While this topic is worth discussing, the article isn't as nasty as the story might lead you to believe. It's about industrial espionage; reverse engineering in order to gain access to (legally protected?) trade secrets for commercial purposes. I don't think that falls under fair use.
Some parellels have been drawns to DeCSS; reverse engineering in order to gain access to what we have a legal right to under fair use, for personal use. There's a big difference ethically and legally.
Yes, the writer of the article throws around some terms a little too freely, but I don't think it's a big deal taken in context.
The victory of the aggressors proved nothing to anyone except those that accept the axiom of might makes right.
Those who do not accept the axiom tend to be violently killed; therefore, acceptance will provide an evolutionary advantage over those who would simply accept decrees from those in power.
Does it seem tyrannical to anyone else that the federal government taxes states' citizens, then threatens to withhold that tax money if the states don't go along with the federal plan?
They even do it to bypass Constitutional limits on what the Federal government can do. The states are supposed to be in charge of education, but the Fed can get away with this sort of sh*t in that area because the programs are state run and "federally funded".
If my state (Oklahoma) wants to install censorware (and it probably does), then the state legislature can pass the damned tax themselves (with voter approval)!
Zero growth would not be any sort of disaster, although I expect there will be some growth just due to population growth.
Look at the car market; everybody and their dog has one, and they usually stay useful longer than a typical PC. But the auto industry is huge.
I'd say the greater concern for PC sales is the move to other models, like palms or appliances rather than a full power (read: expensive and big) computer. But that's not a bad thing, just a change.
I'm not usually apologetic (see web page for proof), but my comment really shouldn't have been moderated up at all. -1, flamebait, definately.
So on behalf of...well, myself...I officially apologize to all French people including French Canadians and Americans who, like me, have French ancestry. I also apologize to those non-French who took offense at my comment.
That's a dumb comment, not an insightful one. If "Joe Public" buys his DVDs at the same store he bought the player, then chances are damn good that both the player and the DVDs are going to have the same region code.
My "dumb comment" is supported by a little bit of information. I've talked to a few people, who qualify as the Joe Public type, about their DVD players because I'm thinking of buying one. About two out of seven of them have multiregion players (one isn't sure). It's hardly a gallop poll, but it's more support than you bothered to offer.
If two seventh of all DVD player owners get pissed off at the MPAA's tactics, that's a significant force.
Joe Public probably buys his DVDs at the same store he bought his player, and has no idea about region coding, content scrambling, DeCSS, or the way the MPAA has starting making up copyright protections.
Big bold letters to the effect of "You can't play this $30 disc in your $200 player, and sorry we didn't tell you sooner" may be just what it takes to make this issue a public concern, rather than just a small underground vs. big business thing.
RedHat releases an OS with 2,000 documented, viewed bugs that the general public experience. Microsoft releases an OS -- Win2000 -- with 65,000 supposed bugs, only 1 of which ever is actually seen in public....
Why am I buying Linux?
Because Linux is good.
Why are you buying Mandrake / SuSE / Debian / whatever? Because Red Hat 7.0 is bad.
I say we stick to the conventional wisdom of "Everything in Moderation". Moderate everything.
If you don't like a post, just click "-1, don't like it" and be done with it. Don't like a story, moderate the story as "-1, post-IPO-esque" and you're through.
Strong opinion about a particular user? Moderate every he has posted and ever will post. Just think, with out combined might we can hand out a bitchslap even the Taco would envy.
Heck, you even moderate moderation. If you disagree, there's "-1, wrong". If you like it, it's "+0, right" (because if its right, it doesn't need to be moderated). Hell, you can moderate the whole moderation system; if it gets low enough, it will be defuncted and Anarchy shall reign.
Moderate Slashdot as a whole...negative moderation will bring more stories confiscated from Kuro5hin, positive yields more Jon Katz stuff.
It's extends to the micro-level as well. Moderate the topic list, color scheme, each others' passwords...
Moderation at the bit-level may be difficult, until we get quantum computers and get moderate an individual bit as "+5, very" rather that just "0, false" or "+1, true".
Well, at first glance this seems legit, but there were very few typographic or grammar errors in the story. It must have been inserted by our hacker buddies...
While I do not trust any review short of opening the source, this is not persuasive evidence of trickery.
So they've worked for/with the government before. That doesn't mean they will screw us over. What are their political inclinations? What do they think about privacy rights, "bending" the Bill of Rights, and Socialism (which we seem to be moving towards)?
It's not as if these people attend weekly rituals in which they chant "The FBI is good, Freedom is bad" whilst staring into flashing hypnotic lights.
We have names, and we know the school, so somebody go find students who have heard some of this group teach. Don't just jump to conclusions based on flimsy evidence.
Well, it's still sort of spam, but it's from the users rather than from Microsoft. What MS did is really damned tacky, and it skirts the edge of spamminess, but if the users are shown the whole message before sending...
Now, the fun will be if the people you send to can automatically resend your announcement to everyone in their address book...
In big, bright letters on the package: "Now 97% backdoor free!"
In small print, printed on the backside of the seal you have to break, thereby agreeing to the EULA, "contains less than 3% backdoor code; percentage measured by volume and may not apply to this release as code does not occupy space".
I wonder if we (the linux developers I vicariously live through) can claim the right to the "X-Box" name. Heck, I've heard the term applied to X-terminals, and even to regular linux boxes running X.
Of course, the only result would be to piss off Microsoft, and it would be incredibly hypocritical considering how outraged "we" are about such-and-such IP protection, but still...the result would be to piss of Microsoft...
Slashdot Mirror
Some parellels have been drawns to DeCSS; reverse engineering in order to gain access to what we have a legal right to under fair use, for personal use. There's a big difference ethically and legally.
Yes, the writer of the article throws around some terms a little too freely, but I don't think it's a big deal taken in context.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Those who do not accept the axiom tend to be violently killed; therefore, acceptance will provide an evolutionary advantage over those who would simply accept decrees from those in power.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
It's nice to see a protest that isn't restricted to some "Protest Zone" and doesn't seem to have provoked the police into bashing anybody's head.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
They even do it to bypass Constitutional limits on what the Federal government can do. The states are supposed to be in charge of education, but the Fed can get away with this sort of sh*t in that area because the programs are state run and "federally funded".
If my state (Oklahoma) wants to install censorware (and it probably does), then the state legislature can pass the damned tax themselves (with voter approval)!
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Look at the car market; everybody and their dog has one, and they usually stay useful longer than a typical PC. But the auto industry is huge.
I'd say the greater concern for PC sales is the move to other models, like palms or appliances rather than a full power (read: expensive and big) computer. But that's not a bad thing, just a change.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Quake (any)
Mechwarrior 3 (great fun between crashes)
It can be done right, but it seems like too many game designers rely on flashy graphics rather than actually making a good game.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
So on behalf of...well, myself...I officially apologize to all French people including French Canadians and Americans who, like me, have French ancestry. I also apologize to those non-French who took offense at my comment.
And to the moderators: FU TOI!
My mom is not a Karma whore!
That's a silly idea. The French would all explosively decompress in a shower of obnoxious, sticky goo.
Oh. I'm beginning to see the charm of your plan.
But then who would sue Echelon?
My mom is not a Karma whore!
My "dumb comment" is supported by a little bit of information. I've talked to a few people, who qualify as the Joe Public type, about their DVD players because I'm thinking of buying one. About two out of seven of them have multiregion players (one isn't sure). It's hardly a gallop poll, but it's more support than you bothered to offer.
If two seventh of all DVD player owners get pissed off at the MPAA's tactics, that's a significant force.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Joe Public probably buys his DVDs at the same store he bought his player, and has no idea about region coding, content scrambling, DeCSS, or the way the MPAA has starting making up copyright protections.
Big bold letters to the effect of "You can't play this $30 disc in your $200 player, and sorry we didn't tell you sooner" may be just what it takes to make this issue a public concern, rather than just a small underground vs. big business thing.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Your argument is equivalent to saying that the world's first prostitute invented sex.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
All the complaints will be anonymous.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Why am I buying Linux?
Because Linux is good.
Why are you buying Mandrake / SuSE / Debian / whatever? Because Red Hat 7.0 is bad.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
If you don't like a post, just click "-1, don't like it" and be done with it. Don't like a story, moderate the story as "-1, post-IPO-esque" and you're through.
Strong opinion about a particular user? Moderate every he has posted and ever will post. Just think, with out combined might we can hand out a bitchslap even the Taco would envy.
Heck, you even moderate moderation. If you disagree, there's "-1, wrong". If you like it, it's "+0, right" (because if its right, it doesn't need to be moderated). Hell, you can moderate the whole moderation system; if it gets low enough, it will be defuncted and Anarchy shall reign.
Moderate Slashdot as a whole...negative moderation will bring more stories confiscated from Kuro5hin, positive yields more Jon Katz stuff.
It's extends to the micro-level as well. Moderate the topic list, color scheme, each others' passwords...
Moderation at the bit-level may be difficult, until we get quantum computers and get moderate an individual bit as "+5, very" rather that just "0, false" or "+1, true".
My mom is not a Karma whore!
I support Haas's decision not to replace his brain with an overclocked Athlon, as the heat problem would have forced him to move to colder climate.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Well, at first glance this seems legit, but there were very few typographic or grammar errors in the story. It must have been inserted by our hacker buddies...
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Well, I've been a little worried for awhile about the generally poor quality of stories on Slashdot. But finally, something worth reading about.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
While I do not trust any review short of opening the source, this is not persuasive evidence of trickery.
So they've worked for/with the government before. That doesn't mean they will screw us over. What are their political inclinations? What do they think about privacy rights, "bending" the Bill of Rights, and Socialism (which we seem to be moving towards)?
It's not as if these people attend weekly rituals in which they chant "The FBI is good, Freedom is bad" whilst staring into flashing hypnotic lights.
We have names, and we know the school, so somebody go find students who have heard some of this group teach. Don't just jump to conclusions based on flimsy evidence.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Now, the fun will be if the people you send to can automatically resend your announcement to everyone in their address book...
My mom is not a Karma whore!
In small print, printed on the backside of the seal you have to break, thereby agreeing to the EULA, "contains less than 3% backdoor code; percentage measured by volume and may not apply to this release as code does not occupy space".
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Of course, the only result would be to piss off Microsoft, and it would be incredibly hypocritical considering how outraged "we" are about such-and-such IP protection, but still...the result would be to piss of Microsoft...
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Oh, and a cool case. Which must mean it's innovative.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
And the scientists dubbed the program "Wookie Nookie"
My mom is not a Karma whore!
They're called wookiewoks, and for some reason they can speak perfect English.
My mom is not a Karma whore!
Another layer of chocolate? Genius!
My mom is not a Karma whore!