If the Government didn't subsidize stuff like milk (prop up the price) it would be too expensive to make. That would result in an immediate monopoly, or worse, nobody making it at all.
But since we have milk on the shelves you haven't been a victim of such a shortage, so you probably think it couldn't happen.
Your black and white "Government bad, corporations good" doesn't even hold water in theory, which is why no civilized country bothers to follow that mentality.
Not even one.
In the world of survival of the fittest, laissez-faire is quite extinct and has been deemed not fit for survival. I wish to God that we could buy you all a nice big desert continent in the middle of the ocean and let you make your paradise. We'd dress up Mel Gibson in road warrior armor and let him emcee the reality show.
Given the number of dynamic IP users out there, that's going to lead to a) people renewing their IP via their cable modem, or hanging up and redialing their dialup ISP; b) Yahoo banning ISP's; c) Yahoo reporting people to their ISP.
a) makes the ban useless b) will inevitably make the boards useless and unpopulated c) will make ISPs laugh at Yahoo
and I haven't even gotten into anonymizer proxies like boxofprox.com
My boss's business was swirling around in the same toilet bowl that you are.
We found that for accountability reasons and, in related issues, reliability and reputation issues, we had to bite the bullet, build the data center, expire (domestically) outsourced (er, contractor) contracts, and take it all in-house.
If you're not a financial services company it might be a less dire necessity. If you're a public company of any type? Between you and me, I'd take the data center. For many reasons requiring about a megabyte sized post, SOX will inevitably bite you on the butt when your data is "elsewhere" - elsewhere being anywhere except right there in the data center where you can control its usage in a highly draconian matter. There was also a recent law that came into effect regarding keeping all internal emails.
Contractors don't necessarily screw up, but there's an old war term my pappy taught me that applies here... don't let your supply lines get too numerous or too thin. Too many pipes tend to spring one leak, and nowadays one leak is very bad news. Keep it all in-house and you're statistically guaranteed to have less drama.
Oh and before someone says it, yes, have two data centers. In case the first one becomes the real life setting for "Destroy All Humans" or something.
My point is that art is dragged into the mud when it's done for any other reason than art. I won't even buy commercial music, or copy it via p2p, so in reality I'm doing the same damage: I won't give these "wanna be paid" artists the time of day. Woe betide them if I stop being the anomaly.
Besides, there are also paid concerts.
The problem is, data is an infinitely available and instantly reproducible resource. Copyright tries to assert principles regarding scarcity to something that's not in any way scarce. It's a lie. It's denial. It's not reality. Artists may want to get paid, but in the digital age where there's no scarcity of digital goods, it's just not reality.
Look at all the freedoms and fascism that has to be enacted to even create the illusion of enforced scarcity. If the USSR can be brought down from within, eventually pissed off citizens will bring this DRM regime down, too. Perhaps as early as this next generation.
And this article was about operating systems, and that is where the damage that has been done is already even more dramatic. MicroSoft is already paying attention to GNU/Linux. Vista is going to hit a wall, and MicroSoft already knows it - MicroSoft has already reportedly said Vista is the LAST operating system they're going to make. GNU/Linux, a free option, will catch up. What happens to all those OS programmers then? Even the fools in India won't have a paying job. There are other examples too of rising threats - GIMP, Ximian Evolution, etc. Commercially-sold browsers were the first to go almost totally extinct because of the GNU phenomenon; Winamp and commercial software mp3 players are also what Al Gore calls "extinct in the wild". Non-free operating systems are next. And the worst is yet to come for commercial software: the adoption of GNU/Linux as a government-mandated standard in some countries, and all the programmers that these countries will soon produce that'll accelerate GNU/Linux's development.
What I'm getting at here is: 1) artists are facing the reality of one of two things - producing music for free, or for profit under a highly repressionist regime that stomps all civil liberties in favor of copyright enforcement (thereby shooting themselves in the foot since remixes, among other things, will be illegal); and
2) programmer salaries are already spiraling into the toilet bowl of doom because of the spread of GNU/Linux.
The second one is, artists do need to eat, but nowadays we have a glut of artists producing music solely for money, and the quality of that work is crap. Utter crap. See: Britney Spears.
Also, plenty of artists produce music for free - good quality music. Check the demo scene for a good example. Look up Skaven, Xerxes, Necros, Basehead, oh heck just go to http://www.modarchive.com/ - there is a whole universe of artists who make free music, and a ton of it is very good.
Also look up The Ur-Quan Masters for artists who make KILLER game music.
As far as I know, the latter wasn't paid. How does that figure into your equation?
China's economy was destroyed primarily by England who whupped their butts in order to open China up to opium trade. Capitalism, thus, played a part in their downfall. Actually, it was British imperialism moreso than capitalism.
The whole reason for the "Secure Flight" program is yet another way to put countless Americans into one giant database for corporate exploitation.
It's just another way businesses are making money by talking about you behind your back and you're completely cut out of the profits from the trading of your personal information.
"Nazi Germany wasn't built in a day. These things take time, and if you refuse to speak up, you can bet your life they will turn out the same."
Typical neo conservative response: "Will it be built tomorrow at 12:00pm? No? Then shut up!!!"
You have to remember, these people do not think very far ahead in life. They're the same people who reduced Corporate America to the quarter-by-quarter system while Japan and other countries think 3-5 years ahead (and which is why they're eating us alive in the automobile market with their fuel efficient cars).
Slashdot Mirror
If the Government didn't subsidize stuff like milk (prop up the price) it would be too expensive to make. That would result in an immediate monopoly, or worse, nobody making it at all.
But since we have milk on the shelves you haven't been a victim of such a shortage, so you probably think it couldn't happen.
Your black and white "Government bad, corporations good" doesn't even hold water in theory, which is why no civilized country bothers to follow that mentality.
Not even one.
In the world of survival of the fittest, laissez-faire is quite extinct and has been deemed not fit for survival. I wish to God that we could buy you all a nice big desert continent in the middle of the ocean and let you make your paradise. We'd dress up Mel Gibson in road warrior armor and let him emcee the reality show.
Call it "life in Libertaria".
Is there any parasite that makes MEN more attractive?
As if we didn't have enough biological disadvantages in the mating game, this one is nature's way of applying the final curb stomp.
Given the number of dynamic IP users out there, that's going to lead to
a) people renewing their IP via their cable modem, or hanging up and redialing their dialup ISP;
b) Yahoo banning ISP's;
c) Yahoo reporting people to their ISP.
a) makes the ban useless
b) will inevitably make the boards useless and unpopulated
c) will make ISPs laugh at Yahoo
and I haven't even gotten into anonymizer proxies like boxofprox.com
When nothing except certain M$ software will work with Vista, it's ready to go.
[sarcasm off]
(7) Make sure you're paid in US currency when you're done!
PS: Well said!
My boss's business was swirling around in the same toilet bowl that you are.
We found that for accountability reasons and, in related issues, reliability and reputation issues, we had to bite the bullet, build the data center, expire (domestically) outsourced (er, contractor) contracts, and take it all in-house.
If you're not a financial services company it might be a less dire necessity. If you're a public company of any type? Between you and me, I'd take the data center. For many reasons requiring about a megabyte sized post, SOX will inevitably bite you on the butt when your data is "elsewhere" - elsewhere being anywhere except right there in the data center where you can control its usage in a highly draconian matter. There was also a recent law that came into effect regarding keeping all internal emails.
Contractors don't necessarily screw up, but there's an old war term my pappy taught me that applies here... don't let your supply lines get too numerous or too thin. Too many pipes tend to spring one leak, and nowadays one leak is very bad news. Keep it all in-house and you're statistically guaranteed to have less drama.
Oh and before someone says it, yes, have two data centers. In case the first one becomes the real life setting for "Destroy All Humans" or something.
My point is that art is dragged into the mud when it's done for any other reason than art. I won't even buy commercial music, or copy it via p2p, so in reality I'm doing the same damage: I won't give these "wanna be paid" artists the time of day. Woe betide them if I stop being the anomaly.
Besides, there are also paid concerts.
The problem is, data is an infinitely available and instantly reproducible resource. Copyright tries to assert principles regarding scarcity to something that's not in any way scarce. It's a lie. It's denial. It's not reality. Artists may want to get paid, but in the digital age where there's no scarcity of digital goods, it's just not reality.
Look at all the freedoms and fascism that has to be enacted to even create the illusion of enforced scarcity. If the USSR can be brought down from within, eventually pissed off citizens will bring this DRM regime down, too. Perhaps as early as this next generation.
And this article was about operating systems, and that is where the damage that has been done is already even more dramatic. MicroSoft is already paying attention to GNU/Linux. Vista is going to hit a wall, and MicroSoft already knows it - MicroSoft has already reportedly said Vista is the LAST operating system they're going to make. GNU/Linux, a free option, will catch up. What happens to all those OS programmers then? Even the fools in India won't have a paying job. There are other examples too of rising threats - GIMP, Ximian Evolution, etc. Commercially-sold browsers were the first to go almost totally extinct because of the GNU phenomenon; Winamp and commercial software mp3 players are also what Al Gore calls "extinct in the wild". Non-free operating systems are next. And the worst is yet to come for commercial software: the adoption of GNU/Linux as a government-mandated standard in some countries, and all the programmers that these countries will soon produce that'll accelerate GNU/Linux's development.
What I'm getting at here is:
1) artists are facing the reality of one of two things - producing music for free, or for profit under a highly repressionist regime that stomps all civil liberties in favor of copyright enforcement (thereby shooting themselves in the foot since remixes, among other things, will be illegal); and
2) programmer salaries are already spiraling into the toilet bowl of doom because of the spread of GNU/Linux.
The second one is, artists do need to eat, but nowadays we have a glut of artists producing music solely for money, and the quality of that work is crap. Utter crap. See: Britney Spears.
Also, plenty of artists produce music for free - good quality music. Check the demo scene for a good example. Look up Skaven, Xerxes, Necros, Basehead, oh heck just go to http://www.modarchive.com/ - there is a whole universe of artists who make free music, and a ton of it is very good.
Also look up The Ur-Quan Masters for artists who make KILLER game music.
As far as I know, the latter wasn't paid. How does that figure into your equation?
China's economy was destroyed primarily by England who whupped their butts in order to open China up to opium trade. Capitalism, thus, played a part in their downfall. Actually, it was British imperialism moreso than capitalism.
and I say to the poor, "Let them eat cake".
Your right to live should depend entirely on how much money you have.
[neo con parody off]
The world never had any entertainment before the dawn of DRM & copyright.
[sarcasm off]
Ergo, there's no need to panic here on Earth.
[Republican parody mode off]
Heh, sorry for taking you the wrong way. Just assume that humans are now preying upon each other and go from there.
Eventually, though, this system will crash as it saps all the good will from society and remakes people into merciless survivalists.
Pity that didn't help many whale species that nearly got hunted to extinction, and whose recovery coincided with a ban on hunting them.
The numbers don't lie, sarcastic one.
_ holiday_layoffs/index.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/19/news/economy/jobs
They'd just hire replacements offshore.
These Christmas bonuses are Capitalism's way of saying "you're expendable, in your face, hahahah!"
are using up all their mod points now.
The whole reason for the "Secure Flight" program is yet another way to put countless Americans into one giant database for corporate exploitation.
It's just another way businesses are making money by talking about you behind your back and you're completely cut out of the profits from the trading of your personal information.
There's a neo conservative saying that goes:
"If you want to save a species, put it on the menu".
Yes, they're really that dumb...
"Nazi Germany wasn't built in a day. These things take time, and if you refuse to speak up, you can bet your life they will turn out the same."
Typical neo conservative response:
"Will it be built tomorrow at 12:00pm? No? Then shut up!!!"
You have to remember, these people do not think very far ahead in life. They're the same people who reduced Corporate America to the quarter-by-quarter system while Japan and other countries think 3-5 years ahead (and which is why they're eating us alive in the automobile market with their fuel efficient cars).
You totally rocked the house with that one. You've got a new fan. :D
The free market is why DRM has made CDs cheaper.
Oh wait, CD prices are up. Nevermind.
This judge will get sued for all the infringement that will be allowed because of this.
Well, not really, but you never know...
DRM paper.
Books printed in vending machines that will self destruct in one year and which will automatically shut down copy machines trying to duplicate it.
But it already can.
What can OS X do that KDE can't?
The sticking point now isn't even driver support - my jaw drops nowadays at all the stuff that works with Linux, even syncing my Palm works now.
The sticking points are games, and certain hobbyist things like converting AVI/WMV to MPG, and DVD ripping.