I'd hazard a guess that manufacturing tolerances are a cost factor. A 2mm range of variation in battery sizes would probably be unacceptable for a laptop manufacturer, but the lawnmower maker should be able to deal with a much larger variation, as well as a bigger overhead for the casing. It probably costs a lot more to wrap a laptop battery in 1.2mm of accurately made stuff than it does to case a laptop battery in 4-7mm of rough hewn gunk.
Well, there's also UKIP I suppose. They came second in the recent European elections, beating Labour into 3rd place, but they are currently leaderless and probably won't do well in the next General Election.
The important thing from my point of view (as leader of the Pirate Party UK) is that Labour and the Conservatives are fanatical vote-chasers with hardly and difference between their manifestos. If the Pirate Party can gain even a quite small percentage of the vote, it will be a percentage that the big parties will consider chasing.
Yes, we do need new politicians, that's why I'm standing for parliament as a Pirate Party candidate.
I'm well aware that I don't have the slightest chance of being elected, but I believe that the Pirate Party can demonstrate to the next government, and to the newly elected members of parliament that are replacing those standing down after the expenses scandal, that a significant portion of the voting public cares about Mandelson's plans.
If you're in the UK and want to do something positive about this story, we need memberships and donations to help fund the £500 per seat deposit needed to get our place on the ballot papers, and if you feel strongly enough to put yourself forward as a Pirate Candidate we are about to start our candidate selection process, so now is the time to get involved.
The Pirate Party will only become a major force in politics if people are prepared to put in the time, effort and cash needed to make it work. Here in the Pirate Party UK, we are facing a huge challenge to raise enough money to put up a significant number of candidates in the next general election. We have 650 constituencies, each requiring a £500 deposit before we can give voters the chance to vote pirate.
The major UK parties are well known for making policy swerves to chase votes. While the Pirate Party UK realistically stands no chance of winning seats in the next general election, we will do our best to offer voters a chance to demonstrate that technology issues are important.
I should start by saying we fully appreciate the benefits of creative commons licencing, the GPL and the like, and as you might expect from a 'geeky' party that cares about the public domain, we have absolutely no desire to damage the GPL (or get caught up in the eternal Pirate v Ninjas debate).
As I understand RMS's position, he considers a copyright duration of 5 years to be too short to ensure we get the benefits of the GPL and other 'giving licences', and outlines provisions that he would like to see if a 5 year duration was adopted. Importantly, he considers that a duration of 10 years or more would be sufficient.
The UK Party are in no way bound to follow the Swedish Party's 5 year policy, we are currently stating that we propose to reduce the current duration, but not setting out a particular length. Our plan is to be as democratic in writing our final manifesto as we can be. Once the party gets to a sufficient size, we will poll our membership about the exact duration (as well as many, many other policy issues).
Personally, I favour reverting to the historic starting point of 14 years, which would remove the objections raised by RMS, but we will also consider options such as 5 years for normal copyright with longer duration for 'giving licences'.
As party leader, I can promise you that our policies are not more extreme than publically stated, we are well aware that there needs to be balance in copyright law, and that artists need to be financially rewarded when their work is sold... of course even though I've only been a politician for a couple of days you might not trust me, so I'd invite you to head over to our forum and actually take part in our decision making processes. You will of course see views expressed that are both harder and softer than the party's official line, but I hope you'll also see that we are a rational, balanced group of people.
There is another method for change. The major parties instinctively chase votes, so it's possible to get them to alter course by showing them that there are votes to be gained by changing what are (to them) a few minor policies in obscure areas. You didn't really think their focus on environmental issues would have happened naturally without the spectre of a successful green party in the wings do you?
I think the 'endgame' for the Pirate Party UK will be to see the reforms we want enacted not because we stand a chance of winning, but because the party in power is willing to pass them in order to make us go away, which is one very good reason for us having a small manifesto that concentrates on a few areas that are important to us.
There is a balance to be struck between extremism and populism. As party leader (yes, that's me being quoted in the article) I'll have an easier job of convincing sceptical voters and politicians that the current copyright term is too long than convincing them that copyright is unneccesary - and course my own view as a hobby musician is that copyright law is actually a good idea, it's jut the current lobbyist-driven draconian implmentation of it that's the problem.... and now back to watching the server melt:-)
It's worth pointing our that I mentioned 'seven million votes' in the context of government figures showing that there are seven million filesharers in the UK, it does make me seem wildly optimistic if it's taken out of context.
The RIAA labels are well aware that file sharing is free advertising and it increases sales, the reason they are against it is that it breaks the monopoly on exposure that the RIAA labels had. Being able to try before you buy via P2P allows people to discover great self-promoted and small label music without making expensive 'stab in the dark' purchases. This means that although file-sharers spend on music is higher, the amount that ends up in the pockets of the RIAA labels is lower.
No, the cost to produce a record has gone down, not up. Recording equipment has never been cheaper, software can do the job of gear that used to cost a fortune, and CD duplication prices are a fraction of vinyl pressing costs.
"They don't pick some random price and have a committee on it." Actually they do, that's why Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Bertelsmann's BMG Music and EMI Group, plus retailers Musicland Stores, Trans World Entertainment and Tower Records paid out a $140m+ settlement for CD price fixing.
The reason that the big record labels perpetuate the myth that new artists need to be 'funded' is so they can perpetuate the closed ecosystem where artists can't reach the public without signing away 90 to 100% of the profits to them. This is the real reason why the music industry are willing to make payola payments to distribute songs for free on the radio, but are fighting against the free advertising of their product by filesharing, although both forms of advertising generate sales - it's because they can monopolise the airwaves but they can't do the same with P2P. It's all about artificial barriers to entering the market.
Apple don't lose money on iTunes, they make a HUGE profit. They take 29 cents per 99 cent song, and have sold over 6 billion songs, do the math!
Not much variety in music? Go count the number of artists on iTunes, Mr Troll.
2) Who paid for the survey? Take a look at http://www.theleadingquestion.com/ and you'll find prominent Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony and Universal logos on the front page. Do you trust them to be unbiased?
3) Even if the survey was fair, unbiased and accurate, it cannot distinguish between people who are aware of the RIAA's tactics and are no longer willing to admit to filesharing and people who have actually stopped.
That wording doesn't say there is only 1 prize. If the court decides to award this guy his million, it could concievably award other millions to subsequent proofs. It's a long shot, but if I lived locally I'd consider gambling an hour of time, gas and videotape against the chance of a million dollar payout.
In Europe we have (or possibly had) a party called Libertas, they stood across the whole of the European Union on an anti-EU-corruption platform, but the didn't do very well, just 0.65% of the votes went to them here in the UK.
The pictures in the linked article are of a 2003 model MCC Smart. It's been stretched out a bit, they didn't even bother to make the wheels fit into the wheelarches after stretching!
Can the prosecution really dismiss the defendant's appeal case? I had assumed that the court would allow the defendant a chance to clear their name and that's why this case was going to actually look at the evidence properly rather than simply being dropped because the RIAA got scared.
Slashdot Mirror
I'd hazard a guess that manufacturing tolerances are a cost factor. A 2mm range of variation in battery sizes would probably be unacceptable for a laptop manufacturer, but the lawnmower maker should be able to deal with a much larger variation, as well as a bigger overhead for the casing. It probably costs a lot more to wrap a laptop battery in 1.2mm of accurately made stuff than it does to case a laptop battery in 4-7mm of rough hewn gunk.
Well, there's also UKIP I suppose. They came second in the recent European elections, beating Labour into 3rd place, but they are currently leaderless and probably won't do well in the next General Election.
The important thing from my point of view (as leader of the Pirate Party UK) is that Labour and the Conservatives are fanatical vote-chasers with hardly and difference between their manifestos. If the Pirate Party can gain even a quite small percentage of the vote, it will be a percentage that the big parties will consider chasing.
Yes, we do need new politicians, that's why I'm standing for parliament as a Pirate Party candidate.
I'm well aware that I don't have the slightest chance of being elected, but I believe that the Pirate Party can demonstrate to the next government, and to the newly elected members of parliament that are replacing those standing down after the expenses scandal, that a significant portion of the voting public cares about Mandelson's plans.
If you're in the UK and want to do something positive about this story, we need memberships and donations to help fund the £500 per seat deposit needed to get our place on the ballot papers, and if you feel strongly enough to put yourself forward as a Pirate Candidate we are about to start our candidate selection process, so now is the time to get involved.
...and if you are not in Australia, sign up to your local party!
The Pirate Party will only become a major force in politics if people are prepared to put in the time, effort and cash needed to make it work. Here in the Pirate Party UK, we are facing a huge challenge to raise enough money to put up a significant number of candidates in the next general election. We have 650 constituencies, each requiring a £500 deposit before we can give voters the chance to vote pirate.
The major UK parties are well known for making policy swerves to chase votes. While the Pirate Party UK realistically stands no chance of winning seats in the next general election, we will do our best to offer voters a chance to demonstrate that technology issues are important.
Wouldn't Avatar/Ishtar be the obvious comparison?
I should start by saying we fully appreciate the benefits of creative commons licencing, the GPL and the like, and as you might expect from a 'geeky' party that cares about the public domain, we have absolutely no desire to damage the GPL (or get caught up in the eternal Pirate v Ninjas debate).
As I understand RMS's position, he considers a copyright duration of 5 years to be too short to ensure we get the benefits of the GPL and other 'giving licences', and outlines provisions that he would like to see if a 5 year duration was adopted. Importantly, he considers that a duration of 10 years or more would be sufficient.
The UK Party are in no way bound to follow the Swedish Party's 5 year policy, we are currently stating that we propose to reduce the current duration, but not setting out a particular length. Our plan is to be as democratic in writing our final manifesto as we can be. Once the party gets to a sufficient size, we will poll our membership about the exact duration (as well as many, many other policy issues).
Personally, I favour reverting to the historic starting point of 14 years, which would remove the objections raised by RMS, but we will also consider options such as 5 years for normal copyright with longer duration for 'giving licences'.
That's a nice idea, but we like to be able to say that our policies are tax revenue neutral, so we probably won't be adopting that idea!
As leader of the Pirate Party UK, I'll do my part and stand up and say that right now. Now it's up to you to vote Pirate and make us a large party!
As party leader, I can promise you that our policies are not more extreme than publically stated, we are well aware that there needs to be balance in copyright law, and that artists need to be financially rewarded when their work is sold... of course even though I've only been a politician for a couple of days you might not trust me, so I'd invite you to head over to our forum and actually take part in our decision making processes. You will of course see views expressed that are both harder and softer than the party's official line, but I hope you'll also see that we are a rational, balanced group of people.
Well to be fair, we are fighting a very American copyright law over here!
There is another method for change. The major parties instinctively chase votes, so it's possible to get them to alter course by showing them that there are votes to be gained by changing what are (to them) a few minor policies in obscure areas. You didn't really think their focus on environmental issues would have happened naturally without the spectre of a successful green party in the wings do you?
I think the 'endgame' for the Pirate Party UK will be to see the reforms we want enacted not because we stand a chance of winning, but because the party in power is willing to pass them in order to make us go away, which is one very good reason for us having a small manifesto that concentrates on a few areas that are important to us.
There is a balance to be struck between extremism and populism. As party leader (yes, that's me being quoted in the article) I'll have an easier job of convincing sceptical voters and politicians that the current copyright term is too long than convincing them that copyright is unneccesary - and course my own view as a hobby musician is that copyright law is actually a good idea, it's jut the current lobbyist-driven draconian implmentation of it that's the problem. ... and now back to watching the server melt :-)
It's worth pointing our that I mentioned 'seven million votes' in the context of government figures showing that there are seven million filesharers in the UK, it does make me seem wildly optimistic if it's taken out of context.
The RIAA labels are well aware that file sharing is free advertising and it increases sales, the reason they are against it is that it breaks the monopoly on exposure that the RIAA labels had. Being able to try before you buy via P2P allows people to discover great self-promoted and small label music without making expensive 'stab in the dark' purchases. This means that although file-sharers spend on music is higher, the amount that ends up in the pockets of the RIAA labels is lower.
No, the cost to produce a record has gone down, not up. Recording equipment has never been cheaper, software can do the job of gear that used to cost a fortune, and CD duplication prices are a fraction of vinyl pressing costs.
"They don't pick some random price and have a committee on it." Actually they do, that's why Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Bertelsmann's BMG Music and EMI Group, plus retailers Musicland Stores, Trans World Entertainment and Tower Records paid out a $140m+ settlement for CD price fixing.
The reason that the big record labels perpetuate the myth that new artists need to be 'funded' is so they can perpetuate the closed ecosystem where artists can't reach the public without signing away 90 to 100% of the profits to them. This is the real reason why the music industry are willing to make payola payments to distribute songs for free on the radio, but are fighting against the free advertising of their product by filesharing, although both forms of advertising generate sales - it's because they can monopolise the airwaves but they can't do the same with P2P. It's all about artificial barriers to entering the market.
Apple don't lose money on iTunes, they make a HUGE profit. They take 29 cents per 99 cent song, and have sold over 6 billion songs, do the math!
Not much variety in music? Go count the number of artists on iTunes, Mr Troll.
1) Correlation does not imply causality.
2) Who paid for the survey? Take a look at http://www.theleadingquestion.com/ and you'll find prominent Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony and Universal logos on the front page. Do you trust them to be unbiased?
3) Even if the survey was fair, unbiased and accurate, it cannot distinguish between people who are aware of the RIAA's tactics and are no longer willing to admit to filesharing and people who have actually stopped.
That wording doesn't say there is only 1 prize. If the court decides to award this guy his million, it could concievably award other millions to subsequent proofs. It's a long shot, but if I lived locally I'd consider gambling an hour of time, gas and videotape against the chance of a million dollar payout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nigRT2KmCE
In Europe we have (or possibly had) a party called Libertas, they stood across the whole of the European Union on an anti-EU-corruption platform, but the didn't do very well, just 0.65% of the votes went to them here in the UK.
There is a US Pirate Party!
http://www.pirate-party.us/
The pictures in the linked article are of a 2003 model MCC Smart. It's been stretched out a bit, they didn't even bother to make the wheels fit into the wheelarches after stretching!
Can the prosecution really dismiss the defendant's appeal case? I had assumed that the court would allow the defendant a chance to clear their name and that's why this case was going to actually look at the evidence properly rather than simply being dropped because the RIAA got scared.
Will they replace the HD Radio with DAB radio for Britain and the other parts of Europe that use DAB?