can anybody tell me why Napster is considered differently? as far as i can tell it's just people failing to see the parallels to existing situations only because they're ignorant of the technology.
Thats the issue here isnt it. This is a scary proposition. The American system seems to have a problem 'deferring' to more learned authorities. If the USPTO and the Judiciary would simply listen to the 'geeks' (us) we'd all be allot happier - but it appears that the 'status quo' has a greater ability to bend the opinions of both bodies. It is mostly a display of a corrupt and biased system - money matters. Fuck logic.
98% of the Internet Public hasnt a clue about how Napster works. Their computers are magic boxes, the Internet a sea of confusion. Its really a strange existence that the/. crowd enjoys - I cant understand what it would be like to *not* understand how the internet works, but to hear about it day in, day out... to be forced to use it at home and work... must be terribly alienating.
In the past, when there were massive shifts in 'reality' and 'existence' I wonder what it was like. Meaning: When I lived in the 'country' and went to 'the city' where there were (gasp) Electric Lights(!) I wonder what it was like to be the 'country folk' who didnt understand electricity. When 'country folk' were shown Fireworks and Gunpowder in ancient China, I wonder what it would be like being the Chemist who understood how simply the concoctions were - and I think we all know what it was like to stand back with the match staring at all the 'people in amazement'... how strange that must have been. How strange *THIS* is.
The Internet is a wondrous place - but to those who understand its construction, its basic elements, us, crap like this becomes very frustrating. Illustrating the analogy to the way napster works - to a 'layman' is an exercise in patience, 'they' *DONT* have the capacity to understand... simple items of your argument would require alot of explanation/education.
Until the world at large is better equipped to make decisions to 'legislate' Internet (or computer) technology in general - we can expect to see more rulings like these.
The only bad part about this, is that the Bourgeoisie that rule in America will have a chance to maintain the status-quo by buying favoritism long enough to ensure their future survival.
This ultimately is a display of a rigid, corrupt system incapable of 'new thinking'. America is growing more intolerant by the day - Technology issues will become a Pandora's Box of illogical/non-sensical legislation in the USA as an ignorant public is manipulated by lies.
There are 'promotion' companies that set the playlist for radio stations.. Your right. The radio station play it, and it's a hit. Other stations ask for the song does not happen
Re:Government intervention is the SOLUTION to thes
on
The Jungle
·
· Score: 1
I hate big corporations, and I love the little guy, et cetera, but bigger government is not the way to go. Government power always ends up serving the powerful.
I agree - but I think we've moved into a new era where the US Government isnt even pretending to be a Free Democratic Government. "They" have abandoned the 'facade' of trying to run the country to improve the community/society.
Instead the US Gov. only concerns itself with dividing the spoils of capatalist exploitation.
I would be happy to see an end to Corporate Welfare (and end of 'Corporate Rights') and a *VERY* dramatic increase in 'Citizen Protection' Legislation (to protect environment, workers rights, etc) and a *DRAMATIC* increase in the power and scope of Anti-Trust laws.
genetically modified rice has met what they're calling "consumer resistance". That means the people who need it are not buying it
That is *WRONG*! What you are refering to is 'Golden Rice' - I believe it has been mentioned here on/. - it is Vitamin A enriched rice wich would save *THOUSANDS* of people from startving every year... is not being used because of *PROFIT HUNGRY CAPATALISTS* who will not release the rice because of their profit motive and *IP CONCERNS*.
It is really just another example of profit whores fucking the rest of the planet... Read about it here (Skip down to "Dissemination: IP Constraints and Testing").
The whole project has been held up for years due to IP issues and legal problems.
However, I don't think Sony should be changing the acronymn to sound like their own technology. It is exactly the same thing.
OH MY GOD! sony is trying to confuse the marketplace in order to foster the appearance of them having significant technology when none exist! This is so *NOT* like sony at all!
Ever heard of Beta, MemoryStick, SuperDisk or MiniDisk? sony is the most notorious anti-comeptitive technology hording whore in the tech world. Doesnt anyone remember that a$$hole loudmouth VP "we'll block them at their HD, we'll block them at the monitor, we'll block them at the ISP" nonsense?
Remeber: sony is a member of the RIAA and MPAA and is leading the pack in fighting for the control of our general artistic culture. They dont even like CDRs for god sakes because they can be used to copy audio CDs.
I NEVER BUY ANYTHING MADE BY SONY! I tell people (because I am often asked about such things) to NEVER BUY ANYTHING MADE BY SONY! I dont care how 'cool' sonys products are (frankly I find them rather low quality and crappy for the most part (on the individual electronics end)) I will never buy a piece of sony kit. Ever. I suggest *YOU ALL* do the same.
Eventually the innovator either faces competition as efficient, or it has a monopoly.
This is where Capitalism meets the wall. What happens (and is happening all over the economy) is that Monopoly is the end of all Capitalist systems. People will argue, Russ will retort by telling me I dont understand economics, but this is what invariably happens from this point:
Few large players entrench their positions.Form Non-Competitive alliances. (ala MPAA, RIAA, BigThreeAuto).
These large players effectively raise the barrier to entry in the industry.These 'competitors' set the tone of development, control capital deployment, technological standards, prices, modes of operation, etc etc etc. They essentially become clones of one another. They then collectively hold enough power that they can prevent all challenges to their profit from the outside, be that customer dissatisfaction, government regulation, public protest et al.
One of two things happens:
Innovative Competitors Arrive and are promptly purchased
The Industry Leaders Merge -Pure Monopoly (bad product, bad service, 'high' prices, less innovation)
What most Capitalists always fail to mention during their speeches about the purity of the capitalist competition model is this inevitable end. You only need look around you. Massive corporate bodies abound. In all sectors. They are *very* powerful and are currently altering the political, social and cultural landscape to assure their survival. The WIPO, WTO, FTAA, etc etc are all bodies which purpose is to increase the 'environment' for these parasites to live. The world needs to be a homogenous market where these corporate entities set the terms of 'the deal'.
It takes money to make money. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Money loves company.
All trite examples of what Capitalism means. In 'the end' it always comes down to a Ruling Class with all 'the power' (money, votes, and puppet governments).
As long as Capitalism exists it allows an unfettered method to create a omnipotent Ruling Class.
If the 'good' of the capitalist system is to be used (efficiency through competition, innovation through competition, etc) it MUST be tempered with responsibility, public ownership, and STRONG ANTITRUST rules. Its all about balance.
What I would propose is a massive 'splitting of the top 1000 corporate entities' (generally). The working class is empowered through public ownership of all means of production (uh oh - here comes the calls from the McCarthy-ites). And Broad Public accountability and responsibility. The 'rights' of the Corporation disappear, and individuals are held personally responsible for their actions in their work lives.
We are headed down a very dangerous path right now - Massive Business interest is rolling over anything it likes with the backing of the US Government (and Military) in the relentless pursuit of 'profit'.
The planet needs new goals. We have conquered material want. Have we corrupted our culture with want and greed - people need new goals.
While I agree that this would be interesting - I would likely enjoy it very much. But it detracts from the game in two ways:
The world is then populated by 'inanimate' players - competing for the 'game resources' very ruthlessly (they are doing nothing *except* this). They would run around the game world, appearing to be 'piloted' until you tried to interact - only to be disappointed. You would eventually stop interacting.
This encourages 'PowerPlayers' or 'StatWhores' who only seek to accumulate in game 'wealth'. I am sometimes guilty of this myself - every RPGer lusts for new loot, but what of 'game play' to enrich the experience for all?
I would think that this concept of 'always on' game characters would be very intersting - if you could program them to pursue some goal and compete against other peoples creations... it would be a fun game. In a MMORPG it may not be all that terrific if it became too common.
I know the/. crowd seems to love MUDS - but I hated them because the graphics sucked... simple. Why would I pay for a text adventure that basically a fantasy story away from the ones I wrote on my C=64?. If I want a a fantasy story there are always novels.
The difference between EQ, UO and a MUD is the immersivness, level of interactivity and the 'beuty' of having a 3D(or 2D) game. I wouldnt be getting my 'moneys worth' from a game that I was essentially the Graphics Engine (my imagination). The two are not really at all comparable.
I don't see GPL'ed games working in the business world for this very reason. I know a lot of people will disagree... trust me, I don't like it either, but that's the way it works
I disagree:). This service has potential - with MMORPGs and other online immersive games becoming the future of gaming - you will definately see more of this. People will pay to play on a world with the best developed graphics, sound, story, etc. One of the reasons this will succeed is because people will be working on it full time. The time of the designers, graphics artists and musicians will be what you are paying for. And as much time as the GNU Army may have - Im sure we would all like to spend our regular work days on GPL.. we cant. But they will.
But we are forgetting the golden rule of the GPL. There will be (in theory) hundreds of coders, artists, and designers working on the free server, which should make it a better game than the pay-servers.
Whats to stop the Nevrax from re-merging 'the work of the hundreds of coders' work back into their service?
Its really sad that McCarthyism has managed to mangle your senses so much that you equate Communism in the same realm as Nazism.
Do yourself a favour - learn to understand what Communism is. Please learn what Communism really means before you continue to blasphemy and besmirch its ideals. You may be surprised to find out it is a noble and worthwhile goal. Read the Communist Manifesto yourself.
Back to Reality: The LRP could begin to include services on the dirty side of the firewall - so you could run the LRP and allow that machine to expose services to the Inet. Ive used the LRP (for a friends home network w/ DSL) and I thought it was great - but for my home network I would like to run Apache, ftp, OpenNap (whatever) on the same box... if LRP had a little more space they could set these things up for users automagically.
gorvernment used the news media like a precision weapon in control what was known, by whom and when
Its no secret to anyone who wasnt weened on American media that this is true - the 18:00 news programs are the worst offenders. Why arent *AMERICANS* capable of seeing this? When I mention it to an American they think Im nucking futz.
It couldnt be more obvious... its a goddamn circus.
Bin Laden has been using chat rooms, bulletin boards, email, and (presumably) PGP to plan his terrorist activities
Does anyone else think that America are using the "Terrorist Threat" to maintain fear in the minds of the public?
Does anyone else think that Bin Laden is some master evil mind bent on the destruction of America? -OR- is the supposed threat mainly used as a smoke screen to increase CIA, FBI etc operations, military spending, erosion of citizen rights and the like.
America is notorious for defining its self based on its present enemies - no one likes a 'bad guy' like a Yankee. It was the Square Heads and the Japs, then the Commie Reds, then Iraq, Iran and the rest of the Rag Heads, now its China and 'Terrorists'.
Why is America so pre-occupied with the people the think are 'out to get them'?
In a persons everyday life - how much time do you think is really necessary to worry about "Terrorists"? Give me a break. What a fucking joke.
Maybe Americans should stop and wonder why the world talks consistently as they do about America (over consumption, puritanism, imperialism, meddlers, etc etc). Does anyone ever think that the rest of the planet *just* might be right about this? Why must America consinstently act so contrary to the wishes of the rest of the world - and act as if they are have a divine correctness in world?
Please trust me when I say this is not flamebait or troll So if you'd like to mark it down because you dont agree with my assertions - Ill simply repost it. Ive got max karma.
Its really sad that the hardware industry cant get together long enough to build a successor to the venerable 3.5" 1.44MB floppy. Many have tried: Zip, Jazz, Sony SuperDisk but none will succeed as long as bean-counter types prevent the IP from being a non-licensed public technology.
Here we are raving about a USB flash memory unit -while i agree it is cool tech- doesnt anyone else see it as a little bit silly for us to have to take advantage of the ubiquity of USB in order to get portable media w/ >1.44MB storage?
Why cant we simply get a cheap replacement to the floppy?
Slashdot Mirror
Did anyone else see the Superman Hall of Justice* when looking at those fotos?
*isnt that what its called...
quietly captured in the dark of the night and locked in a warm cell with Christina Ricci styled nymphomaniacal fembots until they die of dehydration!
What are you saying man - waste that on Trolls!
No, please Please PLEASE do this to me! me me me me! please please please!
can anybody tell me why Napster is considered differently? as far as i can tell it's just people failing to see the parallels to existing situations only because they're ignorant of the technology.
/. crowd enjoys - I cant understand what it would be like to *not* understand how the internet works, but to hear about it day in, day out... to be forced to use it at home and work... must be terribly alienating.
Thats the issue here isnt it. This is a scary proposition. The American system seems to have a problem 'deferring' to more learned authorities. If the USPTO and the Judiciary would simply listen to the 'geeks' (us) we'd all be allot happier - but it appears that the 'status quo' has a greater ability to bend the opinions of both bodies. It is mostly a display of a corrupt and biased system - money matters. Fuck logic.
98% of the Internet Public hasnt a clue about how Napster works. Their computers are magic boxes, the Internet a sea of confusion. Its really a strange existence that the
In the past, when there were massive shifts in 'reality' and 'existence' I wonder what it was like. Meaning: When I lived in the 'country' and went to 'the city' where there were (gasp) Electric Lights(!) I wonder what it was like to be the 'country folk' who didnt understand electricity. When 'country folk' were shown Fireworks and Gunpowder in ancient China, I wonder what it would be like being the Chemist who understood how simply the concoctions were - and I think we all know what it was like to stand back with the match staring at all the 'people in amazement'... how strange that must have been. How strange *THIS* is.
The Internet is a wondrous place - but to those who understand its construction, its basic elements, us, crap like this becomes very frustrating. Illustrating the analogy to the way napster works - to a 'layman' is an exercise in patience, 'they' *DONT* have the capacity to understand... simple items of your argument would require alot of explanation/education.
Until the world at large is better equipped to make decisions to 'legislate' Internet (or computer) technology in general - we can expect to see more rulings like these.
The only bad part about this, is that the Bourgeoisie that rule in America will have a chance to maintain the status-quo by buying favoritism long enough to ensure their future survival.
This ultimately is a display of a rigid, corrupt system incapable of 'new thinking'. America is growing more intolerant by the day - Technology issues will become a Pandora's Box of illogical/non-sensical legislation in the USA as an ignorant public is manipulated by lies.
Really very sad for Americans
One of my girlfriends
/. user has *many* gfriends. So - is the rest of your article pure fabrication?
I knew you were a liar right after that... no
;)
There are 'promotion' companies that set the playlist for radio stations.. Your right.
The radio station play it, and it's a hit. Other stations ask for the song does not happen
Instant-on PCs anyone
You guys turn your PCs off?
I hate big corporations, and I love the little guy, et cetera, but bigger government is not the way to go. Government power always ends up serving the powerful.
I agree - but I think we've moved into a new era where the US Government isnt even pretending to be a Free Democratic Government. "They" have abandoned the 'facade' of trying to run the country to improve the community/society.
Instead the US Gov. only concerns itself with dividing the spoils of capatalist exploitation.
I would be happy to see an end to Corporate Welfare (and end of 'Corporate Rights') and a *VERY* dramatic increase in 'Citizen Protection' Legislation (to protect environment, workers rights, etc) and a *DRAMATIC* increase in the power and scope of Anti-Trust laws.
Sorry - I remember getting 4,0012 points once. Just after I ran that perfect Pitfall game... yeah. yeah.
genetically modified rice has met what they're calling "consumer resistance". That means the people who need it are not buying it
/. - it is Vitamin A enriched rice wich would save *THOUSANDS* of people from startving every year... is not being used because of *PROFIT HUNGRY CAPATALISTS* who will not release the rice because of their profit motive and *IP CONCERNS*.
That is *WRONG*! What you are refering to is 'Golden Rice' - I believe it has been mentioned here on
It is really just another example of profit whores fucking the rest of the planet... Read about it here (Skip down to "Dissemination: IP Constraints and Testing").
The whole project has been held up for years due to IP issues and legal problems.
Any recommendations
Switch to Linux.
However, I don't think Sony should be changing the acronymn to sound like their own technology. It is exactly the same thing.
OH MY GOD! sony is trying to confuse the marketplace in order to foster the appearance of them having significant technology when none exist! This is so *NOT* like sony at all!
Ever heard of Beta, MemoryStick, SuperDisk or MiniDisk? sony is the most notorious anti-comeptitive technology hording whore in the tech world. Doesnt anyone remember that a$$hole loudmouth VP "we'll block them at their HD, we'll block them at the monitor, we'll block them at the ISP" nonsense?
Remeber: sony is a member of the RIAA and MPAA and is leading the pack in fighting for the control of our general artistic culture. They dont even like CDRs for god sakes because they can be used to copy audio CDs.
I NEVER BUY ANYTHING MADE BY SONY! I tell people (because I am often asked about such things) to NEVER BUY ANYTHING MADE BY SONY! I dont care how 'cool' sonys products are (frankly I find them rather low quality and crappy for the most part (on the individual electronics end)) I will never buy a piece of sony kit. Ever. I suggest *YOU ALL* do the same.
This is where Capitalism meets the wall. What happens (and is happening all over the economy) is that Monopoly is the end of all Capitalist systems. People will argue, Russ will retort by telling me I dont understand economics, but this is what invariably happens from this point:
Few large players entrench their positions.Form Non-Competitive alliances. (ala MPAA, RIAA, BigThreeAuto).
These large players effectively raise the barrier to entry in the industry.These 'competitors' set the tone of development, control capital deployment, technological standards, prices, modes of operation, etc etc etc. They essentially become clones of one another. They then collectively hold enough power that they can prevent all challenges to their profit from the outside, be that customer dissatisfaction, government regulation, public protest et al.
One of two things happens:
What most Capitalists always fail to mention during their speeches about the purity of the capitalist competition model is this inevitable end. You only need look around you. Massive corporate bodies abound. In all sectors. They are *very* powerful and are currently altering the political, social and cultural landscape to assure their survival. The WIPO, WTO, FTAA, etc etc are all bodies which purpose is to increase the 'environment' for these parasites to live. The world needs to be a homogenous market where these corporate entities set the terms of 'the deal'.
It takes money to make money. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Money loves company.
All trite examples of what Capitalism means. In 'the end' it always comes down to a Ruling Class with all 'the power' (money, votes, and puppet governments).
As long as Capitalism exists it allows an unfettered method to create a omnipotent Ruling Class.
If the 'good' of the capitalist system is to be used (efficiency through competition, innovation through competition, etc) it MUST be tempered with responsibility, public ownership, and STRONG ANTITRUST rules. Its all about balance.
What I would propose is a massive 'splitting of the top 1000 corporate entities' (generally). The working class is empowered through public ownership of all means of production (uh oh - here comes the calls from the McCarthy-ites). And Broad Public accountability and responsibility. The 'rights' of the Corporation disappear, and individuals are held personally responsible for their actions in their work lives.
We are headed down a very dangerous path right now - Massive Business interest is rolling over anything it likes with the backing of the US Government (and Military) in the relentless pursuit of 'profit'.
The planet needs new goals. We have conquered material want. Have we corrupted our culture with want and greed - people need new goals.
Ok - Im done preaching... flamesuit(on).
Ok - thats a good idea ;) I was actually thought the same thing - but was intersted in making my point. Which is still somewhat true.
The world is then populated by 'inanimate' players - competing for the 'game resources' very ruthlessly (they are doing nothing *except* this). They would run around the game world, appearing to be 'piloted' until you tried to interact - only to be disappointed. You would eventually stop interacting.
This encourages 'PowerPlayers' or 'StatWhores' who only seek to accumulate in game 'wealth'. I am sometimes guilty of this myself - every RPGer lusts for new loot, but what of 'game play' to enrich the experience for all?
I would think that this concept of 'always on' game characters would be very intersting - if you could program them to pursue some goal and compete against other peoples creations... it would be a fun game. In a MMORPG it may not be all that terrific if it became too common.
Here is Google's cache of Nevrax's index.html and that news link.
Right - but the real product in this case will be the service... which you tried to refute....
This is just like pay-per-play muds
/. crowd seems to love MUDS - but I hated them because the graphics sucked... simple. Why would I pay for a text adventure that basically a fantasy story away from the ones I wrote on my C=64?. If I want a a fantasy story there are always novels.
:). This service has potential - with MMORPGs and other online immersive games becoming the future of gaming - you will definately see more of this. People will pay to play on a world with the best developed graphics, sound, story, etc. One of the reasons this will succeed is because people will be working on it full time. The time of the designers, graphics artists and musicians will be what you are paying for. And as much time as the GNU Army may have - Im sure we would all like to spend our regular work days on GPL.. we cant. But they will.
I know the
The difference between EQ, UO and a MUD is the immersivness, level of interactivity and the 'beuty' of having a 3D(or 2D) game. I wouldnt be getting my 'moneys worth' from a game that I was essentially the Graphics Engine (my imagination). The two are not really at all comparable.
I don't see GPL'ed games working in the business world for this very reason. I know a lot of people will disagree... trust me, I don't like it either, but that's the way it works
I disagree
But we are forgetting the golden rule of the GPL. There will be (in theory) hundreds of coders, artists, and designers working on the free server, which should make it a better game than the pay-servers.
Whats to stop the Nevrax from re-merging 'the work of the hundreds of coders' work back into their service?
How about Box.NET?
Nazi and communist propaganda
Its really sad that McCarthyism has managed to mangle your senses so much that you equate Communism in the same realm as Nazism.
Do yourself a favour - learn to understand what Communism is. Please learn what Communism really means before you continue to blasphemy and besmirch its ideals. You may be surprised to find out it is a noble and worthwhile goal. Read the Communist Manifesto yourself.
Back to Reality: The LRP could begin to include services on the dirty side of the firewall - so you could run the LRP and allow that machine to expose services to the Inet. Ive used the LRP (for a friends home network w/ DSL) and I thought it was great - but for my home network I would like to run Apache, ftp, OpenNap (whatever) on the same box... if LRP had a little more space they could set these things up for users automagically.
gorvernment used the news media like a precision weapon in control what was known, by whom and when
Its no secret to anyone who wasnt weened on American media that this is true - the 18:00 news programs are the worst offenders. Why arent *AMERICANS* capable of seeing this? When I mention it to an American they think Im nucking futz.
It couldnt be more obvious... its a goddamn circus.
used in moderation any technology can be a good thing
May have been better to say "used with wisdom and responsibility any technology can be a good thing
its not always an issue of quantity... just picking nits....
Bin Laden has been using chat rooms, bulletin boards, email, and (presumably) PGP to plan his terrorist activities
Does anyone else think that America are using the "Terrorist Threat" to maintain fear in the minds of the public?
Does anyone else think that Bin Laden is some master evil mind bent on the destruction of America? -OR- is the supposed threat mainly used as a smoke screen to increase CIA, FBI etc operations, military spending, erosion of citizen rights and the like.
America is notorious for defining its self based on its present enemies - no one likes a 'bad guy' like a Yankee. It was the Square Heads and the Japs, then the Commie Reds, then Iraq, Iran and the rest of the Rag Heads, now its China and 'Terrorists'.
Why is America so pre-occupied with the people the think are 'out to get them'?
In a persons everyday life - how much time do you think is really necessary to worry about "Terrorists"? Give me a break. What a fucking joke.
Maybe Americans should stop and wonder why the world talks consistently as they do about America (over consumption, puritanism, imperialism, meddlers, etc etc). Does anyone ever think that the rest of the planet *just* might be right about this? Why must America consinstently act so contrary to the wishes of the rest of the world - and act as if they are have a divine correctness in world?
Please trust me when I say this is not flamebait or troll So if you'd like to mark it down because you dont agree with my assertions - Ill simply repost it. Ive got max karma.
Its really sad that the hardware industry cant get together long enough to build a successor to the venerable 3.5" 1.44MB floppy. Many have tried: Zip, Jazz, Sony SuperDisk but none will succeed as long as bean-counter types prevent the IP from being a non-licensed public technology.
Here we are raving about a USB flash memory unit -while i agree it is cool tech- doesnt anyone else see it as a little bit silly for us to have to take advantage of the ubiquity of USB in order to get portable media w/ >1.44MB storage?
Why cant we simply get a cheap replacement to the floppy?
... lets not forget about the children. Wont sombody please think of the chillllddddrren...