AMEN. I hardly ever post here, but check the news at least once a day. Something about Katz's articles have always bothered me; while he always has well thought-out opinions and some valid points, the patronizing tone seems more intended to gain favor with a large demographic of readers rather then providing unbiased food for thought.
How about recognizing that perhaps us geeks have faults too and it's not all society's fault? Specifically, obsessive game playing for hours a day - which I do - causes plenty of problems, ones that imho outweigh the benefits. Game playing is a hobby, one that I love, but there's nothing really noble about it. Saying that there is does a great disservice to those troubled teens who actually should get away from their Playstations and computers for an hour or two a day.
-mati
While I agree, it would follow that corporations shouldn't be able to contribute money to political causes or be named as an entity in lawsuits. The fact is, corporations have been treated increasingly like people for the last century or so, allowing them undue influence over our government and letting individuals get away with atrocities by hiding behind the corporate umbrella.
So vote Nader (and I think Browne would agree on ideological terms too).
"The front line of defense against such sophisticated viruses is a continually evolving computer-operating system that attracts the efforts of eager software developers, Gates said." Now, what OS does this description fit better: Windows, or anything open-sourced? Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. . .
On the contrary, the very notion of "intellectual property" is a pseudo-socialist concept. In essence, it makes us (meaning we the people) give up a part of our natural rights for the sake of the greater good to society. We recognized that in our country, artists need incentive (aka money) to create art that is pleasing to us, and granted them the rights to restrict our freedom to make copies.
Unfortunately, intellectual property has evolved into a concept that some people seem to think is a natural phenomenon, even though it is inevitable that the concept will become outdated. This is what is meant when we say "information wants to be free." Yes, it is individuals who break copyright law who perpetuate this statement, but whether they are breaking the law or not is irrelevant, it is a natural evolution; the fact is, we cannot stop it. We can either find new paradigms to compensate our artists, or make the transition difficult by clinging to the outdated notion that someone else has the right to tell me what to do with a CD I have purchased.
The same Metallica that subtitled their Garage Days album (a pretty cool collection of cover songs) "The 9.98 EP", so the kids wouldn't get ripped off by the record store? My, how allegiences change with success... although given Lars' quote, I doubt that the actual members of Metallica have the slightest clue what Napster is. Ah well, it brings me much sorrow to add Metallica to the 'ol boycott list. -mati
Breaking MS up into Baby Bills won't be much of a solution in the long run, sort of attacking the symptom (Microsoft's ownage of many markets) instead of the root cause (embrace and extend, closed APIs, etc) of the alleged abuses. My idea is to require MS to include the (readable) source code to whatever they choose to bundle with their operating system distribution, so anyone with a lisensced copy can modify it. Wanna "integrate" IE? Go ahead, it can be hacked out with elegance - or just distribute it seperate from the OS and keep it closed source. A good compromise that will force them to play fair, no? -mati
They do have the right to use whatever boneheaded methods they want to - just as we have the right to circumvent them via legal reverse-engineering. If they put a provision in the liscense agreement stating that "this DVD can only be viewed on an MPAA-approved player," things would be different. Of course, that would pretty much make their intent crystal clear and might cause public outrage... better to be sneaky about it.
Did anyone else read the BSA's article? "under the supervision of U.S. Marshals, BSA carried out unannounced inspections of computer equipment at residences in Sacramento and Downey, CA, and in Troy and West Bloomfield, MI, seizing five computers." I'm not taking a position on warez, but the article makes it sound like the BSA is some federal government agency. What it IS, is an association of private software companies, and I don't like the idea of them having the power/political influence to come into my house and investigate my computer because they saw my name on some IRC channel. The BSA can file all the lawsuits they want, but in the case if internet piracy, it scares me that they're doing the enforcing too (as opposed to the FBI).
Come on open-sourcers;) You pay to go to college because classes facilitate the learning process. The information is not proprietary. I could go to the library, and with a good amount of research and organization, get the vast majority of information that one learns in college for free. What you're paying for at college is the presentation (and the degree of course) - and all this website is offering is the raw info.
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AMEN. I hardly ever post here, but check the news at least once a day. Something about Katz's articles have always bothered me; while he always has well thought-out opinions and some valid points, the patronizing tone seems more intended to gain favor with a large demographic of readers rather then providing unbiased food for thought. How about recognizing that perhaps us geeks have faults too and it's not all society's fault? Specifically, obsessive game playing for hours a day - which I do - causes plenty of problems, ones that imho outweigh the benefits. Game playing is a hobby, one that I love, but there's nothing really noble about it. Saying that there is does a great disservice to those troubled teens who actually should get away from their Playstations and computers for an hour or two a day. -mati
While I agree, it would follow that corporations shouldn't be able to contribute money to political causes or be named as an entity in lawsuits. The fact is, corporations have been treated increasingly like people for the last century or so, allowing them undue influence over our government and letting individuals get away with atrocities by hiding behind the corporate umbrella. So vote Nader (and I think Browne would agree on ideological terms too).
"The front line of defense against such sophisticated viruses is a continually evolving computer-operating system that attracts the efforts of eager software developers, Gates said." Now, what OS does this description fit better: Windows, or anything open-sourced? Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. . .
On the contrary, the very notion of "intellectual property" is a pseudo-socialist concept. In essence, it makes us (meaning we the people) give up a part of our natural rights for the sake of the greater good to society. We recognized that in our country, artists need incentive (aka money) to create art that is pleasing to us, and granted them the rights to restrict our freedom to make copies.
Unfortunately, intellectual property has evolved into a concept that some people seem to think is a natural phenomenon, even though it is inevitable that the concept will become outdated. This is what is meant when we say "information wants to be free." Yes, it is individuals who break copyright law who perpetuate this statement, but whether they are breaking the law or not is irrelevant, it is a natural evolution; the fact is, we cannot stop it. We can either find new paradigms to compensate our artists, or make the transition difficult by clinging to the outdated notion that someone else has the right to tell me what to do with a CD I have purchased.
-mati
The same Metallica that subtitled their Garage Days album (a pretty cool collection of cover songs) "The 9.98 EP", so the kids wouldn't get ripped off by the record store? My, how allegiences change with success... although given Lars' quote, I doubt that the actual members of Metallica have the slightest clue what Napster is. Ah well, it brings me much sorrow to add Metallica to the 'ol boycott list. -mati
Breaking MS up into Baby Bills won't be much of a solution in the long run, sort of attacking the symptom (Microsoft's ownage of many markets) instead of the root cause (embrace and extend, closed APIs, etc) of the alleged abuses. My idea is to require MS to include the (readable) source code to whatever they choose to bundle with their operating system distribution, so anyone with a lisensced copy can modify it. Wanna "integrate" IE? Go ahead, it can be hacked out with elegance - or just distribute it seperate from the OS and keep it closed source. A good compromise that will force them to play fair, no? -mati
They do have the right to use whatever boneheaded methods they want to - just as we have the right to circumvent them via legal reverse-engineering. If they put a provision in the liscense agreement stating that "this DVD can only be viewed on an MPAA-approved player," things would be different. Of course, that would pretty much make their intent crystal clear and might cause public outrage... better to be sneaky about it.
Aye, be wary of Geeks bearing gifts ;)
Did anyone else read the BSA's article? "under the supervision of U.S. Marshals, BSA carried out unannounced inspections of computer equipment at residences in Sacramento and Downey, CA, and in Troy and West Bloomfield, MI, seizing five computers." I'm not taking a position on warez, but the article makes it sound like the BSA is some federal government agency. What it IS, is an association of private software companies, and I don't like the idea of them having the power/political influence to come into my house and investigate my computer because they saw my name on some IRC channel. The BSA can file all the lawsuits they want, but in the case if internet piracy, it scares me that they're doing the enforcing too (as opposed to the FBI).
Come on open-sourcers ;) You pay to go to college because classes facilitate the learning process. The information is not proprietary. I could go to the library, and with a good amount of research and organization, get the vast majority of information that one learns in college for free. What you're paying for at college is the presentation (and the degree of course) - and all this website is offering is the raw info.