So Americans have to work 20+ years with a company to get the standard holiday allowance for a European in their first year on the job.
Yes, but we Americans take more frequent short vacations throughout the year (extended weekends and such) rather than taking an entire month off, causing a sharp dip in productivity and leaving our elderly parents to die in the heatwave.
Say what you will about the American work ethic, but we are at the top of many of the world's major industries. That didn't happen by chance.
Download the music you like without getting caught, and then cut a $12 check made out to the band. Send it to their "fan club" address. Enclose a note saying you appreciate their work and would rather they get the whole 12$ rather than the meager pennies left over by the "man"
It's a nice "feel-good" maneuver, but totally pointless. The band's fan club representatives have no legal authority to accept payment for the band's audio recordings. In most cases the artist doesn't even own them.
Best-case scenario here is that no one tries to cash your check. Worst case is, the label gets an admission from you that you took a copy of their content without paying them for it and goes after you.
Johnny Slashdot still doesn't get it. This patent covers A censorware system. Not every censorware system. Not the concept of a censorware system. Just the implementation they have come up with.
Several aspects of this system are obvious and pre-existing, yes. But that doesn't mean the entire system is obvious or pre-existing. Combining existing components in a unique way has always been a form of innovation (and I don't mean in the sarcastic, Microsoft sense of the word).
"Why, the fax machine is nothing more than a toaster with a phone attached!"
If anyone would like to learn more about how technologies originally developed for the miliary have found their way into everyday civilian use, the program Tactical to Practical premieres tonight on the History Channel, 9PM Eastern.
Actually, Outland started with just Ronald-Ann from the Bloom County strip, plus Mortimer Mouse and few other all-new characters. But it wasn't long before Opus and the rest made their way in.
Public perception is that file sharing is NOT illegal.
Public perception is also that people don't want the government to devote their tax monies to things they find personally objectionable (military, social programs, corporate welfare, arts, whatever), but I don't think we're going to see taxes become optional any time soon.
If you don't believe a law is just, it's your civic responsibility to petition lawmakers to change the law. It is not sufficient to simply behave as if the law does not apply to you.
[re: Visual Studio] You have intellesense statement completion, automatic code formatting and highlighting, and intelligent help that will pull full documentation on any statement you are typing with one click.
So?
EMACS has all these things too, plus it will make coffee for you!
Then I want my money back for all of the piece-of-shit CD's I purchased because I had no means of sampling the music first due to them prohibiting me from listing before buying.
Um, what. Almost every record store I've been to in the past 5 years will let you listen to a CD before you buy it. If your local record stores don't, Amazon.com and other major online stores have audio samples.
After that, I want my money back from the illegal price fixing that has gone on for years.
If you believe you have evidence that the record companies have colluded to fix prices, take it to court. Y'know, exactly like how the labels are taking file-sharers to court because they believe they have evidence of illegal behavior.
Additionally I want my money back on crap CD's I bought that had noise added in to the songs to make MP3's I burned useless.
Sounds like you got discs that could be considered 'defective' (whether the RIAA agrees with that conclusion or not). You should have returned them and got your money back. But you didn't even try, did you? Actually, you probably never even bought any discs that behaved this way.
Finally, I want an apology from the execs themselves for all of the misery I have to endure when flipping through the radio channels and I hear the SAME music for the past 5 years with an occasional new tune thrown in for a little spice.
I guess you should also get an apology from the manufacturers of your radio, which somehow was designed without a power switch.
Here are some quotes by judges I've actually witnessed in court
1. Who are you and why were you present in the courtroom, 2. Why should we take your quotes out of context, at face value, and 3. What were the ultimate outcomes of these cases?
So, not only are we supposed to accept that DirecTV is trying to act as both the executive and judicial branches of government by both serving the warrants and imposing a judgement in the form of a 3500.00 "fine"
NO.
If you think you're not guilty of what DirecTV accuses you of, you reject the "fine" [sic] and go to court and argue your case there. Try rejecting an actual court decision like that -- you'll be jailed like you were an Alabama Chief Justice.
So if I read this correctly, if you want to extort somebody in California, you just have to make sure that the threat is one of being sued. That way your extortion threat is "in connection with litigation" and therefore "constitutionally-protected."
As it should be.
"We believe you have wronged us, pay us or we'll ask the court to confirm your obligation to pay us" is okay.
"Pay us now or we'll break your kneecaps" is unequivocally extortion.
Filing a lawsuit (at least, filing a lawsuit with merit) is not a punitive action.
Why do I have to prove that I own my music? It is their responsability to prove that I don't own it. WTF?
That only applies in court -- and really, only in criminal court.
If they think you're in violation of their copyright, they can take you to court. At which point, you can prove your innocence by demonstrating ownership of all the allegedly infringing files.
The case is dismissed, and you end up paying thousands of dollars in legal fees because the DMCA is a bad piece of legislation that allows the plaintiffs in such lawsuits to recover legal fees but not the defendants.
Not necessarily. Just because a resource can be read from doesn't mean it can be written to. With proper design... Oh -- we're talking about Diebold? Nevermind...
It has to be remembered also, lowering prices to $12.98 or $9.99 or $6.99 won't make a difference if there's nothing people want to purchase at that price point.
Almost every record store I've been to has a "budget" section, consisting mostly of K-Tel style knockoff collections and Naxos classical CDs recorded by orchestras and conductors unknown outside of the Soviet Bloc. When was the last time you even looked in this section, much less bought anything from it?
All this talk about mailing money directly to the artists as a way of bypassing the RIAA middlemen... how exactly do people think this will work?
For one, it's a bad idea to confess in your letter to them that you downloaded the music instead of buying it -- if the label gets a hold of your letter, they could come after you and you'd have no defense. Send money under the pretense of a 'donation', not as 'payment' for purchase of a recording the artist themselves probably has no copyright claim to.
If you send cash, which the Post Office will advise you strongly not to do, there's no way of knowing whose pocket the money actually ends up in. I'm guessing the average artist contracted to the big labels doesn't exactly read each piece of mail sent to them themselves.
If you write a check for $2 and mail that, it will cost the artists' financial planners more to process and record the transaction than it's worth. Who do you make the check out to, anyway? Come to think of it, what address do you mail this payment to?
It's a nice idea but I can't see it working except for relatively unknown acts, who are more likely to release their music on a fair and independent label anyway
Just because you think "loud" when you hear nine fans doesn't mean they're actually any louder than anything else. You're spreading FUD.
Furthermore, what does it matter if a supercomputer (I use that term loosely, please don't bother getting pedantic about it) is loud or not? The typical server room IS loud -- if the computer systems aren't making noise, the HVAC systems are. It's a red herring.
Slashdot Mirror
All the males who filled out this salary survey also have eight-to-ten inch penises, too.
So Americans have to work 20+ years with a company to get the standard holiday allowance for a European in their first year on the job.
Yes, but we Americans take more frequent short vacations throughout the year (extended weekends and such) rather than taking an entire month off, causing a sharp dip in productivity and leaving our elderly parents to die in the heatwave.
Say what you will about the American work ethic, but we are at the top of many of the world's major industries. That didn't happen by chance.
Download the music you like without getting caught, and then cut a $12 check made out to the band. Send it to their "fan club" address. Enclose a note saying you appreciate their work and would rather they get the whole 12$ rather than the meager pennies left over by the "man"
It's a nice "feel-good" maneuver, but totally pointless. The band's fan club representatives have no legal authority to accept payment for the band's audio recordings. In most cases the artist doesn't even own them.
Best-case scenario here is that no one tries to cash your check. Worst case is, the label gets an admission from you that you took a copy of their content without paying them for it and goes after you.
Or was that quote a pre-fab'd one they told her to say?
It was almost certainly specified in the settlement agreement that she had to make a public statement like the one above.
I'd be surprised if 50 Cent even saw fifty cents from this and other file-sharing settlements.
The RIAA represents the labels, not the artists.
Johnny Slashdot still doesn't get it. This patent covers A censorware system. Not every censorware system. Not the concept of a censorware system. Just the implementation they have come up with.
Several aspects of this system are obvious and pre-existing, yes. But that doesn't mean the entire system is obvious or pre-existing. Combining existing components in a unique way has always been a form of innovation (and I don't mean in the sarcastic, Microsoft sense of the word).
"Why, the fax machine is nothing more than a toaster with a phone attached!"
If anyone would like to learn more about how technologies originally developed for the miliary have found their way into everyday civilian use, the program Tactical to Practical premieres tonight on the History Channel, 9PM Eastern.
Actually, Outland started with just Ronald-Ann from the Bloom County strip, plus Mortimer Mouse and few other all-new characters. But it wasn't long before Opus and the rest made their way in.
Public perception is that file sharing is NOT illegal.
Public perception is also that people don't want the government to devote their tax monies to things they find personally objectionable (military, social programs, corporate welfare, arts, whatever), but I don't think we're going to see taxes become optional any time soon.
If you don't believe a law is just, it's your civic responsibility to petition lawmakers to change the law. It is not sufficient to simply behave as if the law does not apply to you.
[re: Visual Studio] You have intellesense statement completion, automatic code formatting and highlighting, and intelligent help that will pull full documentation on any statement you are typing with one click.
So?
EMACS has all these things too, plus it will make coffee for you!
Opening a piece of US Mail not addressed to you is a felony, whether the envelope is sitting in your private home mailbox or on your bosses desk.
Business mail isn't addressed to YOU, though. It's addressed to you IN CARE OF the company you work for -- it's their postal address, isn't it?
Then I want my money back for all of the piece-of-shit CD's I purchased because I had no means of sampling the music first due to them prohibiting me from listing before buying.
Um, what. Almost every record store I've been to in the past 5 years will let you listen to a CD before you buy it. If your local record stores don't, Amazon.com and other major online stores have audio samples.
After that, I want my money back from the illegal price fixing that has gone on for years.
If you believe you have evidence that the record companies have colluded to fix prices, take it to court. Y'know, exactly like how the labels are taking file-sharers to court because they believe they have evidence of illegal behavior.
Additionally I want my money back on crap CD's I bought that had noise added in to the songs to make MP3's I burned useless.
Sounds like you got discs that could be considered 'defective' (whether the RIAA agrees with that conclusion or not). You should have returned them and got your money back. But you didn't even try, did you? Actually, you probably never even bought any discs that behaved this way.
Finally, I want an apology from the execs themselves for all of the misery I have to endure when flipping through the radio channels and I hear the SAME music for the past 5 years with an occasional new tune thrown in for a little spice.
I guess you should also get an apology from the manufacturers of your radio, which somehow was designed without a power switch.
KILL YOUR RADIO.
Here are some quotes by judges I've actually witnessed in court
1. Who are you and why were you present in the courtroom,
2. Why should we take your quotes out of context, at face value, and
3. What were the ultimate outcomes of these cases?
So, not only are we supposed to accept that DirecTV is trying to act as both the executive and judicial branches of government by both serving the warrants and imposing a judgement in the form of a 3500.00 "fine"
NO.
If you think you're not guilty of what DirecTV accuses you of, you reject the "fine" [sic] and go to court and argue your case there. Try rejecting an actual court decision like that -- you'll be jailed like you were an Alabama Chief Justice.
This is nothing like what you say it is.
So if I read this correctly, if you want to extort somebody in California, you just have to make sure that the threat is one of being sued. That way your extortion threat is "in connection with litigation" and therefore "constitutionally-protected."
As it should be.
"We believe you have wronged us, pay us or we'll ask the court to confirm your obligation to pay us" is okay.
"Pay us now or we'll break your kneecaps" is unequivocally extortion.
Filing a lawsuit (at least, filing a lawsuit with merit) is not a punitive action.
You say that the "high" cost of CD's is price gouging. You also explain that the same music is available on cassette and/or LPs for less money.
How can it be price gouging if lower-priced reasonable alternatives exist?
Why do I have to prove that I own my music? It is their responsability to prove that I don't own it. WTF?
That only applies in court -- and really, only in criminal court.
If they think you're in violation of their copyright, they can take you to court. At which point, you can prove your innocence by demonstrating ownership of all the allegedly infringing files.
The case is dismissed, and you end up paying thousands of dollars in legal fees because the DMCA is a bad piece of legislation that allows the plaintiffs in such lawsuits to recover legal fees but not the defendants.
They should also put a $10 bill in the jewelcase of each custom disc you order as a token of appreciation!
And the CDs themselves should be diamond-encrusted so if you get tired of listening to them, you can use them as blades in your circular saw!
And when they ship the CDs to you, they should pack them in Chee-tos instead of foam peanuts so you have something to eat while you listen!
Not necessarily. Just because a resource can be read from doesn't mean it can be written to. With proper design...
Oh -- we're talking about Diebold? Nevermind...
But all they'd have to do is `chmod -w *`...
Oh -- we're talking about Diebold.
I would only get one of these if the Theme From Spy Hunter (aka "Peter Gunn") played constantly as I drove it.
It has to be remembered also, lowering prices to $12.98 or $9.99 or $6.99 won't make a difference if there's nothing people want to purchase at that price point.
Almost every record store I've been to has a "budget" section, consisting mostly of K-Tel style knockoff collections and Naxos classical CDs recorded by orchestras and conductors unknown outside of the Soviet Bloc. When was the last time you even looked in this section, much less bought anything from it?
Rather than making 90,000% profit on $0.02 worth of plastic, they're taking it in the shorts with a measly 65,000% profit.
You stupid asshole, it costs more than 2 cents to create a CD. Does music just grow on trees in your fantasy world?
Studio time, equipment, session musicians, engineers, producers, mastering... all these things cost money. Try making a CD without any of them.
All this talk about mailing money directly to the artists as a way of bypassing the RIAA middlemen... how exactly do people think this will work?
For one, it's a bad idea to confess in your letter to them that you downloaded the music instead of buying it -- if the label gets a hold of your letter, they could come after you and you'd have no defense. Send money under the pretense of a 'donation', not as 'payment' for purchase of a recording the artist themselves probably has no copyright claim to.
If you send cash, which the Post Office will advise you strongly not to do, there's no way of knowing whose pocket the money actually ends up in. I'm guessing the average artist contracted to the big labels doesn't exactly read each piece of mail sent to them themselves.
If you write a check for $2 and mail that, it will cost the artists' financial planners more to process and record the transaction than it's worth. Who do you make the check out to, anyway?
Come to think of it, what address do you mail this payment to?
It's a nice idea but I can't see it working except for relatively unknown acts, who are more likely to release their music on a fair and independent label anyway
Just because you think "loud" when you hear nine fans doesn't mean they're actually any louder than anything else. You're spreading FUD.
Furthermore, what does it matter if a supercomputer (I use that term loosely, please don't bother getting pedantic about it) is loud or not? The typical server room IS loud -- if the computer systems aren't making noise, the HVAC systems are. It's a red herring.
lots of companies don't pay invoices unless they quote a purchase order number which matches the invoiced amount to within 5%
Note to self: overcharge my corporate customers by four percent every time.