Human Evolution consists of at least 5 million years (from the moment there were appe like creatures that started to try to walk upright).
One of the most common traits during the history of humanity is cooperation. Cooperation between human groups is what gave us huge advantages: the young taking care of the old, and that way preserving knowledge for longer, the childless protecting the childs of others increasing the chances of the species as a whole, you name it, you are human so you can find more examples like this.
It is only when we compete for scarce resources that we turn against each other. The problem is that we are being so succesful that the groups tha lose a showdown can't just move to a different lace and prosper there.
We exhibit the same kind of violent behaviour as those rats that were allowed to overpopulate in a controlled experiment. All went pearshape: violence, carelessness for the young, killings and in general mayhem.
Evolution guided us trhough a bening path, it is only our own success and the finite amount of resources in this planet that has determined that we kill each other, but that is not pre-ordainde, if we were wiser we may decide to let the steam off by means of using our brain to go back to our communitary roots as a species.
Here we will be, complaining about the same things when the next version of Windows is probed and tested, and then you will raise your karmaless self to say "let wait for the next version, if that suck then yeah, they will never learn".
The time is here and now, and the company has probed beyond doubt how they regard security in a networked world.
... that decpetive prctices are OK as long as nobody is harmed.
Define harm first.
And still you may be unharmed but still you may have been deceived and your trust may have been abused.
They don't try to add the word Engineer to their lame certifications just by chance, they are abusing term that in our societies confers trust and knowledge.
We all know and MCSE is not really an ENgineer, then why should not the law reflect that simple common sense fact?
Here in the UK the metric system is widely used, the Imperial system as well, mainly to keep happy the oldies while they remaing active amongst us younger folk;-).
The ones that are taxed are manufacurers and importers of hardware and blank media. Failing that any companies selling to the public that fail to check that the former payed the tax.
Regarding public domain, again who is affected is who is trying to profit from it, this means in general companies.
In Mexico the goverment can't force regular Jose or Maria to pay taxes (many people work on underground econonomy and don't pay taxes at all, but they can have by the proverbial hairy short ones the companies which can't make business unless they follow the rules. Of course all these additional costs will be passed to the consumer that will foot the bill.
I implemented a search algorithm that searched 300000+ registers in ALGOL. To speed up things I indexed the whole thing and to save disk space I compressed using an algorithm I, grasp, learned in the university. Databases? You hippies, mens in those days did not use databases (too expensive, too novel).
It is a pity that the computer stopped working after a mouse found its way in the "dish washers" (big cilynders that used to contain the hard disk plates).
This has more meat than what the paltry email in Mr Lessig's blog implies.
First of all, this is not a hoax.
You can find the text of the proposed ammendment here (paragraph regarding "derecho de autor").
I will not invoke the Fish, you can do that yourselves if you are so inclined, there are several interesting points:
Article 29: Yeah, 100 years. I will begin to pester the right people, not that they will care (or maybe they do, this may pass under their noses and then the leaders of the parties tell them how to vote).
Then later on, the most interesting bits, in synthesis:
Article 40. Copyright holders have the right to be compensated for any copies that are made without their permission for private use and with no intention of profiting from them.
I. Compensation will be paid by manufacturers or importers of any machines that can store, compress, duplicate or reproduce (as in play I guess) the copyrighted works. Same thing for blank media manufacturers and importers.
The big surprise here is that this seems to legitimize your MP3 collection on stacks or burned CDs as long as you made it from sutff you legitimely own. I believe this may be a first worldwide.
Nowhere says how the compensation will be calculated.
II. Any sellers (retailers, wholesale buyers, etc) have to make sure that compensation was paid, otherwise they are obliged to pay the compensation in solidarity with people in point I (second translation: we can't police all of them, so we force retailers to police manufacturers and importers. Maquiavelian).
IV. Money goes to, surprise, the associations representing the copyright holders. 20% should be used for a nebulous item called "cultural activities"...
V. Stuff with copy protection mechanisms does not pay this tax (i.e. DVDs ant their ilk).
To check the public domain situation you have to go to the ammendment to article 152, first of all anybody can use public domain as long as there is no intention to profit from the work, otherwise who is intending to profit form a public domain work should pay a tax that will be divided 50% for the respective association of copyright holders (writers, composers, etc.) and should be devoted to social spending (whatever that is) and to promote the reperotire of their association members (uhm). The other 50% goes to, yes, you guessed it, the goverment.
Nowhere I found that public domain is abolished, it is being restricted if you want to profit from it.
Finally this is going to the Culture comission in the Congress. It may die there, get uglier or get better.
Finally, even if you are not Mexican you can put pressure: just imagine my poor congress critters receiving loads of emails from North Rio Bravo (Grande) and beyond threateaning to boycott any Mexican copyrightable material if the terms that are clearly abusive (like the 100 year term) are not repelled.
The level of education in Mexico is around 7 school years, way above the time you learn to read, although certainly very low.
Mexican read avidily comics, sports newspapers, and tabloid newspapers, not because they are illiterate, but because these publications are very cheap. Serious literature is too expensive for the average Mexican. People is so avid to have access to serious literature that for example filled Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes to attend a poetry recital of Jaime Sabines. Yes, that is poetry, not Rolling Stones or Britney Spears.
Of course even you realize that even illiterate people can enjoy other art forms that may be affected by legislation like this.
Literature, soap operas, Music (Spanish speaking market of course), TV programs, books.
And don't forget all what Miguel de Icaza, of GNOME fame, has produced as well.
Mexico may not be the biggest producer of copyrightable stuff, but it certainly has an important place amongst Spanish speaking countries, of which the US is one of them.
Slashdot Mirror
Human Evolution consists of at least 5 million years (from the moment there were appe like creatures that started to try to walk upright).
One of the most common traits during the history of humanity is cooperation. Cooperation between human groups is what gave us huge advantages: the young taking care of the old, and that way preserving knowledge for longer, the childless protecting the childs of others increasing the chances of the species as a whole, you name it, you are human so you can find more examples like this.
It is only when we compete for scarce resources that we turn against each other. The problem is that we are being so succesful that the groups tha lose a showdown can't just move to a different lace and prosper there.
We exhibit the same kind of violent behaviour as those rats that were allowed to overpopulate in a controlled experiment. All went pearshape: violence, carelessness for the young, killings and in general mayhem.
Evolution guided us trhough a bening path, it is only our own success and the finite amount of resources in this planet that has determined that we kill each other, but that is not pre-ordainde, if we were wiser we may decide to let the steam off by means of using our brain to go back to our communitary roots as a species.
...for the victims of such force of progress.
... and dangerous on their own right.
No comma don apostrophe t thank me period
Massive amounts of *coffee* comma cola comma and pizza period
No comma do no apostrophe t thank me period
Here we will be, complaining about the same things when the next version of Windows is probed and tested, and then you will raise your karmaless self to say "let wait for the next version, if that suck then yeah, they will never learn".
The time is here and now, and the company has probed beyond doubt how they regard security in a networked world.
How did you credit card got into that computer?
If you want to transform your OS application into a commercial one, go and buy a Qt license. It is that simple really.
They got it nail down pretty well: you want to benefit from our work? OK but it is only you or others in an "altruistic" basis.
You want to become the next Bill Gates? That is fine, but you stood in our shoulders, so cough up the dosh.
Show us the true way.
... that decpetive prctices are OK as long as nobody is harmed.
Define harm first.
And still you may be unharmed but still you may have been deceived and your trust may have been abused.
They don't try to add the word Engineer to their lame certifications just by chance, they are abusing term that in our societies confers trust and knowledge.
We all know and MCSE is not really an ENgineer, then why should not the law reflect that simple common sense fact?
The above is a troll.
UK TV stations have at least 3 or 4 ladies "embedded" with troops.
US left behind in this respect I guess...
This is News for Nerds, and in spite of some disgusted people, it is stuff that matters.
/.!
We need to ask the kind of questions everybody is asking here to people like this politician.
Infuse the life back in
Here in the UK the metric system is widely used, the Imperial system as well, mainly to keep happy the oldies while they remaing active amongst us younger folk ;-).
A 5.25" floppy disk drive?
The ones that are taxed are manufacurers and importers of hardware and blank media. Failing that any companies selling to the public that fail to check that the former payed the tax.
Regarding public domain, again who is affected is who is trying to profit from it, this means in general companies.
In Mexico the goverment can't force regular Jose or Maria to pay taxes (many people work on underground econonomy and don't pay taxes at all, but they can have by the proverbial hairy short ones the companies which can't make business unless they follow the rules. Of course all these additional costs will be passed to the consumer that will foot the bill.
Those were the days...
I implemented a search algorithm that searched 300000+ registers in ALGOL. To speed up things I indexed the whole thing and to save disk space I compressed using an algorithm I, grasp, learned in the university. Databases? You hippies, mens in those days did not use databases (too expensive, too novel).
It is a pity that the computer stopped working after a mouse found its way in the "dish washers" (big cilynders that used to contain the hard disk plates).
Let me tell you, it was a messy affair.
This is the list of Congress people that will discuss this before voting in the Congress.
What if a project is considered so polished that does not require any maintenance?
As I posted elsewhere the public domain is curtailed only if you want to profit from it.
You want to profit from public domain? OK, then pay back to society.
You don't want to profit? Then do whatever you want with the work.
I think the logic behind this is not completely flawed.
This has more meat than what the paltry email in Mr Lessig's blog implies.
First of all, this is not a hoax.
You can find the text of the proposed ammendment here (paragraph regarding "derecho de autor").
I will not invoke the Fish, you can do that yourselves if you are so inclined, there are several interesting points:
Article 29: Yeah, 100 years. I will begin to pester the right people, not that they will care (or maybe they do, this may pass under their noses and then the leaders of the parties tell them how to vote).
Then later on, the most interesting bits, in synthesis:
Article 40. Copyright holders have the right to be compensated for any copies that are made without their permission for private use and with no intention of profiting from them.
I. Compensation will be paid by manufacturers or importers of any machines that can store, compress, duplicate or reproduce (as in play I guess) the copyrighted works. Same thing for blank media manufacturers and importers.
The big surprise here is that this seems to legitimize your MP3 collection on stacks or burned CDs as long as you made it from sutff you legitimely own. I believe this may be a first worldwide.
Nowhere says how the compensation will be calculated.
II. Any sellers (retailers, wholesale buyers, etc) have to make sure that compensation was paid, otherwise they are obliged to pay the compensation in solidarity with people in point I (second translation: we can't police all of them, so we force retailers to police manufacturers and importers. Maquiavelian).
IV. Money goes to, surprise, the associations representing the copyright holders. 20% should be used for a nebulous item called "cultural activities"...
V. Stuff with copy protection mechanisms does not pay this tax (i.e. DVDs ant their ilk).
To check the public domain situation you have to go to the ammendment to article 152, first of all anybody can use public domain as long as there is no intention to profit from the work, otherwise who is intending to profit form a public domain work should pay a tax that will be divided 50% for the respective association of copyright holders (writers, composers, etc.) and should be devoted to social spending (whatever that is) and to promote the reperotire of their association members (uhm). The other 50% goes to, yes, you guessed it, the goverment.
Nowhere I found that public domain is abolished, it is being restricted if you want to profit from it.
Finally this is going to the Culture comission in the Congress. It may die there, get uglier or get better.
Finally, even if you are not Mexican you can put pressure: just imagine my poor congress critters receiving loads of emails from North Rio Bravo (Grande) and beyond threateaning to boycott any Mexican copyrightable material if the terms that are clearly abusive (like the 100 year term) are not repelled.
The level of education in Mexico is around 7 school years, way above the time you learn to read, although certainly very low.
Mexican read avidily comics, sports newspapers, and tabloid newspapers, not because they are illiterate, but because these publications are very cheap. Serious literature is too expensive for the average Mexican. People is so avid to have access to serious literature that for example filled Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes to attend a poetry recital of Jaime Sabines. Yes, that is poetry, not Rolling Stones or Britney Spears.
Of course even you realize that even illiterate people can enjoy other art forms that may be affected by legislation like this.
Literature, soap operas, Music (Spanish speaking market of course), TV programs, books.
And don't forget all what Miguel de Icaza, of GNOME fame, has produced as well.
Mexico may not be the biggest producer of copyrightable stuff, but it certainly has an important place amongst Spanish speaking countries, of which the US is one of them.
The above post is off-topic. -1 at will please.
... or it seems like Nathalie Portman has been displaced by Gollum as the most talked about cinematic celebrity in /. ?
Disturbing.