Napster is really more than just "peer to peer file sharing". It's an avenue for music piracy. Don't try to kid yourself or anyone else by hiding under the "free info" banner, or believing that more than 6 people have ever used Napster to distribute music that has been placed into the public domain.
I am man enough to state that "I use Napster to pirate music. I am fully aware of the legal and moral implications of my actions, and I don't give a damn."
The level of hypocrisy here on slashdot is unbeleivable -- If I were to develop a program called "GPL'ster" that provide a way to distribute binaries without any source code or GPL mannifesto docs, I would get CRUCIFIED.
For the record, I do believe that extending the DCMA to cover *technologies* like Napster would be a bad thing, because these technologies are part of a system of checks and balances that the consumer requires in order to keep software and music publishers honest (or at least less dishonest than they'd like to be).
I can't imagine that ebay considers themselves legally required to honor *any* notice of infringement that is sent to them, regardless of merit. What they're doing here is submitting to the demands of a corporation (CoS) that spends more money on lawsuits than anthing that would benefit humanity.
Co$ often relies on legal bullying against individuals, governments and the media. Expect slashdot to get an injunction against this message thread pretty soon.
...a big chill on the very notion of free software, open source, and the free movement of information and ideas on the Net.
Actually, the notion here is piracy. Don't try to be deceptive by hiding under the "free info" or "open source" banner here. What you are doing is pirating music. Be man enough to say it. I do.
3. Start first game. Find mosquitoes. Kill mosquitoes. Find frogs. Get poisoned by frogs. Die.
4. Start second game. Kill mosquitoes. Kill frogs. New map loads. Kill more mosquitoes. Get mowed down by pop-up machinegun turret.
5. deltree c:\games\daikatanademo
6. Feel pity for the daikatana development team, knowing that the 15 mintues of my life that has been wasted on this game pales in comparison to the combined DECADES that they've squandered.
Well, bitching and moaning about this certainly won't accomplish much. Any feedback that is directed at Matell will probably fall upon deaf ears.
What action can be taken? Are folks like the ACLU willing to help out? It just seems wrong that Big Business can abuse and bully us little guys around, but we have *no* recourse whatsoever.
IMO, there ought to be some sort of grass-roots action that can be taken. Maybe something like the Usenet Death Penalty -- maybe the DNS Death Penalty - sysadmins could just remove any mattell-affiliated entries from their DNS lists.
PS - for more Corporate Evil stuff, check out GRC's findings at http://grc.com/optout.htm
Embedded linux is the wrong answer if you're looking for hard realtime, but the need for that sort of thing seems to be diminishing nowadays.
Linux will be well suited for folks who need decent, non-deterministic performance, who want to avoid stinky, proprietary dev tools, and who want to save a few bucks.
The last time I checked, the licence fees for QNX were at least 10x those of Lineo's Embedix (haven't checked out Blue Cat or any other embedded linuxes yet, though.)
I've been working with embedded systems for about 8 years now, and this is really the sort of thing that the industry needs.
Many people only know about the Microsoft that dominates the desktop and server OS markets, but don't realize that they're also working VERY hard to take over the embedded systems market. At the low end (sorta), there's CE (or pocket Windows or whatever), and at the high end, there's Embedded NT, which finally launched a month or two ago.
I can see how MS has been so successful - the embedded industry is very fragmented, and the tools are often quite archaic.
I happen to use a non-MS RTOS that I quite like, but I've seen the company that sells it sink and suffer ever since MS arrived on the block. I'm worried about what to do if/when MS stomps them out of existence. It doesn't help when the PHB asks why we can't just use Windows for the OS in our product (reason one: 3MB RAM available).
I've been following the embedded linux buzz for the past year or so, and I see it as a savior to hundreds of developers who are in the same position that I'm in.
= = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = =
PS - Any programmers with embedded and/or linux experience lookin' for work in the North SF Bay area? Contact me at "glonq at hotmail dot com".
Personally, I feel that I am no longer morally obligated to pay for any more Symantec software that I use (if indeed I decide to ever use Symantec software again!)
Once a company attains "Evil Empire" status in my book, I'm careful not to do anything that condones or rewards their actions in any way.
Slashdot Mirror
I am man enough to state that "I use Napster to pirate music. I am fully aware of the legal and moral implications of my actions, and I don't give a damn."
The level of hypocrisy here on slashdot is unbeleivable -- If I were to develop a program called "GPL'ster" that provide a way to distribute binaries without any source code or GPL mannifesto docs, I would get CRUCIFIED.
For the record, I do believe that extending the DCMA to cover *technologies* like Napster would be a bad thing, because these technologies are part of a system of checks and balances that the consumer requires in order to keep software and music publishers honest (or at least less dishonest than they'd like to be).
Co$ often relies on legal bullying against individuals, governments and the media. Expect slashdot to get an injunction against this message thread pretty soon.
Visit www.xenu.net
Actually, the notion here is piracy. Don't try to be deceptive by hiding under the "free info" or "open source" banner here. What you are doing is pirating music. Be man enough to say it. I do.
But do you have "Fiend Folio"?
The most intriguing thing of all is the fact that daikatanademo.exe contains the (backwards) message "id software developers are weenies"...
2. Spend 3 minutes installing.
3. Start first game. Find mosquitoes. Kill mosquitoes. Find frogs. Get poisoned by frogs. Die.
4. Start second game. Kill mosquitoes. Kill frogs. New map loads. Kill more mosquitoes. Get mowed down by pop-up machinegun turret.
5. deltree c:\games\daikatanademo
6. Feel pity for the daikatana development team, knowing that the 15 mintues of my life that has been wasted on this game pales in comparison to the combined DECADES that they've squandered.
I'd like to buy a "V", Vanna.
I KNEW MS Windows was smarter than it seems! I'll bet that it's been using BSOD's to send secret messages for years.
What action can be taken? Are folks like the ACLU willing to help out? It just seems wrong that Big Business can abuse and bully us little guys around, but we have *no* recourse whatsoever.
IMO, there ought to be some sort of grass-roots action that can be taken. Maybe something like the Usenet Death Penalty -- maybe the DNS Death Penalty - sysadmins could just remove any mattell-affiliated entries from their DNS lists.
PS - for more Corporate Evil stuff, check out GRC's findings at http://grc.com/optout.htm
Linux will be well suited for folks who need decent, non-deterministic performance, who want to avoid stinky, proprietary dev tools, and who want to save a few bucks.
The last time I checked, the licence fees for QNX were at least 10x those of Lineo's Embedix (haven't checked out Blue Cat or any other embedded linuxes yet, though.)
Many people only know about the Microsoft that dominates the desktop and server OS markets, but don't realize that they're also working VERY hard to take over the embedded systems market. At the low end (sorta), there's CE (or pocket Windows or whatever), and at the high end, there's Embedded NT, which finally launched a month or two ago.
I can see how MS has been so successful - the embedded industry is very fragmented, and the tools are often quite archaic.
I happen to use a non-MS RTOS that I quite like, but I've seen the company that sells it sink and suffer ever since MS arrived on the block. I'm worried about what to do if/when MS stomps them out of existence. It doesn't help when the PHB asks why we can't just use Windows for the OS in our product (reason one: 3MB RAM available).
I've been following the embedded linux buzz for the past year or so, and I see it as a savior to hundreds of developers who are in the same position that I'm in.
= = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = = =
PS - Any programmers with embedded and/or linux experience lookin' for work in the North SF Bay area? Contact me at "glonq at hotmail dot com".
Once a company attains "Evil Empire" status in my book, I'm careful not to do anything that condones or rewards their actions in any way.
(Yes, M$ is also in the book...)
I think anyone who frequents alt.sex*.* probably prefers online anonymity. (especially in that hamsters.duct-tape group...)