Don't be so quick to assume that people can't act selflessly. It is rare, but exceptions exist and they make all the difference.
I wish I had the balls to become a martyr for my beliefs like TPB guys -- a fate that Assange will also meet in the end, perhaps in a much bloodier way.
Obama won the throne by flaunting left-wing extremism, but his actions indicate a right-wing agenda that matches Dubya's, if not worse. At the end of the day, all big politicians are the same politician -- we'll be stuck going downhill as long as people are naive and gullible enough to vote for that same guy. As Orwell put it:
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
The sentence of 46 million crowns in damages is simply outside any Swedish legal practice.
The trial may have taken place in Sweden, but this was not a Swedish verdict. It was a verdict bought and paid for by the international copyright cartel, meant to show everyone who really calls the shots. You can think of it as them "going medieval", cutting off the head and limbs of the perpetrators and shipping them off to all corners of the kingdom to be put up on display, as a warning to any other foolish peasants who may decide to stand up to their masters' iron rule.
FedEx CEO gets called in the middle of the night.
"Yeah, uh, boss..."
"*Yawn* Just spit it out, man."
"It's about the rods, sir."
"The rods?"
"The radioactive rods, sir."
"What %$^&ing idiot would send radioactive rods through FedEx, anyway? So, what about the radioactive rods?"
"S-sir... We lost them, sir."
"%$^&."
Even though freedom of speech is not written down like in the constitution, I'm sure it is still a valued right of the British people. We'll have to wait and see whether they'll cry foul over this, or whether they'll complacently sit back and allow their government to censor their internets.
I disagree. Ridiculously big budgets are killing games, just like they are killing movies and music. The more money there is on the line, the more pressure there is on the creators to go with a tried and tested formula, in the hope they can minimise the risk. In other words, the variety and creativity from the early days of computer gaming is being sucked out by the games industry.
If one wants to see something fresh, indie games are the way to go (World of Goo, Osmos, Amnesia, Minecraft). Adventure games from smaller European companies can also be quite good (The Longest Journey, Black Mirror... check out www.adventuregamers.com).
This is not to say that no worthwhile games are being published through the industry. The problem is, the non-clones usually remain obscure because they don't receive the advertising budgets of the clones.
That will be terrible, but the timing will likely coincide with Cameron's reform of copyright law. If all the musicians affected become disillusioned with the current label/rightsholders/copyright regime that put them in such a miserable situation, they may lobby for drastic changes. That's the silver lining, and here's to hoping.
ATK lobbied for the laws, and now NASA is trying to circumvent the laws (read: circumvent ATK's monopoly), so ATK's bought congressmen are crying foul to preserve ATK's profits. All is well in capitalist America.
"There's a lot to be said for having faith in users to make best use of their computer, without pushing and pulling them in ways you think are best for them."
He said that about an Apple product??? Believe me, in the past the limits imposed on tablet users were mostly because of limitations in the technology; with Apple it's blatantly lack of faith in users to make best use of their computer, by pushing and pulling them in ways they think are best for them.
And no, I don't often partake in Apple bashing, but come on!
This is only news because the rights holders have been unable to make a rational business decision for such a long time, while the fans have been forced to cater to their own needs. It's much more interesting to know that the Beatles recordings will start entering the public domain in 2012.
Suing high-school students and grandmas encourages the arts and sciences?? It's one thing to allow creators to derive some benefits from the work, but it's an altogether different thing letting publishers put all culture behind a paywall for more than a century while instating draconian laws to protect their profits.
If content creators could see what copyright has become today they'd be seething with anger.
I'm 100% sure that nvidia already has GPU accelerated video encoding products on the market, and I know they've been around for years (but I don't know how long exactly). A quick search reveals that Geforce 6 may have had GPU video encoding capabilities (released Apr 2004)...
Whatever the case, it's really shitty for nvidia, considering they already have products, and Microsoft will then come along and ask them for money, even though they still don't have anything of the sort except a piece of paper that says they own the idea.
The patent was filed in 2004, and there must be loads of prior art. Companies such as Nvidia and ATI have had GPU-accelerated video encoders for years now.
Regardless, this patent should never have been granted. It's all because of the patent office's massive backlog, and their decision to accept every random patent to reduce it.
It's always the lawyers who win. Always the lawyers.
The RIAA fighting piracy? Lawyers make millions. Microsoft asserting its software patents? Lawyers make millions. Porn studios want to sue a bunch of people? They call Andrew Crossley. Layers make millions. Andrew Crossley leaks the database of his victims? Sue him. Lawyers make millions. Someone calls you a dick on the internet? Sue him. Lawyers make millions. A hospital patient dies? Sue the doctors! Lawyers make millions. etc etc etc
Where does all that money come from? Of course, we as good little consumers and taxpayers, pay for everything. It's not the shareholders that lose money -- companies have an obligation to keep them happy -- but they have no obligation towards their customers or any need to keep prices reasonable.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't be so quick to assume that people can't act selflessly. It is rare, but exceptions exist and they make all the difference.
I wish I had the balls to become a martyr for my beliefs like TPB guys -- a fate that Assange will also meet in the end, perhaps in a much bloodier way.
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
The sentence of 46 million crowns in damages is simply outside any Swedish legal practice.
The trial may have taken place in Sweden, but this was not a Swedish verdict. It was a verdict bought and paid for by the international copyright cartel, meant to show everyone who really calls the shots. You can think of it as them "going medieval", cutting off the head and limbs of the perpetrators and shipping them off to all corners of the kingdom to be put up on display, as a warning to any other foolish peasants who may decide to stand up to their masters' iron rule.
FedEx CEO gets called in the middle of the night.
"Yeah, uh, boss..."
"*Yawn* Just spit it out, man."
"It's about the rods, sir."
"The rods?"
"The radioactive rods, sir."
"What %$^&ing idiot would send radioactive rods through FedEx, anyway? So, what about the radioactive rods?"
"S-sir... We lost them, sir."
"%$^&."
Even though freedom of speech is not written down like in the constitution, I'm sure it is still a valued right of the British people. We'll have to wait and see whether they'll cry foul over this, or whether they'll complacently sit back and allow their government to censor their internets.
Oh teh noes! The junkies killed Mrs Pacman.
I disagree. Ridiculously big budgets are killing games, just like they are killing movies and music. The more money there is on the line, the more pressure there is on the creators to go with a tried and tested formula, in the hope they can minimise the risk. In other words, the variety and creativity from the early days of computer gaming is being sucked out by the games industry.
If one wants to see something fresh, indie games are the way to go (World of Goo, Osmos, Amnesia, Minecraft). Adventure games from smaller European companies can also be quite good (The Longest Journey, Black Mirror... check out www.adventuregamers.com).
This is not to say that no worthwhile games are being published through the industry. The problem is, the non-clones usually remain obscure because they don't receive the advertising budgets of the clones.
My 2c.
That will be terrible, but the timing will likely coincide with Cameron's reform of copyright law. If all the musicians affected become disillusioned with the current label/rightsholders/copyright regime that put them in such a miserable situation, they may lobby for drastic changes. That's the silver lining, and here's to hoping.
O:P have replied to the Pirate Parties (link to pdf on their website), and basically told them to F off.
I was being sarcastic. All is obviously not well when even the laws are for sale.
It'll have to happen when China's pigs start flying.
That's bollocks. You can never have enough testicles!
ATK lobbied for the laws, and now NASA is trying to circumvent the laws (read: circumvent ATK's monopoly), so ATK's bought congressmen are crying foul to preserve ATK's profits. All is well in capitalist America.
"There's a lot to be said for having faith in users to make best use of their computer, without pushing and pulling them in ways you think are best for them."
He said that about an Apple product??? Believe me, in the past the limits imposed on tablet users were mostly because of limitations in the technology; with Apple it's blatantly lack of faith in users to make best use of their computer, by pushing and pulling them in ways they think are best for them.
And no, I don't often partake in Apple bashing, but come on!
... = 2012. What's your point?
Not if you are in the UK, where it's 50 years from creation of the recording.
This is only news because the rights holders have been unable to make a rational business decision for such a long time, while the fans have been forced to cater to their own needs. It's much more interesting to know that the Beatles recordings will start entering the public domain in 2012.
To boldly go where no man has gone before! Wouldn't really mind dying if this is the way I go.
Suing high-school students and grandmas encourages the arts and sciences?? It's one thing to allow creators to derive some benefits from the work, but it's an altogether different thing letting publishers put all culture behind a paywall for more than a century while instating draconian laws to protect their profits.
If content creators could see what copyright has become today they'd be seething with anger.
This is what copyright law was intended for, not for going after high-school students and grandmas.
Microsoft's Windows activation thing could become even more annoying in the future.
For that matter, you could even throw in IBM Symphony (based on Openoffice).
I'm 100% sure that nvidia already has GPU accelerated video encoding products on the market, and I know they've been around for years (but I don't know how long exactly). A quick search reveals that Geforce 6 may have had GPU video encoding capabilities (released Apr 2004)...
Whatever the case, it's really shitty for nvidia, considering they already have products, and Microsoft will then come along and ask them for money, even though they still don't have anything of the sort except a piece of paper that says they own the idea.
The patent was filed in 2004, and there must be loads of prior art. Companies such as Nvidia and ATI have had GPU-accelerated video encoders for years now.
Regardless, this patent should never have been granted. It's all because of the patent office's massive backlog, and their decision to accept every random patent to reduce it.
It's always the lawyers who win. Always the lawyers.
The RIAA fighting piracy? Lawyers make millions. Microsoft asserting its software patents? Lawyers make millions. Porn studios want to sue a bunch of people? They call Andrew Crossley. Layers make millions. Andrew Crossley leaks the database of his victims? Sue him. Lawyers make millions. Someone calls you a dick on the internet? Sue him. Lawyers make millions. A hospital patient dies? Sue the doctors! Lawyers make millions. etc etc etc
Where does all that money come from? Of course, we as good little consumers and taxpayers, pay for everything. It's not the shareholders that lose money -- companies have an obligation to keep them happy -- but they have no obligation towards their customers or any need to keep prices reasonable.