Re:This is more about copyrights in a digital worl
on
The Napsterization of TV
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· Score: 5, Insightful
how do media artists make a living when their product can be copied an infinite number of times for virtually zero cost?
They can rely on good-will tipping from their fans (see.sig, below), or fund themselves from their day jobs. You may think that's unacceptable, but I don't -- I think the world would benefit from having less professional/corporate/money-driven content, and more amateur/semi-pro content.
Similar processes led to the evolution of mankind, but this has now
stopped because virtually everybody's genes are making it to the next generation, not only those who are best adapted to their environment
Horsefeathers. Even if very few people succumb to disease these days, that doesn't mean that everybody's genes make it to the next generation. The fact is that some people have traits that make them more likely to successfully reproduce, while other people's traits make them less likely to (hi, Slashdotters;^)). Thus human evolution continues, albeit not as rapidly.
On the plus side, this means that the future will likely have fewer geeks, and more promiscuous women....;^)
All I've read of his have been Snow Crash and Diamond Age, but that left me uninterested in trying again. Maybe Cryptonomicon is different....)
For what it's worth, I've read all three of the above books, and Cryptonomicon is by far the best of the three. I agree that Snow Crash and Diamond Age were both comic-book-like, but I didn't think Cryptonomicon was at all. Give Cryptonomic a chance, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Barring safety issues as mentioned by the previous poster, I would think Greenpeace would be all for this. It would replace rocket launches, many of which are quite environmentally unfriendly. The environmental effects of a space elevator, on the other hand? Negligible, as far as I can tell.
[companies are motivated only by profit, and that is why they put copy-prevention mechanisms into their gear]
Odd that they haven't noticed that copy-prevention mechanisms have been a large factor in the commercial failure of several data formats (DAT and MiniDisc come to mind).
Perhaps someday they will come to the realization that customers are more likely to buy a unit that does what the customer wants, than one that does what TimeWarnerAOLSony wants.
... or it could be that the reason we don't detect any alien broadcasts is because the aliens have already encased Earth in a giant spherical display screen that simulates the night sky, to keep us calm until they are ready to throw us into their dying sun.
Do you really consider being locked in to using only Microsoft's products a feature? Keep in mind that all these goodies are only "free" until the competition is dead--after that, Microsoft will make you pay, and pay, and pay again (they gotta keep up that 30%/quarter profit growth somehow)
It's as if the little "no user-servicable parts inside -- do not open" stickers that you see on some appliances were legally enforced. Remove the case from your Nintendo, go to jail.
Nobody in their right mind puts the "good of mankind" over money. Tell me, when was the last time you paid extra for an electric car, installed solar panels on your roof, or donated money to starving Ethopians. Greed is human nature.
Maybe it makes you feel better about your own greed to believe that, but it is nonetheless a fact that there are people who do all of the above. You are just not one of them.
If you patent something, then you are by definition sharing it. Patents are public, for all to see
That is the idea, anyway... in my former position at a dot-com, the management wanted to obtain a software patent based on some work I had done. Their advice to me for describing my software for the patent was (more or less in these words) "make it descriptive enough so that we can sue anyone who tries to do something similar, but vague enough so that it would not be of much use to anyone trying to figure out how to do the same thing". I trust not all patents are done with this sort of mindset, but any that are, are certainly not doing much to help the public good.
Well then, why not join up, and run a port sniffer at the same time? That way you'll actually have proof
Nope, that wouldn't prove anything except that the software wasn't sending secret info out in any obvious way. It could well be watching just for your password/credit card number, caching it when it sees it, and sending it out to a remote machine 1 bit at a time, as part of the "acceptable" data packets, over the next 24 hours.
If you want proof, you would need to get the source, inspect it line by line, and compile it yourself.
Re:From an embarrassed Windows user
on
Wired Talks Wine
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· Score: 2
Free as in speech? Joe User doesn't know the difference.
To the extent that Windows tries to enforce "digital rights management", Joe User will see the difference.
Free as in beer? Joe User can't tell -- his Windows came bundled with his computer.
True, for current users. But imagine in a year or two, Joe has a choice of buying a computer with Linux&WINE for $X, or a computer with WindowsXP for $(X+100). If WINE is good enough to run the programs he wants to run, Joe might just decide to save the extra money.
If you feel like your ISP is dicking you around, the only real solution is to fire them. They exist to serve your needs, not to control your life. Write them a letter telling them why you are cancelling your service, and tell them what changes it would take in order for you to reconsider them as an ISP.
Trying to "fool" your ISP with clever stealth-NAT schemes is lots of fun and all, but it does nothing to change the status quo of companies thinking that they can dictate how their customers should use the Internet.
Yes, I realize that some of you have no alternative. If that is the case, it is of course up to you whether you want to drop back to dial-up service, or continue to get dicked around.
It gets better still... someone will replace dna_strcmp() with dna_regex() and we'll have nanobots programmed to kill only certain racial groups. Then the shit will really hit the fan...
Should a company be forced to quit attempting to make itself bigger and better, just because it's bigger and better?
Nah. But it should be forced to stop strongarming other companies into denying its competitors access to the market. Capitalism is based on competition, a fact which Microsoft needs to learn.
like a bunch of startled dugongs, or are you going to burn a batch of Linux install CDs and swap them with the XP demo disks? Use one of those "we make it look as much like Windows as possible" distributions, and you might just get away with it, too.
this is why people form corporations. remove corporate "status" people would go to jail.
Indeed. But certain corporations have enough money that almost any fine doesn't seem like much punishment for them. Perhaps there ought to be a way to send the corporation to "jail", by forcing it to cease all business operations for a set amount of time....
Both chess and boxing are about setting up the opponent and taking them down.
You're right... in fact, they would make a fine pair for a new biathlon sport in the Olympics... the two competitors box for 9 rounds, then sit down for a chess match. I know I'd watch.:^)
No, it's not bad for the economy in general. It's bad for the stupid venture capitalists, and good for the consumers. It all evens out.
It's bad for businesses based on a sustainable business model (because they can't compete with products given away at a loss). Soon after it is bad for consumers, because (a) the dot-com is out of business (for obvious reasons), and (b) the competition is also out of business (they couldn't compete and make a profit). At this point, the only place the consumer can buy from is the MegaCorps that were able to afford to compete at a loss for a long time. Now the MegaCorp can raise its prices as much as it likes, since it has no surviving competition.
here are so many idiots with lots of money out there, maybe I should start selling miraculous "herbal medicine" (aka grass) on eBay. There's nothing wrong with exploiting morons. They're morons, it's their own fault for buying that crap.
While nice in theory, this attitude doesn't work in real life. That's why we (in the USA, anyway) have agencies like the FDA.
Slashdot Mirror
They can rely on good-will tipping from their fans (see
Just MHO.
In the US, at least, I'm not sure the phrase 'can not be held liable' is ever applicable.
Similar processes led to the evolution of mankind, but this has now
stopped because virtually everybody's genes are making it to the next generation, not only those who are best adapted to their environment
Horsefeathers. Even if very few people succumb to disease these days, that doesn't mean that everybody's genes make it to the next generation. The fact is that some people have traits that make them more likely to successfully reproduce, while other people's traits make them less likely to (hi, Slashdotters
On the plus side, this means that the future will likely have fewer geeks, and more promiscuous women....
For what it's worth, I've read all three of the above books, and Cryptonomicon is by far the best of the three. I agree that Snow Crash and Diamond Age were both comic-book-like, but I didn't think Cryptonomicon was at all. Give Cryptonomic a chance, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Barring safety issues as mentioned by the previous poster, I would think Greenpeace would be all for this. It would replace rocket launches, many of which are quite environmentally unfriendly. The environmental effects of a space elevator, on the other hand? Negligible, as far as I can tell.
Translation: "I can't imagine any solutions for these problems, therefore no solution could possibly exist".
Odd that they haven't noticed that copy-prevention mechanisms have been a large factor in the commercial failure of several data formats (DAT and MiniDisc come to mind).
Perhaps someday they will come to the realization that customers are more likely to buy a unit that does what the customer wants, than one that does what TimeWarnerAOLSony wants.
(mod: -1, Silly
Hey, bright boy... has Red Hat been convicted in a court of law for being an illegal monopolist? Does Red Hat even have a legal monopoly of any kind?
Do you really consider being locked in to using only Microsoft's products a feature? Keep in mind that all these goodies are only "free" until the competition is dead--after that, Microsoft will make you pay, and pay, and pay again (they gotta keep up that 30%/quarter profit growth somehow)
It's as if the little "no user-servicable parts inside -- do not open" stickers that you see on some appliances were legally enforced. Remove the case from your Nintendo, go to jail.
Maybe it makes you feel better about your own greed to believe that, but it is nonetheless a fact that there are people who do all of the above. You are just not one of them.
That is the idea, anyway... in my former position at a dot-com, the management wanted to obtain a software patent based on some work I had done. Their advice to me for describing my software for the patent was (more or less in these words) "make it descriptive enough so that we can sue anyone who tries to do something similar, but vague enough so that it would not be of much use to anyone trying to figure out how to do the same thing". I trust not all patents are done with this sort of mindset, but any that are, are certainly not doing much to help the public good.
Here's a useful hint: just because something is posted on the Internet doesn't mean that it is true.
Nope, that wouldn't prove anything except that the software wasn't sending secret info out in any obvious way. It could well be watching just for your password/credit card number, caching it when it sees it, and sending it out to a remote machine 1 bit at a time, as part of the "acceptable" data packets, over the next 24 hours.
If you want proof, you would need to get the source, inspect it line by line, and compile it yourself.
To the extent that Windows tries to enforce "digital rights management", Joe User will see the difference.
Free as in beer? Joe User can't tell -- his Windows came bundled with his computer.
True, for current users. But imagine in a year or two, Joe has a choice of buying a computer with Linux&WINE for $X, or a computer with WindowsXP for $(X+100). If WINE is good enough to run the programs he wants to run, Joe might just decide to save the extra money.
Trying to "fool" your ISP with clever stealth-NAT schemes is lots of fun and all, but it does nothing to change the status quo of companies thinking that they can dictate how their customers should use the Internet.
Yes, I realize that some of you have no alternative. If that is the case, it is of course up to you whether you want to drop back to dial-up service, or continue to get dicked around.
It gets better still... someone will replace dna_strcmp() with dna_regex() and we'll have nanobots programmed to kill only certain racial groups. Then the shit will really hit the fan...
Nah. But it should be forced to stop strongarming other companies into denying its competitors access to the market. Capitalism is based on competition, a fact which Microsoft needs to learn.
like a bunch of startled dugongs, or are you going to burn a batch of Linux install CDs and swap them with the XP demo disks? Use one of those "we make it look as much like Windows as possible" distributions, and you might just get away with it, too.
Indeed. But certain corporations have enough money that almost any fine doesn't seem like much punishment for them. Perhaps there ought to be a way to send the corporation to "jail", by forcing it to cease all business operations for a set amount of time....
You're right... in fact, they would make a fine pair for a new biathlon sport in the Olympics... the two competitors box for 9 rounds, then sit down for a chess match. I know I'd watch.
It's bad for businesses based on a sustainable business model (because they can't compete with products given away at a loss). Soon after it is bad for consumers, because (a) the dot-com is out of business (for obvious reasons), and (b) the competition is also out of business (they couldn't compete and make a profit). At this point, the only place the consumer can buy from is the MegaCorps that were able to afford to compete at a loss for a long time. Now the MegaCorp can raise its prices as much as it likes, since it has no surviving competition.
here are so many idiots with lots of money out there, maybe I should start selling miraculous "herbal medicine" (aka grass) on eBay. There's nothing wrong with exploiting morons. They're morons, it's their own fault for buying that crap.
While nice in theory, this attitude doesn't work in real life. That's why we (in the USA, anyway) have agencies like the FDA.
Then we should stop whining when we find out that other countries have been spying on us. It makes us look like a bunch of hypocritical crybabies.
The Chinese have thought of that as well, and are working towards a solution.