A lawyer would cost a hell of alot more then a new pair of speakers or even a speaker/stereo combination. The record companies know this and this is why they don't give a rats ass about consumer rights or about potential lawsuits and went along with the new format. They know they can't be sued by individuals due to costs involved.
Two words: class action. This is the kind of attitude that suing as a class was made to defeat.
The way I read the article, the Congressman is trying to facilitate the collection of sales (a.k.a. "use") taxes on mail-order (a.k.a. "e-commerce") purchases, not eliminate them.
The original poster is dead on, though--if mail order companies have to charge sales taxes, then they're dead--because it ends up cheaper to buy locally. So the states get what they're drooling over, a "level playing field" for the retailers. What they will then start bitching about is the loss of tax revenue from mail-order companies that happen to be located in their states.
Obviously, I have enough power over you that you felt you had to reply. I'm flattered to have an AC take such an interest in my valid opinion, and to so eloquently phrase her counterargument.
The would be lying to the public equally if they used true MHz but had a superior product.
I respectfully disagree. MHz is MHz, regardless of whether or not it's a true measure of performance. It can be verified quantitatively with a counter. Increasing clock speed without increasing performance, and marketing the faster clock speed probably isn't the best marketing strategy, but it isn't a lie, either--Intel says 1.5GHz, the customer gets 1.5GHz. I would be lying if I created a 1333MHz processor and called it a FooBar 1500, when my customers are accustomed to the number representing the clock speed. And, as a customer, I can see that they're not technically lying, but they're trying to pull the wool over my eyes with the fine print.
I realize I'm only one, but I'm accusing them of dishonesty--they're taking advantage of what they must hope is ignorance on the part of a large portion of their customer base that will never see their FAQ in which they admit that the "model numbers" aren't really clock speeds.
You and I know, but the public is being tricked. I wish AMD the best, and own several of their chips (not XP's). But imitating MHz ratings is simply dishonest, and won't help in the end. While I realize Cyrix had other issues (e.g. floating point performance) with their chips, the PR ratings didn't exactly lead them to market dominance.
I think that convincing potential customers by essentially lying to them is the wrong way to go about it. If they wanted to call them "Athlon E series," "Athlon S class," or whatever, then that would be drawing attention away from clock speeds, as opposed to using "model numbers" that are obviously intended to ape clock speeds.
. . . AMD lost so much street cred using that PR-rating like scheme. If they wanted to deemphasize clock speed as a measure of performance, picking "model numbers" that look a lot like clock speeds in MHz wasn't the way to honestly go about it.
Safeweb works fine if you're jonesing for MSN's 1337 content and you don't want to screw with your user agent (or, in the case of Opera, patch your executable, since even with "Identify as MSIE 5.0" selected, "Opera" is still contained in the user agent string and blocked).
A lot of utilities and programs that are useful and oft pirated in the Warez community are getting harder and harder to crack all the time
It never ceases to amaze me that people who produce programs the primary use of which is piracy (e.g. RAR, CDRWin, ACE, NewsBin, et al) insist on trying to not only collect shareware fees but include intrusive copy protections as well. And they're shocked, shocked I say, that the programs get cracked. Rather amusing, really.
language in the letter the RIAA sent to Felton was too vague to constitute a threat
A vague, thinly veiled threat is still a threat. Not too many large corporations with expensive lawyers are stupid enough to make the blatant ones unless they're damn sure they're going to win.
Certainly. Assuming, of course, that your local public library stocks all texts for MIT-grade classes, especially recent printings and obscure classes. And that no one else has checked them out first. Please. Be serious. When was the last time you could find that O'Reilly book you needed at the public library? Or W. Richard Stevens? Public library funding has been on the slide (or plummet) for years and years now, and it's not like they were ever all that well funded. With the new RIAA laws, libraries' funding situation will get even worse.
Two words: Interlibrary Loan. The one-room library in the smallest town can get you that latest O'Reilly book if there's another library somewhere that has it.
If the CD-ROM disabled CD's are clearly labeled as such, I agree with you, that there's no issue here. If they're foisted off as standard compact discs, however, they're open for returns. And credit card companies reversing charges if they don't accept them.
One of my pet peeves is people and publications (including the venerated Dr. Dobbs) using "Cobol", "Fortran", and "Basic" vs. the correct COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Lanaguage), FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator), and BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code).
But my friends often tell me I'm pedantic right before they stop inviting me to lunch. And I haven't completely snapped, having not seen "Apl" in print.
Most music stores I've seen have a sign posted: "If it plays here, it's not defective".
Then just dispute the charge with your credit card company. They may not end up having to give your money back, but I guarantee they'll get tired of challenging chargebacks from their bank.
For freshman just out of college that may be true, but a lot of people in college now have something called a life. Heard of it? They're returning to college, or have other responiblities, they may be expecting a baby. Blanket statements just don't cut it. Although cell phone use should be discouraged since it tends to make all the students not pay attention to what is going around on campus, because they're talking on the cells instead of listening.
My guess would be that that is exactly why the person to whom you replied said "traditional college students." And those that aren't traditional college students, whatever responsibilities they might have, still don't have the right to (and should know better than to) act like boobs and have their cell phones ringing and pagers beeping during class. If their responsibilities are that grave and the devices can't be set to vibrate, perhaps they should wait to pursue a degree until they have time.
If it was Bin Laden, a declaration of war on Afghanistan would not be out of line. The flattening of that backward terrorist-hosting nation can serve as a lesson to those who might consider similar actions in the future. Or, as someone else pointed out, they could hand over Bin Laden in chains and avoid being turned into a glass parking lot.
Re:DIVX could extend rental period indefinitely
on
DivX;) Goes Legit
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· Score: 2
Wrong. All DIVX players had an option to extend a disc's rental period indefinitely (i.e. until the DIVX program ended) for US$25.
And I'm certain that if the format had come to dominate, that they would never have altered those terms to remove the "purchase" (actually, perpetual rental for as long as DivX remained viable, which, fortunately, wasn't very long). Not.
Slashdot Mirror
Two words: class action. This is the kind of attitude that suing as a class was made to defeat.
The original poster is dead on, though--if mail order companies have to charge sales taxes, then they're dead--because it ends up cheaper to buy locally. So the states get what they're drooling over, a "level playing field" for the retailers. What they will then start bitching about is the loss of tax revenue from mail-order companies that happen to be located in their states.
Your company doesn't by any chance sell toner cartridges, does it?
I'm fairly certain a 1.337 (lose the .5) GHz processor would be in high demand simply due to the leet factor.
Obviously, I have enough power over you that you felt you had to reply. I'm flattered to have an AC take such an interest in my valid opinion, and to so eloquently phrase her counterargument.
The would be lying to the public equally if they used true MHz but had a superior product.
I respectfully disagree. MHz is MHz, regardless of whether or not it's a true measure of performance. It can be verified quantitatively with a counter. Increasing clock speed without increasing performance, and marketing the faster clock speed probably isn't the best marketing strategy, but it isn't a lie, either--Intel says 1.5GHz, the customer gets 1.5GHz. I would be lying if I created a 1333MHz processor and called it a FooBar 1500, when my customers are accustomed to the number representing the clock speed. And, as a customer, I can see that they're not technically lying, but they're trying to pull the wool over my eyes with the fine print.
It reminded me immediately of Cyrix. Cheap is a good word.
I realize I'm only one, but I'm accusing them of dishonesty--they're taking advantage of what they must hope is ignorance on the part of a large portion of their customer base that will never see their FAQ in which they admit that the "model numbers" aren't really clock speeds.
You and I know, but the public is being tricked. I wish AMD the best, and own several of their chips (not XP's). But imitating MHz ratings is simply dishonest, and won't help in the end. While I realize Cyrix had other issues (e.g. floating point performance) with their chips, the PR ratings didn't exactly lead them to market dominance.
I think that convincing potential customers by essentially lying to them is the wrong way to go about it. If they wanted to call them "Athlon E series," "Athlon S class," or whatever, then that would be drawing attention away from clock speeds, as opposed to using "model numbers" that are obviously intended to ape clock speeds.
. . . AMD lost so much street cred using that PR-rating like scheme. If they wanted to deemphasize clock speed as a measure of performance, picking "model numbers" that look a lot like clock speeds in MHz wasn't the way to honestly go about it.
Never mind--my bad. It appears that Safeweb just passes through the user agent string supplied by your browser. So much for creativity.
Safeweb works fine if you're jonesing for MSN's 1337 content and you don't want to screw with your user agent (or, in the case of Opera, patch your executable, since even with "Identify as MSIE 5.0" selected, "Opera" is still contained in the user agent string and blocked).
Oh, never mind. I thought the article was about Astalavista. Phew!
You hit it on the head. If you're going to search, search. But don't insult my intelligence and endanger us all by just going through the motions.
It never ceases to amaze me that people who produce programs the primary use of which is piracy (e.g. RAR, CDRWin, ACE, NewsBin, et al) insist on trying to not only collect shareware fees but include intrusive copy protections as well. And they're shocked, shocked I say, that the programs get cracked. Rather amusing, really.
A vague, thinly veiled threat is still a threat. Not too many large corporations with expensive lawyers are stupid enough to make the blatant ones unless they're damn sure they're going to win.
Two words: Interlibrary Loan. The one-room library in the smallest town can get you that latest O'Reilly book if there's another library somewhere that has it.
If the CD-ROM disabled CD's are clearly labeled as such, I agree with you, that there's no issue here. If they're foisted off as standard compact discs, however, they're open for returns. And credit card companies reversing charges if they don't accept them.
But my friends often tell me I'm pedantic right before they stop inviting me to lunch. And I haven't completely snapped, having not seen "Apl" in print.
Then just dispute the charge with your credit card company. They may not end up having to give your money back, but I guarantee they'll get tired of challenging chargebacks from their bank.
My guess would be that that is exactly why the person to whom you replied said "traditional college students." And those that aren't traditional college students, whatever responsibilities they might have, still don't have the right to (and should know better than to) act like boobs and have their cell phones ringing and pagers beeping during class. If their responsibilities are that grave and the devices can't be set to vibrate, perhaps they should wait to pursue a degree until they have time.
If it was Bin Laden, a declaration of war on Afghanistan would not be out of line. The flattening of that backward terrorist-hosting nation can serve as a lesson to those who might consider similar actions in the future. Or, as someone else pointed out, they could hand over Bin Laden in chains and avoid being turned into a glass parking lot.
And I'm certain that if the format had come to dominate, that they would never have altered those terms to remove the "purchase" (actually, perpetual rental for as long as DivX remained viable, which, fortunately, wasn't very long). Not.
I hadn't thought of that--but I would have felt terrible putting a plug for SuperZippo, or whatever they're called now :).