Again, assuming that matters are as stated, because they were deprived of the tangible and intangible benefits of being first to formally publish their own work, and because any opprobrium attaching to misuse of their data will inevitably affect them to some degree, it can be assumed by reasonable people that they're likely to suffer some damage from the theft.
If you take the trouble to read the short OED entry on theft, offered here for your convenience, you'll note that at least two of the definitions fit the circumstances quite nicely. Nothing "dramatic or inappropriate" here, my friend, just proper and expressive use of the language England gave us.
steal
verb (past stole; past part. stolen) 1 take (something) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it. 2 take surreptitiously or without permission: I stole a look at my watch. 3 move somewhere quietly or surreptitiously. 4 gain (a point, advantage, etc.) unexpectedly or by exploiting the temporary distraction of an opponent.
There are other definitions of what constitute theft than what qualifies as such in the view of a US court, you know. If circumstances are as they superficially appear, what those people did, morally and ethically, is theft pure and simple, and it matters not a whit whether they could be arrested for it.
The word processing portion of the old "Appleworks" program that ran on Apple 2C and 2E computers allowed you to advance through the document in precise increments of one tenth.
Sounds a lot the same to me. The tenth changes as you add to the document, but so does Page Down, if you add anywhere but the end.
...for Slashdot to hammer the crap out of some corporate bullies, it sounds like this might be it. Could someone appropriately knowledgeable perhaps post a detailed account of how incredibly hackable RFID security is? A couple of URL's leading to websites with all the red meat would also be appropriate. PGP proves that once the genii is out of the bottle, it can't be put back in all that easily.
Frankly, I'm sick and tired of all these corporate assholes and their attitude. You can bet your bottom dollar that they'll keep the current, flawed system as-is, and simply out-last any hacking victim who dares to challenge them in court. The best solution is to make sure everybody with even a grade school education and a card reader can screw them at will. Maybe then, they'll do something about fixing the problem.
McKinnon shouldn't bother moving to Canada...at least not for a few more months. Our Prime Minister has his nose so far up Bush's ass he knows what Bush is eating for breakfast.
I think we need to hold an international "Throw Out The Fascists Day". It would be celebrated whenever some democratic country comes to its senses and votes the bastards out of office in favour of somebody who remembers what civil liberties are, and why they're more important than security.
"Wikileaks...may run into trouble because most reputable news outlets have policies against paying sources."
A cynic might suggest that the policies of "reputable news media" have more to do with refusing to admit they pay sources than with what actually happens behind closed doors.
"Trust is a cornerstone of our corporate mission, and the success of our business depends on it. P&G is committed to maintaining your trust by protecting personal information we collect."
Corporations, especially North American ones, tell great, honking lies all the time and get away with it. The business media are their whores, and what private individual has the time and/or money to challenge them?
A large corporation might actually tell the truth if a lawyer told them it was the most profitable course of action. Otherwise, believing one word uttered by a corporate spokesdrone, earns you the richly deserved reaming you're going to get. Mostly, these people would have to climb three steps up the evolutionary ladder just to qualify as douche bags.
Who was it that invented the phrase, "Your call is important to us"?
...why the spokesdrones for so many major companies are allowed to spew the most outrageous bullshit ("We care about our staff"; "The privacy of our guests is our number one concern", etc.), and nobody in the mainstream press ever calls them on it.
Even politicians, for whom lying is as easy and natural as breathing, are rarely so brazenly, in-your-face dishonest.
Unless you know something the rest of us don't, he's still alive and kicking. Didn't John McCain promise to track him down "to the gates of hell" just a few days ago?
If anybody ever doubted that these clowns are better at sucking up tax dollars and destroying the US Constitution than providing security, look no further for the proof.
"Privacy Czar"??? What a pile of crap! She's practically powerless...can only make suggestions, as a matter of fact. And she can't so much as get the time of day from a government interested in prying into every aspect of its citizens' personal lives.
The fact of the matter is that she's right. She's just not very tech-savvy. The whole point of the open court idea is that the government can't just grab somebody, try them in a secret kangaroo court, and throw them in some hole for the rest of their lives. It was never intended to provide voyeuristic thrills for no-life drones, or a happy hunting ground for every grifter, con artist, kidnapper and thief who can operate a keyboard.
Seems a little ironic to me. English police confiscate a game that satirizes the so-called "War On Terror" while German officials hoist a middle finger at efforts of the recording industry to throw basic human rights away merely to forbid copying of largely-worthless material.
My English father fought against German fascism during WWII. Now it looks like fascists are running the show in England, while German prosecutors are hoisting the middle finger at those who unblushingly lobby to trade freedom for profit.
"Does the validity of the case or the settlement depend on her being disabled?"
Why, yes, as a matter of fact it does.
The RIAA has been targeting people who are perceived as particularly poor and defenseless. They want people thinking, "My God, if they'll go after a five-year-old child for downloading one single song, they'll go crazy on me and my 50 songs." And they want to roll up a string of easy convictions and settlements. They know they can't actually prosecute more than the tiniest fraction of the cases, so the only hope they have of making a measurable impact on downloading is to intimidate people...especially the ones who might be inclined to download a single song from an otherwise-awful CD.
They know if they go after a big player, they'll have a fight on their hands, and they certainly don't want that. A loss could set their cause back.
Besides, they'd rather kick a puppy than a full-grown pit bull. That's because they're pricks.
This suggests that there may be room for a new indicator of technological advancement...or the lack of it. Figure out the degree by which several countries differ in the implementation of well-understood technology, and you'll have an idea of how much influence special interest groups have on enforcing the status quo. You could use the amount of money lobbyists spend in the country's capital as another indicator.
Cable television, cell phones with disabled features, broadband, development of alternative energy sources...there's quite a few places where such a measurement might help show a path through the bullshit and spin and excuses to something resembling the real story.
Any suggestions for a name? Everything I thought of (the "Ludd(ite)", the "Lobby Brake", etc. sounds lame.
Looks like it's just about time to start spelling it "Amerika". Nice experiment...too bad it failed when too many people decided they'd rather live on their knees than die on their feet.
If this is the standard of reporting NBC employs to bring purportedly "real-world" events to its viewers, I'm starting to understand how the US wound up in Iraq, why so many people believe evolution is "just a theory" and why huge corporations unblushingly stand in the welfare line while homeless veterans beg on street corners.
What's the harm in a little "enhanced reality" if it helps to keep people glued to the television, comfortable and distracted and plumply satisfied with their lot?
"Perhaps this report will finally convince the medical community that telemedicine is important."
I wouldn't count on it. Interns still work insane hours in emergency rooms, sometimes making life-and-death decisions under circumstances that would get a long-haul trucker's license yanked for failing to obey hours-of-driving laws.
People listen to MP3 files that sound like crap compared to CD-quality. But they do the job and other considerations, such as portability, are more important to consumers.
So why is anybody surprised that the same consumers will accept less than the best for their viewing when it comes at a fraction of the cost, and with a far larger selection? There's even a market for bootleg garbage made with hand-held cameras in theatres, and DVD quality isn't too terribly bad, even compared to Blu-Ray.
As long as one guy in the crowd has state-of-the-art equipment, the "usual gang of idiots" will wind up meeting in his basement now and again for a real kick-ass movie night with beer and everything else. For normal viewing, who needs it?
And it will be a pretty safe bet that the guy with the small fortune in equipment is single and probably has no kids. Oh...and everybody's wives and girlfriends hate his guts.
"For reasons which are unclear, the IT department then suggested that the RIAA next time send them 'notices to preserve information..."
So based on the university IT department's willingness to accommodate, I should maybe send Natalie Portman a "Notice That I'd Like A Date", and I could have a reasonable expectation of spending an evening in geek ecstasy?
If all it takes to persuade a major university that it should bend over and drop trou is a freakin' notice, there MUST be hope for me.
Slashdot Mirror
Again, assuming that matters are as stated, because they were deprived of the tangible and intangible benefits of being first to formally publish their own work, and because any opprobrium attaching to misuse of their data will inevitably affect them to some degree, it can be assumed by reasonable people that they're likely to suffer some damage from the theft.
If you take the trouble to read the short OED entry on theft, offered here for your convenience, you'll note that at least two of the definitions fit the circumstances quite nicely. Nothing "dramatic or inappropriate" here, my friend, just proper and expressive use of the language England gave us.
steal
verb (past stole; past part. stolen) 1 take (something) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it. 2 take surreptitiously or without permission: I stole a look at my watch. 3 move somewhere quietly or surreptitiously. 4 gain (a point, advantage, etc.) unexpectedly or by exploiting the temporary distraction of an opponent.
There are other definitions of what constitute theft than what qualifies as such in the view of a US court, you know. If circumstances are as they superficially appear, what those people did, morally and ethically, is theft pure and simple, and it matters not a whit whether they could be arrested for it.
The word processing portion of the old "Appleworks" program that ran on Apple 2C and 2E computers allowed you to advance through the document in precise increments of one tenth.
Sounds a lot the same to me. The tenth changes as you add to the document, but so does Page Down, if you add anywhere but the end.
Why, thank you, good sir. That is exactly what I had in mind.
...for Slashdot to hammer the crap out of some corporate bullies, it sounds like this might be it. Could someone appropriately knowledgeable perhaps post a detailed account of how incredibly hackable RFID security is? A couple of URL's leading to websites with all the red meat would also be appropriate. PGP proves that once the genii is out of the bottle, it can't be put back in all that easily.
Frankly, I'm sick and tired of all these corporate assholes and their attitude. You can bet your bottom dollar that they'll keep the current, flawed system as-is, and simply out-last any hacking victim who dares to challenge them in court. The best solution is to make sure everybody with even a grade school education and a card reader can screw them at will. Maybe then, they'll do something about fixing the problem.
McKinnon shouldn't bother moving to Canada...at least not for a few more months. Our Prime Minister has his nose so far up Bush's ass he knows what Bush is eating for breakfast.
I think we need to hold an international "Throw Out The Fascists Day". It would be celebrated whenever some democratic country comes to its senses and votes the bastards out of office in favour of somebody who remembers what civil liberties are, and why they're more important than security.
"Wikileaks...may run into trouble because most reputable news outlets have policies against paying sources."
A cynic might suggest that the policies of "reputable news media" have more to do with refusing to admit they pay sources than with what actually happens behind closed doors.
"Trust is a cornerstone of our corporate mission, and the success of our business depends on it. P&G is committed to maintaining your trust by protecting personal information we collect."
Corporations, especially North American ones, tell great, honking lies all the time and get away with it. The business media are their whores, and what private individual has the time and/or money to challenge them?
A large corporation might actually tell the truth if a lawyer told them it was the most profitable course of action. Otherwise, believing one word uttered by a corporate spokesdrone, earns you the richly deserved reaming you're going to get. Mostly, these people would have to climb three steps up the evolutionary ladder just to qualify as douche bags.
Who was it that invented the phrase, "Your call is important to us"?
...why the spokesdrones for so many major companies are allowed to spew the most outrageous bullshit ("We care about our staff"; "The privacy of our guests is our number one concern", etc.), and nobody in the mainstream press ever calls them on it.
Even politicians, for whom lying is as easy and natural as breathing, are rarely so brazenly, in-your-face dishonest.
Do Senators exist who can open a laptop without assistance and actually avoid drooling on the keyboard?
Unless you know something the rest of us don't, he's still alive and kicking. Didn't John McCain promise to track him down "to the gates of hell" just a few days ago?
Thanks for saving me the problem of responding to somebody who just doesn't get it.
If anybody ever doubted that these clowns are better at sucking up tax dollars and destroying the US Constitution than providing security, look no further for the proof.
Osama must be laughing his ass off.
"Privacy Czar"??? What a pile of crap! She's practically powerless...can only make suggestions, as a matter of fact. And she can't so much as get the time of day from a government interested in prying into every aspect of its citizens' personal lives.
The fact of the matter is that she's right. She's just not very tech-savvy. The whole point of the open court idea is that the government can't just grab somebody, try them in a secret kangaroo court, and throw them in some hole for the rest of their lives. It was never intended to provide voyeuristic thrills for no-life drones, or a happy hunting ground for every grifter, con artist, kidnapper and thief who can operate a keyboard.
Seems a little ironic to me. English police confiscate a game that satirizes the so-called "War On Terror" while German officials hoist a middle finger at efforts of the recording industry to throw basic human rights away merely to forbid copying of largely-worthless material.
My English father fought against German fascism during WWII. Now it looks like fascists are running the show in England, while German prosecutors are hoisting the middle finger at those who unblushingly lobby to trade freedom for profit.
Times have sure changed.
Thanks, Ray. Coming from you, that's high praise indeed! I'm happy to see that you're having some success.
Dave
"Does the validity of the case or the settlement depend on her being disabled?"
Why, yes, as a matter of fact it does.
The RIAA has been targeting people who are perceived as particularly poor and defenseless. They want people thinking, "My God, if they'll go after a five-year-old child for downloading one single song, they'll go crazy on me and my 50 songs." And they want to roll up a string of easy convictions and settlements. They know they can't actually prosecute more than the tiniest fraction of the cases, so the only hope they have of making a measurable impact on downloading is to intimidate people...especially the ones who might be inclined to download a single song from an otherwise-awful CD.
They know if they go after a big player, they'll have a fight on their hands, and they certainly don't want that. A loss could set their cause back.
Besides, they'd rather kick a puppy than a full-grown pit bull. That's because they're pricks.
This suggests that there may be room for a new indicator of technological advancement...or the lack of it. Figure out the degree by which several countries differ in the implementation of well-understood technology, and you'll have an idea of how much influence special interest groups have on enforcing the status quo. You could use the amount of money lobbyists spend in the country's capital as another indicator.
Cable television, cell phones with disabled features, broadband, development of alternative energy sources...there's quite a few places where such a measurement might help show a path through the bullshit and spin and excuses to something resembling the real story.
Any suggestions for a name? Everything I thought of (the "Ludd(ite)", the "Lobby Brake", etc. sounds lame.
Looks like it's just about time to start spelling it "Amerika". Nice experiment...too bad it failed when too many people decided they'd rather live on their knees than die on their feet.
Invisibility cloaks have been around for years. They're typically worn by honest politicians, accurate journalists and girlfriends of slashdotters.
And how do you think "invisible hand of the market" gets into your pants and raids your wallet?
If this is the standard of reporting NBC employs to bring purportedly "real-world" events to its viewers, I'm starting to understand how the US wound up in Iraq, why so many people believe evolution is "just a theory" and why huge corporations unblushingly stand in the welfare line while homeless veterans beg on street corners.
What's the harm in a little "enhanced reality" if it helps to keep people glued to the television, comfortable and distracted and plumply satisfied with their lot?
"Perhaps this report will finally convince the medical community that telemedicine is important."
I wouldn't count on it. Interns still work insane hours in emergency rooms, sometimes making life-and-death decisions under circumstances that would get a long-haul trucker's license yanked for failing to obey hours-of-driving laws.
Why would this be different?
People listen to MP3 files that sound like crap compared to CD-quality. But they do the job and other considerations, such as portability, are more important to consumers.
So why is anybody surprised that the same consumers will accept less than the best for their viewing when it comes at a fraction of the cost, and with a far larger selection? There's even a market for bootleg garbage made with hand-held cameras in theatres, and DVD quality isn't too terribly bad, even compared to Blu-Ray.
As long as one guy in the crowd has state-of-the-art equipment, the "usual gang of idiots" will wind up meeting in his basement now and again for a real kick-ass movie night with beer and everything else. For normal viewing, who needs it?
And it will be a pretty safe bet that the guy with the small fortune in equipment is single and probably has no kids. Oh...and everybody's wives and girlfriends hate his guts.
Thanks...phony abbreviations aside, that really DID make me laugh out loud.
Cheers!
"For reasons which are unclear, the IT department then suggested that the RIAA next time send them 'notices to preserve information..."
So based on the university IT department's willingness to accommodate, I should maybe send Natalie Portman a "Notice That I'd Like A Date", and I could have a reasonable expectation of spending an evening in geek ecstasy?
If all it takes to persuade a major university that it should bend over and drop trou is a freakin' notice, there MUST be hope for me.