Look, many people are saying that the MPAA doesn't have a legal leg to stand on, etc, but that's not the point.
They do not have to prove that you're doing anything for you to lose your account. All they have to do is say, "Hey, Cable Company, this guy is a pirate", and the cable modem gets turned off.
No courts necessary or applicable.
I received one of the letters through Time Warner, as someone in my house allegedly was sharing movies through IRC. I don't particularly care if anyone decides to go to the cops, as it's unprovable, but I damn sure don't want to lose my cable modem... the phone lines near me aren't good enough for DSL, and I can't afford a T1.
Of course I'll make sure that things aren't shared from this location. That's why the method is so completely effective.
To me, an interesting aspect of the fight against piracy is the teaming-up of companies/divisions.
Right now, the MPAA is trolling IRC for servers, and reporting infringing IPs back to Time Warner, who promptly warns customers against their usage. I've seen some of the letters.
There may or may not be antitrust concerns, but it's certainly schizophrenic... In cases like these, whose profit is considered to be more important?
Just call your credit card company.
on
Disconnecting
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· Score: 1
I had a similar experience when cancelling from Earthlink -- No results after an hour on the phone.
So I took the easy way out -- I called my credit card company and asked them to remove the charges. They even launched an investigation for me and sent me a nice letter to say that Earthlink wouldn't be bothering me again.
Of course, some companies don't like this route -- I did the same with AT&T (for Worldnet), and I wound up getting a nasty phone call threatening to cut off all of my phone service... I still didn't have to pay, but it did take a few more phone calls to straighten it out.
Brilliant Digital and Sharman have common employees. There is a definite financial link between the two. Look at the whois for sharmannetworks.com, and note the owner -- Phil Morle. Now, look at his site, creations.morle.com, and check out his employer.
Now that you're on the Brilliant Digital site, check out their 'Anti-Piracy Statement':
BDE has embedded proprietary encryption technology capable of tracking all copyright infringements.
Combine that with their known partners -- Time Warner among them -- and you have a possible international conspiracy...
Now we know why the RIAA wanted laws changed to allow them to hack p2p networks. Of course, they never did get it passed....
No matter how unrealistic it is as a business model, copy protection is still an interesting problem, especially through watermarking.
Inclusion of watermarking code into DSPs is inevitable. CD-R companies, for example, have been eager to embrace similar methods... try burning a SafeDisc2 protected image on a new Plextor drive. Even a perfect data source can just be blocked by hardware, by detecting patterns.
Obviously, some companies will see a way to make a profit by getting around this. Educated consumers will buy hardware without locks.
The question is, will Congress permit anyone to create CD-R writers (for example) in the future that do not have firmware copy protection.
I hope the DMCA was an anomaly, and not an example of things to come.
No matter what these companies claim, it is not obvious which packages are being installed. Download Package A, and have Package B, C, & D installed as processes which actively change your content. Not exactly fair play.
Far worse though (in my opinion) is Morpheus. Every time I turned on my computer, I'd be greeted with pop-up ads... before even running a browser.
Instead of outlawing software like this, let's just legalize beating the crap out of the people who write it.
Well, just remember... you can never go home again...
The high will never be as good as the first time, no matter how much you do...
and it'll never be 1977 again, with your easily impressioned pre-teen brain being permanently changed by every laser blast... feeling pure joy at every slash of a light saber...
It's for your kids. Stop complaining and let them enjoy it.
When I was working on interactive movies a number of years ago, we had arranged a demo of our technology to be shown live on the Today show.
The video feed was broadcast by satellite live from our theater, and Bryant Gumbel was given a controller, which was linked back to the theater through a modem link.
On cue, the very moment we went live, the modem link dropped. It was horrifying. Bryant was in the studio, pressing the buttons, saying "why isn't anything happening?"... I was back at the theater, redialing the modem, only to get... a busy signal.
We finally got it straightened out after the next commercial break, as our technology was fine, but it was damned embarassing.
According to the ISP for the company I'm currently working at, NorthPoint made the announcement on Friday, but told the ISPs they'd have 4-6 weeks before the connections would be killed.
On Wednesday night, the word went out that this wasn't true, and lines started being cut immediately.
AT&T, who is buying the network, could have kept the connections open and integrated the customers into their base, but they declined.
NorthPoint could have bought themselves a few more weeks to save their customers, but started saying nasty things about Verizon, who decided to start cutting wires.
Verizon, who backed out of the deal, could have picked up the customers very easily as well, since they ran most of the NorthPoint connections, but due to the pissing match, refused.
Bottom line -- most customers got only a few hours notice at best. As far as I'm concerned, all three parties acted irresponsibly. I now have a few days of downtime while I wait for a new T1, and I'm pissed enough that I won't be buying service from AT&T or Verizon any time soon.
These patents are so stupidly broad, that if they were upheld, it would be illegal to make a controller card, ethernet card, printer card, or even a computer which can render 3d graphics without Nvidia's permission.
Of course, this is nothing new -- the Patent Office has been out of control for a long time.
I've decided that it's time to put an end to all of this, so I am applying for a patent to the patent. Now, the patent office will have to get my permission before issuing any more patents.
Seriously, though, it's hard to believe they actually have the balls to file a suit based on these patents. I hope they lose the patents once a judge gets a look at them (for being too broad and unoriginal).
You can't put Macrovision on pure RGB signals. That's why I bought a deck with component outs -- and they've been around since the first generation of DVD players.
Yes, the artwork does (did) exist... the etchings in the cover of the book/box were of genetic code.
It was on display (along with the only known copies of the book/box itself) at the first public unveiling in Manhattan... and that's where we got the original copy and posted it...
Slashdot Mirror
Look, many people are saying that the MPAA doesn't have a legal leg to stand on, etc, but that's not the point.
They do not have to prove that you're doing anything for you to lose your account. All they have to do is say, "Hey, Cable Company, this guy is a pirate", and the cable modem gets turned off.
No courts necessary or applicable.
I received one of the letters through Time Warner, as someone in my house allegedly was sharing movies through IRC. I don't particularly care if anyone decides to go to the cops, as it's unprovable, but I damn sure don't want to lose my cable modem... the phone lines near me aren't good enough for DSL, and I can't afford a T1.
Of course I'll make sure that things aren't shared from this location. That's why the method is so completely effective.
To me, an interesting aspect of the fight against piracy is the teaming-up of companies/divisions.
Right now, the MPAA is trolling IRC for servers, and reporting infringing IPs back to Time Warner, who promptly warns customers against their usage. I've seen some of the letters.
There may or may not be antitrust concerns, but it's certainly schizophrenic... In cases like these, whose profit is considered to be more important?
I had a similar experience when cancelling from Earthlink -- No results after an hour on the phone.
So I took the easy way out -- I called my credit card company and asked them to remove the charges. They even launched an investigation for me and sent me a nice letter to say that Earthlink wouldn't be bothering me again.
Of course, some companies don't like this route -- I did the same with AT&T (for Worldnet), and I wound up getting a nasty phone call threatening to cut off all of my phone service... I still didn't have to pay, but it did take a few more phone calls to straighten it out.
Brilliant Digital and Sharman have common employees. There is a definite financial link between the two. Look at the whois for sharmannetworks.com, and note the owner -- Phil Morle. Now, look at his site, creations.morle.com, and check out his employer.
Now that you're on the Brilliant Digital site, check out their 'Anti-Piracy Statement':
BDE has embedded proprietary encryption technology capable of tracking all copyright infringements.
Combine that with their known partners -- Time Warner among them -- and you have a possible international conspiracy...
Now we know why the RIAA wanted laws changed to allow them to hack p2p networks. Of course, they never did get it passed....
No matter how unrealistic it is as a business model, copy protection is still an interesting problem, especially through watermarking.
Inclusion of watermarking code into DSPs is inevitable. CD-R companies, for example, have been eager to embrace similar methods... try burning a SafeDisc2 protected image on a new Plextor drive. Even a perfect data source can just be blocked by hardware, by detecting patterns.
Obviously, some companies will see a way to make a profit by getting around this. Educated consumers will buy hardware without locks.
The question is, will Congress permit anyone to create CD-R writers (for example) in the future that do not have firmware copy protection.
I hope the DMCA was an anomaly, and not an example of things to come.
9th Circuit, eh? Bunch of weirdos anyway..
Hey, if they lose, who will they appeal to?
No matter what these companies claim, it is not obvious which packages are being installed. Download Package A, and have Package B, C, & D installed as processes which actively change your content. Not exactly fair play.
Far worse though (in my opinion) is Morpheus. Every time I turned on my computer, I'd be greeted with pop-up ads... before even running a browser.
Instead of outlawing software like this, let's just legalize beating the crap out of the people who write it.
Well, just remember... you can never go home again...
The high will never be as good as the first time, no matter how much you do...
and it'll never be 1977 again, with your easily impressioned pre-teen brain being permanently changed by every laser blast... feeling pure joy at every slash of a light saber...
It's for your kids. Stop complaining and let them enjoy it.
When I was working on interactive movies a number of years ago, we had arranged a demo of our technology to be shown live on the Today show.
The video feed was broadcast by satellite live from our theater, and Bryant Gumbel was given a controller, which was linked back to the theater through a modem link.
On cue, the very moment we went live, the modem link dropped. It was horrifying. Bryant was in the studio, pressing the buttons, saying "why isn't anything happening?"... I was back at the theater, redialing the modem, only to get... a busy signal.
We finally got it straightened out after the next commercial break, as our technology was fine, but it was damned embarassing.
Never did live TV again.
According to the ISP for the company I'm currently working at, NorthPoint made the announcement on Friday, but told the ISPs they'd have 4-6 weeks before the connections would be killed.
On Wednesday night, the word went out that this wasn't true, and lines started being cut immediately.
AT&T, who is buying the network, could have kept the connections open and integrated the customers into their base, but they declined.
NorthPoint could have bought themselves a few more weeks to save their customers, but started saying nasty things about Verizon, who decided to start cutting wires.
Verizon, who backed out of the deal, could have picked up the customers very easily as well, since they ran most of the NorthPoint connections, but due to the pissing match, refused.
Bottom line -- most customers got only a few hours notice at best. As far as I'm concerned, all three parties acted irresponsibly. I now have a few days of downtime while I wait for a new T1, and I'm pissed enough that I won't be buying service from AT&T or Verizon any time soon.
These patents are so stupidly broad, that if they were upheld, it would be illegal to make a controller card, ethernet card, printer card, or even a computer which can render 3d graphics without Nvidia's permission.
Of course, this is nothing new -- the Patent Office has been out of control for a long time.
I've decided that it's time to put an end to all of this, so I am applying for a patent to the patent. Now, the patent office will have to get my permission before issuing any more patents.
Seriously, though, it's hard to believe they actually have the balls to file a suit based on these patents. I hope they lose the patents once a judge gets a look at them (for being too broad and unoriginal).
How's your Nextel coverage out there? We connect our Palm V and III to our Motorola i1000+ phones through a serial cable...
The coverage isn't great, but the quality is...
You can't put Macrovision on pure RGB signals. That's why I bought a deck with component outs -- and they've been around since the first generation of DVD players.
I thought you could only patent things that you could demonstrate... maybe we can have a mass outing to see this puppy... :)
Yes, the artwork does (did) exist... the etchings in the cover of the book/box were of genetic code.
It was on display (along with the only known copies of the book/box itself) at the first public unveiling in Manhattan... and that's where we got the original copy and posted it...
Cheers.
Kiki Stockhammer was a lot better than Wesley Crusher.
It looks like Hotsauce/ProjectX still exists...