Thanks for those links. They should have been in the original story. There is a link to the PDF at the bottom of the linked article, and it makes for rather interesting reading.
While the fact that a UK ISP folded immediately, without further investigation, is somewhat troubling (mostly for customers of that provider), the size of the sample does not justify any sort of conclusion. I'd be really interested to know which ISPs have NTD policies, and which do not. The US ISP responded in precisely the manner that I would want my hosting service to employ. Exactly how widespread is the problem?
Of course, if we want this kind of behavior on the part to ISPs to stop, then they have to have some kind of legal shield from copyright damages while they investigate claims of copyright infringement. Normally, I would say that a reasonable approach would serve everyone well, but the legal system seems anything but reasonable these days, particularly in regard to intellectual property. So it would seem (if there is not such a shield already available) that there ought to be some kind of law or ruling that explicitly specifies the duty and liability of ISPs in the event that a copyright violation is alleged. Meaning, of course, that I draw pretty much the same conclusion as Ahlert does. I would prefer that he had documented the problem a little more thoroughly, however.
GAE was a very good writer; I was saddened to learn of his death last year. His health problems greatly restricted his writing output, which is a distinct tragedy. I believe that there is a fourth Budayeen book (Marid Audran series), but I do not remember the title. I might be "remembering" a planned sequel, though. Effinger also collaborated on a computer game set in that world, called Circuit's Edge, on the order of ten or twelve years ago.
Stephen Donaldson's first Covenant trilogy was very good. The second not quite as good. He also wrote an interesting two-book set, The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through, which I found to be a bit of a tougher read, but a fascinating examination of some interesting ideas. His best series, though, IMHO, is the Gap series. Definitely not to be missed. He has also written a couple of short story collections that are worth reading.
And the sequel, Lost in a Good Book, which someone also cited earlier.
Re:Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
on
A Good Summer Read?
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· Score: 1
I was disappointed by The Emperor's New Mind. Penrose is brilliant, but in this case he seemed to be starting from the conclusion and working backward. It's been eight or ten years, but he really appeared to be reaching in places. I'm not sure whether or not it is possible to produce an artificial mind, but I would not put money on it being impossible. Penrose seemed threatened by the possibility. He did effectively demolish some of the more inflated claims of the AI community of the time, however.
Re:Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
on
A Good Summer Read?
·
· Score: 1
Actually, Hofstader edited a column called Metamagical Themas, which replaced the Mathematical Games (notice the anagram) column long edited by Martin Gardner. The column was an effort to capture the magic of GEB in a much shorter and more accessible form, and generally succeeded quite well. The column ran for only a short time (maybe a couple of years, max), and was available at one time as a book, with the obvious title.
More recently, Hofstader published Le Ton beau de Marot, which also looks quite interesting (though I have not yet read it).
Re:If anyone's into alternate military history...
on
A Good Summer Read?
·
· Score: 1
Not a lot of detail, but The Indians Won by Martin Cruz Smith (author of Gorky Park) is a fun read and an interesting take on what might have happened had the "Indian wars" of the later part of the nineteenth century taken a slightly different course.
Also Against a Dark Background by Banks. Not the Culture universe, but in many ways a more fascinating one. The concept of the Lazy Gun is excellent! (Don't ask, I won't spoil it here)
The White Plague was quite good. Actually quite relevant in these days of terrorism and biological warfare.
Also often overlooked are Herbert's Whipping Star and The Dosadi Experiment (read in that order), both featuring one Jorj X. McKie, saboteur extraordinaire, as the protagonist. Fascinating premises for both novels, and excellent execution.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for those links. They should have been in the original story. There is a link to the PDF at the bottom of the linked article, and it makes for rather interesting reading.
While the fact that a UK ISP folded immediately, without further investigation, is somewhat troubling (mostly for customers of that provider), the size of the sample does not justify any sort of conclusion. I'd be really interested to know which ISPs have NTD policies, and which do not. The US ISP responded in precisely the manner that I would want my hosting service to employ. Exactly how widespread is the problem?
Of course, if we want this kind of behavior on the part to ISPs to stop, then they have to have some kind of legal shield from copyright damages while they investigate claims of copyright infringement. Normally, I would say that a reasonable approach would serve everyone well, but the legal system seems anything but reasonable these days, particularly in regard to intellectual property. So it would seem (if there is not such a shield already available) that there ought to be some kind of law or ruling that explicitly specifies the duty and liability of ISPs in the event that a copyright violation is alleged. Meaning, of course, that I draw pretty much the same conclusion as Ahlert does. I would prefer that he had documented the problem a little more thoroughly, however.
GAE was a very good writer; I was saddened to learn of his death last year. His health problems greatly restricted his writing output, which is a distinct tragedy. I believe that there is a fourth Budayeen book (Marid Audran series), but I do not remember the title. I might be "remembering" a planned sequel, though. Effinger also collaborated on a computer game set in that world, called Circuit's Edge, on the order of ten or twelve years ago.
Stephen Donaldson's first Covenant trilogy was very good. The second not quite as good. He also wrote an interesting two-book set, The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through, which I found to be a bit of a tougher read, but a fascinating examination of some interesting ideas. His best series, though, IMHO, is the Gap series. Definitely not to be missed. He has also written a couple of short story collections that are worth reading.
And the sequel, Lost in a Good Book, which someone also cited earlier.
I was disappointed by The Emperor's New Mind. Penrose is brilliant, but in this case he seemed to be starting from the conclusion and working backward. It's been eight or ten years, but he really appeared to be reaching in places. I'm not sure whether or not it is possible to produce an artificial mind, but I would not put money on it being impossible. Penrose seemed threatened by the possibility. He did effectively demolish some of the more inflated claims of the AI community of the time, however.
Actually, Hofstader edited a column called Metamagical Themas, which replaced the Mathematical Games (notice the anagram) column long edited by Martin Gardner. The column was an effort to capture the magic of GEB in a much shorter and more accessible form, and generally succeeded quite well. The column ran for only a short time (maybe a couple of years, max), and was available at one time as a book, with the obvious title.
More recently, Hofstader published Le Ton beau de Marot, which also looks quite interesting (though I have not yet read it).
Not a lot of detail, but The Indians Won by Martin Cruz Smith (author of Gorky Park) is a fun read and an interesting take on what might have happened had the "Indian wars" of the later part of the nineteenth century taken a slightly different course.
Also Against a Dark Background by Banks. Not the Culture universe, but in many ways a more fascinating one. The concept of the Lazy Gun is excellent! (Don't ask, I won't spoil it here)
The White Plague was quite good. Actually quite relevant in these days of terrorism and biological warfare.
Also often overlooked are Herbert's Whipping Star and The Dosadi Experiment (read in that order), both featuring one Jorj X. McKie, saboteur extraordinaire, as the protagonist. Fascinating premises for both novels, and excellent execution.