Is it just me, or do most of these DMCA complaints end up backfiring on the complaintant? For example, I had not heard of DECSS before the MPAA started their whole DMCA hissy-fit with 2600 (I did not, and still do not have a DVD player on my PC or TV). Now I know what DECSS is, how it works, and can find it all over the internet (plus I have it archived).
Now AGFA Monotype is complaining about Tom's little program and claiming that it violates the DMCA. The news gets spread to 2600, Slashdot, and who knows where else. Now I (who had not heard of embed because of not working extensively with fonts) knows all about the program, has a copy of the c code and the exe file. Soon embed.c and embed.exe will be found all over the internet. The more that AGFA Monotype pursues this DMCA claim, the more people will know about the program, and the easier it will be to find it on the internet.
Perhaps this will end up being the kiss of death for the DMCA. If I was the CEO of a company and saw that everytime a DMCA complaint was made, the "offending" program ended up all over the internet, in Haiku's, etc., the last thing I would want to do is give the program free advertising.
We looked at the wireless credit card terminals that you are refering to. The model we saw used 900Mhz and a proprietary 128 bit encryption scheme (not WEP). I believe they were coming out with 2.4GHz models, but they still used the proprietary encryption scheme. I do not know if they 802.11b or not. At least the encryption scheme is more robust than WEP.
The problem is that you don't even need to get out of your car. Get a laptop, an 802.11b card (that supports an external antenna), a 1/4 wave mag-mount, some software, and you are in business. The big problem is that most wireless access points default to no WEP, default system id, and default password to set up the device. If these are not changed, then anyone with the above equipment can sniff the data. One does not even need to enter the store.
BTW, if you are sitting in your vehicle, you can hook up to the cigarette lighter/use an inverter, and sniff away without running the batteries down on your laptop.
I have no problem with Labels having exclusive distribution rights for x years, if that is what the contract between the Musician and Label, but it should be illegal for the label to claim the copyright, as they do now.
For example: "The Commander Tacos" signs an agreement with Slashdot Records for a five year distribution contract.
Our example contract (for example) states for every CD/DVD/cassette (or any other physical medium) sold, we will keep 40% of the wholesale (price that the Music Store gets) price. For every MP3/OGG non-physical copy sold, we will keep 20% of the wholesale price. All copyrights to any music, videos, etc. remain the property of "The Commander Tacos." At the end of the five year deal, you (the band) will be free to do as you will with your music.
This type of deal means that the Label with have to budget their profit, promotions, pressing, etc. out of their 40% (and I think that is actually a big percentage). If "The Commander Tacos" become big, then they will be free to either negotiate a better deal at the end of the 5 year period, or find another label that will offer them better numbers. Note that I use wholesale price -- if Slashdot Records sells their CDs to Hemos Records for say $7, then Slashdot gets $2.80 and the artist gets the rest. Hemos records can then sell the CD for $9.99 and make a $2.99 profit on the markup.
The whole point of this post is that I have no problem with the labels marketing themselves as a service to the Musician to get their Music out to the world, but I do have a problem with the Labels stealing the Musicians Copyright (and work). It is the job of the labels to market the music at a price that the market will support. Part of that job is figuring out market solutions (instead of legal solutions) to problems such as Napster, Gnutella, et. al. There are solutions -- if the labels would have set up pay MP3 sites that competed with Napster on quality, ease, and speed at a good price, p-2-p would not be a (major) issue. Yes, there would still be file trading going on, but it would not be a big deal.
Instead, the RIAA has become the Enemy, and is fighting a war that will cost them both in dollars and in customer perception.
PS1 may not be outselling Xbox in total units sold this year, but remember PS1 is an older box (the PS2 is its successor), so the fact that it has sold 74K units this year is gravy for Sony. Sony has also done a good job in keeping PS1 a viable platform (the LCD add on screen, making PS2s able to play PS1 games). The weekly numbers show that PS1 can outsell X-BOX (at least for a week), not bad for an older platform.
Of course, theres been situaitons where people as young as you were punished for looking at people the same age as them. This is why i think the laws are too extreme.
That's why a well written Statutory Rape law differentiates between an 18 year old having sex with a 15 or 16 year old, and a 38 year old doing the same thing. When I turned 18, I was still a Senior in High School, so a 15/16 year old was in my peer group. At 38, a 15/16 year old is closer to my Daughter's age. There is no reason to punish an 18 year old -- but a 38 year old is a different story.
BTW, my wife is 3 years younger than me, so she would have been 15 when I was 18 -- although we didn't meet until I was 22 and she was 19.
Hilary is totally off base here. When I visited Gateway's site, it was very clear that they partnered with Emusic.com. Last time I checked, they charged for their services and are quite legitimate. I think Hilary has her panties in a wad because
1) How dare Gateway not support S 2048 (Ernie's Bill)
2) Support a pay service that supplies plain old MP3 files that customers can use anyway they wish (no DRM crap)
I see nothing wrong with what Gateway is doing...yes they are trying to sell more equipment, but their campaign is ethical and well within the law.
This is where.ogg (Ogg Vorbis)files on your machine might work well. Most people know what.mp3 files are, but how many are going to bother to look for.ogg files?
The article may seem a wee bit America-centered, but was written by a New Zealander. The article was written that way because right now the U.S. seems to be the 800 pound gorilla when it comes to pop culture, movies, and law (the U.S. government seems to forget the U.S. laws should stop at the U.S. border). The MP/RI AA may lock culture up in the short term, but if the cost becomes too high, the door will open to others. Movies from India are one example...
I'd love to laugh at the idea of a C.E.A. and Copyright Abuse Resistance Education, but sadly I cannot. I'm not looking forward to a future where one has to go to the black market to get decent programs/equipment. I'm going to write my Senators on this one, I can only hope they will listen.
The RIAA and MPAA better be careful in what they pray for. Most households only have so much money left over for entertainment (and even less during a resession). If entertainment gets to the point where everything is pay-per-view, then for most people, viewing/listening for the month will end when the budget runs out. Perhaps people will go out to clubs and see live entertainment. People will actually go outside again -- once you own a basketball, there's no charge for a pickup game...
The Media Cartels may find that their profits are continuing to fall, and of course they will still blame "piracy" for their ills...
Louisville was starting to advertise itself as a great place for Internet startups just before the Internet bust came. We still are a great place -- the Internet backbone comes through here (Fort Knox), The Kentucky Derby, U of L (University of Louisville), and 4 hours (by car) or less to three NFL cities (St. Louis Rams, Tennessee Titans, and Cinci Bengals). We may not be as diverse as San Fran, but the cost of living is great!
And how many of you are going to go search for Anders Osborn right now, just because of this casual mention of his name? Yeah, I though so. You won't be disappointed.
You hit the nail on the head. It is really sad when the RIAA/Clear Channel oligopoly is so bad that I can find more new music through Slashdot than on the radio. I have checked out several artists that have been mentioned in post over the last several months -- some I like, others are not my cup of tea, but at least the time spend checking 'em out was worth it. Bearshare is doing the same thing for me. I have been getting into Techno thanks to the bear. RIAA -- If you want my $$, then show me something worth spending them on!
Re:How about bringing it back??
on
Tandys Never Die
·
· Score: 1
Again assuming he was serious, this would give you a Palm Pilot with a real keyboard. It would be bigger than a standard palm, but would be tough and with a built in 56K modem, a perfect computer for the 21st century reporter.
Incidentally, a guy here in Louisville who recently retired from covering high school sports used a Model 100 to write and submit his stories until the day he retired. One tough little unit.
Sometimes "the system" is screwed up beyond repair -- it just takes time for it to come unravelled. Look at the Soviet system -- it was a planned economy that ultimately fell apart. People had to use the black market in order to survive. In a way, the RIAA system is like the Soviet system. It is a monolith that does not want to change. If you work completely within that system, you and your art will be eaten by it. The only way to completely own your own work is to work outside "the system." The RIAA way of doing things is coming unravelled and they are using "laws" like the DMCA to keep from completely falling apart. Copy protection and the DMCA may slow the collapse, but it will eventually happen.
Radio is now as corrupt as the Music Industry. The Labels pay big bucks to middlemen who pay Radio Networks (I won't say stations, because most stations are owned by a big conglomerates such as Clear Channel). This is the reason that the Labels push the McMusic Groups. That's why the RIAA was so stupid in killing Napster. This was a perfect opportunity to find an alternative to the Radio money hole -- only Hillary and company were so worried about losing control (and perhaps a few bucks here and there), that they lost a chance to work with (or buy out) a thriving alternative.
Once people have to start paying for every instance of a digital media stream they hear or see, we will find how few they are actually willing to pay for. This will cause allot of media content providers to go bye-bye as their paying audience is allot smaller then their original audience.
Good point - especially considering the current economy. We just got the word from corporate that there will be no raises this year due to our parent corporation's overall performance. Ford Motor Company (another big employer here in Louisville, KY) is laying off, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. I am looking to keep expenses the same or cut them -- not to pay more for the same stuff, and that includes "intellectual property." Entertainment is one of the first expenses to go in a tight economy."
When I moved from PA to Ohio in 1989, I had to turn in my PA license as part of getting my Ohio License. When I moved from Ohio to Kentucky in 1998, same story. I had to turn in my Ohio License in order to get my Kentucky license. Now I suppose I could have "lost" my old license in my old state and received a replacement before moving, but from what I understand, the old license is returned to the issueing state, which then cancels that license. The "lost" license would come up as invalid if checked by the Police.
I buy a jacket at a garage sale, someone should be counting the money I give them as income It only technically/legally needs to be reported as income if the money received for the jacket exceeds the original cost. For example - I buy a leather jacket for $100 in 1990 and sell it at a garage sales in 2001 for $50. Since $50 is less than $100, I do not owe any income (or capital gains) tax. Now sales tax may be another story, but that varies by location.
That post was not ignorant at all -- one can do without those things and survive, but not everyone wants to live an isolated life. (Even if I did, my wife and daughter would have something to say about that. What the post was about is how the world is going. Cable/Satellite is $40/$80 per month (depending on options), DSL/Cable modem access is $40/$50 dollars/month, XFM is $10/month, pressplay, etc....
At some point, the nickel and dimeing for subscriptions is going to exhaust the budget. At that point, one will have to prioritize and cut back and/or eliminate what is purchased since unless you have the income of a Bill Gates, it will be impossible to have it all.
IMHO this is not the best time for DRM companies to press for subscription models. The economy is a already down, consumer debt is high (lower interest rates may ease the pressure slightly, but the debt is still there), and companies are laying off. If we go into a deep recession (or a depression) then the DRM battle won't matter -- Joe Consumer will have his hands full just providing food and shelter. The Entertainment costs will be the first to go.
Too bad they did not include sales of the original PSX (PSX1). I notice that Sony has been pushing it as a portable game platform with the addition of the "LCD screen lid". The commercials have been pretty hot and heavy (on Tech TV at least), so they are definitely out to get some more mileage out of the PSX1. I wonder if PSX1 is taking any sales away from Nintendo.
Dimitry really did not have much choice. He was released from jail on bail provided he stayed in California. His wife and kids came to the U.S. because Dimitry was not allowed to return to Russia.
I know a guy who writes shareware for a living, and mostly does okay. But fully 80% of the customer support requests he gets are from users with cracked copies of his software. What, should he just give away his work and live in an alley, all in the name of free beer?
Creative Solution: your friend should cheerfully offer his support. The catch? Say he is asking $20.00 for his shareware. Tell the caller that support for unregistered users in $30.00 per call, payable in advance. No need to advertise this, just tell the unregistered users that call that this is the rate. If they pony up the $30.00, help 'em and send them on their way! Next time they call, same thing. If the poor slob brings up the fact that the registration fee is only $20.00 your friend can do several things --
1. Tell the caller to register, then call back.
2. Offer to register the software for $20.00, then help him with his problem.
3. Be a real nice guy, and offer him a free registration as part of the $30.00 service fee.
A little creative marketing will bring in extra revenue.
Also, New Orleans is currently 20 feet (6 Meters) below sea level, and is still sinking (I can't recall the Yearly rate). The city is kept dry due to levies, but one good hurricane in the right direction could cause major problems. New Orleans is in the Delta of the Mighty Miss, just like Alexandria is/was in the delta of the Nile.
Now 20 feet is not near 2000 feet, but land and sea boundries do change. Utah was once an inland sea...
Slashdot Mirror
Is it just me, or do most of these DMCA complaints end up backfiring on the complaintant? For example, I had not heard of DECSS before the MPAA started their whole DMCA hissy-fit with 2600 (I did not, and still do not have a DVD player on my PC or TV). Now I know what DECSS is, how it works, and can find it all over the internet (plus I have it archived).
Now AGFA Monotype is complaining about Tom's little program and claiming that it violates the DMCA. The news gets spread to 2600, Slashdot, and who knows where else. Now I (who had not heard of embed because of not working extensively with fonts) knows all about the program, has a copy of the c code and the exe file. Soon embed.c and embed.exe will be found all over the internet. The more that AGFA Monotype pursues this DMCA claim, the more people will know about the program, and the easier it will be to find it on the internet.
Perhaps this will end up being the kiss of death for the DMCA. If I was the CEO of a company and saw that everytime a DMCA complaint was made, the "offending" program ended up all over the internet, in Haiku's, etc., the last thing I would want to do is give the program free advertising.
We looked at the wireless credit card terminals that you are refering to. The model we saw used 900Mhz and a proprietary 128 bit encryption scheme (not WEP). I believe they were coming out with 2.4GHz models, but they still used the proprietary encryption scheme. I do not know if they 802.11b or not. At least the encryption scheme is more robust than WEP.
The problem is that you don't even need to get out of your car. Get a laptop, an 802.11b card (that supports an external antenna), a 1/4 wave mag-mount, some software, and you are in business. The big problem is that most wireless access points default to no WEP, default system id, and default password to set up the device. If these are not changed, then anyone with the above equipment can sniff the data. One does not even need to enter the store.
BTW, if you are sitting in your vehicle, you can hook up to the cigarette lighter/use an inverter, and sniff away without running the batteries down on your laptop.
I have no problem with Labels having exclusive distribution rights for x years, if that is what the contract between the Musician and Label, but it should be illegal for the label to claim the copyright, as they do now.
For example: "The Commander Tacos" signs an agreement with Slashdot Records for a five year distribution contract.
Our example contract (for example) states for every CD/DVD/cassette (or any other physical medium) sold, we will keep 40% of the wholesale (price that the Music Store gets) price. For every MP3/OGG non-physical copy sold, we will keep 20% of the wholesale price. All copyrights to any music, videos, etc. remain the property of "The Commander Tacos." At the end of the five year deal, you (the band) will be free to do as you will with your music.
This type of deal means that the Label with have to budget their profit, promotions, pressing, etc. out of their 40% (and I think that is actually a big percentage). If "The Commander Tacos" become big, then they will be free to either negotiate a better deal at the end of the 5 year period, or find another label that will offer them better numbers. Note that I use wholesale price -- if Slashdot Records sells their CDs to Hemos Records for say $7, then Slashdot gets $2.80 and the artist gets the rest. Hemos records can then sell the CD for $9.99 and make a $2.99 profit on the markup.
The whole point of this post is that I have no problem with the labels marketing themselves as a service to the Musician to get their Music out to the world, but I do have a problem with the Labels stealing the Musicians Copyright (and work). It is the job of the labels to market the music at a price that the market will support. Part of that job is figuring out market solutions (instead of legal solutions) to problems such as Napster, Gnutella, et. al. There are solutions -- if the labels would have set up pay MP3 sites that competed with Napster on quality, ease, and speed at a good price, p-2-p would not be a (major) issue. Yes, there would still be file trading going on, but it would not be a big deal.
Instead, the RIAA has become the Enemy, and is fighting a war that will cost them both in dollars and in customer perception.
PS1 may not be outselling Xbox in total units sold this year, but remember PS1 is an older box (the PS2 is its successor), so the fact that it has sold 74K units this year is gravy for Sony. Sony has also done a good job in keeping PS1 a viable platform (the LCD add on screen, making PS2s able to play PS1 games). The weekly numbers show that PS1 can outsell X-BOX (at least for a week), not bad for an older platform.
Of course, theres been situaitons where people as young as you were punished for looking at people the same age as them. This is why i think the laws are too extreme.
That's why a well written Statutory Rape law differentiates between an 18 year old having sex with a 15 or 16 year old, and a 38 year old doing the same thing. When I turned 18, I was still a Senior in High School, so a 15/16 year old was in my peer group. At 38, a 15/16 year old is closer to my Daughter's age. There is no reason to punish an 18 year old -- but a 38 year old is a different story.
BTW, my wife is 3 years younger than me, so she would have been 15 when I was 18 -- although we didn't meet until I was 22 and she was 19.
Hilary is totally off base here. When I visited Gateway's site, it was very clear that they partnered with Emusic.com. Last time I checked, they charged for their services and are quite legitimate. I think Hilary has her panties in a wad because
1) How dare Gateway not support S 2048 (Ernie's Bill)
2) Support a pay service that supplies plain old MP3 files that customers can use anyway they wish (no DRM crap)
I see nothing wrong with what Gateway is doing...yes they are trying to sell more equipment, but their campaign is ethical and well within the law.
Hilary, you are the weakest link -- goodbye.
This is where .ogg (Ogg Vorbis)files on your machine might work well. Most people know what .mp3 files are, but how many are going to bother to look for .ogg files?
The article may seem a wee bit America-centered, but was written by a New Zealander. The article was written that way because right now the U.S. seems to be the 800 pound gorilla when it comes to pop culture, movies, and law (the U.S. government seems to forget the U.S. laws should stop at the U.S. border). The MP/RI AA may lock culture up in the short term, but if the cost becomes too high, the door will open to others. Movies from India are one example...
I'd love to laugh at the idea of a C.E.A. and Copyright Abuse Resistance Education, but sadly I cannot. I'm not looking forward to a future where one has to go to the black market to get decent programs/equipment. I'm going to write my Senators on this one, I can only hope they will listen.
The RIAA and MPAA better be careful in what they pray for. Most households only have so much money left over for entertainment (and even less during a resession). If entertainment gets to the point where everything is pay-per-view, then for most people, viewing/listening for the month will end when the budget runs out. Perhaps people will go out to clubs and see live entertainment. People will actually go outside again -- once you own a basketball, there's no charge for a pickup game...
The Media Cartels may find that their profits are continuing to fall, and of course they will still blame "piracy" for their ills...
Louisville was starting to advertise itself as a great place for Internet startups just before the Internet bust came. We still are a great place -- the Internet backbone comes through here (Fort Knox), The Kentucky Derby, U of L (University of Louisville), and 4 hours (by car) or less to three NFL cities (St. Louis Rams, Tennessee Titans, and Cinci Bengals). We may not be as diverse as San Fran, but the cost of living is great!
And how many of you are going to go search for Anders Osborn right now, just because of this casual mention of his name? Yeah, I though so. You won't be disappointed.
You hit the nail on the head. It is really sad when the RIAA/Clear Channel oligopoly is so bad that I can find more new music through Slashdot than on the radio. I have checked out several artists that have been mentioned in post over the last several months -- some I like, others are not my cup of tea, but at least the time spend checking 'em out was worth it. Bearshare is doing the same thing for me. I have been getting into Techno thanks to the bear. RIAA -- If you want my $$, then show me something worth spending them on!
Again assuming he was serious, this would give you a Palm Pilot with a real keyboard. It would be bigger than a standard palm, but would be tough and with a built in 56K modem, a perfect computer for the 21st century reporter.
Incidentally, a guy here in Louisville who recently retired from covering high school sports used a Model 100 to write and submit his stories until the day he retired. One tough little unit.
Does this make Kathleen CmdrTacoBelle? ;) Anyway, Congrats and many happy years and Sub-Commanders together!
Gonarat...still happily Married since 1987...
Sometimes "the system" is screwed up beyond repair -- it just takes time for it to come unravelled. Look at the Soviet system -- it was a planned economy that ultimately fell apart. People had to use the black market in order to survive. In a way, the RIAA system is like the Soviet system. It is a monolith that does not want to change. If you work completely within that system, you and your art will be eaten by it. The only way to completely own your own work is to work outside "the system." The RIAA way of doing things is coming unravelled and they are using "laws" like the DMCA to keep from completely falling apart. Copy protection and the DMCA may slow the collapse, but it will eventually happen.
Radio is now as corrupt as the Music Industry. The Labels pay big bucks to middlemen who pay Radio Networks (I won't say stations, because most stations are owned by a big conglomerates such as Clear Channel). This is the reason that the Labels push the McMusic Groups. That's why the RIAA was so stupid in killing Napster. This was a perfect opportunity to find an alternative to the Radio money hole -- only Hillary and company were so worried about losing control (and perhaps a few bucks here and there), that they lost a chance to work with (or buy out) a thriving alternative.
Once people have to start paying for every instance of a digital media stream they hear or see, we will find how few they are actually willing to pay for. This will cause allot of media content providers to go bye-bye as their paying audience is allot smaller then their original audience.
Good point - especially considering the current economy. We just got the word from corporate that there will be no raises this year due to our parent corporation's overall performance. Ford Motor Company (another big employer here in Louisville, KY) is laying off, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. I am looking to keep expenses the same or cut them -- not to pay more for the same stuff, and that includes "intellectual property." Entertainment is one of the first expenses to go in a tight economy."
When I moved from PA to Ohio in 1989, I had to turn in my PA license as part of getting my Ohio License. When I moved from Ohio to Kentucky in 1998, same story. I had to turn in my Ohio License in order to get my Kentucky license. Now I suppose I could have "lost" my old license in my old state and received a replacement before moving, but from what I understand, the old license is returned to the issueing state, which then cancels that license. The "lost" license would come up as invalid if checked by the Police.
I buy a jacket at a garage sale, someone should be counting the money I give them as income
It only technically/legally needs to be reported as income if the money received for the jacket exceeds the original cost. For example - I buy a leather jacket for $100 in 1990 and sell it at a garage sales in 2001 for $50. Since $50 is less than $100, I do not owe any income (or capital gains) tax. Now sales tax may be another story, but that varies by location.
That post was not ignorant at all -- one can do without those things and survive, but not everyone wants to live an isolated life. (Even if I did, my wife and daughter would have something to say about that. What the post was about is how the world is going. Cable/Satellite is $40/$80 per month (depending on options), DSL/Cable modem access is $40/$50 dollars/month, XFM is $10/month, pressplay, etc....
At some point, the nickel and dimeing for subscriptions is going to exhaust the budget. At that point, one will have to prioritize and cut back and /or eliminate what is purchased since unless you have the income of a Bill Gates, it will be impossible to have it all.
IMHO this is not the best time for DRM companies to press for subscription models. The economy is a already down, consumer debt is high (lower interest rates may ease the pressure slightly, but the debt is still there), and companies are laying off. If we go into a deep recession (or a depression) then the DRM battle won't matter -- Joe Consumer will have his hands full just providing food and shelter. The Entertainment costs will be the first to go.
Too bad they did not include sales of the original PSX (PSX1). I notice that Sony has been pushing it as a portable game platform with the addition of the "LCD screen lid". The commercials have been pretty hot and heavy (on Tech TV at least), so they are definitely out to get some more mileage out of the PSX1. I wonder if PSX1 is taking any sales away from Nintendo.
Dimitry really did not have much choice. He was released from jail on bail provided he stayed in California. His wife and kids came to the U.S. because Dimitry was not allowed to return to Russia.
I know a guy who writes shareware for a living, and mostly does okay. But fully 80% of the customer support requests he gets are from users with cracked copies of his software. What, should he just give away his work and live in an alley, all in the name of free beer?
Creative Solution: your friend should cheerfully offer his support. The catch? Say he is asking $20.00 for his shareware. Tell the caller that support for unregistered users in $30.00 per call, payable in advance. No need to advertise this, just tell the unregistered users that call that this is the rate. If they pony up the $30.00, help 'em and send them on their way! Next time they call, same thing. If the poor slob brings up the fact that the registration fee is only $20.00 your friend can do several things --
1. Tell the caller to register, then call back.
2. Offer to register the software for $20.00, then help him with his problem.
3. Be a real nice guy, and offer him a free registration as part of the $30.00 service fee.
A little creative marketing will bring in extra revenue.
Also, New Orleans is currently 20 feet (6 Meters) below sea level, and is still sinking (I can't recall the Yearly rate). The city is kept dry due to levies, but one good hurricane in the right direction could cause major problems. New Orleans is in the Delta of the Mighty Miss, just like Alexandria is/was in the delta of the Nile.
Now 20 feet is not near 2000 feet, but land and sea boundries do change. Utah was once an inland sea...