As I understand it, the main reason Napster is considered different is the fact that MP3s are (for all intents and purposes) lossless, CD-quality recordings of digital music.
MP3 begins to approach CD quality only at 192 Kbps VBR with LAME or Fraunhofer (the best encoders AFAIK). But most of the files on Napster are 128 Kbit, which screams "tape" to my ears.
If you tape a CD, then the tape is invariably lower quality, acoustically, than the original.
If you encode a CD at 128 Kbit (especially with a bad encoder like Xing but there are lots of bad tape decks too), then the MP3 is invariably lower quality, acoustically, than the original.
If your TOC-based AIM client can't send files to other AIM users, try sending them via industry-standard HTTP with an AIM addon called Apache Server. Now available for Windows 9x and NT. <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Think of F*ckedcompany.com as a shell pattern. It matches Fuckedcompany.com, Fizzuckedcompany.com, Flackedcompany.com... Are they all for sale? <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Too many pranksters were changing the first letter of the name "Puck-Man" on the cabinet. "Pac-Man" sounds a lot nicer than "Fuck-Man," don't you think? <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a Federal Express truck carrying DVD-ROM discs. Sure, it's 24-hour latency (next day delivery), but it's a heck of a lot more bandwidth than you get. <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
If the regulators say you need a license to surf, they'll will probably require you to be an adult before you can get on, negating any need for Web content filtering software. <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Some ISPs (cough) with policy routing to the caching HTTP proxies have such bad routing that news sites like Slashdot have day-old headlines. <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
The difference is Leonardo Da Vinci was copyrighted before perpetual copyright, while Hasbro's works were copyrighted after perpetual copyright, which started on January 1, 1923. <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Only trademarks must be enforced to survive. Your legal term "abandonment of copyright" means "releasing into the public domain" which requires an action on the copyright holder's part. <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
One other question...what kind of precidence does this set for a game like Arkanoid? I know there are litteraly hundreds of clones like Breakout and SuperBreakout on the market.
Breakout was an Atari (now Hasbro) game before Arkanoid, even before arcade games ran on general-purpose 8-bit microprocessors (Taito's Space Invaders was one of the first). Arkanoid (adding very nice graphics and loads of powerups) was from Taito.
other companies said "woah, good idea" lotus tried to sue them for incorperating "lotus-like menus". Fortunatly Lotus lost, or the suit was dropped or something. (I forget which)
Namco licenses Pac-Man® from Hasbro. But that doesn't stop you from making "Janitor" in which you are a vacuum and are picking up paper wads (that look like white dots on your low-res screen). Or does it? <O ( \ XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
I'm talking about direct rip-offs, including graphics
Does, for example, the csh/bash commandline in GNU look any different from the csh/bash commandline in UNIX?
and game-play
The bash syntax is the same as the sh syntax, or at least as similar as the game clones were to the Hasbro originals. And the POSIX functions are the same too.
as well as things like calling parts of the game the same thing.
ls, cd, rm, etc. are exactly as they are in UNIX®.
You know, a DIRECT rip-off.
A direct rip-off of UNIX was RMS's goal when he started the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation:
I chose to make the system compatible with Unix so that it would be portable, and so that Unix users could easily switch to it. The name GNU was chosen following a hacker tradition, as a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix."
Slashdot Mirror
Our economic system is based on the ability of people to be compensated for their work.
Then why aren't recording artists being compensated?
In the case of the music industry, we protect the artist's copyright so that they can be compensated for their work.
But the labels generally don't compensate the artists enough to make a living.
We buy the CD's, the record companies skim off the bulk of the money and pay some remaining portion to the artist.
According to Courtney Love, our "remaining portion" isn't even enough to buy promotion for the record, let alone pay the bills.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
As I understand it, the main reason Napster is considered different is the fact that MP3s are (for all intents and purposes) lossless, CD-quality recordings of digital music.
MP3 begins to approach CD quality only at 192 Kbps VBR with LAME or Fraunhofer (the best encoders AFAIK). But most of the files on Napster are 128 Kbit, which screams "tape" to my ears.
If you tape a CD, then the tape is invariably lower quality, acoustically, than the original.
If you encode a CD at 128 Kbit (especially with a bad encoder like Xing but there are lots of bad tape decks too), then the MP3 is invariably lower quality, acoustically, than the original.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
If your TOC-based AIM client can't send files to other AIM users, try sending them via industry-standard HTTP with an AIM addon called Apache Server. Now available for Windows 9x and NT.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Think of F*ckedcompany.com as a shell pattern. It matches Fuckedcompany.com, Fizzuckedcompany.com, Flackedcompany.com... Are they all for sale?
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Information on the Sonny Bono Act can be found here.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Capcom lost the Fighter's History suit.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Too many pranksters were changing the first letter of the name "Puck-Man" on the cabinet. "Pac-Man" sounds a lot nicer than "Fuck-Man," don't you think?
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
The rest of the world manages to create new content everyday without ripping off other peoples ideas.
Does Puff Daddy create original content?
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a Federal Express truck carrying DVD-ROM discs. Sure, it's 24-hour latency (next day delivery), but it's a heck of a lot more bandwidth than you get.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
If the regulators say you need a license to surf, they'll will probably require you to be an adult before you can get on, negating any need for Web content filtering software.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Some ISPs (cough) with policy routing to the caching HTTP proxies have such bad routing that news sites like Slashdot have day-old headlines.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
The difference is Leonardo Da Vinci was copyrighted before perpetual copyright, while Hasbro's works were copyrighted after perpetual copyright, which started on January 1, 1923.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
...the people get slack.
<O
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I wrote up a piece on the Sonny Bono Copyright Theft Act.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Only trademarks must be enforced to survive. Your legal term "abandonment of copyright" means "releasing into the public domain" which requires an action on the copyright holder's part.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
...but lost the war on appeal.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
One other question...what kind of precidence does this set for a game like Arkanoid? I know there are litteraly hundreds of clones like Breakout and SuperBreakout on the market.
Breakout was an Atari (now Hasbro) game before Arkanoid, even before arcade games ran on general-purpose 8-bit microprocessors (Taito's Space Invaders was one of the first). Arkanoid (adding very nice graphics and loads of powerups) was from Taito.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Is xgalaga a "rip off" of the arcade classic "Galaga"?
Yes (Galaga is a trademark) but a quick `mv' can change that.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
other companies said "woah, good idea" lotus tried to sue them for incorperating "lotus-like menus". Fortunatly Lotus lost, or the suit was dropped or something. (I forget which)
Lotus won, but it was overturned.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Every known NES ROM can be found at Tobbe's.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Happy Birthday is still copyrighted and generates royalties of $1 million per year.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Namco licenses Pac-Man® from Hasbro. But that doesn't stop you from making "Janitor" in which you are a vacuum and are picking up paper wads (that look like white dots on your low-res screen). Or does it?
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Wasn't the Lotus v. Borland case reversed on appeal? See also Tetris Under Fire.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
I'm talking about direct rip-offs, including graphics
Does, for example, the csh/bash commandline in GNU look any different from the csh/bash commandline in UNIX?
and game-play
The bash syntax is the same as the sh syntax, or at least as similar as the game clones were to the Hasbro originals. And the POSIX functions are the same too.
as well as things like calling parts of the game the same thing.
ls, cd, rm, etc. are exactly as they are in UNIX®.
You know, a DIRECT rip-off.
A direct rip-off of UNIX was RMS's goal when he started the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation:
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Pinocchio's rant on The Tetris Company has moved here.
Now, answering your question: Hasbro is a Tetris Company licensee.
<O
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XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!