I've got a great t-shirt of the Electronic Arts logo (the cube, sphere and cone) rendered as Borg ships with the text "Resistance Is Futile" underneath... it just keeps getting funnier.
The copyright for the Arabian Nights did not "run out", as the stories were written long before copyright existed.
Ok, but how about...
The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Too old?
Cinderella? Too old?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? Too old?
The Little Mermaid? Too old?
Beauty and the Beast? Too old?
Pocahontas? Too old?
I could go on, but I think you get my point. I just relish the irony that Disney can't fathom the thought of someone else using their IP to possibly make a buck...
Dish Network (which has it's problems like all big companies) is offering a COMPLETE HDTV package including:
*Your choice of HD Monitor, a 34" CRT or a 40" rear projection system
*Dish's HDTV receiver model 811
*Complete installation including dish mounting, all cables, setup of the receiver and monitor and integration to an existing home theater system
The only catch is that you have to agree to one year of HD programming and pay the first month in advance ($49.99).
I recently switched away from Dish Network to go to the local digital cable company. Since I already have cable modem access through them, I save $10 off my cable modem and the digital cable gets me all the same channels but is about $40 per month cheaper (for combined cable TV + cable modem vs. cable modem and Dish TV), and my local cable company now offers digital cable PVR receivers for only $5 more per receiver per month.
And of course you mean other than the huge amount of fraud that originates from certain countries outside of the US. Would it be better if they raised their International Transaction Fee but only applied it to small, formerly Soviet countries with high percentages of fraud?
See my earlier posting about how Sprint allows us to download pretty much anything we want to our phones with only a "Nontrusted source - Accept? Yes/No" screen standing in the way.
Sure, Sprint sells stuff on their site and probably makes a lot of money that way (I get a $5 per month free credit towards Sprint downloads as part of my package) but I get 99% of my apps, games, ringers, etc. from the free websites.
I use Sprint PCS and there are numerous free download sites where I can download free games, applications, ringtones, etc.
When I try to download from any site other than Sprint, I get a message on my phone letting me know this is untrusted content and Sprint is not responsible for it's behavior and a Yes/No check box to proceed or cancel the download.
Other than that one extra step, there isn't much difference between an open source download (like the Mobile Mule program that lets you remotely monitor your eMule file sharing on your desktop) and the closed source software that Sprint sells (leases?) on their website.
Check http://www.3guploads.com as one great site (it's free contrary to the numerous "please donate here" links you find all over the site) that has tons of free stuff to choose from.
I have unlimited PCS Vision (wireless internet) on my account, otherwise I could be charged per KB of downloads.
Verizon realized that people want things like ringtones, games, etc. and set up their system so that all content has to go through them and their GetItNow gateway, so they can collect a 'toll' on everything you download to your phone.
Is it ethical? Questionable. Is it legal? Probably.
This is yet another reason why you should do your research and compare other vendors before you decide.
You're correct (sort of) as soon as you perform a piece of music you own the copyright to that specific performance of that piece.
If I sing a song that you've never heard before, does that give me the copyright to those words? No.
If someone else writes a song for me and I sing it, do I own the copyright to the lyrics? No*, the person who wrote the song owns the copyright to the words, I only own the copyright to my performance of the piece.
Saying that because Eminem sang the song prior to the commercial, that it automatically grants him the copyright is blatantly wrong.
*Technically, if I hire someone to write a song for me, depending on the contract I might end up owning the copyright(s) as it's work done for me, but that's a whole other kettle of fish...
Just because he sang a song DOES NOT MEAN HE WROTE IT...
It's entirely possible that SOMEONE ELSE wrote the song and that Eminem performed it. This does not grant Eminem the copyright to the song's lyrics, this would only grant him the copyright to the specific performance that he did.
Now, as it's entirely likely that he DID write the song, then he does own the copyright, but don't assume that just because someone SINGS a song that it means that they wrote it (or in the case of Milli Vanilla, that they even actually sang it!)...
umm, no, he also has the millions of copies of the song that was previously sold, which pretty conclusively proves he wrote this before apple used it...
No, all that proves is that he RECORDED it before Apple used it, in no way does it prove that he WROTE it or COPYRIGHTED it.
I can picture it now, the poor UPS delivery guy comes home from a long day at work:
Driver: {wheeze} {wheeze} Whew... {wheeze} what a {wheeze} day...
Driver's SO: Why are you out of breath? Did you have a lot of heavy boxes to deliver?
Driver: {wheeze}No... {wheeze} {wheeze} Half Life 2 {wheeze} {wheeze} and {wheeze} Duke Nuke'Em {wheeze} Forever {wheeze} both shipped {wheeze} on the same {wheeze} day {wheeze} and I had to {wheeze} stop and start {wheeze} {gasp} {cough} the truck {wheeze} four hundred {wheeze} and thirty {wheeze} two times {wheeze} while dropping {wheeze} them off...
But if they're paying their bill, then they're not stealing.
Are they abusing the concept of "unlimited always on" bandwidth? Maybe.
Are they violating copyrights by sharing files they don't legally have the rights to distribute? Possibly.
Are they stealing? No.
If you look at practically any system, you'll find that a certain percentage of your population uses up more than their fair share of the resources.
I helped do a study on diabetes care management and we found that the worst 10% of the diabetes population subset were responsible for more than 70% of the total medical costs for diabetes related issues.
Were those 10% of the diabetics who ate hot fudge sundaes for breakfast, lunch and dinner "stealing" from their HMO? No, absolutely not.
File sharers, or Linux distro junkies or anyone who uses a majority of the bandwidth available to them is not stealing, either. Yes, they are expensive customers to keep but they're not stealing from you any more than a person who uses every possible coupon and discount to cut their grocery bill in half is stealing from the grocery store.
Some customers you make money on (Grandpa Jones who wants to log in twice a week to check his e-mail and see pictures of his grandkids) and customers you lose money on (your Linux distro junkies). The trick is to have more of the former and less of the latter, otherwise you're not going to stay in business long.
You mean like the file-sharing thieves? They steal bandwidth too...
How exactly? All fire-sharers I know are PAYING for the bandwidth they are using. Are you insinuating that I (err, I mean my file-sharing friend) could somehow steal YOUR bandwidth and use that?
I've noticed just the opposite where I shop (BestBuy, OfficeMax, Sam's Club).
Be sure to check the quantities on those bulk packs you're comparing, because I often see a 25 pack of DVD-R right next to a 20 pack of DVD+R with similar pricing.
I'm not sure if this intentional deception on the part of the manufacturer, but it seems to be pretty common, especially at places like Sam's Club that only carry one brand of DVD recordable media.
Try OfficeMax, they regularly have DVD-R discs on sale.
They recently had a 50 pack of 1x rated DVD-R General Use discs for $29.99 prior to a $20 mail in rebate. My sister provided me with a $10 customer appreciation card that brought my total cost down to $1.21 plus the cost of a stamp, after rebate. That works out to just over $0.03 per disc.
I also check the local computer shows where I can regularly buy name brand DVD-R General Use v2.0 rated at 2x or higher for no more than $1 each in packs of 50. I usually pay $45 for a 50 pack of whatever brand they happen to have that month.
It wasn't a "hack" per se, it was a built-in command line option. I remember using 3 PCs connected via LAN to do this.
It was cool, because it was new and different, but hardly worth the effort or expense to do so.
Re:South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
on
The Simpsons Movie
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· Score: 1
I thought the same thing when I saw Finding Nemo the first time.
When Nemo's mom disappeared along with all the eggs (presumably eaten) I remember thinking "wow... that sure was a happy, fun-time, family kind of moment!"
Re:South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
on
The Simpsons Movie
·
· Score: 1
When I went to see the movie, I took along a friend who's the same age as myself (30+), but he's bald and has a full beard and moustache.
We got carded.
I thought that was the funniest thing I would see all day.
I was wrong.
Before the movie started, a young couple came in with what appeared to be a 5 year old child. Now, I don't know what kind of IDIOTS would bring a 5 year old to a South Park movie that advertises the fact that it's UNCUT, but I do now know what kind of IDIOTS get up and walk out of a movie roughly 8 seconds into a rousing rendition of "Shut your fucking face, Uncle Fucker!".
When they dragged in Bill Gates and criticized him for Windows 98 and then shot him, my friend literally fell out of his seat from laughing so hard.
I don't think there was a single moment of time during the movie that at least one person wasn't laughing out loud - except maybe for the scene where The Mole talked about when his mother tried to abort him with a wire coat hanger while he was still in her womb. For some reason everyone shut up at that point...
{knock knock} {sound of door being bashed open} Hullo? I have an Anton Pillar order thingie and I'm here to sieze stuff...
{Blam, Blam, Blam}
Really? I have a variety of legal firearms all protected by the 2nd Ammendment and the right to protect my home and property. Now what was that about some sort of legal order?
Slashdot Mirror
I've got a great t-shirt of the Electronic Arts logo (the cube, sphere and cone) rendered as Borg ships with the text "Resistance Is Futile" underneath... it just keeps getting funnier.
Upper management don't get paid overtime, would you like to work for a flat rate?
Sure, as long as it's the 6-digit flat rate they get...
That's actually not ironic.. it's just hypocritical, or a double-standard.
Damn that Alanis Morrisette! I knew I should have never believed a word she sang!
The copyright for the Arabian Nights did not "run out", as the stories were written long before copyright existed.
Ok, but how about... The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Too old?
Cinderella? Too old?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? Too old?
The Little Mermaid? Too old?
Beauty and the Beast? Too old?
Pocahontas? Too old?
I could go on, but I think you get my point. I just relish the irony that Disney can't fathom the thought of someone else using their IP to possibly make a buck...
I don't remember ordering any goons...?
Dish Network (which has it's problems like all big companies) is offering a COMPLETE HDTV package including:
m /index.shtml
*Your choice of HD Monitor, a 34" CRT or a 40" rear projection system
*Dish's HDTV receiver model 811
*Complete installation including dish mounting, all cables, setup of the receiver and monitor and integration to an existing home theater system
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/syste
The only catch is that you have to agree to one year of HD programming and pay the first month in advance ($49.99).
I recently switched away from Dish Network to go to the local digital cable company. Since I already have cable modem access through them, I save $10 off my cable modem and the digital cable gets me all the same channels but is about $40 per month cheaper (for combined cable TV + cable modem vs. cable modem and Dish TV), and my local cable company now offers digital cable PVR receivers for only $5 more per receiver per month.
There's no basis for that fee.
And of course you mean other than the huge amount of fraud that originates from certain countries outside of the US. Would it be better if they raised their International Transaction Fee but only applied it to small, formerly Soviet countries with high percentages of fraud?
Attempting to intimidate someone into sumbission through fraudulent legal threats is EXTORTION.
No... attempting to intimidate someone with legal threats you have no intention to follow through with is called BARRATRY.
See my earlier posting about how Sprint allows us to download pretty much anything we want to our phones with only a "Nontrusted source - Accept? Yes/No" screen standing in the way.
Sure, Sprint sells stuff on their site and probably makes a lot of money that way (I get a $5 per month free credit towards Sprint downloads as part of my package) but I get 99% of my apps, games, ringers, etc. from the free websites.
I use Sprint PCS and there are numerous free download sites where I can download free games, applications, ringtones, etc.
When I try to download from any site other than Sprint, I get a message on my phone letting me know this is untrusted content and Sprint is not responsible for it's behavior and a Yes/No check box to proceed or cancel the download.
Other than that one extra step, there isn't much difference between an open source download (like the Mobile Mule program that lets you remotely monitor your eMule file sharing on your desktop) and the closed source software that Sprint sells (leases?) on their website.
Check http://www.3guploads.com as one great site (it's free contrary to the numerous "please donate here" links you find all over the site) that has tons of free stuff to choose from.
I have unlimited PCS Vision (wireless internet) on my account, otherwise I could be charged per KB of downloads.
Verizon realized that people want things like ringtones, games, etc. and set up their system so that all content has to go through them and their GetItNow gateway, so they can collect a 'toll' on everything you download to your phone.
Is it ethical? Questionable. Is it legal? Probably.
This is yet another reason why you should do your research and compare other vendors before you decide.
You're correct (sort of) as soon as you perform a piece of music you own the copyright to that specific performance of that piece.
If I sing a song that you've never heard before, does that give me the copyright to those words? No.
If someone else writes a song for me and I sing it, do I own the copyright to the lyrics? No*, the person who wrote the song owns the copyright to the words, I only own the copyright to my performance of the piece.
Saying that because Eminem sang the song prior to the commercial, that it automatically grants him the copyright is blatantly wrong.
*Technically, if I hire someone to write a song for me, depending on the contract I might end up owning the copyright(s) as it's work done for me, but that's a whole other kettle of fish...
Speaking of trolling...
Just because he sang a song DOES NOT MEAN HE WROTE IT...
It's entirely possible that SOMEONE ELSE wrote the song and that Eminem performed it. This does not grant Eminem the copyright to the song's lyrics, this would only grant him the copyright to the specific performance that he did.
Now, as it's entirely likely that he DID write the song, then he does own the copyright, but don't assume that just because someone SINGS a song that it means that they wrote it (or in the case of Milli Vanilla, that they even actually sang it!)...
umm, no, he also has the millions of copies of the song that was previously sold, which pretty conclusively proves he wrote this before apple used it...
No, all that proves is that he RECORDED it before Apple used it, in no way does it prove that he WROTE it or COPYRIGHTED it.
"The kicker is it all rhymes!
Very appropriate for these times."
Wow, you're a poet and weren't even aware of the fact!
I can picture it now, the poor UPS delivery guy comes home from a long day at work:
Driver: {wheeze} {wheeze} Whew... {wheeze} what a {wheeze} day...
Driver's SO: Why are you out of breath? Did you have a lot of heavy boxes to deliver?
Driver: {wheeze}No... {wheeze} {wheeze} Half Life 2 {wheeze} {wheeze} and {wheeze} Duke Nuke'Em {wheeze} Forever {wheeze} both shipped {wheeze} on the same {wheeze} day {wheeze} and I had to {wheeze} stop and start {wheeze} {gasp} {cough} the truck {wheeze} four hundred {wheeze} and thirty {wheeze} two times {wheeze} while dropping {wheeze} them off...
But if they're paying their bill, then they're not stealing.
Are they abusing the concept of "unlimited always on" bandwidth? Maybe.
Are they violating copyrights by sharing files they don't legally have the rights to distribute? Possibly.
Are they stealing? No.
If you look at practically any system, you'll find that a certain percentage of your population uses up more than their fair share of the resources.
I helped do a study on diabetes care management and we found that the worst 10% of the diabetes population subset were responsible for more than 70% of the total medical costs for diabetes related issues.
Were those 10% of the diabetics who ate hot fudge sundaes for breakfast, lunch and dinner "stealing" from their HMO? No, absolutely not.
File sharers, or Linux distro junkies or anyone who uses a majority of the bandwidth available to them is not stealing, either. Yes, they are expensive customers to keep but they're not stealing from you any more than a person who uses every possible coupon and discount to cut their grocery bill in half is stealing from the grocery store.
Some customers you make money on (Grandpa Jones who wants to log in twice a week to check his e-mail and see pictures of his grandkids) and customers you lose money on (your Linux distro junkies). The trick is to have more of the former and less of the latter, otherwise you're not going to stay in business long.
You mean like the file-sharing thieves? They steal bandwidth too...
How exactly? All fire-sharers I know are PAYING for the bandwidth they are using. Are you insinuating that I (err, I mean my file-sharing friend) could somehow steal YOUR bandwidth and use that?
I've noticed just the opposite where I shop (BestBuy, OfficeMax, Sam's Club).
Be sure to check the quantities on those bulk packs you're comparing, because I often see a 25 pack of DVD-R right next to a 20 pack of DVD+R with similar pricing.
I'm not sure if this intentional deception on the part of the manufacturer, but it seems to be pretty common, especially at places like Sam's Club that only carry one brand of DVD recordable media.
Try OfficeMax, they regularly have DVD-R discs on sale.
They recently had a 50 pack of 1x rated DVD-R General Use discs for $29.99 prior to a $20 mail in rebate. My sister provided me with a $10 customer appreciation card that brought my total cost down to $1.21 plus the cost of a stamp, after rebate. That works out to just over $0.03 per disc.
I also check the local computer shows where I can regularly buy name brand DVD-R General Use v2.0 rated at 2x or higher for no more than $1 each in packs of 50. I usually pay $45 for a 50 pack of whatever brand they happen to have that month.
It wasn't a "hack" per se, it was a built-in command line option. I remember using 3 PCs connected via LAN to do this.
It was cool, because it was new and different, but hardly worth the effort or expense to do so.
I thought the same thing when I saw Finding Nemo the first time.
When Nemo's mom disappeared along with all the eggs (presumably eaten) I remember thinking "wow... that sure was a happy, fun-time, family kind of moment!"
When I went to see the movie, I took along a friend who's the same age as myself (30+), but he's bald and has a full beard and moustache.
We got carded.
I thought that was the funniest thing I would see all day.
I was wrong.
Before the movie started, a young couple came in with what appeared to be a 5 year old child. Now, I don't know what kind of IDIOTS would bring a 5 year old to a South Park movie that advertises the fact that it's UNCUT, but I do now know what kind of IDIOTS get up and walk out of a movie roughly 8 seconds into a rousing rendition of "Shut your fucking face, Uncle Fucker!".
When they dragged in Bill Gates and criticized him for Windows 98 and then shot him, my friend literally fell out of his seat from laughing so hard.
I don't think there was a single moment of time during the movie that at least one person wasn't laughing out loud - except maybe for the scene where The Mole talked about when his mother tried to abort him with a wire coat hanger while he was still in her womb. For some reason everyone shut up at that point...
Let me be the first to say that Excellent has two Ls in it.
Their lawyers are going to make more money than they will.
And this differs from every other lawsuit in the world in what way?...
Here's how it would go down at my house:
{knock knock} {sound of door being bashed open} Hullo? I have an Anton Pillar order thingie and I'm here to sieze stuff...
{Blam, Blam, Blam}
Really? I have a variety of legal firearms all protected by the 2nd Ammendment and the right to protect my home and property. Now what was that about some sort of legal order?