...how "The Free Market" somehow doesn't include those at the top. If you're some start-up company that isn't making a profit and giving your service away for much less than it's worth, you're revered as a "pioneer" in the modern economy. However, if you happen to be an established company that is making money and has been for years, you're a faceless, monopolistic corporation and have no place in the "Free Market". Perhaps the RBOCs are at the top because they know how to do it right.
And yes, I do work for SWBell
I know that, at the University of Tulsa (also in OK) where I was formerly a student, the cops there were usually either ex TPD or off-duty cops. And the University had their own "Security" people, but they had about as much authority as mall cops. They even had flashlights and stuff:)
What if someone who, say, owned their own island somewhere were to start a "data haven" for those who want to host sites with offensive content. Or maybe someone just wanted to lease the room and connectivity to host those sites. Kind of like those casinos that are built on a platform in the middle of a river to avoid the anti-gambling laws. Maybe I spend a couple thousand dollars to build a huge lake, and then build an island in the middle of the lake on which to build a bomb-shelter to host data that might be considered offensive, or even illegal, under most other laws. But hey, I'm on the water, not on the land, so you can't touch me. And how much would a service like this be worth to the users, I wonder.
The main thing, though, is that this kind of question shouldn't even come up. It just doesn't make sense that the best, fastest, most reliable form of communication ever known to man should be restricted by a few people with very specific interests in mind. Especially when their interests are so irrational and their solution for everything is a lawsuit. I know that the Internet isn't an American product, but it would make even less sense to be censoring any kind of information by request of the US government, no matter how much rich-guy-number-X may potentially lose because of such information. I mean, hell, we have sacred laws to protect us from this kind of thing. Why are our "lawmakers" so quick to forget that? And in case Echelon didn't pick this up yet, BOMB KILL MANSON ISRAEL OKC.
Oh, and it's kind of off-topic, but are there any numbers on how much the DVD piracy market has exploded since the release of the DeCSS program? Just curious...
is the almighty Bill going to demand that Slashdot remove his "borg" mug, too? Is his face a trademark of the company, yet? Damn, gonna have to break out GIMP and get to work on Ballmer's pic, I guess.....
I have read many of the interviews, the chat transcripts, the fan reactions, and other materials proliferated (sp?) around the web, and I must say that a surprising number of users, young and old alike, have given accounts of how they "discovered" Metallica through illegal mp3s, and then made several contributions to their "campaign" or "cause" or whatever through the purchase of CDs, T-Shirts, concert tickets, etc. It would seem that your PR people would kill for promotion like that, especially when it doesn't cost you anything at all. The fans themselves are fronting the costs of making the actualy copies of the songs, and they are paying for the space to host it for you. They are even paying the connection charges so the material can get out on the Internet. Maybe the whole music industry is changing, and you have inadvertently (sp?) become a catalyst for that change. Of course, making such a venture more profitable would mean you, as a group, would have to become more involved in the process. I did read the comment by Mr. Ulrich about "barely" being able to get on AOL. Maybe it's time to embrace the technology that is creating the new world most of us are growing up in (by us, I mean most Slashdot readers). Oh yeah, my question. Do you give any weight to the evidence, though it is only anecdotal at this point, that Napster users have become Metallica fans after listening to an mp3 file or two from a service like Napster, even going so far as to listening to a couple songs and then buying five or six albums, some T-shirts, and other paraphanelia? It would seem that the fan who follows this pattern (I'd estimate rougly 65-75% of the fans do) more than pays for those couple songs he got illegally, and probably paid for legitimately in the process.
Maybe these are the words of youth and stupidity, but I love working 60+ hours per week. I'm salaried now, and I'm going to miss overtime, but there's still not much I'd rather be doing than what I do 10 to 12 hours per day, monday through saturday (sunday is reserved for NHL games, laundry, and general slack). I also enjoy the freedom of being able to work from home, the office, a friend's house, or wherever else I can find a phone line. Lucky me, no family or anything else to get in the way, so maybe things will change in the future. For right now, I say pile the work on until I can't handle it, and then I may begin working during commercial breaks on sundays.
"McGrath responded to this scenario: a student uses a campus Internet connection to decide which political candidates to support. That person is misusing university equipment, she said, just as if she used her legislative office phone to make long-distance personal phone calls. On the other hand, the same student, viewing the same pages for a class assignment, is using the equipment properly, she said."
Now, how is this furthering education? granted, college kids downloading pr0n all night long aren't really getting much of an education in anything other than human depravity and anatomy, but why is it that so-called "lawmakers" fail to realize the great potential set forth by the existence of the internet? After all, at what point in human history has so much information been instantly attainable by anyone on the planet? And just because *someone* finds it offensive doesn't mean it's not information. Another thing, will this exclude news sites such as Slashdot that report on a wide variety of topics? Will they individually go in and check to see that the Astronomy majors aren't reading news articles about Gaming or Open Source? I'm thinking the only way to get around such proposals, should they come about (which, although ludicrous, isn't quite as laughable as I'd like them to be) is to just not declare a major at all, which leaves your options pretty much open. I feel sorry for those students, and for myself, since I plan to move to Phoenix in a few months and hope to attend law school while there. I'm also wondering if this will create a big enough impetus among students to move off-campus, thereby skirting these rules. Could the universities really do without all that room and board income? Someone should get McGrath a calendar. My God, we're a few months away from the 21st century, and yet we're still having to deal with people in power who are afraid of one of the greatest achievements in human history. And one more thing, the students are all ADULTS, no matter how much those in power don't want to admit it. What's more, they are paying for the privilege to attend these schools, public though they may be. College is not like high school, where everything is paid for by local taxes or government bonds. Let people control themselves. Hell, those who are sitting around in a circle-jerk around the latest www.insert-euphamism-for-something-sexual-here.com all the time aren't going to be around too long anyway.
I wonder, if a large enough group spent the $20 or so dollars per shirt, how many DeCSS shirts it would take for them to drop all this nonsense. I'm willing to throw in $20 or so.
Jack Valenti c/o Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) 15503 Ventura Blvd. Encino, California 91436
I spent a week in Minneapolis/St. Paul this last fall. It's been a very long time since a city impressed me as much as this area. Plenty to do at night, nice urban feel without overcrowding, pollution, etc. I was staying in the St. Louis Park area (?) and we were exhibiting downtown Convention Center (it was the ASTD show). I loved the place. Great bars, great feel, nice cab drivers, a casino and super-hugs mall nearby, and plenty of coffee, "cyber-cafes", and clubs. I'd like to get my company to re-locate me there one of these days.
I'm sure a million people have already posted this one, but it's gotta be said again. Mahir Cagri , that over-exuberant Turk who made us all laugh, cry, and ask WTF? this year certainly deserves at least a nomination for Net person of the year. Who else is going to make a pathetic web page in broken english rather than their native language and capture the attention of the whole world? My web page is ten times worse than Mr. Cagri's, and I'm not getting free tours of foreign countries. Hell, he even has a song on MP3.com.
Well, it's still a full moon/winter solstice, and that hasn't happened in a long time. And I'm still going to be at the Full Moon Cafe on Cherry Street enjoying a favorite brew and a plate of buffalo wings.
Slashdot Mirror
...how "The Free Market" somehow doesn't include those at the top. If you're some start-up company that isn't making a profit and giving your service away for much less than it's worth, you're revered as a "pioneer" in the modern economy. However, if you happen to be an established company that is making money and has been for years, you're a faceless, monopolistic corporation and have no place in the "Free Market". Perhaps the RBOCs are at the top because they know how to do it right. And yes, I do work for SWBell
The main thing, though, is that this kind of question shouldn't even come up. It just doesn't make sense that the best, fastest, most reliable form of communication ever known to man should be restricted by a few people with very specific interests in mind. Especially when their interests are so irrational and their solution for everything is a lawsuit. I know that the Internet isn't an American product, but it would make even less sense to be censoring any kind of information by request of the US government, no matter how much rich-guy-number-X may potentially lose because of such information. I mean, hell, we have sacred laws to protect us from this kind of thing. Why are our "lawmakers" so quick to forget that? And in case Echelon didn't pick this up yet, BOMB KILL MANSON ISRAEL OKC.
Oh, and it's kind of off-topic, but are there any numbers on how much the DVD piracy market has exploded since the release of the DeCSS program? Just curious...
I have read many of the interviews, the chat transcripts, the fan reactions, and other materials proliferated (sp?) around the web, and I must say that a surprising number of users, young and old alike, have given accounts of how they "discovered" Metallica through illegal mp3s, and then made several contributions to their "campaign" or "cause" or whatever through the purchase of CDs, T-Shirts, concert tickets, etc. It would seem that your PR people would kill for promotion like that, especially when it doesn't cost you anything at all. The fans themselves are fronting the costs of making the actualy copies of the songs, and they are paying for the space to host it for you. They are even paying the connection charges so the material can get out on the Internet. Maybe the whole music industry is changing, and you have inadvertently (sp?) become a catalyst for that change. Of course, making such a venture more profitable would mean you, as a group, would have to become more involved in the process. I did read the comment by Mr. Ulrich about "barely" being able to get on AOL. Maybe it's time to embrace the technology that is creating the new world most of us are growing up in (by us, I mean most Slashdot readers). Oh yeah, my question. Do you give any weight to the evidence, though it is only anecdotal at this point, that Napster users have become Metallica fans after listening to an mp3 file or two from a service like Napster, even going so far as to listening to a couple songs and then buying five or six albums, some T-shirts, and other paraphanelia? It would seem that the fan who follows this pattern (I'd estimate rougly 65-75% of the fans do) more than pays for those couple songs he got illegally, and probably paid for legitimately in the process.
hey, it's been said a few times that this is a home-grown encryption scheme. Could he claim that it's intellectual property? IANAL, so...
Now, how is this furthering education? granted, college kids downloading pr0n all night long aren't really getting much of an education in anything other than human depravity and anatomy, but why is it that so-called "lawmakers" fail to realize the great potential set forth by the existence of the internet? After all, at what point in human history has so much information been instantly attainable by anyone on the planet? And just because *someone* finds it offensive doesn't mean it's not information. Another thing, will this exclude news sites such as Slashdot that report on a wide variety of topics? Will they individually go in and check to see that the Astronomy majors aren't reading news articles about Gaming or Open Source? I'm thinking the only way to get around such proposals, should they come about (which, although ludicrous, isn't quite as laughable as I'd like them to be) is to just not declare a major at all, which leaves your options pretty much open. I feel sorry for those students, and for myself, since I plan to move to Phoenix in a few months and hope to attend law school while there. I'm also wondering if this will create a big enough impetus among students to move off-campus, thereby skirting these rules. Could the universities really do without all that room and board income? Someone should get McGrath a calendar. My God, we're a few months away from the 21st century, and yet we're still having to deal with people in power who are afraid of one of the greatest achievements in human history. And one more thing, the students are all ADULTS, no matter how much those in power don't want to admit it. What's more, they are paying for the privilege to attend these schools, public though they may be. College is not like high school, where everything is paid for by local taxes or government bonds. Let people control themselves. Hell, those who are sitting around in a circle-jerk around the latest www.insert-euphamism-for-something-sexual-here.com all the time aren't going to be around too long anyway.
Jack Valenti
c/o Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
15503 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, California 91436
Well, it's still a full moon/winter solstice, and that hasn't happened in a long time. And I'm still going to be at the Full Moon Cafe on Cherry Street enjoying a favorite brew and a plate of buffalo wings.