Anyone listen closely to the soundtracks for certain levels in Doom II? I was listening to Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power one day, and the rhythm guitar lines immediately jumped out at me as being familiar... Especially the one in "This Love"... First time I ever heard the song, I was like... "Wasn't that in Doom II?" I went back to try to confirm it on a more recent copy, and couldn't find them...
Is there any basis to the supposition that Doom II ripped Pantera off?
People will stop buying CDs (a few will keep purchasing, though) because the amount of enjoyment per dollar is too low.
Exactly why DIVX tanked. The cumulative cost was higher than the amount of enjoyment derived from the initial media purchase. That doesn't seem to keep the suits from drooling over the thought of having the same type of control over music distribution, though. SDMI, anyone?
Hrm... This has bothered me for a bit... Isn't it actually the people who are making the copyrighted material available for download? In terms of paper, the person infringing on the copyright is the person running off the copies on the photocopier. Plus, Metallica went after the people who had the songs posted, not (as far as I can tell) the people who downloaded the songs. I wonder why this distinction is becoming blurred like this around here... Or is it that the suits are blurring it with their rhetoric? *shrug* Anyway, precision of thought is needed here...
Hey, I've seen a lot of posts suggesting that Network Neighborhood would be illegal... *shrug* And now we see indications that the suits do indeed think along those lines. Yeah, that line hit my attention pretty hard too.
Ooh. And I forgot... "our art"??? WTF? He's saying that he's just as responsible for the creative process of songwriting and performing as the artists he represents? "In my country, thees ees what we call BOOLSHEET!" Responsible for managing their finances, but in no way able to take any credit for creative matters such as art, in my opinion.
"While so far only Metallica and Dr. Dre have taken the step of moving against their fans, their lawyer Howard King says that at least five other artists have contacted him. Meanwhile, Ron Stone, manager of artists like Tracy Chapman and Bonnie Raitt, insists that the entire Napster movement is little better than thuggery. "Basically they're saying our art is worthless, it's free for the taking," he says. "Music used to be a collectible, now it's a disposable." With a few other artists and managers, he's starting an ad-hoc committee called Artists Against Piracy. Somehow it doesn't have the ring of Save the Rain Forest." -Newsweek (C)
Um... I like the "disposable" bit. Welcome, Sir Dumbass, to the disposable culture you and the rest of the corporate entities created. Ever notice how you can't buy stuff that doesn't break after a year or so of use? And you can't fix it, so you have to trash it and buy a new one? And suddenly you're all pissy and moaning when other forms of "property" are seen in the same light by those who have been trained from birth to use it and throw it away by society.
If you couldn't tell, I agree a lot with Sig11's post above on the subject. I think he hit the nail on the head.
"Worthless" is another good word... Fits right in with the likes of Brittany Spears and N'Sync...
Amusing argument, since every CD I've ever owned has developed pinholes in the media (not caused by scratching, as far as I can tell)... But then again, I'm not terribly careful with my CDs.
Those whose intellectual property is simply appropriated on the Internet or anywhere else, are forced to labor without choice or recompense, for the benefit of whoever might wish to take a piece of their hide. If this is a principle of the New World, it is suspiciously like the Old World principle called slavery.
So... trading mp3s is equated with slavery!!!
Turn it around, though... What does a record contract force on artists, and what do they get from it? If MP3 trading is akin to slavery, record contracts are akin another "Old World principle" called indentured service. Certainly, the artists are forced to work without "choice" and for very little "recompense" once they've signed a contract. And the obscene profits that the record companies make are surely coming out of the "hides" of the artists. My response to this: get a clue, numbnuts. By your own words, you're morally bankrupt if the point of view is changed slightly.
Exactly. One of the things I've found is that an argument about the truth of something becomes unwinnable when either side drops to the emotional level. Outright banning of speech is an emotional move, very similar to saying "Talk to the hand, I ain't listening." And it only makes the other side more determined in their opinions. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, all of the arguments for or against bills in Congress these days are based on emotion, and therefore we have votes that run strictly down party lines. I haven't watched C-Span lately, but I remember the painful obviousness of the emotional rhetoric used during debates. Emotion has it's place, but for the most part it gets in the way of looking at reality in a rational manner.
This has got to be the most intelligent and clueful treatment of this subject that I have yet read. Although I have to worry a little about all the typos. I hope it's a result of hurried stenography... But it's a wonderful analysis of exactly why the content controllers feel so threatened by new technology, and for once (and god I'm scared) the AOL-Time/Warner merger makes sense.
I first got worried about this sort of thing back when I heard a presentation by Herbert Schiller on NPR called "The Corporate Packaging of the Public Mind". Basically, it was a warning cry that the content controllers, the corporations who have the greatest effect on the very way we think were focusing their efforts on consolidating control of information production and distribution. He was very upset about the "recent" merger of Time and Warner, if this gives you any idea of how long ago this was. His warning has been pretty much ignored. Just to give you an example: How long do you think Brittany Spears will retain her present popularity? Wasn't Mariah Carey in that spot just a few months ago? For a period there, I used to get their names mixed up. Anyway, the answer is that she will remain popular just as long as revenue from her so-called art flows at a fast enough rate for the content controllers. As soon as the revenue rate drops below some value, the content controllers will drop the newest "teen phenomenon" on the boards and Miz Spears will be a thing of the past. Heck, New Kids on the Block. Remember them? Glad they died off, but this is exactly what I'm talking about. The content controllers have the ability to basically reprogram us in order to achieve maximum revenue flow, and I see few people outside of Slashdot who are even aware that there's a problem.
I was hoping that people would see the dangers and that some sort of grassroots resistance would spring up. The chilling fact brought home to me by the Lessig speech is that if we don't get our heads out of our collective rear ends, we won't get another chance. The new architecture that the content controllers are willing to impose on the net will basically make resistance impossible. And open source, freedom, and all the other Geek values we cherish will die out except for those who are willing to face being branded criminals.
I don't have an easy solution. We Geeks as a group have got to get our butts out on the line and do what is necessary. Donations to the EFF and then going back to watching TV aren't going to cut it.
Well, actually, in some locales the answer would be "both of you". I know that in certain areas, the sale of drug paraphenalia is just as illegal as the sale of drugs themselves. I think Mississippi (or at least the area around Mississippi State U.) has such a law, as a head shop in Starkville was raided and completely shut down. Although with the number of people I know of who seem to be majoring in Bong Engineering, I'm surprised the shop had a market...
Agreed. Think for a moment about the Microsoft Flap and the DMCA. If that sort of thing went in, Cmdr. Taco et al. would be stuck with personal responsibility for AC posings of the Kerberos specs and could be directly sued for the infringing material. Oh, and they'd have to collect a lot more detailed information about every single one of us, since nothing I've seen in the process of creating a login on Slashdot could pin down anyone's real identity with any degree of certainty (I'll agree that it's doable, but it'd be really hard.) Real names can be forged, and web email accounts are easily available these days... --Fesh
Damn! I saw nothing worth modding up over the past few days, and now that they've lapsed, I run across this. Gah! The perversity of nature strikes again!
In all seriousness, this is a wonderful idea. Especially since individuals weighing in on an issue supposedly means a lot more because it usually means that there are more people on the sidelines who may feel strongly about the issue but are too lazy to actually call the politico's attention to their views. Hey, we have the energy to post to Slashdot, why not use it to get our views across?
I also give permission for Slashdot/Andover to use any comments of mine to support our views within the Government. Let's get 'em, folks! --Fesh
Right on. I've been wondering some of the same things myself. When are we going to be fed up enough to actually get together and fight this sort of thing on our terms? The DeCSS hearings were a good start. But we need cohesiveness to get the job done.
Sadly, I think that geek culture as a whole tends to be almost too individualistic to allow for a really good cohesive movement. I'd like to be proved wrong, I really would, but that's the way I see it. We've got to face up to the fact that we geeks (and other dissatisfied Slashdot readers) are the people who are driving the future. We have to take responsibility for getting where we want to go. Otherwise we let go of the wheel and let idiocy like this run us into a ditch. When will we get around to forming a "Million Geek March?" When are we going to demand that our voices be heard in our communities and in our government? Are we angry enough yet? Personally, I think that if it comes to the point where you can't buy VCRs, DVD players, or other entertainment devices that work between 5:00 and 9:00 at night because the media doesn't want you entertained by anything other than prime-time TV, things have gone way too far. Are we going to sit by and let that happen?
I recall from my Computer Ethics class in college that there was a lawsuit a while back which basically said that the act of loading a program into memory from disk to memory was making a separate copy, so running several copies of a program from a shared drive was copyright infringement. I don't remember the details, but I think it got booted, although it went pretty high in the courts before it did.
I'm surprised that PLIF hasn't been picked up on earlier... It's some really good, twisted stuff. It's like Red Meat meeting The Far Side and sharing a sheet of acid. *grin* I think my favorite (very appropriate for Slashdot, by the way) is this little comment on conformity. Well, I like it... There's a few others that are always good for a giggle too... But I'm sick and twisted like that, I guess.
This may be a little offtopic, but... It's been suggested (I forget where I saw this) that the public's inordinate fear of nuclear power and radiation is due to the testing that was done in the '50s and '60s. I mean, what are you supposed to think when you're told you've been exposed to "a very small" amount of radiation and develop a nasty sunburn the next day and your hair falls out later that week? Or all the health problems caused by massive radioactive iodine releases from Hanford, which the suits and labcoats said was a "small" amount? I think we as a culture are so scared of low-level radiation precisely because of the effects caused by covered-up experiments with high levels of radiation. The experimenters of the time were reckless with human lives, and compounded it by not disclosing fully the dosages they exposed people to.
In a similar vein, I've got a great idea for the next extreme sport! Thermonuclear Shockwave Riding! See, we get these 40-foot diameter balloons, fill them with helium until they're neutrally bouyant. Rig each balloon with bungee cords from the surface which connect to a (tinted, at least) passenger compartment in the center. Array them in a mile-radius circle, and set off a nuke in the center. Then the people in the balloons literally ride the shockwave! *smack* Oops... Sorry... I'll go away now...
I've seen some real stinkers, but nothing quite as bad as what my friends wanted to do. I had serious ethical misgivings about it and I think they gave up on it. But...
Peacekeeper! First-person action on the campust of Kent State, you play a National Guardsman threatened by the evil hippies! You may have a gun, but they've got joints, acid, and bad hygeine! Get them before they get you!
You can see why I thought it was a bad idea. --Fesh
Slashdot Mirror
--Fesh
--Fesh
Is there any basis to the supposition that Doom II ripped Pantera off?
--Fesh
--Fesh
*sound of paradigm collapsing*
--Fesh
Exactly why DIVX tanked. The cumulative cost was higher than the amount of enjoyment derived from the initial media purchase. That doesn't seem to keep the suits from drooling over the thought of having the same type of control over music distribution, though. SDMI, anyone?
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
-Newsweek (C)
Um... I like the "disposable" bit. Welcome, Sir Dumbass, to the disposable culture you and the rest of the corporate entities created. Ever notice how you can't buy stuff that doesn't break after a year or so of use? And you can't fix it, so you have to trash it and buy a new one? And suddenly you're all pissy and moaning when other forms of "property" are seen in the same light by those who have been trained from birth to use it and throw it away by society.
If you couldn't tell, I agree a lot with Sig11's post above on the subject. I think he hit the nail on the head.
"Worthless" is another good word... Fits right in with the likes of Brittany Spears and N'Sync...
--Fesh
--Fesh
So... trading mp3s is equated with slavery!!!
Turn it around, though... What does a record contract force on artists, and what do they get from it? If MP3 trading is akin to slavery, record contracts are akin another "Old World principle" called indentured service. Certainly, the artists are forced to work without "choice" and for very little "recompense" once they've signed a contract. And the obscene profits that the record companies make are surely coming out of the "hides" of the artists. My response to this: get a clue, numbnuts. By your own words, you're morally bankrupt if the point of view is changed slightly.
--Fesh
--Fesh
I first got worried about this sort of thing back when I heard a presentation by Herbert Schiller on NPR called "The Corporate Packaging of the Public Mind". Basically, it was a warning cry that the content controllers, the corporations who have the greatest effect on the very way we think were focusing their efforts on consolidating control of information production and distribution. He was very upset about the "recent" merger of Time and Warner, if this gives you any idea of how long ago this was. His warning has been pretty much ignored. Just to give you an example: How long do you think Brittany Spears will retain her present popularity? Wasn't Mariah Carey in that spot just a few months ago? For a period there, I used to get their names mixed up. Anyway, the answer is that she will remain popular just as long as revenue from her so-called art flows at a fast enough rate for the content controllers. As soon as the revenue rate drops below some value, the content controllers will drop the newest "teen phenomenon" on the boards and Miz Spears will be a thing of the past. Heck, New Kids on the Block. Remember them? Glad they died off, but this is exactly what I'm talking about. The content controllers have the ability to basically reprogram us in order to achieve maximum revenue flow, and I see few people outside of Slashdot who are even aware that there's a problem.
I was hoping that people would see the dangers and that some sort of grassroots resistance would spring up. The chilling fact brought home to me by the Lessig speech is that if we don't get our heads out of our collective rear ends, we won't get another chance. The new architecture that the content controllers are willing to impose on the net will basically make resistance impossible. And open source, freedom, and all the other Geek values we cherish will die out except for those who are willing to face being branded criminals.
I don't have an easy solution. We Geeks as a group have got to get our butts out on the line and do what is necessary. Donations to the EFF and then going back to watching TV aren't going to cut it.
--Fesh
--Fesh
Agreed. Think for a moment about the Microsoft Flap and the DMCA. If that sort of thing went in, Cmdr. Taco et al. would be stuck with personal responsibility for AC posings of the Kerberos specs and could be directly sued for the infringing material. Oh, and they'd have to collect a lot more detailed information about every single one of us, since nothing I've seen in the process of creating a login on Slashdot could pin down anyone's real identity with any degree of certainty (I'll agree that it's doable, but it'd be really hard.) Real names can be forged, and web email accounts are easily available these days...
--Fesh
In all seriousness, this is a wonderful idea. Especially since individuals weighing in on an issue supposedly means a lot more because it usually means that there are more people on the sidelines who may feel strongly about the issue but are too lazy to actually call the politico's attention to their views. Hey, we have the energy to post to Slashdot, why not use it to get our views across?
I also give permission for Slashdot/Andover to use any comments of mine to support our views within the Government. Let's get 'em, folks!
--Fesh
You mean like The Raft in Snow Crash?
Heh...
--Fesh
Sadly, I think that geek culture as a whole tends to be almost too individualistic to allow for a really good cohesive movement. I'd like to be proved wrong, I really would, but that's the way I see it. We've got to face up to the fact that we geeks (and other dissatisfied Slashdot readers) are the people who are driving the future. We have to take responsibility for getting where we want to go. Otherwise we let go of the wheel and let idiocy like this run us into a ditch. When will we get around to forming a "Million Geek March?" When are we going to demand that our voices be heard in our communities and in our government? Are we angry enough yet? Personally, I think that if it comes to the point where you can't buy VCRs, DVD players, or other entertainment devices that work between 5:00 and 9:00 at night because the media doesn't want you entertained by anything other than prime-time TV, things have gone way too far. Are we going to sit by and let that happen?
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
In a similar vein, I've got a great idea for the next extreme sport! Thermonuclear Shockwave Riding! See, we get these 40-foot diameter balloons, fill them with helium until they're neutrally bouyant. Rig each balloon with bungee cords from the surface which connect to a (tinted, at least) passenger compartment in the center. Array them in a mile-radius circle, and set off a nuke in the center. Then the people in the balloons literally ride the shockwave! *smack* Oops... Sorry... I'll go away now...
--Fesh
Peacekeeper! First-person action on the campust of Kent State, you play a National Guardsman threatened by the evil hippies! You may have a gun, but they've got joints, acid, and bad hygeine! Get them before they get you!
You can see why I thought it was a bad idea.
--Fesh
But that poses the question... Have I been trolled by CNN? Don't answer that. I'd like to keep my pride semi-intact... :)
--Fesh