If the market was actually free. But as long as the market is concentrated in the hands of a few players who use their muscle and money to lock out competitors (municipal broadband, co-ops that want to run broadband etc) it needs to be regulated to prevent abuse of that market power.
Actually, I believe XBMC is for the first XBOX. I don't think homebrew is possible on the 360 unless you can somehow get a certain firmware version onto your 360 (without ever having something later that blows the hardware fuses and prevents a downgrade)
JB have actually benefited from the removal of parallel import restrictions, they have actually been one of the biggest importers of CDs not "officially" imported by appropriate local rights holder.
Here in Australia, they removed all parallel import restrictions on CDs and record stores didn't go out of business. Stores like JB Hi Fi, Sanity and others are still doing a roaring trade.
If the same thing happened in the UK and all the UK record stores were on the same level playing field (and could import stuff from Hong Kong just like CD-WOW does), this wouldn't be an issue.
A large part of the issue is that ISPs don't have and aren't willing to invest in links to the internet at large. So there just isn't the bandwidth to handle all this new traffic (YouTube, BitTorrent etc etc)
The obvious question is why don't the ISPs go and buy more upstream bandwidth (funded by people who are willing to pay extra for more downloads each month)
I find that google (at least for the stuff I search for) doesn't return a huge amount of crappy spam results and that the results I get back are usually usefull. But if someone can make a search engine that is better than google, great.
Search engines have come along way since the days of engines like WebCrawler, InfoSeek, Yahoo, HotBot, AltaVista and DogPile (all search engines I have used in the past but now don't use in favor of google)
1.Make merchants liable for credit card number theft if it can be shown that the merchant had a hand in it (for example, a merchant who was skimming card numbers on the side would be liable for the theft in both $ terms and loss of merchant account. Same with merchants who don't keep credit card numbers safe and allow them to appear on public website). 2.Make the BANKS, not the merchants liable for credit card fraud (in the same way as they are liable if someone steals your ATM card and PIN and uses it to withdraw cash from an ATM). 3.Implement more secure payment systems so that even if a website has a breach or hack attack or something, the information that is revealed isn't enough for a hacker to go and buy random stuff with peoples credit cards and make such secure payment systems mandatory. 4.Do more to actually track down scammers who are using stolen credit cards to buy stuff. The more people who actually get charged with the appropriate offense (especially if you can do a deal with the grunts to get at the Mr Bigs), the less likely it is that people will try to carry out the practice (since they will be more fearful of getting caught and going to "federal pound me in the ass prison" or having to pay a pile of money that they don't have) and 5.Make it easier to get your credit rating restored if it is tarnished because some scammer stole your card.
What will likely happen is that Microsoft will tell retailers not to sell the game (which will be rated M I imagine) to anyone under 17 or they won't get anymore games from Microsoft. Most major retailers will probably comply at the corporate level (and introduce it as policy). (since, like Microsoft, they probably don't really want kids getting hold of M rated games)
Then, if any copies of Halo 3 are sold to people under 17, Microsoft and the retailers can point the finger at individual stores for not following corporate policy.
Microsoft has nothing to gain from doing anything against Jack Thompson unless he actually sues them (in which case they need to fight hard). If Microsoft goes after Jack Thompson right now, Jack will paint Microsoft as "being ok with the sale of violent video games to minors".
Unfortunatly the greatest guitar game of all time is missing one of the greatest, if not THE greatest Aussie ever to play the guitar, Angus Young. Come on guys, how can you make such a stupid omission:(
All the gold in Ft Knox would not be enough to get a license from the DVDCCA that would make DVD players based on libdvdcss (which is how pretty much all of the "illegal" media players that play DVDs on linux currently do it afaik) legal to distribute.
The only option for DELL would be to write (or license from somewhere else) a closed source binary linux DVD player.
ffmpeg already supports flv for both playback and encoding I believe. As for an open source flash player, there is nothing to stop someone doing that as long as they don't use the Flash spec document from Adobe to do it. (see GNASH for the example that is the most usable at this point)
Now that JAVA is GPL, there is nothing stopping someone else producing a 64 bit browser plugin (unless the relavent bits of JAVA aren't open source yet)
How is that solution resistant to man-in-the-middle attacks? Picture this: Phisher copies main page. Unsuspecting user logs into fake bank page. Fake bank page passes username and password on to real bank page. User is now on real bank site only fake bank page now has their username and password.
The best idea I have seen is the idea of a little calculator type device that you plug the transaction details (amount and account number into) and get a hash back that you feed to the bank. That way, unless the hacker is able to steal the number inside the little calculator, they can't steal any money. Solves phishing, hosts file attacks, trojan horses, keyloggers and rootkits.
Ever seen CSI? Ever seen episodes where they have IDs (possibly even multiple sets with different names) but the fingerprints they have don't match to the IDs? And its not just TV, there have been cases in the past where people apply for jobs under fake names (to avoid criminal records and other "shady" stuff that would show up under a background check). Checking fingerprints against a database is the best way to be sure that you have found all the records on this person (under whatever name(s) they use now or have used in the past) as fingerprints can't be faked.
More to the point, why not the MPAA? Why does Warner Music get notified under this new bill when DHS finds pirate CDs but Warner Bros Pictures not get notified when DHS finds pirate DVDs?
I don't see Microsoft doing any deal with Sun that doesn't involve OO.o going away (being that OO.o and ODF are threats to Microsoft office). Or rather, Sun programmers doing work on OO.o going away (and no protection for anyone using OO.o from MS patents)
As for Dell, they will probably do a deal with MS that means they drop desktop linux (i.e. the Ubuntu deal) and pay some per-unit fees for every linux machine they sell for their server stuff.
IBM will probably cut a deal that basically means IBM is protected from MS patent suits except if they ever decide to sell desktop linux.
As for the embedded guys, they will probably get a deal for a per-unit royalty to MS on every device they sell, with the royalty on things that compete directly with MS (such as linux smartphones competing with windows mobile or set-top-boxes competing with Windows Media Center) set up to make linux less attractive and more attractive.
If this turns into more than just FUD and we see actual legal documents flying around, how will the various major players respond?
Specifically, I wonder how the following organizations will react: IBM (big in Linux these days) Dell (Given the timing one has to wonder if the new announcements by Microsoft are designed in part to kill the Dell Ubuntu machines) RedHat Sun Free Software Foundation (have Microsoft made any claims that FSF software infringes on their patents yet) Motorola, Cisco, Linksys and others who are using linux on embedded devices
The big question is who is going to keel over and stop using linux, who is going to "cut a deal" with Microsoft (IBM for example may just engage in some kind of cross license deal rather than try to fight) and who is going to fight?
But what happens when the Bank (or the hardware manufacturer) decides that this is Windows only? Or needs an ActiveX control inside IE to handle the details. And what do you do about devices that aren't PCs but which people want to do their banking on anyway (for example, mobile phones/PDAs, set top internet boxes/consoles etc)
Also, how do you ensure that the right data is being sent to the device and isn't being tampered with by spyware on the local machine?
Thats where some kind of offline device that looks like a little calculator would help. Basically if you want to transfer money to someone not on your "approved payees" list or if you want to add someone to your "approved payees" list, the banks website would generate a random number (something cryptographically secure I guess). Then you press "add payee" "random number" "enter" "payee account number" "enter" on your calculator thing and it spits out another number (using a unique number in the calculator) which you type into the banks website. Anyone dumb enough to enter the account number of a total stranger when they aren't even doing business with them deserves what they get.
The other answer is to use a bank thats so small (and with so few customers), it wont be the target of scams (because going after much bigger banks delivers a greater chance of finding 1 in who is actually going to be sucked into the scam)
The real reason for this change is to stop soldiers posting stuff (or posting stuff in a way that contradicts the official military line) that could embarrass the military or show that the military is doing stuff they shouldn't be (Abu Ghraib anyone?)
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If the market was actually free.
But as long as the market is concentrated in the hands of a few players who use their muscle and money to lock out competitors (municipal broadband, co-ops that want to run broadband etc) it needs to be regulated to prevent abuse of that market power.
Actually, I believe XBMC is for the first XBOX. I don't think homebrew is possible on the 360 unless you can somehow get a certain firmware version onto your 360 (without ever having something later that blows the hardware fuses and prevents a downgrade)
JB have actually benefited from the removal of parallel import restrictions, they have actually been one of the biggest importers of CDs not "officially" imported by appropriate local rights holder.
Here in Australia, they removed all parallel import restrictions on CDs and record stores didn't go out of business. Stores like JB Hi Fi, Sanity and others are still doing a roaring trade.
If the same thing happened in the UK and all the UK record stores were on the same level playing field (and could import stuff from Hong Kong just like CD-WOW does), this wouldn't be an issue.
A large part of the issue is that ISPs don't have and aren't willing to invest in links to the internet at large. So there just isn't the bandwidth to handle all this new traffic (YouTube, BitTorrent etc etc)
The obvious question is why don't the ISPs go and buy more upstream bandwidth (funded by people who are willing to pay extra for more downloads each month)
I find that google (at least for the stuff I search for) doesn't return a huge amount of crappy spam results and that the results I get back are usually usefull.
But if someone can make a search engine that is better than google, great.
Search engines have come along way since the days of engines like WebCrawler, InfoSeek, Yahoo, HotBot, AltaVista and DogPile (all search engines I have used in the past but now don't use in favor of google)
1.Make merchants liable for credit card number theft if it can be shown that the merchant had a hand in it (for example, a merchant who was skimming card numbers on the side would be liable for the theft in both $ terms and loss of merchant account. Same with merchants who don't keep credit card numbers safe and allow them to appear on public website).
2.Make the BANKS, not the merchants liable for credit card fraud (in the same way as they are liable if someone steals your ATM card and PIN and uses it to withdraw cash from an ATM).
3.Implement more secure payment systems so that even if a website has a breach or hack attack or something, the information that is revealed isn't enough for a hacker to go and buy random stuff with peoples credit cards and make such secure payment systems mandatory.
4.Do more to actually track down scammers who are using stolen credit cards to buy stuff. The more people who actually get charged with the appropriate offense (especially if you can do a deal with the grunts to get at the Mr Bigs), the less likely it is that people will try to carry out the practice (since they will be more fearful of getting caught and going to "federal pound me in the ass prison" or having to pay a pile of money that they don't have)
and 5.Make it easier to get your credit rating restored if it is tarnished because some scammer stole your card.
In my eyes, the NES advantage wins on coolness alone. After all, how many other joysticks have been used to drive huge statues around :)
What will likely happen is that Microsoft will tell retailers not to sell the game (which will be rated M I imagine) to anyone under 17 or they won't get anymore games from Microsoft. Most major retailers will probably comply at the corporate level (and introduce it as policy). (since, like Microsoft, they probably don't really want kids getting hold of M rated games)
Then, if any copies of Halo 3 are sold to people under 17, Microsoft and the retailers can point the finger at individual stores for not following corporate policy.
Microsoft has nothing to gain from doing anything against Jack Thompson unless he actually sues them (in which case they need to fight hard). If Microsoft goes after Jack Thompson right now, Jack will paint Microsoft as "being ok with the sale of violent video games to minors".
Unfortunatly the greatest guitar game of all time is missing one of the greatest, if not THE greatest Aussie ever to play the guitar, Angus Young. Come on guys, how can you make such a stupid omission :(
All the gold in Ft Knox would not be enough to get a license from the DVDCCA that would make DVD players based on libdvdcss (which is how pretty much all of the "illegal" media players that play DVDs on linux currently do it afaik) legal to distribute.
The only option for DELL would be to write (or license from somewhere else) a closed source binary linux DVD player.
ffmpeg already supports flv for both playback and encoding I believe.
As for an open source flash player, there is nothing to stop someone doing that as long as they don't use the Flash spec document from Adobe to do it. (see GNASH for the example that is the most usable at this point)
Now that JAVA is GPL, there is nothing stopping someone else producing a 64 bit browser plugin (unless the relavent bits of JAVA aren't open source yet)
How is that solution resistant to man-in-the-middle attacks?
Picture this:
Phisher copies main page. Unsuspecting user logs into fake bank page. Fake bank page passes username and password on to real bank page. User is now on real bank site only fake bank page now has their username and password.
The best idea I have seen is the idea of a little calculator type device that you plug the transaction details (amount and account number into) and get a hash back that you feed to the bank. That way, unless the hacker is able to steal the number inside the little calculator, they can't steal any money. Solves phishing, hosts file attacks, trojan horses, keyloggers and rootkits.
Ever seen CSI? Ever seen episodes where they have IDs (possibly even multiple sets with different names) but the fingerprints they have don't match to the IDs?
And its not just TV, there have been cases in the past where people apply for jobs under fake names (to avoid criminal records and other "shady" stuff that would show up under a background check). Checking fingerprints against a database is the best way to be sure that you have found all the records on this person (under whatever name(s) they use now or have used in the past) as fingerprints can't be faked.
When someone is going to wire an Exercise Bike to MAME for playing Prop Cycle :)
More to the point, why not the MPAA? Why does Warner Music get notified under this new bill when DHS finds pirate CDs but Warner Bros Pictures not get notified when DHS finds pirate DVDs?
I don't see Microsoft doing any deal with Sun that doesn't involve OO.o going away (being that OO.o and ODF are threats to Microsoft office). Or rather, Sun programmers doing work on OO.o going away (and no protection for anyone using OO.o from MS patents)
As for Dell, they will probably do a deal with MS that means they drop desktop linux (i.e. the Ubuntu deal) and pay some per-unit fees for every linux machine they sell for their server stuff.
IBM will probably cut a deal that basically means IBM is protected from MS patent suits except if they ever decide to sell desktop linux.
As for the embedded guys, they will probably get a deal for a per-unit royalty to MS on every device they sell, with the royalty on things that compete directly with MS (such as linux smartphones competing with windows mobile or set-top-boxes competing with Windows Media Center) set up to make linux less attractive and more attractive.
If this turns into more than just FUD and we see actual legal documents flying around, how will the various major players respond?
Specifically, I wonder how the following organizations will react:
IBM (big in Linux these days)
Dell (Given the timing one has to wonder if the new announcements by Microsoft are designed in part to kill the Dell Ubuntu machines)
RedHat
Sun
Free Software Foundation (have Microsoft made any claims that FSF software infringes on their patents yet)
Motorola, Cisco, Linksys and others who are using linux on embedded devices
The big question is who is going to keel over and stop using linux, who is going to "cut a deal" with Microsoft (IBM for example may just engage in some kind of cross license deal rather than try to fight) and who is going to fight?
For some reason your post made me think of TRON. I can almost picture different bots fighting it out on the Game Grid...
But what happens when the Bank (or the hardware manufacturer) decides that this is Windows only? Or needs an ActiveX control inside IE to handle the details.
And what do you do about devices that aren't PCs but which people want to do their banking on anyway (for example, mobile phones/PDAs, set top internet boxes/consoles etc)
Also, how do you ensure that the right data is being sent to the device and isn't being tampered with by spyware on the local machine?
Defiantly Oblivion (with the expansion pack).
Even when you beat the game you can go back and replay it again as a totally different character.
Thats where some kind of offline device that looks like a little calculator would help. Basically if you want to transfer money to someone not on your "approved payees" list or if you want to add someone to your "approved payees" list, the banks website would generate a random number (something cryptographically secure I guess). Then you press "add payee" "random number" "enter" "payee account number" "enter" on your calculator thing and it spits out another number (using a unique number in the calculator) which you type into the banks website. Anyone dumb enough to enter the account number of a total stranger when they aren't even doing business with them deserves what they get.
The other answer is to use a bank thats so small (and with so few customers), it wont be the target of scams (because going after much bigger banks delivers a greater chance of finding 1 in who is actually going to be sucked into the scam)
The real reason for this change is to stop soldiers posting stuff (or posting stuff in a way that contradicts the official military line) that could embarrass the military or show that the military is doing stuff they shouldn't be (Abu Ghraib anyone?)