That was my point, however poorly made. The summary's sensationalist tone implied that the sentence was outrageous, but neglected to mention the other possible repercussions. If he was avoiding a three-strikes law as you point out, then it was a good deal.
Because no one would "plead guilty" in exchange for a 15 year sentence. That's not much of a plea bargain. The article mentioned seizures of weapons as well. Missouri has some form of "three strikes" law, which uses the phrase "prior and persistent offender." One wonders whether this sentence was lighter than what might have resulted had he been charged for gun possession.
The point is that people kept doing stupid shit with the magnets despite having been extensively warned NOT to stupid shit.
One quote states: "The warnings were not effective."
So we should banning matches, because people still do stupid shit with matches.
The legal question is whether these magnets are inherently dangerous. They clearly are not, imho. Dynamite, gasoline...these are examples of inherently dangerous products.
But this company has small resources to fight the good fight, and more critically, no pro-magnet-toys lobby.
Did anyone actually read the ruling? The police got warrants from a judge for every step of this surveillance of these suspected drug runners. Please stop with the knee-jerk cynicism. This is no different than what the police have been empowered to do for years. Nothing to see here.
Agree with the above - Let's have a little disclosure here - more than likely, the attorneys representing the plaintiff are schooling in fashioning class action lawsuits. This "plaintiff" is likely a stand-in until the attorneys move to certify the class. If allowed by the court, the case will settle for $X millions, with the attorneys taking their 1/3 contingency. If the class is not certified, the case will go away.
In the end, I suspect the attorneys here are little different than your common patent troll.
Patent holders produce income for themselves by producing widget. Patent trolls hijack patent system for profit only.
Shareholder produce income for themselves by investing their money in patent holder's company that is producing widget and needs capital. High speed traders hijack system for profit only.
I think you're making my point.
Wait - you mean people who seek patents aren't "greedy people"? C'mon - that's the very bedrock principle of the patent system -
1. I invent something.
2. I win patent.
3. I hold exclusive rights to the use of the product for several years.
4. ????
5. Profit!
So I gotta disagree with you -
The patent trolls and the high frequency traders both exploit a system in a way that it was not designed for, i.e., hacking. They each are hurting people who are trying to use that system within the rules. Even if you do not like the system and the players, surely you can see that.
How do I link this story to another headline? http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/06/27/028249/high-frequency-traders-are-the-ultimate-hackers-says-mark-cuban
Essentially, it's the same ethic at work - making money by gaming the system. For high frequency traders, it is exploiting technological loopholes. For patent trolls, it is exploiting legal loopholes.
Talk about a shadow economy - what happens to the U.S. economy if and when these nefarious practices are ended?
Re:Bad CEO replaced by bad CEO replaced by bad CEO
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HP To Cut 30,000 Jobs
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Whenever these stories get posted, there is always a calming disclaimer that none of the asteroids threatens Earth. But does anyone know whether NASA (or anyone else) is modeling asteroid orbits with each other? I realize it's not like a set of billiard balls, but is anyone checking to see if any current non-threatening asteroids could be diverting into Earth's path from colliding with another object?
The story makes me absolutely sick and reinforces my easy evaluation system for world religions: How they treat their women is in direct proportion to the value the religion brings to all societies of the world.
That said, I fail to see how this relates to technology.
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They blew it up! Why else would the ancients have referred to Mars as the planet of war? It all makes so much sense.
That was my point, however poorly made. The summary's sensationalist tone implied that the sentence was outrageous, but neglected to mention the other possible repercussions. If he was avoiding a three-strikes law as you point out, then it was a good deal.
Because no one would "plead guilty" in exchange for a 15 year sentence. That's not much of a plea bargain. The article mentioned seizures of weapons as well. Missouri has some form of "three strikes" law, which uses the phrase "prior and persistent offender." One wonders whether this sentence was lighter than what might have resulted had he been charged for gun possession.
The point is that people kept doing stupid shit with the magnets despite having been extensively warned NOT to stupid shit. One quote states: "The warnings were not effective." So we should banning matches, because people still do stupid shit with matches. The legal question is whether these magnets are inherently dangerous. They clearly are not, imho. Dynamite, gasoline...these are examples of inherently dangerous products. But this company has small resources to fight the good fight, and more critically, no pro-magnet-toys lobby.
I get forwarded so many *fake* scamming stories from my mom...now I get to create an e-mail from a real one. Thanks, Slashdot! My mom appreciates it.
Computer "viruses" as we know them are really more like computer "bacteria", whereas this concept is a bit more like a real virus.
Could this be what you are recalling? http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Stolen_From_Apple.txt&characters=Steve%20Capps&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=high&showcomments=1
Did anyone actually read the ruling? The police got warrants from a judge for every step of this surveillance of these suspected drug runners. Please stop with the knee-jerk cynicism. This is no different than what the police have been empowered to do for years. Nothing to see here.
Why they didn't upgrade the gosh darn firmware *before* the launch?
Agree with the above - Let's have a little disclosure here - more than likely, the attorneys representing the plaintiff are schooling in fashioning class action lawsuits. This "plaintiff" is likely a stand-in until the attorneys move to certify the class. If allowed by the court, the case will settle for $X millions, with the attorneys taking their 1/3 contingency. If the class is not certified, the case will go away. In the end, I suspect the attorneys here are little different than your common patent troll.
And to think that cat hungry for cheezburger started us down this road....
How about Yahoo buying Netflix ? Get back in the game against Google-tube, Amazon and Apple.
It's kind of like that Far Side...Just substitute "Higgs Boson" for "Ginger" and you'll get the idea. http://tinypic.com/r/2144k8w/6
That's gotta be a big disappointment for the big Russian - http://www.hulu.com/watch/124975
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=jonathan+pater
The same inherent weakness in the "99%er" movement would seem to apply to the hivemind concept: hippies.
Corollary: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Patent holders produce income for themselves by producing widget. Patent trolls hijack patent system for profit only. Shareholder produce income for themselves by investing their money in patent holder's company that is producing widget and needs capital. High speed traders hijack system for profit only. I think you're making my point.
Wait - you mean people who seek patents aren't "greedy people"? C'mon - that's the very bedrock principle of the patent system - 1. I invent something. 2. I win patent. 3. I hold exclusive rights to the use of the product for several years. 4. ???? 5. Profit! So I gotta disagree with you - The patent trolls and the high frequency traders both exploit a system in a way that it was not designed for, i.e., hacking. They each are hurting people who are trying to use that system within the rules. Even if you do not like the system and the players, surely you can see that.
So by that logic, you have no problem with patent trolls either. They are all there for the exact same reason, protecting their patent rights.
How do I link this story to another headline? http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/06/27/028249/high-frequency-traders-are-the-ultimate-hackers-says-mark-cuban Essentially, it's the same ethic at work - making money by gaming the system. For high frequency traders, it is exploiting technological loopholes. For patent trolls, it is exploiting legal loopholes. Talk about a shadow economy - what happens to the U.S. economy if and when these nefarious practices are ended?
Never should have merged with Compaq.
Whenever these stories get posted, there is always a calming disclaimer that none of the asteroids threatens Earth. But does anyone know whether NASA (or anyone else) is modeling asteroid orbits with each other? I realize it's not like a set of billiard balls, but is anyone checking to see if any current non-threatening asteroids could be diverting into Earth's path from colliding with another object?
Was overrun by spam years ago - have not used an account there since the rise of the G-mail.
The story makes me absolutely sick and reinforces my easy evaluation system for world religions: How they treat their women is in direct proportion to the value the religion brings to all societies of the world. That said, I fail to see how this relates to technology.