Cool. Although I don't feel inclined to play with the hardware, It does everything I need already. I don't suppose you could mail me a copy of that just in case I ever change my mind?
imbsc but I vaguely recall in the early days of web browsers, they would pull down the base page, and then one image at a time. Netscape opening multiple requests in parallel seemed like a massive abuse of webserver resources at the time, to me at least.
The article was writtent by a company that does embedded systems. In this context, 'using' GPL software means putting it into hardware and selling it; something the rest of us normally think of as 'distribution'
Here's a semi-realworld example that probably violates several laws as well as the GPL; I'm going to assume that Taiwan has similar laws.
Some small company in Taiwan (let's call them Edimax) decides to make a cheap wireless access point. They shop around and find a very nice, very cheap wireless chipset. Technical details are only available under an NDA but that's OK, they make hardware and don't plan to give out that kind of details anyhow. They want a nice web interface, firewall and NAT features, etc, as cheaply as possible they base it on some 'free' embedded Linux code. A few months and quite a lot of design and programming time later they have a product shipping. It works well and it's really, really cheap to build so Edimax's investors are making lots of profit, and therefore happy.
But along comes the nasty FSF and points out that they can't ship the product unless they release the source code, complete with the modifications they made to get their cheap wireless chipset working. Oops, they signed an NDA and aren't allowed to distribute that source code which leaves them with only one option. They have to redesign the product from scratch (using BSD, which they probably should have chosen from the beginning) or kill the product line completely. Either way, the product is no longer as cheap and profitable as it was.
Some of us use it to read 'media trolls' - people who post outrageous statements just to attract traffic to their websites. It's important to correct the misinformation and outright lies these people often spread, but I don't feel like giving them the traffic they're so obviously seeking.
'We've designed this software and the licence that governs it, intentionally, in a way whereby you cannot attach a lock without it being trivially removeable. Such a lock is no more effective that a notice saying "please don't copy" which is insufficient protection to qualify under the DMCA'
There's a 'please don't copy' bit in the CD standard too.. every commercially produced CD sets it. Every commercially and noncommercially produced piece of cd-reading software ignores it; even Windows Media Player. Nobody's ever been sued under the DMCA for this.
To some extent this is true. But on the whole it's utter bullshit. If I get a user-level virus that mails itself to all my friends and deletes all my documents, it doesn't make the slightest different if it needs or wants root access. The mail goes out. My files get deleted. Root access isn't required.
One of the real differences between Windows and more sensible OS's is that Windows actively seeks out and tries to run code from untrusted sources. Screensaver sent in email? LET'S RUN IT!! Code on a web page? RUN IT!! Autorun file on something that's supposed to be an audio CD? MIGHT AS WELL RUN IT!! Bits of code embedded in an image file? LET'S GET IT ON!!
Most of the time Windows practically goes out LOOKING for things it can run from untrustworthy sources.
Linux doesn't do this FreeBSD doesn't do this OSX Doesn't do this
It's a stupid thing that _only windows_ does. which is why _only windows_ gets hit so hard and so frequently by these stupid viruses. (there are other things that also contribute to the problem, but this is IMHO one of the major factors)
If someone adds DRM code to GPL software, that code would itself legally fall under the GPL. They'd have to distribute source, and they'd have to accept that under the terms of the GPL, anyone would be allowed to REMOVE the code that impliments DRM or modify it to allow copying of the un-DRM'd data.
The MAFIAA (RIAA/MPAA) might respond "OK, we know that under the GPL we have to give you the source and allow you to modify it, but if you modify the code in a way that defeats the DRM we'll use the DMCA against you"
Except that now, as well as allowing you to modify it under the terms of the GPL, they have to acknowledge that the open-source nature of the software makes any DRM protection trivial to remove and therefore ineffective, so the DMCA does not apply either.
It's only 'valuable' (in terms of being able to make a significant profit from publication) while you're still alive.
The only other reason you might be killed is that the information is more valuable than your life. In which case the would-be assassin only needs one copy (and they can duplicated it illegally if they must, which would be cheaper and less risky than having you killed). If you've priced an individual copy of your work above the cost of having you killed, you're simply hoarding information to the detriment of humanity and probably deserve to die.
fair use covers those cases which should normally be covered by copyright (copying all or part of a copyright work with the intent to redistribute) but where an exemption has been made because the use 'adds creativity'. Example; making a parody, commentary, etc.
UNREGULATED use is use of copyrighted material where copyright law has no legitimate business interfering. Playing the material you legally purchased through whatever equipment happens to be capable of the task. Backup copies, library lending, personal copying (such as home recording) where the intent is not to distribute the work to others. Copyright law has no legitimate business interfering with these uses at all.
Attacks on fair use are only a small part of the problem. The MAFIAA have managed to persuade the vast majority of the population that ALL use of copyright material has to be under permission of the copyright holder. As if unregulated use never even existed!!
Trouble finding drivers? sometimes. But I've had ten times as much trouble trying to track down windowsXP drivers for perfectly good hardware that's only a few years old. Hardware that's supported out-of-the-box under Linux.
Trouble with buggy unsigned drivers causing the machine to crash? Never. Well, I did have a little trouble with the nvidia drivers making all my openGL apps coredump, but that was because I totally screwed up installing the driver. Once I sorted that out (by installing cleanly from the distro packages) it's been sweet.
Simple solution; they could have based the thing on any of the BSD's and completely avoided any requirement to release source code. They could still run as much GPL code on top of that as they like. A huge amount of the code that runs on Linux has also been ported to BSD.
Or they could have simply used the WinCE Shared Source code. That's public domain too, isn't it? I'm sure Microsoft would be far more understanding about a simple little licence snafu like this..
The GPL says (and has said ever since the very first version) that you must distribute the SAME version of the sources that was used to compile the binaries. Not a barely-working BETA version from 6 months ago, not the version before this one, not even a later version, but the exact same source code used to build THIS binary.
Which they're apparently not doing.
If they want to add DRM and not give out the source, they're going to have to do it as a standalone binary application or module, similar to the NVidia drivers, Macromedia's flash plugin, or Acrobat Reader.. there are ways of doing things like this that _don't_ violate the GPL.
Last time I stuck a 'factory-new' drive into a Windows box, Windows helpfully identified the drive then offered to partition and format it for me.
I would assume it does the same thing for unformatted USB storage. Shipping blank or preformatted USB sticks is a non-issue.
mp3 players, cameras, etc where the firmware itself needs to be able to read and/or write FAT is where the money will be coming from.
Another nice advantage for Microsoft; All the mainstream Linux distros will have to drop FAT support from their default install, it'll become a downloadable extra like mp3, flash, java, libcss, etc.. a minor annoyance for most Linux users, but IME little annoyances like this are helping hold back desktop linux.
astalavista.box.sk and serials.ws are a couple that I know of. Under MSIE they'll launch lots of windows that 'require a plugin or upgrade' but if you kill off MSIE without clicking on a single thing you'll still find quite a lot of stuff has managed to install itself with no interaction at all!
I haven't tried as a non-priviledged user, and if you want to experiment with these sites I'd suggest using a 'throwaway install' that you don't mind getting trashed.
Set up a different station for each 'type' of music you like? That's what I did. That's why pandora lets you make a bunch of different stations. I like almost every type of music except country, but the type of music a want to hear _right now_ depends on the mood I'm in.
Consider the software industry as an example. Microsoft and other propriatory software companies are like the RIAA/MPAA companies. Open Source is the evolving business model. Microsoft's marketing model would utterly and completely FAIL if everyone was allowed to copy and give away Microsoft's software, but companies like IBM, Novell, Red Hat, are doing very well from Open Source.
When I mention the 'invisible hand' I mean that new business models will appear; people like making money and if you change the rules, they WILL find ways to keep making money under the new rules. I didn't want to have to come up with an example that might evolve, but you've pushed me.
Consider the "recorded music as advertising for live performance" model. Before recorded music and movies, artists would be paid to perform live. Going on tour is still a big earner for most bands, sometimes it's what they have to do just to 'recoup' the cost of their album if sales aren't high enough. So the new model? The band sells MP3 downloads from their website but makes most of their money from live gigs. They put some of that aside to 'advertise' themselves, which means paying for studio time and a good engineer.
Yeah, I know.. this is just five minutes though from someone who isn't even in the industry, and it has a few holes. But it's not like the current model is exactly perfect either; ref http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
99% of the time it's a wireless mouse, but when the batteries go flat you plug the USB cable in for a half-hour or so. You can still use it like a regular corded mouse which is still much more convenient than having to use the little built-in touchpad..
This card thing you have to leave your laptop turned on and wasting batteries while it charges up, but you can't use it 'cos the mouse is plugged away in a slot.
19V seems to be fairly standard for laptops already, they just need to pick a standard plug (the round one seems fairly common already) and polarity.. It's also fairly common for a lot of printers.
How about having just two standards for portable device power?
"high-power" - 19 v, 2A , round plug with +ve in the middle like many laptops, printers and scanners already use.
"Low-power" - 5v, 500ma, square plug with the option of also carrying serial data. aka USB. Like almost all low-power external devices already use.
Slashdot Mirror
As opposed to NCSA Mosaic and Spyglass Mosaic. MSIE didn't even exist at the time. some history for you.
I think my point is; what might seem like network abuse today is likely to be SOP in a few years time.
Cool. Although I don't feel inclined to play with the hardware, It does everything I need already. I don't suppose you could mail me a copy of that just in case I ever change my mind?
imbsc but I vaguely recall in the early days of web browsers, they would pull down the base page, and then one image at a time. Netscape opening multiple requests in parallel seemed like a massive abuse of webserver resources at the time, to me at least.
The article was writtent by a company that does embedded systems. In this context, 'using' GPL software means putting it into hardware and selling it; something the rest of us normally think of as 'distribution'
Here's a semi-realworld example that probably violates several laws as well as the GPL; I'm going to assume that Taiwan has similar laws.
Some small company in Taiwan (let's call them Edimax) decides to make a cheap wireless access point. They shop around and find a very nice, very cheap wireless chipset. Technical details are only available under an NDA but that's OK, they make hardware and don't plan to give out that kind of details anyhow. They want a nice web interface, firewall and NAT features, etc, as cheaply as possible they base it on some 'free' embedded Linux code. A few months and quite a lot of design and programming time later they have a product shipping. It works well and it's really, really cheap to build so Edimax's investors are making lots of profit, and therefore happy.
But along comes the nasty FSF and points out that they can't ship the product unless they release the source code, complete with the modifications they made to get their cheap wireless chipset working. Oops, they signed an NDA and aren't allowed to distribute that source code which leaves them with only one option. They have to redesign the product from scratch (using BSD, which they probably should have chosen from the beginning) or kill the product line completely. Either way, the product is no longer as cheap and profitable as it was.
The investors are no longer happy.
Ah, the shift key! :)
itym "ARRRR!! The shift key! P)"
Some of us use it to read 'media trolls' - people who post outrageous statements just to attract traffic to their websites. It's important to correct the misinformation and outright lies these people often spread, but I don't feel like giving them the traffic they're so obviously seeking.
'We've designed this software and the licence that governs it, intentionally, in a way whereby you cannot attach a lock without it being trivially removeable. Such a lock is no more effective that a notice saying "please don't copy" which is insufficient protection to qualify under the DMCA'
There's a 'please don't copy' bit in the CD standard too.. every commercially produced CD sets it. Every commercially and noncommercially produced piece of cd-reading software ignores it; even Windows Media Player. Nobody's ever been sued under the DMCA for this.
To some extent this is true. But on the whole it's utter bullshit. If I get a user-level virus that mails itself to all my friends and deletes all my documents, it doesn't make the slightest different if it needs or wants root access. The mail goes out. My files get deleted. Root access isn't required.
One of the real differences between Windows and more sensible OS's is that Windows actively seeks out and tries to run code from untrusted sources. Screensaver sent in email? LET'S RUN IT!! Code on a web page? RUN IT!! Autorun file on something that's supposed to be an audio CD? MIGHT AS WELL RUN IT!! Bits of code embedded in an image file? LET'S GET IT ON!!
Most of the time Windows practically goes out LOOKING for things it can run from untrustworthy sources.
Linux doesn't do this
FreeBSD doesn't do this
OSX Doesn't do this
It's a stupid thing that _only windows_ does. which is why _only windows_ gets hit so hard and so frequently by these stupid viruses. (there are other things that also contribute to the problem, but this is IMHO one of the major factors)
'reverse-engineer' ?
If someone adds DRM code to GPL software, that code would itself legally fall under the GPL. They'd have to distribute source, and they'd have to accept that under the terms of the GPL, anyone would be allowed to REMOVE the code that impliments DRM or modify it to allow copying of the un-DRM'd data.
The MAFIAA (RIAA/MPAA) might respond "OK, we know that under the GPL we have to give you the source and allow you to modify it, but if you modify the code in a way that defeats the DRM we'll use the DMCA against you"
Except that now, as well as allowing you to modify it under the terms of the GPL, they have to acknowledge that the open-source nature of the software makes any DRM protection trivial to remove and therefore ineffective, so the DMCA does not apply either.
Does that make more sense?
With what incentive?
It's only 'valuable' (in terms of being able to make a significant profit from publication) while you're still alive.
The only other reason you might be killed is that the information is more valuable than your life. In which case the would-be assassin only needs one copy (and they can duplicated it illegally if they must, which would be cheaper and less risky than having you killed). If you've priced an individual copy of your work above the cost of having you killed, you're simply hoarding information to the detriment of humanity and probably deserve to die.
Infomative, but WRONG.
fair use covers those cases which should normally be covered by copyright (copying all or part of a copyright work with the intent to redistribute) but where an exemption has been made because the use 'adds creativity'. Example; making a parody, commentary, etc.
UNREGULATED use is use of copyrighted material where copyright law has no legitimate business interfering. Playing the material you legally purchased through whatever equipment happens to be capable of the task. Backup copies, library lending, personal copying (such as home recording) where the intent is not to distribute the work to others. Copyright law has no legitimate business interfering with these uses at all.
Attacks on fair use are only a small part of the problem. The MAFIAA have managed to persuade the vast majority of the population that ALL use of copyright material has to be under permission of the copyright holder. As if unregulated use never even existed!!
Give us back our ownership rights!
Trouble finding drivers? sometimes. But I've had ten times as much trouble trying to track down windowsXP drivers for perfectly good hardware that's only a few years old. Hardware that's supported out-of-the-box under Linux.
Trouble with buggy unsigned drivers causing the machine to crash? Never. Well, I did have a little trouble with the nvidia drivers making all my openGL apps coredump, but that was because I totally screwed up installing the driver. Once I sorted that out (by installing cleanly from the distro packages) it's been sweet.
That was the point; if he's in the UK, he should be using the UK keyboard mapping, and shift-3 should result in the pound (£) symbol
Simple solution; they could have based the thing on any of the BSD's and completely avoided any requirement to release source code. They could still run as much GPL code on top of that as they like. A huge amount of the code that runs on Linux has also been ported to BSD.
Or they could have simply used the WinCE Shared Source code. That's public domain too, isn't it? I'm sure Microsoft would be far more understanding about a simple little licence snafu like this..
The GPL says (and has said ever since the very first version) that you must distribute the SAME version of the sources that was used to compile the binaries. Not a barely-working BETA version from 6 months ago, not the version before this one, not even a later version, but the exact same source code used to build THIS binary.
Which they're apparently not doing.
If they want to add DRM and not give out the source, they're going to have to do it as a standalone binary application or module, similar to the NVidia drivers, Macromedia's flash plugin, or Acrobat Reader.. there are ways of doing things like this that _don't_ violate the GPL.
Last time I stuck a 'factory-new' drive into a Windows box, Windows helpfully identified the drive then offered to partition and format it for me.
I would assume it does the same thing for unformatted USB storage. Shipping blank or preformatted USB sticks is a non-issue.
mp3 players, cameras, etc where the firmware itself needs to be able to read and/or write FAT is where the money will be coming from.
Another nice advantage for Microsoft; All the mainstream Linux distros will have to drop FAT support from their default install, it'll become a downloadable extra like mp3, flash, java, libcss, etc.. a minor annoyance for most Linux users, but IME little annoyances like this are helping hold back desktop linux.
astalavista.box.sk and serials.ws are a couple that I know of. Under MSIE they'll launch lots of windows that 'require a plugin or upgrade' but if you kill off MSIE without clicking on a single thing you'll still find quite a lot of stuff has managed to install itself with no interaction at all!
I haven't tried as a non-priviledged user, and if you want to experiment with these sites I'd suggest using a 'throwaway install' that you don't mind getting trashed.
Set up a different station for each 'type' of music you like? That's what I did. That's why pandora lets you make a bunch of different stations. I like almost every type of music except country, but the type of music a want to hear _right now_ depends on the mood I'm in.
"by the evolving business model"
Consider the software industry as an example. Microsoft and other propriatory software companies are like the RIAA/MPAA companies. Open Source is the evolving business model. Microsoft's marketing model would utterly and completely FAIL if everyone was allowed to copy and give away Microsoft's software, but companies like IBM, Novell, Red Hat, are doing very well from Open Source.
When I mention the 'invisible hand' I mean that new business models will appear; people like making money and if you change the rules, they WILL find ways to keep making money under the new rules. I didn't want to have to come up with an example that might evolve, but you've pushed me.
Consider the "recorded music as advertising for live performance" model. Before recorded music and movies, artists would be paid to perform live. Going on tour is still a big earner for most bands, sometimes it's what they have to do just to 'recoup' the cost of their album if sales aren't high enough. So the new model? The band sells MP3 downloads from their website but makes most of their money from live gigs. They put some of that aside to 'advertise' themselves, which means paying for studio time and a good engineer.
Yeah, I know.. this is just five minutes though from someone who isn't even in the industry, and it has a few holes. But it's not like the current model is exactly perfect either; ref http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
If they're doing a valuable job, they'll get paid for it. Have faith in the invisible hand.
If they're just dead wood or hugely overpaid like 99% of the music industry, they're way overdue for a shakeup.
Bye bye to "sound engineer" or cameraman as a full time job.
And the difference between this and the fate of buggy-whip makers is _what_ ?
I was going to suggest this thing definately needs some kind of matching software like iRate or pandora, but then I read TFA and see it already does.
Cool. Where can I get one?
Blank wax cylinders? Yeah.. we call those "candles" ;-)
Yes it would make more sense...
99% of the time it's a wireless mouse, but when the batteries go flat you plug the USB cable in for a half-hour or so. You can still use it like a regular corded mouse which is still much more convenient than having to use the little built-in touchpad..
This card thing you have to leave your laptop turned on and wasting batteries while it charges up, but you can't use it 'cos the mouse is plugged away in a slot.
19V seems to be fairly standard for laptops already, they just need to pick a standard plug (the round one seems fairly common already) and polarity.. It's also fairly common for a lot of printers.
How about having just two standards for portable device power?
"high-power" - 19 v, 2A , round plug with +ve in the middle like many laptops, printers and scanners already use.
"Low-power" - 5v, 500ma, square plug with the option of also carrying serial data. aka USB. Like almost all low-power external devices already use.
We seem to be drifting that way already..