The problem is they're killing not only American ingenuity. By proposing agreements like ACTA they are trying to enforce similar solutions across the world. American ideas, be they good or bad, have a tendency to spread.
Furthermore, before the ECHR accepts a case the condition is "exhaustion of domestic remedies", i.e. the person or organization submitting the case has no other ways to appeal in their country. This means it can take years before the case goes through all the courts in the "country of origin". For a company whose site gets taken down it may mean closing down their business.
This reminds me of the following footnote from "Good Omens" By Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman:
*NOTE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND AMERICANS: One shilling = Five Pee. It helps to understand the antique finances of the Witchfinder Army if you know the original British monetary system:
Two farthings = One Ha'penny. Two ha'pennies = One Penny. Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). One Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea.
The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated."
Not really... HIPPA seems to apply only to the US, while SOx applies to any company quoted at NYSE, so quite a lot of various international corporations need to comply.
I wonder: will at least some of those companies start leaving the US and moving to places where the laws are less draconian? The EU voiced its opposition to SOPA so it might become a safe heaven to some extent. Iceland after recent reforms is trying to become a "free speech paradise". Of course someone as large as Google could not move its entire infrastructure overseas overnight but such dumb regulations might actually spur an exodus of many companies and there are plenty of countries which will welcome anyone with open arms as long as they are willing to invest there.
IIRC it was Karl Marx who said that unlike in case of free market, capitalism is a system where capitalists use _all available means_ to maximize the profit, e.g. buying favourable bills in order to prevent other companies from competing in the market. The Microsoft's policy of "embrace, extend, extinguish" is also an example of such actions. I'm not a communist but I think that this distinction between the free market and capitalism is quite interesting.
And the second thing you mentioned - availability of content. I live just across the border from you and I have the same problem: I'd be glad to pay a decent fee for access to services like Hulu or Crunchyroll but the US studios obviously don't give a damn about earning money in Europe and would rather complain about piracy. If you refuse to take my money don't be surprised when I get my fix of content from different, more convenient and free sources.
I remember reading somewhere that after the war the Soviet military even fitted such decoys with hot air fans so that they would have IR signatures similar to real tanks.
Wrong. If you go to Germany or the Netherlands you'll see that coal is not the only alternatives. Those places are crowded with wind turbines. In the Netherlands it's mainly along the coast (at least the last time I went there) but in Germany they're all over the place. True, the infrastructure probably is not as simple as you need to connect each turbine to the grid in stead of connecting a single power plant but there's no real risk of a disaster in comparison to a nuclear power plant. That said, I think that the fear mongering by media after the Fukushima disaster caused a real outburst of hysteria in Europe (although the country I live in confirmed the plans to construct the first nuclear power plant but we have the highest electricity bills in the EU)
What makes you think that the government and corporations are going to have to comply with those regulations? Responsibilities and punishment are only for peons like us
True, but the extradition law usually prevents extradition from a country where something is not a crime to a country where it is. So for example one might get extradited from the UK to country A on charges of drug trafficking but not for breaking Sharia laws.
Not exempt, but in their case the fair use clause is more permitting exactly because they're non-profit. At least that's how it is some parts of Europe
And you know this how? Jobs was very private in his own life. I don't know if he ever donated to charity but if he did, he was not likely to publish that information. You are assuming he didn't but you don't know unless you've been his accountant your whole life.
He killed all charity programs Apple supported as soon as he returned as the CEO so I think, that with good probability, the asshole didn't spend a dime to help someone else than himself.
Well, Jobs certainly did think different. And by that I mean he was an asshole, who thought rules of common decency did not apply to him. Better late than... oh, wait...
They can be updated but that doesn't mean that they will (or should) be updated. Just like Android or even iOS for than matter (no experience with iOS but it seems that some people who upgraded their iPhones 3gs to iOS 5 are having problems)
What makes you think politicians would not be exempt from this? After all their drives might contain national secrets/confidential information an I bet they would try to play this card to weasel out of this so only the lowly peasant like us have to deal with this crap.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem is they're killing not only American ingenuity. By proposing agreements like ACTA they are trying to enforce similar solutions across the world. American ideas, be they good or bad, have a tendency to spread.
Furthermore, before the ECHR accepts a case the condition is "exhaustion of domestic remedies", i.e. the person or organization submitting the case has no other ways to appeal in their country. This means it can take years before the case goes through all the courts in the "country of origin". For a company whose site gets taken down it may mean closing down their business.
*NOTE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND AMERICANS: One shilling = Five Pee. It helps to understand the antique finances of the Witchfinder Army if you know the original British monetary system: Two farthings = One Ha'penny. Two ha'pennies = One Penny. Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). One Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea. The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated."
Double post but this one is from 2002
The general concept may not be patentable, but specific working implementations may very well be innovative and patentable.
There, a working implementation from 2006 and as far as I remember it was not the first one.
Not really... HIPPA seems to apply only to the US, while SOx applies to any company quoted at NYSE, so quite a lot of various international corporations need to comply.
I wonder: will at least some of those companies start leaving the US and moving to places where the laws are less draconian? The EU voiced its opposition to SOPA so it might become a safe heaven to some extent. Iceland after recent reforms is trying to become a "free speech paradise". Of course someone as large as Google could not move its entire infrastructure overseas overnight but such dumb regulations might actually spur an exodus of many companies and there are plenty of countries which will welcome anyone with open arms as long as they are willing to invest there.
The EU finally admitted that nobody reads ToS and it's going to curb such practices.
IIRC it was Karl Marx who said that unlike in case of free market, capitalism is a system where capitalists use _all available means_ to maximize the profit, e.g. buying favourable bills in order to prevent other companies from competing in the market. The Microsoft's policy of "embrace, extend, extinguish" is also an example of such actions. I'm not a communist but I think that this distinction between the free market and capitalism is quite interesting. And the second thing you mentioned - availability of content. I live just across the border from you and I have the same problem: I'd be glad to pay a decent fee for access to services like Hulu or Crunchyroll but the US studios obviously don't give a damn about earning money in Europe and would rather complain about piracy. If you refuse to take my money don't be surprised when I get my fix of content from different, more convenient and free sources.
I remember reading somewhere that after the war the Soviet military even fitted such decoys with hot air fans so that they would have IR signatures similar to real tanks.
Wrong. If you go to Germany or the Netherlands you'll see that coal is not the only alternatives. Those places are crowded with wind turbines. In the Netherlands it's mainly along the coast (at least the last time I went there) but in Germany they're all over the place. True, the infrastructure probably is not as simple as you need to connect each turbine to the grid in stead of connecting a single power plant but there's no real risk of a disaster in comparison to a nuclear power plant. That said, I think that the fear mongering by media after the Fukushima disaster caused a real outburst of hysteria in Europe (although the country I live in confirmed the plans to construct the first nuclear power plant but we have the highest electricity bills in the EU)
What makes you think that the government and corporations are going to have to comply with those regulations? Responsibilities and punishment are only for peons like us
only when I'm logged in but most people I know don't log in just to search google
still, neither points me to their G+ profile...
As much as it pains me to say this, nepka is right in this case...
So something like Three Days of the Condor but for facebook and twitter? Imagine browsing through millions of pictures of LOLcats day in, day out...
There's also an app called speaktoit assistant. Much more advanced than iris so I think the guy should pull his head from wherever it's stuck
In Sweden, Swedish law applies
True, but the extradition law usually prevents extradition from a country where something is not a crime to a country where it is. So for example one might get extradited from the UK to country A on charges of drug trafficking but not for breaking Sharia laws.
Not exempt, but in their case the fair use clause is more permitting exactly because they're non-profit. At least that's how it is some parts of Europe
And you know this how? Jobs was very private in his own life. I don't know if he ever donated to charity but if he did, he was not likely to publish that information. You are assuming he didn't but you don't know unless you've been his accountant your whole life.
He killed all charity programs Apple supported as soon as he returned as the CEO so I think, that with good probability, the asshole didn't spend a dime to help someone else than himself.
Well, Jobs certainly did think different. And by that I mean he was an asshole, who thought rules of common decency did not apply to him. Better late than... oh, wait...
I wish I had mod points to mod you up
They can be updated but that doesn't mean that they will (or should) be updated. Just like Android or even iOS for than matter (no experience with iOS but it seems that some people who upgraded their iPhones 3gs to iOS 5 are having problems)
What makes you think politicians would not be exempt from this? After all their drives might contain national secrets/confidential information an I bet they would try to play this card to weasel out of this so only the lowly peasant like us have to deal with this crap.
I hope Microsoft gets the patent. I don't use bing and the patent fees will hopefully deter everyone else from doing anything similar