"Quit downloading illegal shit, the **AA is all over our asses and our lawyers think we may end up on the hook for a lot of money"
Instead of all this pussyfooting around with invisible caps and vaguely threatening letters.
It's too bad downloaded.avi's look better on my TV than that low quality crap that passes for "digital cable"...
Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE,
This isn't the actual DHS, just some corporate title foolishness by the Imigra in order to make this whole thing sound more officially good for us. Of course I'm sure it won't be long before the DHS is using the terms "pirate" and "terrorist" interchangeably, so you're not far off...
"Otherwise the tapes would likely have been trashed so the criminals wouldn't have incriminating evidence sitting around their house."
My experience with "The Criminal Element" leads me to believe these tapes are right now being used to prop up an old couch or two, and will be found in the eventual meth-warrant fun fest. These people have no idea what they have, how to use it, or who to sell it to.
"Seems like it should be possible to eliminate most if not all piracy by reducing the price of legitimate versions of Windows to an affordable level. Like has already been done to combat pirated DVDs and CDs."
Since when? New DVD's are still $15-$25 and cd's are still $13-$20. Yes that may be affordable, but it's still not a fair price. That's why I buy only used dvd's, cd's, and games. For me, the used price is what seems fair for a new item (except at EBStop. $45-$55 for a used game? Really?). Prices are equal to what the majority of consumers will pay. And consumers like paying a lot for things.
Because Sony's an easy target these days and slashdotters are lazy.
Anywho, of course it's all business speak crap when there's really nothing to talk about. Just see the line in the summary:
"blockbuster fighting game Metal Gear Solid"
From that alone either Konami doesn't know what the hell they make or the "reporter" doesn't. And what kind of response were they looking for to a price cut announced yesterday?
"Well, the PS3 hasn't shipped 3 million units in the last 24 hours, start porting that crap to the Wii, Saturn, Game Gear, and Turbo Express platforms right now."
Whether people paid to see the pirated copy or not, they're still not in the theatre. The mpaa and theatre owners are out money they otherwise would have received. Now of course this is not true in all cases as there are quite a few movies I wish I had downloaded and spent $8 on a nice six pack instead...
My real point is that if all of your statements became laws, there would be exactly one guy going to see every movie, and his ticket would cost ~$100M... How's he going to get that ~$100M? He's going to sell "shares" in his recording. And he's going to be a smart guy and sell enough "shares" to make ~$200M and he'd find some way to claim tax-exempt-non-profit-.org-holy-Jeebus status and get out of his taxes. And the government would see that logically the only way this would work at all is if everyone was required to bring a cam into the theatre, then ticket prices could get back to normal.
But it would be interesting to see the stats on which seat's view gets the most downloads...
Don't feel too bad about your old job, eventually it will be filled by a three man team in India that work around the clock for way less than $18.99/hr...
Because the government is made up of ordinary people. For every one politician that can keep a secret, there are at least three interns, secretaries, janitors and mechanics that can't. Of course back then, there was the unquestioning trust in and obedience of said government. These days any attempt at a landing, crash or otherwise would be on youtube inside fifteen minutes. Perhaps aliens just don't land anymore because they couldn't keep it a secret. If they are that advanced, one would think they would have some sort of prime-directive-ish ideas.
Of course the better answer is that it's us from the future. And for all those in the Hawking camp (If time travel were possible, we'd be inundated with time-tourists). How do we know we're not?
So when all the wheat seeds hit their expiration date and we all starve, will the AEAA (Agricultural Exploitation Association of America) blame it on seed piracy?
Neither did mozilla/firefox for quite some time, yet everyday here there were (and still are) stories about the great "movement" that was taking shape. It's almost as bad as the quarterly "Linux is finally ready for the Desktop" submissions that I've been seeing for the last eight years...
I almost had to do the same thing at CompUSA, except they wouldn't let me use one of their pc's. All I got was some lame story about "our ad breaks a day earlier in this state" and blank uncomprehending stares when I explained the process I would then need to go through:
Me: So if I drive 10 miles back to my house, get online, go through the hassle of setting up an account (I don't buy things online, I used to load trucks for UPS, I know what goes on there...), buy the item online on a credit card that I don't want to even involve in the transaction, then drive 10 miles back here, wait for the order to show up in your system, and have you lug it out to my car, then I get the advertised price?
Disinterested middle aged salesman: Yeah I guess you would have to do that.
Me: Can I use one of your computers?
Salesman: No, we can't do that. Corporate policy and all.
Me: And you can't just give me the advertised price?
Salesman: No, thats the online price...
{Repeat for 5 minutes}
Me: Ok, fine, can your Manager do anything?
{5 minutes pass}
Salesman: He said to just do it.
Wow. Now if I was that guy's manager, I would have slapped him for not just doing it in the first place. I think back to some of the *better* customers I've had to deal with and they would have dropped the M Word in 2 seconds flat, usually in high pitched screech mode. Needless to say, it was a hot deal otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. But I also have not been there since.
Yes, Yes, Yes! I almost become physically ill seeing my parents watch NETWORK TV from their dish using the "wide zoom" mode on their 50" 1080p sony. And they can't understand why I keep hooking bunny ears up to the back (they get excellent reception where they are) and switching to "normal" TV.
But back on the topic, I have no 1080p sources (maybe when the psthree comes out in 5 years...) so for now, I "make do" with my 37" 720p. When I have a grip of 1080p stuff to watch, then I'll upgrade. And no, re-buying all my dvd's in "HD" doesn't count.
Slashdot Mirror
"Quit downloading illegal shit, the **AA is all over our asses and our lawyers think we may end up on the hook for a lot of money"
Instead of all this pussyfooting around with invisible caps and vaguely threatening letters. It's too bad downloaded .avi's look better on my TV than that low quality crap that passes for "digital cable"...
Most republicans do.
with GUNS.
Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE,
This isn't the actual DHS, just some corporate title foolishness by the Imigra in order to make this whole thing sound more officially good for us. Of course I'm sure it won't be long before the DHS is using the terms "pirate" and "terrorist" interchangeably, so you're not far off...
Good, still none can compare to: Sweet three toed sloth of the ice planet Hoth!
Probably this as well...
My experience with "The Criminal Element" leads me to believe these tapes are right now being used to prop up an old couch or two, and will be found in the eventual meth-warrant fun fest. These people have no idea what they have, how to use it, or who to sell it to.
Since when? New DVD's are still $15-$25 and cd's are still $13-$20. Yes that may be affordable, but it's still not a fair price. That's why I buy only used dvd's, cd's, and games. For me, the used price is what seems fair for a new item (except at EBStop. $45-$55 for a used game? Really?). Prices are equal to what the majority of consumers will pay. And consumers like paying a lot for things.
Because we'll buy whatever the TV tells us to.
Anywho, of course it's all business speak crap when there's really nothing to talk about. Just see the line in the summary:
"blockbuster fighting game Metal Gear Solid"
From that alone either Konami doesn't know what the hell they make or the "reporter" doesn't. And what kind of response were they looking for to a price cut announced yesterday?
"Well, the PS3 hasn't shipped 3 million units in the last 24 hours, start porting that crap to the Wii, Saturn, Game Gear, and Turbo Express platforms right now."
My real point is that if all of your statements became laws, there would be exactly one guy going to see every movie, and his ticket would cost ~$100M... How's he going to get that ~$100M? He's going to sell "shares" in his recording. And he's going to be a smart guy and sell enough "shares" to make ~$200M and he'd find some way to claim tax-exempt-non-profit-.org-holy-Jeebus status and get out of his taxes. And the government would see that logically the only way this would work at all is if everyone was required to bring a cam into the theatre, then ticket prices could get back to normal.
But it would be interesting to see the stats on which seat's view gets the most downloads...
At the end, if you beat Groening, does he apologize for the last ten years of bad Simpsons episodes?
Don't feel too bad about your old job, eventually it will be filled by a three man team in India that work around the clock for way less than $18.99/hr...
Of course the better answer is that it's us from the future. And for all those in the Hawking camp (If time travel were possible, we'd be inundated with time-tourists). How do we know we're not?
No problem. We just land some sort of drilling rig, burrow down to the core, set off some nukes and we're good to go...
Who told you the code name of the next Ubuntu release?
Kidding of course, I'm posting from my new install of Ubuntu Studio.
I'm not sure, let me check with my 7 year old Dreamcast and my 12 year old Playstation...
So when all the wheat seeds hit their expiration date and we all starve, will the AEAA (Agricultural Exploitation Association of America) blame it on seed piracy?
Neither did mozilla/firefox for quite some time, yet everyday here there were (and still are) stories about the great "movement" that was taking shape. It's almost as bad as the quarterly "Linux is finally ready for the Desktop" submissions that I've been seeing for the last eight years...
Me: So if I drive 10 miles back to my house, get online, go through the hassle of setting up an account (I don't buy things online, I used to load trucks for UPS, I know what goes on there...), buy the item online on a credit card that I don't want to even involve in the transaction, then drive 10 miles back here, wait for the order to show up in your system, and have you lug it out to my car, then I get the advertised price?
Disinterested middle aged salesman: Yeah I guess you would have to do that.
Me: Can I use one of your computers?
Salesman: No, we can't do that. Corporate policy and all.
Me: And you can't just give me the advertised price?
Salesman: No, thats the online price...
{Repeat for 5 minutes}
Me: Ok, fine, can your Manager do anything?
{5 minutes pass}
Salesman: He said to just do it.
Wow. Now if I was that guy's manager, I would have slapped him for not just doing it in the first place. I think back to some of the *better* customers I've had to deal with and they would have dropped the M Word in 2 seconds flat, usually in high pitched screech mode. Needless to say, it was a hot deal otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. But I also have not been there since.
I highly recommend "with", and I really don't work on commission...
Damn. You.
But back on the topic, I have no 1080p sources (maybe when the psthree comes out in 5 years...) so for now, I "make do" with my 37" 720p. When I have a grip of 1080p stuff to watch, then I'll upgrade. And no, re-buying all my dvd's in "HD" doesn't count.
Laws vary from state to state and job type to job type. But I do like how this radical new un-Google-like system starts on April 1st...
Because we'll pay it. And bitch, and moan, and pay $70 for the "collectors edition".