I find your anti-americanism disturbing. Europe is not some kind of Utopia where consumers always win. Any european will tell you that, especially if they've been victim of one of those 3-strike laws.
Or, more likely, EU courts are more likely to award costs where they belong.
Why do you say that? You have experience with EU courts, or are you just making random guesses?
I don't know. I followed that whole "Foxy Knoxxy" trial, and it seemed to drag on-and-on-and-on for a long time. It doesn't seem european courts are any more efficient (or accurate) than american ones.
>>>Not sure if I would agree with Minesweeper having a larger audience
How many users of Windows are there? Approaching 1 billion homes? That's a bigger audience than even the best-selling console (~150 million PS2s) ever reached.
I remember when I first played Tetris on a Nintendo Gameboy. I was unimpressed.
Later I tried it again, and determined it was more fun that I initially thought, but whenever I play Tetris I grow tired of it rather quickly (less than half an hour). My longterm gaming addictions are: Space Invaders (Atari 2600/VCS version), Asteroids, Missile Command, and Ms. Pac-Man (arcade). I can play these games hour after hour.
I also like to revist simulations like Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. Boring graphics but addictive gameplay.
If you're already using MS SharePoint, then I'd stick with it. No point making people relearn a whole new program. However if you're not currently using anything, then yes go with the free (as in beer) option.
Sony will almost certainly settle (with a gag order)
How effective is that, really? If I get back a refund for my Exploded iPhone plus sign a gag order with Apple, what's to stop me from speaking about it a year later? Nothing as far as I can tell.
Or AMAZON is more customer friendly. If you tried this with the EU's version of Walmart, you might be told "no refund" even if the law says you're entitled to one.
>>>people who had no idea they could even do this suddenly demanding a refund.
I certainly would. Any opportunity I have to cause financial damage to the corporations that raped taxpayer wallets for 1500 billion dollars (TARP plus Bailout bills) (almost $14,000 per American home), I am going to take it.
Also it's not the Ebay seller's fault that Sony altered the product's firmware. Plus you're probably past the 45 day limit to file an Ebay or Paypal dispute.
Why does Sony keep frakking up? Did they lay-off the old management in 2005 and replace them with new guys who make dumb decisions?
- "Yes the PS2 only cost $300 at release, but we believe customers will want to throw-out the PS2 and pay $800 to get a new machine that has the same games but in HD! No we're not worried about the $250 Wii." [Wii is now the #1 seller.] - - "This firmware won't damage your console." "Ooops guess it did. No you won't get a refund for your broken PS3." - "This firmware will turn off the Other OS function. Ooops guess we owe you a $20 refund under EU and US law for false advertising." - "Ooops looks like we owe billions in EU taxes too since the PS3's Updated Firmware makes it a taxable game." - "We have a new Bluray Disc that holds 150 gigabytes! Sorry you'll have to throw-out your old players to get the new 150 HD 3D movies."
So EU law works similar to US law. An American could do this same thing, cite the relevant law regarding flase advertising of a product, and get a refund. -or- Drag the retailer into small claims court.
The Verizon guy is wrong when he says US is #1. Even if you limit yourself to continent-sized federations, the Russian Federation is still 2 Mbit/s ahead (9.8 mbit/s) of the States (7.8 Mbit/s).
So that puts us at #2, ahead of the EU (6.9 Mbps), Canada, Australia, China, and Brazil (2.5 Mbit/s).
>>>In my area, many of the telephone lines are from the 1920s and have never been upgraded. They aren't capable of carrying anything higher than 56kbit.
False. Twisted pair copper, even the low grade crap, can carry at least 100 kilohertz once the 4 kilohertz bandlimiter is removed. That would yield a datarate of about 1000 kbit/s. .
>>>DSL requires that your home be no more than ~20,000 feet from the central office,
Which most homes are. - And for those that aren't there are DSL repeaters which increase the distance to 10 miles from the CO. For those few homes where 10 miles is still too far (like a small town in Montana), another option used in rural areas is to run a fiber optic to the town, and then use the existing phone lines for the last few miles to carry DSL.
The point is -
Why spend trillions of dollars digging up millions of miles of dirt, when you can use the twisted pair lines that are already under the ground? Just upgrade them from Phone to DSL service.
How long until Capt. Kevin makes it a crime to either a) bypass the filter b) assist others to bypass the filter c) both of the above.
bloody stupid steve!
A leader who ignores a human being's natural right to free speech, or to hear/read the words of the speaker, no longer deserves to be a leader. He may either step-down voluntarily or by force of the citizens' will.
I'm talking about false advertising (which falls under the FTC).
Show me some please. Thank you. I've not seen any ads that advertise unlimited gigabytes. - BTW for the record, the contract supercedes the ad. You're expected to see the ad as a "hook" but then read the contract for the fine print, because it's the contract which carries your name, not the ad.
>>>$75/month for ~300k connection. I'm one of the forgotten rural customers
Wow. Well..... you could move to somewhere like Delaware. Their average speed is almost 20 Mbit/s. In fact a lot of the Northeastern states have high rates well above 10 Mbps.
I'd like to see the government mandate that all rural customers get an instant upgrade from Dialup to DSL connections. Same wires, so no need to dig-up miles of dirt, but you'll see much faster speeds.
.....which is why I never felt the need to go for faster speeds. Why pay Comcast ~$60 a month for 25 Mbit/s service if the actual throughput (250 GB) is no different than the $15 1.0 Mbps option.
Not correct. The judges go by what's written on the page, not by random guessing. If there's no mention of a rate cap, but there's a clause that says "this contract may be altered at any time by XYZ corporation," then the judge will find in favor of the letter of the contract. i.e. They can install a 250 gigabyte cap later on.
Of course the moment a contract is altered, the second party (you) has the right to cancel it.
>>>I dont' think I could ever do DSL. It's so 1998.
For me it's 2007.
Prior to that I had no options but dialup. Well..... I could have taken cable but at the time it cost $50/month. The DSL option of $15 was much more attractive, and consistent to what I've always paid for my internet.
Aside - I also drive a 67 horsepower car. Being anti-pollution I don't see the need to take more than I need, just to drive to work, or watch the latest 24 episode.
>>>the teabaggers would go apeshit if the US-DOJ Antitrust stepped in and forced another set of breakups in telecom
No I wouldn't.
The breakup of AT&T Monopoly was one of the best things to happen, but only because it gave us choice in our telephone services. If the Comcast or Verizon Monopoly are broken apart, what would it achieve? We'd still be stuck with just one cable down the middle of the street.
What we really need is 10-20 cables running down the middle of the street, each one offering a different ISP. Imagine the present: Comcast or Verizon. Imagine the future: Comcast or Cox or Time-Warner or AppleTV or MSN or Verizon or Quest or Mediacom or Google ISP or.....
Of course that won't happen so long as local governments keep insisting upon holding a monopoly.
Slashdot Mirror
I find your anti-americanism disturbing. Europe is not some kind of Utopia where consumers always win. Any european will tell you that, especially if they've been victim of one of those 3-strike laws.
Or, more likely, EU courts are more likely to award costs where they belong.
Why do you say that? You have experience with EU courts, or are you just making random guesses?
I don't know. I followed that whole "Foxy Knoxxy" trial, and it seemed to drag on-and-on-and-on for a long time. It doesn't seem european courts are any more efficient (or accurate) than american ones.
(shoves paper off keyboard)
I dun need no stinkin' organizin!
>>>Not sure if I would agree with Minesweeper having a larger audience
How many users of Windows are there? Approaching 1 billion homes? That's a bigger audience than even the best-selling console (~150 million PS2s) ever reached.
I remember when I first played Tetris on a Nintendo Gameboy. I was unimpressed.
Later I tried it again, and determined it was more fun that I initially thought, but whenever I play Tetris I grow tired of it rather quickly (less than half an hour). My longterm gaming addictions are: Space Invaders (Atari 2600/VCS version), Asteroids, Missile Command, and Ms. Pac-Man (arcade). I can play these games hour after hour.
I also like to revist simulations like Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising. Boring graphics but addictive gameplay.
What he said but would add this:
If you're already using MS SharePoint, then I'd stick with it. No point making people relearn a whole new program. However if you're not currently using anything, then yes go with the free (as in beer) option.
Sony will almost certainly settle (with a gag order)
How effective is that, really? If I get back a refund for my Exploded iPhone plus sign a gag order with Apple, what's to stop me from speaking about it a year later? Nothing as far as I can tell.
Did they lay-off the old management in 2005 and replace them with new guys who make dumb decisions?
The rootkit affair WASN'T a dumb decision?
As I said. 2005.
Or AMAZON is more customer friendly. If you tried this with the EU's version of Walmart, you might be told "no refund" even if the law says you're entitled to one.
In the US, the best I can probably hope for is a class action in which lawyers will make millions and I'll get a $10 coupon off of a PS3 game
Not true.
A US citizen has the same legal protection as an EU citizen, either to demand a refund from sony, or else sue them in court for violating US law.
>>>people who had no idea they could even do this suddenly demanding a refund.
I certainly would. Any opportunity I have to cause financial damage to the corporations that raped taxpayer wallets for 1500 billion dollars (TARP plus Bailout bills) (almost $14,000 per American home), I am going to take it.
Also it's not the Ebay seller's fault that Sony altered the product's firmware. Plus you're probably past the 45 day limit to file an Ebay or Paypal dispute.
Why does Sony keep frakking up? Did they lay-off the old management in 2005 and replace them with new guys who make dumb decisions?
- "Yes the PS2 only cost $300 at release, but we believe customers will want to throw-out the PS2 and pay $800 to get a new machine that has the same games but in HD! No we're not worried about the $250 Wii." [Wii is now the #1 seller.]
-
- "This firmware won't damage your console." "Ooops guess it did. No you won't get a refund for your broken PS3."
- "This firmware will turn off the Other OS function. Ooops guess we owe you a $20 refund under EU and US law for false advertising."
- "Ooops looks like we owe billions in EU taxes too since the PS3's Updated Firmware makes it a taxable game."
- "We have a new Bluray Disc that holds 150 gigabytes! Sorry you'll have to throw-out your old players to get the new 150 HD 3D movies."
So EU law works similar to US law. An American could do this same thing, cite the relevant law regarding flase advertising of a product, and get a refund. -or- Drag the retailer into small claims court.
Questions about the EU:
- How come the customer was not required to go to court *first* before getting his refund?
- What if the retailer had simply said, "No."
- What would have happened next?
The Verizon guy is wrong when he says US is #1. Even if you limit yourself to continent-sized federations, the Russian Federation is still 2 Mbit/s ahead (9.8 mbit/s) of the States (7.8 Mbit/s).
So that puts us at #2, ahead of the EU (6.9 Mbps), Canada, Australia, China, and Brazil (2.5 Mbit/s).
>>>In my area, many of the telephone lines are from the 1920s and have never been upgraded. They aren't capable of carrying anything higher than 56kbit.
False. Twisted pair copper, even the low grade crap, can carry at least 100 kilohertz once the 4 kilohertz bandlimiter is removed. That would yield a datarate of about 1000 kbit/s.
.
>>>DSL requires that your home be no more than ~20,000 feet from the central office,
Which most homes are. - And for those that aren't there are DSL repeaters which increase the distance to 10 miles from the CO. For those few homes where 10 miles is still too far (like a small town in Montana), another option used in rural areas is to run a fiber optic to the town, and then use the existing phone lines for the last few miles to carry DSL.
The point is -
Why spend trillions of dollars digging up millions of miles of dirt, when you can use the twisted pair lines that are already under the ground? Just upgrade them from Phone to DSL service.
How long until Capt. Kevin makes it a crime to either
a) bypass the filter
b) assist others to bypass the filter
c) both of the above.
bloody stupid steve!
A leader who ignores a human being's natural right to free speech, or to hear/read the words of the speaker, no longer deserves to be a leader. He may either step-down voluntarily or by force of the citizens' will.
I'm talking about false advertising (which falls under the FTC).
Show me some please. Thank you. I've not seen any ads that advertise unlimited gigabytes. - BTW for the record, the contract supercedes the ad. You're expected to see the ad as a "hook" but then read the contract for the fine print, because it's the contract which carries your name, not the ad.
service providers are adverting unlimited bytes for $X
Show me please. I don't see any such ads.
>>>$75/month for ~300k connection. I'm one of the forgotten rural customers
Wow. Well..... you could move to somewhere like Delaware. Their average speed is almost 20 Mbit/s. In fact a lot of the Northeastern states have high rates well above 10 Mbps.
I'd like to see the government mandate that all rural customers get an instant upgrade from Dialup to DSL connections. Same wires, so no need to dig-up miles of dirt, but you'll see much faster speeds.
.....which is why I never felt the need to go for faster speeds. Why pay Comcast ~$60 a month for 25 Mbit/s service if the actual throughput (250 GB) is no different than the $15 1.0 Mbps option.
It's all about what the average person expects
Not correct. The judges go by what's written on the page, not by random guessing. If there's no mention of a rate cap, but there's a clause that says "this contract may be altered at any time by XYZ corporation," then the judge will find in favor of the letter of the contract. i.e. They can install a 250 gigabyte cap later on.
Of course the moment a contract is altered, the second party (you) has the right to cancel it.
>>>I dont' think I could ever do DSL. It's so 1998.
For me it's 2007.
Prior to that I had no options but dialup. Well..... I could have taken cable but at the time it cost $50/month. The DSL option of $15 was much more attractive, and consistent to what I've always paid for my internet.
Aside - I also drive a 67 horsepower car. Being anti-pollution I don't see the need to take more than I need, just to drive to work, or watch the latest 24 episode.
>>>the teabaggers would go apeshit if the US-DOJ Antitrust stepped in and forced another set of breakups in telecom
No I wouldn't.
The breakup of AT&T Monopoly was one of the best things to happen, but only because it gave us choice in our telephone services. If the Comcast or Verizon Monopoly are broken apart, what would it achieve? We'd still be stuck with just one cable down the middle of the street.
What we really need is 10-20 cables running down the middle of the street, each one offering a different ISP. Imagine the present: Comcast or Verizon. Imagine the future: Comcast or Cox or Time-Warner or AppleTV or MSN or Verizon or Quest or Mediacom or Google ISP or.....
Of course that won't happen so long as local governments keep insisting upon holding a monopoly.