Well, here's something most of you might not realize.
I work at a radio station. Now, before you all blame me for the crap you have to hear on your radio - it's a public, non-programmed station. I.E. DJs play what they want to play.
We don't pay the RIAA a dime for broadcast rights.
Wait, let me say that again. The RIAA doesn't get a dime from us. We pay ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC money. Why? Because *they* control the broadcast rights, not the RIAA. The RIAA only has jurisdiction on *copies of recorded music*.
So, whether or not you support copyright, Napster, etc. - ask yourself this.
Why is the RIAA getting control over webcast rights? Why aren't the performance unions (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC) getting control over this?
The people who killed DAT as a consumer format, DCC (anyone remember that??) entirely, approximtely doubled-tripled the cost for Audio CDRs, etc. are trying to take control of web broadcast rights.
It's not their jurisdiction, and they will do a bad job of it.
7 billion lightyears? Check yourself, there - 7 billion lightyears is a long, long way away from where Pioneer 10 is sitting. Try 7 billion miles, as is stated in the first paragraph of your link.
This is correct. Export to Cuba is illegal as well - I was attempting to illustrate the (admittedly somewhat dubious) legality of an American businessman organizing Cuban-Canadian trade. Which happens. Regularly. Right now. I live in Michigan, and getting Cuban goods (mmmm.... cigars) is as easy as driving to the border. And not all of those importers are Canada based.
On a side note - those of you who assume the Cubans are downtrodden and hate the regime - think again. I've been there once, I'm going again this winter. And most Cubans still support Castro and the Communist regime. General living condition is low because of the trade embargo on them - it does hurt when the closest, largest country won't trade with you - but many other things are astoundingly good. Literacy in Cuba is 95-97%, last I checked. Castro has relaxed restrictions on independent media and private business. Without the trade embargo, Cuba would probably be a lot nicer to live in than the US.
Even better than e-baying: check if the local government, state government, or local college/university has a surplus store.
Some prices scavenged from U of M's property dispositions:
Sparcstation 1 - $25 (everything but a monitor)
P133, 2GB HD, 64 MB mem, CD, ethernet - $75 (no monitor)
17" monitor, NEC - $50
If you're a non-profit, these guys will even give you a 25-50% break (at least if you smile nice - we did, and got half off.)
And best of all - nearly all are open to the public, and contain much outdated but useful hardware. Ever wanted an electron microscope?
Not so fast. The point of the original post was not that the users would evade the law. They are still located in a Berne country, and as such are subject to the copyright conventions of their location.
The point was that had Napster located itself in Andorra, to take an A, the U.S. government would *not* have been within their legal rights to shut down the servers. In fact, shutting down servers in a foreign country without local governmental permission could quite easily be viewed as an act of war.
As to Cuba - the penalty isn't for trading with Cuba. It's for importing Cuban goods into the United States. It's also illegal to go there, if you are a US citizen. However, if you organize a trade route between Canada (which has no embargo) and Cuba, without your goods ever setting foot in the US, without Americans visiting Cuba, it is perfectly legal.
For Bush, I don't predict an international war. I predict a civil uprising. Look at the WTO, IMF, etc. riots. Think about the policies Bush would institute. Now, think about the riots. Think about the overwhelming military force Bush would use. Close enough to a war for me.
For Gore, I predict the Middle East. After all, with the current Israeli situation, and a Jewish VP, don't you expect there'll be a bit of a US hammer descending?
Well, if you really are worried that your vote for Nader is a vote for Bush, http://www.nadertrader.com
has a solution. If you live in a swing state, want to vote for Nader but are worried it might put Bush into office - contact a friend in a Republican-heavy zone who was planning to vote for Gore. Trade - they vote for Nader, and you vote for Gore. This way, since Nader isn't going to win any elections (be honest, folks - it's not going to happen) he still gets his vote and Gore gets a leg up in a contested zone.
wcbn.org - freeform in a world of noise
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Well, here's something most of you might not realize.
I work at a radio station. Now, before you all blame me for the crap you have to hear on your radio - it's a public, non-programmed station. I.E. DJs play what they want to play.
We don't pay the RIAA a dime for broadcast rights.
Wait, let me say that again. The RIAA doesn't get a dime from us.
We pay ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC money. Why? Because *they* control the broadcast rights, not the RIAA. The RIAA only has jurisdiction on *copies of recorded music*.
So, whether or not you support copyright, Napster, etc. - ask yourself this.
Why is the RIAA getting control over webcast rights? Why aren't the performance unions (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC) getting control over this?
The people who killed DAT as a consumer format, DCC (anyone remember that??) entirely, approximtely doubled-tripled the cost for Audio CDRs, etc. are trying to take control of web broadcast rights.
It's not their jurisdiction, and they will do a bad job of it.
7 billion lightyears? Check yourself, there - 7 billion lightyears is a long, long way away from where Pioneer 10 is sitting.
Try 7 billion miles, as is stated in the first paragraph of your link.
7 billion lightyears = approx 4.115 e 22 miles.
At least it wasn't an English-metric error.
This is correct. Export to Cuba is illegal as well - I was attempting to illustrate the (admittedly somewhat dubious) legality of an American businessman organizing Cuban-Canadian trade. Which happens. Regularly. Right now. I live in Michigan, and getting Cuban goods (mmmm.... cigars) is as easy as driving to the border. And not all of those importers are Canada based.
On a side note - those of you who assume the Cubans are downtrodden and hate the regime - think again.
I've been there once, I'm going again this winter. And most Cubans still support Castro and the Communist regime. General living condition is low because of the trade embargo on them - it does hurt when the closest, largest country won't trade with you - but many other things are astoundingly good. Literacy in Cuba is 95-97%, last I checked. Castro has relaxed restrictions on independent media and private business. Without the trade embargo, Cuba would probably be a lot nicer to live in than the US.
Even better than e-baying: check if the local government, state government, or local college/university has a surplus store.
Some prices scavenged from U of M's property dispositions:
Sparcstation 1 - $25 (everything but a monitor)
P133, 2GB HD, 64 MB mem, CD, ethernet - $75 (no monitor)
17" monitor, NEC - $50
If you're a non-profit, these guys will even give you a 25-50% break (at least if you smile nice - we did, and got half off.)
And best of all - nearly all are open to the public, and contain much outdated but useful hardware. Ever wanted an electron microscope?
Not so fast. The point of the original post was not that the users would evade the law. They are still located in a Berne country, and as such are subject to the copyright conventions of their location.
The point was that had Napster located itself in Andorra, to take an A, the U.S. government would *not* have been within their legal rights to shut down the servers. In fact, shutting down servers in a foreign country without local governmental permission could quite easily be viewed as an act of war.
As to Cuba - the penalty isn't for trading with Cuba. It's for importing Cuban goods into the United States. It's also illegal to go there, if you are a US citizen. However, if you organize a trade route between Canada (which has no embargo) and Cuba, without your goods ever setting foot in the US, without Americans visiting Cuba, it is perfectly legal.
So please, don't be so naive.
I'll take the ID, if I get this right.
For Bush, I don't predict an international war. I predict a civil uprising. Look at the WTO, IMF, etc. riots. Think about the policies Bush would institute. Now, think about the riots. Think about the overwhelming military force Bush would use. Close enough to a war for me.
For Gore, I predict the Middle East. After all, with the current Israeli situation, and a Jewish VP, don't you expect there'll be a bit of a US hammer descending?
Well, if you really are worried that your vote for Nader is a vote for Bush, http://www.nadertrader.com has a solution. If you live in a swing state, want to vote for Nader but are worried it might put Bush into office - contact a friend in a Republican-heavy zone who was planning to vote for Gore. Trade - they vote for Nader, and you vote for Gore. This way, since Nader isn't going to win any elections (be honest, folks - it's not going to happen) he still gets his vote and Gore gets a leg up in a contested zone. wcbn.org - freeform in a world of noise