"...because warning people about security flaws is exactly the same as instructing people in cyberwarfare, and issueing commands to them to act on your behalve to bring down Western Civilization as we know it."
Nice strawman, but that of course isn't what the (predictably modded-down) parent said.
All he's saying is that you shouldn't be surprised when the FBI investigates you after you tell a whole conference of interested parties how to take down a critical infrastructure.
Here we have a person revealing vulnerabilities of an unquestionably critical national infrastructure to a group of people that exists to cause network disruptions......and you expect the FBI to NOT investigate him??
"So before you get your Google-hating panties in a wad, take a step back and look at what Google's doing for the general consumer.
Such defensiveness supports the grandparent's argument that Google's methods and motives should be considered objectively. Dropping the "hate" accusation reeks of fanboyism.
By saying that football was a cause of the violence, you in no uncertain terms label the entire sport as "bad".
If competetive, "violent" sports like football lead to this kind of violence, then we would hear about this sort of thing happening all the time at high schools everywhere.
Of course reality gives us a very different picture, which suggests that maybe the asshats involved here were just that: asshats.
And of course that's football's fault, not the juveniles' striking inability to keep their agression and competetiveness on the field where it belongs.
Just as a poster said earlier, the Left blames "things", not "people", for antisocial behavior such as this.
But then that isn't the group of people we're talking about here. It's a real stretch to suggest that a significant percentage of the big music downloaders are disenfranchised Linux users.
I did day "quality" alternatives, didn't I? I'll have to go back and check...
By the way, DMB's record label is RCA Records, a member of the RIAA. John Mayer's label is Sony BMG, also an RIAA member. Not sure where you're getting your info from.
And when was the last time you heard a Pearl Jam song on the radio?
"It's the sad nature of the public. They love to be abused."
It's even worse than that; they simply don't care.
The world is a good place as long as they can get their Top 40 fix. Finding quality alternatives to major-label music is just too much work. The RIAA knows they can walk all over these people, and so they do.
It's just a shame when people who DO care are impacted.
Indeed. Yet people still down^H^H^H^Hfreeload. Care to speculate why?
Seriously, with quality services such as iTunes out there, what legitimate reasons do people have to download mass quantities of music they haven't paid for?
I do appreciate the advice (from everyone). Perhaps it would help if I mentioned that I want to START learning Linux on this machine, but not necessarily get into the nuts-and-bolts of it quite yet.
Assuming that the legitimate users are keeping up with the security updates (a whole different issue), they (theoretically) wouldn't be plagued by the worms and viruses with which illegitimate users would have to contend.
Let's face it; a lot of people are using pirated copies of Windows. Whether Microsoft likes it or not, that fact help solidify their grip on the desktop OS market.
Now this happens, and Microsoft is going to start telling these people to pay up, or else (whatever that "or else" might be.) So either the person is going to fork over the $100 for XP Home, or they're going to be chased to a free alternative.
Now all you neighborhood geeks need to spread the word on this, and let people know that there is a perfectly good FREE alternative out there. These peopld don't have to pay Microsoft in order to keep using their computer.
I think Microsoft inadvertently cracked the doorway to OSS a little here. Let's help throw it wide open!
I sure hope they don't... OS X is looking mighty fine these days (compared to both Windows and Linux) and I'd hate to see something like Trusted Computing getting in the way of an otherwise fine replacement for our ever-more-restrictive PCs.
Slashdot Mirror
Seriously, man! As if we fund the FBI to enforce ALL federal laws!
Nice strawman, but that of course isn't what the (predictably modded-down) parent said.
All he's saying is that you shouldn't be surprised when the FBI investigates you after you tell a whole conference of interested parties how to take down a critical infrastructure.
Free, meaning you don't pay for something directly, but are charged through a related purchase.
In this case, the charge comes from more expensive coffee. "Free" municipal Wi-Fi (paid for by taxes) is another example.
Not to be confused with "Free as in Herpes".
Here we have a person revealing vulnerabilities of an unquestionably critical national infrastructure to a group of people that exists to cause network disruptions... ...and you expect the FBI to NOT investigate him??
Yeah, because around these parts, you need to choose your words carefully when criticizing Microsoft.
Such defensiveness supports the grandparent's argument that Google's methods and motives should be considered objectively. Dropping the "hate" accusation reeks of fanboyism.
Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
(I got it first!!!)
A sentiment with which I happen to agree. However I don't declare an album "crap", and then proceed to download it in its entirety off of P2P either.
If you truly thought an album was crap, you wouldn't want to buy OR download it, would you?
By saying that football was a cause of the violence, you in no uncertain terms label the entire sport as "bad".
If competetive, "violent" sports like football lead to this kind of violence, then we would hear about this sort of thing happening all the time at high schools everywhere.
Of course reality gives us a very different picture, which suggests that maybe the asshats involved here were just that: asshats.
It's called the W3C.
Sadly, despite the W3C's efforts, it seems that the Browser Pissing Contest rages on.
A good first step would be to make browser-specific code compliant with W3C standards.
Standards-compliant code works on all modern browsers, and offers much greater accessibility than old, structure-less code.
And of course that's football's fault, not the juveniles' striking inability to keep their agression and competetiveness on the field where it belongs.
Just as a poster said earlier, the Left blames "things", not "people", for antisocial behavior such as this.
But then that isn't the group of people we're talking about here. It's a real stretch to suggest that a significant percentage of the big music downloaders are disenfranchised Linux users.
The RIAA doesn't sue people for downloading music. The people they go after are distributing without authorization.
That's a HUGE distinction that I think many Slashdotters tend to ignore in order to make the RIAA appear that much more petty and intrusive.
I did day "quality" alternatives, didn't I? I'll have to go back and check...
By the way, DMB's record label is RCA Records, a member of the RIAA. John Mayer's label is Sony BMG, also an RIAA member. Not sure where you're getting your info from.
And when was the last time you heard a Pearl Jam song on the radio?
When you can buy a CD at a record store and only pay for the songs you want from that particular album, get back to me.
It's even worse than that; they simply don't care.
The world is a good place as long as they can get their Top 40 fix. Finding quality alternatives to major-label music is just too much work. The RIAA knows they can walk all over these people, and so they do.
It's just a shame when people who DO care are impacted.
Indeed. Yet people still down^H^H^H^Hfreeload. Care to speculate why?
Seriously, with quality services such as iTunes out there, what legitimate reasons do people have to download mass quantities of music they haven't paid for?
...is to raise taxes and give the schools more money.
I mean hell, that's always worked so well in the past!
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." --Benjamin Franklin
I do appreciate the advice (from everyone). Perhaps it would help if I mentioned that I want to START learning Linux on this machine, but not necessarily get into the nuts-and-bolts of it quite yet.
Figured this would be as on-topic as anywhere...
I'm thinkin of dropping Linux on a somewhat outdated computer I have lying around. It's a Celeron 533 w/ 256MB of RAM.
Which user-friendly distribution would be more friendly to that kind of hardware? And God help anyone that says Gentoo..
How true! In fact, this is so nerdy I feel obligated to kick my own ass!
Assuming that the legitimate users are keeping up with the security updates (a whole different issue), they (theoretically) wouldn't be plagued by the worms and viruses with which illegitimate users would have to contend.
Let's face it; a lot of people are using pirated copies of Windows. Whether Microsoft likes it or not, that fact help solidify their grip on the desktop OS market.
Now this happens, and Microsoft is going to start telling these people to pay up, or else (whatever that "or else" might be.) So either the person is going to fork over the $100 for XP Home, or they're going to be chased to a free alternative.
Now all you neighborhood geeks need to spread the word on this, and let people know that there is a perfectly good FREE alternative out there. These peopld don't have to pay Microsoft in order to keep using their computer.
I think Microsoft inadvertently cracked the doorway to OSS a little here. Let's help throw it wide open!
I sure hope they don't... OS X is looking mighty fine these days (compared to both Windows and Linux) and I'd hate to see something like Trusted Computing getting in the way of an otherwise fine replacement for our ever-more-restrictive PCs.