Sounds to me like electronically sifting through evidence might require breaking software protections or interpreting custom file formats. Isn't that against the law now in the USA?
I don't think the DMCA is a good idea. In fact, I think it sucks. The best way to defeat that trash legislation is to hold EVERYONE, especially the legal community, to the letter of the language.
Evidently he emailed various foreign governments and a US friendly contacted the USA. At that point the FBI got involved and posed as Libya in a reply to his email "advertisement."
in future broadband vendor's contracts will surely include "access is not to be shared beyond home of subscriber" or something like that if it is not like that already.
I think my cable company already has a clause like that so neigbors don't get together with one HBO subscription.
Solar wing alternatives are great, but don't expect them to cover all of the planet. No Sahara computing for you unless you fly your own wing and take it with you. (Now there is an interesting possibility!)
My son's school in Maryland (USA) stopped assigning math homework in the 1st grade because parents complained. The teachers did not like this, but stopped teaching it because of the parental pressure.
This is stupid and crazy and an example where teachers are not the problem, but rather, the fact that public education is taught to the least common denominator.
...stop developing drugs no one will ever pay you for.
That is an oversimplification. Do you follow the news? For example, the makers of Prilosec (Costs over US$100 for 30 pills) are suing a generic drug maker now as a manuver to extend their patent protection beyond october. And this manuver will work. That is the reality of our patent system. Their patent has already been in effect for 13 years. They make over US$100 million per year on this drug. Excuse me, how many years do you need before you recover your RD costs and pad your pockets real good?
Because the resolution is going to be very bad. A DVD has a multi-GB capacity. 500MB is good for a choppy or poorly resolved 320x160 feature leangth movie.
This is not the kind of quality you invite pals to watch at your place.
You can now write anonymous messages on the web, not just brick walls and bathroom stalls.
Seems like a silly comparison, but think about it. Without anonymity on the web, where else can you express a thought when you have concerns for your safety or future?
Perhaps those that argue no one should have the "right" to speak anonymously due to liable risks should re-think their priorities and think through where this will lead us. It is only natural that people will attribute more veracity to attributable news than it ever will to anonymous postings. Nothing wrong with that. This is a good thing.
What I'd really like to see is a goal-free 3D world like the Snowcrash
Real life is already goal-free. Part of the allure of games is that they have goals. A goal-free virtual universe would at best be a novelty and a fad for a few moments.
When I was a kid I remember reading that non-communist Russia was a huge threat to the west because they did not recognize western patents. Of course, I like most people agreed that this was a serious problem.
Now I am an adult and I understand that earlier opinion was guided and shaped by the corporate marketing machine which has a vested interest in keeping ideas tied to their existing bank accounts.
Europeans should fight Software Patents and not be shy about it.
If while reading on the throne you run out of TP, the already-read pages of a cheap paperback are very handy. Your ebook display device is a little too expensive to be used that way.
PNG has not overtaken GIF because GIF works. User's don't seem to care or concern themselves with the royalty issues their software publishers go through.
MP3 will not go away for the very same reasons. Not to mention there is already hardware (e.g., DVD players) that play MP3 format. Too late to replace it. Sorry folks.
Although he casts an interesting light on the whole situation, Parloff at www.inside.com says stuff like this...
distribution of circumvention software, thereby guaranteeing the demise of copyright protection as we know it
Think about what that is saying: If there is no copy protection there is no copyright protection.
"Copy protection" is not the same thing as copyright protection. Copy protection is just a draconian way of enforcing copyright at the expense of fair use.
If folks like this author can keep the masses believing that copy protection is necessary to preserve a copyright holder's rights, then there is no sense to be had.
Its been my experience that developer desktop's get re-imaged (clean install of OS and applications) at least 2 times a year. For me, at least 4 times a year. Various reasons, sometimes due to general weirdness resuting in extreme measure to get a stable machine again.
Since most business desktops are running Windoze, that is where most of the image $ go today.
If desktops start showing up as Linux OS more often, we will see a similar rate of Linux rebuilds as we see Windows rebuilds.
Servers are different. They are by intent less tampered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
almost every configuration the boxes were MORE expensive than identical models with Windows
An interesting question might be why do the configurations running LINUX have to be more expensive? (I'm not doubting that the options were more expensive.)
Strangely I can run the latest Linux on my old 486, but cannot run a 3 year old release of Windows on it.
There may be more at play here. Maybe Dell never really wanted to sell Linux in the first place. Another "why" question would be appropriate there too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
You have a good point, it is probably a stretch to suggest this sets a precedent for all business people. Of course, it only applies to those which produce hyper-popular products.
Should the government deny Sun the option of integrating URL functionality into its file system or disallow them the option of including a browser with Solaris? They are the only ones selling Solaris. (In fact, they have laid exclusive claim to their entire hardware architecture too.) Of course, not as many people buy it.
Reasonable people can all agree that there are big $$$ benefits to M$ in bundling more and more useful features into their products. We all understand it is good for them because it is bad for the other vendors. That is the nature of capitalism. Putting a government imposed leash on the extent to which a company can blend it's products is a socialist concept.
Clearly in the USA we are living in a hybrid socialist/capitalist quasi-democratic republic. Reasonable people will argue how much socialism is too much and how much is too little/how much raw capitalism is too much, etc. Discussing these details is a good thing. Getting caught up in the hype as we give up rights and privileges to the government is a bad thing.
PS -- Little known fact, prior to the government action against MS, SUN and Netscape spent far more on wooing legislators and paying lobbyist than M$.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
Not only can we not talk about technology freely in the USA because someone may already own those thoughts... eg., Dmitry Sklyarov's arrest.
Now it is also clear that, in the USA, business people need government approval before proceeding with product convergence... eg., not ok for M$ to bundle their browser as part of their OS.
Very cool if you are a foreign country with an eye to lure talent and successful companies. (e.g., Such a country could advertise a "freedom of speech" and "freedom to innovate" policies.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
Slashdot Mirror
Uhhh, exactly $20 in the USA.
Any questions?
Sounds to me like electronically sifting through evidence might require breaking software protections or interpreting custom file formats. Isn't that against the law now in the USA?
I don't think the DMCA is a good idea. In fact, I think it sucks. The best way to defeat that trash legislation is to hold EVERYONE, especially the legal community, to the letter of the language.
Evidently he emailed various foreign governments and a US friendly contacted the USA. At that point the FBI got involved and posed as Libya in a reply to his email "advertisement."
in future broadband vendor's contracts will surely include "access is not to be shared beyond home of subscriber" or something like that if it is not like that already.
I think my cable company already has a clause like that so neigbors don't get together with one HBO subscription.
Solar wing alternatives are great, but don't expect them to cover all of the planet. No Sahara computing for you unless you fly your own wing and take it with you. (Now there is an interesting possibility!)
My son's school in Maryland (USA) stopped assigning math homework in the 1st grade because parents complained. The teachers did not like this, but stopped teaching it because of the parental pressure.
This is stupid and crazy and an example where teachers are not the problem, but rather, the fact that public education is taught to the least common denominator.
...stop developing drugs no one will ever pay you for.
That is an oversimplification. Do you follow the news? For example, the makers of Prilosec (Costs over US$100 for 30 pills) are suing a generic drug maker now as a manuver to extend their patent protection beyond october. And this manuver will work. That is the reality of our patent system. Their patent has already been in effect for 13 years. They make over US$100 million per year on this drug. Excuse me, how many years do you need before you recover your RD costs and pad your pockets real good?
Stop being brain washed. It isn't healthy.
I'm just glad I'm on DSL instead of @home... (switched 8 months ago)
COVAD filed for bankrupcy protection about a week ago. I think they are the last CLECK. Who ownes your DSL wire?
Because the resolution is going to be very bad. A DVD has a multi-GB capacity. 500MB is good for a choppy or poorly resolved 320x160 feature leangth movie.
This is not the kind of quality you invite pals to watch at your place.
You can now write anonymous messages on the web, not just brick walls and bathroom stalls.
Seems like a silly comparison, but think about it. Without anonymity on the web, where else can you express a thought when you have concerns for your safety or future?
Perhaps those that argue no one should have the "right" to speak anonymously due to liable risks should re-think their priorities and think through where this will lead us. It is only natural that people will attribute more veracity to attributable news than it ever will to anonymous postings. Nothing wrong with that. This is a good thing.
Can you say Prior Art?
But can anyone prove that the Damascus steel of legend was made the same way as the Damascus steel of the 21st century? Who has the burden of proof?
What I'd really like to see is a goal-free 3D world like the Snowcrash
Real life is already goal-free. Part of the allure of games is that they have goals. A goal-free virtual universe would at best be a novelty and a fad for a few moments.
Speed chess can be fun to watch. Watching regular chess is a good way to slip into slumber-land.
I don't think any network will need to cover a regular chess game live. Even golf moves faster.
When I was a kid I remember reading that non-communist Russia was a huge threat to the west because they did not recognize western patents. Of course, I like most people agreed that this was a serious problem.
Now I am an adult and I understand that earlier opinion was guided and shaped by the corporate marketing machine which has a vested interest in keeping ideas tied to their existing bank accounts.
Europeans should fight Software Patents and not be shy about it.
If while reading on the throne you run out of TP, the already-read pages of a cheap paperback are very handy. Your ebook display device is a little too expensive to be used that way.
PNG has not overtaken GIF because GIF works. User's don't seem to care or concern themselves with the royalty issues their software publishers go through.
MP3 will not go away for the very same reasons. Not to mention there is already hardware (e.g., DVD players) that play MP3 format. Too late to replace it. Sorry folks.
Here is a radical suggestion for you: Code is speech.
even though the code base is no different than NT/2K
I think not. The XP code base shares its roots with Win2k but is not Win2k.
Although he casts an interesting light on the whole situation, Parloff at www.inside.com says stuff like this...
distribution of circumvention software, thereby guaranteeing the demise of copyright protection as we know it
Think about what that is saying: If there is no copy protection there is no copyright protection.
"Copy protection" is not the same thing as copyright protection. Copy protection is just a draconian way of enforcing copyright at the expense of fair use.
If folks like this author can keep the masses believing that copy protection is necessary to preserve a copyright holder's rights, then there is no sense to be had.
Freedom to speak should exist even when a US corporation finds such speech uncomfortable.
Its been my experience that developer desktop's get re-imaged (clean install of OS and applications) at least 2 times a year. For me, at least 4 times a year. Various reasons, sometimes due to general weirdness resuting in extreme measure to get a stable machine again.
Since most business desktops are running Windoze, that is where most of the image $ go today.
If desktops start showing up as Linux OS more often, we will see a similar rate of Linux rebuilds as we see Windows rebuilds.
Servers are different. They are by intent less tampered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
battery doesn't last long enough to get to the large intestine.
Tie the camera to a gerbil and start at the other end. Ouch!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
almost every configuration the boxes were MORE expensive than identical models with Windows
An interesting question might be why do the configurations running LINUX have to be more expensive? (I'm not doubting that the options were more expensive.)
Strangely I can run the latest Linux on my old 486, but cannot run a 3 year old release of Windows on it.
There may be more at play here. Maybe Dell never really wanted to sell Linux in the first place. Another "why" question would be appropriate there too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
You have a good point, it is probably a stretch to suggest this sets a precedent for all business people. Of course, it only applies to those which produce hyper-popular products.
Should the government deny Sun the option of integrating URL functionality into its file system or disallow them the option of including a browser with Solaris? They are the only ones selling Solaris. (In fact, they have laid exclusive claim to their entire hardware architecture too.) Of course, not as many people buy it.
Reasonable people can all agree that there are big $$$ benefits to M$ in bundling more and more useful features into their products. We all understand it is good for them because it is bad for the other vendors. That is the nature of capitalism. Putting a government imposed leash on the extent to which a company can blend it's products is a socialist concept.
Clearly in the USA we are living in a hybrid socialist/capitalist quasi-democratic republic. Reasonable people will argue how much socialism is too much and how much is too little/how much raw capitalism is too much, etc. Discussing these details is a good thing. Getting caught up in the hype as we give up rights and privileges to the government is a bad thing.
PS -- Little known fact, prior to the government action against MS, SUN and Netscape spent far more on wooing legislators and paying lobbyist than M$.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~
Not only can we not talk about technology freely in the USA because someone may already own those thoughts ... eg., Dmitry Sklyarov's arrest.
... eg., not ok for M$ to bundle their browser as part of their OS.
Now it is also clear that, in the USA, business people need government approval before proceeding with product convergence
Very cool if you are a foreign country with an eye to lure talent and successful companies. (e.g., Such a country could advertise a "freedom of speech" and "freedom to innovate" policies.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ the real world is much simpler ~~