There's a comment from an EFF attorney addressing this in the linked BoingBoing discussion (not TFA itself --- I don't want to give those bastards a pageview, even with adblock on). It's stupid advice that could cost companies a lot of money.
Basically, the DMCA is bad, but not that bad. Diebold tried to abuse it in exactly the way that Forbes is suggesting, and got fined $125,000.
Microsoft is completely dependent on the government to maintain its monopoly. That's what copyright is: a limited monopoly granted by the government.
The U.S. government isn't likely to repeal Microsoft's copyright, of course. But other countries might. And a government can do a lot more than just switch to Linux: It could seize all the company's assets in its territory, or release Windows code into the public domain, or hand all MS's copyrights over to a native software company.
South Korea is one of the world's most technologically-advanced countries, leading in stuff like 3G wireless and fiber-to-the-home. It's not a market that a company like Microsoft would want to abandon.
So MS wants everyone to switch file formats yet again. The plan is obviously to force people to upgrade: If a few of your contacts start sending you.docx files, you'll have to replace your existing copy of MS Word with Office 12.
But if you're being forced to upgrade anyway, why not check out the competition? The new format will be reverse-engineered, just as.doc has, so MS might inadvertently help OO.org and other alternatives.
Neither have I, but "podcasting" is a generic word that's clearly derived from iPod. I even use it myself sometimes, though it's misleading: Most podcasts are standard mp3 files, not based on proprietary Apple formats.
Nearly every supermarket and drugstore carries generic products that actually include the name of their branded competitors somewhere on the box: "Compare to the active ingredients of Listerene Tartar Control", or "Compare to Kelloggs Coco Krispies." The packaging is usually similar too, though they're careful not to include trademarked symbols or fonts.
These clearly aren't illegal --- or at least, the law isn't enforced if they are. Most products seem to comply with the law by aknowledging the trademark and including a disclaimer in the small print. So, a third-party iPod accessory might say "Designed for the iPod" in large print, then, much smaller, "iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. This product is not manufactured or endorsed by Apple."
It's not too different from what MS does with Windows. Anyone can write a program and say "Runs under Windows", but they need MS's permission to include the Windows logo.
If the download was fast and I'd missed my favorite show, I might pay $1.99 to see it. It's true that the shows are also likely to be on BitTorrent, but that has legal issues, and the download might not be reliable. For people who don't watch much TV, the occasional $1.99 would work out cheaper than buying a TiVO and a subscription.
I assume you'll be able to watch it on a PC or a TV, not just a tiny iPod screen.
The point of the random killing segment is to make people afraid to go out, so that they stay at home and watch TV. When they do have to go out, they're more likely to want to do so in one of the armor-plated SUVs that are advertised in nearly every commercial break.
The best way to help people who compalain about spyware, etc. is to delete the IE icon from their desktops and put Firefox there instead. That won't stop all infection, but it will make Windows much safer.
The big advantage of Firefox is that people won't need much technical support (it's just a browser!), unlike OO.org or Linux, which are sufficiently different from their MS equivalents to confuse people. Also, users will thank you once they see that they're not being attacked by popups. Plus, Firefox is a nice, simple introduction to free software that doesn't involve giving up Windows.
Many news organizations already offer their TV (and radio) news programming for no-cost streaming/download.
The BBC is the best, because it has no commercials, and also some shows like Hitch-Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy. But many commercial broadcasters let you watch either the entire show, or select certain clips on-demand.
All existing users (including Google) would be okay, as they received Linux, etc. under the current version of the GPL. Rights already granted can't be taken away by subsequent versions.
This is just an option for authors of new code. Seems like a good idea.
The bundling of the itunes servive with the iPod is anti-competitive, because of the DRM. All DRM is anti-competitive. The point is to tie media files to a specific brand of hardware or software.
But at least Apple is better than its main competitor, the convicted monopolist that bundles its DRM software with nearly every computer.
Unless you crack or go around the DRM, Apple does have a closed format: People who buy music from itunes need an iPod. When the battery dies, they need another one.
Not sure how important this is to Apple currently: Most people I know get who use iPods get most of their music from ripping CDs, not downloads. But itunes is much more successful than all the various WMA-bsaed clones.
Mostly. But there's also less data that can be searched without some very sophisticated AI: Just a file name and (possibly) some metadata or inbound links.
Didn't stop them doing image search, of course, but that index doesn't seems to have been updated for about a year.
Being taken over is nearly always good for stockholders in the takeover target, as the acquiring company usually pays significantly more than the the market value of the stock. So it's possible that one of the options they're exploring is putting the company up for sale.
Takeovers are bad for nearly everyone else, of course. Sun buying Novell would be particularly bad, as Sun is less Linux-friendly and the OS market isn't exactly very competitive. But the stokcholders aren't concerned about that.
Gizmo is great. Works just like Skype, but it has better quality sound. (That's for softphone to softphone calls only, of course: Calling the PSTN sounds just like the PSTN.)
It's also open-source, and (unlike Sype) based on open standards.
But libraries still have to work within the law, even if the law has been bought and paid for by the copyright industries. And right now, that means they can't just give people unrestricted copies of material on which someone else holds the copyright. (They should, of course, try to negotiate better licenses with the publishers.)
DRM is still bad, of course. The main problem is that it's proprietary: it's impossible to make a DRM system that works with free software or doesn't rely on "attackware". (There are some proposals to use Trusted Computing for Linux DRM, but that simply offloads the attackware into hardware.)
But libraries will already loan you CDs, which it's easy to rip without setting up a loopback. So in this respect, DRM isn't all that different from loaning out physical copies.
The real problem is that WMA (and all DRM technology) is proprietary. Even "good" uses for it mean that you're locked in to a single vendor, in this case Microsoft.
Very true. Microsoft's PC platform is more open than Apple's (hardware), but the nature of DRM is that it has to be closed and proprietary. Truly interoperable DRM is no DRM at all.
Microsoft chooses to license its DRM format to mp3 player manufactirers, because it's not in the mp3 player business. Apple chooses to make its DRM work on a non-Apple OS, because non-Apple OSs dominate the market. (And both are licensing their DRM to cell phone companies, as neither is in the cell phone business.)
Yep. Intel was very secretive about the Pentium-M's architecture when it first launched, mostly to hide the fact that it was based on the same P6 core as the old Pentium Pro (ie. something that's been around for more than ten years). The big announcement is a new x86 core, intended to replace the P6.
The other slightly embarrassing (for Intel) twist is that the new architecture will be a lot closer to the P6 than to the P7 ("Netburst") core used in the Pentium-4. Essentially, the Pentium-4 was a dead end, and all Intel's x86 plans now involve Pentium-M derived chips.
The main difference between the Pentium-M and the Pentium-5 (or whatever they call the new desktop chip) is that unlike AMD, Intel isn't putting 64-bit extensions in mobile processors. They claim that it's all about tradeoffs involving size and power consumption.
True. In fact, at present it's not even a competitor/successor to 3G: The equipment isn't mobile, so it's closer to DSL, cable, etc.
But a lot of people are claiming that voice over Wi-Fi is a competitor to cell phones. Given Wi-Fi's very short range, VoIP over Wi-Max could be a better choice as a replacement for GSM, etc.. (Although really, cell phones already work perfectly well for voice. Inexpensive mobile data is another matter.)
I have no idea whether MS is a buy or not, but nearly every computer-related company is down from the height of the bubble. MS isn't down by as much, because it's still quite good at ripping people off.
The relatively flat chart since the crash is likely a result of creative accounting: MS is very good at bringing forward or deferring revenue so that profits come very close to forecasts. It doesn't surprise Wall Street with higher or lower figures that would make its stock more volatile.
When someone clicks an ad on Google, it's usually deliberate: The ad is clearly marked, so people probably won't click on it unless they're actually interested in buying something.
With many search engines, the ads aren't so clear: What appears to be a search result is actually an ad, so the people who click on it aren't as likely to be looking for a specific product.
They need to make widely-available release candidates, even if just for a day or two before the official release. Then many more users (and the developers of the extensions) would test them out
Firefox 1.05 broke so many extensions for me that I upgraded to the alpha build of Deer Park (Firefox 1.1), released the same day. That actually breaks fewer extensions than 1.05, and adds some cool features. Seems stable enough too, and it also has all the security fixes of Firefox 1.01 thru 1.06.
When your employer suddenly asks you to sign something, the best response is usually to say, "I need to show this to my lawyer first."
In my experience, simply saying this can often make them back down. At the very least, it buys you some time to think, to look for a new job, or even to actually show the piece of paper to a lawyer.
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There's a comment from an EFF attorney addressing this in the linked BoingBoing discussion (not TFA itself --- I don't want to give those bastards a pageview, even with adblock on). It's stupid advice that could cost companies a lot of money.
Basically, the DMCA is bad, but not that bad. Diebold tried to abuse it in exactly the way that Forbes is suggesting, and got fined $125,000.
Microsoft is completely dependent on the government to maintain its monopoly. That's what copyright is: a limited monopoly granted by the government.
The U.S. government isn't likely to repeal Microsoft's copyright, of course. But other countries might. And a government can do a lot more than just switch to Linux: It could seize all the company's assets in its territory, or release Windows code into the public domain, or hand all MS's copyrights over to a native software company.
South Korea is one of the world's most technologically-advanced countries, leading in stuff like 3G wireless and fiber-to-the-home. It's not a market that a company like Microsoft would want to abandon.
So MS wants everyone to switch file formats yet again. The plan is obviously to force people to upgrade: If a few of your contacts start sending you .docx files, you'll have to replace your existing copy of MS Word with Office 12.
.doc has, so MS might inadvertently help OO.org and other alternatives.
But if you're being forced to upgrade anyway, why not check out the competition? The new format will be reverse-engineered, just as
Neither have I, but "podcasting" is a generic word that's clearly derived from iPod. I even use it myself sometimes, though it's misleading: Most podcasts are standard mp3 files, not based on proprietary Apple formats.
Nearly every supermarket and drugstore carries generic products that actually include the name of their branded competitors somewhere on the box: "Compare to the active ingredients of Listerene Tartar Control", or "Compare to Kelloggs Coco Krispies." The packaging is usually similar too, though they're careful not to include trademarked symbols or fonts.
These clearly aren't illegal --- or at least, the law isn't enforced if they are. Most products seem to comply with the law by aknowledging the trademark and including a disclaimer in the small print. So, a third-party iPod accessory might say "Designed for the iPod" in large print, then, much smaller, "iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. This product is not manufactured or endorsed by Apple."
It's not too different from what MS does with Windows. Anyone can write a program and say "Runs under Windows", but they need MS's permission to include the Windows logo.
If the download was fast and I'd missed my favorite show, I might pay $1.99 to see it. It's true that the shows are also likely to be on BitTorrent, but that has legal issues, and the download might not be reliable. For people who don't watch much TV, the occasional $1.99 would work out cheaper than buying a TiVO and a subscription.
I assume you'll be able to watch it on a PC or a TV, not just a tiny iPod screen.
The point of the random killing segment is to make people afraid to go out, so that they stay at home and watch TV. When they do have to go out, they're more likely to want to do so in one of the armor-plated SUVs that are advertised in nearly every commercial break.
The best way to help people who compalain about spyware, etc. is to delete the IE icon from their desktops and put Firefox there instead. That won't stop all infection, but it will make Windows much safer.
The big advantage of Firefox is that people won't need much technical support (it's just a browser!), unlike OO.org or Linux, which are sufficiently different from their MS equivalents to confuse people. Also, users will thank you once they see that they're not being attacked by popups. Plus, Firefox is a nice, simple introduction to free software that doesn't involve giving up Windows.
Many news organizations already offer their TV (and radio) news programming for no-cost streaming/download.
The BBC is the best, because it has no commercials, and also some shows like Hitch-Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy. But many commercial broadcasters let you watch either the entire show, or select certain clips on-demand.
All existing users (including Google) would be okay, as they received Linux, etc. under the current version of the GPL. Rights already granted can't be taken away by subsequent versions.
This is just an option for authors of new code. Seems like a good idea.
The bundling of the itunes servive with the iPod is anti-competitive, because of the DRM. All DRM is anti-competitive. The point is to tie media files to a specific brand of hardware or software.
But at least Apple is better than its main competitor, the convicted monopolist that bundles its DRM software with nearly every computer.
Unless you crack or go around the DRM, Apple does have a closed format: People who buy music from itunes need an iPod. When the battery dies, they need another one.
Not sure how important this is to Apple currently: Most people I know get who use iPods get most of their music from ripping CDs, not downloads. But itunes is much more successful than all the various WMA-bsaed clones.
Mostly. But there's also less data that can be searched without some very sophisticated AI: Just a file name and (possibly) some metadata or inbound links.
Didn't stop them doing image search, of course, but that index doesn't seems to have been updated for about a year.
Being taken over is nearly always good for stockholders in the takeover target, as the acquiring company usually pays significantly more than the the market value of the stock. So it's possible that one of the options they're exploring is putting the company up for sale.
Takeovers are bad for nearly everyone else, of course. Sun buying Novell would be particularly bad, as Sun is less Linux-friendly and the OS market isn't exactly very competitive. But the stokcholders aren't concerned about that.
Gizmo is great. Works just like Skype, but it has better quality sound. (That's for softphone to softphone calls only, of course: Calling the PSTN sounds just like the PSTN.)
It's also open-source, and (unlike Sype) based on open standards.
But libraries still have to work within the law, even if the law has been bought and paid for by the copyright industries. And right now, that means they can't just give people unrestricted copies of material on which someone else holds the copyright. (They should, of course, try to negotiate better licenses with the publishers.)
DRM is still bad, of course. The main problem is that it's proprietary: it's impossible to make a DRM system that works with free software or doesn't rely on "attackware". (There are some proposals to use Trusted Computing for Linux DRM, but that simply offloads the attackware into hardware.)
But libraries will already loan you CDs, which it's easy to rip without setting up a loopback. So in this respect, DRM isn't all that different from loaning out physical copies.
The real problem is that WMA (and all DRM technology) is proprietary. Even "good" uses for it mean that you're locked in to a single vendor, in this case Microsoft.
Very true. Microsoft's PC platform is more open than Apple's (hardware), but the nature of DRM is that it has to be closed and proprietary. Truly interoperable DRM is no DRM at all.
Microsoft chooses to license its DRM format to mp3 player manufactirers, because it's not in the mp3 player business. Apple chooses to make its DRM work on a non-Apple OS, because non-Apple OSs dominate the market. (And both are licensing their DRM to cell phone companies, as neither is in the cell phone business.)
They already have. I remember hearing about it (probably right here on /., though I can't say for sure) earlier this summer.
Yep. Intel was very secretive about the Pentium-M's architecture when it first launched, mostly to hide the fact that it was based on the same P6 core as the old Pentium Pro (ie. something that's been around for more than ten years). The big announcement is a new x86 core, intended to replace the P6.
The other slightly embarrassing (for Intel) twist is that the new architecture will be a lot closer to the P6 than to the P7 ("Netburst") core used in the Pentium-4. Essentially, the Pentium-4 was a dead end, and all Intel's x86 plans now involve Pentium-M derived chips.
The main difference between the Pentium-M and the Pentium-5 (or whatever they call the new desktop chip) is that unlike AMD, Intel isn't putting 64-bit extensions in mobile processors. They claim that it's all about tradeoffs involving size and power consumption.
True. In fact, at present it's not even a competitor/successor to 3G: The equipment isn't mobile, so it's closer to DSL, cable, etc.
But a lot of people are claiming that voice over Wi-Fi is a competitor to cell phones. Given Wi-Fi's very short range, VoIP over Wi-Max could be a better choice as a replacement for GSM, etc.. (Although really, cell phones already work perfectly well for voice. Inexpensive mobile data is another matter.)
I have no idea whether MS is a buy or not, but nearly every computer-related company is down from the height of the bubble. MS isn't down by as much, because it's still quite good at ripping people off.
The relatively flat chart since the crash is likely a result of creative accounting: MS is very good at bringing forward or deferring revenue so that profits come very close to forecasts. It doesn't surprise Wall Street with higher or lower figures that would make its stock more volatile.
When someone clicks an ad on Google, it's usually deliberate: The ad is clearly marked, so people probably won't click on it unless they're actually interested in buying something.
With many search engines, the ads aren't so clear: What appears to be a search result is actually an ad, so the people who click on it aren't as likely to be looking for a specific product.
They need to make widely-available release candidates, even if just for a day or two before the official release. Then many more users (and the developers of the extensions) would test them out
Firefox 1.05 broke so many extensions for me that I upgraded to the alpha build of Deer Park (Firefox 1.1), released the same day. That actually breaks fewer extensions than 1.05, and adds some cool features. Seems stable enough too, and it also has all the security fixes of Firefox 1.01 thru 1.06.
When your employer suddenly asks you to sign something, the best response is usually to say, "I need to show this to my lawyer first."
In my experience, simply saying this can often make them back down. At the very least, it buys you some time to think, to look for a new job, or even to actually show the piece of paper to a lawyer.