The entire point of the Supreme Court is that they are not swayed by public opinion.
The Supreme Court isn't the only target of these demonstrations. The U.S. Congress is located in the same town. The entire point of Congress, as implied in the Constitution, is that it is swayed by public opinion.
This can get confusing. There's one "Bono" who's pro-sharing, and there's another "Bono" who was (and whose widow is) strongly anti-sharing. In fact, the confusion has even inspired some bad jokes about volunteer legal work: is it possible for an attorney to fight the expansion of copyright law "pro bono"?
did you ever imagine that things like http://goat.se would appear?
"Goat.se" would be a Swedish site. The working link: Goatse.cx. But watch out: it goes to a disgusting picture of a man's stretched anus.
Along similar lines, Dr. Cerf, did you think that the Internet would ever incubate so-called "memes", transmitted through links to music videos, such as "All Your Base Are Belong To Us", "Hampster Dance", "Hatten är din", "Yatta!", "We Drink Ritalin", and the other things that can be found on memepool?
does the GNU/HURD icon bear a startling resemblance to South Park's Mr. Hanky?
It might, but that's not even close to what was intended. It's a baby GNU. Slashdot uses the "GNU" topic mostly for HURD stories and for GPL violation stories.
Never use the word "xeroxing" in front of an attorney. It's a misuse of Xerox's trademark. Say "making copies" or "photocopying" instead. The "Xerox" mark, like other trademarks, is an adjective and should be used with a generic term: a "Xerox machine" or a "Xerox copier". But anyway, what gives you the idea that four out of five attorneys use Xerox copiers rather than Canon or Sharp copiers?
rape a forest in canada for trees for xerox paper
Does Xerox brand paper come from Canadian trees? Interesting. Got a link?
Also, in the case of works with no real commercial value (most e-mail qualifies), you can be successfully sued, but it's very unlikely that you can be sued for monetary damages.
Under United States copyright law, even if the actual damages are less than $20 (lower limit for a jury trial), the plaintiff can pursue statutory damages, which can be as high as $150,000.
Doesn't that mean no special requirements for using the program in a web page as opposed to a command-line app?
A license to copy and modify a program does not automatically confer the right to perform the program publicly.
But that 'external deployment' stuff restricts how you may *use* the software, not just how you may distribute copies. It seems like enough to make the program non-free.
Not how you use it, but how you modify it. Modification, or preparation of derivative works, is normally the exclusive right of the copyright holder. So is public performance. GPL2 claimed "if you distribute binaries, you must distribute source code". GPL3 claims additionally: "if you modify the software and publicly perform it, you must distribute source code."
(Half OT)More examples of generic terms
on
Linux Kernel 3.0?
·
· Score: 1
Media Player media player
(or is that Windows Media media player these days?)
Microsoft products are often named including a generic term, and "Microsoft" or "Windows" is the trademark. Thus, the WMA player is called "Windows(tm) Media Player (generic)", and the database management system is "Microsoft(tm) SQL Server (generic)". And the OS itself is the "Windows operating system" or "Windows environment", which contains a ".NET framework".
OpenOffice office suite
You need only one generic term: "StarOffice(TM) software"; "OpenOffice.org project".
America On Line online service, AOL Instant
Messenger instant messenger
"America Online service"; "AOL Instant Messenger service and software"
BSD unix software
distribution (for extra fun, spell out what BSD stands for), Solaris
unix, Gnu's Not Unix unix
Better: "BSD operating system family", "Solaris operating environment", "GNU system", "GNU/Linux operating system", etc.
Laser Jet laser printer, DeskJet inkjet printer
You're more likely to find those in HP literature as "LaserJet printer" or "DeskJet printer".
That way lies madness.
That way lies trademark law. You need only one generic term, not the monstrosities that you exaggerated.
Though an argument can probably be made that the Linux trademark has not been protected
by its holder in that regard, since he actually encourages people
to use the term to refer to more than just the kernel, but that
is another kettle of fish.
The LINUX® mark covers "computer operating system software to facilitate computer use and operation".
"tissue"
has a meaning very different from anything Kleenex makes
OK, "Kleenex facial tissue".
I've seen a Barbie doll commercial where the word "doll" was awkwardly dubbed in, presumably after Mattel legal complained.
Even without trademark law, what's better: to be pedantically correct, or to be understood?
Neither is a "PlayStation game console", a "Casio watch", an "ASUS motherboard", a "Panasonic television set", or a "BubbleJet printer". If it's traded in the USA, it has to follow USA trademark law.
At what clock rate? The Game Boy Advance has a single ARM7TDMI at 16.8 MHz, and it's generally accepted that the GBA can't decode MP3 without extra hardware on the cart.
Just in case you didn't realize, find MSINFO.EXE in old Windows 95 machine, run it and you'll see Windows 95 is in fact coded as Windows 3.95 on MSDOS 6.22
That might be a beta version. When I run diagnostic, I get Windows 4.0 on MS-DOS 7.x (win95), Windows 4.1 on MS-DOS 7.x (win98), or Windows 4.9 on MS-DOS 8.x (winME).
"Linux kernel" because it's a trademark
on
Linux Kernel 3.0?
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
"Linux kernel" is redundant
No. Under USA trademark law, product and brand names are adjectives and should be followed by a generic noun. Thus, "Linux kernel", "Windows operating system", "Mac OS", "Macintosh computer", "Kleenex tissue", "SPAM luncheon meat", "Xerox copier", etc.
NT 4.0 is STILL NT4.0 despite the fact that most recent software REQUIRES a recent service pack.
I've taken up calling Microsoft service packs by major.minor.servicepack. Therefore, Windows NT 4 is up to 4.0.7, Windows 2000 is up to 5.0.3, and Windows XP is up to 5.1.1. Currently maintained IE versions are 5.5.2 (?) and 6.0.1.
Well, "bad law" has two meanings: A. "Not truly suited to advancing the public interest", and B. "Unconstitutional"
Well, in this case, in order for a copyright law to be constitutional, it must "promote the Progress of Science (i.e. literature) and useful Arts (i.e. technology)" (U.S. Const., Art. 1, Sect. 8). Therefore, A implies B.
The constitution says why there should be copyrights. But where does it say why it should be limited?
At first glance, the Constitution says that any copyright term should "promote the Progress of Science (i.e. literature) and useful Arts (i.e. technology)"; thus, the most appropriate limits would be the ones that best "promote the Progress". However, Ashcroft's position is that the text "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" is a non-binding preamble and that "limited Times" can represent any finite time, even one billion years.
Giving an infant velcro gloves is the equivalent of handing a first-grader a calculator before a math quiz. Sure, they may finish faster and more accurately, but they do so by taking a developmental shortcut.
Which is why you let a kid play with a calculator (or the gloves) for a while, but not all the time.
PIN number? Come on, you are saying, "Personal Identification Number number."
What is better: to be pedantically correct, or to be understood? "PIN" by itself looks like I'm shouting the English "pin" rather than using an acronym. It's easier to understand an acronym that sounds like an English word if the acronym is followed by a generic noun.
Nobody said you had to use the standard 12-tone scale...
Even microtonal melodies are no help. A typical judge, who is probably more familiar with the standard Western 12-tone scale, will probably consider each microtone equivalent to the closest Western tone.
The executive department legislates as well, no?
on
Eldred vs. Ashcroft
·
· Score: 2
If the SC rules that an arbitrary limit of X years meets the Constitutional mandate, then it is overstepping its bounds and actually legislating, something which Congress is supposed to do.
Supposed to, but when Congress doesn't do what it is supposed to, the other branches have to assert checks and balances. In this case, the Supreme Court interprets whether Congress broke the law by passing an act in violation of the Constitution. If this has a side effect of dictating what the law should have been, then it's not the only side effect: look at all the executive ministries (FDA, FCC, etc.) whose legis^W regulations have the force of law.
The words "road less traveled" do not appear in Frost's poem, rather "the one less traveled by". On the other hand, The Road Less Traveled is the title of a book by Dr. M. Scott Peck.
Life + 70, except for the installment plan
on
Eldred vs. Ashcroft
·
· Score: 1
I was calculating based on life+70 years, but I've seen some other posts assuming life+90
It is life+70. But in 2018, Disney will buy yet another extension law from Congress, and it will be life+90. And in 2038, Disney will buy another law...
Yes, because you have no bananas.
on
Eldred vs. Ashcroft
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Quite being lazy and write your own book.
For books, that may be possible, but for musical works, I'm not so sure. The standard for copying under United States copyright law is substantial similarity, and courts have found that matching four notes of another song's hook is more than enough to make one melody substantially similar to another (Handel v. Silver). To match four notes, given that what key they're played in is irrelevant, you have to match the pitch interval from one note to the next, and the time interval from one note to the next. There are fewer than 50,000 possible melodic hooks (read this page for details).
So how is it possible to write a song without stepping on somebody else's copyright?
Slashdot Mirror
I wonder if Halo 2 was on display?
Yes.
The entire point of the Supreme Court is that they are not swayed by public opinion.
The Supreme Court isn't the only target of these demonstrations. The U.S. Congress is located in the same town. The entire point of Congress, as implied in the Constitution, is that it is swayed by public opinion.
This can get confusing. There's one "Bono" who's pro-sharing, and there's another "Bono" who was (and whose widow is) strongly anti-sharing. In fact, the confusion has even inspired some bad jokes about volunteer legal work: is it possible for an attorney to fight the expansion of copyright law "pro bono"?
did you ever imagine that things like http://goat.se would appear?
"Goat.se" would be a Swedish site. The working link: Goatse.cx. But watch out: it goes to a disgusting picture of a man's stretched anus.
Along similar lines, Dr. Cerf, did you think that the Internet would ever incubate so-called "memes", transmitted through links to music videos, such as "All Your Base Are Belong To Us", "Hampster Dance", "Hatten är din", "Yatta!", "We Drink Ritalin", and the other things that can be found on memepool?
does the GNU/HURD icon bear a startling resemblance to South Park's Mr. Hanky?
It might, but that's not even close to what was intended. It's a baby GNU. Slashdot uses the "GNU" topic mostly for HURD stories and for GPL violation stories.
which includes xeroxing
Never use the word "xeroxing" in front of an attorney. It's a misuse of Xerox's trademark. Say "making copies" or "photocopying" instead. The "Xerox" mark, like other trademarks, is an adjective and should be used with a generic term: a "Xerox machine" or a "Xerox copier". But anyway, what gives you the idea that four out of five attorneys use Xerox copiers rather than Canon or Sharp copiers?
rape a forest in canada for trees for xerox paper
Does Xerox brand paper come from Canadian trees? Interesting. Got a link?
Also, in the case of works with no real commercial value (most e-mail qualifies), you can be successfully sued, but it's very unlikely that you can be sued for monetary damages.
Under United States copyright law, even if the actual damages are less than $20 (lower limit for a jury trial), the plaintiff can pursue statutory damages, which can be as high as $150,000.
Doesn't that mean no special requirements for using the program in a web page as opposed to a command-line app?
A license to copy and modify a program does not automatically confer the right to perform the program publicly.
But that 'external deployment' stuff restricts how you may *use* the software, not just how you may distribute copies. It seems like enough to make the program non-free.
Not how you use it, but how you modify it. Modification, or preparation of derivative works, is normally the exclusive right of the copyright holder. So is public performance. GPL2 claimed "if you distribute binaries, you must distribute source code". GPL3 claims additionally: "if you modify the software and publicly perform it, you must distribute source code."
Office office suite
"Microsoft Office(tm) application suite" sounds better.
Media Player media player (or is that Windows Media media player these days?)
Microsoft products are often named including a generic term, and "Microsoft" or "Windows" is the trademark. Thus, the WMA player is called "Windows(tm) Media Player (generic)", and the database management system is "Microsoft(tm) SQL Server (generic)". And the OS itself is the "Windows operating system" or "Windows environment", which contains a ".NET framework".
OpenOffice office suite
You need only one generic term: "StarOffice(TM) software"; "OpenOffice.org project".
America On Line online service, AOL Instant Messenger instant messenger
"America Online service"; "AOL Instant Messenger service and software"
Unix operating system
Close enough to the official line.
BSD unix software distribution (for extra fun, spell out what BSD stands for), Solaris unix, Gnu's Not Unix unix
Better: "BSD operating system family", "Solaris operating environment", "GNU system", "GNU/Linux operating system", etc.
Laser Jet laser printer, DeskJet inkjet printer
You're more likely to find those in HP literature as "LaserJet printer" or "DeskJet printer".
That way lies madness.
That way lies trademark law. You need only one generic term, not the monstrosities that you exaggerated.
Though an argument can probably be made that the Linux trademark has not been protected by its holder in that regard, since he actually encourages people to use the term to refer to more than just the kernel, but that is another kettle of fish.
The LINUX® mark covers "computer operating system software to facilitate computer use and operation".
"tissue" has a meaning very different from anything Kleenex makes
OK, "Kleenex facial tissue".
I've seen a Barbie doll commercial where the word "doll" was awkwardly dubbed in, presumably after Mattel legal complained.
Even without trademark law, what's better: to be pedantically correct, or to be understood?
Irrelevant. Linux is not a USA product.
Neither is a "PlayStation game console", a "Casio watch", an "ASUS motherboard", a "Panasonic television set", or a "BubbleJet printer". If it's traded in the USA, it has to follow USA trademark law.
But are you so sure that the Linux kernel isn't a USA product? Linus Torvalds, the maintainer of the Linux kernel, works for Transmeta, and "Transmeta is a publicly traded company located in Santa Clara, California".
Not really, according to Sect. 1201 ((f) Reverse Engineering exception) of the DMCA.
17 USC 1201(f), which the judges have ignored in the past (MPAA v. 2600 DeCSS case) and may ignore in the future.
The 5002 is a dual ARM7TDMI processor.
At what clock rate? The Game Boy Advance has a single ARM7TDMI at 16.8 MHz, and it's generally accepted that the GBA can't decode MP3 without extra hardware on the cart.
Just in case you didn't realize, find MSINFO.EXE in old Windows 95 machine, run it and you'll see Windows 95 is in fact coded as Windows 3.95 on MSDOS 6.22
That might be a beta version. When I run diagnostic, I get Windows 4.0 on MS-DOS 7.x (win95), Windows 4.1 on MS-DOS 7.x (win98), or Windows 4.9 on MS-DOS 8.x (winME).
"Linux kernel" is redundant
No. Under USA trademark law, product and brand names are adjectives and should be followed by a generic noun. Thus, "Linux kernel", "Windows operating system", "Mac OS", "Macintosh computer", "Kleenex tissue", "SPAM luncheon meat", "Xerox copier", etc.
NT 4.0 is STILL NT4.0 despite the fact that most recent software REQUIRES a recent service pack.
I've taken up calling Microsoft service packs by major.minor.servicepack. Therefore, Windows NT 4 is up to 4.0.7, Windows 2000 is up to 5.0.3, and Windows XP is up to 5.1.1. Currently maintained IE versions are 5.5.2 (?) and 6.0.1.
Well, "bad law" has two meanings: A. "Not truly suited to advancing the public interest", and B. "Unconstitutional"
Well, in this case, in order for a copyright law to be constitutional, it must "promote the Progress of Science (i.e. literature) and useful Arts (i.e. technology)" (U.S. Const., Art. 1, Sect. 8). Therefore, A implies B.
The constitution says why there should be copyrights. But where does it say why it should be limited?
At first glance, the Constitution says that any copyright term should "promote the Progress of Science (i.e. literature) and useful Arts (i.e. technology)"; thus, the most appropriate limits would be the ones that best "promote the Progress". However, Ashcroft's position is that the text "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts" is a non-binding preamble and that "limited Times" can represent any finite time, even one billion years.
Giving an infant velcro gloves is the equivalent of handing a first-grader a calculator before a math quiz. Sure, they may finish faster and more accurately, but they do so by taking a developmental shortcut.
Which is why you let a kid play with a calculator (or the gloves) for a while, but not all the time.
PIN number? Come on, you are saying, "Personal Identification Number number."
What is better: to be pedantically correct, or to be understood? "PIN" by itself looks like I'm shouting the English "pin" rather than using an acronym. It's easier to understand an acronym that sounds like an English word if the acronym is followed by a generic noun.
Nobody said you had to use the standard 12-tone scale...
Even microtonal melodies are no help. A typical judge, who is probably more familiar with the standard Western 12-tone scale, will probably consider each microtone equivalent to the closest Western tone.
If the SC rules that an arbitrary limit of X years meets the Constitutional mandate, then it is overstepping its bounds and actually legislating, something which Congress is supposed to do.
Supposed to, but when Congress doesn't do what it is supposed to, the other branches have to assert checks and balances. In this case, the Supreme Court interprets whether Congress broke the law by passing an act in violation of the Constitution. If this has a side effect of dictating what the law should have been, then it's not the only side effect: look at all the executive ministries (FDA, FCC, etc.) whose legis^W regulations have the force of law.
The words "road less traveled" do not appear in Frost's poem, rather "the one less traveled by". On the other hand, The Road Less Traveled is the title of a book by Dr. M. Scott Peck.
I was calculating based on life+70 years, but I've seen some other posts assuming life+90
It is life+70. But in 2018, Disney will buy yet another extension law from Congress, and it will be life+90. And in 2038, Disney will buy another law...
Quite being lazy and write your own book.
For books, that may be possible, but for musical works, I'm not so sure. The standard for copying under United States copyright law is substantial similarity, and courts have found that matching four notes of another song's hook is more than enough to make one melody substantially similar to another (Handel v. Silver). To match four notes, given that what key they're played in is irrelevant, you have to match the pitch interval from one note to the next, and the time interval from one note to the next. There are fewer than 50,000 possible melodic hooks (read this page for details).
So how is it possible to write a song without stepping on somebody else's copyright?
Er... maybe you should re-read the poem. The last stanza in particular. That's where the quote comes from.
Except the phrase "The Road Less Traveled" is more closely associated with Dr. Peck than with Robert Frost.