How can the police be sure that the photos aren't going to be used to identify police officers for later revenge attacks?
I would "think" it would be reasonable for an officer to get a name of a person who photographs a crime scene or an active arrest, could be handy evidence and they are a witness.
It would be unreasonable to assume someone's photographing you for a revenge attack and act on it. But in the unlikely event a revenge act takes place, they got someone who they can talk who has pictures of officers and bystanders.
If you can step outside the Bill Gates distortion field for a minute, you might see the absurdity of it all. How are you, your retailer, their wholesaler or even M$ themselves supposed to be able to tell one pressed CD from another? They are identical as the "pirates" have presses just like the "legitimate" publisher.
Well, usually the pirated edition of xp pro doesn't have that annoying "you changed your hardware, please reactive through microsoft", and the damn dial up connection for some reason didn't work, well at least the good pirated editions don't. It's sad the fact that the people who spend top dollar for the OS of their choice and get extra bullshit that the pirated edition doesn't have.
It's not as bad as you think. Look at the vast majority of employees in the automotive service industry. Most of my wrench monkey fans have high school diplomas, live pay check to pay check, and voted for Bush.
These wrench monkeys with high school diplomas who live pay check by paycheck who voted for Bush are in the automotive service industry at the very least have experence in this field. They may have learned from the shop manual, they may have gone to a technical school, or they may have been trained on the job. But if they are in the business of constructing or rebuilding transmissions they already have the tools they would need or know how to get them. They at the very least have done this before. That's 1/2 the battle with any home automobile repair, the tools and all the trivial parts you need. They have workshops setup for this task.
It's not a question intelligence, but that of experence. For these guys and ladies, they have already passed the stage of trial and error where as average joe would be starting from square one, square one on a device designed to operate at speeds between 700rpm and 8000rpm, with crusing speed of like what, 3800 rpm? 4200rpm?
If THEY can tear apart a tranny, any able bodied person with the ability to research enough of the law to attempt to defend themselves of these charges should be able to tear down an rebuild a transmission. By 'no problem' I mean that it will be difficult, but if they are careful, follow good directions, and use the appropriate tools, at the end of the ordeal they will have a working transmission. Not to mention a much better understanding of how trannys work.
Well, I have had some wonderful experences following directions with minor car repair. I remember a few cases of "please torque these bolts 72 pounds" for the flywheel, and they snapped at 38, which is well, to be expected. Certainly a job for a screw extractor, either that or dropping a crankshaft, which is certainly NO fun.
I would agree, and would even say it's possible to train monkeys to rebuild a transmission. I would even say it's possible to train monkeys in law. Most of both tasks are quite tedius, and nothing beyond the brainpower of a primate. But your average joe can't program his own vcr even with the proper directions, and can't navigate a home theater system with more than 3 remotes. Observe the difficulty some people have with operating basic electronic equipment, then imagine them doing something like rebuilding a transmission, or handling the legal landscape.
But you should talk to these people who are in the automotive service industry. Many them don't even do their own brakes, or prefer buying pre-loaded calipers. But at least with the automotive service industry a man who works on their own car doesn't have a fool for a customer. How many lawyers do you think would represent themselves?
1.With the proper tools and a good manual, any literate able bodied person can rebuild a tranny. Follow the instructions and it's no problem.
I think we have different ideas on what no problem means.
Pulling a trany is difficult enough in it self. On current generation cars there is so much crap in the way such as stablizer bars that have to be removed. This in it self isn't a small job, it's a big job.
Trannys are pretty complicated pieces of machinery. Lots of small parts not to speak of washers and spacers and the specalized tools you have to get. Being literate means you can understand what you need, not nessicarly how to get it. And keep in mind we are talking about a mechanical device which is designed to have moving parts spinning at engine speeds, 900rpm to redline, somewhere in the 6000 to 8000rpm range.
Not to speak of the downtime, which if you are going to do such a job and need the car, you could pick up a spare tranny, which typicaly in a junk yard will run anywhere from sub $100 to Sub $500. And if you have a working used tranny why bother to rebuild yours? It just means you'll have to dismount and replace it again.
A person can do it, but given the relative cost of a used replacement, or used cars... you have to question whether it's worth your time or the risk.
Besides, with BitTorrent, you upload chunks of the torrent even as you download the file. What if he didn't download the.torrent of MtF, but rather seeded a.torrent of the ISO of the DVD he ripped?
I could be wrong but I think it's possible to throttle your upstream to 0. Whether this will actually "work" on bittorrent is beyond me.
I don't see how ownership of the original media serves as "proof" that he didn't download it.
The claim is he didn't download it, he bought it. Why would you bother to download something you bought? Well, there are some good reasons but still, to average joe jury it would seem silly.
The thing about cases like this, it's just as likely that he did download it as if he didn't download it. Even on the best of days all they have is an IP address, which may be dynamic, which may or may not have accurate logs, which may or may not have been transcribed correctly.
Optimus Prime is the John Wayne of the generation who grew up in the 80s. Sure, there was Duke from GI Joe, but he was usurped in midstream by a general. There was Lion-o, but the Thundercats were too wierd for most kids to take seriously. There was He-Man, but he was never anything more than a bad Superman re-interpretation..... Everyone grows up and has their own legends to tell tales about. For the 80s bunch, Optimus Prime saved the day after school, and that's why so many love and respect the character to this day. And you can't have Optimus Prime without the deep, John Waynesy voice of Peter Cullen. Just wouldn't be right
While I agree with the idea that we all have our heros, I don't see Optimus Prime as being prolific as "The Duke".
Though Peter Cullen according to the IMDb does have a pretty long resume. I'm seeing things like the voice for sour puss from Pac-man, 1981 Spiderman's "Red Skull", Eeyore in "Winnie the Pooh", even Voltron. I was starting this responce out as a sort of flame on the idea that a cheezy marketing ploy such as Transformers could even compare to "The Duke", and the only truth I can find is this Peter Cullen gent seems to have such amazing range that there is no chance in hell he would be typecast as "Optimus Prime".
So while I can't see Optimius Prime being a true cultural icon which stands the test of time the way that "The Duke" has, I must say that if you grew up in the 80s, odds are you know his voice.
How can you NOT like the transformers? I wasnt too excited when this project was first accounced, (another hollywood bludgeoning of an icon from my childhood) but this is promising.
Before I start, I respect anyone who has any "Transformers"(tm). As a toy, it was a cool idea, and on top of that helped to boost hand eye co-ordination. And as a collectors item, I don't know their value but they came out after the great starwars bonanza, where *those* suckers were more valuable than baseball cards.
But as a story... I think I might be missing something. I know nothing other than the afternoon cartoon. Now don't get me wrong, I was big on Japanese animation by this point in my life. I had already went out of my way to watch Star Blazers and Robotec and I was expecting another interesting epic. But with all kids programing airing was sporadic at best, so if there was a bigger story arc I didn't know about it. The first set get repeated into the ground with no real means of finding out when the new season was going to arive, let alone which season was which, and when it finally came to town, my half hearted interest started to fade, then came along a new series of characters followed by the flood of new toys associated with them which killed my suspencion of disbelief and I began to see it for what it was, one long commercial for overpriced toys. Parents went out of their way to get their children Arialbots which IIRC were crap, not only proportionatly smaller than the prior generation but were as simple as the Go-bots. And by this point in my life I had better things to do, either that or walking home from school took long enough that I missed the wonderful cartoon hour, that wonderful hour for those fortunate enough to be close enough to home from school to catch. Not to speak of the fact that VCRs were still new to the home and catching them in their proper order was unlikely.
So... "How can you NOT like the transformers?", there wasn't much of a plot in the cartoon that I noticed, but rather two sets of robots stuck on earth making pointless raids always resulting in a stalemate.
Most PCs bought in the last 5 years can easily last 6-8 years if they are taken care of, are running Win2k or WinXP, and have plenty of RAM (1GB is a good target for an office machine). Two years ago, we went through the office and maxed out all of the RAM on any machine with 500MHz or faster CPUs. For $100/machine, we added 2-3 years of lifespan.
5 years ago it was somewhat common for off the shelf machines to use PC133 memory, rather than DDR. While you "can" get pc133 memory cheaply, there is no assurance that new memory will work with that old board, well unless you buy from a vender who has a compatability chart or have a memory databook, or know that 4 chip 256meg dimm bad, 8 chip 256meg dimm good (not absolute but better than buying blind). I'd guess that to upgrade a pc133 low end Athlon, without finding a good deal, i'll run $80ish to $100ish buying generic memory for 1gig of ram. Buying Crucial would be $160ish. Buying crucial for the Asus a7v266 would be about $120ish, generic about $50 to $80. If talking a Pentium II 440bx based motherboard, while you "can" find used or generic memory that'll work, the odds are stacked against you, going Crucial, we are talking $200.
For a geek, unless you happen to stumble upon memory for a good price, upgrading that older machine may not be a spiffy deal. Pentium II class, even pentium III, it's a pain to find compatable memory, so a chip and motherboard and ram is 100% justified. Lower end athlon class it's not such a bad deal, esp since people tend to give away ddr 2100 memory.
For joe user, if talking pentium II class, we are talking 66% the value of a new machine plus labor, which could easily = the price of a new machine. If athlon class, more like 33% the value of a new machine plus labor, which could be 40% the value of a new machine. Probally worth it for Joe user.
...everthing is clearly marked, I don't see why anyone would have a problem.
Sheesh, tell me about it. I've been trying to explain a similar setup to my wife for years.
That's rather the point... you and I would make it a point to use the AV jacks, where someone else would make it a point to just use the coax jacks. You set it up... so you have full understanding where each jack goes, and the corisponding label, and can't understand how it's so difficult, when in reality it is a puzzle.
For example: I only have one S-video jack on my TV, the speakers diabled, yet I turn my back and someone is mucking with the TV controls. When that doesn't work, and they are on CATV 53, they start turning thing off, thinking they are off when they are on, and it doesnt help the fact that off turns on a light by the power switch with "standby" in little letters. And by switching things off they ofcorse switch the inputs on everything, which again are in little letters. And even worse, there are no real standards for inputs, where one remote would permit you to use channel 00 and 01 for input one and two (they can't use 01 and 02 becuase 2 is a station), where others require you to select channels with the up and down button, down from 02 for inputs, and still others have a seperate source button.
1. So, there is no standard for whether the light means on or off 2. There is no standard for selecting inputs, or locking them down. 3. There is no way to disable buttons save desoldering or black tape. 4. There are TVs where walking up to them and using the buttons is worthless. 5. There are many configurations in which you can hookup AV gear, which would include CATV boxes, DVD players, DVRs, VCRs, and sound systems.
And you wonder why people get confused, when in the past there was one TV, and perhaps one VCR, and at most two remotes?
So you're the guy that makes all those horrible, counterintuitive UIs!
I don't understand what you mean, the entertainment system only has 5 remote controls, only one switch box. They are all clearly marked. If you want to watch a DVD all you have to do is make sure the TV is on input one, switch box 1 for the dolby surround set or input 2 for the dvd recorder, and use the remote with the same logo as the unit you are using. To watch TV it's a simple matter of making sure you are on input 1, switch box #2. If you want regular cable just make sure you have the DVD recorder set to CATV and use the DVD recorder remote, or if you want the cable box select input in the DVD recorder remote till you see S video, if you see no video but sound press it one more time. If you need to adjust the volume use the thin remote sharing the logo with the surround sound set above, or if all else fails turn the large silver knob marked volume. If you don't have sound, make sure the surround sound unit is selected to TV, Aux is the turn table located in another room which you can't see.
I made sure to totally diable the TV speakers and the Cable TV box remote volume control just to make your live easier. Everthing is clearly marked, I don't see why anyone would have a problem.
so many that dell is apparently offering their Dimension 1100 for $50 plus tax and a modest fee for shipping, or free "designated carrier".
I stand corrected, as of this moment the price jumped back up to $299
Enclosed are the details I was quoting that no longer exist. [data regarding my obsolete price quote] Dimension 1100 Qty 1
Intel® Celeron® D Processor 325 (2.53 GHz, 533 FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition Unit Price $349.00
Save $300 on select Point of Sale Solutions through Dell Small Business Expires Wednesday, July 19th! Catalog Number: 4 DIM11MIN
Module Description Show Details Processor Intel® Celeron® D Processor 325 (2.53 GHz, 533 FSB) Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition Memory 256MB DDR SDRAM at 400MHz Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard Monitors 17 inch E773 (16 inch viewable) Conventional CRT [end data]
If all you need your PC for is Microsoft word and powerpoint from time to time, and you already have something 900mhz or above, why on earth do you need another PC? It's hard to think in terms of an ordinary user, but there are typicaly only a few reasons to upgrade.
1. What you need to do takes too long 2. It broke and repair is to damn costly 3. You need more "memory" (where memory = either ram or HD), need a burner, or need that spiffy software application which comes with the new PC. 4. There is a super duper deal with losts of extras you don't need.
From a goodwill standpoint, while there are still a number of PCs in the pentium I class, I'm starting to see quite a few AMD durons with gigs of HD space, a modest compliment of memory, and still operational save the spyware infections. I have to say the market is pretty saturated with PCs, more PCs than you can shake a stick at, so many that dell is apparently offering their Dimension 1100 for $50 plus tax and a modest fee for shipping, or free "designated carrier".
None of them say anything about 'home viewing only', which isn't accurate anyway
Mine does, I was quoting the first video I happened to have handy. I have another one that says "Any unauthorized copying, editing, exhibition, hiring, lending, public peformance, distribution, and/or brodcast of this DVD or any part of it is strictly prohibited. All rights are reserved and this DVD remains at all times the property of the licensor under its license.".
I agree about home viewing, but you are taking it far far far to literaly. But as you are no doubt aware this information is present on media sold, which can be easily read before purchace.
PS the article mentioned music, not just movies. Find me a license on my collection of 8-track tapes, please.
Find me an 8-track, please! It would be a little harder for an 8-track because the box which it came in is in all likelyhood gone. It's like asking me to find this information on a cassette without a case. The few bits of 60s vinyl I have don't have this information present, simply the copyright and date.
The "license" is pure fiction - it's not enforceable on its own. That should be common sense: how are you supposed to know what the license says before you buy the DVD?
It's on the box. On the back usually the last three lines.
I would not go as far as saying it's pure bullshit. Mostly bullshit, but not entirely bullshit. You can for example buy educational videos that state clearly that classroom use is acceptable.
And spare me your house analogy, a house is physical property not covered under copyright law. I would agree that these things are physical products which we own but ownership doesn't not grant us license to crank off copies or play the music at the Elks club. But if someone wanted to make a special Elks club edition... I imagine they could.
the article os full of shit, there is no license when you purchase movies, music, etc. Copyright laws are like any other law, and no other laws act as a license between the individual and the state. Intellectual property has not changed with the advent of the digital world. It's easier to distribute but this doesn't mean the copyright holder should lose their right of distribution. in fact, this the most important right that needs to stay the same. While I agree that things like this Sony contraption should be considered illegal to manufacture, I do not weep for those who are busted for illegally distributing intellectual property.
"this copyrighted work is licensed for home viewing only. Unauthroized display, duplication and distribution is prohibited. All rights reserved."
I can not agree that home media is not licensed, because it is. It's painfully clear in the fine print that it's yours to use, watch, but not to duplicate and distribute. That's fair and reasonable. What's not fair and reasonable is making it so this physical product you buy be licensed specificly to your console. That's well, that's just wrong. Part of the copyright is the agreement that in exhcange for a monopoly and total control you freely contribute your creative work to the public domain, and unless there are provisions for that any attempt at digitical rights management is a violation of the concept. It seems they want the goverment to grant them control yet don't want to give back to the community.
So the hotdog vendor should have a real tantrum if I decide to peel the skin off the hotdog before I eat it? Heck, I paid for it, and I should do as I please with it, if he agrees to sell it to me.
A hotdog is phyical property, it's not a copyrighted work. You can stuff it up your nose if you like, wear it as a hat. You can dice it up and put it in your mac and cheese if that's your fancy, you can mix it up with ramen, roast it over a camp fire, and if you want duct tape it to your chest (don't ask), you can do that too. You could even, even carve them into little tikies. While there are chefs who would throw a fit if you put ketchup on your burgundy chicken, once you pay for it it's your property. Hotdogs are not protected by copyright law for they them selves are not a copyrighted work. Chuck them into a canon and expell them on the 4th of july, they are yours.
Fair use is what i'm talking about, the limited use rights we have for copyrighted works. Taking a copy of a film, chopping out the bits you don't like, and selling it is not fair use at all. It's so far away from fair use it's not even funny. It's not your film, it's your copy of a film. Fair use rights start to fade very quickly once a copy leaves your posession. I could for example quote a segment of a film and call it fair use. *"I'll be back" *"Hasta la vista baby". But I can't copy the entire film and replace "Hasta la vista baby" with "Goodbye Sweetheart, remember to write", and sell it, not without permission. Heck, I can't even take a copy of Terminator, copy it to Betamax, and sell it without permission even if I bundle it with an offical DVD release. Doesn't matter they got a sale they otherwise wouldn't get, it doesn't matter your doing the Betamax community a favor. This is not fair use.
*Quotes from Terminator(1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, directed by James Cameron, James Cameron, and Jonathan Mostow.
But you can't take a toyota, copy it, and sell it as a toyota.
True, but you can most certainly take a Toyota, alter it, and sell the result as a Toyota, in much the way that you should morally be able to buy a copy of a string of bits, media-shift it, chop parts out, and sell the resulting string of bits.
Again, this falls under the catagory of property rights, perhaps even trademark rights. I would "imagine" looking at your analogy that one would have to disclose the fact that the Toyota in question is not stock, and the fact that it's a used car not sold by Toyota. Toyotas reputation would not be affected by some joker who decided to drop a v8 hemi into a Tercel, not unless it wasn't disclosed that it was an afermarket modification. Usually the fact that it looks like a hotwheels car is a dead giveaway, and though I think it stupid and a waste of time to make a car look like a big arse hotwheels car, it's phsyical property with physical ownership, you can do with it what you like. You can call me stupid for painting my wheels blue, but it helps me find my car in parking lots.
Morality is beside the point, you don't have the right to copy a string of bits created by someone else that is still protected under copyright without their express permission and sell it. The moment you do this and it leaves your posession, you created a bootleg, an unauthorized derivative work. It doesn't matter what you think of the creative work, it doesn't matter whether you think they will make more money, or wish to edit something you and others you know find as moraly objectionable. You simply have no right to do so, not without express permission. I'm not saying it's wrong... I'm not saying don't enjoy a good bootleg or unauthorized subtitling of a foreign work, only you have no rights to do so.
The arangement was in exchange for complete control over your creative work you in turn agree to give up that work to the public domain after a set period of time. This would include the copyrights on much of the GNU and BSD licensed software which tends to be popular around here. Some Joe might think the people who release software under these these licenses are stupid, moronic, and a bunch of idealistic hippies out to change the world. But they have every right to be stupid, moronic, and the God given right to be a bunch of idealistic hippies seeking to change the world.
For example... Bruce Springsteins "Born in the USA" was a song I first noticed doing the Reagan election year IIRC (note my brain is fuzzy between Reagan and Bush), and I thought to my self what a terrible thing, stupid pro-war song. It was only later in life I learned that Bruce didn't license his work to be used as a political adverts and fought tooth and nail to get it removed, and it was intended as an anti-war song. This use, which i'm sure helped the song's popularity and helped make Bruce a ton of money with free advertising, did cause him irrevocable harm by giving some of the youth the impression this man was pro war, when clearly he wasn't. Bruce had every right to tell Mr. Reagan not to use his work, and legaly he was correct, morally he was even more so.
A studio sells a normal R-rated version of a film for $20 on DVD. It decides to sell a censored PG version for $30 (it's a niche market, people are willing to pay more for the censored version.)
An outfit in Utah comes along, buys a copy of the $20 R-rated version, edits it to PG level, and sells it for $25.
The studio is out $5, and it's an easy to argue copyright violation.
Now my issue is that the studios are not taking advantage of their full copyrights and issuing the PG version. I feel that if they don't after a few years, they should relinquish those rights and let the company in Utah innovate appropriately (by buying the $20 DVD and then editing it.) It'd really only take a law to change, and in today's political environment would be an easy sell to Congress.
It's not about the money, it's about the right to copy.
Here's the thing, it's their creative work, it's theirs to do with as they please. Backseat directors and producers be damned. It doesn't matter how much money you *think* they can make, and it doesn't matter what you like and do not like. They are under no moral, ethical, or legal obligation to make a version of a film based on your tastes. They don't even have to release a film with Gaelic subtitles. They are not even obligated to make money. And their lack of a PG version does not give you license to make a derivative work without their permission, but make no mistake, this would be an unauthorized derivative work... aka "bootleg". You make make a bootleg if you want... it might even be popular. I've seen some nice very nice Dune bootlegs. You might even think you are doing the studio a favor. But you simply have no right to do so. I'm not saying bootlegs are bad, only you don't have that right while the copyright is still in effect.
I would agree with you that copyrights should have an experation date, and copyrights should be something that requires renewal so otherwise abandoned works can be copied. And subtitles, handy suckers. I'm very fond of subtitles, esp fan subs. If you can provide a fan sub, or an alternative index without making a copy.... well it's no longer a copyright issue.
In the end, the only the you have the right to do is vote with your dollars, to buy the product, the copy that they authorized or not to buy it. You might think they are stupid for not taking the time to make a PG edit, but they have every right to be stupid.
This is no better than a car company banning its customers from modding their cars on the grounds that it distorts their original aesthetics. Funny how the corporatists turn property rights into a mechanism for controlling others rather than as a foundation for individuals to control themselves...
This is an amazingly good point. However you bought the car, you have ownership of the car. It's property. It's your object to do with as you please. You can add an off center racing stripe, a spoiler, some 16 inch mag wheels, and going out of your way to make it look like a big Hotwheels(tm) car. But you can't take a toyota, copy it, and sell it as a toyota. If you do, and you are and are making really ugly ones made out of fiberglass with yugo engines in them, and using the Toyota name to sell them, I'm sure they would at the very least slap you with a cease and desist order really fast.
We are talking Copy-rights and not property-rights.
Parent makes an incredibly important point here in comparing water with the internet - it is, or at least soon will be, a vital utility for people living this century.
So much of our daily lives are being carried out online. The much-vaunted "digital divide" is something that governments are at pains to resolve, otherwise they will see a new social underclass evolve, and will lose general productivity amongst their population.
One can see, then, that if industry groups such as the BPI are able to remove someone from being online now, this could set a dangerous precedent for the future that would see large companies [or their representatives] being able to control who is or who is not online with out any legal oversight whatsoever.
Agreed... though I would not consider it as vital as water, more along the lines of telephone. It is communication after all. You'll have to excuse me for being ignorant on the practices of telemarketers.... While I know that you can complain to an ISP regarding spam in the hopes they will drop the user, I don't think the same holds true for telemarketing. But the way I see it if the BPI wants to issue a complaint under penality of purgery or the UK legal equlivent that a user is infringing on one of their member's works... and this complaint results in terminination, then they also have to be fully accountable if they are wrong. This would include any damages their claim makes, including the extra money you have to spend to shop in a store rather than hitting the website and electing local pickup.
My only concern is that if edited versions are not available, and the only version available is the purely unedited version, might that cause DVD producers to be more conservative with what they put in, in the first place? (It's a vague parallel to the rebate story posted earlier on SlashDot; if there isn't breakage [unfiled rebates], then the overall amount of rebates will likely drop. Sometimes by purifying and simplifying the process, you can cause unintended effects.)
In general, I applaud the ruling, but worry it might reduce the quality of the original distributions.
The way I see it, if there is demand for a PG version of an R movie, they can either take the time to produce one or grant permission for someone else to do one. There is walmart and blockbuster afterall. Perhaps the next generation of players will have alternative indexes and offer a single release viewable in it's uncensored, pg-13, pg, and kiddy formats. I'm happy to co-exist with those people who either are offended by certain things, or have kids who wish to have some control over what they watch, so long as they are happy to accept the fact that I prefer my film to be uncut. I'm not saying that Eddie Murphy's "Trading Places" isn't a laugh when they replace "if we wanted bubbles we had to fart in the tub" with "if we wanted bubbles we had to fight in the tub", but it does change the meaning just a tad.
a copyright holder has every right to choose how a work is distributed
Wow I'd like to see you satte this here in a DRM discussion, then the collective wisdom of slashdot will tell you that is not the case...
Or, a GNU discussion?
I'm not going to say I like DRM. But if a studio wishes to release a flick in only windows media HD format you can't for example copy it to HDdvd, sell it, and call it fair use. If they want to only release something in Windows Media, they have every right to do so. You could in theory copy it your self, and that would be fair use. It does become interesting because DRM tends to restrict if not prevent fair use, and you are right I should have selected my words more carefuly. But my point still stands... fair use ends when when you make a copy and give it to someone else.
As far as DRM goes, I would not buy into it, let your dollars vote for what you find acceptable.
Don't approve of this action just because you think it only hurts a bunch of "right-wing Christian zealots". Remember fair use! There was a one-to-one copy sold with each of these DVDs---the original and the edited. The filmmakers did not lose one dime, and in fact made money with each copy sold.
Fair use would be you making a backup copy, puting the one you bought into storage, and using the backup. This is fair use. Heck, even taking a film that you own, making a copy and cutting out scenes you don't like... that is also fair use.
What's not fair use is making a copy, cutting scenes, and selling it as a new version without any consent. This is not a one to one copy as there are scenes cut. Money is beside the point... a copyright holder has every right to choose how a work is distributed. This would include not wanting some bozo cutting scenes on a work that took time to create. Any flaws, mistakes, anything which affects the overall presentation can damage the reputation of the respective studio and artists that created the work. It's like taking spray paint to a piece of fine art and going over the bits one finds offencive, this affects the quality of the piece and the viewer might assume the artist is sloppy dolt or doesn't have the technical skill or is too reserved to make a winkle.
Well, if you don't care one way or the other that's fine with me. But I resent those who actually complain to stores like CompUSA to drop the rebates when there in no proof that the lower prices will ever come.
They may come, they may not. I tend to "try" to find a good deal without a rebate first, and only fall back on the rebate if it's an extraordinary deal, and i'm not out extra pocket money as a result.
Sure, I would rather pay $50 less than have to send in my paperwork and wait for my own money for a disk or monitor, or to pay tax on the extra. But I do want to still be able to buy from a local retailer. You may be happy with on-line sales, but I find too many on-line retailers try to make the shipping and "handling charges" (whatever the hell handling charges are) a profit center that quickly eats away from any pretend savings on the item cost.
FYI, a Handling Fee is just that, a fee to handle, box, and send it to be shipped. In other cases, the handling fee is actually the premium a drop shipper charges to take the order which then in turn gets shipped out elsewhere, a place known as the warehouse. Still in other cases, it's that hidden fee so they can advertise a extraordinary low price. For example memory, it does not take an extra box, nor extra packing material, nor extra labor to grab two sticks of memory and shove in a box yet there were some places that would charge $10.00 plus $10.00 and before you knew it you had $50 in shipping and handling fees for something weighing in at under a pound. Could still be a fair price.
If this offends you shop a place which doesn't have horrible handling fees. As with the case of rebates we, at the end of the day, vote with our dollars. I made a choice to shop at places who made it clear what the shipping and handling fee would be before I placed an order, and better yet not charge astronomical prices for handling. I think others did too and you can see to day if you shop www.pricewatch.com that the page one companies are offering free shipping for memory. There is no evidence this saves you money, but at the very least you know what the damn price is.
That's the complaint about rebates from hell. I can look in today's Office Max flyer and see 50 spindles of 16X DVDs from HP cost $14.99, 100 packs $27.99. Office Depot has Memorex 100 spindles for $29.99. Best buy charges more for Memorex, but has the Verbatim - 16X for $14.99 for a 50 pack. I can see clearly if I was in the market for these discs that there are three options floating at about 30c/disc, and shopping Newegg would cost me more for the same stuff, as their best price is TDK for $30/100 pack and shipping is $7.70. This doesn't metter to me as I buy printables, printable TDK at costco are about $40 for a 100 pack. But if I needed non printables today I could see it's a good time to buy them local. But the price on DVDs bounces between 20c and 50c per localy, and if I was trully lazy I could order from newegg and get a consistent price. Granted a couple days ago Newegg had Verbiums for $30 and a $10 rebate, which is not only no extra cash out of pocket as it's free shipping, but there is a chance to save $10.00.
But just like you don't like handling fees, I am not fond the "rebate pile from hell". Manufacturer rebates are not so bad, but when you get the manufacturer rebate, the store rebate, bonus store rebate for buying a group of things, like PC monitor and printer. The printer is always the thimble sized class the likes of which you wouldn't want to purchace anyway, the monitor is always a tube likely no better or no worse than what you already own, and all of this extra trouble to say what, $50 on the PC? It's no wonder people are taking these deals, fetching the rebates, and returning the surplus for the price that's reflected on the sales receipt, either that or selling the stuff on e-bay.
I like rebates. Lower price than what a normal sale would be. They're hardly a scam -- if you're too lazy to take the 5 minutes to put the form together it's your own fault.
I like to comparison shop. You may discover that item A with a rebate may be the same price as item B without a rebate. Item B might cost a hair more, or might cost a hair less. If the out of pocket money is the same for both items, I might as well get the rebate. But if the out of pocket money is more... screw it. Fortunatly in the web age it's easy enough to google, froggle, what have you. Usually I can get something shipped for the price or less than the rebates, and that is more than spiffy.
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How can the police be sure that the photos aren't going to be used to identify police officers for later revenge attacks?
I would "think" it would be reasonable for an officer to get a name of a person who photographs a crime scene or an active arrest, could be handy evidence and they are a witness.
It would be unreasonable to assume someone's photographing you for a revenge attack and act on it. But in the unlikely event a revenge act takes place, they got someone who they can talk who has pictures of officers and bystanders.
If you can step outside the Bill Gates distortion field for a minute, you might see the absurdity of it all. How are you, your retailer, their wholesaler or even M$ themselves supposed to be able to tell one pressed CD from another? They are identical as the "pirates" have presses just like the "legitimate" publisher.
Well, usually the pirated edition of xp pro doesn't have that annoying "you changed your hardware, please reactive through microsoft", and the damn dial up connection for some reason didn't work, well at least the good pirated editions don't. It's sad the fact that the people who spend top dollar for the OS of their choice and get extra bullshit that the pirated edition doesn't have.
It's not as bad as you think. Look at the vast majority of employees in the automotive service industry. Most of my wrench monkey fans have high school diplomas, live pay check to pay check, and voted for Bush.
These wrench monkeys with high school diplomas who live pay check by paycheck who voted for Bush are in the automotive service industry at the very least have experence in this field. They may have learned from the shop manual, they may have gone to a technical school, or they may have been trained on the job. But if they are in the business of constructing or rebuilding transmissions they already have the tools they would need or know how to get them. They at the very least have done this before. That's 1/2 the battle with any home automobile repair, the tools and all the trivial parts you need. They have workshops setup for this task.
It's not a question intelligence, but that of experence. For these guys and ladies, they have already passed the stage of trial and error where as average joe would be starting from square one, square one on a device designed to operate at speeds between 700rpm and 8000rpm, with crusing speed of like what, 3800 rpm? 4200rpm?
If THEY can tear apart a tranny, any able bodied person with the ability to research enough of the law to attempt to defend themselves of these charges should be able to tear down an rebuild a transmission. By 'no problem' I mean that it will be difficult, but if they are careful, follow good directions, and use the appropriate tools, at the end of the ordeal they will have a working transmission. Not to mention a much better understanding of how trannys work.
Well, I have had some wonderful experences following directions with minor car repair. I remember a few cases of "please torque these bolts 72 pounds" for the flywheel, and they snapped at 38, which is well, to be expected. Certainly a job for a screw extractor, either that or dropping a crankshaft, which is certainly NO fun.
I would agree, and would even say it's possible to train monkeys to rebuild a transmission. I would even say it's possible to train monkeys in law. Most of both tasks are quite tedius, and nothing beyond the brainpower of a primate. But your average joe can't program his own vcr even with the proper directions, and can't navigate a home theater system with more than 3 remotes. Observe the difficulty some people have with operating basic electronic equipment, then imagine them doing something like rebuilding a transmission, or handling the legal landscape.
But you should talk to these people who are in the automotive service industry. Many them don't even do their own brakes, or prefer buying pre-loaded calipers. But at least with the automotive service industry a man who works on their own car doesn't have a fool for a customer. How many lawyers do you think would represent themselves?
1.With the proper tools and a good manual, any literate able bodied person can rebuild a tranny. Follow the instructions and it's no problem.
I think we have different ideas on what no problem means.
Pulling a trany is difficult enough in it self. On current generation cars there is so much crap in the way such as stablizer bars that have to be removed. This in it self isn't a small job, it's a big job.
Trannys are pretty complicated pieces of machinery. Lots of small parts not to speak of washers and spacers and the specalized tools you have to get. Being literate means you can understand what you need, not nessicarly how to get it. And keep in mind we are talking about a mechanical device which is designed to have moving parts spinning at engine speeds, 900rpm to redline, somewhere in the 6000 to 8000rpm range.
Not to speak of the downtime, which if you are going to do such a job and need the car, you could pick up a spare tranny, which typicaly in a junk yard will run anywhere from sub $100 to Sub $500. And if you have a working used tranny why bother to rebuild yours? It just means you'll have to dismount and replace it again.
A person can do it, but given the relative cost of a used replacement, or used cars... you have to question whether it's worth your time or the risk.
Besides, with BitTorrent, you upload chunks of the torrent even as you download the file. What if he didn't download the .torrent of MtF, but rather seeded a .torrent of the ISO of the DVD he ripped?
I could be wrong but I think it's possible to throttle your upstream to 0. Whether this will actually "work" on bittorrent is beyond me.
I don't see how ownership of the original media serves as "proof" that he didn't download it.
The claim is he didn't download it, he bought it. Why would you bother to download something you bought? Well, there are some good reasons but still, to average joe jury it would seem silly.
The thing about cases like this, it's just as likely that he did download it as if he didn't download it. Even on the best of days all they have is an IP address, which may be dynamic, which may or may not have accurate logs, which may or may not have been transcribed correctly.
Optimus Prime is the John Wayne of the generation who grew up in the 80s. Sure, there was Duke from GI Joe, but he was usurped in midstream by a general. There was Lion-o, but the Thundercats were too wierd for most kids to take seriously. There was He-Man, but he was never anything more than a bad Superman re-interpretation. ....
Everyone grows up and has their own legends to tell tales about. For the 80s bunch, Optimus Prime saved the day after school, and that's why so many love and respect the character to this day. And you can't have Optimus Prime without the deep, John Waynesy voice of Peter Cullen. Just wouldn't be right
While I agree with the idea that we all have our heros, I don't see Optimus Prime as being prolific as "The Duke".
Though Peter Cullen according to the IMDb does have a pretty long resume. I'm seeing things like the voice for sour puss from Pac-man, 1981 Spiderman's "Red Skull", Eeyore in "Winnie the Pooh", even Voltron. I was starting this responce out as a sort of flame on the idea that a cheezy marketing ploy such as Transformers could even compare to "The Duke", and the only truth I can find is this Peter Cullen gent seems to have such amazing range that there is no chance in hell he would be typecast as "Optimus Prime".
So while I can't see Optimius Prime being a true cultural icon which stands the test of time the way that "The Duke" has, I must say that if you grew up in the 80s, odds are you know his voice.
How can you NOT like the transformers? I wasnt too excited when this project was first accounced, (another hollywood bludgeoning of an icon from my childhood) but this is promising.
Before I start, I respect anyone who has any "Transformers"(tm). As a toy, it was a cool idea, and on top of that helped to boost hand eye co-ordination. And as a collectors item, I don't know their value but they came out after the great starwars bonanza, where *those* suckers were more valuable than baseball cards.
But as a story... I think I might be missing something. I know nothing other than the afternoon cartoon. Now don't get me wrong, I was big on Japanese animation by this point in my life. I had already went out of my way to watch Star Blazers and Robotec and I was expecting another interesting epic. But with all kids programing airing was sporadic at best, so if there was a bigger story arc I didn't know about it. The first set get repeated into the ground with no real means of finding out when the new season was going to arive, let alone which season was which, and when it finally came to town, my half hearted interest started to fade, then came along a new series of characters followed by the flood of new toys associated with them which killed my suspencion of disbelief and I began to see it for what it was, one long commercial for overpriced toys. Parents went out of their way to get their children Arialbots which IIRC were crap, not only proportionatly smaller than the prior generation but were as simple as the Go-bots. And by this point in my life I had better things to do, either that or walking home from school took long enough that I missed the wonderful cartoon hour, that wonderful hour for those fortunate enough to be close enough to home from school to catch. Not to speak of the fact that VCRs were still new to the home and catching them in their proper order was unlikely.
So... "How can you NOT like the transformers?", there wasn't much of a plot in the cartoon that I noticed, but rather two sets of robots stuck on earth making pointless raids always resulting in a stalemate.
Most PCs bought in the last 5 years can easily last 6-8 years if they are taken care of, are running Win2k or WinXP, and have plenty of RAM (1GB is a good target for an office machine). Two years ago, we went through the office and maxed out all of the RAM on any machine with 500MHz or faster CPUs. For $100/machine, we added 2-3 years of lifespan.
5 years ago it was somewhat common for off the shelf machines to use PC133 memory, rather than DDR. While you "can" get pc133 memory cheaply, there is no assurance that new memory will work with that old board, well unless you buy from a vender who has a compatability chart or have a memory databook, or know that 4 chip 256meg dimm bad, 8 chip 256meg dimm good (not absolute but better than buying blind). I'd guess that to upgrade a pc133 low end Athlon, without finding a good deal, i'll run $80ish to $100ish buying generic memory for 1gig of ram. Buying Crucial would be $160ish. Buying crucial for the Asus a7v266 would be about $120ish, generic about $50 to $80. If talking a Pentium II 440bx based motherboard, while you "can" find used or generic memory that'll work, the odds are stacked against you, going Crucial, we are talking $200.
For a geek, unless you happen to stumble upon memory for a good price, upgrading that older machine may not be a spiffy deal. Pentium II class, even pentium III, it's a pain to find compatable memory, so a chip and motherboard and ram is 100% justified. Lower end athlon class it's not such a bad deal, esp since people tend to give away ddr 2100 memory.
For joe user, if talking pentium II class, we are talking 66% the value of a new machine plus labor, which could easily = the price of a new machine. If athlon class, more like 33% the value of a new machine plus labor, which could be 40% the value of a new machine. Probally worth it for Joe user.
Sheesh, tell me about it. I've been trying to explain a similar setup to my wife for years.
That's rather the point... you and I would make it a point to use the AV jacks, where someone else would make it a point to just use the coax jacks. You set it up... so you have full understanding where each jack goes, and the corisponding label, and can't understand how it's so difficult, when in reality it is a puzzle.
For example: I only have one S-video jack on my TV, the speakers diabled, yet I turn my back and someone is mucking with the TV controls. When that doesn't work, and they are on CATV 53, they start turning thing off, thinking they are off when they are on, and it doesnt help the fact that off turns on a light by the power switch with "standby" in little letters. And by switching things off they ofcorse switch the inputs on everything, which again are in little letters. And even worse, there are no real standards for inputs, where one remote would permit you to use channel 00 and 01 for input one and two (they can't use 01 and 02 becuase 2 is a station), where others require you to select channels with the up and down button, down from 02 for inputs, and still others have a seperate source button.
1. So, there is no standard for whether the light means on or off
2. There is no standard for selecting inputs, or locking them down.
3. There is no way to disable buttons save desoldering or black tape.
4. There are TVs where walking up to them and using the buttons is worthless.
5. There are many configurations in which you can hookup AV gear, which would include CATV boxes, DVD players, DVRs, VCRs, and sound systems.
And you wonder why people get confused, when in the past there was one TV, and perhaps one VCR, and at most two remotes?
So you're the guy that makes all those horrible, counterintuitive UIs!
I don't understand what you mean, the entertainment system only has 5 remote controls, only one switch box. They are all clearly marked. If you want to watch a DVD all you have to do is make sure the TV is on input one, switch box 1 for the dolby surround set or input 2 for the dvd recorder, and use the remote with the same logo as the unit you are using. To watch TV it's a simple matter of making sure you are on input 1, switch box #2. If you want regular cable just make sure you have the DVD recorder set to CATV and use the DVD recorder remote, or if you want the cable box select input in the DVD recorder remote till you see S video, if you see no video but sound press it one more time. If you need to adjust the volume use the thin remote sharing the logo with the surround sound set above, or if all else fails turn the large silver knob marked volume. If you don't have sound, make sure the surround sound unit is selected to TV, Aux is the turn table located in another room which you can't see.
I made sure to totally diable the TV speakers and the Cable TV box remote volume control just to make your live easier. Everthing is clearly marked, I don't see why anyone would have a problem.
so many that dell is apparently offering their Dimension 1100 for $50 plus tax and a modest fee for shipping, or free "designated carrier".
I stand corrected, as of this moment the price jumped back up to $299
Enclosed are the details I was quoting that no longer exist.
[data regarding my obsolete price quote]
Dimension 1100 Qty 1
Intel® Celeron® D Processor 325 (2.53 GHz, 533 FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition Unit Price $349.00
Save $300 on select Point of Sale Solutions through Dell Small Business
Expires Wednesday, July 19th!
Catalog Number: 4 DIM11MIN
Module Description Show Details
Processor Intel® Celeron® D Processor 325 (2.53 GHz, 533 FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory 256MB DDR SDRAM at 400MHz
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitors 17 inch E773 (16 inch viewable) Conventional CRT
[end data]
If all you need your PC for is Microsoft word and powerpoint from time to time, and you already have something 900mhz or above, why on earth do you need another PC? It's hard to think in terms of an ordinary user, but there are typicaly only a few reasons to upgrade.
1. What you need to do takes too long
2. It broke and repair is to damn costly
3. You need more "memory" (where memory = either ram or HD), need a burner, or need that spiffy software application which comes with the new PC.
4. There is a super duper deal with losts of extras you don't need.
From a goodwill standpoint, while there are still a number of PCs in the pentium I class, I'm starting to see quite a few AMD durons with gigs of HD space, a modest compliment of memory, and still operational save the spyware infections. I have to say the market is pretty saturated with PCs, more PCs than you can shake a stick at, so many that dell is apparently offering their Dimension 1100 for $50 plus tax and a modest fee for shipping, or free "designated carrier".
None of them say anything about 'home viewing only', which isn't accurate anyway
Mine does, I was quoting the first video I happened to have handy. I have another one that says "Any unauthorized copying, editing, exhibition, hiring, lending, public peformance, distribution, and/or brodcast of this DVD or any part of it is strictly prohibited. All rights are reserved and this DVD remains at all times the property of the licensor under its license.".
I agree about home viewing, but you are taking it far far far to literaly. But as you are no doubt aware this information is present on media sold, which can be easily read before purchace.
PS the article mentioned music, not just movies. Find me a license on my collection of 8-track tapes, please.
Find me an 8-track, please! It would be a little harder for an 8-track because the box which it came in is in all likelyhood gone. It's like asking me to find this information on a cassette without a case. The few bits of 60s vinyl I have don't have this information present, simply the copyright and date.
The "license" is pure fiction - it's not enforceable on its own. That should be common sense: how are you supposed to know what the license says before you buy the DVD?
It's on the box. On the back usually the last three lines.
I would not go as far as saying it's pure bullshit. Mostly bullshit, but not entirely bullshit. You can for example buy educational videos that state clearly that classroom use is acceptable.
And spare me your house analogy, a house is physical property not covered under copyright law. I would agree that these things are physical products which we own but ownership doesn't not grant us license to crank off copies or play the music at the Elks club. But if someone wanted to make a special Elks club edition... I imagine they could.
the article os full of shit, there is no license when you purchase movies, music, etc. Copyright laws are like any other law, and no other laws act as a license between the individual and the state. Intellectual property has not changed with the advent of the digital world. It's easier to distribute but this doesn't mean the copyright holder should lose their right of distribution. in fact, this the most important right that needs to stay the same. While I agree that things like this Sony contraption should be considered illegal to manufacture, I do not weep for those who are busted for illegally distributing intellectual property.
"this copyrighted work is licensed for home viewing only. Unauthroized display, duplication and distribution is prohibited. All rights reserved."
I can not agree that home media is not licensed, because it is. It's painfully clear in the fine print that it's yours to use, watch, but not to duplicate and distribute. That's fair and reasonable. What's not fair and reasonable is making it so this physical product you buy be licensed specificly to your console. That's well, that's just wrong. Part of the copyright is the agreement that in exhcange for a monopoly and total control you freely contribute your creative work to the public domain, and unless there are provisions for that any attempt at digitical rights management is a violation of the concept. It seems they want the goverment to grant them control yet don't want to give back to the community.
So the hotdog vendor should have a real tantrum if I decide to peel the skin off the hotdog before I eat it? Heck, I paid for it, and I should do as I please with it, if he agrees to sell it to me.
A hotdog is phyical property, it's not a copyrighted work. You can stuff it up your nose if you like, wear it as a hat. You can dice it up and put it in your mac and cheese if that's your fancy, you can mix it up with ramen, roast it over a camp fire, and if you want duct tape it to your chest (don't ask), you can do that too. You could even, even carve them into little tikies. While there are chefs who would throw a fit if you put ketchup on your burgundy chicken, once you pay for it it's your property. Hotdogs are not protected by copyright law for they them selves are not a copyrighted work. Chuck them into a canon and expell them on the 4th of july, they are yours.
Fair use is what i'm talking about, the limited use rights we have for copyrighted works. Taking a copy of a film, chopping out the bits you don't like, and selling it is not fair use at all. It's so far away from fair use it's not even funny. It's not your film, it's your copy of a film. Fair use rights start to fade very quickly once a copy leaves your posession. I could for example quote a segment of a film and call it fair use. *"I'll be back" *"Hasta la vista baby". But I can't copy the entire film and replace "Hasta la vista baby" with "Goodbye Sweetheart, remember to write", and sell it, not without permission. Heck, I can't even take a copy of Terminator, copy it to Betamax, and sell it without permission even if I bundle it with an offical DVD release. Doesn't matter they got a sale they otherwise wouldn't get, it doesn't matter your doing the Betamax community a favor. This is not fair use.
*Quotes from Terminator(1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, directed by James Cameron, James Cameron, and Jonathan Mostow.
But you can't take a toyota, copy it, and sell it as a toyota.
True, but you can most certainly take a Toyota, alter it, and sell the result as a Toyota, in much the way that you should morally be able to buy a copy of a string of bits, media-shift it, chop parts out, and sell the resulting string of bits.
Again, this falls under the catagory of property rights, perhaps even trademark rights. I would "imagine" looking at your analogy that one would have to disclose the fact that the Toyota in question is not stock, and the fact that it's a used car not sold by Toyota. Toyotas reputation would not be affected by some joker who decided to drop a v8 hemi into a Tercel, not unless it wasn't disclosed that it was an afermarket modification. Usually the fact that it looks like a hotwheels car is a dead giveaway, and though I think it stupid and a waste of time to make a car look like a big arse hotwheels car, it's phsyical property with physical ownership, you can do with it what you like. You can call me stupid for painting my wheels blue, but it helps me find my car in parking lots.
Morality is beside the point, you don't have the right to copy a string of bits created by someone else that is still protected under copyright without their express permission and sell it. The moment you do this and it leaves your posession, you created a bootleg, an unauthorized derivative work. It doesn't matter what you think of the creative work, it doesn't matter whether you think they will make more money, or wish to edit something you and others you know find as moraly objectionable. You simply have no right to do so, not without express permission. I'm not saying it's wrong... I'm not saying don't enjoy a good bootleg or unauthorized subtitling of a foreign work, only you have no rights to do so.
The arangement was in exchange for complete control over your creative work you in turn agree to give up that work to the public domain after a set period of time. This would include the copyrights on much of the GNU and BSD licensed software which tends to be popular around here. Some Joe might think the people who release software under these these licenses are stupid, moronic, and a bunch of idealistic hippies out to change the world. But they have every right to be stupid, moronic, and the God given right to be a bunch of idealistic hippies seeking to change the world.
For example... Bruce Springsteins "Born in the USA" was a song I first noticed doing the Reagan election year IIRC (note my brain is fuzzy between Reagan and Bush), and I thought to my self what a terrible thing, stupid pro-war song. It was only later in life I learned that Bruce didn't license his work to be used as a political adverts and fought tooth and nail to get it removed, and it was intended as an anti-war song. This use, which i'm sure helped the song's popularity and helped make Bruce a ton of money with free advertising, did cause him irrevocable harm by giving some of the youth the impression this man was pro war, when clearly he wasn't. Bruce had every right to tell Mr. Reagan not to use his work, and legaly he was correct, morally he was even more so.
A studio sells a normal R-rated version of a film for $20 on DVD. It decides to sell a censored PG version for $30 (it's a niche market, people are willing to pay more for the censored version.)
An outfit in Utah comes along, buys a copy of the $20 R-rated version, edits it to PG level, and sells it for $25.
The studio is out $5, and it's an easy to argue copyright violation.
Now my issue is that the studios are not taking advantage of their full copyrights and issuing the PG version. I feel that if they don't after a few years, they should relinquish those rights and let the company in Utah innovate appropriately (by buying the $20 DVD and then editing it.) It'd really only take a law to change, and in today's political environment would be an easy sell to Congress.
It's not about the money, it's about the right to copy.
Here's the thing, it's their creative work, it's theirs to do with as they please. Backseat directors and producers be damned. It doesn't matter how much money you *think* they can make, and it doesn't matter what you like and do not like. They are under no moral, ethical, or legal obligation to make a version of a film based on your tastes. They don't even have to release a film with Gaelic subtitles. They are not even obligated to make money. And their lack of a PG version does not give you license to make a derivative work without their permission, but make no mistake, this would be an unauthorized derivative work... aka "bootleg". You make make a bootleg if you want... it might even be popular. I've seen some nice very nice Dune bootlegs. You might even think you are doing the studio a favor. But you simply have no right to do so. I'm not saying bootlegs are bad, only you don't have that right while the copyright is still in effect.
I would agree with you that copyrights should have an experation date, and copyrights should be something that requires renewal so otherwise abandoned works can be copied. And subtitles, handy suckers. I'm very fond of subtitles, esp fan subs. If you can provide a fan sub, or an alternative index without making a copy.... well it's no longer a copyright issue.
In the end, the only the you have the right to do is vote with your dollars, to buy the product, the copy that they authorized or not to buy it. You might think they are stupid for not taking the time to make a PG edit, but they have every right to be stupid.
This is no better than a car company banning its customers from modding their cars on the grounds that it distorts their original aesthetics. Funny how the corporatists turn property rights into a mechanism for controlling others rather than as a foundation for individuals to control themselves...
This is an amazingly good point. However you bought the car, you have ownership of the car. It's property. It's your object to do with as you please. You can add an off center racing stripe, a spoiler, some 16 inch mag wheels, and going out of your way to make it look like a big Hotwheels(tm) car. But you can't take a toyota, copy it, and sell it as a toyota. If you do, and you are and are making really ugly ones made out of fiberglass with yugo engines in them, and using the Toyota name to sell them, I'm sure they would at the very least slap you with a cease and desist order really fast.
We are talking Copy-rights and not property-rights.
Parent makes an incredibly important point here in comparing water with the internet - it is, or at least soon will be, a vital utility for people living this century.
So much of our daily lives are being carried out online. The much-vaunted "digital divide" is something that governments are at pains to resolve, otherwise they will see a new social underclass evolve, and will lose general productivity amongst their population.
One can see, then, that if industry groups such as the BPI are able to remove someone from being online now, this could set a dangerous precedent for the future that would see large companies [or their representatives] being able to control who is or who is not online with out any legal oversight whatsoever.
Agreed... though I would not consider it as vital as water, more along the lines of telephone. It is communication after all. You'll have to excuse me for being ignorant on the practices of telemarketers.... While I know that you can complain to an ISP regarding spam in the hopes they will drop the user, I don't think the same holds true for telemarketing. But the way I see it if the BPI wants to issue a complaint under penality of purgery or the UK legal equlivent that a user is infringing on one of their member's works... and this complaint results in terminination, then they also have to be fully accountable if they are wrong. This would include any damages their claim makes, including the extra money you have to spend to shop in a store rather than hitting the website and electing local pickup.
My only concern is that if edited versions are not available, and the only version available is the purely unedited version, might that cause DVD producers to be more conservative with what they put in, in the first place? (It's a vague parallel to the rebate story posted earlier on SlashDot; if there isn't breakage [unfiled rebates], then the overall amount of rebates will likely drop. Sometimes by purifying and simplifying the process, you can cause unintended effects.)
In general, I applaud the ruling, but worry it might reduce the quality of the original distributions.
The way I see it, if there is demand for a PG version of an R movie, they can either take the time to produce one or grant permission for someone else to do one. There is walmart and blockbuster afterall. Perhaps the next generation of players will have alternative indexes and offer a single release viewable in it's uncensored, pg-13, pg, and kiddy formats. I'm happy to co-exist with those people who either are offended by certain things, or have kids who wish to have some control over what they watch, so long as they are happy to accept the fact that I prefer my film to be uncut. I'm not saying that Eddie Murphy's "Trading Places" isn't a laugh when they replace "if we wanted bubbles we had to fart in the tub" with "if we wanted bubbles we had to fight in the tub", but it does change the meaning just a tad.
a copyright holder has every right to choose how a work is distributed
Wow I'd like to see you satte this here in a DRM discussion, then the collective wisdom of slashdot will tell you that is not the case...
Or, a GNU discussion?
I'm not going to say I like DRM. But if a studio wishes to release a flick in only windows media HD format you can't for example copy it to HDdvd, sell it, and call it fair use. If they want to only release something in Windows Media, they have every right to do so. You could in theory copy it your self, and that would be fair use. It does become interesting because DRM tends to restrict if not prevent fair use, and you are right I should have selected my words more carefuly. But my point still stands... fair use ends when when you make a copy and give it to someone else.
As far as DRM goes, I would not buy into it, let your dollars vote for what you find acceptable.
Don't approve of this action just because you think it only hurts a bunch of "right-wing Christian zealots". Remember fair use! There was a one-to-one copy sold with each of these DVDs---the original and the edited. The filmmakers did not lose one dime, and in fact made money with each copy sold.
Fair use would be you making a backup copy, puting the one you bought into storage, and using the backup. This is fair use. Heck, even taking a film that you own, making a copy and cutting out scenes you don't like... that is also fair use.
What's not fair use is making a copy, cutting scenes, and selling it as a new version without any consent. This is not a one to one copy as there are scenes cut. Money is beside the point... a copyright holder has every right to choose how a work is distributed. This would include not wanting some bozo cutting scenes on a work that took time to create. Any flaws, mistakes, anything which affects the overall presentation can damage the reputation of the respective studio and artists that created the work. It's like taking spray paint to a piece of fine art and going over the bits one finds offencive, this affects the quality of the piece and the viewer might assume the artist is sloppy dolt or doesn't have the technical skill or is too reserved to make a winkle.
Well, if you don't care one way or the other that's fine with me. But I resent those who actually complain to stores like CompUSA to drop the rebates when there in no proof that the lower prices will ever come.
They may come, they may not. I tend to "try" to find a good deal without a rebate first, and only fall back on the rebate if it's an extraordinary deal, and i'm not out extra pocket money as a result.
Sure, I would rather pay $50 less than have to send in my paperwork and wait for my own money for a disk or monitor, or to pay tax on the extra. But I do want to still be able to buy from a local retailer. You may be happy with on-line sales, but I find too many on-line retailers try to make the shipping and "handling charges" (whatever the hell handling charges are) a profit center that quickly eats away from any pretend savings on the item cost.
FYI, a Handling Fee is just that, a fee to handle, box, and send it to be shipped. In other cases, the handling fee is actually the premium a drop shipper charges to take the order which then in turn gets shipped out elsewhere, a place known as the warehouse. Still in other cases, it's that hidden fee so they can advertise a extraordinary low price. For example memory, it does not take an extra box, nor extra packing material, nor extra labor to grab two sticks of memory and shove in a box yet there were some places that would charge $10.00 plus $10.00 and before you knew it you had $50 in shipping and handling fees for something weighing in at under a pound. Could still be a fair price.
If this offends you shop a place which doesn't have horrible handling fees. As with the case of rebates we, at the end of the day, vote with our dollars. I made a choice to shop at places who made it clear what the shipping and handling fee would be before I placed an order, and better yet not charge astronomical prices for handling. I think others did too and you can see to day if you shop www.pricewatch.com that the page one companies are offering free shipping for memory. There is no evidence this saves you money, but at the very least you know what the damn price is.
That's the complaint about rebates from hell. I can look in today's Office Max flyer and see 50 spindles of 16X DVDs from HP cost $14.99, 100 packs $27.99. Office Depot has Memorex 100 spindles for $29.99. Best buy charges more for Memorex, but has the Verbatim - 16X for $14.99 for a 50 pack. I can see clearly if I was in the market for these discs that there are three options floating at about 30c/disc, and shopping Newegg would cost me more for the same stuff, as their best price is TDK for $30/100 pack and shipping is $7.70. This doesn't metter to me as I buy printables, printable TDK at costco are about $40 for a 100 pack. But if I needed non printables today I could see it's a good time to buy them local. But the price on DVDs bounces between 20c and 50c per localy, and if I was trully lazy I could order from newegg and get a consistent price. Granted a couple days ago Newegg had Verbiums for $30 and a $10 rebate, which is not only no extra cash out of pocket as it's free shipping, but there is a chance to save $10.00.
But just like you don't like handling fees, I am not fond the "rebate pile from hell". Manufacturer rebates are not so bad, but when you get the manufacturer rebate, the store rebate, bonus store rebate for buying a group of things, like PC monitor and printer. The printer is always the thimble sized class the likes of which you wouldn't want to purchace anyway, the monitor is always a tube likely no better or no worse than what you already own, and all of this extra trouble to say what, $50 on the PC? It's no wonder people are taking these deals, fetching the rebates, and returning the surplus for the price that's reflected on the sales receipt, either that or selling the stuff on e-bay.
I like rebates. Lower price than what a normal sale would be. They're hardly a scam -- if you're too lazy to take the 5 minutes to put the form together it's your own fault.
I like to comparison shop. You may discover that item A with a rebate may be the same price as item B without a rebate. Item B might cost a hair more, or might cost a hair less. If the out of pocket money is the same for both items, I might as well get the rebate. But if the out of pocket money is more... screw it. Fortunatly in the web age it's easy enough to google, froggle, what have you. Usually I can get something shipped for the price or less than the rebates, and that is more than spiffy.