No it doesn't. Privacy would be broader than that. If Amazon.com and Walmart write down everything you buy from them and publish it in a book, they've violated your privacy, but haven't searched your person, house, or papers.
Actually they have. They shared your "papers" (records) publicly in fact.
"It instead outlines what the government is allowed to do and enumerates some rights which all humans are deemed to have from birth. The government does not grant rights; it can only act to constrain itself and others from violating them."
Sounds like "restrict" to me. constrain == restrict
Yes, constraint is a restriction. But what I am getting at is the fact that the Constitution, rather than simply telling the government what it cannot do, tells the government exactly what it can do. It's a matter of perspective. The constitution does not grant you any rights you did not already have. Instead it serves as a reminder of those rights to the government and a guidline for restraint. Getting things the other way round leads to trouble, because then you get stuck with the idea that governments grant rights to people, which is horrbly wrong.
Governments are meant to serve people and protect their rights. Governments are given rights and powers by the people, not the other way round.
Perhaps I am not writing this as clearly as I'd like, but that is essentially what I am getting at.
Very well, but do there exist 50 sites in the US that have suitable light-fall in areas rural enough that they won't infringe upon current residents? I'm not claiming to have the answers, I'm just vocificating that a switch to solar power is not as easy, affordable, or plausible as some would like to make it sound.
Yes. First off, there already exist translucent solar panels, and these could be used as windows in buildings. Secondly, there is an awful lot of unused roof space out there. Finally, every city in the US has large areas of abandoned buildings and lots which could be turned to the task if need be. Finally it would be possible to get rid of the existing power plants which take up quite a bit of space, and replace them with solar panel installations if it pleases you.
No, it isn't. As for the Hindenburg, read the two posts above yours to find out why that disaster wasn't due to hydrogen combustion.
I hate it when people just use "things they heard once" as facts to support an argument, especially now that we've got the WWW as an almost instant resource available to fact-check ourselves.
The problem with the Hindenburg/Hydrogen story is that it is repeated in High schools across the country. One other poster pointed that out. I remember that in High School chemistry class, my teacher also used the Hindenburg as an example of the difference between Hydrogen, which is volatile, and Helium, which is a noble gas. The real causes of the Hindenburg disaster are even now hotly debated, and until very recently much of the necessary data were secrets. The bit about the inflammable paint and the difficulty of setting the hydrogen afire are still not widely known, unfortunately.
I think I will take real science over liberal morons like you who take half the data and then use that to state what tehy claim as an undeniable truth.
It is also awful close to the sun compared to Venus. Did you really have a point? I think I will take real science over the random blathering of idiots on slashdot.:P
of Global Warming, we have to worry about Global Cooling. Is that why it is 45F out in S. Florida?:-)
No, what we need to worry about are incredibly dense scientists. At least the ones that get to talk to journalists.
It makes perfect sense to me that as pollution and greenhouse gases serve as an insulator in the atmosphere, thereby leading to global warming, that there would be an effect of blocking sunlight as well. In fact, there had been proponents at one time of one effect over the other (thus some global cooling advocates fighting with global warming advocates) but the global warming advocates seem to have won out.
It is likely that as the article indicates there will be a series of complex processes which we barely understand which will lead to interesting climatic changes.
My personal, unscientific, layman's observation has been that in the last several years weather has become more extreme than usual. In other words we have had far colder winters than usual and far hotter summers, at least in North America. Who knows if that is true and an indicator of the processes described, but it seems to me an example of how little we truly understand about how weather works.
The Constitution only restricts the actions of governments, not private groups like the RIAA. (And it doesn't guarantee privacy either.)
So how do you interpret the fourth amendment?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
It sounds like a right to privacy to me. In fact it is a right to security as well. And it is the duty of the government to protect this right, among the others. This notion of corporations getting carte blanche is complete bunk, and would not be supported by our founding fathers who fought against one of the earliest multinational corporations in their revolution.
The government has a duty to protect the civil rights of its citizens against the depredations of other citizens, citizens of other countries, and indeed corporations. You do realize that there is precedent for this in the form of individuals and businesses being prosecuted for violating civil rights?
The Constitution does not restrict the government. It instead outlines what the government is allowed to do and enumerates some rights which all humans are deemed to have from birth. The government does not grant rights; it can only act to constrain itself and others from violating them.
Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't something along the lines of, "I wish you would go back into the bottle," work? (Not saying the RIAA's task is that simple; just critiquing the meme.)
Because the genie is by definition not granting the RIAA's wishes. For the record, she seems to be listening to me pretty well, though:).
When USians hear on the news that "Italy's Government has collapsed, AGAIN", some people assume there's rioting in the streets and a full scale civil war going on. When in fact, it was just an election and the civil service is still delivering the mail (or, in Italy's case, not delivering the mail).
And the Mafia is still in control, primarily because Italy lacks a strong government with resolve to break ties with them and then break them up as was done in the US.
The system can auto-engage a small rocket engine, making you safely fly over that car. Or it can actually send a signal to the other car, forcing it to stop.
It can't if the other guy is a redneck driving a 54 Ford pickup. That's the problem with smart cars and smart highways. You have to design a system that takes into account the fact you have dumb cars and dumb drivers on the road.
As long as their is a market someone will make it.
And the reason this works is that they failed to secure it despite available technology (what an old story that is!) From an article linked at that site:
Their primary makers, 3M Co. and Tomar Electronics Inc., offer encryption technology that can lock out unauthorized devices. Encryption has been available from 3M for more than a decade -- but it is far more expensive than systems that operate in the clear.
A display that shows how fast everyone else is going instead of some arbitrary sign. It is relatively well documented that more accidents happen where people are all driving different speeds than when all the people are speeding.
I have heard that, and the high school physics book makes such a thing obvious, but I would like to get more data for a side project i am working on in this space. Do you have links to good research?
Does someone have a decent brakedown of the FM freq allocations? It seems like that space is getting crowded.
Brakedown.... Does slashdot need a spell checker? Oh but look what happens when you use one! From the article:
The technology, still five to 10 years away from being installed in cars and along highways, also could use a beep, a dashboard light or an electronic voice to tell drivers when it's safe to change lanes, or when to put on the breaks to avoid rear-ending the motorist in front.
It will tell you to put on the breaks? That might be good for truck drivers who have been driving too long. Yet another reason why computers cannot be allowed to do everything on their own. Is this a foreshadowing of what this automagical technology has in store for us?
The swastica was a symbol of good luck for more than just the Hindu.
Indeed, it was a widely used Indo-European symbol, which is why the Nazis used it in the first place. They latched on to the idea that Indo-Europeans, and in particlar the Aryans, from whom the swastika and what we know today as Hinduism came to India, originated in the area now known as Germany. The truth of the matter is far more complex than they made it, but this was one of many things they used as examples of the "superiority of the Aryan race." There was a lot of pop psychology, revisionist history, and spurious science involved in the Nazi curriculum, all of which used credible theory as a base to the ultimately fractured mess. Sadly, their "ideas" survive to this day because their are people mean enough to spread them and others stupid and ignorant enough to believe them.
Actualy, I would like a limited account as I mostly read slashdot and check the news. However very few ISP's are willing to share the savings with me. They need me to join at regular full rates to help float the high bandwidth users. This has kept me on dial-up instead of broadband. I just heard on the radio that less then 1/3rd of the USA has broadband. Cost is the main reason. Someday they will provide accounts with monthly bandwidth levels like cell phone accounts have so many minutes a month plans. Maybe then I can get affordable broadband.
That would solve the 1% of users using 75% of resources problems. They would either bail and become someone elses problem, pay for their usage, or adjust their usage to what's affordable. Either way, lower cost broadband access could be there for the rest of the 2/3rd's us.
Anybody want to provide reasonably priced broadband for the other 99% of users? Say maybe $10-20/month? $45-%65 is just too much for low bandwidth users. Therefore we are still on dial-up. The potential consumers are out there waiting for the allways on connections for IM, Stock Quotes, News, and e-mail.
Actually, cost is one of the reasons I switched to broadband. Even at $40/month it was cheaper than any dialup. The reason? Cost of the phone line itself. Most local phone providers charge $20-50 for a standard dialtone. Then you have the dialup internet which can be anywhere from $15-$25 a month. I switched to the broadband and turned off my phone.
I do use a cell phone now, and there is no phone service that can beat the prices I get for my cell phone. No long distance charges and unlimited nights and weekends. Even when I had limited minutes I was paying less than I would have for a regular phone connection. Now, if you only call locally your savings will be less, but even then I find the charges for cell phones very reasonable. This does not even take into account the fact I can use my phone anywhere.
As for your pleas for $20/month broadband, I have seen such prices advertised, though usually it is an introductory price or a price for people who are paying for cable TV. But you can get that price, presumably. I now actually pay for cable and broadband and get a monstrous digital cable package, so I forget how much of this is for teh internet, but I am pretty happy.
I don't see how anyone could maintain a windows machine without broadband. There are too many large packages to download and they take forever even on broadband at home or work's fat pipe. Another thing people forget when they stay on dialup is the money they will save on software and other entertainment on broadband. First off the unscrupulous can get hold of any digital media they could ever desire with their broadband connection. Even fools like me who choose to try and follow the laws and licenses will find many thousands of dollars worth of software and entertainment readily available at their fingertips which can swiftly arrive at the computer for use. These are things you shoudl consider.
No worries there. Austin was recently blackmailed into a multiyear contract with microsoft which perpetually and only expands in which they will pay for multiple Windows and MSOffice licenses for more desktops than they actually have. So the waste is there, it will be that they will be not only paying for more copies of office than they could possibly physically use, but they will not actually be using Office. Woohoo government!:)
Doesn't shift-click in mozilla/firebird open a new tab, though? That is, I know it does in Firebird, and I'm sure it can be easily set in mozilla. One of the first big reasons I switched was to use tabs instead of multiple windows. You actually like having every link open in it's own window?
Clearly, yes. I do as well. It makes it easier to switch between them with the keyboard. In fact, I HATE tabbed browsing and wish there was a way to disable it altogether without diving into the source. As it is the best I can do is make tabs disappear if there is only one tab and hope I do not accidentally "open in a new tab" instead of "open in a new window."
Check out Etree. There's a large community of bands that not only allow but actively support the taping of their concerts. This is a great business model for them, by giving away for free what they wouldn't have made any money off of anyway they get lots of free marketing and since any good musician plays a different show each night, it doesn't cut into album or concert sales. This is how the Grateful Dead became the most successful touring act in history.
Oh, I know about the Dead, and also Metallica's ironic flirtation with bootlegging. There are, as you say, lots of bands who don't mind. But unless they give permission, you are technically (supposedly) breaking some kind of copyright. I am not sure exactly how that works, but I know lots of concerts actually check for cameras before you go in. Thank you for the link, because I think it is going to be my goal to support more bands who are more free with their work, which fits in with my own philosophy.
Now all I have to do is move somewhere where it is provided. Unfortunately the ISPs are only barely catching on that people might want to choose where they live based on broadband choice, and even then it is difficult information to find. (I have recently seen apartments that advertise one or more broadband providers as being available to their denizens, but that may only be in this area).
If I were one of these ISPs I would create a database of addresses where my service was available and maybe even work with realtors and apartment complexes to get their info into the system so that, for instance, I could look up what cities have a given ISP and then where in that city I might live if I want to be that ISPs customer. I learned the hard way on this move that I want to ensure access to more than one broadband provider in case I don't like the one I end up with....
You are an idiot. First of all Emacs is not an operating system (all joking aside). Secondly, he was talking about editting ID3 tags, not playing MP3s. You could've clearly seen this if you were capable of reading. Third, MS does not have any way of playing back MP3s "builtin to the OS".
Sure they do! It is called Windows Media Player.
special purpose app + shell integration != OS component
Well, Microsoft seems to think it is an OS component. You certainly cannot remove it and it does come with the OS. So it is as much an OS component as IE. Dither over whether MS knows what an OS is much less an OS component if you will, but...
Not knowing all the details, I might assume that this person is a taper (someone who goes to a concert and legally tapes a show) and then shares their collection with others. After doing this myself I could easily see how you could transfer 40gb without pirating anything.
Slashdot Mirror
"It sounds like a right to privacy to me."
No it doesn't. Privacy would be broader than that. If Amazon.com and Walmart write down everything you buy from them and publish it in a book, they've violated your privacy, but haven't searched your person, house, or papers.
Actually they have. They shared your "papers" (records) publicly in fact.
"It instead outlines what the government is allowed to do and enumerates some rights which all humans are deemed to have from birth. The government does not grant rights; it can only act to constrain itself and others from violating them."
Sounds like "restrict" to me. constrain == restrict
Yes, constraint is a restriction. But what I am getting at is the fact that the Constitution, rather than simply telling the government what it cannot do, tells the government exactly what it can do. It's a matter of perspective. The constitution does not grant you any rights you did not already have. Instead it serves as a reminder of those rights to the government and a guidline for restraint. Getting things the other way round leads to trouble, because then you get stuck with the idea that governments grant rights to people, which is horrbly wrong.
Governments are meant to serve people and protect their rights. Governments are given rights and powers by the people, not the other way round.
Perhaps I am not writing this as clearly as I'd like, but that is essentially what I am getting at.
Very well, but do there exist 50 sites in the US that have suitable light-fall in areas rural enough that they won't infringe upon current residents? I'm not claiming to have the answers, I'm just vocificating that a switch to solar power is not as easy, affordable, or plausible as some would like to make it sound.
Yes. First off, there already exist translucent solar panels, and these could be used as windows in buildings. Secondly, there is an awful lot of unused roof space out there. Finally, every city in the US has large areas of abandoned buildings and lots which could be turned to the task if need be. Finally it would be possible to get rid of the existing power plants which take up quite a bit of space, and replace them with solar panel installations if it pleases you.
No, it isn't. As for the Hindenburg, read the two posts above yours to find out why that disaster wasn't due to hydrogen combustion.
I hate it when people just use "things they heard once" as facts to support an argument, especially now that we've got the WWW as an almost instant resource available to fact-check ourselves.
The problem with the Hindenburg/Hydrogen story is that it is repeated in High schools across the country. One other poster pointed that out. I remember that in High School chemistry class, my teacher also used the Hindenburg as an example of the difference between Hydrogen, which is volatile, and Helium, which is a noble gas. The real causes of the Hindenburg disaster are even now hotly debated, and until very recently much of the necessary data were secrets. The bit about the inflammable paint and the difficulty of setting the hydrogen afire are still not widely known, unfortunately.
uhh...mercury has no atmosphere.
I think I will take real science over liberal morons like you who take half the data and then use that to state what tehy claim as an undeniable truth.
It is also awful close to the sun compared to Venus. Did you really have a point? I think I will take real science over the random blathering of idiots on slashdot. :P
of Global Warming, we have to worry about Global Cooling. Is that why it is 45F out in S. Florida? :-)
No, what we need to worry about are incredibly dense scientists. At least the ones that get to talk to journalists.
It makes perfect sense to me that as pollution and greenhouse gases serve as an insulator in the atmosphere, thereby leading to global warming, that there would be an effect of blocking sunlight as well. In fact, there had been proponents at one time of one effect over the other (thus some global cooling advocates fighting with global warming advocates) but the global warming advocates seem to have won out.
It is likely that as the article indicates there will be a series of complex processes which we barely understand which will lead to interesting climatic changes.
My personal, unscientific, layman's observation has been that in the last several years weather has become more extreme than usual. In other words we have had far colder winters than usual and far hotter summers, at least in North America. Who knows if that is true and an indicator of the processes described, but it seems to me an example of how little we truly understand about how weather works.
The Constitution only restricts the actions of governments, not private groups like the RIAA. (And it doesn't guarantee privacy either.)
So how do you interpret the fourth amendment?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
It sounds like a right to privacy to me. In fact it is a right to security as well. And it is the duty of the government to protect this right, among the others. This notion of corporations getting carte blanche is complete bunk, and would not be supported by our founding fathers who fought against one of the earliest multinational corporations in their revolution.
The government has a duty to protect the civil rights of its citizens against the depredations of other citizens, citizens of other countries, and indeed corporations. You do realize that there is precedent for this in the form of individuals and businesses being prosecuted for violating civil rights?
The Constitution does not restrict the government. It instead outlines what the government is allowed to do and enumerates some rights which all humans are deemed to have from birth. The government does not grant rights; it can only act to constrain itself and others from violating them.
Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't something along the lines of, "I wish you would go back into the bottle," work? (Not saying the RIAA's task is that simple; just critiquing the meme.)
Because the genie is by definition not granting the RIAA's wishes. For the record, she seems to be listening to me pretty well, though :).
When USians hear on the news that "Italy's Government has collapsed, AGAIN", some people assume there's rioting in the streets and a full scale civil war going on. When in fact, it was just an election and the civil service is still delivering the mail (or, in Italy's case, not delivering the mail).
And the Mafia is still in control, primarily because Italy lacks a strong government with resolve to break ties with them and then break them up as was done in the US.
As far as OSS goes, I think it's a moot question. No one will enforce software licenses for a while anyway.
Considering the fact that Hilary Rosen was hired to write their IP laws, I sincerely doubt that you are correct.
The system can auto-engage a small rocket engine, making you safely fly over that car. Or it can actually send a signal to the other car, forcing it to stop.
It can't if the other guy is a redneck driving a 54 Ford pickup. That's the problem with smart cars and smart highways. You have to design a system that takes into account the fact you have dumb cars and dumb drivers on the road.
http://www.invisiblue.com/
As long as their is a market someone will make it.
And the reason this works is that they failed to secure it despite available technology (what an old story that is!) From an article linked at that site:
Their primary makers, 3M Co. and Tomar Electronics Inc., offer encryption technology that can lock out unauthorized devices. Encryption has been available from 3M for more than a decade -- but it is far more expensive than systems that operate in the clear.
A display that shows how fast everyone else is going instead of some arbitrary sign. It is relatively well documented that more accidents happen where people are all driving different speeds than when all the people are speeding.
I have heard that, and the high school physics book makes such a thing obvious, but I would like to get more data for a side project i am working on in this space. Do you have links to good research?
Does someone have a decent brakedown of the FM freq allocations? It seems like that space is getting crowded.
Brakedown.... Does slashdot need a spell checker? Oh but look what happens when you use one! From the article:
The technology, still five to 10 years away from being installed in cars and along highways, also could use a beep, a dashboard light or an electronic voice to tell drivers when it's safe to change lanes, or when to put on the breaks to avoid rear-ending the motorist in front.
It will tell you to put on the breaks? That might be good for truck drivers who have been driving too long. Yet another reason why computers cannot be allowed to do everything on their own. Is this a foreshadowing of what this automagical technology has in store for us?
Just give me 20 aryan Waffen-SS men with real skills and discipline. Beats that stuff you scratched off the streets ("marines") anytime.
Yeah, those Waffen SS.. they sure showed those Marines a thing or two in WWII... oh wait...
The swastica was a symbol of good luck for more than just the Hindu.
Indeed, it was a widely used Indo-European symbol, which is why the Nazis used it in the first place. They latched on to the idea that Indo-Europeans, and in particlar the Aryans, from whom the swastika and what we know today as Hinduism came to India, originated in the area now known as Germany. The truth of the matter is far more complex than they made it, but this was one of many things they used as examples of the "superiority of the Aryan race." There was a lot of pop psychology, revisionist history, and spurious science involved in the Nazi curriculum, all of which used credible theory as a base to the ultimately fractured mess. Sadly, their "ideas" survive to this day because their are people mean enough to spread them and others stupid and ignorant enough to believe them.
Actualy, I would like a limited account as I mostly read slashdot and check the news. However very few ISP's are willing to share the savings with me. They need me to join at regular full rates to help float the high bandwidth users. This has kept me on dial-up instead of broadband. I just heard on the radio that less then 1/3rd of the USA has broadband. Cost is the main reason. Someday they will provide accounts with monthly bandwidth levels like cell phone accounts have so many minutes a month plans. Maybe then I can get affordable broadband.
That would solve the 1% of users using 75% of resources problems. They would either bail and become someone elses problem, pay for their usage, or adjust their usage to what's affordable. Either way, lower cost broadband access could be there for the rest of the 2/3rd's us.
Anybody want to provide reasonably priced broadband for the other 99% of users? Say maybe $10-20/month? $45-%65 is just too much for low bandwidth users. Therefore we are still on dial-up. The potential consumers are out there waiting for the allways on connections for IM, Stock Quotes, News, and e-mail.
Actually, cost is one of the reasons I switched to broadband. Even at $40/month it was cheaper than any dialup. The reason? Cost of the phone line itself. Most local phone providers charge $20-50 for a standard dialtone. Then you have the dialup internet which can be anywhere from $15-$25 a month. I switched to the broadband and turned off my phone.
I do use a cell phone now, and there is no phone service that can beat the prices I get for my cell phone. No long distance charges and unlimited nights and weekends. Even when I had limited minutes I was paying less than I would have for a regular phone connection. Now, if you only call locally your savings will be less, but even then I find the charges for cell phones very reasonable. This does not even take into account the fact I can use my phone anywhere.
As for your pleas for $20/month broadband, I have seen such prices advertised, though usually it is an introductory price or a price for people who are paying for cable TV. But you can get that price, presumably. I now actually pay for cable and broadband and get a monstrous digital cable package, so I forget how much of this is for teh internet, but I am pretty happy.
I don't see how anyone could maintain a windows machine without broadband. There are too many large packages to download and they take forever even on broadband at home or work's fat pipe. Another thing people forget when they stay on dialup is the money they will save on software and other entertainment on broadband. First off the unscrupulous can get hold of any digital media they could ever desire with their broadband connection. Even fools like me who choose to try and follow the laws and licenses will find many thousands of dollars worth of software and entertainment readily available at their fingertips which can swiftly arrive at the computer for use. These are things you shoudl consider.
Blockbuster are pretty big over here in the UK, too.
I thought that was where Viacom was from anyway.
Are you *sure* this is a local government agency?
No worries there. Austin was recently blackmailed into a multiyear contract with microsoft which perpetually and only expands in which they will pay for multiple Windows and MSOffice licenses for more desktops than they actually have. So the waste is there, it will be that they will be not only paying for more copies of office than they could possibly physically use, but they will not actually be using Office. Woohoo government! :)
Doesn't shift-click in mozilla/firebird open a new tab, though? That is, I know it does in Firebird, and I'm sure it can be easily set in mozilla. One of the first big reasons I switched was to use tabs instead of multiple windows. You actually like having every link open in it's own window?
Clearly, yes. I do as well. It makes it easier to switch between them with the keyboard. In fact, I HATE tabbed browsing and wish there was a way to disable it altogether without diving into the source. As it is the best I can do is make tabs disappear if there is only one tab and hope I do not accidentally "open in a new tab" instead of "open in a new window."
They did pay SCO licensing...what better way to "ensure compatibility with UNIX and UNIX services" than to stick a *NIX microkernel in windows?
MS claims they already did that, with the POSIX support and a Mach Microkernel in NT... Yes I know they are playing buzzword games.
Never trust anyone who can't spell "lose".
In this case perhaps a Freudian slip? What Microsoft loses in this case is control, when they have to loose their source code. :)
Check out Etree. There's a large community of bands that not only allow but actively support the taping of their concerts. This is a great business model for them, by giving away for free what they wouldn't have made any money off of anyway they get lots of free marketing and since any good musician plays a different show each night, it doesn't cut into album or concert sales. This is how the Grateful Dead became the most successful touring act in history.
Oh, I know about the Dead, and also Metallica's ironic flirtation with bootlegging. There are, as you say, lots of bands who don't mind. But unless they give permission, you are technically (supposedly) breaking some kind of copyright. I am not sure exactly how that works, but I know lots of concerts actually check for cameras before you go in. Thank you for the link, because I think it is going to be my goal to support more bands who are more free with their work, which fits in with my own philosophy.
Now all I have to do is move somewhere where it is provided. Unfortunately the ISPs are only barely catching on that people might want to choose where they live based on broadband choice, and even then it is difficult information to find. (I have recently seen apartments that advertise one or more broadband providers as being available to their denizens, but that may only be in this area).
If I were one of these ISPs I would create a database of addresses where my service was available and maybe even work with realtors and apartment complexes to get their info into the system so that, for instance, I could look up what cities have a given ISP and then where in that city I might live if I want to be that ISPs customer. I learned the hard way on this move that I want to ensure access to more than one broadband provider in case I don't like the one I end up with....
You are an idiot. First of all Emacs is not an operating system (all joking aside). Secondly, he was talking about editting ID3 tags, not playing MP3s. You could've clearly seen this if you were capable of reading. Third, MS does not have any way of playing back MP3s "builtin to the OS".
Sure they do! It is called Windows Media Player.
special purpose app + shell integration != OS component
Well, Microsoft seems to think it is an OS component. You certainly cannot remove it and it does come with the OS. So it is as much an OS component as IE. Dither over whether MS knows what an OS is much less an OS component if you will, but...
Not knowing all the details, I might assume that this person is a taper (someone who goes to a concert and legally tapes a show) and then shares their collection with others. After doing this myself I could easily see how you could transfer 40gb without pirating anything.
Usually taping concerts and movies is illegal.