What if you use the old forms, and send them in via email? I *HATE* their web interface (it really is bad).... So I've saved my old email "forms" and modify them and email them in. I have made changes as recently as last week with forms that are four years old, without difficulty. They appear to have done a good job with their backward compatibility in the forms.
I have 18 domains registered with network solutions, and I have yet to have a problem. Get them on the phone and scream if you have a problem. Maybe that would work? Good luck.
Does anyone know if this has any built in copy protection?
I for one am saving all of my old stereo equipment, computers, hard drives, etc., because someday I just know that they're going to sneak copy-protection into the hardware, and we won't find out that it's there for a few years... and then, we would have thrown away all our old hardware and we'll be stuck.
This thing sounds neat, but I wouldn't want to buy it only to find that I couldn't use it for certain songs because the unit thinks that I'm violating a copyright - when, in fact, I'm actually doing things that are allowed under fair use....
I wonder if they use that internet connection to tell the record companies which songs I have stored, or which songs I've burned onto CD, or how many times I've done it, etc.
I'm sure I'm just being paranoid, but I'm sure they're going to stick it to us sooner or later.
... so what about a bit of JET A and a little jet motor? You use the pop bottle for the fuel.
Where does it say you can use water? Oh, anything goes. So, if the Jet A idea doesn't pass, what about using good old coca-cola instead of water? That should give it an extra kick (without exceeding the pressure limits, you should get a bit of extra pressure over time once the soda starts bouncing around... Pump it up to, oh, 60 psi. Let it rip. The CO2 released from the soda as the car bounces around should keep the pressure up there for longer than just air and water alone....)
If you're developing Windows apps in VC++ or VB, then I can't see how a SOE is acceptable. If, on the other hand, you're developing web apps, or if you're developing embedded systems apps, which will run on other machines, then a SOE is annoying but I can see that it could be desirable from management's or IT's point of view.
It also depends on your coworkers. If they continually download and run viruses, if they continually screw up their machines and depend on IT to bail them out, if they continually download and/or install unlicensed software - then YES, an SOE is obligatory.
Just because YOU know how to reinstall everything if you screw up; Just because YOU won't install any unlicensed software, doesn't mean that your coworkers aren't going to. And yes, your employer has the right to say that you can't install any unlicensed software on your machine. It's their butt, not yours, in the unlikely event that it is caught.
Also, if you and or your coworkers are spending most of their time playing around, reconfiguring, installing software, or reinstalling the whole system - then it SHOULD be locked down. Developers are, in general, highly paid employees, and a day or two spent reinstalling all of the software, just two or three times a year, times 10 developers... you start talking real money real fast. Not to mention the time spent figuring out why f*ing Windows is blue screening again (because you just HAD to have the latest sound-blaster driver to listen to your MP3's while at work)...
Lastly, I suppose that if your software is specifically NOT supposed to write configuration to the registry, then it really shouldn't matter if it's locked down.
Paraphrasing: "Cruise at 350 mph from point A to point B" "No speed limits" "No tickets". Totally incorrect.
The speed limit under 10,000 feet is 250 kias (knots indicated airspeed). So there IS a speed limit. Near any major airport, the speed limit is 200 kias. If the FAA catches you breaking any FARs (aviation rules) you WILL get fined, and you CAN lose your (pilots) license.
To drive these under present law, you'll need a private pilot certificate. That'll take quite some time, energy, and money; but thank god it will get rid of most of the people who think this is a good idea.
These vehicles won't help you get to your job in the city, as most cities are under "Class B" airspace (that is, you need clearance to enter), and if the controllers get too busy they won't let all of these new-age commuter pilots in.
Oh, and weather: Don't expect to drive these things in the rain, clouds, fog, snow storm, etc. You'll need a LOT more training for an instrument rating on your pilot's certificate, and then you'll need clearances to take off and go to your destination. Have you ever sat in a 757 at the gate when the the captian says he's waiting for the takeoff clearance? If these things ever became popular, you'd be sitting in your driveway for hours waiting for your clearance in IMC (bad weather).
(Don't click on the links, they're just illustrative)
Obviously someone (one of the "electronic wallet" web sites) would have to work with the content providers. Ideally, the wallet services would work with one another, so that if you have an account with any one of several wallet services you won't have to choose which one and/or setup an account with 40 different services. If you don't think that competitive wallet services would agree to this, look at Mastercard or Visa. How many banks issue Mastercards? How many of them are competitors?
The downsides - not everyone would donate. Actually, it would probably be a small fraction of the users who would donate. But any additional income helps, right? Also, would it be appropriate for a forum such as slashdot to do this? At the macro level - "Do you find slashdot useful?" is probably ok, but not at the article level. While the people running slashdot obviously invest a lot of time and money, and pick which articles to post, they don't develop the majority of the actual content.
This is similar, IMHO, to those of you who say, in reference to mp3s - "I wouldn't mind giving money to the artist, but I don't want to buy a CD for 20 bucks when I only want one song."
Would the content providers make more money than they currently do? I don't know. [RE: Music] Would the artists? Probably.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person may
operate, nor may any operator or pilot in command of an aircraft allow the
operation of, any portable electronic device on any U.S.-registered civil
aircraft operating under this part.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to--
(1) Portable voice recorders;
(2) Hearing aids;
(3) Heart pacemakers;
(4) Electric shavers; or
(5) Any other portable electronic device that the Part 125 certificate
holder has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or
communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used.
(c) The determination required by paragraph (b)(5) of this section shall be
made by that Part 125 certificate holder operating the particular device to
be used.
At first glance, it appears that they forgot something: manual controls. Controlling the thing over the internet is cool , but what happens when the phone lines go down? Can you turn the thing off (or on?)....
Or, worse yet: you pay a fortune for the thing and then "myappliance.com" goes out of business (like Divx) - Now you can't use it. Or, to stay in business, they charge a fee on top of the unit cost. I can see it now: Pay $1000 for the unit, and then $20/month to turn it on or off.
"In other news, officials in California have announced that they are considering legislation allowing power companies to remotely turn off the new 'myapplicance.com' air conditioners via the Internet in an attempt to avert more rolling blackouts."
I live just outside of Boston and have 7.1Mbps downstream and 640k upstream DSL service at home.
I also wanted multiple static IP's (regular routed IP - none of this PPPOE crap).
The price tag??? Just over $300.00 a month!!!
As far as the speed is concerned, I will admit that I can literally throw rocks at the CO, and most people around Boston can't get 7.1Mbps. I could, however, get 1.5Mbs in Back Bay (part of Boston), and I was paying about $100.00.
I suspect that the reason for the "artificial" (if they are indeed artificial) bandwidth restrictions in the US might be that the phone companies don't want everyone with T1's to switch to DSL. (This could also explain the pricing). I have two T1 lines into my office from different providers, which are costing me over $4000.00/month (total). If the phone companies around here offered real fast DSL (both up and downstream) for a decent price, everyone (myself included) would immediately switch. The phone companies don't want to throw away that cash!
IMHO.... Moderation really isn't fascism... not having some form of moderation could be considered anarchy.
Taking input from the original post, it seems that maybe we should take a look at what happens outside the net to determine what kind of moderation system would work best to keep the net a democracy.
For example, take a look at a business or tech convention. I would consider this to be "average" moderation.
In order to get a real "space", you have to be relevant - you have to be selling a product or service or have a viewpoint relevant to the topic at hand. You may also be screened to verify your product's or service's relevance; You may not be allowed space if all of the space is taken. You may have to pay to get the real "space" (a booth). When walking around the convention, you may run into people that don't have a real "space", and you can have meaningful discussions with them about irrelevant topics; you may see a booth that's crowded and you decide to stay to find out what the fuss is all about; or you could walk by an empty booth which has something you personally find cool or interesting in which no one else is interested.
To apply this analogy to/. (just as an example): Some of this already exists, some of it doesn't. You can't just post a new story to/. You must submit your story, and if it "deserves" to be posted it will be. This is the first level of moderation and it's similar to getting a "booth". Now the analogy "falls apart", and could be analyzed much differently than what I'm about to say. Since the original article is a one-time show, the crowd breaks up to discuss it. Some people just walk around and listen to various discussions, some start saying their points of view. Some of the audience will in and of themselves attract a crowd, some will be ignored. As a member of the audience, you are free to hear the viewpoints of all - regardless of whether or not the viewpoint is relevant. You might choose to walk over to the big-crowd, where there's a heated, on-topic debate. This democracy could be applied to/. in a variety of ways... Maybe EVERYBODY should get a few points per story (the points could be considered equivalent to time at a convention), and you can apply your points to any post or posts you want. The posts with the highest score could be filtered just as they are now on/. You might choose, while browsing at a convention, to listen to the big crowd, or you might choose to listen to someone who is off-topic. You might be able to bring some other people into the off-topic discussion if you "applied your points" because you thought it was worth it... I could continue to analyze this analogy but in the interest of time (mine) I'll end it there.
Another real world democratic system to analyze would be a city square. I would consider this to be "little" moderation.
Anyone can get in and get space, for free, without moderation, but you can't set up a big booth (but you might have a megaphone and a soap box). Your discussion doesn't have to be relevant to anything. It DOES have to be legal - the cops will throw you out if it isn't, or if you're too obnoxious (this is the first level of moderation), but if you're basically law-abiding, and the space isn't already full, you can have your first amendment rights to free speech. Again, you'll attract a crowd if people are interested; and while walking through a city square you might see a crowd and want to know what all the fuss is about.... Or, you might walk past a beggar ignoring them - it's up to you. I won't try to apply this to an online environment, but again it could be related to/. or any other online community.
One last real world example I'd like to mention is the radio talk show. I would consider this to be "extreme" moderation.
First, the talk show topic is chosen by the producers of the radio station. Secondly, (at least for most radio talk shows) all callers are pre-screened for relevance. Yes, a caller can get in by claiming they are relevant, and then go wildly off-topic, but then they are frequently disconnected by the host. As far as a listener: Although you could look up what's happening at a given time on a given station, or you may know because of advertising or a regular schedule, may listeners simply stumble upon a discussion randomly, and listen if they like it. The producers try to keep some consistent format so that they attract a specific listenership - this is the only real democratic part of the process. If no one listens, the radio station won't exist (for long).
I will leave it up to you to consider where you think/. falls - or where any other forum on the internet falls.
Are these "real world" scenarios fascism?
Are these "real world" scenarios democratic?
Anarchy?
I have found prior art on this concept: Carl Segan used this concept in Contact (the book)....
If my memory serves me correctly the idea was that at some point in PI a two-dimensional grid laying out a circle was found..... Something to the effect of:
At any rate, since you can find some mathematical function to encode anything into an individual number, I don't see how this really changes anything. The number itself is obviously not protected information, but saying "if you convert this number to hex and then unzip it, it will give you something which is considered copyrighted, proprietary, trade secret, patented, or otherwise protected information" IS violating the protections.
Look at a.mp3 file..... what is it? It's a bunch of data which doesn't mean anything. But, with the right algorithm, you can get an audio stream out of it. Give me an.mp3 file and I will write an algorithm (for that particular.mp3 file) which gives you the beginning of Shakespeare's Macbeth. I could just as easily write a program that takes a css'd copy of Titanic and "unencrypt" it into The Right Stuff.
I don't know exactly how the DMCA is worded, but regardless these issues will eventually get sorted out.... I suspect that in THIS case, the algorithm "A" that takes the prime and converts it into an algorithm "B" which is an implementation of decss would be protected by DMCA just as "B" is.
... shouldn't the French government be fining the ISPs in France which deliver this content to the French citizens? I understand that they don't want anyone to even link to these sites (does this sound like the RIAA and decss?) but France COULD proactively do something about this...
Why don't they force their ISPs to block the IP addresses of servers which contain "offensive" material? Whenever anyone finds anything, they could simply tell the gov't, which could keep a list of censored IP addresses. The ISPs could use this "centralized" list of offensive IP addresses and not allow traffic from them. "BUT...", I hear you cry, there are thousands of ways to use proxies to get at the material.... So what? If France finds 'em, block the proxies too...
If you can call out of France to a POP in some other country, France *could* block those phone numbers... And, yes, I know there are "phone" proxies too... Block them (and see the revolt from the French who use the proxies every day for cheap France -> US phone calls).
This, IMHO, will become the only real way to censor the 'net whilst allowing free speech. You CAN'T know where your viewer is (because of proxies). You CAN know where the traffic is coming from (and, if somehow it comes "anonymously" (proxies) or "spoofed", you block it.)
The French could take proactive steps to remedy this problem. They won't be able to stop people from publishing offensive or illegal web pages, but, as they find the holes, they can patch them.
(So what if it's expensive - so what if it ruins their economy because no one can call into or out of France anymore and there is a Frenchnet and an entirely separate Internet? - it's their problem. And, if there are Frenchmen or women reading this - yes, it's your problem. If you don't like it change your government, but you can't tell the rest of the world what to do.)
Before you all cry "censorship" at ME... I'm all for free speech. I personally believe that anyone should be able to publish anything they want. If you publish something that is illegal in the country in which you publish it, you'll be shut down. I have no problem with that either. If the French don't want certain material to reach their citizens, I think this is really the only way to do it. I don't approve, but I'm just saying it is the French government's job, NOT Yahoo's.
At any rate, the "Internet" will not bow to France's demands... I don't think we have anything to fear.
Oh, darn.... I just know someone is going to reply "What about accessing the Internet via satellite?"
I see all of these posts out here saying "talk to a lawyer"... Yes, you should talk to a lawyer and show him/her your employment contract, Non compete, NDA... You should have talked to a lawyer a while ago! Now is a bit late.
A few other points though:
When you're developing a program, unless it's just for kicks and you're going to GPL it or otherwise release it to the public domain, you should print a copy every now and then and bring it to a notary... Then no one can say "he stole my code" or "he stole my idea". Yeah, I've heard "mail it to yourself and don't open it"... Exactly how hard is this to fake? Do you think that your package will stand up in court? I don't know but I wouldn't chance it. You could instead use an escrow agent to hold your printout for you... or, you can use one of several software source code escrow companies that hold onto your CD with source simply for the purpose of proving IP rights. If you're writing this code to sell the program later, the minimal cost to protect yourself is well worth it. It also forces you to do off-site backups (something I have noticed that many programmers (myself included) don't really like to do on a regular basis)
Another thing: Can you honestly say that you did NOT work on this project on company time? You didn't think about it - at all - in the office? You didn't do ANY research about your project in the office? You didn't get the idea because of some other project or other client of your employer who needed something similar? Even without the employment contract or other agreement, if you end up in court your employer could probably prove that the idea isn't original and/or that you worked on it on their time and/or you used some of their IP...
Go talk to a lawyer. I suspect you're already screwed, but who knows? Do NOT call in sick or take a vacation and finish the project. Do NOT quit your job and go finish the project. Do not do anything which would seem underhanded or dishonest... taking time off or quitting now to sell the product to your employer and/or their customers would NOT ring true to your employer, and the idea isn't to win a lawsuit but rather to AVOID the lawsuit in the first place!
Slashdot Mirror
What if you use the old forms, and send them in via email? I *HATE* their web interface (it really is bad).... So I've saved my old email "forms" and modify them and email them in. I have made changes as recently as last week with forms that are four years old, without difficulty. They appear to have done a good job with their backward compatibility in the forms.
I have 18 domains registered with network solutions, and I have yet to have a problem. Get them on the phone and scream if you have a problem. Maybe that would work? Good luck.
Does anyone know if this has any built in copy protection?
I for one am saving all of my old stereo equipment, computers, hard drives, etc., because someday I just know that they're going to sneak copy-protection into the hardware, and we won't find out that it's there for a few years... and then, we would have thrown away all our old hardware and we'll be stuck.
This thing sounds neat, but I wouldn't want to buy it only to find that I couldn't use it for certain songs because the unit thinks that I'm violating a copyright - when, in fact, I'm actually doing things that are allowed under fair use....
I wonder if they use that internet connection to tell the record companies which songs I have stored, or which songs I've burned onto CD, or how many times I've done it, etc.
I'm sure I'm just being paranoid, but I'm sure they're going to stick it to us sooner or later.
... so what about a bit of JET A and a little jet motor? You use the pop bottle for the fuel.
Where does it say you can use water? Oh, anything goes. So, if the Jet A idea doesn't pass, what about using good old coca-cola instead of water? That should give it an extra kick (without exceeding the pressure limits, you should get a bit of extra pressure over time once the soda starts bouncing around... Pump it up to, oh, 60 psi. Let it rip. The CO2 released from the soda as the car bounces around should keep the pressure up there for longer than just air and water alone....)
Nevermind.
There is no correct answer to this question.
If you're developing Windows apps in VC++ or VB, then I can't see how a SOE is acceptable. If, on the other hand, you're developing web apps, or if you're developing embedded systems apps, which will run on other machines, then a SOE is annoying but I can see that it could be desirable from management's or IT's point of view.
It also depends on your coworkers. If they continually download and run viruses, if they continually screw up their machines and depend on IT to bail them out, if they continually download and/or install unlicensed software - then YES, an SOE is obligatory.
Just because YOU know how to reinstall everything if you screw up; Just because YOU won't install any unlicensed software, doesn't mean that your coworkers aren't going to. And yes, your employer has the right to say that you can't install any unlicensed software on your machine. It's their butt, not yours, in the unlikely event that it is caught.
Also, if you and or your coworkers are spending most of their time playing around, reconfiguring, installing software, or reinstalling the whole system - then it SHOULD be locked down. Developers are, in general, highly paid employees, and a day or two spent reinstalling all of the software, just two or three times a year, times 10 developers... you start talking real money real fast. Not to mention the time spent figuring out why f*ing Windows is blue screening again (because you just HAD to have the latest sound-blaster driver to listen to your MP3's while at work)...
Lastly, I suppose that if your software is specifically NOT supposed to write configuration to the registry, then it really shouldn't matter if it's locked down.
Paraphrasing: "Cruise at 350 mph from point A to point B" "No speed limits" "No tickets". Totally incorrect.
The speed limit under 10,000 feet is 250 kias (knots indicated airspeed). So there IS a speed limit. Near any major airport, the speed limit is 200 kias. If the FAA catches you breaking any FARs (aviation rules) you WILL get fined, and you CAN lose your (pilots) license.
To drive these under present law, you'll need a private pilot certificate. That'll take quite some time, energy, and money; but thank god it will get rid of most of the people who think this is a good idea.
These vehicles won't help you get to your job in the city, as most cities are under "Class B" airspace (that is, you need clearance to enter), and if the controllers get too busy they won't let all of these new-age commuter pilots in.
Oh, and weather: Don't expect to drive these things in the rain, clouds, fog, snow storm, etc. You'll need a LOT more training for an instrument rating on your pilot's certificate, and then you'll need clearances to take off and go to your destination. Have you ever sat in a 757 at the gate when the the captian says he's waiting for the takeoff clearance? If these things ever became popular, you'd be sitting in your driveway for hours waiting for your clearance in IMC (bad weather).
I'll stop ranting now.
How about a sidebar...
Did you find this information useful?
Donate $1
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
(Don't click on the links, they're just illustrative)
Obviously someone (one of the "electronic wallet" web sites) would have to work with the content providers. Ideally, the wallet services would work with one another, so that if you have an account with any one of several wallet services you won't have to choose which one and/or setup an account with 40 different services. If you don't think that competitive wallet services would agree to this, look at Mastercard or Visa. How many banks issue Mastercards? How many of them are competitors?
The downsides - not everyone would donate. Actually, it would probably be a small fraction of the users who would donate. But any additional income helps, right? Also, would it be appropriate for a forum such as slashdot to do this? At the macro level - "Do you find slashdot useful?" is probably ok, but not at the article level. While the people running slashdot obviously invest a lot of time and money, and pick which articles to post, they don't develop the majority of the actual content.
This is similar, IMHO, to those of you who say, in reference to mp3s - "I wouldn't mind giving money to the artist, but I don't want to buy a CD for 20 bucks when I only want one song."
Would the content providers make more money than they currently do? I don't know. [RE: Music] Would the artists? Probably.
I had meant to post part 121.306, part 125.204, and part 91.21, but they all say the same thing.....
FAR 125.204 - Portable electronic devices.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person may
operate, nor may any operator or pilot in command of an aircraft allow the
operation of, any portable electronic device on any U.S.-registered civil
aircraft operating under this part.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to--
(1) Portable voice recorders;
(2) Hearing aids;
(3) Heart pacemakers;
(4) Electric shavers; or
(5) Any other portable electronic device that the Part 125 certificate
holder has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or
communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used.
(c) The determination required by paragraph (b)(5) of this section shall be
made by that Part 125 certificate holder operating the particular device to
be used.
Please note section (b)(5)......
www.cisco.com/ipv6
http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/sdks/platform/ tpipv6.asp
What's the problem?
At first glance, it appears that they forgot something: manual controls. Controlling the thing over the internet is cool , but what happens when the phone lines go down? Can you turn the thing off (or on?)....
Or, worse yet: you pay a fortune for the thing and then "myappliance.com" goes out of business (like Divx) - Now you can't use it. Or, to stay in business, they charge a fee on top of the unit cost. I can see it now: Pay $1000 for the unit, and then $20/month to turn it on or off.
"In other news, officials in California have announced that they are considering legislation allowing power companies to remotely turn off the new 'myapplicance.com' air conditioners via the Internet in an attempt to avert more rolling blackouts."
I live just outside of Boston and have 7.1Mbps downstream and 640k upstream DSL service at home.
I also wanted multiple static IP's (regular routed IP - none of this PPPOE crap).
The price tag??? Just over $300.00 a month!!!
As far as the speed is concerned, I will admit that I can literally throw rocks at the CO, and most people around Boston can't get 7.1Mbps. I could, however, get 1.5Mbs in Back Bay (part of Boston), and I was paying about $100.00.
I suspect that the reason for the "artificial" (if they are indeed artificial) bandwidth restrictions in the US might be that the phone companies don't want everyone with T1's to switch to DSL. (This could also explain the pricing). I have two T1 lines into my office from different providers, which are costing me over $4000.00/month (total). If the phone companies around here offered real fast DSL (both up and downstream) for a decent price, everyone (myself included) would immediately switch. The phone companies don't want to throw away that cash!
IMHO.... Moderation really isn't fascism... not having some form of moderation could be considered anarchy.
/. (just as an example): Some of this already exists, some of it doesn't. You can't just post a new story to /. You must submit your story, and if it "deserves" to be posted it will be. This is the first level of moderation and it's similar to getting a "booth". Now the analogy "falls apart", and could be analyzed much differently than what I'm about to say. Since the original article is a one-time show, the crowd breaks up to discuss it. Some people just walk around and listen to various discussions, some start saying their points of view. Some of the audience will in and of themselves attract a crowd, some will be ignored. As a member of the audience, you are free to hear the viewpoints of all - regardless of whether or not the viewpoint is relevant. You might choose to walk over to the big-crowd, where there's a heated, on-topic debate. This democracy could be applied to /. in a variety of ways... Maybe EVERYBODY should get a few points per story (the points could be considered equivalent to time at a convention), and you can apply your points to any post or posts you want. The posts with the highest score could be filtered just as they are now on /. You might choose, while browsing at a convention, to listen to the big crowd, or you might choose to listen to someone who is off-topic. You might be able to bring some other people into the off-topic discussion if you "applied your points" because you thought it was worth it... I could continue to analyze this analogy but in the interest of time (mine) I'll end it there.
/. or any other online community.
/. falls - or where any other forum on the internet falls.
Taking input from the original post, it seems that maybe we should take a look at what happens outside the net to determine what kind of moderation system would work best to keep the net a democracy.
For example, take a look at a business or tech convention. I would consider this to be "average" moderation.
In order to get a real "space", you have to be relevant - you have to be selling a product or service or have a viewpoint relevant to the topic at hand. You may also be screened to verify your product's or service's relevance; You may not be allowed space if all of the space is taken. You may have to pay to get the real "space" (a booth). When walking around the convention, you may run into people that don't have a real "space", and you can have meaningful discussions with them about irrelevant topics; you may see a booth that's crowded and you decide to stay to find out what the fuss is all about; or you could walk by an empty booth which has something you personally find cool or interesting in which no one else is interested.
To apply this analogy to
Another real world democratic system to analyze would be a city square. I would consider this to be "little" moderation.
Anyone can get in and get space, for free, without moderation, but you can't set up a big booth (but you might have a megaphone and a soap box). Your discussion doesn't have to be relevant to anything. It DOES have to be legal - the cops will throw you out if it isn't, or if you're too obnoxious (this is the first level of moderation), but if you're basically law-abiding, and the space isn't already full, you can have your first amendment rights to free speech. Again, you'll attract a crowd if people are interested; and while walking through a city square you might see a crowd and want to know what all the fuss is about.... Or, you might walk past a beggar ignoring them - it's up to you. I won't try to apply this to an online environment, but again it could be related to
One last real world example I'd like to mention is the radio talk show. I would consider this to be "extreme" moderation.
First, the talk show topic is chosen by the producers of the radio station. Secondly, (at least for most radio talk shows) all callers are pre-screened for relevance. Yes, a caller can get in by claiming they are relevant, and then go wildly off-topic, but then they are frequently disconnected by the host. As far as a listener: Although you could look up what's happening at a given time on a given station, or you may know because of advertising or a regular schedule, may listeners simply stumble upon a discussion randomly, and listen if they like it. The producers try to keep some consistent format so that they attract a specific listenership - this is the only real democratic part of the process. If no one listens, the radio station won't exist (for long).
I will leave it up to you to consider where you think
Are these "real world" scenarios fascism?
Are these "real world" scenarios democratic?
Anarchy?
[off topic]
I have found prior art on this concept: Carl Segan used this concept in Contact (the book)....
If my memory serves me correctly the idea was that at some point in PI a two-dimensional grid laying out a circle was found..... Something to the effect of:
00000000000
00001110000
00011011000
00110001100
00110001100
00011011000
00001110000
00000000000
[on topic]
At any rate, since you can find some mathematical function to encode anything into an individual number, I don't see how this really changes anything. The number itself is obviously not protected information, but saying "if you convert this number to hex and then unzip it, it will give you something which is considered copyrighted, proprietary, trade secret, patented, or otherwise protected information" IS violating the protections.
Look at a .mp3 file..... what is it? It's a bunch of data which doesn't mean anything. But, with the right algorithm, you can get an audio stream out of it. Give me an .mp3 file and I will write an algorithm (for that particular .mp3 file) which gives you the beginning of Shakespeare's Macbeth. I could just as easily write a program that takes a css'd copy of Titanic and "unencrypt" it into The Right Stuff.
I don't know exactly how the DMCA is worded, but regardless these issues will eventually get sorted out.... I suspect that in THIS case, the algorithm "A" that takes the prime and converts it into an algorithm "B" which is an implementation of decss would be protected by DMCA just as "B" is.
Well, so much for my Karma....
... shouldn't the French government be fining the ISPs in France which deliver this content to the French citizens? I understand that they don't want anyone to even link to these sites (does this sound like the RIAA and decss?) but France COULD proactively do something about this...
Why don't they force their ISPs to block the IP addresses of servers which contain "offensive" material? Whenever anyone finds anything, they could simply tell the gov't, which could keep a list of censored IP addresses. The ISPs could use this "centralized" list of offensive IP addresses and not allow traffic from them. "BUT...", I hear you cry, there are thousands of ways to use proxies to get at the material.... So what? If France finds 'em, block the proxies too...
If you can call out of France to a POP in some other country, France *could* block those phone numbers... And, yes, I know there are "phone" proxies too... Block them (and see the revolt from the French who use the proxies every day for cheap France -> US phone calls).
This, IMHO, will become the only real way to censor the 'net whilst allowing free speech. You CAN'T know where your viewer is (because of proxies). You CAN know where the traffic is coming from (and, if somehow it comes "anonymously" (proxies) or "spoofed", you block it.)
The French could take proactive steps to remedy this problem. They won't be able to stop people from publishing offensive or illegal web pages, but, as they find the holes, they can patch them.
(So what if it's expensive - so what if it ruins their economy because no one can call into or out of France anymore and there is a Frenchnet and an entirely separate Internet? - it's their problem. And, if there are Frenchmen or women reading this - yes, it's your problem. If you don't like it change your government, but you can't tell the rest of the world what to do.)
Before you all cry "censorship" at ME... I'm all for free speech. I personally believe that anyone should be able to publish anything they want. If you publish something that is illegal in the country in which you publish it, you'll be shut down. I have no problem with that either. If the French don't want certain material to reach their citizens, I think this is really the only way to do it. I don't approve, but I'm just saying it is the French government's job, NOT Yahoo's.
At any rate, the "Internet" will not bow to France's demands... I don't think we have anything to fear.
Oh, darn.... I just know someone is going to reply "What about accessing the Internet via satellite?"
I see all of these posts out here saying "talk to a lawyer"... Yes, you should talk to a lawyer and show him/her your employment contract, Non compete, NDA... You should have talked to a lawyer a while ago! Now is a bit late.
A few other points though:
When you're developing a program, unless it's just for kicks and you're going to GPL it or otherwise release it to the public domain, you should print a copy every now and then and bring it to a notary... Then no one can say "he stole my code" or "he stole my idea". Yeah, I've heard "mail it to yourself and don't open it"... Exactly how hard is this to fake? Do you think that your package will stand up in court? I don't know but I wouldn't chance it. You could instead use an escrow agent to hold your printout for you... or, you can use one of several software source code escrow companies that hold onto your CD with source simply for the purpose of proving IP rights. If you're writing this code to sell the program later, the minimal cost to protect yourself is well worth it. It also forces you to do off-site backups (something I have noticed that many programmers (myself included) don't really like to do on a regular basis)
Another thing: Can you honestly say that you did NOT work on this project on company time? You didn't think about it - at all - in the office? You didn't do ANY research about your project in the office? You didn't get the idea because of some other project or other client of your employer who needed something similar? Even without the employment contract or other agreement, if you end up in court your employer could probably prove that the idea isn't original and/or that you worked on it on their time and/or you used some of their IP...
Go talk to a lawyer. I suspect you're already screwed, but who knows? Do NOT call in sick or take a vacation and finish the project. Do NOT quit your job and go finish the project. Do not do anything which would seem underhanded or dishonest... taking time off or quitting now to sell the product to your employer and/or their customers would NOT ring true to your employer, and the idea isn't to win a lawsuit but rather to AVOID the lawsuit in the first place!