This is new... Usually it's the shareholders that sue the company. Now the company sues the (potential) shareholders? What's next? Buy my stock or I'll sue you? I'm aghast at these companies that think that they are entitled to money, regardless of the situation. The RIAA and the MPAA are the tip of the iceberg it seems, by suing their customer base.
Pretty soon companies will threaten consumers in televised ads "Buy our beer or we'll sue you!"... I predict GM will actually be first.. "Buy our overpriced SUVs or we'll sue you!" Isn't it Ford however that now makes their employees buy Fords if they want to park in the company parking lot?
Is there ANY tactic a company won't stoop to in the interest of profit? Like politicians, the American public grows quickly tired of being abused and lied to, it's only a matter of time before there's a huge backlash to all this insanity.
That movie was about as close as you can get. They all had flaws, they all had to work together to solve the problem, they all were only as strong as their weakest link, and they were stupified for the entire movie because what they were studying was completely alien to them.
Go back and look at this movie. It's a true classic.
So, if we apply your logic: What then, gives telemarketers the right to call you? Your number is publically accessable, and no password is needed to call your number and have the phone at your end ring because the phone lines go right into your house. In short, there's NO SECURITY between you and the telemarketer.
However; that doesn't mean that they now have the right to invade your privacy and call you. And yet, they do. How is it that your logic will apply to a security firm breaking into your house, but ignores a telemarketer that does, essentially the same thing? They call on a regular basis and really, that's as much "breaking in" as any other computer analogy.
Now, we all hate the telemarketers, and laws have been enacted to prevent them from harassment; but really, technically it *IS* legal for someone to "break in" to your house via the telephone, so I cannot say that your logic is flawless.
The average American spent $2000 more for gasoline this year than last year. I wonder if this might affect luxury items such as DVD purchases and movie tickets?
Here in NYC, a movie ticket is $10.50, a soda is $4.50, as is a bag of popcorn. That's about $20 per person to see a movie. With the price of gas going up, and wages going down, is it any wonder that movie studios aren't seeing the amazing profits they predict they should be getting? And when they aren't getting the money they want, they blame it on piracy.
Hello? The middle class is being killed out here. Make the shit cheaper, and we'll buy it. But right now, I don't see any way to make ends meet over the next few years except to cut out anything that isn't (mostly) free since the cost of living is now so high.
And frankly; it seems that all the MPAA did again was pull a bullshit number out of their ass to use as justification to persecute their own customers because they know that the only way to make money now (in this economy) is to sue people.
Yes, exactly; they make the format unpopular, nobody buys it, but they interpret that as piracy losses.
Then their lawyers add up the costs of everything, and determine that piracy has resulted in a $100 billion dollar loss of business, which makes the MPAA run out and sue grandmas who don't even have internet connections.
How come on the failed Sci-Fi show Master Blasters, they could shoot a Mini-Cooper 1000 feet successfully with a week of construction, but these guys, with a real rocket, built over months, couldn't do any better?
Is there something I'm missing here?
We have very well-known research that dates back to Goddard and a little later, the V-2, which launched successfully from cruder facilities.
Why is it that we continue to have a non-bulletproof system after all these years of engineering? This is like building cars 50 years later that still only go 12mph and sputter and smoke and backfire, and have to be cranked to run. How is it that we have cars that go 100mph easily, that are comfortable, fairly safe, and affordable by the average person?
Anime has already tackled this subject by none other than the creator of the pop-culture anime-film AKIRA.
Roujin Z ( See http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/630506251X/qid=11 42849877/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-2542910-4413459?_ encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130 ) was an anime film about a computerized hospital bed that is supposed to care for an elderly patient. However, the computer turns out to be a prototype for a battle robot and to top it off, the damn thing takes on the personality of his former wife, and therein starts a chase through Japan, tearing up the countryside, as the bed tries to take the patient on a trip to the beach, one last time.
Overall, it's a pretty decent film and very amusing as well.
I know someone who almost never leaves his house now. All he does is stay on chat boards until all hours of the night.
Is he connected to the real world, or disconnected from the real world?
Of course, here I am on Slashdot at 4:12am NYC time, but then again, I'm at work. My friend however, is so internet addicted, I think he has given up his job.
Is the future about people living on welfare so that they can IM each other 24/7? That doesn't sound like a future I want anything to do with.
It's funny, but now that I have constant connectivity at home, I hardly use my computer(s) at home. I use them for email, but I barely websurf. If I want to do that, I do it at work.
I spend a good deal of time when not at work, AWAY from my computers and cell phone.
This didn't solve anything. If anything it made things worse. I didn't see *ANY* reporting that the flawed patent system was at fault.
All I heard from the mainstream news media was the Blackberry was being sued, and now they settled for $600 Million, so, in my mind, they must have been at fault.
Furthermore, this payment will embolden other patent trolls who want to be fed to the tune of millions for doing nothing.
And the Patent System will go merrily on it way, because now that Senators can use their Blackberries again, do you think they are going to give a tinker's damn that the system is flawed?
If I'd been running Blackberry, I'd have shut down service for 24 hours, with the message "we can't provide service due to a flawed patent system.".
Does anybody here remember the day everyone made their webpages BLACK as a protest? Does anybody remember when it was OKAY to fight back against something that was wrong? Now it seems, the M.O. is to give up, pay the bastards and lick your wounds, regardless of who's right or wrong.
In fact, the more wrong you are, the harder you should fight, it seems, because these days, the good guy always loses. (RIAA anyone?)
What a wonderful lesson to teach our younger people. George Lucas should make a movie on that subject.
So this is how freedom dies. With a $600 Million payout.
Everyone here is moaning and groaning about our elected officials and how corrupt they have all become. Out of 100 senators, only 10 had the balls to stand up to this piece of filth and vote no.
I have many other friends who say there is no longer any choice. Democrats or Republicans -- it's all the same thing, they are corrupt and represent their own self-interests, or the interests of corporations or those organizations that can afford to put politcians in their pockets.
But there is another choice. The 2nd amendment allows the American people to throw out their government and replace it with one that works. That's what the right to bear arms is about -- it's about keeping the government from getting so powerful that they take the guns away, because only at the point of a gun can you establish a new government.
The whole point of maintaining a militia is to keep the government honest. When the government is corrupt, WE THE PEOPLE are allowed to overthrow it.
Remember that the President is supposed to protect us from threats foreign and domestic -- that includes protection from the corrupt government itself. When the government isn't of the people, by the people and for the people, it is time the government was replaced with one that is.
If the president has failed in his duties to uphold the Constitution, then he too, must be replaced.
It is time the American people rose up and took back what is theirs.
WE THE PEOPLE, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility.
It is time WE THE PEOPLE joined together and tell King George that we will not be dictated to any more. Shall we lay supine while essential rights and liberties are forever pilfered? No! Give me liberty or give me death!
It is time to take back the country from the hands of criminals.
Called Iraq. We invaded, destroyed the infrastructure, the government and took over. Now we are rebuilding the infrastructure and government and it's costing us over $300 billion so far with no discernable result. We're paying for it, but we won't get any return on our investment. We will never get to tax the Iraqi people so that they can pay for what we payed for, we will never get to enjoy the fruits of what we created because, once truly independent of us, they will no doubt turn against us.
If anything, Iraq shows that your statement is true.
This guy is right on the money (pun intended). Bush is only taking care of his base via NASA. It's simply money laundering under a different name. In fact, if you follow ALL the pork in government, you'll probably find the exact same thing.
I hate to agree with you, but I agree with you. Only the threat of real violence is ever going to stop anybody. Peaceful protest doesn't work.
Look at the success of the Muslims protesting the Cartoons of the profet Mohammad. USA Newspapers and TV are scared shitless to air the offending cartoons, in fact, you have to hunt real hard to find out what the hoopla is all about.
Imagine if every lawyer working for the RIAA suddenly had to fear for his life every time he issued a supeona against a website. Imagine if every spammer thought that his family could be in danger when he sends out the 6 billion emails for Penis Enlargement.
They'd think twice about doing such things if it meant their car would have flats, their house could be burnt and their family kidnapped and beheaded.
There's an old saying that freedom must be taken. If we want to be free of these gangsters, then we need to take action, and it's very likely going to have be violent action because these days nobody understands anything else.
The terrorists have won. They have taught us that terrorism can get people to change their ways. Look how much they have changed the USA. We need to take that lesson and apply it to other areas that need change.
So, yes, while I don't want to agree with you, I admit that that only way I see real change happening is after some people die. It's not a nice thing to say; but it's an awful reality that we may have to come to accept.
And please don't send the FBI to my house, I'm not a lunatic about to commit these crimes, I'm simply pointing out that this is likely to happen sooner or later.
Okay I give up... What the hell is that site and why is there nothing to click on? That was certainly a waste of a click... The resizing graphic is keen, but that's about it. I think http://www.khaaan.com/ is better!
Apple used to be on the verge of death as well, but Steve Jobs made the smart move of makeing the "i" series of products. The 'iMac' and the 'iPod" saved Apple and made it the powerhouse it is today.
Using that same lowercase "i", SGI needs to create the following products:
iRIX -- a new "internet" version of their operating system. Based on Unix and with a slick looking GUI, it should be named after various breeds of Dogs.
iNDIGO -- A candy-colored all-in-one box, preferably purple, that glows while it's on, pulsates while downloading data from the network and runs absolutely silently.
iNDY -- A smaller version of the sam box. Maybe plays MP3s.
This series of moves should save them from death...
Let's say Google wins the case. All the government has to do is declare Google to be helping terrorism, and then, under the PATRIOT act, can just seize everything and get whatever they want anyhow.
Come on people. It's not like we're living in a democracy or something. All someone has to do is link the words "Google" and "Terrorism" and public opinion will turn on Google in an instant.
We're not a particularly smart country and most citizens seem very willing to give up essential liberties for temporary (false) security.
The government has been very bad about providing actual security (witness the open border between the US and Mexico, where any terrorist can walk through an air conditioned tunnel to get into the US), so, the US makes noises about security and rattles the sabre, but in the end, it's all about politicians keeping their power because power is money.
The point is: Google can't win. Even if they win, they will lose, because this administration isn't looking out for us -- as usual, it's more interested in special-interest groups, and corporations.
Let's face it. A lot of problems happen in the entertainment industry because of lawyers. People just don't "play nice" because it would be a good thing to do for the fans -- they want MONEY. And nothing happens without the lubrication of MONEY.
Look at it this way: The MAX HEADROOM TV SERIES -- is it out on DVD? No, it is not. Why? Rights issues. DARIA - the Animated TV series from MTV -- out on DVD? No. Why? Music rights issues.
And unless someone is willing to fork over the dough to clear those rights and pay the rights holder and their lawyers what they want, it will not happen. And studios runs their excel spreadsheets and calculate that rights costs versus what they are projected to make on DVD sales isn't enough, then blammo, absolutely nothing happens and everyone sits on the rights they have until the other side budges, but they never do.
So, will Fox just "hand over" the rights so that Sci-Fi channel can make more episodes? NO, of course they will not. They want MONEY.
And if you take your excel spreadsheet, calculate the cost of the rights, the cost of production and the cost of everything associated with the production, versus what you'd make,... well, it doesn't look like a profitable venture.
Easier and cheaper to make something bad, but original, that you don't have to buy the rights for or fork over a percentage of gross.
This is why Lucas made Star Wars and not FLASH GORDON.
This is a very interesting conclusion brought on from the FBI, particularly because it excludes INDIVIDUALS who may be victims of "computer crime", but only focuses on businesses who claims losses due to percieved computer crime.
When a person is a victim of identity theft, the loss is much more "real" in that there's a person who is "hurt" by this crime. There is attributable loss, usually in money taken out of bank accounts, money that may be racked up on credit cards, and the years spent trying to undo the damage done to your credit rating.
Conversly, the damage done to an organization doesn't harm any one person and therefore the wound isn't "felt" as a deeply, furthermore, most of what businesses arrtibute as a loss is really a cost of simply doing business and isn't money lost out of a bank account or a ruined credit rating.
Seems to me that the government cares more about businesses than it's citizens.
If I was a victim of identity theft, I couldn't walk into my ISP and demand records of who was using what IP address -- but the RIAA can if they think they've been wronged. Why is it that businesses - NON PEOPLE - have more rights than the people this country was founded to serve?
Where oh where are you getting this 5000 and counting number? Are you including the lives thrown away in Iraq because Dick Cheney wanted to get rich? Iraq has NOTHING, repeat, NOTHING to do with Osama Bin Laden or 9/11. And if you think it does, please let me know what you're smoking.
The Iraq war is nothing but a way for some people to get very, very wealthy at our nation's expense.
Slashdot Mirror
This is new... Usually it's the shareholders that sue the company. Now the company sues the (potential) shareholders? What's next? Buy my stock or I'll sue you? I'm aghast at these companies that think that they are entitled to money, regardless of the situation. The RIAA and the MPAA are the tip of the iceberg it seems, by suing their customer base.
Pretty soon companies will threaten consumers in televised ads "Buy our beer or we'll sue you!"... I predict GM will actually be first.. "Buy our overpriced SUVs or we'll sue you!" Isn't it Ford however that now makes their employees buy Fords if they want to park in the company parking lot?
Is there ANY tactic a company won't stoop to in the interest of profit? Like politicians, the American public grows quickly tired of being abused and lied to, it's only a matter of time before there's a huge backlash to all this insanity.
TTYL
Brian C.
All those scientists were real scientists!
That movie was about as close as you can get. They all had flaws, they all had to work together to solve the problem, they all were only as strong as their weakest link, and they were stupified for the entire movie because what they were studying was completely alien to them.
Go back and look at this movie. It's a true classic.
And what was the top story on the news, even though this information about domestic spying is dire?
That some dipshit got booted off American Idol.
And we wonder why Americans are stupid, not fighting for their rights, not taking up arms and having an American Revolution.
American Idol...
The USA gets the government it deserves. If they aren't going to be vigilant about protecting their freedoms, let them become a police state.
I'm moving to someplace else, thank you.
So, if we apply your logic: What then, gives telemarketers the right to call you? Your number is publically accessable, and no password is needed to call your number and have the phone at your end ring because the phone lines go right into your house. In short, there's NO SECURITY between you and the telemarketer.
However; that doesn't mean that they now have the right to invade your privacy and call you. And yet, they do. How is it that your logic will apply to a security firm breaking into your house, but ignores a telemarketer that does, essentially the same thing? They call on a regular basis and really, that's as much "breaking in" as any other computer analogy.
Now, we all hate the telemarketers, and laws have been enacted to prevent them from harassment; but really, technically it *IS* legal for someone to "break in" to your house via the telephone, so I cannot say that your logic is flawless.
TTYL
The average American spent $2000 more for gasoline this year than last year. I wonder if this might affect luxury items such as DVD purchases and movie tickets?
Here in NYC, a movie ticket is $10.50, a soda is $4.50, as is a bag of popcorn. That's about $20 per person to see a movie. With the price of gas going up, and wages going down, is it any wonder that movie studios aren't seeing the amazing profits they predict they should be getting? And when they aren't getting the money they want, they blame it on piracy.
Hello? The middle class is being killed out here. Make the shit cheaper, and we'll buy it. But right now, I don't see any way to make ends meet over the next few years except to cut out anything that isn't (mostly) free since the cost of living is now so high.
And frankly; it seems that all the MPAA did again was pull a bullshit number out of their ass to use as justification to persecute their own customers because they know that the only way to make money now (in this economy) is to sue people.
TTYL
Yes, exactly; they make the format unpopular, nobody buys it, but they interpret that as piracy losses.
Then their lawyers add up the costs of everything, and determine that piracy has resulted in a $100 billion dollar loss of business, which makes the MPAA run out and sue grandmas who don't even have internet connections.
Oh boy, I'm ready for that future.
How come on the failed Sci-Fi show Master Blasters, they could shoot a Mini-Cooper 1000 feet successfully with a week of construction, but these guys, with a real rocket, built over months, couldn't do any better?
Is there something I'm missing here?
We have very well-known research that dates back to Goddard and a little later, the V-2, which launched successfully from cruder facilities.
Why is it that we continue to have a non-bulletproof system after all these years of engineering? This is like building cars 50 years later that still only go 12mph and sputter and smoke and backfire, and have to be cranked to run. How is it that we have cars that go 100mph easily, that are comfortable, fairly safe, and affordable by the average person?
Anime has already tackled this subject by none other than the creator of the pop-culture anime-film AKIRA.
1 42849877/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-2542910-4413459?_ encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130 ) was an anime film about a computerized hospital bed that is supposed to care for an elderly patient. However, the computer turns out to be a prototype for a battle robot and to top it off, the damn thing takes on the personality of his former wife, and therein starts a chase through Japan, tearing up the countryside, as the bed tries to take the patient on a trip to the beach, one last time.
Roujin Z ( See http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/630506251X/qid=1
Overall, it's a pretty decent film and very amusing as well.
I know someone who almost never leaves his house now. All he does is stay on chat boards until all hours of the night.
Is he connected to the real world, or disconnected from the real world?
Of course, here I am on Slashdot at 4:12am NYC time, but then again, I'm at work. My friend however, is so internet addicted, I think he has given up his job.
Is the future about people living on welfare so that they can IM each other 24/7? That doesn't sound like a future I want anything to do with.
It's funny, but now that I have constant connectivity at home, I hardly use my computer(s) at home. I use them for email, but I barely websurf. If I want to do that, I do it at work.
I spend a good deal of time when not at work, AWAY from my computers and cell phone.
A balanced lifestyle, people. Sheesh!!!
TTYL
Brian C.
This didn't solve anything. If anything it made things worse. I didn't see *ANY* reporting that the flawed patent system was at fault.
All I heard from the mainstream news media was the Blackberry was being sued, and now they settled for $600 Million, so, in my mind, they must have been at fault.
Furthermore, this payment will embolden other patent trolls who want to be fed to the tune of millions for doing nothing.
And the Patent System will go merrily on it way, because now that Senators can use their Blackberries again, do you think they are going to give a tinker's damn that the system is flawed?
If I'd been running Blackberry, I'd have shut down service for 24 hours, with the message "we can't provide service due to a flawed patent system.".
Does anybody here remember the day everyone made their webpages BLACK as a protest? Does anybody remember when it was OKAY to fight back against something that was wrong? Now it seems, the M.O. is to give up, pay the bastards and lick your wounds, regardless of who's right or wrong.
In fact, the more wrong you are, the harder you should fight, it seems, because these days, the good guy always loses. (RIAA anyone?)
What a wonderful lesson to teach our younger people.
George Lucas should make a movie on that subject.
So this is how freedom dies. With a $600 Million payout.
TTYL
A disgusted and concerned old-timer.
Everyone here is moaning and groaning about our elected officials and how corrupt they have all become. Out of 100 senators, only 10 had the balls to stand up to this piece of filth and vote no.
I have many other friends who say there is no longer any choice. Democrats or Republicans -- it's all the same thing, they are corrupt and represent their own self-interests, or the interests of corporations or those organizations that can afford to put politcians in their pockets.
But there is another choice. The 2nd amendment allows the American people to throw out their government and replace it with one that works. That's what the right to bear arms is about -- it's about keeping the government from getting so powerful that they take the guns away, because only at the point of a gun can you establish a new government.
The whole point of maintaining a militia is to keep the government honest. When the government is corrupt, WE THE PEOPLE are allowed to overthrow it.
Remember that the President is supposed to protect us from threats foreign and domestic -- that includes protection from the corrupt government itself. When the government isn't of the people, by the people and for the people, it is time the government was replaced with one that is.
If the president has failed in his duties to uphold the Constitution, then he too, must be replaced.
It is time the American people rose up and took back what is theirs.
WE THE PEOPLE, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility.
It is time WE THE PEOPLE joined together and tell King George that we will not be dictated to any more. Shall we lay supine while essential rights and liberties are forever pilfered? No! Give me liberty or give me death!
It is time to take back the country from the hands of criminals.
It is time for the second American Revolution.
Called Iraq. We invaded, destroyed the infrastructure, the government and took over. Now we are rebuilding the infrastructure and government and it's costing us over $300 billion so far with no discernable result. We're paying for it, but we won't get any return on our investment. We will never get to tax the Iraqi people so that they can pay for what we payed for, we will never get to enjoy the fruits of what we created because, once truly independent of us, they will no doubt turn against us.
If anything, Iraq shows that your statement is true.
This guy is right on the money (pun intended). Bush is only taking care of his base via NASA. It's simply money laundering under a different name. In fact, if you follow ALL the pork in government, you'll probably find the exact same thing.
I hate to agree with you, but I agree with you. Only the threat of real violence is ever going to stop anybody. Peaceful protest doesn't work.
Look at the success of the Muslims protesting the Cartoons of the profet Mohammad. USA Newspapers and TV are scared shitless to air the offending cartoons, in fact, you have to hunt real hard to find out what the hoopla is all about.
Imagine if every lawyer working for the RIAA suddenly had to fear for his life every time he issued a supeona against a website. Imagine if every spammer thought that his family could be in danger when he sends out the 6 billion emails for Penis Enlargement.
They'd think twice about doing such things if it meant their car would have flats, their house could be burnt and their family kidnapped and beheaded.
There's an old saying that freedom must be taken. If we want to be free of these gangsters, then we need to take action, and it's very likely going to have be violent action because these days nobody understands anything else.
The terrorists have won. They have taught us that terrorism can get people to change their ways. Look how much they have changed the USA. We need to take that lesson and apply it to other areas that need change.
So, yes, while I don't want to agree with you, I admit that that only way I see real change happening is after some people die. It's not a nice thing to say; but it's an awful reality that we may have to come to accept.
And please don't send the FBI to my house, I'm not a lunatic about to commit these crimes, I'm simply pointing out that this is likely to happen sooner or later.
Thanks!
Okay I give up... What the hell is that site and why is there nothing to click on? That was certainly a waste of a click... The resizing graphic is keen, but that's about it. I think http://www.khaaan.com/ is better!
And his sketch would consist of a list of 1000 ways to rephrase the term "spyware" (Think Dead Parrot and Cheese Shop).
See "Lost In Space" The Movie, to see what I'm talking about. SGI got a plug in the film as co-funding the trip the Robinsons were taking. D'oH!
I guess that's like the PAN-AM logo on the Shuttle in Kubrick's 2001.
Or the ATARI logo in Blade Runner.
Hrmm. The one thing you should not put in a Sci-Fi film is an existing corporate logo... Seems to be the kiss of death.
Apple used to be on the verge of death as well, but Steve Jobs made the smart move of makeing the "i" series of products. The 'iMac' and the 'iPod" saved Apple and made it the powerhouse it is today.
Using that same lowercase "i", SGI needs to create the following products:
iRIX -- a new "internet" version of their operating system. Based on Unix and with a slick looking GUI, it should be named after various breeds of Dogs.
iNDIGO -- A candy-colored all-in-one box, preferably purple, that glows while it's on, pulsates while downloading data from the network and runs absolutely silently.
iNDY -- A smaller version of the sam box. Maybe plays MP3s.
This series of moves should save them from death...
TTYL
Brian C.
Yeah, sure.
Just TRY and find a paper-tape copier in this day and age...
You'd have an easier time finding a mint condition Altair to run it on...
Let's say Google wins the case. All the government has to do is declare Google to be helping terrorism, and then, under the PATRIOT act, can just seize everything and get whatever they want anyhow.
Come on people. It's not like we're living in a democracy or something. All someone has to do is link the words "Google" and "Terrorism" and public opinion will turn on Google in an instant.
We're not a particularly smart country and most citizens seem very willing to give up essential liberties for temporary (false) security.
The government has been very bad about providing actual security (witness the open border between the US and Mexico, where any terrorist can walk through an air conditioned tunnel to get into the US), so, the US makes noises about security and rattles the sabre, but in the end, it's all about politicians keeping their power because power is money.
The point is: Google can't win. Even if they win, they will lose, because this administration isn't looking out for us -- as usual, it's more interested in special-interest groups, and corporations.
What, as opposed to Intelligent Design?
Hey, if the lunatics on one side of the field can have their wacky theories, the lunatics on the other side are welcome to theirs as well!
At least the Global Warming freaks aren't trying to legislate that it be taught in classrooms!!!
Let's face it. A lot of problems happen in the entertainment industry because of lawyers. People just don't "play nice" because it would be a good thing to do for the fans -- they want MONEY. And nothing happens without the lubrication of MONEY.
... well, it doesn't look like a profitable venture.
Look at it this way:
The MAX HEADROOM TV SERIES -- is it out on DVD? No, it is not. Why? Rights issues.
DARIA - the Animated TV series from MTV -- out on DVD? No. Why? Music rights issues.
And unless someone is willing to fork over the dough to clear those rights and pay the rights holder and their lawyers what they want, it will not happen. And studios runs their excel spreadsheets and calculate that rights costs versus what they are projected to make on DVD sales isn't enough, then blammo, absolutely nothing happens and everyone sits on the rights they have until the other side budges, but they never do.
So, will Fox just "hand over" the rights so that Sci-Fi channel can make more episodes? NO, of course they will not. They want MONEY.
And if you take your excel spreadsheet, calculate the cost of the rights, the cost of production and the cost of everything associated with the production, versus what you'd make,
Easier and cheaper to make something bad, but original, that you don't have to buy the rights for or fork over a percentage of gross.
This is why Lucas made Star Wars and not FLASH GORDON.
This is a very interesting conclusion brought on from the FBI, particularly because it excludes INDIVIDUALS who may be victims of "computer crime", but only focuses on businesses who claims losses due to percieved computer crime.
When a person is a victim of identity theft, the loss is much more "real" in that there's a person who is "hurt" by this crime. There is attributable loss, usually in money taken out of bank accounts, money that may be racked up on credit cards, and the years spent trying to undo the damage done to your credit rating.
Conversly, the damage done to an organization doesn't harm any one person and therefore the wound isn't "felt" as a deeply, furthermore, most of what businesses arrtibute as a loss is really a cost of simply doing business and isn't money lost out of a bank account or a ruined credit rating.
Seems to me that the government cares more about businesses than it's citizens.
If I was a victim of identity theft, I couldn't walk into my ISP and demand records of who was using what IP address -- but the RIAA can if they think they've been wronged. Why is it that businesses - NON PEOPLE - have more rights than the people this country was founded to serve?
A dupe here and a dupe there....
And pretty soon you're talking *real* repeats!
Where oh where are you getting this 5000 and counting number? Are you including the lives thrown away in Iraq because Dick Cheney wanted to get rich? Iraq has NOTHING, repeat, NOTHING to do with Osama Bin Laden or 9/11. And if you think it does, please let me know what you're smoking.
The Iraq war is nothing but a way for some people to get very, very wealthy at our nation's expense.