Vassily's quote is fine and dandy. Disclaimer have to be done in a way that they can be read, and so that a "resonable man" can understand their purpose. "Literally frying your brain" is a phrase that sounds great as a warning that something BAD could happen--and it's more easily read, and thus more likely to be read, than boring all-caps EULA legalese.
One company (AOL-TW) will administer the network. They will run the cable, install the service, and (most likely) have the regional DHCP servers.
Various ISP (including AOL-TW) will then purchase the rights to that network, slap on their own service and content, and sell it. (Such as e-mail, web servers, etc.)
The phone system works the same way, and in NY NiMo (the old monopoly) now *only* does the power grid, leaving plants to various other companies.
Eventually, we can expect AOL-TW to divide; smaller corporations have less overhead, which means bigger profits... assuming the market doesn't care.
The FTC is a bureau of the federal government, working in an domain to legislate, judicate, and execute the rule of law for the public good, as empowered by Congress and the President.
A US corporation atttempting to bear arms agaisnt the FTC would be committing treason, and thus inviting an appropriate response--all the way up to a real military response.
This won't ever happen, though, for one simple reason--no matter what happens, or where someone goes, an international corporation cannot survive if it cannot deal in the United States and those countries that recognize our rule of law.
Sure, you might be able to rally and declare indipendance from America--but remember what happened when the Southern *states* did that after Lincon was elected? I doubt that even the largest corporations in the world could fare even as well.
Pretend to be a customer, then.:) Don't ask for a manager, ask for an address (or better yet, a website.) Lead them on for a little bit, get some information while acting like a customer, and *then* tell them "Y'know, I just realized that you telephoned me. Take me off your list and don't call me again."
Or, if you were *really* resourceful, call the phone company and see if *they* can do something about the guy spamming you. Can't hurt to call. (Heck, you could even just get caller ID, and reject lines that have it blocked.)
The phone spammers have to take you off their list if you ask; if you ask, and they call again in a certain time period (one year?) they are liable for $500 per call. (IIRC)
As for credit card offers; just call the three credit reporting bureaus and ask to be taken off of *their* lists.
Re:I'm 16. Does EULA legally bind on me?
on
EULA In Games
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· Score: 1
As they teach in freshman law class:
It's my understanding (from the aforementioned class) that minors can get into any contract, and then (no matter what happens) they can simply get out and have the whole situation reversed.
You could buy a $40,000 car, wreck it, and then tell the dealer that you want to neige the contract. You get your 40 gs back, and they get stuck with the bill.
EULAs are probably similar; you can renigne at any time. Of course, until you do you *are* bound by those terms.
(Note that I'm not a lawyer, and I usually don't go around harping that, but since you asked a question and I answered I *really* don't want to appear to be giving legal adivce; I was just saying what I was taught in school. If you want a real answer to that question, go talk to a real lawyer.)
Stores just sell a copy, not the software
on
EULA In Games
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· Score: 1
I would wager that those old deed stipulations were perfectly legal until racial bias became an illegal purpose, thus voiding those deeds.:)
Contracts are simple: Someone makes an offer, someone else accepts that offer, both sides get something (called "consideration"), and it has to be for a legal purpose. If all four of these conditions are met, the court will recognize it as a legal contract and can step in to make everyone agree to it.
An EULA is not a contract with the store. It's a contract with the original software developer; Compaq may sell you a copy of the software, but all that copy is, nominally, is a formalized and automatic offer from Microsoft for a software license.
Of course, that offer also contains a "refund clause", which sounds like grounds to sue someone to get back your purchase price. Then again, I would dearly love to see EULAs go the way of the 5 1/4 inch floppy drive... Let copyrights, trademarks, and patents provide all the protection software needs. (or at the very least, define a new type of IP, rather than these assinine EULAs!)
You always give up a right in a contract.
on
EULA In Games
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· Score: 1
A EULA is a contract.
The company is basically saying "we won't sell this to you unles you agree to give up your legal rights as detailed below."
This is how *all* contracts work; someone gives up their legal right to something (like the money in their wallet) in exchange for something else they don't have a right to (the software in that box.)
If you don't have at least these, feel free to use the browsers--just don't whine if they aren't as fast as your simple, small, 'ancient" browsers.
I use N6 on a 200 mhz K6 with 64 MB of RAM, and the speed is about what I'd expect with minimum-spec hardware. I'm upgrading this week, though, and it should be better.
I've got to agree with you about the features--Outlook *still* can't handle messages as well as Netscape Messenger can. I'm with N6 because of those features, and I'm happy enough with the performance (nothing I've seen is more buggy that I'd expect with a not-for-profit x.0 release based on a pre-release open source browser with bad PR.)
No, it doesn't. You're free to write any software you want, or say anything you want, or the rest of it.
Microsoft is also free to "drown you out" by changing *their* OS. If you want freedom of speech guaranteed by your OS, work for the OS to be owned by the government.
The bill of rights *only* applies to the federal government, and the states *only* though the various "due process" laws.
If you were living in, oh, the former USSR, I'd wager you wouldn't be wishing for freedom to purchase Nazi Memorablila. You'd be wishing for freedom of speech, vote, and privacy...
"Freedom of shopping" might be *a* right, but it's by no means a *basic* right. And even "Freedom of speech" can and is limited by our government. (Slander? Libel? Shouting fire in a crowded theater?)
National Governments have jurisdiction over any company that resides or does buisness in their borders, or who's activity has an effect on their jurisdiction.
So, just because you're offshore doesn't mean that you're free from the government's influence.
I'd wager that if Yahoo were to balk, France would go after the ISPs or simply contact the US State Department, who could give France's judgement legal weight as a matter of diplomatical courtesy.
The fundamental method of science is real simple: come up with an idea, check what else has been said, and look for new evidence that tests your idea.
If you've forgotten that, please take a day to go to a local high school and ask for a lesson in the scientific method. This *exact* method is how research in quantum mechanics, nuclear fusion, space exlporation, and every other important field goes forward.
I've got a *SMALL* site, but I'm willing to go all-netscape if I can. I don't know HTML, so someone point me in a good, cheap/open source HTML editor so I can dump frontpage, and find me a "Netscape Now!" button.
Notice how much bandwidth is out there? Or how many ISPs? How how cheap parts and service have gotten?
This is *directly* linked to the so-called "commercialization" of the internet.
Everything costs money, because our society is based on money. If the coders don't get fiscal benefit from working on N6 / Mozilla, then it's "recreation", and they literally have more important things to do.
And if they want to get some money by their choice of default bookmarks and homepage... then so what? Better that than scrounging for a grant, or having no full-time workers, or charing for the browser, or having a continual pop-up banner ad.
DUNE was worth reading, and could be argued to be a masterpiece.
DUNE MESSIAH was a halfway descent sequal.
CHILDREN OF DUNE would have been a descent place to stop, with Paul's end and the children taking over.
GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE can be summed up like this: "I'm a big slug, and I have an army of amazons, and I'm so smart I keep reincarnating the same guy so he can take me by surprise and kill me."
Needless to stay, I stopped after the fourth book. Sci Fi is about what you write, not how you write it--and DUNE degenerated from saying something interesting to being, well, something that I can't say in polite company.
It's sad when Sci Fi authors do this. Of late, Anne McCaffrey (among others, I'm sure) has been more than guilty of this little sin.
Your car is your car. You own it, you can do whatever you want with it...
But the *design* of that car is owned by the manufacturer. You can't make a part-by-part reconstruction of your car by making the parts yourself, unless you have permission from the manufacturer.
Movies and the like are the same thing--but it's a lot easier to copy a CD than to copy a car.
And "learning how it works" isn't necessarily illegal--it's the "take it apart" bit that trips us all up.
Just do what people did before Hackers were everywhere; if the product doesn't do you good, don't use it. If it offends you, don't use it.
Be aware of where the money for everything comes from--and if you care, do something about it. If you don't care, or don't care enough to do something, then admit that to yourself and live life that way--you'll be happier.
If you want to learn and make something compatible, talk to the owners of that thing.
You *may* have a right to try and circumvent something... but the owners of that something have a right to *NOT* be open if they don't want to be!
Witness Microsoft. Yes, it would do everyone else wonders if they opened the windows API... but in the normal sense of buisness, they have the right to *not* open that, and thus make it hard to work with their OS. (Antitrust is a special case--they might lose this right because of their crime against the public, just like you lose the right to freedom if you go to jail.)
There is a big difference between "The Right to Hack" and "The Right to be Equal before the law."
If you're going to ask people to stand up for what's right and decent, why not remember to articulate what *you* think is right and decent?
I'm sure that you've got a real good reason for civil disobedience, and will relativly quietly accept the unjust punishment you will get. (No insepid, rabid babbling--make it coherent, so people will remember!) Sadly, I can't figure out exactly what you're fighting for for the life of me.
Re:OK we've got D&D, Dune and LOTR on the way
on
D&D Trailer
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· Score: 1
> Theres a few fantasy films that I'd love to see
> made:
>
> Dragonlance: Either from the D&D adventures or
> the orignal books. If only to have Tas and
> Raistlin in a movie...
You *do* know that Dragonlance started as the D&D modules series, right? The novel series was written concurrently, and until the part with the dragon's vale was *behind* the adventure production...
dragonlance-l@oracle.wizards.com is the Dragonlance mailing list, and ideas for a DL movie get bandied around every now and then. (Currently, I *THINK* they're still talking about the new D&D ruleset...)
anyway, if you want to subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@oracle.wizards.com with the line "sub dragonlance-l "your name"" in the body.
Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser would probably need a major rewrite, and not leave anyone happy.:( Elirc, from what I've heard, might make a good movie--although it *might* be best if animated by a good (read: "Japanese") studio.
Slashdot Mirror
Vassily's quote is fine and dandy. Disclaimer have to be done in a way that they can be read, and so that a "resonable man" can understand their purpose. "Literally frying your brain" is a phrase that sounds great as a warning that something BAD could happen--and it's more easily read, and thus more likely to be read, than boring all-caps EULA legalese.
One company (AOL-TW) will administer the network. They will run the cable, install the service, and (most likely) have the regional DHCP servers.
Various ISP (including AOL-TW) will then purchase the rights to that network, slap on their own service and content, and sell it. (Such as e-mail, web servers, etc.)
The phone system works the same way, and in NY NiMo (the old monopoly) now *only* does the power grid, leaving plants to various other companies.
Eventually, we can expect AOL-TW to divide; smaller corporations have less overhead, which means bigger profits... assuming the market doesn't care.
The FTC is a bureau of the federal government, working in an domain to legislate, judicate, and execute the rule of law for the public good, as empowered by Congress and the President.
A US corporation atttempting to bear arms agaisnt the FTC would be committing treason, and thus inviting an appropriate response--all the way up to a real military response.
This won't ever happen, though, for one simple reason--no matter what happens, or where someone goes, an international corporation cannot survive if it cannot deal in the United States and those countries that recognize our rule of law.
Sure, you might be able to rally and declare indipendance from America--but remember what happened when the Southern *states* did that after Lincon was elected? I doubt that even the largest corporations in the world could fare even as well.
Pretend to be a customer, then. :) Don't ask for a manager, ask for an address (or better yet, a website.) Lead them on for a little bit, get some information while acting like a customer, and *then* tell them "Y'know, I just realized that you telephoned me. Take me off your list and don't call me again."
Or, if you were *really* resourceful, call the phone company and see if *they* can do something about the guy spamming you. Can't hurt to call. (Heck, you could even just get caller ID, and reject lines that have it blocked.)
The phone spammers have to take you off their list if you ask; if you ask, and they call again in a certain time period (one year?) they are liable for $500 per call. (IIRC)
As for credit card offers; just call the three credit reporting bureaus and ask to be taken off of *their* lists.
As they teach in freshman law class:
It's my understanding (from the aforementioned class) that minors can get into any contract, and then (no matter what happens) they can simply get out and have the whole situation reversed.
You could buy a $40,000 car, wreck it, and then tell the dealer that you want to neige the contract. You get your 40 gs back, and they get stuck with the bill.
EULAs are probably similar; you can renigne at any time. Of course, until you do you *are* bound by those terms.
(Note that I'm not a lawyer, and I usually don't go around harping that, but since you asked a question and I answered I *really* don't want to appear to be giving legal adivce; I was just saying what I was taught in school. If you want a real answer to that question, go talk to a real lawyer.)
I would wager that those old deed stipulations were perfectly legal until racial bias became an illegal purpose, thus voiding those deeds. :)
Contracts are simple: Someone makes an offer, someone else accepts that offer, both sides get something (called "consideration"), and it has to be for a legal purpose. If all four of these conditions are met, the court will recognize it as a legal contract and can step in to make everyone agree to it.
An EULA is not a contract with the store. It's a contract with the original software developer; Compaq may sell you a copy of the software, but all that copy is, nominally, is a formalized and automatic offer from Microsoft for a software license.
Of course, that offer also contains a "refund clause", which sounds like grounds to sue someone to get back your purchase price. Then again, I would dearly love to see EULAs go the way of the 5 1/4 inch floppy drive... Let copyrights, trademarks, and patents provide all the protection software needs. (or at the very least, define a new type of IP, rather than these assinine EULAs!)
A EULA is a contract.
The company is basically saying "we won't sell this to you unles you agree to give up your legal rights as detailed below."
This is how *all* contracts work; someone gives up their legal right to something (like the money in their wallet) in exchange for something else they don't have a right to (the software in that box.)
N6 asks for a *minimum* 200 mhz and 64 MB of RAM.
M.6 asks for 233 w/ 64 MB RAM.
If you don't have at least these, feel free to use the browsers--just don't whine if they aren't as fast as your simple, small, 'ancient" browsers.
I use N6 on a 200 mhz K6 with 64 MB of RAM, and the speed is about what I'd expect with minimum-spec hardware. I'm upgrading this week, though, and it should be better.
I've got to agree with you about the features--Outlook *still* can't handle messages as well as Netscape Messenger can. I'm with N6 because of those features, and I'm happy enough with the performance (nothing I've seen is more buggy that I'd expect with a not-for-profit x.0 release based on a pre-release open source browser with bad PR.)
No, it doesn't. You're free to write any software you want, or say anything you want, or the rest of it.
Microsoft is also free to "drown you out" by changing *their* OS. If you want freedom of speech guaranteed by your OS, work for the OS to be owned by the government.
The bill of rights *only* applies to the federal government, and the states *only* though the various "due process" laws.
Basic Rights?
If you were living in, oh, the former USSR, I'd wager you wouldn't be wishing for freedom to purchase Nazi Memorablila. You'd be wishing for freedom of speech, vote, and privacy...
"Freedom of shopping" might be *a* right, but it's by no means a *basic* right. And even "Freedom of speech" can and is limited by our government. (Slander? Libel? Shouting fire in a crowded theater?)
IANAL, but IIRC...
National Governments have jurisdiction over any company that resides or does buisness in their borders, or who's activity has an effect on their jurisdiction.
So, just because you're offshore doesn't mean that you're free from the government's influence.
I'd wager that if Yahoo were to balk, France would go after the ISPs or simply contact the US State Department, who could give France's judgement legal weight as a matter of diplomatical courtesy.
The fundamental method of science is real simple: come up with an idea, check what else has been said, and look for new evidence that tests your idea.
If you've forgotten that, please take a day to go to a local high school and ask for a lesson in the scientific method. This *exact* method is how research in quantum mechanics, nuclear fusion, space exlporation, and every other important field goes forward.
DM
I've got a *SMALL* site, but I'm willing to go all-netscape if I can. I don't know HTML, so someone point me in a good, cheap/open source HTML editor so I can dump frontpage, and find me a "Netscape Now!" button.
e-mail, please.
Notice how much bandwidth is out there? Or how many ISPs? How how cheap parts and service have gotten?
This is *directly* linked to the so-called "commercialization" of the internet.
Everything costs money, because our society is based on money. If the coders don't get fiscal benefit from working on N6 / Mozilla, then it's "recreation", and they literally have more important things to do.
And if they want to get some money by their choice of default bookmarks and homepage... then so what? Better that than scrounging for a grant, or having no full-time workers, or charing for the browser, or having a continual pop-up banner ad.
DUNE was worth reading, and could be argued to be a masterpiece.
DUNE MESSIAH was a halfway descent sequal.
CHILDREN OF DUNE would have been a descent place to stop, with Paul's end and the children taking over.
GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE can be summed up like this: "I'm a big slug, and I have an army of amazons, and I'm so smart I keep reincarnating the same guy so he can take me by surprise and kill me."
Needless to stay, I stopped after the fourth book. Sci Fi is about what you write, not how you write it--and DUNE degenerated from saying something interesting to being, well, something that I can't say in polite company.
It's sad when Sci Fi authors do this. Of late, Anne McCaffrey (among others, I'm sure) has been more than guilty of this little sin.
The US gov't has the right to take away anything that you own, as long as they have a reason ("National Security") and they justly compensate you.
He registered a slew of domain names just to annoy Guiness.
What he *should* have done is created an anti-guiness site, and directed URLs to it. *then* he'd have a case.
Apparantly, he didn't. He didn't "make a web site to say that Guiness sucks", he "registered a bunch of domian names just to needle Guiness."
Your car is your car. You own it, you can do whatever you want with it...
But the *design* of that car is owned by the manufacturer. You can't make a part-by-part reconstruction of your car by making the parts yourself, unless you have permission from the manufacturer.
Movies and the like are the same thing--but it's a lot easier to copy a CD than to copy a car.
And "learning how it works" isn't necessarily illegal--it's the "take it apart" bit that trips us all up.
Just do what people did before Hackers were everywhere; if the product doesn't do you good, don't use it. If it offends you, don't use it.
Be aware of where the money for everything comes from--and if you care, do something about it. If you don't care, or don't care enough to do something, then admit that to yourself and live life that way--you'll be happier.
If you want to learn and make something compatible, talk to the owners of that thing.
You *may* have a right to try and circumvent something... but the owners of that something have a right to *NOT* be open if they don't want to be!
Witness Microsoft. Yes, it would do everyone else wonders if they opened the windows API... but in the normal sense of buisness, they have the right to *not* open that, and thus make it hard to work with their OS. (Antitrust is a special case--they might lose this right because of their crime against the public, just like you lose the right to freedom if you go to jail.)
Well, that's your house. You own it. It is "yours" to do whatever you want with.
A movie on DVD is not yours. You own a *copy* of someone else's movie.
You can break your DVD if you want to, or give it away, because that copy is yours. The *movie* on that copy, however, is not.
Which basic freedom, exactly?
There is a big difference between "The Right to Hack" and "The Right to be Equal before the law."
If you're going to ask people to stand up for what's right and decent, why not remember to articulate what *you* think is right and decent?
I'm sure that you've got a real good reason for civil disobedience, and will relativly quietly accept the unjust punishment you will get. (No insepid, rabid babbling--make it coherent, so people will remember!) Sadly, I can't figure out exactly what you're fighting for for the life of me.
> Theres a few fantasy films that I'd love to see
:( Elirc, from what I've heard, might make a good movie--although it *might* be best if animated by a good (read: "Japanese") studio.
> made:
>
> Dragonlance: Either from the D&D adventures or
> the orignal books. If only to have Tas and
> Raistlin in a movie...
You *do* know that Dragonlance started as the D&D modules series, right? The novel series was written concurrently, and until the part with the dragon's vale was *behind* the adventure production...
dragonlance-l@oracle.wizards.com is the Dragonlance mailing list, and ideas for a DL movie get bandied around every now and then. (Currently, I *THINK* they're still talking about the new D&D ruleset...)
anyway, if you want to subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@oracle.wizards.com with the line "sub dragonlance-l "your name"" in the body.
Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser would probably need a major rewrite, and not leave anyone happy.
The "defendant" isn't just passing a single number--he's not just saying "42," he's saying "link 42 on the links page" or somesuch.
I'd bet five bits the court would find a links page legally equivalent to a direct link... and the rest of us would find it a waste of time.