You have to remember who is in that 12%. Most elderly viewers are the ones less likely to spend money on a new TV Set or that fancy shmancy cable. They are also the most likely to vote.
Our local DMV had a break-in. Thieves drove a car through the back wall of the building and took blank licenses, the license printing computer, camera, printer, etc.
After it broke on the news the DMV reported that nothing could be gained from the computer as it was all "encrypted". A week or so later they finally came forward and reported that some 9,000 people had information stored on the computer that was easily accessable (the drivers license picture, SSN, etc.) and that they were sending out new licenses and letters of apology to those people.
It's an outrage in this day and age that even our government officials are so careless with our information. Why was this information kept on the local drive of this computer? What good is a letter of apology and a new license going to do for you when people are applying for new ID's, Credit Cards, etc. using your valid social and name.
Viacom Press Briefing on EchoStar Pulling our Networks
March 9, 2004
Remarks by Mark Rosenthal, President and COO, MTV Networks:
For the past few months, as this situation with EchoStar has unfolded, we've been trying to take the high road, speaking just to the larger issues and trying to ignore the gross distortions and inaccuracies that Charlie Ergen and EchoStar have been flinging around. There comes a point, however, where you have to respond, if only to set the record straight. And that's why we're here today - and we appreciate your taking the time to join us.
As we said in our statement last night, we are disturbed and disappointed by EchoStar's decision to pull the plug on our channels. This is channel yanking by a distributor on an unprecedented scale. This is not something we wanted to happen or would ever want to happen. We are broadcasters and programmers, and the most important relationship we have is with our viewers. The idea that something or someone would disrupt that relationship -- particularly in an effort to extort a better deal for themselves -- is, to us, really reprehensible. And, additionally, as consumer oriented people, it really bothers us to see a company treat its customers with such disregard.
EchoStar has been trying to paint itself as the victim in this situation. To hear them tell it, they were forced to pull the plug on our networks to protect their subscribers from the "exorbitant" rate increases and unfair carriage requirements we were trying to "foist" on them.
In a word, that's ludicrous.
Here are the facts:
First of all, EchoStar is hardly some small mom-and-pop operation that is being pushed around. It has more than 9 million subscribers -- 10% of all multichannel homes and 43% of all satellite households. It is the fourth largest distributor in the U.S. and as a result it has enormous negotiating power.
Faced with the clout that comes with having that massive distribution, we've been doing everything humanly possible we can -- for months now -- to finalize a deal with them. As I said before, the last thing we ever want to do is wind up in a situation where our viewers can't get the channels and shows they love. So in our negotiations with EchoStar, we were extremely flexible and offered substantial compromises.
Now I hope you will keep in mind that every cable and satellite operator negotiates these sorts of agreements, and we have been able to establish and maintain solid business partnerships with virtually all of them. The sole exception is EchoStar/DISH Network.
Along these lines, I would also point out that over the years there have been thousands of successful marketplace negotiations between broadcasters and cable and satellite distributors involving the packaging of retransmission consent rights with cable carriage. In all those cases, only one company ever had a problem with it. That's right -- it was EchoStar, which complained to the FCC about the same "packaging" practices it challenged in its recent lawsuit against Viacom.
As it happens, the FCC decisively rejected EchoStar's complaint, pointing out that Congress established a detailed regulatory scheme that permits broadcasters to negotiate retransmission consent and cable carriage together. For the same reason, the Federal district court judge who is hearing EchoStar's case against Viacom recently denied EchoStar's motion for a preliminary injunction and gave us permission to deauthorize (which we did not do) EchoStar's carriage of CBS if we were unable to work things out.
It's also worth noting that EchoStar has a history of bringing frivolous lawsuits and has been sanctioned or admonished by federal judges several times, including in a litigation with CBS when they were found by a Federal judge to have engaged in "clearly willful" copyright violations. Just this week, a federal judge sanctioned EchoStar in yet another an antitrust case they brought.
I also purchased my DirecTiVo system about 8 months ago and I love it! I had a TiVo before that for over 2 years. I upgraded the drives in the unit (Warranty? I don't need no stinkin warranty) and it works beautifully.
The other nice thing is for those who pay for the "Premium service" (HBO, Cinemax, etc.) you get the TiVo service for free. I know it's not much, but hey... it all adds up.
I've never had a problem with reception (not that we get really bad weather here in Las Vegas). I think the key is to make sure you have your dish pointed properly and bolt it down.
Now if I can only get Sprint to put DSL in my area so I can drop Cox cable...
Detective "This is the home of Lars Ulrich, the drummer for Metallica. Look. There's Lars now, sitting by his pool."
Kyle "What's the matter with him?"
Detective "This month he was hoping to have a gold-plated shark tank bar installed right next to the pool, but thanks to people downloading his music for free, he must now wait a few months before he can afford it. Come. There's more. Here's Britney Spears' private jet. Notice anything? Britney used to have a Gulfstream IV. Now she's had to sell it and get a Gulfstream III because people like you chose to download her music for free. The Gulfstream III doesn't even have a remote control for its surround-sound DVD system. Still think downloading music for free is no big deal?"
Kyle "We... didn't realize what we were doing, eh..."
Detective "That is the folly of man. Now look in this window. Here you see the loving family of Master P. Next week is his son's birthday and, all he's ever wanted was an island in French Polynesia."
Kyle "So, he's gonna get it, right?"
Detective "I see an island without an owner. If things keep going the way they are, the child will not get his tropical paradise."
Stan "We're sorry! We'll, we'll never download music for free again!"
Detective "Man must learn to think of these horrible outcomes before he acts selfishly or else... I fear... recording artists will be forever doomed to a life of only semi-luxury."
Not only that.. I can never get those damn swedish kids to stay off my lawn!
Re:I never knew this was a problem to begind with.
on
MAME To Become GPL?
·
· Score: 1
Actually MAME emulates Arcade machines, so while some of the games are on cartridge (Neo-Geo and a few of the newer systems), most are on boards and have to be dumped from the chips. The idea was that if a collector has the board (and there are many of us out there) we should be allowed to archive the ROMS because we all know that hardware and eeproms don't last forever.
The boards can be had quite commonly now on eBay (of course) and through various other collector sites. MAME also is great in that us collectors don't have to keep an entire warehouse of cabinets to play the games we own the boards for. For a list of classic arcade collectors you can check out http://www.vaps.org
Slashdot Mirror
You might want to check with iGo.com, they make a charger that allows you to plug in different tips for different devices.
Not particularly cheap, but if you're more interested in space savings/convenience...
I just hope he casts the Star Wars Kid in some role.
Thanks for taking all the +5 funny mods you ash...
I can see the headlines now... "Tree's Providing Power! Elm at 11"
This is serious business, it's nothing to Oak about...
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Root access"
I bet the investors will feel like Saps if it fails...
You have to remember who is in that 12%. Most elderly viewers are the ones less likely to spend money on a new TV Set or that fancy shmancy cable. They are also the most likely to vote.
Our local DMV had a break-in. Thieves drove a car through the back wall of the building and took blank licenses, the license printing computer, camera, printer, etc.
After it broke on the news the DMV reported that nothing could be gained from the computer as it was all "encrypted". A week or so later they finally came forward and reported that some 9,000 people had information stored on the computer that was easily accessable (the drivers license picture, SSN, etc.) and that they were sending out new licenses and letters of apology to those people.
It's an outrage in this day and age that even our government officials are so careless with our information. Why was this information kept on the local drive of this computer? What good is a letter of apology and a new license going to do for you when people are applying for new ID's, Credit Cards, etc. using your valid social and name.
No, Slashdotters... he didn't take one of YOU into space... they are referring to a company in the article.
Viacom Press Briefing on EchoStar Pulling our Networks
March 9, 2004
Remarks by Mark Rosenthal, President and COO, MTV Networks:
For the past few months, as this situation with EchoStar has unfolded, we've been trying to take the high road, speaking just to the larger issues and trying to ignore the gross distortions and inaccuracies that Charlie Ergen and EchoStar have been flinging around. There comes a point, however, where you have to respond, if only to set the record straight. And that's why we're here today - and we appreciate your taking the time to join us.
As we said in our statement last night, we are disturbed and disappointed by EchoStar's decision to pull the plug on our channels. This is channel yanking by a distributor on an unprecedented scale. This is not something we wanted to happen or would ever want to happen. We are broadcasters and programmers, and the most important relationship we have is with our viewers. The idea that something or someone would disrupt that relationship -- particularly in an effort to extort a better deal for themselves -- is, to us, really reprehensible. And, additionally, as consumer oriented people, it really bothers us to see a company treat its customers with such disregard.
EchoStar has been trying to paint itself as the victim in this situation. To hear them tell it, they were forced to pull the plug on our networks to protect their subscribers from the "exorbitant" rate increases and unfair carriage requirements we were trying to "foist" on them.
In a word, that's ludicrous.
Here are the facts:
First of all, EchoStar is hardly some small mom-and-pop operation that is being pushed around. It has more than 9 million subscribers -- 10% of all multichannel homes and 43% of all satellite households. It is the fourth largest distributor in the U.S. and as a result it has enormous negotiating power.
Faced with the clout that comes with having that massive distribution, we've been doing everything humanly possible we can -- for months now -- to finalize a deal with them. As I said before, the last thing we ever want to do is wind up in a situation where our viewers can't get the channels and shows they love. So in our negotiations with EchoStar, we were extremely flexible and offered substantial compromises.
Now I hope you will keep in mind that every cable and satellite operator negotiates these sorts of agreements, and we have been able to establish and maintain solid business partnerships with virtually all of them. The sole exception is EchoStar/DISH Network.
Along these lines, I would also point out that over the years there have been thousands of successful marketplace negotiations between broadcasters and cable and satellite distributors involving the packaging of retransmission consent rights with cable carriage. In all those cases, only one company ever had a problem with it. That's right -- it was EchoStar, which complained to the FCC about the same "packaging" practices it challenged in its recent lawsuit against Viacom.
As it happens, the FCC decisively rejected EchoStar's complaint, pointing out that Congress established a detailed regulatory scheme that permits broadcasters to negotiate retransmission consent and cable carriage together. For the same reason, the Federal district court judge who is hearing EchoStar's case against Viacom recently denied EchoStar's motion for a preliminary injunction and gave us permission to deauthorize (which we did not do) EchoStar's carriage of CBS if we were unable to work things out.
It's also worth noting that EchoStar has a history of bringing frivolous lawsuits and has been sanctioned or admonished by federal judges several times, including in a litigation with CBS when they were found by a Federal judge to have engaged in "clearly willful" copyright violations. Just this week, a federal judge sanctioned EchoStar in yet another an antitrust case they brought.
Anyway, we could not have worked harder to
I also purchased my DirecTiVo system about 8 months ago and I love it! I had a TiVo before that for over 2 years. I upgraded the drives in the unit (Warranty? I don't need no stinkin warranty) and it works beautifully.
The other nice thing is for those who pay for the "Premium service" (HBO, Cinemax, etc.) you get the TiVo service for free. I know it's not much, but hey... it all adds up.
I've never had a problem with reception (not that we get really bad weather here in Las Vegas). I think the key is to make sure you have your dish pointed properly and bolt it down.
Now if I can only get Sprint to put DSL in my area so I can drop Cox cable...
Yes, I can see the advertising blitz now...
"Towels in the kids meals - Yes, Kids! You can hide from your parents simply by placing this over your head!"
"This weeks special, the so long and thanks for all the McFish"
Detective "This is the home of Lars Ulrich, the drummer for Metallica. Look. There's Lars now, sitting by his pool."
Kyle "What's the matter with him?"
Detective "This month he was hoping to have a gold-plated shark tank bar installed right next to the pool, but thanks to people downloading his music for free, he must now wait a few months before he can afford it. Come. There's more. Here's Britney Spears' private jet. Notice anything? Britney used to have a Gulfstream IV. Now she's had to sell it and get a Gulfstream III because people like you chose to download her music for free. The Gulfstream III doesn't even have a remote control for its surround-sound DVD system. Still think downloading music for free is no big deal?"
Kyle "We... didn't realize what we were doing, eh..."
Detective "That is the folly of man. Now look in this window. Here you see the loving family of Master P. Next week is his son's birthday and, all he's ever wanted was an island in French Polynesia."
Kyle "So, he's gonna get it, right?"
Detective "I see an island without an owner. If things keep going the way they are, the child will not get his tropical paradise."
Stan "We're sorry! We'll, we'll never download music for free again!"
Detective "Man must learn to think of these horrible outcomes before he acts selfishly or else... I fear... recording artists will be forever doomed to a life of only semi-luxury."
Not only that.. I can never get those damn swedish kids to stay off my lawn!
Actually MAME emulates Arcade machines, so while some of the games are on cartridge (Neo-Geo and a few of the newer systems), most are on boards and have to be dumped from the chips. The idea was that if a collector has the board (and there are many of us out there) we should be allowed to archive the ROMS because we all know that hardware and eeproms don't last forever.
The boards can be had quite commonly now on eBay (of course) and through various other collector sites. MAME also is great in that us collectors don't have to keep an entire warehouse of cabinets to play the games we own the boards for. For a list of classic arcade collectors you can check out http://www.vaps.org