You kind of answered your own question didn't you? Sure you can bounce a LASER off of the mirror at random for free. If you want them to target the the mirror so the bounce goes when you want, you have to pay.
How avuncular of you! When she turns 12 will you teach her to stuff jewlery in her pants at the local Wal-Mart? You are a thief, and you are training your niece in the family trade. Do not be surprised when she is caught shoplifting and her parents never let you near her again because, "Uncle dieMSdie told me that big business is bad and exploits artists so stealling from them is OK."
No, these copy protected CDs come with Windows software which will allow them to be played on PCs. If there is not Mac version of the software Mac users are out of luck.
This is from a company where the ultra-reliable sendmail servers were replaced with Exchange, which has been down corporate wide for up to a week at a time
You make me laugh. You work at a company where the sysadmins cant' get email working and you blame the CIO? Maybe it is his fault for not firing the "incompetent" schmoes that can't figure out haw to make Exchange stay up. You know Exchange isn't inherently more or less reliable than Sendmail it's mostly up to the people who run it to make it so. I doubt the CIO was admining your servers.
It seems like large corporate standardization efforts are driven top-down
So? Everything in a corporation is driven top-down. The guys at the top tell you what the goals of the company are and they set the direction and tone. They give you the tools and the resources and it is your job to do it. If you don't understand that you don't have a place in an enterprise environment.
When the Internet, or arpanet or darpanet, or whatever you want to call it was just.mil,.gov, and.edu. It was the Military, the Government, and the Educational institutions paying for it. It was basically a closed system at the time. The consumers were also the suppliers and they were also the source of support. Now the Internet has far more consumers who provide nothing back, and people are trying to make money off of it.
If you (as an idividual) had access to the Internet in 1993 you were probably at a.gov or.edu yourself. There wasn't a Web then, and there wasn't much "consumer" content at that time either. The Internet of today has almost nothing in common with the Internet of 1993 other than the basic principles that make it run. You claim that the telcos "piggybacked" their backbones on a 2 decade old system. That's insane. Please tell me exactly when the US gov started building the international ATM backbones that make up a majority of the Internet today.
The Internet was never free (as in beer) and never will be.
Micrsoft Outlook 2000 will allow you to specify rules based on "any" header field. You cannot specify a specific header field other than from:, to:, sub:, etc. but you can filter based on the entire header.
Since time immemorial, the principle of being self taught has been prevalent throughout society. Especially in the arts, but also in Sciences, where people read books and all that and became famous without any professional qualification.
On the contrary, since time immemorial, the principle of apprenticeship and servitude has been prevelent in all proffesional occupations. If you wanted to learn a skill -- that was different than your father's -- you were sent to a master, to learn what you could and do whatever he told you. If you were lucky, you might eventually surpass his skill, but at the very least, you would have a great deal of experience.
Would you go to a self-taught doctor? How about a self-taught airline pilot? Self-taught lawyer anyone? Claiming the badge "self-taught" in any professional context is not a sign of determination or brilliance, it is a sign of arrogance and hubris.
Unfortunately in our industry there are lots of "self-teachers" these are typically the same people who love their job because it is also their hobby. 90% of these people are missing critical skills to get the job done. These are the same people who whine about poor writing when they find a subject that cannot be learned from a book.
You will not learn to diagnose and repair the network infrastructure by reading a book, no matter how detailed that book is. Troubleshooting is based on a systematic approach and most of the time quite a lot of guesswork based on previous experience and knowledge of how the systems are supposed to function.
Any company that pays a network engineer based on how many books they've read, how many tests they've past, or how many things they can do (but have never actually done before) deserves what they get.
Similarly, were he to eject and toss the card, it still screams, leading everyone to do a quick "Where's my laptop" check at a minimum, and alerts the receptionist/folks around the door to take note of who is leaving, etc.
Eject card, slide under nearest locked door. Or simply, eject card apply hammer. This thing is just a pcmcia card, how long will it chirp after I've broken it in two? If I'm an employee, I already know all the laptops have these cards so I might be able to eject/smash the card before it goes off.
For this to be at all effective it would need to be built into the laptop and not easily removeable. Of all of the laptop anti-theft devices I think this is the most useless.
It is a sign of a true rational thinker that when you are wrong you lash out with personal attacks.
Shoplifting clothing is not the same as downloading songs from Napster. Shoplifting is not free. Even before surveilance cameras you would get caught if you stole often enough. There is a price to be paid here, given the cost of shoplifting and the cost of buying most people chose buying. Not because the prices are "fair" but because the price is less. Do you really think most people consider the price of clothing to be fair? In most people's minds stealing is not worth the cost of peotentially being caught.
Now, if someone were to set up a booth outside the local mall and give away genuine designer clothes for exactly $0.00 do you think it would hurt the stores? Accoding to your argument, as long as the clothes were priced "fairly" people would buy them for some non-zero cost even given a truly free alternative. Maybe you would, but no one else.
Who made the rules, and why are people forced to abide by them when those rules were asked for and passed by an already wealthy few?
Here in the US, we make the rules. It isn't vogue to admit it, but this country is run by the people. It is much easier to blame some vast conspiracy of wealthy corporations and individuals than it is to acept responsibity for our own laziness and lack of involvement. Politicians only listen to the people who are talking. If you want to be heard, you have to speak up.
You are not forced to follow these rules. At least in most contries you are free to emmigrate to anyplace you feel better suits you. There are plenty of places in the world that have no problem with a wealthy few, or wealth at all for that matter. I don't want to live in any of these places though maybe you do.
First, anyone who answers the phone at the CIA is trained not to tell you anything. For that matter, they don't know anything. Everything os compartmentalized, computer systems, intelegence, even people. Social engineering on the scale you mention usually doesn't happen in the wild. Social engineer as a hacker technique is popular because of the low risk exposure. If you are a team hired by the AF to try and steal a plane you have zero risk no matter what you try, so you'll do some things no one would do in real life.
Second, do you really think the CIA uses username/password authentication for *anything*? Think smartcards, one time key generators, palm scanners, etc. I guarantee there isn't a single secure system you can get into without at least a token and a passphrase. The most secure systems require multiple authentications. Hello, we're are talking about the largest *inteligence* agency in world.
I promise you that nearly every OS developer who puts in more than 10 hours a week also has a dayjob
Ad Hominem attacks aside, I really don't know what the hell you are talking about. Your statement implies that the more time a developer spends on OS development the more likely it is they have another job. Did you type what was in your head? The people we are talking about are those for whom this is their day job. Some of these people go to MS, SUN, or once upon a time RH, or some other company that can actually pay them to develop OSes. Some of them go to companies with insane business models that go tits up as soon as the VCs bail. You were aware that there are actually OS companies out there making money weren't you?
Some of use are tired of hearing the whining from the last vestiges of the VC boom of the late '90s. Your funding has dried up. Too bad. If you aren't on your feet by now you were never going to be anyway. And the folks who went to work for these albatrosses did so with dollar signs in their eyes, trading foosball and free pizza for long hours and the promise of a payoff....someday. Well folks, someday is today, and the payoff is a swift kick in the ass.
Actually, I'd say that it's pretty childish to say, "We give our product away for free. For some odd reason, we don't have any money left. Please, please give us some more money, so we can continue to make a product that we give away for free".
It's more like: "I do this because I love it. I'm a pinko commie who believes everything should be free. I can't figure it out, but the guy at Safeway won't trade me a banana for a driver patch. I sit here and code all day and play foosball. Ah, this is the life I dreamed of. I got my CS degree, but I just don't ever want to have to grow up. I want to "work" 12 hours a day to hide the fact that I am really just a slacker and this is my fun. Since you have a REAL job that pays you money and not worthless stock options, how about a handout?"
These people need to get jobs. How are they any different than the bums begging for change in traffic? They have made life choices that result in them earning no income. Fine, you want to take a vow of poverty so you can spend all of your time as a volunteer doing what you love. Great, but when you can't pay the bill on your Tivo subscription, don't expect me to care.
Fuel cell technology will enable smaller batteries, and in the future your phone may be nothing more than a card in your wallet and you will talk on your wireless headset.
Uh, the antenna on those phones is inside the case. This technolgy would allow the case to be the antenna, eliminating the need for any seperate internal or external antenna. This in turn allows the phone to be smaller and more efficient.
"We admit the color of the Universe was something of a gimmick, to try and make our story on spectra more accessible. Nevertheless it is an actual calculable thing so we believe it is important to get it right." And: "Of course, our real motive for calculating the cosmic spectrum was really a lot more than producing these pretty color pictures. The color is interesting but in fact the cosmic spectrum is rich in detail and tells us a lot more about the history of star formation in the Universe. You may have noticed above that the cosmic spectrum contains dark lines and bright bands, these correspond to the characteristic emission and absorption of different elements."
So this actually reveals something about the makeup and history of the universe. Viola, science!
Why don't these "abusive governments" just execute anyone who sends encypted email to amnesty international?
You are assuming that the email is being intercepted and that the intercepting party knows who the sender and recipient are. You also assume the "abusive government" has access to the sender, hence the fear of torutre and death.
If I were the "abusive government" I'd arrest the sender tourture them, for the key, then kill them. Problem solved.
I doubt Anmesty International uses PGP for this very reason. Steganography is much better suited to this sort of application. As long as you don't do stupid things like email the same penguin.jpg back and forth it is much less obvious you are trying to hide something.
Then again AI is a bunch of liberal thugs who think they are smarter and better than *everyone* so they might just be that stupid.
You didn't read the article. If you had read the article you would know that you are describing what the authors call a Class II device.
The authors also describe Class III devices which do blink along with the data stream (if you RTA you'll even know why) these include TD and RD lights on modems and routers.
They also point out the the information given off by Class II devices can be useful for traffic analysis and covert channels.
There are several technological reasons why Kazaa cannot monitor the network. Number one is the software isn't programmed to do that.
That is an implematation problem not a techological one.
Kazaa doesn't have enough [servers] to implement monitoring on a global scale.
If they are forced to monitor they will need more servers. Surely there is not a technological problem with buying servers.
Then finally, there's the issue of bandwidth, which isn't free.
That is a financial problem. If you can't afford to do business legally you can't afford to do business.
Napster was ordered to filter files because they could, based on their current technology base. Sony was let off the hook because they couldn't. (gross oversimplification, but it's still applicable)
All of the "problems" you have cited are really "choices" that were made by the implementors for the explicit purpose of not being able filter files. The question I have for you is, does that make their case stronger or weaker?
1) bnetd is the _only_ way to play warez copies of the game online. If not for bnetd this type of infringement would not be occuring.
2) ftp, some p2p software, copy machines etc. have _substantial_non-infringing_uses_ Blizzard's position is that bnetd has no non-infinging uses. They claim that under the EULA _any_ use of bnetd is infringement.
Back in the cafeteria, ownership of your fork says you can do what you like with it. In my cafeteria I make the rules, and I only allow green plastic forks, and no forks are allowed in or out. Of course your argument of ownership rights is moot as long as courts continue to enforce EULA's as contracts.
Of course Blizzard is only interested in going after the people doing the infringing. As I said, if bnetd was only being used by people who had bought the game Blizzard probably wouldn't care - they might even like it since they wouldn't have to maintain as many servers. That isn't the case however, if bnetd does not have non-infringing uses - if the EULA is valid they have none - then they are at least commiting contributory infringment and can be shut down for that. Right noe Blizzard is using the DMCA because that is a bigger stick.
So, it all comes down to the EULA. If the EULA is valid bnetd is done.
You seem to be (deliberately?) ignoring the fact that while bnetd is giving away their service they are also aiding the piracy of Blizzard software. Blizzard knows their CD keys are crackable, their main protection is the servers checking keys. They bank on the premise that even if you have a warez copy of the game, being able to play online is a compelling reason to buy the product.
If bnetd was _only_ an alternative to using Blizzard's servers Blizzard probably wouldn't care. If Blizzard doesn't win the suit the result will simply be better (not relying on the servers to check keys) copy protection. Of course this will increase the cost of the games which really only affects the people who buy it anyway.
I see no difference between this kind of behavior and a thug with a billy club demanding my lunch money in exchange for the right to stay in line and not get beaten up.
Except Blizzard is the cafeteria lady who wants you to pay before you eat, and bnetd is the geek showing you the way to sneak out without paying. Since I _can_ get up from the table in most restaurants and calmly walk out without paying the check, should I. If I pay for my meal am I "bending over" because I could get away with it and I chose not to?
If the "information wants to be free" crowd ever gets their way you will only see more proprietary, closed, software with crappy copyprotection like hardware dongles and smart cards. You can all claim that people are playing on bnetd servers because they work better and it's a more fun crowd, but the fact is that if there wasn't a piracy problem Blizzard wouldn't care where you played.
Which "couple of states?" Which judges? If what you say is true it is groundbreaking legal precedent. Do you by any chance have a source? A case reference? Something other that what you read on/.?
I doubt very much that if there is such a precedent, but if there is you are certainly misquoting it. If you were only buying the CD and no license, you would have just that, no license. You might be entiteled to play the game, but that would be it. No copies other than necesary for the game to run and one back up.
Just because the EULA is invalid doesn't mean the copyright is.
Slashdot Mirror
You kind of answered your own question didn't you? Sure you can bounce a LASER off of the mirror at random for free. If you want them to target the the mirror so the bounce goes when you want, you have to pay.
How avuncular of you! When she turns 12 will you teach her to stuff jewlery in her pants at the local Wal-Mart?
You are a thief, and you are training your niece in the family trade. Do not be surprised when she is caught shoplifting and her parents never let you near her again because, "Uncle dieMSdie told me that big business is bad and exploits artists so stealling from them is OK."
No, these copy protected CDs come with Windows software which will allow them to be played on PCs. If there is not Mac version of the software Mac users are out of luck.
This is from a company where the ultra-reliable sendmail servers were replaced with Exchange, which has been down corporate wide for up to a week at a time
You make me laugh. You work at a company where the sysadmins cant' get email working and you blame the CIO? Maybe it is his fault for not firing the "incompetent" schmoes that can't figure out haw to make Exchange stay up. You know Exchange isn't inherently more or less reliable than Sendmail it's mostly up to the people who run it to make it so. I doubt the CIO was admining your servers.
It seems like large corporate standardization efforts are driven top-down
So? Everything in a corporation is driven top-down. The guys at the top tell you what the goals of the company are and they set the direction and tone. They give you the tools and the resources and it is your job to do it. If you don't understand that you don't have a place in an enterprise environment.
Peggy,
.mil, .gov, and .edu. It was the Military, the Government, and the Educational institutions paying for it. It was basically a closed system at the time. The consumers were also the suppliers and they were also the source of support. Now the Internet has far more consumers who provide nothing back, and people are trying to make money off of it.
.gov or .edu yourself. There wasn't a Web then, and there wasn't much "consumer" content at that time either. The Internet of today has almost nothing in common with the Internet of 1993 other than the basic principles that make it run. You claim that the telcos "piggybacked" their backbones on a 2 decade old system. That's insane. Please tell me exactly when the US gov started building the international ATM backbones that make up a majority of the Internet today.
When the Internet, or arpanet or darpanet, or whatever you want to call it was just
If you (as an idividual) had access to the Internet in 1993 you were probably at a
The Internet was never free (as in beer) and never will be.
Micrsoft Outlook 2000 will allow you to specify rules based on "any" header field. You cannot specify a specific header field other than from:, to:, sub:, etc. but you can filter based on the entire header.
Since time immemorial, the principle of being self taught has been prevalent throughout society. Especially in the arts, but also in Sciences, where people read books and all that and became famous without any professional qualification.
On the contrary, since time immemorial, the principle of apprenticeship and servitude has been prevelent in all proffesional occupations. If you wanted to learn a skill -- that was different than your father's -- you were sent to a master, to learn what you could and do whatever he told you. If you were lucky, you might eventually surpass his skill, but at the very least, you would have a great deal of experience.
Would you go to a self-taught doctor? How about a self-taught airline pilot? Self-taught lawyer anyone? Claiming the badge "self-taught" in any professional context is not a sign of determination or brilliance, it is a sign of arrogance and hubris.
Unfortunately in our industry there are lots of "self-teachers" these are typically the same people who love their job because it is also their hobby. 90% of these people are missing critical skills to get the job done. These are the same people who whine about poor writing when they find a subject that cannot be learned from a book.
You will not learn to diagnose and repair the network infrastructure by reading a book, no matter how detailed that book is. Troubleshooting is based on a systematic approach and most of the time quite a lot of guesswork based on previous experience and knowledge of how the systems are supposed to function.
Any company that pays a network engineer based on how many books they've read, how many tests they've past, or how many things they can do (but have never actually done before) deserves what they get.
Similarly, were he to eject and toss the card, it still screams, leading everyone to do a quick "Where's my laptop" check at a minimum, and alerts the receptionist/folks around the door to take note of who is leaving, etc.
Eject card, slide under nearest locked door. Or simply, eject card apply hammer. This thing is just a pcmcia card, how long will it chirp after I've broken it in two? If I'm an employee, I already know all the laptops have these cards so I might be able to eject/smash the card before it goes off.
For this to be at all effective it would need to be built into the laptop and not easily removeable. Of all of the laptop anti-theft devices I think this is the most useless.
Your friend is full of it.
Music is a very basic need of a human - we need art and culture. If you don't believe that, I challenge you to turn off your TV....
That's when I stopped reading. We *need* music, we *need* TV. TV is art. ROTFLMAO. Good troll.
You, my dear friend, are a moron.
It is a sign of a true rational thinker that when you are wrong you lash out with personal attacks.
Shoplifting clothing is not the same as downloading songs from Napster. Shoplifting is not free. Even before surveilance cameras you would get caught if you stole often enough. There is a price to be paid here, given the cost of shoplifting and the cost of buying most people chose buying. Not because the prices are "fair" but because the price is less. Do you really think most people consider the price of clothing to be fair? In most people's minds stealing is not worth the cost of peotentially being caught.
Now, if someone were to set up a booth outside the local mall and give away genuine designer clothes for exactly $0.00 do you think it would hurt the stores? Accoding to your argument, as long as the clothes were priced "fairly" people would buy them for some non-zero cost even given a truly free alternative. Maybe you would, but no one else.
Who made the rules, and why are people forced to abide by them when those rules were asked for and passed by an already wealthy few?
Here in the US, we make the rules. It isn't vogue to admit it, but this country is run by the people. It is much easier to blame some vast conspiracy of wealthy corporations and individuals than it is to acept responsibity for our own laziness and lack of involvement. Politicians only listen to the people who are talking. If you want to be heard, you have to speak up.
You are not forced to follow these rules. At least in most contries you are free to emmigrate to anyplace you feel better suits you. There are plenty of places in the world that have no problem with a wealthy few, or wealth at all for that matter. I don't want to live in any of these places though maybe you do.
First, anyone who answers the phone at the CIA is trained not to tell you anything. For that matter, they don't know anything. Everything os compartmentalized, computer systems, intelegence, even people. Social engineering on the scale you mention usually doesn't happen in the wild. Social engineer as a hacker technique is popular because of the low risk exposure. If you are a team hired by the AF to try and steal a plane you have zero risk no matter what you try, so you'll do some things no one would do in real life.
Second, do you really think the CIA uses username/password authentication for *anything*? Think smartcards, one time key generators, palm scanners, etc. I guarantee there isn't a single secure system you can get into without at least a token and a passphrase. The most secure systems require multiple authentications. Hello, we're are talking about the largest *inteligence* agency in world.
I promise you that nearly every OS developer who puts in more than 10 hours a week also has a dayjob
Ad Hominem attacks aside, I really don't know what the hell you are talking about. Your statement implies that the more time a developer spends on OS development the more likely it is they have another job. Did you type what was in your head? The people we are talking about are those for whom this is their day job. Some of these people go to MS, SUN, or once upon a time RH, or some other company that can actually pay them to develop OSes. Some of them go to companies with insane business models that go tits up as soon as the VCs bail. You were aware that there are actually OS companies out there making money weren't you?
Some of use are tired of hearing the whining from the last vestiges of the VC boom of the late '90s. Your funding has dried up. Too bad. If you aren't on your feet by now you were never going to be anyway. And the folks who went to work for these albatrosses did so with dollar signs in their eyes, trading foosball and free pizza for long hours and the promise of a payoff....someday. Well folks, someday is today, and the payoff is a swift kick in the ass.
Hope you enjoyed your Kool-Aid.
Actually, I'd say that it's pretty childish to say, "We give our product away for free. For some odd reason, we don't have any money left. Please, please give us some more money, so we can continue to make a product that we give away for free".
It's more like:
"I do this because I love it. I'm a pinko commie who believes everything should be free. I can't figure it out, but the guy at Safeway won't trade me a banana for a driver patch. I sit here and code all day and play foosball. Ah, this is the life I dreamed of. I got my CS degree, but I just don't ever want to have to grow up. I want to "work" 12 hours a day to hide the fact that I am really just a slacker and this is my fun. Since you have a REAL job that pays you money and not worthless stock options, how about a handout?"
These people need to get jobs. How are they any different than the bums begging for change in traffic? They have made life choices that result in them earning no income. Fine, you want to take a vow of poverty so you can spend all of your time as a volunteer doing what you love. Great, but when you can't pay the bill on your Tivo subscription, don't expect me to care.
Fuel cell technology will enable smaller batteries, and in the future your phone may be nothing more than a card in your wallet and you will talk on your wireless headset.
Uh, the antenna on those phones is inside the case. This technolgy would allow the case to be the antenna, eliminating the need for any seperate internal or external antenna. This in turn allows the phone to be smaller and more efficient.
Funny how you didn't click all the links.
From Glazebrook's page:
"We admit the color of the Universe was something of a gimmick, to try and make our story on spectra more accessible. Nevertheless it is an actual calculable thing so we believe it is important to get it right."
And:
"Of course, our real motive for calculating the cosmic spectrum was really a lot more than producing these pretty color pictures. The color is interesting but in fact the cosmic spectrum is rich in detail and tells us a lot more about the history of star formation in the Universe. You may have noticed above that the cosmic spectrum contains dark lines and bright bands, these correspond to the characteristic emission and absorption of different elements."
So this actually reveals something about the makeup and history of the universe. Viola, science!
Why don't these "abusive governments" just execute anyone who sends encypted email to amnesty international?
You are assuming that the email is being intercepted and that the intercepting party knows who the sender and recipient are. You also assume the "abusive government" has access to the sender, hence the fear of torutre and death.
If I were the "abusive government" I'd arrest the sender tourture them, for the key, then kill them. Problem solved.
I doubt Anmesty International uses PGP for this very reason. Steganography is much better suited to this sort of application. As long as you don't do stupid things like email the same penguin.jpg back and forth it is much less obvious you are trying to hide something.
Then again AI is a bunch of liberal thugs who think they are smarter and better than *everyone* so they might just be that stupid.
You didn't read the article. If you had read the article you would know that you are describing what the authors call a Class II device.
The authors also describe Class III devices which do blink along with the data stream (if you RTA you'll even know why) these include TD and RD lights on modems and routers.
They also point out the the information given off by Class II devices can be useful for traffic analysis and covert channels.
But you knew that, right?
There are several technological reasons why Kazaa cannot monitor the network. Number one is the software isn't programmed to do that.
That is an implematation problem not a techological one.
Kazaa doesn't have enough [servers] to implement monitoring on a global scale.
If they are forced to monitor they will need more servers. Surely there is not a technological problem with buying servers.
Then finally, there's the issue of bandwidth, which isn't free.
That is a financial problem. If you can't afford to do business legally you can't afford to do business.
Napster was ordered to filter files because they could, based on their current technology base. Sony was let off the hook because they couldn't. (gross oversimplification, but it's still applicable)
All of the "problems" you have cited are really "choices" that were made by the implementors for the explicit purpose of not being able filter files. The question I have for you is, does that make their case stronger or weaker?
Your comparison of bnetd to FTP is not valid.
1) bnetd is the _only_ way to play warez copies of the game online. If not for bnetd this type of infringement would not be occuring.
2) ftp, some p2p software, copy machines etc. have _substantial_non-infringing_uses_ Blizzard's position is that bnetd has no non-infinging uses. They claim that under the EULA _any_ use of bnetd is infringement.
Back in the cafeteria, ownership of your fork says you can do what you like with it. In my cafeteria I make the rules, and I only allow green plastic forks, and no forks are allowed in or out. Of course your argument of ownership rights is moot as long as courts continue to enforce EULA's as contracts.
Of course Blizzard is only interested in going after the people doing the infringing. As I said, if bnetd was only being used by people who had bought the game Blizzard probably wouldn't care - they might even like it since they wouldn't have to maintain as many servers. That isn't the case however, if bnetd does not have non-infringing uses - if the EULA is valid they have none - then they are at least commiting contributory infringment and can be shut down for that. Right noe Blizzard is using the DMCA because that is a bigger stick.
So, it all comes down to the EULA. If the EULA is valid bnetd is done.
You seem to be (deliberately?) ignoring the fact that while bnetd is giving away their service they are also aiding the piracy of Blizzard software. Blizzard knows their CD keys are crackable, their main protection is the servers checking keys. They bank on the premise that even if you have a warez copy of the game, being able to play online is a compelling reason to buy the product.
If bnetd was _only_ an alternative to using Blizzard's servers Blizzard probably wouldn't care. If Blizzard doesn't win the suit the result will simply be better (not relying on the servers to check keys) copy protection. Of course this will increase the cost of the games which really only affects the people who buy it anyway.
I see no difference between this kind of behavior and a thug with a billy club demanding my lunch money in exchange for the right to stay in line and not get beaten up.
Except Blizzard is the cafeteria lady who wants you to pay before you eat, and bnetd is the geek showing you the way to sneak out without paying. Since I _can_ get up from the table in most restaurants and calmly walk out without paying the check, should I. If I pay for my meal am I "bending over" because I could get away with it and I chose not to?
If the "information wants to be free" crowd ever gets their way you will only see more proprietary, closed, software with crappy copyprotection like hardware dongles and smart cards. You can all claim that people are playing on bnetd servers because they work better and it's a more fun crowd, but the fact is that if there wasn't a piracy problem Blizzard wouldn't care where you played.
Which "couple of states?" Which judges? If what you say is true it is groundbreaking legal precedent. Do you by any chance have a source? A case reference? Something other that what you read on /.?
I doubt very much that if there is such a precedent, but if there is you are certainly misquoting it. If you were only buying the CD and no license, you would have just that, no license. You might be entiteled to play the game, but that would be it. No copies other than necesary for the game to run and one back up.
Just because the EULA is invalid doesn't mean the copyright is.