I know you will mention the relevance of the title (451 degrees F) but you could note that Data (tapes, floppies, HDs, optical) fails and therefore can be destroyed at a much lower temperature; digital makes obliteration easier.
A second though is the role of firemen pre/post 11SE. The depiction and public perception of the job has changed. They have moved from "save a child/keep my insurance cheap/friendly alternative to scary policeman/drain on my taxes" to what amounts to trench soldiers in the battle against "evildoers".
You could ask if they think the events depicted in the book would be easier, about the same, or harder to implement with this new public perception of the fireman, the now-widespread belief that there are enemies amongst us, etc.
Firemen themselves have always been dedicated, hard-working, and commit to a very dangerous job for the public good. But has our perception of them changed, and if so, how?
Europe has fairly strong privacy laws.
Canada has passed a privacy law (applies to Federal Agencies now, will apply to everyone by (I think) end of 2002).
I am more familiar with the gist of Canada's law, which goes:
Must tell you what they are going to do with the information when they ask for it;
Must get explicit permission from you to do anything other than what they said the first time;
Automatically applies to any information given to a 3rd party or info which crosses a provincial or federal boundary.
A single consumer complaint automatically triggers an investigation;
It is backed by some pretty stiff penalties; huge fines and provisions to jail company directors.
It is a crime to even ASK for a Social Insurance Number (ie Social Security #) unless authorized by legislation (Bank, Gov't Agency, Employer). You can refuse-I know one person who has never given the number out, even on Credit Card Applications, and yes, he gets his cards.
I don't know about Maine, but recently the EU granted Canada's law to be sufficently protective of consumer's rights that Canada & Canadian Firms are "trusted" entities with regard to European Privacy Laws.
... considering it's from McAfee. The guy, his company, and the people who run it now are notorious for inventive, inflammatory attacks on their competitiors; for creating hysteria and inflating virus cost estimates; and buying up rival companies to bury the competing technology forever.
In their defense, the rest of the industry isn't much better.
Try this link, for a start:
http://www.kumite.com/myths/opinion/pamkane.htm
"...As for "he hasn't done any consulting yet", his field is populated by tech-savvy scientists...."
So you would think.
It's probably what I would have assumed as well, had I not visited many of the links at the AppleSeed cluster site. To a suprising degree, there are clusters run by techno-peasants who just happen to be interested in one branch of Science.
It was only a few months ago that Rogers had an ad campaign across Canada (if you're in Toronto, it's cheaper to bombard nationally than advertise locally, even if you're customers are mostly in Ontario) which generated a bit of criticism.
They implied you could d/l live, full screen, full motion MPEG-2 Video from your cablemodem connection, and followed that with a "get connected" blurb.
When confronted, they said that it was a "forward-looking" or "future enhancement" or [insert weasel words here] some other hypothetical situation they were depicting.
The ads were pulled fairly quickly (but not immediatly) and have been replaced by the "$23/mo for 5 months" promotion they now have.
Any bets that $23/mo will be the new bottom-rung cost for hispeed?
All you really need is:
Good Software. Spark ME is free, and will get you going but you will come up against it's limits pretty quickly (does 24/96 though). Expect to spend a few bucks on your digital SW. For budget software needs, go here:
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/
A good (don't even think soundblaster) sound card. I like products from RME but others have mentioned pro-level alternaltives at lower prices.
Good microphones; you can start with just one but you will be buying more as time goes on. A good mic stand can be had fairly cheap, used.
Good cables. The poster who mentioned a Belden catalog and a soldering iron is on the right track. You really don't need to buy cable premade and these skills will save you money for the rest of your life.
You might be able to meet your budget if you're careful.
"... Your Neumanns are over priced. There are lots of mics for under $300 right now that sound just as good as any Neumanns...."
Well, they might be overpriced but I know a few people who would pay twice as much for them, if that's what it took.
I have heard a lot of very good albums made without the benifit of a studio ribbon, but I have also heard CDs essentially remade after a group signs a contract. Compare the (very good) Indy release with Sony Music's release, and you can hear the Neumanns do their magic, believe me.
I have always used mikes from Sennheiser, AKG and Beyer Dynamic as well as a few others.
I agree that the Marshall is a good compromise (and of course every mic is a compromise). In my opinion, the Shure SM-57/58's are pure road gear, though.
Repeat after me:
Pro is pro, and consumer is consumer.
Ignore specs, numbers, "just as good as...", "same as [insert expensive gear] but costs only..."
Pro gear always exceeds it's specs, under all or nearly all conditions. It probably has good, stable power supplies that typically cost more to make than the "just as good as.. " product does all together. Build quality and component selection is done to impress a knowledgable and discerning crowd, not to look like a good deal at Best Buy.
It is usually rugged where it needs to be; but it could be quite fragile if that makes better sound, because it is assumed Pro users know how to treat it.
Some pro gear is made to go into a rack and sit there for it's lifetime, and some gear is made so drunks can load it into a too-small van at 4 AM and it still works the next night 300 miles away. (No attempt to portray roadies/musicians as drunks; I'm sure sober furniture movers and any respectable airline could also serve to test ruggedness). Good road gear and good studio gear are usually not the same, so don't assume you want what a live band uses. Some very famous microphones are popular because Punk Rockers can't break them even though they don't sound all that great, and some sound fantastic but will spontaneosly explode if you look at them funny. But, you need good microphones, and it's an unwritten law that you can't have too many.
There is nothing wrong with Analog; but Digital is the way of the future. Because of this, you may fit your budget and get better sound by picking up used Analog gear.
You will hear a lot if opinions about what to use and whether Analog is junk or Digital is 'da bomb but for the most part Digital is done poorly (it's consumer gear) and the good stuff is very pricy. Get the good stuff if you can afford it (about $500 or so for your sound card, and you're just beginning).
Don't pay too much attention to S/N for your recording media (assuming you are using good stuff, not a cassette deck) because anything better than 60+ db (without noise reduction) is fine, provided you don't play with it much (overdubs, bouncing tracks, etc).
16-bit digital boasts 30+ db better, but the reality is everybody will be playing your music back with gear that doesn't give you more than about 40 db of dyamic range and typically a LOT less, sometimes less than 3db. Very good playback systems sound excellent with material that has a -60 db noise floor, and 90% of your music will be played back on boombox level gear, at best.
Don't buy NEW digital gear that doesn't support 24-bit/96Khz at a minimum. If you can go 24/96+, then you're on your way to overcome the majority of problems Digital had over Analog so there's no need to worry about which format to use. 16-bit Digital wins some, loses some when it comes to sound quality over Pro Analog.
Get some good speakers and some cheap speakers, and mix/master/produce so it sounds good on both. Use Pro speakers or one of the few consumer models pro's use.
I strongly recommend finding/talking to/hanging out with people who have already done this and do it seriously. They made a lot of mistakes and so will you, but you will make far fewer than if you try to do this on your own.
If you're broke, Stereo is the only way to go. You can't afford 5 of everything.
"... Except DVD's. That would be worth money, but they only do that with video cards that few people have...." by anonymous coward
Actually, the screencapture works while playing DVDs as well, it's just not any good to capture the DVD movie, for reasons best asked of the DVD people.
The DVD player runs the movie on top of a black screen; the movie itself is not really on your desktop. You can capture perfectly rendered black screens, though.
I checked the link (it won't work as posted, remove the space at:...supportcost s.hqx if anyone wants to see it, it's a PDF).
I've read that report. It supports my contention. The study refers to the cost of supporting both platforms in a single enterprise and concludes there are no additonal costs over a Windows-only enviornment.
The question really cannot be answered without specific advice from professionals in your jurisdiction, with your circumstances and revenue projections.
In general, there is usually a "ballpark" income level where incorporation starts to become attractive over a proprietorship (an unincorporated business).
But, this is so dependant on your local tax laws, your personal circumstances, and future prospects that a definitive answer really cannot be found in a forum like this.
Do your homework on the 'net, but this is really a question that won't be answered in full in a forum.
You manage about 50 PCs (don't say what OS). That is well within the norm for CPU:Tech Support for Wintel.
You manage about 200 Macs. That also is within the norm for CPU:Tech Support ratios for Apple HW.
I don't see how that contradicts what I said (that the vast majority of IT professionals are employed supporting Wintel hardware and that their careers are jeapordized by a lower-support option).
Thanks for the anecdotal evidence. No, wait. You've never used a Mac cluster. Nevermind.
There are many, many studies of overall maintenance costs of various platforms (Win, Mac, UNIX, etc). I have never seen a single one that does not conclude x86 to cost more than Apple HW. If you know of one, I would be happy to read it.
... is the ease of use. Tech Professionals can't make a living supporting the platform.
Before someone accuses me of saying they never break, always work flawlessly, and the like: They do need support. It's just that the ideal career envoirment is when there is more work than workers. An underwhelmed support staffer soon finds the company wants him to help unload pallets in his spare time.
When all the IT staffers know one platform, what do you think they're going to recommend come upgrade time?
From the article:
"... However, he hasn't done any consulting yet because all of his clients have figured it out for themselves. All they need are a few G4 Macs, some Ethernet cables, a hub and the Pooch software. Getting it up and running is as simple as installing the software and configuring it through a couple of dialog boxes...."
The State of CA has a GNP equivalent to the 7th or 8th largest economy in the world.
If the US were somehow to lose CA it would lose about 40% of GNP.
High-tech nations have higher GNP/GDP because money changes hands. If everyone fixes their own car, GNP suffers. If everyone pays $60/hr to have the car fixed, GNP grows. Imagine a home where gourmet meals are home-cooked "from scratch" every day, vs a home where everybody eats at McDonalds. The McDonalds home has a higher GDP.
But I did read the actual decision provided by another poster (earlier in the thread).
My interpretation could be off (I always seem to read legalese different from real laywers) but...
The Judge defined software, copyright, etc as it applies in Australian Law.
Both parties agreed you could rent DVDs.
Both parties agreed to the study of 2 titles as representative of all video DVDs.
Australian Law prohibits the rental of software.
The Judge spent some time going over the definition of software, and in particular that it is a set of instructions which produces a result.
You must be able to define the result; for example it does not follow that every result is protected by the same license/copyright. An analogy might be "Adobe doesn't own every work created in PhotoShop".
He found that the SW is nothing more than what is encompassed in the DVD-Video specifications, and controls play, stop, etc. He also found that if there is no movie, the sw does nothing (no result). I think this might have been the case-breaker for WB, but I'll leave that to real lawyers. He therefore concluded that it is the movie and not the sw the consumer is intending to rent.
He found that storage of data in memory (what a DVD player does) did not constitute copying of SW because the data is not normally accessable; is briefly stored and constantly replaced over the course of watching the film in real time. He agreed a computer along with additional SW (ie. SW not used to simply view the movie on a computer) could be used to do so but concluded it did not represent the intended use of most consumers when they rent.
They also analized the data and determined how many bits were sw and movie (about 5/95); and concluded the sw component is incidental to the use by consumers.
He considered the many additional features of DVD over VHS but concluded it was merely part of the format. The format allows for all kinds of information to be stored, and they defined DVD-Audio, data, MPEG-2, and others.
Exactly how these things are defined in law is to a large extent pretty unexplored territory; and nobody should assume it won't change even if an attempt to define it has been made.
But, to put a little perspective on things referred to in this discussion...
If, by "Software" you mean "a computer program", I suppose a DVD-Video disk is software. Exactly where "computer program" begins and "useful information" ends is basically undefined in most jursdictions, so far.
If you take the "digital is special" arguement out of it, you come up with a few conclusions:
A movie is information encoded in a retreivable storage form. So's a book, so's a photograph, so's a sound recording.
To stick with the Movie analogy; a movie is not actors, dialog and a stage; it is information about these things. It is essentially irrelevant what medium is used to store the information. 70mm film, videotape, DVD-Video disk; all the same, whether digital or analog.
Now, if you think all things digital automatically encompass a magical transformation to something MORE than information about other information, you might, like WB, try to change the way the courts view it and probably to increase or change your revenue model. If you think it just a damn movie, obviously this approach won't work.
Clearly the Australian Court decided it was just a damn movie.
You are correct about DVD; commercial movie releases are DVD-Video format.
Knowing lawyers, it's practially certain that this ruling specified the format it applies to, or included a legalese description of a movie on digital media, or both.
Part of the problem is terminology used in the issue. The Government of Canada refers to a "flag symbol" which is NOT simply the flag alone.
The site refers simply to the "flag", but they really mean "flag symbol".
The site had an imitation of Health Canada's official, trademarked logo, in the form of:
Canada flag image/Health Canada (english, french in the modified Garramond font).
The font is also copy-protected, by the way; printers who have it to create GC documents cannot use it for any other purpose (it's convered by a SW license).
The Canadian Flag (the one at hockey games, for example) is fine. Throw it all over the website if you want.
The Government of Canada LOGOS are trademarks, like the McDonalds arches or any number of stylized symbols. MLB (American League) and the NFL also have "stars & stripes" logos, all protected. If some readers are confused, see the links:
Canada's flag (ok to use):
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/flag/images/canadafl ag big.jpg
Trademarked Government Logo, examples:
http://canada.gc.ca/
The GC site has two examples of the trademarked logos:
1) Flag and text, in Canada's official font. The flag alone is fine, don't imitate the flag and text/font.
2)Canada logo with small flag above last "a". Again, the flag component is fine, but don't imitate the trademark.
Of course, you're right.
But, it's a lot of hassle to do a full, clean install; requires some knowledge and overall computer savvy to aquire and run a working bootleg; and with Windows at least there are viruses and other pitfalls to this approach.
Some people will go through these steps, but a lot won't.
How about if I add "lazy"?
The obvious problem is bandwidth, etc. Canada's servers are up to the task, but they're pretty sluggish the last week before deadline, and it's just a secure ftp site.
Can you imagine all those who wait till the last hour of the last day trying to connect at the same time to fill out a huge webform (that also does math with the entries)?
Another reason why web-based forms were rejected as a solution in Canada is the SW performs a bunch of verification functions; there's a couple of pages of data that accompanies SW returns that basically minimizes (or flags, which is worse from a taxpayer's perspective) cheating, fudging, etc. Without those pages, they'll reject your SW return even if you mail it in.
Finally, some returns are not eligible; they want the paper and the docs.
Slashdot Mirror
I know you will mention the relevance of the title (451 degrees F) but you could note that Data (tapes, floppies, HDs, optical) fails and therefore can be destroyed at a much lower temperature; digital makes obliteration easier.
A second though is the role of firemen pre/post 11SE. The depiction and public perception of the job has changed. They have moved from "save a child/keep my insurance cheap/friendly alternative to scary policeman/drain on my taxes" to what amounts to trench soldiers in the battle against "evildoers".
You could ask if they think the events depicted in the book would be easier, about the same, or harder to implement with this new public perception of the fireman, the now-widespread belief that there are enemies amongst us, etc.
Firemen themselves have always been dedicated, hard-working, and commit to a very dangerous job for the public good. But has our perception of them changed, and if so, how?
Here's a link which provides quick info regarding Canada's law:
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/faq/faq_01_e.asp#006
After reading it, it seems Private Companies will have to comply in 2004 (not 2002 as I guessed earlier).
Europe has fairly strong privacy laws.
Canada has passed a privacy law (applies to Federal Agencies now, will apply to everyone by (I think) end of 2002).
I am more familiar with the gist of Canada's law, which goes:
Must tell you what they are going to do with the information when they ask for it;
Must get explicit permission from you to do anything other than what they said the first time;
Automatically applies to any information given to a 3rd party or info which crosses a provincial or federal boundary.
A single consumer complaint automatically triggers an investigation;
It is backed by some pretty stiff penalties; huge fines and provisions to jail company directors.
It is a crime to even ASK for a Social Insurance Number (ie Social Security #) unless authorized by legislation (Bank, Gov't Agency, Employer). You can refuse-I know one person who has never given the number out, even on Credit Card Applications, and yes, he gets his cards.
I don't know about Maine, but recently the EU granted Canada's law to be sufficently protective of consumer's rights that Canada & Canadian Firms are "trusted" entities with regard to European Privacy Laws.
... considering it's from McAfee. The guy, his company, and the people who run it now are notorious for inventive, inflammatory attacks on their competitiors; for creating hysteria and inflating virus cost estimates; and buying up rival companies to bury the competing technology forever.
In their defense, the rest of the industry isn't much better.
Try this link, for a start:
http://www.kumite.com/myths/opinion/pamkane.htm
"...As for "he hasn't done any consulting yet", his field is populated by tech-savvy scientists. ..."
So you would think.
It's probably what I would have assumed as well, had I not visited many of the links at the AppleSeed cluster site. To a suprising degree, there are clusters run by techno-peasants who just happen to be interested in one branch of Science.
" ... as high as $80 a month ..."
CAD $80 = USD $52
I can see a lot of US cable/DSL subscribers wondering what the fuss is about.
It was only a few months ago that Rogers had an ad campaign across Canada (if you're in Toronto, it's cheaper to bombard nationally than advertise locally, even if you're customers are mostly in Ontario) which generated a bit of criticism.
They implied you could d/l live, full screen, full motion MPEG-2 Video from your cablemodem connection, and followed that with a "get connected" blurb.
When confronted, they said that it was a "forward-looking" or "future enhancement" or [insert weasel words here] some other hypothetical situation they were depicting.
The ads were pulled fairly quickly (but not immediatly) and have been replaced by the "$23/mo for 5 months" promotion they now have.
Any bets that $23/mo will be the new bottom-rung cost for hispeed?
All you really need is:
Good Software. Spark ME is free, and will get you going but you will come up against it's limits pretty quickly (does 24/96 though). Expect to spend a few bucks on your digital SW. For budget software needs, go here:
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/
A good (don't even think soundblaster) sound card. I like products from RME but others have mentioned pro-level alternaltives at lower prices.
Good microphones; you can start with just one but you will be buying more as time goes on. A good mic stand can be had fairly cheap, used.
Good cables. The poster who mentioned a Belden catalog and a soldering iron is on the right track. You really don't need to buy cable premade and these skills will save you money for the rest of your life.
You might be able to meet your budget if you're careful.
"... Your Neumanns are over priced. There are lots of mics for under $300 right now that sound just as good as any Neumanns. ..."
Well, they might be overpriced but I know a few people who would pay twice as much for them, if that's what it took.
I have heard a lot of very good albums made without the benifit of a studio ribbon, but I have also heard CDs essentially remade after a group signs a contract. Compare the (very good) Indy release with Sony Music's release, and you can hear the Neumanns do their magic, believe me.
I have always used mikes from Sennheiser, AKG and Beyer Dynamic as well as a few others.
I agree that the Marshall is a good compromise (and of course every mic is a compromise). In my opinion, the Shure SM-57/58's are pure road gear, though.
Repeat after me:
Pro is pro, and consumer is consumer.
Ignore specs, numbers, "just as good as...", "same as [insert expensive gear] but costs only..."
Pro gear always exceeds it's specs, under all or nearly all conditions. It probably has good, stable power supplies that typically cost more to make than the "just as good as.. " product does all together. Build quality and component selection is done to impress a knowledgable and discerning crowd, not to look like a good deal at Best Buy.
It is usually rugged where it needs to be; but it could be quite fragile if that makes better sound, because it is assumed Pro users know how to treat it.
Some pro gear is made to go into a rack and sit there for it's lifetime, and some gear is made so drunks can load it into a too-small van at 4 AM and it still works the next night 300 miles away. (No attempt to portray roadies/musicians as drunks; I'm sure sober furniture movers and any respectable airline could also serve to test ruggedness). Good road gear and good studio gear are usually not the same, so don't assume you want what a live band uses. Some very famous microphones are popular because Punk Rockers can't break them even though they don't sound all that great, and some sound fantastic but will spontaneosly explode if you look at them funny. But, you need good microphones, and it's an unwritten law that you can't have too many.
There is nothing wrong with Analog; but Digital is the way of the future. Because of this, you may fit your budget and get better sound by picking up used Analog gear.
You will hear a lot if opinions about what to use and whether Analog is junk or Digital is 'da bomb but for the most part Digital is done poorly (it's consumer gear) and the good stuff is very pricy. Get the good stuff if you can afford it (about $500 or so for your sound card, and you're just beginning).
Don't pay too much attention to S/N for your recording media (assuming you are using good stuff, not a cassette deck) because anything better than 60+ db (without noise reduction) is fine, provided you don't play with it much (overdubs, bouncing tracks, etc).
16-bit digital boasts 30+ db better, but the reality is everybody will be playing your music back with gear that doesn't give you more than about 40 db of dyamic range and typically a LOT less, sometimes less than 3db. Very good playback systems sound excellent with material that has a -60 db noise floor, and 90% of your music will be played back on boombox level gear, at best.
Don't buy NEW digital gear that doesn't support 24-bit/96Khz at a minimum. If you can go 24/96+, then you're on your way to overcome the majority of problems Digital had over Analog so there's no need to worry about which format to use. 16-bit Digital wins some, loses some when it comes to sound quality over Pro Analog.
Get some good speakers and some cheap speakers, and mix/master/produce so it sounds good on both. Use Pro speakers or one of the few consumer models pro's use.
I strongly recommend finding/talking to/hanging out with people who have already done this and do it seriously. They made a lot of mistakes and so will you, but you will make far fewer than if you try to do this on your own.
If you're broke, Stereo is the only way to go. You can't afford 5 of everything.
"... Except DVD's. That would be worth money, but they only do that with video cards that few people have. ..." by anonymous coward
Actually, the screencapture works while playing DVDs as well, it's just not any good to capture the DVD movie, for reasons best asked of the DVD people.
The DVD player runs the movie on top of a black screen; the movie itself is not really on your desktop. You can capture perfectly rendered black screens, though.
Ummm...
If you have a Mac it's probably running a MacOS.
Command-Shift-3: Full screen capture
Command-Shift-4: Selectable screen capture
That's what GCS does... perhaps the question should be why you need a 3rd party app in the first place.
Snaps pro creates movies of everything you do onscreen.
I checked the link (it won't work as posted, remove the space at: ...supportcost s.hqx if anyone wants to see it, it's a PDF).
I've read that report. It supports my contention. The study refers to the cost of supporting both platforms in a single enterprise and concludes there are no additonal costs over a Windows-only enviornment.
The question really cannot be answered without specific advice from professionals in your jurisdiction, with your circumstances and revenue projections.
In general, there is usually a "ballpark" income level where incorporation starts to become attractive over a proprietorship (an unincorporated business).
But, this is so dependant on your local tax laws, your personal circumstances, and future prospects that a definitive answer really cannot be found in a forum like this.
Do your homework on the 'net, but this is really a question that won't be answered in full in a forum.
I'm a little confused by your reply.
You manage about 50 PCs (don't say what OS). That is well within the norm for CPU:Tech Support for Wintel.
You manage about 200 Macs. That also is within the norm for CPU:Tech Support ratios for Apple HW.
I don't see how that contradicts what I said (that the vast majority of IT professionals are employed supporting Wintel hardware and that their careers are jeapordized by a lower-support option).
" ... Maintenance costs are much, much lower ..."
Thanks for the anecdotal evidence. No, wait. You've never used a Mac cluster. Nevermind.
There are many, many studies of overall maintenance costs of various platforms (Win, Mac, UNIX, etc). I have never seen a single one that does not conclude x86 to cost more than Apple HW. If you know of one, I would be happy to read it.
... is the ease of use. Tech Professionals can't make a living supporting the platform.
... However, he hasn't done any consulting yet because all of his clients have figured it out for themselves. All they need are a few G4 Macs, some Ethernet cables, a hub and the Pooch software. Getting it up and running is as simple as installing the software and configuring it through a couple of dialog boxes. ..."
Before someone accuses me of saying they never break, always work flawlessly, and the like: They do need support. It's just that the ideal career envoirment is when there is more work than workers. An underwhelmed support staffer soon finds the company wants him to help unload pallets in his spare time.
When all the IT staffers know one platform, what do you think they're going to recommend come upgrade time?
From the article:
"
The State of CA has a GNP equivalent to the 7th or 8th largest economy in the world.
If the US were somehow to lose CA it would lose about 40% of GNP.
High-tech nations have higher GNP/GDP because money changes hands. If everyone fixes their own car, GNP suffers. If everyone pays $60/hr to have the car fixed, GNP grows. Imagine a home where gourmet meals are home-cooked "from scratch" every day, vs a home where everybody eats at McDonalds. The McDonalds home has a higher GDP.
But I did read the actual decision provided by another poster (earlier in the thread).
My interpretation could be off (I always seem to read legalese different from real laywers) but...
The Judge defined software, copyright, etc as it applies in Australian Law.
Both parties agreed you could rent DVDs.
Both parties agreed to the study of 2 titles as representative of all video DVDs.
Australian Law prohibits the rental of software.
The Judge spent some time going over the definition of software, and in particular that it is a set of instructions which produces a result.
You must be able to define the result; for example it does not follow that every result is protected by the same license/copyright. An analogy might be "Adobe doesn't own every work created in PhotoShop".
He found that the SW is nothing more than what is encompassed in the DVD-Video specifications, and controls play, stop, etc. He also found that if there is no movie, the sw does nothing (no result). I think this might have been the case-breaker for WB, but I'll leave that to real lawyers. He therefore concluded that it is the movie and not the sw the consumer is intending to rent.
He found that storage of data in memory (what a DVD player does) did not constitute copying of SW because the data is not normally accessable; is briefly stored and constantly replaced over the course of watching the film in real time. He agreed a computer along with additional SW (ie. SW not used to simply view the movie on a computer) could be used to do so but concluded it did not represent the intended use of most consumers when they rent.
They also analized the data and determined how many bits were sw and movie (about 5/95); and concluded the sw component is incidental to the use by consumers.
He considered the many additional features of DVD over VHS but concluded it was merely part of the format. The format allows for all kinds of information to be stored, and they defined DVD-Audio, data, MPEG-2, and others.
Exactly how these things are defined in law is to a large extent pretty unexplored territory; and nobody should assume it won't change even if an attempt to define it has been made.
But, to put a little perspective on things referred to in this discussion...
If, by "Software" you mean "a computer program", I suppose a DVD-Video disk is software. Exactly where "computer program" begins and "useful information" ends is basically undefined in most jursdictions, so far.
If you take the "digital is special" arguement out of it, you come up with a few conclusions:
A movie is information encoded in a retreivable storage form. So's a book, so's a photograph, so's a sound recording.
To stick with the Movie analogy; a movie is not actors, dialog and a stage; it is information about these things. It is essentially irrelevant what medium is used to store the information. 70mm film, videotape, DVD-Video disk; all the same, whether digital or analog.
Now, if you think all things digital automatically encompass a magical transformation to something MORE than information about other information, you might, like WB, try to change the way the courts view it and probably to increase or change your revenue model. If you think it just a damn movie, obviously this approach won't work.
Clearly the Australian Court decided it was just a damn movie.
You are correct about DVD; commercial movie releases are DVD-Video format.
Knowing lawyers, it's practially certain that this ruling specified the format it applies to, or included a legalese description of a movie on digital media, or both.
Part of the problem is terminology used in the issue. The Government of Canada refers to a "flag symbol" which is NOT simply the flag alone.
The site refers simply to the "flag", but they really mean "flag symbol".
The site had an imitation of Health Canada's official, trademarked logo, in the form of:
Canada flag image/Health Canada (english, french in the modified Garramond font).
The font is also copy-protected, by the way; printers who have it to create GC documents cannot use it for any other purpose (it's convered by a SW license).
The Canadian Flag (the one at hockey games, for example) is fine. Throw it all over the website if you want.
l ag big.jpg
The Government of Canada LOGOS are trademarks, like the McDonalds arches or any number of stylized symbols. MLB (American League) and the NFL also have "stars & stripes" logos, all protected. If some readers are confused, see the links:
Canada's flag (ok to use):
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/flag/images/canadaf
Trademarked Government Logo, examples:
http://canada.gc.ca/
The GC site has two examples of the trademarked logos:
1) Flag and text, in Canada's official font. The flag alone is fine, don't imitate the flag and text/font.
2)Canada logo with small flag above last "a". Again, the flag component is fine, but don't imitate the trademark.
Of course, you're right.
But, it's a lot of hassle to do a full, clean install; requires some knowledge and overall computer savvy to aquire and run a working bootleg; and with Windows at least there are viruses and other pitfalls to this approach.
Some people will go through these steps, but a lot won't.
How about if I add "lazy"?
The obvious problem is bandwidth, etc. Canada's servers are up to the task, but they're pretty sluggish the last week before deadline, and it's just a secure ftp site.
Can you imagine all those who wait till the last hour of the last day trying to connect at the same time to fill out a huge webform (that also does math with the entries)?
Another reason why web-based forms were rejected as a solution in Canada is the SW performs a bunch of verification functions; there's a couple of pages of data that accompanies SW returns that basically minimizes (or flags, which is worse from a taxpayer's perspective) cheating, fudging, etc. Without those pages, they'll reject your SW return even if you mail it in.
Finally, some returns are not eligible; they want the paper and the docs.