Good post. (someone mod this guy up:) I finished reading the transcript and noticed that the Govt side of the arguments seemed to be a lot weaker than Lessig's. (Appeal to authority in the form of the EU, neglecting the fact that the EU changed its copyright terms to match the US, not the other way round, the argument that the previous extensions weren't challenged before, so of course they're correct, and so on)
I think that they wanted to look at the two halves of his argument separately, while he kept referring to one as supporting the other.
Yeah, I gathered that. I think Lessig realised that there was a fair amount of synergy in the parts of his argument, but I think it turned out passably, despite the questioning. He was right to have reserved a few minutes for the end, IMO. His summation really highlighted the holes in the opposition's arguments.
btw thanks for pointing out it's Lessig, not Eldred, doing the argument. I am teh suck.
I'm only a quarter of the way through the Eldred arguments, IANAL, insert disclaimer here, but it seems to me that many of the judges asking these questions just don't have an understanding of Eldred's arguments, yet are interrupting him with questions from all directions so as not to let him completely answer it.
That's just my take on it, but it just seems like they didn't buy his argument, and they're just being deliberately obtuse about it.
There's something nostalgic about playing a game you played as a kid, way back when there was nothing unusual that your character was a pixel the size of your fist.
Some of the technological solutions offered last time this came up on Slashdot talked about cell phone jammers. If it's a civil offense, you can forget to turn your phone off and the worst you can happen is that you get fined. If you are getting jammed, the worst that can happen is that you can't call 911 when you have to, then your family sues the state government for damages after you die.
If you really need your phone, then your company won't mind sucking up the fines when you're called back to the server farm or hospital or wherever you're needed.
Frankly opensource is too big. If Microsoft renders its systems incompatible with the GPL, then it will be Microsoft, and not the OS community, that suffers.
I say, let 'em try.
You think? I believe you're not looking at the bigger picture. The open source movement is a t a point where big business is starting to take it seriously. What Longhorn attepts to do is is dump linux from the desktop, because all the client progams will barf when they don't see MS-certified keys when they install. That's only half the story, though. You need those killer applications otherwise people will just install some other OS, and you've lost your leverage with the OEMshardware makers, and your momentum stops.
The other half is the network services. What if your online bank rejected non-WindowsDRM compliant Operating Systems? What if all the websites you wanted to go to required Passport, or conversely if those websites HAD to run.NET-compatible OSes in order to be accessed by WindowsDRM machines? Microsoft doesn't own the web, but if they make their own proprietary internetworking system (*cough*.NET*cough*) then they've won half the war. They can afford to play nice and let.NET become really popular before introducing "optional" security settings, then embrace and extend to taste. They need critical mass in both the server and the client to win the war, but they only need to break Linux's interoperability with Windows to relegate Linux into a niche market - an OS which doesn't "work" with the new Net.
Can I make backup copies of my music CDs?
Making a backup copy of a CD will involve making a reproduction of the music, lyrics and sound recordings on that CD.
The right to reproduce the work is one of the exclusive rights of the owners of copyright in those items. You may not
legally make a back up copy of a CD when the CD contains material that is protected by copyright unless you have
permission from the owner of copyright or a special exception applies to your use.
...and withdraw from your bank account? The one with your name, address and account history attached, administrated by the bank that has access to your home loan details and credit history?
"...AMCOS said it would endorse the CD-pirating kiosks for a standard royalty of about 6 per cent."
Yet another case of taxing everyone for the deeds of the few. Unfortunately, Australia has no laws about fair use (ok, they do have exemptions in their version of the DMCA, but only if the material wasn't copy-protected in the first place) so I guess it's better than expected.
Since we're paying royalties, does this mean we're entitled to copy and give these copied CDs away? After all, the artist is being compensated so it's not stealing, is it?
It's called Squabble named after the website that uses it. It's not ready for prime time yet (they are working on v2.0, which in their words "Won't cause as much embarrassment to us when people brose the code").
As far as help goes, I'm sure if you contacted Clay, he would be happy to talk.
Airport face identification isn't practical? Try telling the Australian Government that. They are trialling a hybrid face-recognition/biometric passport system that sends shivers up my spine.
OK, point taken. However, the business logic wouldn't be that hard in any case, elections being fairly simple affairs, unlike air traffic control:)
The point is that it's quite simple to swap out bits of the business logic that doesn't apply (especially if the code is open source). If the German Government can demonstrate that secure, reliable, comparitively inexpensive elections can be done on an open source platform, then other governments may be able to see beyond the Microsoft Solution(tm) and go their own way.
First off, congratulations to the German Government. It's good to see the German people upholding the values of democracy, in ironic counterpoint to the USA:P
The obvious question is this: The German Government now has the software for handling elections; will they now offer that software to the governments of other countries for (free|low cost)?
Slashdot Mirror
I believe you are confused.
Ducat n.
A piece of money.
vs.
Ducket n.
You can do what you please with your ducats, but please be careful with your duckets. Ducklings can break.
How long before the Japanese Yakuza start selling robotic Steve Irwins to disable them?
You mean, you don't read slashdot?
Does this mean that once quantum computers arrive, we will experience quantum entanglement?
Thank you, I'll be here all week :P
Good post. (someone mod this guy up :) I finished reading the transcript and noticed that the Govt side of the arguments seemed to be a lot weaker than Lessig's. (Appeal to authority in the form of the EU, neglecting the fact that the EU changed its copyright terms to match the US, not the other way round, the argument that the previous extensions weren't challenged before, so of course they're correct, and so on)
I think that they wanted to look at the two halves of his argument separately, while he kept referring to one as supporting the other.
Yeah, I gathered that. I think Lessig realised that there was a fair amount of synergy in the parts of his argument, but I think it turned out passably, despite the questioning. He was right to have reserved a few minutes for the end, IMO. His summation really highlighted the holes in the opposition's arguments.
btw thanks for pointing out it's Lessig, not Eldred, doing the argument. I am teh suck.
I'm only a quarter of the way through the Eldred arguments, IANAL, insert disclaimer here, but it seems to me that many of the judges asking these questions just don't have an understanding of Eldred's arguments, yet are interrupting him with questions from all directions so as not to let him completely answer it.
That's just my take on it, but it just seems like they didn't buy his argument, and they're just being deliberately obtuse about it.
Actually, as previously mentioned, the easiest way to bet would be buying put or set options on MSFT.
A /. poll so we can guess the outcome.
What do you think the judgement will be?
Heck, that's worth wagering on. Anyone for SlashBet?
There's something nostalgic about playing a game you played as a kid, way back when there was nothing unusual that your character was a pixel the size of your fist.
Okay, now that we have the ornithopters, bring on the cute fremchicks!
I can see the testimonials popping up on distro sites...
"The competition it offers helps everyone" - New York Times (registration required)
Some of the technological solutions offered last time this came up on Slashdot talked about cell phone jammers. If it's a civil offense, you can forget to turn your phone off and the worst you can happen is that you get fined. If you are getting jammed, the worst that can happen is that you can't call 911 when you have to, then your family sues the state government for damages after you die.
If you really need your phone, then your company won't mind sucking up the fines when you're called back to the server farm or hospital or wherever you're needed.
Turnabout's fair play, eh?
You think? I believe you're not looking at the bigger picture. The open source movement is a t a point where big business is starting to take it seriously. What Longhorn attepts to do is is dump linux from the desktop, because all the client progams will barf when they don't see MS-certified keys when they install. That's only half the story, though. You need those killer applications otherwise people will just install some other OS, and you've lost your leverage with the OEMshardware makers, and your momentum stops.
The other half is the network services. What if your online bank rejected non-WindowsDRM compliant Operating Systems? What if all the websites you wanted to go to required Passport, or conversely if those websites HAD to run .NET-compatible OSes in order to be accessed by WindowsDRM machines? Microsoft doesn't own the web, but if they make their own proprietary internetworking system (*cough*.NET*cough*) then they've won half the war. They can afford to play nice and let .NET become really popular before introducing "optional" security settings, then embrace and extend to taste. They need critical mass in both the server and the client to win the war, but they only need to break Linux's interoperability with Windows to relegate Linux into a niche market - an OS which doesn't "work" with the new Net.
From the Australian Copyright Council Fact Sheet: (PDF)
Visit your ATM infrequently...
...and withdraw from your bank account? The one with your name, address and account history attached, administrated by the bank that has access to your home loan details and credit history?
Yet another case of taxing everyone for the deeds of the few. Unfortunately, Australia has no laws about fair use (ok, they do have exemptions in their version of the DMCA, but only if the material wasn't copy-protected in the first place) so I guess it's better than expected.
Since we're paying royalties, does this mean we're entitled to copy and give these copied CDs away? After all, the artist is being compensated so it's not stealing, is it?
It's called Squabble named after the website that uses it. It's not ready for prime time yet (they are working on v2.0, which in their words "Won't cause as much embarrassment to us when people brose the code").
As far as help goes, I'm sure if you contacted Clay, he would be happy to talk.
"let's see what happens."
I'll save you the trouble. Imagine thousands of overweight geeks who make the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons look like Brad Pitt.
Now imagine them all leaping on you at once.
It will be interesting whether community networks such as Sydney Wireless and air.net.au will prevail over this company. One oft-neglected point in favour of local networks is that all of the traffic stays in the geographic region. Most of Australia's horrific net access costs are due to the fact that most data accessed by Australians is served from the US backbone, which costs money (there are no reciprocal bandwidth agreements with the US providers). With very limited access to the greater Internet, a local wireless network will still be able to host local sites, allow P2P and allow many local game servers with no per-MB costs.
That's a very attractive option in a country where broadband is download-capped.
Airport face identification isn't practical? Try telling the Australian Government that. They are trialling a hybrid face-recognition/biometric passport system that sends shivers up my spine.
OK, point taken. However, the business logic wouldn't be that hard in any case, elections being fairly simple affairs, unlike air traffic control :)
The point is that it's quite simple to swap out bits of the business logic that doesn't apply (especially if the code is open source). If the German Government can demonstrate that secure, reliable, comparitively inexpensive elections can be done on an open source platform, then other governments may be able to see beyond the Microsoft Solution(tm) and go their own way.
First off, congratulations to the German Government. It's good to see the German people upholding the values of democracy, in ironic counterpoint to the USA :P
The obvious question is this: The German Government now has the software for handling elections; will they now offer that software to the governments of other countries for (free|low cost)?
Where do they get these judges?
From the Chilling Effect School of Law, of course!
So, do we love or hate the MPAA today? It's hard to keep track.