That's just the simple truth about "copyright law." But you didn't have to reduce the whole freedom of information argument down to the simple truth that drives this whole stupid debate.
It strikes me as odd that these people would be awarded and celebrated as "pioneers." Rather than act as creaters, they serve as opposers to those who create. Now, I'm not trying to suggest that their criticism is invalid, nor that they play a less than a valuable role. But let us not celebrate these people as models of human potential; it is far easier to play the tear-it-down role than it is to play the build-it-up role. A world lead by the critics, however valid their reasoning, could only find purpose at the expense of true pioneers.
There's a big difference between the cost of a Microsoft *license* and this program which " runs on a cost-recovery basis in which refurbishers pay a small administrative fee for license materials and MAR program operations. Any surplus funds generated will be placed in a Digital Inclusion Fund to be used in (a) support of refurbishment activities and projects in the EMEA region and (b) support of community projects in the EMEA region."
Also note that "program Fresh Start for PCs provides Microsoft software installation CDs and license at no cost to primary and secondary schools utilising donated computers."
"This technique was not new, and as I recall was the plot of a movie once."
In other news, a team of three people were instantaneously transported from Teaneck, New Jersey to Istanbul, Turkey. Most onlookers were unimpressed, having seen this technology in use for years on Star Trek.
"They also have said that these first two lawsuits will be against companies that hold SCO Unix licenses."
It seems to me that the benefit of going after Unix licensees is that those parties are bound by the terms of those licenses. Perhaps this is just a replay of their IBM breach-of-contract strategy, and another sign that they lack a valid claim against Linux users/GPL?
Yeah...they just made up the "RF burns" and MPE concerns. Slashdot blurbs often include gross misstatements and outright lies. Remember the time they reported that a Windows virus took down a nuclear power plant? The real story was that the virus infected a computer that monitors the plant, so they shut the computer down.
Some days, it's hard to stomach Slashdot. You have to separate the information from the trash, and the editors would rather generate a buzz then help you get to the truth. So you get FUD like this.
You've got it reversed. Politicians use a Bullshit Expander. It gives you 10 pounds of bullshit out of 5 pounds of substance. It is because SCO previously used the Bullshit Expander that they now find themselves shrunken back to size.
"Not too many people will tell IBM to 'go take a hike' when IBM wants something in another format"
Ummm...you underestimate the supremecy of the customer, IBM's respect for that, and any good salesperson's inclination to bridge the gap to the next sale.
"You want to charge me $5 million for a mainframe by sending me a proposal that I can't read in Microsoft Office? Got take a hike!"
That "massive tax writeoff" would be more aptly described as a $20.9B loss. That so-called "writeoff" simply means they won't suffer the additional wammy of the government making them pay taxes on the money they just pissed away. So there's no good news in this writeoff for Verisign's shareholders; it's only the difference between being massively screwed, and being massively screwed plus some.
<bart
Re:To hell with the whole idea of intellectual pro
on
Why Only Music?
·
· Score: 1
Yeah...that New Economy a couple of years ago passed me by too.
The whole issue of a compulsory license is being driven by the recent dramatic escalation in copyright violation of AUDIO. The internet, PCs, CD-burners and the like present the home pirate with an ideal infrastructure for churning out for free what they would otherwise pay $15 for: a music CD. There's no compromise in the product.
Compare that to other types of copyrighted material (such as books) in which the delivery vehicle (paper) provides added value for which the pirate lacks suitable infrastructure to duplicate.
Digital movies will likely follow when piracy surges for them, and software already carries compulsory licenses so it's a little late to ask why not for that one.
<bart Boo-hoo. I don't wanna pay for nuttin' no more.
Over the last three years, music industry revenues have fallen by about 15 percent, dropping $1.5 billion per year. Is it that people don't like music anymore? I don't think so. Is it that CDs are too expensive? People didn't think so three years ago.
No. We all know what's happened. It's the convenient and ubiquitous availability of free, illegally copied music. In this regard the common person has become a criminal, and it is not only ironic, but typically shallow of the common person to feel that his wrongfulness is diminished by the simple fact that so many other people are doing the wrongful deed too.
Those same people now rant about the "insensitivity of the recording industry." Insensitivity, you declare? My god. Take a look at the stuff on your hard drive and show some damned humility. That $1.5 billion per year doesn't just end up in some rich executive's pocket. It employs literally thousands of people...err...it DID employ thousands of people. And those jobs are going fast simply because stealing got so convenient.
So if anybody thinks the RIAA is insensitive, consider that they are trying to protect the disappearing livelihoods of thousands of people, and that the self-serving desire to be groovin' to free tunes is no better conceived or directed than mere masturbation.
Those statistics are skewed by the prevalence of Windows 98 and ME installations, and don't reveal the fact that Win2K and XP are far more reliable than those stats suggest. Across the enterprises with which I'm familiar that are running recent Windows releases, Windows is widely considered to be a reliable desktop OS. If you were to talk to users about 2 crashes per day, they's ask you what decade you're living in.
We've been using MySQL in a production operation for three years, and it's been bulletproof. We've been serving up financial data (50 tables, ~20million rows) in a heavy multi-user environment. We're running it on about 10 boxes right now. Compound indexes work well; everything is fine. My one caveat is that our app is mainly a read-only application which suits MyISAM's weak table locking scheme. However, MySQL 4.0 includes InnoDB which supports transactions and a robust locking scheme that has worked well in my initial tests. I don't know where stability problem reports come from, as we've seen none. FYI: I did several PostgreSQL tests and ran into major query optimizer problems on complex queries against large tables.
My god, look at the problems that affluence breeds...the plight of having to pay so much for entertainment because there's so much food in your stomachs that you can't find a better place to spend your money.
And you guys really believe you've seized on a problem? Look at the RIAA. Then look at the starving people in this world. And then look in the mirror, you pathetic whiners.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm glad you did.
<bart
<bart
<bart
Also note that "program Fresh Start for PCs provides Microsoft software installation CDs and license at no cost to primary and secondary schools utilising donated computers."
<bart
Sheesh.
<bart
<bart
Answer: Never.
Here's a clue about how to avoid lawsuits: don't break the law.
<bart
It seems to me that the benefit of going after Unix licensees is that those parties are bound by the terms of those licenses. Perhaps this is just a replay of their IBM breach-of-contract strategy, and another sign that they lack a valid claim against Linux users/GPL?
Yeah...they just made up the "RF burns" and MPE concerns. Slashdot blurbs often include gross misstatements and outright lies. Remember the time they reported that a Windows virus took down a nuclear power plant? The real story was that the virus infected a computer that monitors the plant, so they shut the computer down.
Some days, it's hard to stomach Slashdot. You have to separate the information from the trash, and the editors would rather generate a buzz then help you get to the truth. So you get FUD like this.
You've got it reversed. Politicians use a Bullshit Expander. It gives you 10 pounds of bullshit out of 5 pounds of substance. It is because SCO previously used the Bullshit Expander that they now find themselves shrunken back to size.
You called this one right.
<bart
Ummm...you underestimate the supremecy of the customer, IBM's respect for that, and any good salesperson's inclination to bridge the gap to the next sale.
"You want to charge me $5 million for a mainframe by sending me a proposal that I can't read in Microsoft Office? Got take a hike!"
<bart
"Many systems that do not need full 32 bit integers may reserve some bits for other uses..."
NOT!
There are stories, there are non-stories, and finally, there are Slashdot stories.
That "massive tax writeoff" would be more aptly described as a $20.9B loss. That so-called "writeoff" simply means they won't suffer the additional wammy of the government making them pay taxes on the money they just pissed away. So there's no good news in this writeoff for Verisign's shareholders; it's only the difference between being massively screwed, and being massively screwed plus some.
<bart
Yeah...that New Economy a couple of years ago passed me by too.
I must be one of the 90%.
Compare that to other types of copyrighted material (such as books) in which the delivery vehicle (paper) provides added value for which the pirate lacks suitable infrastructure to duplicate.
Digital movies will likely follow when piracy surges for them, and software already carries compulsory licenses so it's a little late to ask why not for that one.
<bart
Boo-hoo. I don't wanna pay for nuttin' no more.
Ambiguation for fun *and* for profit.
<bart
No. We all know what's happened. It's the convenient and ubiquitous availability of free, illegally copied music. In this regard the common person has become a criminal, and it is not only ironic, but typically shallow of the common person to feel that his wrongfulness is diminished by the simple fact that so many other people are doing the wrongful deed too.
Those same people now rant about the "insensitivity of the recording industry." Insensitivity, you declare? My god. Take a look at the stuff on your hard drive and show some damned humility. That $1.5 billion per year doesn't just end up in some rich executive's pocket. It employs literally thousands of people...err...it DID employ thousands of people. And those jobs are going fast simply because stealing got so convenient.
So if anybody thinks the RIAA is insensitive, consider that they are trying to protect the disappearing livelihoods of thousands of people, and that the self-serving desire to be groovin' to free tunes is no better conceived or directed than mere masturbation.
Those statistics are skewed by the prevalence of Windows 98 and ME installations, and don't reveal the fact that Win2K and XP are far more reliable than those stats suggest. Across the enterprises with which I'm familiar that are running recent Windows releases, Windows is widely considered to be a reliable desktop OS. If you were to talk to users about 2 crashes per day, they's ask you what decade you're living in.
What decade are you guys living in?
<bart
...or at least mod the first response up.
This is an unsubstantiated, simplistic rant that flies in the face of the facts of the process.
Insightful? One line without analysis is insightful? Are we speaking English here?
What incentive would we have to defend ourselves if we didn't have predators to threaten us?
Sounds like smarter living through adoption of stupidity, and a long way around the block if you ask me.
Re-read the top of the Slashdot discussion page, or see here: see here
We've been using MySQL in a production operation for three years, and it's been bulletproof. We've been serving up financial data (50 tables, ~20million rows) in a heavy multi-user environment. We're running it on about 10 boxes right now. Compound indexes work well; everything is fine. My one caveat is that our app is mainly a read-only application which suits MyISAM's weak table locking scheme. However, MySQL 4.0 includes InnoDB which supports transactions and a robust locking scheme that has worked well in my initial tests. I don't know where stability problem reports come from, as we've seen none. FYI: I did several PostgreSQL tests and ran into major query optimizer problems on complex queries against large tables.
My god, look at the problems that affluence breeds...the plight of having to pay so much for entertainment because there's so much food in your stomachs that you can't find a better place to spend your money.
And you guys really believe you've seized on a problem? Look at the RIAA. Then look at the starving people in this world. And then look in the mirror, you pathetic whiners.
<bart
...and now whenever anybody even looks at me, I flip down the handle and charge them by the minute (and mile) for my goodwill.
I'm just a little worried that if everyone else is as smart as me, they'll get their meters too, and the competition will knock down my take.
Anyway, Slashdot should pay me for submissions like this.
<bart