Absolutely. I think that the Uniform Commercial Code that everyone pretty much hates, has few good parts that may help protect us. Try reading back a couple of my previous comments on the issue. I really hope UCITA dies a painful and public death(in court, I want the icing on the cake too!)
A while back, there was a case of people buying computers, rejecting the Win95orWin98(?) EULA, and then returning it to microsoft for a refund. To my knowledge, they got their money back.
Wrong. The UCC, passed by all 50 states says that a form-agreement is a type of contract where you get no negotiations. Either you accept, or you decline.
The legally binding part is untested, however, for the most part; I'd think they'd be found legal. There are few clauses which I think would be(or should be) found illegal.
You fail to see one major difference between regulation types:
Those, where the consumer has a choice:
*software*,food,housing,movie theatres,car manufactureres
Those, where the consumer has no choice:
gas,water,sewer,electicity!($$$),gasoline
When the customer has a choice, often competition breeds excellence; producing a better product. However, when the recipient has no choice, there is no motivation for improvement. Unfortunately, microsoft has been in the "No choice" category for years, letting them do almost anything. When people start to get more viable choices, again, market competition will start to affect them.
The Mass-Market License. The license is the agreement that gives you the right to use the software (or other information). A mass-market license is a standard-form, non-negotiable, license.7 For example, consider a mass-marketed word processing program. A company that sold (licenses for) a million copies of a $100 program could not afford to negotiate a separate contract for each. The price would have to rise to reflect the cost of all the bargaining. Instead, companies use standard-form contracts. The UCC8 provides some protections from unfairly one-sided terms in the forms. Additional protections come from consumer-protection laws passed by the Federal and State Governments. Consumer protection laws are confusing because the definition of "consumer" varies. A self-employed professional writer could probably treat Brand X Word Processor as consumer goods under the Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act9 but not under State law definitions that restrict "consumer goods" to those bought for personal, family or household (but not any form of business) use. The mass-market license concept skips this confusion by treating everyone who buys a product that has a mass-market license in the same way.
[/summary]
This is supposed to keep us from being bound by unfair agreements. It, obviously isn't doing it's job. However, it could be cited in cases involving software contracts, seeing as the UCC has been passed in part, or in whole, by all 50 states.
I think most courts would find most EULA's within a companies right under current contract law. This would merely set the precedent for future cases in those states.
Moral of the story:
*Pick your fights carefully*
We don't want to set precedent against ourselves.
Most EULA's contain clauses which state that your usage of their software indicates your agreement to the formentioned EULA. A EULA is a legally binding contract, and if you use a companies software, you 'get your hands tied'.
I think one thing we all need to focus on are unreasonable terms, such as Microsoft disallowing the usage of Open Source software on.net or the public criticism of a software company. We need what you describe, desperately. I'm not a *big goverment* kind of guy, but there are times when intervention is necessary. Has anyone actually read a Hotmail agreement recently? You'd think that'd be enough to scare off any avid Microsoft fan; but I guess not.
Yes you could GPL it yourself. However, the BSD license would be excluded. On the page itself, it says that the only submissions that will be accepted are GPL'd.
Who said anything abou ARPANET? I did already know this. That was merely one facet of DARPA. They've had a hell of a lot more projects than just 'the internet'.
NASA has never done anything to disuade private industry from joining in the fun. I do think that the useless shuttle launches are a big waste of money. I however, do not feel that the ISS is a waste of money. I really hope it gets finished in a timely manner.
IMO, NASA needs to focus on new technologies. Right now, R&D is expensive because it costs so much to get into space. Why don't they spend more of their budget on making the space elevator a reality. I think a major way to rejuvinate public interest in the space agency would be to tell americans how much it would change their lives if we could all get into space cheaply.
It gives a good insight into the presidents mind. It is an easy way for americans to see what his priorities are. I'd bet my left nut GWBush wants nuclear power in space is for fast-tasking spy sats.
I'm sorry, there aren't any trimmings left. They're seriously digging into the budget. I wish the politicians would wake up and maybe put some money into our future instead of the military.
Unless, of course, they feel the military is their future.
Badly, I might add; from a tech point of view anyways. The PS and PS2 are dedicated hardware. Their architecture is completely different.
It's like comparing pears to advacados. They may both be green, but it's what's underneath that counts.
Aside from that, it was a great article. Quite a bit more in depth than I'd expected. I especially liked the hardware stuff. So, if the PIII is soldered on the motherboard, could the clock be modified to overclock it?
Just can't help myself.
Does the XBox come in a rackmount? 1U preferably? I'd love to use these as commodity visualization center parts.
What I think is many orders of magnitude a larger danger is the replacement of blue-collar workers by robots.
Why? They work all day.
They don't take breaks.
They don't complain.
They don't ask for raises.
They don't have unions.
They don't take vacations off.
They don't get holiday pay.
They don't have worker's rights.
They don't cost any money for workers insurance.
They don't get matched-401k's.
They're cheap.
They're efficient.
They're profitable.
How quaint.
If I ever get replaced by a robot...
I'm going to start designing robots. Until they start designing themselves. At least until then I have job security.
:)
The outcome:
All district court judges firmly believe in 'fair use' of copyrighted works. What we need now is a massive collision between companies. One that is willing to stand up and fight the DMCA. I don't disagree with copy controls, I disagree with the penalties for distributing technology which bypasses them. I urge everyone to become educated and at the very least; read the Court Opinions from these cases.
That is why Embedded Linux is one of the fastest growing segments of technology right now. People are in a mad rush to replace costly,dedicated,specialized RTOS's with something free,extendible,secure and robust. You're right, I think big things will come of ARM.
Hardware vendors beware, software should be free. All of it.
You cheap bastard. What you want sounds a little socialist; wouldn't you agree? Is it that you don't think the programmer should do everything for free, or is it that you can't afford any really nice software?
--BEGIN SOAPBOX--
Some programs couldn't get where they are without major funding. Look at programs like 3D Studio Max 4 or Lightwave. Those are both $1000+ programs. Do you realize how long it would have taken for them to get where they are now without the kind of funding they receive?
I'm not saying the community couldn't have created anything just as good. But, look at the competition. Blender, you say? Not even close in terms of features and community support.
This is but one example of high quality software that couldn't have come about without $$$. These programs are also an example of some of the most widely pirated graphics software in the industry.
How would you feel if a company producing software you relied on went belly up? Would you not have any remorse for being 'one of them', the piraters?
I don't agree with many companies rape^h^h^h^h pricing schedule; I just don't use their software.
Slashdot Mirror
Absolutely. I think that the Uniform Commercial Code that everyone pretty much hates, has few good parts that may help protect us. Try reading back a couple of my previous comments on the issue. I really hope UCITA dies a painful and public death(in court, I want the icing on the cake too!)
A while back, there was a case of people buying computers, rejecting the Win95orWin98(?) EULA, and then returning it to microsoft for a refund. To my knowledge, they got their money back.
Wrong. The UCC, passed by all 50 states says that a form-agreement is a type of contract where you get no negotiations. Either you accept, or you decline.
The legally binding part is untested, however, for the most part; I'd think they'd be found legal. There are few clauses which I think would be(or should be) found illegal.
You fail to see one major difference between regulation types:
Those, where the consumer has a choice:
*software*,food,housing,movie theatres,car manufactureres
Those, where the consumer has no choice:
gas,water,sewer,electicity!($$$),gasoline
When the customer has a choice, often competition breeds excellence; producing a better product. However, when the recipient has no choice, there is no motivation for improvement. Unfortunately, microsoft has been in the "No choice" category for years, letting them do almost anything. When people start to get more viable choices, again, market competition will start to affect them.
Right. Scroll down and see my next comment.
Here is a summary of a portion of the Uniform Commercial Code(UCC):
The Mass-Market License. The license is the agreement that gives you the right to use the software (or other information). A mass-market license is a standard-form, non-negotiable, license.7 For example, consider a mass-marketed word processing program. A company that sold (licenses for) a million copies of a $100 program could not afford to negotiate a separate contract for each. The price would have to rise to reflect the cost of all the bargaining. Instead, companies use standard-form contracts. The UCC8 provides some protections from unfairly one-sided terms in the forms. Additional protections come from consumer-protection laws passed by the Federal and State Governments. Consumer protection laws are confusing because the definition of "consumer" varies. A self-employed professional writer could probably treat Brand X Word Processor as consumer goods under the Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act9 but not under State law definitions that restrict "consumer goods" to those bought for personal, family or household (but not any form of business) use. The mass-market license concept skips this confusion by treating everyone who buys a product that has a mass-market license in the same way.
[/summary]
This is supposed to keep us from being bound by unfair agreements. It, obviously isn't doing it's job. However, it could be cited in cases involving software contracts, seeing as the UCC has been passed in part, or in whole, by all 50 states.
I think most courts would find most EULA's within a companies right under current contract law. This would merely set the precedent for future cases in those states.
Moral of the story:
*Pick your fights carefully*
We don't want to set precedent against ourselves.
Most EULA's contain clauses which state that your usage of their software indicates your agreement to the formentioned EULA. A EULA is a legally binding contract, and if you use a companies software, you 'get your hands tied'.
.net or the public criticism of a software company. We need what you describe, desperately. I'm not a *big goverment* kind of guy, but there are times when intervention is necessary. Has anyone actually read a Hotmail agreement recently? You'd think that'd be enough to scare off any avid Microsoft fan; but I guess not.
I think one thing we all need to focus on are unreasonable terms, such as Microsoft disallowing the usage of Open Source software on
Yes you could GPL it yourself. However, the BSD license would be excluded. On the page itself, it says that the only submissions that will be accepted are GPL'd.
Who said anything abou ARPANET? I did already know this. That was merely one facet of DARPA. They've had a hell of a lot more projects than just 'the internet'.
NASA has never done anything to disuade private industry from joining in the fun. I do think that the useless shuttle launches are a big waste of money. I however, do not feel that the ISS is a waste of money. I really hope it gets finished in a timely manner.
IMO, NASA needs to focus on new technologies. Right now, R&D is expensive because it costs so much to get into space. Why don't they spend more of their budget on making the space elevator a reality. I think a major way to rejuvinate public interest in the space agency would be to tell americans how much it would change their lives if we could all get into space cheaply.
DARPA? Little Known? Yeah. If you say so. DARPA has been one of the most active DoD projects ever.
Sit down, keep your mouth shut, and for god's sakes; pass the pipe.
It gives a good insight into the presidents mind. It is an easy way for americans to see what his priorities are. I'd bet my left nut GWBush wants nuclear power in space is for fast-tasking spy sats.
I'm sorry, there aren't any trimmings left. They're seriously digging into the budget. I wish the politicians would wake up and maybe put some money into our future instead of the military.
Unless, of course, they feel the military is their future.
Badly, I might add; from a tech point of view anyways. The PS and PS2 are dedicated hardware. Their architecture is completely different.
It's like comparing pears to advacados. They may both be green, but it's what's underneath that counts.
Aside from that, it was a great article. Quite a bit more in depth than I'd expected. I especially liked the hardware stuff. So, if the PIII is soldered on the motherboard, could the clock be modified to overclock it?
Just can't help myself.
Does the XBox come in a rackmount? 1U preferably? I'd love to use these as commodity visualization center parts.
Beowulf anyone?
I would focus on porting XBill to DirectX 8. Then, we can all play XBill all day long on our XBox!
I just want a Toaster. Is that too much to ask?
:)
If anyone has an extra, just ask; I'll give you my address!
What I think is many orders of magnitude a larger danger is the replacement of blue-collar workers by robots.
Why?
They work all day.
They don't take breaks.
They don't complain.
They don't ask for raises.
They don't have unions.
They don't take vacations off.
They don't get holiday pay.
They don't have worker's rights.
They don't cost any money for workers insurance.
They don't get matched-401k's.
They're cheap.
They're efficient.
They're profitable.
How quaint.
If I ever get replaced by a robot...
I'm going to start designing robots. Until they start designing themselves. At least until then I have job security.
:)
I didn't have to. Ad-Aware tells me I've got lots...
I didn't pay for any of it either.
Prominent cases and relavent information:
SONY CORPORATION OF AMERICA ET AL.
v.
UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC., ET AL.
The Audio Home Recording Act
of 1992
RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
v.
DIAMOND MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS INC.
The outcome:
All district court judges firmly believe in 'fair use' of copyrighted works. What we need now is a massive collision between companies. One that is willing to stand up and fight the DMCA. I don't disagree with copy controls, I disagree with the penalties for distributing technology which bypasses them. I urge everyone to become educated and at the very least; read the Court Opinions from these cases.
sounds dangerous!
When can I have one?
That is why Embedded Linux is one of the fastest growing segments of technology right now. People are in a mad rush to replace costly,dedicated,specialized RTOS's with something free,extendible,secure and robust. You're right, I think big things will come of ARM.
Linux.. big iron... that's a good one.
Sorry, our perspectives are a little shifted. When I think big iron, I think 8+ proc Cray's and Alpha's.
I wasn't flaming any other OS's. If EPOC works really well for you, good for you.
Touchê.
:)
Like I said, I was on a soapbox.
I tried. It was /.'d to hell. The best part about OS software; you can make it do whatever you want. Don't want an animated LILO? Get a different LILO.
Good Times©
Hardware vendors beware, software should be free. All of it.
You cheap bastard. What you want sounds a little socialist; wouldn't you agree? Is it that you don't think the programmer should do everything for free, or is it that you can't afford any really nice software?
--BEGIN SOAPBOX--
Some programs couldn't get where they are without major funding. Look at programs like 3D Studio Max 4 or Lightwave. Those are both $1000+ programs. Do you realize how long it would have taken for them to get where they are now without the kind of funding they receive?
I'm not saying the community couldn't have created anything just as good. But, look at the competition. Blender, you say? Not even close in terms of features and community support.
This is but one example of high quality software that couldn't have come about without $$$. These programs are also an example of some of the most widely pirated graphics software in the industry.
How would you feel if a company producing software you relied on went belly up? Would you not have any remorse for being 'one of them', the piraters?
I don't agree with many companies rape^h^h^h^h pricing schedule; I just don't use their software.
--END SOAPBOX--