I understand copyright issues, but to say that we can not have a fair view of what companies are doing to our rights is ridiculous.
This is something that is not only a good idea, but it must be done. Our rights are being slowly eaten away and a solid treatment detailing the changes of EULA that we can then take to the general public could be the cornerstone to getting people to stop zoning in front of their TVs and getting involved.
EULA are contracts between us and a company. They are legal documents and I as one of the "signees" of the contract should have the right to reproduce the EULA in defense of my rights.
Advertising is not a protected form of speech. It is not a contractual obligation to listeners. It is a gamble. A marketing tactic that says x% of the population will respond for n$ revenue. There is no contractual obligation that you open the junk mail in your mailbox. There is no legal ramification for deleting spam messages from your e-mail box. What right, under law or ethics do the television broadcasters have to claim legal protection for their advertising.
The modern day PVR is the equivalent of filtering your telephone calls or arranging for junk mail blocking with your post office or email service. The broadcasters are gambling on x% of the viewers to respond just as a marketing person gambles on their 1.0% return on a direct mail campaign.
Why should television get an advantage over every other legitimate business or industry? The broadcaster's have chosen this model of free broadcast for advertising revenue because it works. When that model no longer works you don't go to the courts and force them to make people respond to your commercial/mailing/phone call. You change your business model. The Cable companies figured this out long ago and made a change.
Perhaps Turner Communications should try Direct Mail?
I've seen several comments talking around this issue, but not addressing it directly.
Clearly, from a legal standpoint, Microsoft seems to have a strong position in this affair. However, Microsoft has been actively seeking to use their own branding efforts over the last several years to confuse public and weaken the Unix/Linux market position.
Products such as Microsoft XP, and the X Box have used marketing campaigns that go out of their way to emphasize the 'X-something'. Even CNET ran an article after the release of XP entitled 'All Things X'. In which, there was never even a peep about X-Windows, but loads of information about XP and X Box. Before long people will think X-Windows is a Microsoft product.
It is a subtle effort, but very effective, and this is only the most obvious example of this tactic in action.
Despite the fact that this has the practical benefit of plugging directly into a USB, there are many existing technologies which are far better suited as the portable memory of the future. One of the more prevelent and "open" technologies out there is SmartMedia which are virtually paper thin, come in sizes up to 64MB (maybe higher now), and work in a large array of cameras, printers, handhelds, and similar devices. Not only can I fit one of these things *easily* into my wallet, I have regularly carried dozens of them in my wallet and forgotten about them. There's also Sony's memory stick and the various compact flash devices, also with sizes of 64MB or greater.
This device though...interesting is behind the times in both physical size and storage capacity. Much better and simpler technologies exist and I would like to see one of the existing technologies progressed to mass market. My personal favorite being SmartMedia for its unbelievably thin package and single interface standard regardless of memory capacity.
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I understand copyright issues, but to say that we can not have a fair view of what companies are doing to our rights is ridiculous.
:)
This is something that is not only a good idea, but it must be done. Our rights are being slowly eaten away and a solid treatment detailing the changes of EULA that we can then take to the general public could be the cornerstone to getting people to stop zoning in front of their TVs and getting involved.
EULA are contracts between us and a company. They are legal documents and I as one of the "signees" of the contract should have the right to reproduce the EULA in defense of my rights.
In my opinion, of course.
BarneyM
Advertising is not a protected form of speech. It is not a contractual obligation to listeners. It is a gamble. A marketing tactic that says x% of the population will respond for n$ revenue. There is no contractual obligation that you open the junk mail in your mailbox. There is no legal ramification for deleting spam messages from your e-mail box. What right, under law or ethics do the television broadcasters have to claim legal protection for their advertising.
The modern day PVR is the equivalent of filtering your telephone calls or arranging for junk mail blocking with your post office or email service. The broadcasters are gambling on x% of the viewers to respond just as a marketing person gambles on their 1.0% return on a direct mail campaign.
Why should television get an advantage over every other legitimate business or industry? The broadcaster's have chosen this model of free broadcast for advertising revenue because it works. When that model no longer works you don't go to the courts and force them to make people respond to your commercial/mailing/phone call. You change your business model. The Cable companies figured this out long ago and made a change.
Perhaps Turner Communications should try Direct Mail?
I've seen several comments talking around this issue, but not addressing it directly.
Clearly, from a legal standpoint, Microsoft seems to have a strong position in this affair. However, Microsoft has been actively seeking to use their own branding efforts over the last several years to confuse public and weaken the Unix/Linux market position.
Products such as Microsoft XP, and the X Box have used marketing campaigns that go out of their way to emphasize the 'X-something'. Even CNET ran an article after the release of XP entitled 'All Things X'. In which, there was never even a peep about X-Windows, but loads of information about XP and X Box. Before long people will think X-Windows is a Microsoft product.
It is a subtle effort, but very effective, and this is only the most obvious example of this tactic in action.
Despite the fact that this has the practical benefit of plugging directly into a USB, there are many existing technologies which are far better suited as the portable memory of the future. One of the more prevelent and "open" technologies out there is SmartMedia which are virtually paper thin, come in sizes up to 64MB (maybe higher now), and work in a large array of cameras, printers, handhelds, and similar devices. Not only can I fit one of these things *easily* into my wallet, I have regularly carried dozens of them in my wallet and forgotten about them. There's also Sony's memory stick and the various compact flash devices, also with sizes of 64MB or greater. This device though...interesting is behind the times in both physical size and storage capacity. Much better and simpler technologies exist and I would like to see one of the existing technologies progressed to mass market. My personal favorite being SmartMedia for its unbelievably thin package and single interface standard regardless of memory capacity.