I live in a country (Switzerland) where the MPAA has little to no influence and in which I regularly rent zone 1, 2 or 5 DVD at the local videoclub and have been doing so for the past 4 or 5 years and my DVD player (panasonic) was zone-free when I bought it (like all DVD players sold here).
Since Swiss shops are sensible enough to realise that if they only sold R2 players they wouldn't sell many, but the banks might do well on the commission of converting Swiss Francs into Euros.
DVD region coding is probably the stupidest ploy against consumers, especially at a time in which people can and do travel extensively around the world.
The idea behind it is "price discrimiantion" or "anti-globalization" depending on your politics. At least part of it is trying to maintain the obsolete idea of "regional releases".
What's next, not being able to play media files if you're more than half a mile from home?
Careful someone will think that is a good idea. Thus they will try and lobby for all portable devices to contain GPS/Galileo receivers for just that purpose.
The media industry hates us because of their so-called "loss of REVENUE",
A loss which dosn't show on their actual balance sheets. Indeed for all their moaning these companies appear to have rather high profit margins
which IMHO may set a dangerous precedent. I mean, if they get their way, what's to stop them from litigating with anyone who simply doesn't buy their stuff?
Maybe someone else will try it first. Though if anyone held a patent on this as a "business model" good luck getting royalties out of the media industry. Since they care nothing for anyone else's "intellectual property."
It gets far worse. Let's say a GM crop was planted next to your farm. Due to wind, bees, eh, nature the GM plants spread to your field, and soon you're growing GM plants. And then you're sued for stealing the GM crop.
The chances of being sued depend where you live, it's bad luck if you are in North America...
For the basics of wacky Monsanto GM chaos see Organic Consumers.
The problem for organic farmers is if their crop gets contaminated by GM "weeds" they can't sell to their usual markets. If they are in Europe they may have difficulty selling it at all. Even without being sued for IP violation, such contamination can mean financial ruin for a farmer.
Yeah the floppy drive thing for RAID/SCSI/etc drivers is unbelievably stupid. There is a way to slipstream drivers onto a Windows XP CD but it's quite complex and doesn't work with certain drivers e.g. drivers for Nforce 4 motherbaords.
Why can't Microsoft such a CD? Or even fix things so that the Windows installation can take drivers from a manufacture's CD.
Incredibly lucky for the guy, really... but do you think it was because prosecutor couldn't figure out how to get the guy?
More likely someone couldn't afford to bribe the prosecutor. Prosecutors tend to command a higher price than police when it comes to bribary (also the possibilities to "shop around" are reduced).Also the ??AA realised that even they didn't have enough money to bribe the entire EU.
ummm he did do something wrong(assuming you coun't breaking the law(at least in some countries, maybe not his) "something wrong"), he made a site that helped people carry out an illegal act more effectively.
If websites were subject to the laws of all countries (as opposed to the laws of the country hosting them) then there would probably be a lot fewer websites around. We might not even be having this discussion since there is most likely somewhere where publication without government approval is illegal.
Know anyone who owns an island or a small country and is willing to donate the domain name? What would MPAA or RIAA do? They can't invade a country.
But they can hire mercenaries/terrorists to do just that. Alternativly they can have a word with some of their friends in the US Government. You'd need a very well armed small country, only one appears to be a possibility...
In the case of supernova they probably bribed the police into doing all this scaring tactics. As far as I know the police in Eastern Europe is not really interested in piracy and computer fraud, they got other things to worry about and besides, some countries don't even have good laws concerning computers and internet BUT for a large enough bribe the police in those countries will arrest and scare anyone regardless of the crime.
For a large enough bribe the police in any country are likely to do this, it's only a matter of how much money...
It would be illegal to import, sell, or traffick in such a device - good luck finding schematics...
Someone is going to have to go around collecting any piece of non DRM enabled electronics and any book on electronics published within the last 50 years, how likely do you think that is to happen?
When the content producers realize that they can do what they want, which is produce their content, leave it on a server somewhere, and solicit their viewers
There are two ways in which this differs from existing broadcasting. One is that the timing is at the convenience of the viewer listener the other is that there no geographic discrimination.
directly for payment to download it and pod it, look for big changes in funding for the arts.
Such a system also allows rapid feedback on the content itself.
Get rid of government intervention and you can bet your ass things would change. Record companies would either learn to deal with piracy
e.g. by making the official product more attractive to their customers. Whereas currently they are actually making "pirate copies" more attractive to their customers
and find ways to make it enhance thier revenues or they'd go out of business.
Is it even credible that these companies might go out of business in the short term. Dispite all all their whineing they appear to be highly profitable.
The only real solution is to overthrow the capitalist giants whose sole purpose is to exploit "consumers" to make money.
These people arn't capitalists. What they want is better described as "corporate socialism". The problem is that big companies find it cheaper to buy laws impeding a free market then trying to compete.
Just check on the tax on dvd-r in holland. Depending on the format 50 euro cent or a full euro.
In the case of a CD or DVD which already has music/movie/TV programme on it how many cents do you think wind up going to the people who actually provided creative input?
No they don't care what you use them for, the music industry was not making giant enough profits so now when you buy a product that has nothing to do with them they still get your money.
No doubt claiming the money goes to "starving artists", if you'll believe that you'd probably try to buy some Iraqi WMDs off Elvis too.
I would encourage other Americans (people in districts whose representatives are actually voting for these horrid bills) to remember to use the various boxes in the proper order. Ballot comes -way- before ammo.
How many places in the US still actually have ballot boxes? A "voting machine" dosn't really qualify.
Well, that's the very principle behind the second amendment. Regardless if anyone thinks it is a good or bad idea or if citizens could stand a chance battling for their country against the US military,
How much of the US Military is currently within the US? How much of that would side with a government who wants to send them thousands of miles to fight in a war which has nothing to do with defending their country?
Even though it was voted against, Bush has stated that he will continue to authorize illegal phone taps and other forms of spycraft on US citizins. NYTimes article here He was, in fact, filled with rage at the tresonous liberal media who dared to leak the fact that he is authorizing such illegal activities in the first place, and that they may well have murdered innocent people through their deplorable actions.:)
Maybe Mr Bush needs to look up the terms "High Treason" and "Public Servant" once he calms down.
This comes right on the heels of the use of torture being approved by the Bush-McCain agreement. Although on its surface it appears to ban the use of torture by US personnel, it in fact grants them 100% immunity from any problems that may arise from the use of torture, under the constraint that they must have reason to believe that such torture is an order.
Now it becomes more obvious why the US wanted protection fronm the ICC.
Finally, the house and senate have both backed a measure that will make evidence gained through torture admisable in court, as well as holding people, both citizins and not, indefinatly without trial, and without access to a lawyer.
But probably excluding themselves and their minions.
So there you have it. Bush is overriding the Judicial branch and issuing warrants himself, torture is legal, and evidence tortured out of a suspect is admissible in court, you have no right to a speedy trial, nor to confront witnesses. What a week! Ammendments lost this week: I, IV, V, VI, VIII.
All by people who took an oath to uphold the US Constitution.
But a lot of people reading materials related to communism are not communists.
Attempting to ban something tends to increase the number of people wanting to see it for themselves. Both through curiosity as to what all the fuss is about and what is motivating those who want it banned.
That having been said, a visit from the DHS was entirely innapropriate for this single action, and I hope they had other good reasons to put up and investigation.
Most likely the agents have quotas to fulful, in terms of "doing something". Going and bullying a student is a lot safer for them (and their families) than trying to catch real terrorists, gangsters and criminals. Especially since some of the actual "bad guys" appear to to have real political power.
Time has proven that the Department of Homeland Security, the regular milatary, and, heck, even the local police force do NOT appreciate help from citizens when dealing with "the enemy". In their perspective, you are just as much as a loose cannon as any terrorist when you show any interest in working around the official organizations.
In other words, you're unnaccountable to your actions, and therefor may actually be breaking more laws than you're upholding.
Does the last sentence refer to the average citizen or "law enforcement"? Historically it's more likely to be the latter than the former...
However, don't get me started on copy controlled apps. How about this error message from my sons workstation whilst trying to copy his roaming profile:
Windows cannot copy file C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\SecuROM\UserData\???????????p???????? to location \\Server\Home\user\Profile\Application Data\SecuROM\UserData\???????????p???????? The company concerned were very friendly but the only solution they could offer was to delete the directory and not use the application.
What happens if you use "Folder Redirection" on the "Application Data" folder (remembering to add "Application Data" to the profile copy excludes)?
Storing user data with the executable is so Windows 98, but the developers don't seem to even recognize this is a problem.
%USERPROFILE%/Application Data and %USERPROFILE%/My Documents was supported in Windows 98. The last version of Windows which had any reason to store user data with the executable was 3.11
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I live in a country (Switzerland) where the MPAA has little to no influence and in which I regularly rent zone 1, 2 or 5 DVD at the local videoclub and have been doing so for the past 4 or 5 years and my DVD player (panasonic) was zone-free when I bought it (like all DVD players sold here).
Since Swiss shops are sensible enough to realise that if they only sold R2 players they wouldn't sell many, but the banks might do well on the commission of converting Swiss Francs into Euros.
DVD region coding is probably the stupidest ploy against consumers, especially at a time in which people can and do travel extensively around the world.
The idea behind it is "price discrimiantion" or "anti-globalization" depending on your politics.
At least part of it is trying to maintain the obsolete idea of "regional releases".
What's next, not being able to play media files if you're more than half a mile from home?
Careful someone will think that is a good idea. Thus they will try and lobby for all portable devices to contain GPS/Galileo receivers for just that purpose.
The media industry hates us because of their so-called "loss of REVENUE",
A loss which dosn't show on their actual balance sheets. Indeed for all their moaning these companies appear to have rather high profit margins
which IMHO may set a dangerous precedent. I mean, if they get their way, what's to stop them from litigating with anyone who simply doesn't buy their stuff?
Maybe someone else will try it first. Though if anyone held a patent on this as a "business model" good luck getting royalties out of the media industry. Since they care nothing for anyone else's "intellectual property."
It gets far worse. Let's say a GM crop was planted next to your farm. Due to wind, bees, eh, nature the GM plants spread to your field, and soon you're growing GM plants. And then you're sued for stealing the GM crop.
The chances of being sued depend where you live, it's bad luck if you are in North America...
For the basics of wacky Monsanto GM chaos see Organic Consumers.
The problem for organic farmers is if their crop gets contaminated by GM "weeds" they can't sell to their usual markets. If they are in Europe they may have difficulty selling it at all. Even without being sued for IP violation, such contamination can mean financial ruin for a farmer.
Yeah the floppy drive thing for RAID/SCSI/etc drivers is unbelievably stupid. There is a way to slipstream drivers onto a Windows XP CD but it's quite complex and doesn't work with certain drivers e.g. drivers for Nforce 4 motherbaords.
Why can't Microsoft such a CD? Or even fix things so that the Windows installation can take drivers from a manufacture's CD.
I thought the *AA had some sort of twelve step program for quiting?
They might do, just that these are not of much use...
Incredibly lucky for the guy, really... but do you think it was because prosecutor couldn't figure out how to get the guy?
More likely someone couldn't afford to bribe the prosecutor. Prosecutors tend to command a higher price than police when it comes to bribary (also the possibilities to "shop around" are reduced).Also the ??AA realised that even they didn't have enough money to bribe the entire EU.
ummm he did do something wrong(assuming you coun't breaking the law(at least in some countries, maybe not his) "something wrong"), he made a site that helped people carry out an illegal act more effectively.
If websites were subject to the laws of all countries (as opposed to the laws of the country hosting them) then there would probably be a lot fewer websites around. We might not even be having this discussion since there is most likely somewhere where publication without government approval is illegal.
Know anyone who owns an island or a small country and is willing to donate the domain name? What would MPAA or RIAA do? They can't invade a country.
But they can hire mercenaries/terrorists to do just that. Alternativly they can have a word with some of their friends in the US Government. You'd need a very well armed small country, only one appears to be a possibility...
In the case of supernova they probably bribed the police into doing all this scaring tactics. As far as I know the police in Eastern Europe is not really interested in piracy and computer fraud, they got other things to worry about and besides, some countries don't even have good laws concerning computers and internet BUT for a large enough bribe the police in those countries will arrest and scare anyone regardless of the crime.
For a large enough bribe the police in any country are likely to do this, it's only a matter of how much money...
It would be illegal to import, sell, or traffick in such a device - good luck finding schematics...
Someone is going to have to go around collecting any piece of non DRM enabled electronics and any book on electronics published within the last 50 years, how likely do you think that is to happen?
How about this... stick a camcorder in front of your TV. "Invisible Light" indeed.
Whilst many video cameras can pick up near IR and near UV can a standard CRT emit these according to the input signal?
We should have RIAA/MPAA executives and members of the U.S. government who advocate this brain implant, development, alpha, and beta test the product.
:)
Maybe someone can add an extra feature to the latter group, enabling their constituents to tell them what they actually want them to do
When the content producers realize that they can do what they want, which is produce their content, leave it on a server somewhere, and solicit their viewers
There are two ways in which this differs from existing broadcasting. One is that the timing is at the convenience of the viewer listener the other is that there no geographic discrimination.
directly for payment to download it and pod it, look for big changes in funding for the arts.
Such a system also allows rapid feedback on the content itself.
Get rid of government intervention and you can bet your ass things would change. Record companies would either learn to deal with piracy
e.g. by making the official product more attractive to their customers. Whereas currently they are actually making "pirate copies" more attractive to their customers
and find ways to make it enhance thier revenues or they'd go out of business.
Is it even credible that these companies might go out of business in the short term. Dispite all all their whineing they appear to be highly profitable.
The only real solution is to overthrow the capitalist giants whose sole purpose is to exploit "consumers" to make money.
These people arn't capitalists. What they want is better described as "corporate socialism".
The problem is that big companies find it cheaper to buy laws impeding a free market then trying to compete.
Just check on the tax on dvd-r in holland. Depending on the format 50 euro cent or a full euro.
In the case of a CD or DVD which already has music/movie/TV programme on it how many cents do you think wind up going to the people who actually provided creative input?
No they don't care what you use them for, the music industry was not making giant enough profits so now when you buy a product that has nothing to do with them they still get your money.
No doubt claiming the money goes to "starving artists", if you'll believe that you'd probably try to buy some Iraqi WMDs off Elvis too.
But if you don't buy the **AA's products, the **AA will claim that they are losing money due to "piracy".
One of the side effects of more copy protection is likely to be more "piracy". Especially if the "pirate copies" tend to be DRM and malware free!
Exactly, this story completely undermines the entire argument that the patent system somehow benefits small inventors--it doesn't.
Also that patents are any form of protection against a large corporation taking your idea.
SURE, this guy won in the end... AFTER 25 YEARS. How many countless other inventors have simply given up?
Or not had the resources to carry on, dispite having a patent he lost a 7 year legal lawsuit.
I would encourage other Americans (people in districts whose representatives are actually voting for these horrid bills) to remember to use the various boxes in the proper order. Ballot comes -way- before ammo.
How many places in the US still actually have ballot boxes? A "voting machine" dosn't really qualify.
Well, that's the very principle behind the second amendment. Regardless if anyone thinks it is a good or bad idea or if citizens could stand a chance battling for their country against the US military,
How much of the US Military is currently within the US? How much of that would side with a government who wants to send them thousands of miles to fight in a war which has nothing to do with defending their country?
Even though it was voted against, Bush has stated that he will continue to authorize illegal phone taps and other forms of spycraft on US citizins. NYTimes article here He was, in fact, filled with rage at the tresonous liberal media who dared to leak the fact that he is authorizing such illegal activities in the first place, and that they may well have murdered innocent people through their deplorable actions. :)
Maybe Mr Bush needs to look up the terms "High Treason" and "Public Servant" once he calms down.
This comes right on the heels of the use of torture being approved by the Bush-McCain agreement. Although on its surface it appears to ban the use of torture by US personnel, it in fact grants them 100% immunity from any problems that may arise from the use of torture, under the constraint that they must have reason to believe that such torture is an order.
Now it becomes more obvious why the US wanted protection fronm the ICC.
Finally, the house and senate have both backed a measure that will make evidence gained through torture admisable in court, as well as holding people, both citizins and not, indefinatly without trial, and without access to a lawyer.
But probably excluding themselves and their minions.
So there you have it. Bush is overriding the Judicial branch and issuing warrants himself, torture is legal, and evidence tortured out of a suspect is admissible in court, you have no right to a speedy trial, nor to confront witnesses. What a week! Ammendments lost this week: I, IV, V, VI, VIII.
All by people who took an oath to uphold the US Constitution.
But a lot of people reading materials related to communism are not communists.
Attempting to ban something tends to increase the number of people wanting to see it for themselves. Both through curiosity as to what all the fuss is about and what is motivating those who want it banned.
That having been said, a visit from the DHS was entirely innapropriate for this single action, and I hope they had other good reasons to put up and investigation.
Most likely the agents have quotas to fulful, in terms of "doing something". Going and bullying a student is a lot safer for them (and their families) than trying to catch real terrorists, gangsters and criminals. Especially since some of the actual "bad guys" appear to to have real political power.
Time has proven that the Department of Homeland Security, the regular milatary, and, heck, even the local police force do NOT appreciate help from citizens when dealing with "the enemy". In their perspective, you are just as much as a loose cannon as any terrorist when you show any interest in working around the official organizations.
In other words, you're unnaccountable to your actions, and therefor may actually be breaking more laws than you're upholding.
Does the last sentence refer to the average citizen or "law enforcement"? Historically it's more likely to be the latter than the former...
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's a lot of trouble to upgrade to SP2?
Thus maybe, instead of moaning, Microsoft need to bring out SP2a/3 to address some of the shortcommings of SP2.
However, don't get me started on copy controlled apps. How about this error message from my sons workstation whilst trying to copy his roaming profile:
Windows cannot copy file C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\SecuROM\UserData\???????????p???????? to location \\Server\Home\user\Profile\Application Data\SecuROM\UserData\???????????p????????
The company concerned were very friendly but the only solution they could offer was to delete the directory and not use the application.
What happens if you use "Folder Redirection" on the "Application Data" folder (remembering to add "Application Data" to the profile copy excludes)?
Storing user data with the executable is so Windows 98, but the developers don't seem to even recognize this is a problem.
%USERPROFILE%/Application Data and %USERPROFILE%/My Documents was supported in Windows 98. The last version of Windows which had any reason to store user data with the executable was 3.11