defence
Actually, the guy said "On behalf of all Slashdot readers i wish you luck.
Can we assume you don't wish Slashdot luck and would rather have them whooped in court? In which case, what are you doing here dude?
What the slashdot readers posted in those few comments was not their content!
.EXE file and extract the document without having to go through the EULA.
This is a common belief that many people have thrown up since this all started. It is wrong.
Some of the posts that Micrsoft have requested Slashdot to remove did include quoted information taken from the Microsoft document. But many of the posts had no such information in them. They were simply instructions (Very simple, obvious ones, at that), on how to unzip the
This is in fact why the whole situation is so utterly worng. Microsft should have no right to remove posts that do not in any way affect their Copyright.
it must be us loyal RedHat users driving it, I guess. :)
Actually, I run Redhat 6.1, and I use KDE. Although the damn Redhat installer always insists on installing and setting my default wm to Gnome, even if I tell it to install as a KDE workstation and deselect the Gnome package.
I guess Redhat really wants me to use Gnome...
O.K, i accept the criticism of all four (At the time of posting) comments above. All are quiet correct when they say that i cannot and should not have posted on behalf of all Slasdot readers. In hind sight, a better opening phrase to my original post would have been:
:) Sorry if i upset anyone with my rather general statement.
I'm 100% certain that when i say this, i am saying it for most of Slashdot's readers:
I am still 100% certain however. If i were only 99% certain of my post, i would not have posted it
This is extremly interesting. All i can see in that post are some basic instructions for opening an archive file in Windows. Someone want to explain why that post violates the DMCA in anyway? Does this also mean that if i write this:
How to kill a person with a gun
Load the ammunition into the chamber. Ensure the safty catch is off. Point gun at victim. Pull triger.
I can be considered as a criminal (Possibly for insighting violence?) If i remember US law (I'm from the UK), arn't things such as the above actually protected by the right to freedom of speech and freedom of expresion (I.E documents such as the Anarcists Handbook?) Why did this crazy law ever manage to get passed?
But they can have the posts removed from Usenet once they find their way to a UK server...or i'm i thinking of another type of censorship? I'm confused...
I'm 100% certain that when i say this, i am saying it for all of Slashdot's readers:-
No matter what Microsoft threatens, no matter what they say, do not give into them. This is not because it is Microsoft, but because Free Speech is far too important, especially on a forum such as Slashdot. Give them hell.
As a side issue, i have a feeling this could turn into a very intersting thread. It covers all the things Slashdoters love to hate: Microsft, the DMCA and Censorship.
Not only does it cost a lot for electronic goods like PSX's, we also have to wait a lot longer for them.
I've ofton wondered, does anyone actually know what advantage companies such as Sony think there is in delaying release's to diferent parts of the world? I'm sure it can't be purly technical.
If you're gonna start with Adams, i vote for a real life Marvin, complete with dodgy Diode in the left arm.
Then again, waking up on the seafront at Southend could be a cool experience, just as long as the infinate monkeys stay away...
Yup, you're right when you say that OSS won't help bespoke systems. One of the most commonly given explanations of why someone codes OSS is that "The coder has an itch, so they scratch that itch", I.E if you want something doing, do it yourself.
With OSS coders being geeks, this tends to mean that they go off and code a peice of "cool" software that they want to have. I can't see many geeks sitting down and thinking "Hmmm, i know, i'll write a warehouse management package/call centre management package/stock control software etc". These just arn't "cool" projects, and it's unlikly that many geeks would have a need for their own software to do these things.
When it comes to specialased, mundane software that big businesses tend to use, OSS just doesn't fit unless you have the suits who tell the programers what to write. Without the suits, all the coders would be playing Quake and writing "cool" software...
Intead of setting coders against each other to port the MPEG4/DivX codec, shouldn't they be encouraging them to work together, share the work load and the source code between the developers, and um, get the job done quicker?
O.K, seems i left the tags out there. But, if you look hard, you may notice the ;) appended to the comment. ;)
5v at say 1 Amp is way powerful enough to worry you, expecially if you have wet hands and are stood bare foot in a puddle while you bite a bare coper cable ;)
The keyboard you're thinking of is the Sinclair ZX 80, the worlds first sub £100 home computer. The Z 80 is the CPU. :)
I just did, and they agree, what next master?
Dunno, i'll think of something later. You were very quick by the way. Amazing how quick the repspective heads of state responded.
one word answer: Freedom
Ahahahahahaha! Sorry, hang on, let me have a roll on the floor. Oh my...
Oh thats better. My sides hurt now. Freedom you say? Yeah, it's so free you have your politicians in the pockets of major corporations, you snatch 6 year old boys away at gun point to send them back to Cuba, the RIAA & MPAA are jumping all over a couple of coders who dared to defy them, WAVE is in the offing across several states. You say you have Freedom? You think you're free because you have a constitution that isn't worth the paper it's written on provided it suits the politians? You can own a lethal firearm, so you must be trully free, right? Oh please.
Who said any of the other countries in the world can't be free? Australia isn't free? Western Europe isn't free? My, i feel opressed.
Just because you don't like capitalism
That's a rather general statement, made by someone who doesn't know me, don't you think? FYI (Although really, none of your business), I tend to lean to the right (That is, Conservative) politically. I do believe in free health care and education for all however.
Your comment comes across as though you believe the old US "Commie bastard" crap from the 50's & 60's that was spread like manure across America. Communism isn't actually evil, it's just that the means to implement Communism tends to be violent, and the leaders in the past have tended to be a little mental.
BTW, calling me an asshole tends to confirm to me even further, that because i dared to question the good ol USofA, i must in some way be abnormal. Bzzzzt. Go travel the world a little why not.
You are? Best go tell Japan, China, North Korea, almost all the South American countries, the Middle Eastern countries, half of Europe.....
Honestly, statements such as this simply reinforce my view that most Americans are arrogant & ignorant when it comes to non-American matters. What's so great about America that means the rest of the world shoukd want to be like them?
the same in most western countries
I'd hardly call Russia a Western country by any stretch of the imagination. And even if the copyright law is similiar across countries, it still isn't the same law, and shouldn't allow one person in the US, to sue another person in a diferent country, under the US law.
World leaders need to start to understand the whole Global Internet thing, existing laws just don't work.
I'm sure it would look really cool, if they didn't use a stupid Javascript download form, so that i can't just download the QuickTime and use RealProducer to convert it to something that i can actually view. Bah.
...is it truly impossible for OSS?
Sure is. Have a simple script that has to be run first. Ask the user for the new password, encrypt it, and set it in a relevent header file, along with a magic number. Make it so the code won't compile without the encrypted password and the magic number set; that way, the user _has_ to run the script first.
This doesn't stop the code being any less open source, although if the user really wants they can extract the magic number and bypass the setup script. But then, what benfit to the user is there in doing that?
Ah, well now i'm asuming that this is an American only thing. To be honest, i've never even seen/heard the word "Banc" before today, and i'm guesing it's a bit obscure for average Joe to get. Add the fact that the Internet is international, i would still think .bank would make more sense...
How about some really cool TLD's that we can all use? Let's lobby for some that apply to us, such as:
.geek
.nerd
.unix
.bsd
.linux (Well, it has to go on the list, this is Slashdot ;) )
:)
Of course, if we can have 5 letter TLD's too now:
Mailto: kristian@vanders.geek
O.K, so i get the idea behind .shop, but shouldn't the second one be .bank? Oh, and .sex (Or .xxx) is a good idea too btw ;)