I am a Middle School teacher of Science and Math. I can tell you that one of the chief problems facing teachers these days is the lack of depth of knowledge. Students have become dependent upon calculators. In our state there is a required End of Grade test in Math and Reading. The math portion is divided into Calculator active and inactive. These tests begin in third grade, and as a consequence there is a class set of calculators in every third grade classroom. I have yet to understand why third graders should need to use calculators.
Students need to have a fundamental understanding of numbers and what they represent. As it is, they think of calculators as "magic boxes" that just seem to mystically know the answer. I restrict there use in my class. I have to tell them that I teach Math, not typing.
The ability of one nation to impose its laws on non citizens living outside its borders is directly proportional to its ability to project force. In the case of Noriega, it was the United States ability to project our military force to Panama that allowed the forced extradition of Noriega to an American court of law. I am not sure what kind of force the Australian government is prepared to use to impose its laws, but I don't see Aussi commandos raiding the geek compound anytime soon;-D
If it is true that the DMCA requires internet providers such as ISPs, colleges, universities, businesses, etc to remove software that could be used to transmit copyrighted material, then I guess this is the end of the net. Email must go, because I could include copyrighted material either in the text or as an attachment. FTP must go, because it is clearly meant to transfer complete copies at one time. Obvioulsly I could ftp copyrighted material to and from others that do not have a right to it. And I suppose browsers should also be baned, because they could be used to view copyrighted material.
The truth is there isn't a single piece of net software that couldn't be included in the above argument. I'm not against copyrights, just stupid laws. Artists and record companies alike view radio stations as marketing tools. As far as I know, they give the music to the stations for free, and hope and pray that it will be broadcast as much as possible. Why, so people will go and buy a copy.
For the most part, I have to agree with you. Stealing is wrong; however, there are some issues that should be explored here. It is my understanding that it is not illegal to make a recording of a radio broadcast (IANAL) that is playing copyrighted material. If that is true, and it is not illegal for me to record my local radio station playing Metallica, then how is Napster so different?
On a different note, I don't see why Napster should be liable for the actions of the people that use it. For instance, is the owner of the land on which a swap meet occurs liable if someone there trafics in stolen goods? I don't think so.
Not all media is destined to be dead media. Dead media doesn't mean that it is no longer popular, it canotes that you can not access the information stored. Last time I checked, we can still see prehistoric cave paintings, and read stone carvings. Dead media is dead, because the means to read it are no longer in service.
This has convinced me. I am going to immediately take the cell phones away from my pet rats. I never could understand why they had a hard time swimming through the moat of milk around my house. Now I know.
It is not "Apple Sucks" that is truely at issue here. The issue is a legal matter. IANAL, but don't you have to register or patant a design in order to protect it. The shape of the Coca-Cola(TM) bottle comes to mind. Coke has the exclusive rights to that shape. Did Apple make the look of the iMac legally theirs? Perfume makers are not able to patent the fragrance, but can have exclusive rights to the look of the bottle. Knock of companies are allowed to reverse engineer the fragrance, but can not use the same bottle design; however, they are usually sold in bottles that come VERY close to looking like the original. eMachines has not made a true clone in the look - damn close, but not exact.
Who made the first plain beige mid-tower, and can they sue anyone that has made a similar beige box? The question really is the same. That these two are colorful and translucent, is irrelevant to the argument. They look similar, just like all of the beige boxes out there.
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I am a Middle School teacher of Science and Math. I can tell you that one of the chief problems facing teachers these days is the lack of depth of knowledge. Students have become dependent upon calculators. In our state there is a required End of Grade test in Math and Reading. The math portion is divided into Calculator active and inactive. These tests begin in third grade, and as a consequence there is a class set of calculators in every third grade classroom. I have yet to understand why third graders should need to use calculators.
Students need to have a fundamental understanding of numbers and what they represent. As it is, they think of calculators as "magic boxes" that just seem to mystically know the answer. I restrict there use in my class. I have to tell them that I teach Math, not typing.
The ability of one nation to impose its laws on non citizens living outside its borders is directly proportional to its ability to project force. In the case of Noriega, it was the United States ability to project our military force to Panama that allowed the forced extradition of Noriega to an American court of law. I am not sure what kind of force the Australian government is prepared to use to impose its laws, but I don't see Aussi commandos raiding the geek compound anytime soon ;-D
If it is true that the DMCA requires internet providers such as ISPs, colleges, universities, businesses, etc to remove software that could be used to transmit copyrighted material, then I guess this is the end of the net. Email must go, because I could include copyrighted material either in the text or as an attachment. FTP must go, because it is clearly meant to transfer complete copies at one time. Obvioulsly I could ftp copyrighted material to and from others that do not have a right to it. And I suppose browsers should also be baned, because they could be used to view copyrighted material.
The truth is there isn't a single piece of net software that couldn't be included in the above argument. I'm not against copyrights, just stupid laws. Artists and record companies alike view radio stations as marketing tools. As far as I know, they give the music to the stations for free, and hope and pray that it will be broadcast as much as possible. Why, so people will go and buy a copy.
For the most part, I have to agree with you. Stealing is wrong; however, there are some issues that should be explored here. It is my understanding that it is not illegal to make a recording of a radio broadcast (IANAL) that is playing copyrighted material. If that is true, and it is not illegal for me to record my local radio station playing Metallica, then how is Napster so different?
On a different note, I don't see why Napster should be liable for the actions of the people that use it. For instance, is the owner of the land on which a swap meet occurs liable if someone there trafics in stolen goods? I don't think so.
Not all media is destined to be dead media. Dead media doesn't mean that it is no longer popular, it canotes that you can not access the information stored. Last time I checked, we can still see prehistoric cave paintings, and read stone carvings. Dead media is dead, because the means to read it are no longer in service.
This has convinced me. I am going to immediately take the cell phones away from my pet rats. I never could understand why they had a hard time swimming through the moat of milk around my house. Now I know.
It is not "Apple Sucks" that is truely at issue here. The issue is a legal matter. IANAL, but don't you have to register or patant a design in order to protect it. The shape of the Coca-Cola(TM) bottle comes to mind. Coke has the exclusive rights to that shape. Did Apple make the look of the iMac legally theirs? Perfume makers are not able to patent the fragrance, but can have exclusive rights to the look of the bottle. Knock of companies are allowed to reverse engineer the fragrance, but can not use the same bottle design; however, they are usually sold in bottles that come VERY close to looking like the original. eMachines has not made a true clone in the look - damn close, but not exact.
Who made the first plain beige mid-tower, and can they sue anyone that has made a similar beige box? The question really is the same. That these two are colorful and translucent, is irrelevant to the argument. They look similar, just like all of the beige boxes out there.