Well excuse me for getting your panties in a twist. I did RTFA in point of fact, and while everything mentioned is 'Sparc International', I assumed that they were owned by Sun because:
Sun designed the platform.
Sun produce(d) UltraSparc, et al..
Every corporate entiy is owned by some bigger one any more..
I'd never even heard of Sparc Intl. before and worked for several years on Sun hardware..
Sun: "Because the dominant portion of the SparkFun mark, namely, SPARK, is phonetically identical and nearly visually identical to SI's SPARC mark, and because it is used in connection with identical goods, we believe confusion is likely to occur among the relevant purchasing group."
And here I thought that dominant portion of SparkFun was "Fun"!
When you are struggling to stay out of poverty, I'm sure it's a lot harder to decide whether or not you should return a cell phone or camera you found lying around.
Actually, I'd imagine it makes that decision much easier...
So the real question is: "Should art be treated as any other product"
And the reason you pay your plumber by the hour with no price discrimination for usage is simply that his cost for research and development is 0.
A system with no ip laws would not work in your world. Who would found research+development in for example solar panels, if your competitors could just copy your design when you were done, thus producing cheaper because they did not have as much research+development to pay for as you did.
What would happen in a modern world with no ip protection is that the cost of goods, would be much closer to their Production cost, but that research and development of new goods would be much slower.
The point though, is that we don't quantify and track the Research & Design costs, and having too long of an artificial monopoly granted stagnates adoption of new technology. To continue your example, if every new invention had a rolaty assigned to it in perpetuity, then a simple Yo-Yo would become prohibitive (Someone has to get paid the royalty for the ball-bearing concept, the string concept, the wheel concept, etc.) The result is that no matter what people invented, no-one would adopt them because the costs would continue to rise.
In an ideal world (to maximize both adoption and R&D) the costs of R&D for a given product would be nailed down to a hard number, and then the creator would be given an artificial monopoly (patent or copyright) that would last only until the creator had recuperated his costs; at that point it would become part of the public domain, so that the reduced costs will speed adoption.
To reuse your example, if it cost IBM $40million to develop a chip, they should have a patent on that chip until they have made a net $40million dollars on sales of that chip. At that point, AMD or whoever could begin making chips and you are back to your free-market competition.
The problem with this with art, is that the 'costs' are so much more subjective; If an artist finds that he has to spend 3 months meditating on top of a mountain in Peru in order to write his next big hit, is that worth more than the the prolific genius who dashes out 3 chart-toppers in a week? Assuming that the music is equally good, perhaps not...
Prior Art is ANY implementation of a patentable idea that predates the patent application, NOT just the first one. So chill, he's not claiming to have invented the thing, just that they may have code that did this before IBM claims to have invented it.
Left happy.
I used to be a huge Battletech fan before they jumped the shark with the 'invading aliens' story ark.. Sorry, but the Clans were more than enough.
the server is part of an international pirate network called "The Scene,"
What a well-organized network that must be to have such unmistakably identifiable persons (some even being computers!) among its membership under this absolutely new and unique trademark name.;-)
Saying that some guy is part of an 'international pirate network called "The Scene,"' has about as much validity as saying a random dude with a bong is part of an international network known as "Stoners".
Technically correct, but perhaps overestimating the level of overall coordination..
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think I've ever had a CFL that was as bright as its "equivalent".
Not at first, no... give it a minute or two and yes. but by then you are accustomed to the brightness and less sensitive to the difference.
I'd never even heard of Sparc Intl. before and worked for several years on Sun hardware..
No need to be a dick about it..
Sun: "Because the dominant portion of the SparkFun mark, namely, SPARK, is phonetically identical and nearly visually identical to SI's SPARC mark, and because it is used in connection with identical goods, we believe confusion is likely to occur among the relevant purchasing group."
And here I thought that dominant portion of SparkFun was "Fun"!
10 frames per milli-second?! Quake 3 must look awesome!
There is only one "RIAA", and only one "RIAJ".
What about the Recording Industry Association of Argentina and the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica?
When you are struggling to stay out of poverty, I'm sure it's a lot harder to decide whether or not you should return a cell phone or camera you found lying around.
Actually, I'd imagine it makes that decision much easier...
My personal favorite is a modification of one of your examples:
"Why put of until tomorrow what you can put off indefinitely"
So the real question is: "Should art be treated as any other product"
And the reason you pay your plumber by the hour with no price discrimination for usage is simply that his cost for research and development is 0.
A system with no ip laws would not work in your world. Who would found research+development in for example solar panels, if your competitors could just copy your design when you were done, thus producing cheaper because they did not have as much research+development to pay for as you did.
What would happen in a modern world with no ip protection is that the cost of goods, would be much closer to their Production cost, but that research and development of new goods would be much slower.
The point though, is that we don't quantify and track the Research & Design costs, and having too long of an artificial monopoly granted stagnates adoption of new technology. To continue your example, if every new invention had a rolaty assigned to it in perpetuity, then a simple Yo-Yo would become prohibitive (Someone has to get paid the royalty for the ball-bearing concept, the string concept, the wheel concept, etc.) The result is that no matter what people invented, no-one would adopt them because the costs would continue to rise.
In an ideal world (to maximize both adoption and R&D) the costs of R&D for a given product would be nailed down to a hard number, and then the creator would be given an artificial monopoly (patent or copyright) that would last only until the creator had recuperated his costs; at that point it would become part of the public domain, so that the reduced costs will speed adoption.
To reuse your example, if it cost IBM $40million to develop a chip, they should have a patent on that chip until they have made a net $40million dollars on sales of that chip. At that point, AMD or whoever could begin making chips and you are back to your free-market competition.
The problem with this with art, is that the 'costs' are so much more subjective; If an artist finds that he has to spend 3 months meditating on top of a mountain in Peru in order to write his next big hit, is that worth more than the the prolific genius who dashes out 3 chart-toppers in a week? Assuming that the music is equally good, perhaps not...
A great piece of satire... sadly, the rednecks around these parts are more like this than not....
He said 'successful'. Despite what you saw in "The Wizard", the PowerGlove actually kinda sucked.
Prior Art is ANY implementation of a patentable idea that predates the patent application, NOT just the first one. So chill, he's not claiming to have invented the thing, just that they may have code that did this before IBM claims to have invented it.
I agree with your conclusion ...
Read that at first as 'I agree with your concussion ...'.
there's always the good ol' phone book and a payphone).
.. you'll have some adjusting to do, starting with the general lack of payphones.
//seriously, I can't recall the last time I saw one.
Left happy.
I used to be a huge Battletech fan before they jumped the shark with the 'invading aliens' story ark.. Sorry, but the Clans were more than enough.
Kites?
drew
Yes, actually.
What a well-organized network that must be to have such unmistakably identifiable persons (some even being computers!) among its membership under this absolutely new and unique trademark name. ;-)
Saying that some guy is part of an 'international pirate network called "The Scene,"' has about as much validity as saying a random dude with a bong is part of an international network known as "Stoners". Technically correct, but perhaps overestimating the level of overall coordination..