Antigua is also a member of the Caribbean Basin Initiative, a program for preferential trade with the U.S. that includes copyright tenets. Sure, Antigua can use the WTO decision to ignore U.S. copyright (within limits), but if they do so then the Americans can shut off their (relatively) preferential access to American markets, something that Antigua cannot afford.
I'm on the Advisory Board of WikiEducator, a project sponsored by the Commonwealth of Learning and other international development agencies to build open educational resources primarily for the developing world. We use CC-BY-SA, and this news is phenomenal for us because it means that all of Wikipedia's content, which has up to now been licensed in a way that's philosophically identical but legally incompatible, is now available for us to use.
There's no reason that content should be in separate BY-SA and GFDL silos. It's critically important to be able to remix it together.
So what can we learn from this? First, don't do illegal things (and use Hushmail or anything else).
This smarmy advice sounds great until you start talking about dissidents in totalitarian countries trying to get the word out about what happens there.
I'm still disappointed that the rumor I once heard, that the Wachowski brothers would direct Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Conan the King", did not come to pass.
I mean, I wish I could get a copy from a parallel universe where that movie was made....
There are a couple problems with the idea of Antigua becoming pirate central. One is that they have most favored nation trading status with the U.S., which is economically very important to them, because they participate in the Caribbean Basin Initiative. Of the the things to which a country agrees when joining CBI is (drumroll please) to observe U.S. "intellectual property rights". So sure, the WTO may say they can ignore them, but if they do then it suddenly becomes a lot more difficult to trade with the U.S.
The second thing is that reliable server colo and hosting can be really expensive down there. There are only so many ways for bits to get on and off the island. I'm not sure if Cable & Wireless is the only provider anymore, but if not then the others are likely to be connected by satellite connections -- can you say 1000ms latency?
Trust me, no one would be more delighted than I for the Eastern Caribbean to become an IP-free paradise of data haven goodness. But I don't expect it no matter how the WTO case turns out.
I'm glad someone mentioned Spelljammer, as it's my favorite campaign setting. While I suppose I don't expect them actually to do a fourth edition version of it since they didn't do one for third edition, I do wish that they'd at least have unified comprehensive rules for battles between ships, both nautical and aerial.
Yes, I know, a good DM can piece that sort of together, and I have, but the less I have to worry about game mechanics, the more I can focus on plot.
The funny thing is that the very first time she heard the theme for the new version, my wife started singing along. I hadn't realised that it's the Gayatri Mantra.
Personally, I've never switched away from Windows because either it came with whatever machine I was using, or I had peripherals that Linux couldn't handle, or whatever. But I finally did it this weekend, I had a desktop sitting there doing nothing so I slapped Edubuntu 6.06 LTS (the CD I had handy) on it, and pretty much have it doing what I want. Not bad for this used-to-be-Windows system administrator.
Basically, while it has been convenient not to have to do much administering, I just felt more and more that Windows is headed in the wrong direction and it was time to switch trains for one headed where I want to go.
Sorry if this is mildly off topic. I just felt like telling you all.:-)
Not to mention that we see hundreds of cave drawings of bison and deer and other roaming mammals... yet does anyone find it strange that no caveman decided to draw a HUGE monstrous death machine roaming the lands? I mean, not ONE SINGLE MENTION anywhere in all of human culture until we discovered their bones?
Biblical references to dragons obvious mean sauropods, and the leviathan was clearly a reference to lipleurodon. Jeez, some people!
Well, if you have to choose, I say brain. I mean, you can't clone yourself a new brain and have it still be you, but bodies are hopefully only a matter of time.
Antigua is in a WTO dispute with the US right now over the latter's blocking of Antiguan Internet gaming sites. They've threatened to stop observing US IP if the dispute is not resolved.
The right to keep and bear arms as a bulwark against tyranny is dead. Let's face it: If gun owners were going to march on Washington, they'd have done it by now.
Slashdot Mirror
Gandalf used a sword. Tolkien trumps Gygax.
Antigua is also a member of the Caribbean Basin Initiative, a program for preferential trade with the U.S. that includes copyright tenets. Sure, Antigua can use the WTO decision to ignore U.S. copyright (within limits), but if they do so then the Americans can shut off their (relatively) preferential access to American markets, something that Antigua cannot afford.
I'm on the Advisory Board of WikiEducator, a project sponsored by the Commonwealth of Learning and other international development agencies to build open educational resources primarily for the developing world. We use CC-BY-SA, and this news is phenomenal for us because it means that all of Wikipedia's content, which has up to now been licensed in a way that's philosophically identical but legally incompatible, is now available for us to use.
There's no reason that content should be in separate BY-SA and GFDL silos. It's critically important to be able to remix it together.
So what can we learn from this? First, don't do illegal things (and use Hushmail or anything else).
This smarmy advice sounds great until you start talking about dissidents in totalitarian countries trying to get the word out about what happens there.
I'm happy to let ignorant people govern themselves. It's when they're a voting majority that they scare me. And I am afraid, very afraid.
This social networking craze reminds me of a little thing that happened a few years ago.
Social networking isn't a craze. Facebook may be, but that's a different statement.
...four elephants standing on the back of a turtle.
if you can't take a joke at your own expense then being dead is the least of your worries.
Your call, but personally I'd rather have a bad sense of humor and be alive.
It's true. It seems like the left wants to give you SOMETHING for nothing, and the right wants to give you something for NOTHING.
What do I win?
I'm still disappointed that the rumor I once heard, that the Wachowski brothers would direct Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Conan the King", did not come to pass.
I mean, I wish I could get a copy from a parallel universe where that movie was made....
There are a couple problems with the idea of Antigua becoming pirate central. One is that they have most favored nation trading status with the U.S., which is economically very important to them, because they participate in the Caribbean Basin Initiative. Of the the things to which a country agrees when joining CBI is (drumroll please) to observe U.S. "intellectual property rights". So sure, the WTO may say they can ignore them, but if they do then it suddenly becomes a lot more difficult to trade with the U.S.
The second thing is that reliable server colo and hosting can be really expensive down there. There are only so many ways for bits to get on and off the island. I'm not sure if Cable & Wireless is the only provider anymore, but if not then the others are likely to be connected by satellite connections -- can you say 1000ms latency?
Trust me, no one would be more delighted than I for the Eastern Caribbean to become an IP-free paradise of data haven goodness. But I don't expect it no matter how the WTO case turns out.
I'm glad someone mentioned Spelljammer, as it's my favorite campaign setting. While I suppose I don't expect them actually to do a fourth edition version of it since they didn't do one for third edition, I do wish that they'd at least have unified comprehensive rules for battles between ships, both nautical and aerial.
Yes, I know, a good DM can piece that sort of together, and I have, but the less I have to worry about game mechanics, the more I can focus on plot.
The funny thing is that the very first time she heard the theme for the new version, my wife started singing along. I hadn't realised that it's the Gayatri Mantra.
Personally, I've never switched away from Windows because either it came with whatever machine I was using, or I had peripherals that Linux couldn't handle, or whatever. But I finally did it this weekend, I had a desktop sitting there doing nothing so I slapped Edubuntu 6.06 LTS (the CD I had handy) on it, and pretty much have it doing what I want. Not bad for this used-to-be-Windows system administrator.
:-)
Basically, while it has been convenient not to have to do much administering, I just felt more and more that Windows is headed in the wrong direction and it was time to switch trains for one headed where I want to go.
Sorry if this is mildly off topic. I just felt like telling you all.
Well, perhaps not the Bible per se, but in the Apocrypha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bel_and_the_Dragon
Not to mention that we see hundreds of cave drawings of bison and deer and other roaming mammals... yet does anyone find it strange that no caveman decided to draw a HUGE monstrous death machine roaming the lands? I mean, not ONE SINGLE MENTION anywhere in all of human culture until we discovered their bones?
Biblical references to dragons obvious mean sauropods, and the leviathan was clearly a reference to lipleurodon. Jeez, some people!
Before a ton of posts show up bitching about the last sentence, you should ask yourself, "Is grammar as much of an issue as I think?"
Fixed.
Maybe your wives should have watched Nearscape.
Who called this a troll?! What a sad, cynical thing to do.
If you find yourself signing up at web sites just because the captchas are so much fun, this is the hobby for you!
Well, if you have to choose, I say brain. I mean, you can't clone yourself a new brain and have it still be you, but bodies are hopefully only a matter of time.
Antigua is in a WTO dispute with the US right now over the latter's blocking of Antiguan Internet gaming sites. They've threatened to stop observing US IP if the dispute is not resolved.
Here's hoping it isn't, and that they meant it.
Come on, who can name a single astronaut since they ended Apollo?
Easy: Mark Shuttleworth!
The right to keep and bear arms as a bulwark against tyranny is dead. Let's face it: If gun owners were going to march on Washington, they'd have done it by now.