This is more proof that Humans are not willing to co-exist with us mutants! When will you all wake up and see that? Join us now in the fight for self-defense before it is too late!
In essence I am very much opposed to all the nonsense about copy protection... to be precise, I believe they should pass a law PROHIBITING copy protection in the name of protecting fair use. That aside, I am going to take issue with some of the misleading things you are say.
If you want to talk about Britney Spears, Dr. Dre and the RIAA whining about losing their money, I am right there with you. But to say that actors and musicians are overpaid is an over generalization and incorrect.
If we ignore the minute minority that is financially successful, most actors and musicians make very modest livings. It was strange, therefore, back in the days of the Screen Actors Guild strike that everyone was complaining about rich actors striking in order to get even richer. Not really the case. Most of the members of SAG earn modest livings. They are the unknown people that appear in ads and commercials whos products you remember but whose faces you forget. They are the people in the back-ground and the small walk on parts. Some of those parts seem like they pay a lot of money, but when you consider that they will get work like that maybe once or twice a year, you realize that they must also work some other job as well.
Most musicians do things that don't make a lot of money either. Orchestral musicians for example, are not so highly paid. Singers, etc. don't necessarily get paid oodles for the jingles they sing or the albums their voices are on. Sometimes they work hard as wedding singers, bar singers and other little places where someone wants a live musician.
The neat thing about the peer to peer stuff (concerning music) was that it was a nice way to circumnavigate the main labels as a promotion vehicle, and that is what I suspect was the most fearsome aspect of it as far as the oligarchical industry was concerned.
But I know how you feel when the big artists become vocal about it. But it's not about them.
-- 1. Your right to burn CD's at will
-- 2. Your right to mod a Tivo
-- 3. Your right to download software of
any type you desire.
In my field, those three end up sometimes
being closely related to the first one.
The first one because information needs to be replicated. People need to be able to make back-ups of their media (for example a copy of commercial software that they depend on) in case the police/paramilitaries come and raid their building and steal it all.
The second one because they need to be able to modify and fix old, old hardware that nobody supports anymore. Or because they need to make modifications for their own personal use. Or they need to be able to open a machine and verify that it has not been tampered with. The erosion caused by anti-tampering laws create additional legal hurdles that can be used as an excuse to arrest/torture, etc.
The third is related to the right to download what ever the user wants without being spied on by the local authorities. It's obvious that you are referring to piracy, but restrictions on what people download could adversly affect people in restrictive countries. The more these rights are encroached, the harder it will become to get access to anonymous information and free software that can help people under the regime of evil, violent oppressors.
These are all related to digital consumer rights, which as the human rights community becomes more and more dependent on technology to work, becomes more and more important to human rights as a whole.
Wow! How can you afford all the tools to do that? You must be loaded. Well.... ok, the modeller is free.
True, I've seen/worked professionally on the development platform. Generates very ugly and hacky code, but it does get the job done. Do not underestimate how much support those tools provide.
But overall, it hurts to look at that code, and it doesn't run anywhere else.
The only thing at this point keeping me with a very very old copy of Windows 98 at home is the fact that the games are all there.
Unfortunately, this situation does not seem to be diminishing. What's worse, more games are coming out for XBox, and NOT on the PC platform, meaning to continue my lifestyle, I would need one of those... which is unthinkable to me.
I will completely abandon Windows when I have outgrown computer games. All my favorite development tools are on GNU/Linux or are cross platform. In fact, I even like Netbeans (free/open software) better than Borland JBuilder, which I happen to like a lot. For graphics, I like Gimp, although it takes getting used to. Mozilla has finally reached a critical point in development for me (and I want to develop for Mozilla as a platform). OpenOffice does more than I'll ever need, and doesn't even give me enough problems with Word documents anymore. The chat clients are better, text editing better, etc. Evolution is better than Outlook for me. I've had it with that other MS thing.
But the games...
I used to work at home, and when I did, I used GNU/Linux. Now I work in an office, and I still use GNU/Linux there. In fact, we are working very hard to ensure that all of our clients use GNU/Linux. There are two reasons. One, Free and Open software does not cost money, that's obvious. Our clients are poor NGO's, often working in even poorer countries. But there is another... with the continuing introduction of new technologies to track and control content, computers and their use, it is concievable that it will become more difficult for our clients to continue working with Windows in the areas where they are working. Often, they live in places with oppressive governments and need to maintain a certain degree of anonymity and we must be certain that there computer does not communicate what they do to a third party. Can't do it with closed source stuff, and more and more it's harder to do with Windows.
In short, our clients are only using microsoft for application compatibility, but that will change. In some instances, their lives may depend on it.
Woah! Void the warranty? Is that anywhere in writing, because if so it's the case we need to stop the order! It does defeat the purpose of going with Dell at all.
The problem was that we wanted to make sure that we had good support in case something went wrong with the hardware. Our client, who is not very technical and has no resources (I think the organization is 2 people so far) would not be able to maintain it themselves in the event that their relationship with us terminates.
Do the other other vendors who do in fact sell perfectly adaquate computers (using non-Intel parts, for a start) provide that level of support, if so, then who?
Yes, I recognize that Dell should not be expected to support the OS that they did not install. We are providing this organization with software support, but if something goes wrong with the hardware (specifically, it is running and then one day kaput), we wanted to have a Dell guy show up at their door the next day.
Of course, I once had an experience with Dell where they wouldn't support a network PCMCIA card that they shipped with a laptop they were shipping me because it didn't come installed in the machine. I think they should have made sure that if they send me 2 things that are meant to be used together, they know that they work together (if I bought the card seperately or from another vendor I understand them not supporting it). Ok, I will except insults telling me how I should never have returned to Dell after THAT experience.
The problem was that we wanted to make sure that we had good support in case something went wrong with the hardware. Our client, who is not very technical and has no resources (I think the organization is 2 people so far) would not be able to maintain it themselves in the event that their relationship with us terminates.
Do the other other vendors who do in fact sell perfectly adaquate computers (using non-Intel parts, for a start) provide that level of support, if so, then who?
Right, I did misread it, and I'm sorry about that. I agree with your post. All this law would do would really shift the burden of proof, and frankly, I'm not in the mood for that.
Interesting. The shift in the burden of truth. I do believe you have a point in that this is what the law is intended to do. Otherwise, the burden of proof is on the RIAA to show they didn't cause damage they are liable for.
You know, I never figured out if someone proved there is a causal link. Did the industry give the politician money, and then they voted they way they want, or does industry just give money to people who have the same attitudes to them. Is this Berman fellow already on the other side of the copyright issue and the music industry decided to help his campaign (thereby undermining democracy in a much more subtle way) or is he just taking bribes?
I've always believed in the bribing scenario, but we need more conclusive proof to make the case.
This is what I think the scenario is. Music firms have been hiring other firms to go out and seed the web with dummy versions of their files. The bill would most likely protect the music company from being sued for damages arising from the extra bandwidth usage.
I think that's still too weak a reason to introduce the bill. Potential for many unintended side effects.
There is due process. The bill discusses a whole series of procedures that a "file trader" can undertake in order to hold the company liable for illegal damage.
Oh, I am still against the thing, just not for that reason.
Presumably, their next step will be to change text output, so that text is displayed at a rate of a few characters per second, again accompanied by suitable sound-effects.
I wrote a program when I was at university to do that. It was so cool. It was so useless.
Hey that's a really good point you make there at the end. It's good to rail against this fellow for not understanding the complexity of computer systems.
However, putting forth something constructive is harder to do.
It's very likely the lawyer who wrote the article is using MS software (which although I hate it with a passion, it seems as if almost everyone uses that stuff). Does maybe that Norton stuff help out with some of these issues? I know they produce firewall software. Of course, and easy to use Open Source solution would be better, but loads of people seem to prefer wasting money.
I think those folks have no pretense about being great software producers. They have written something that functions, in general, sufficiently. Been in to the code, and even have added code, and I agree it's in knots, and they have no intent on re-writing it. Fortunately, character generation is not a highly mission critical application. Was able to use it very successfully in practice.
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This is more proof that Humans are not willing to co-exist with us mutants! When will you all wake up and see that? Join us now in the fight for self-defense before it is too late!
Oh for heavens sake, I am not going to get bogged down in to a discussion trying to see which is worse, how repulsive...
How about a nuclear power plant? Change things for you?
I'm sure there are people in International Banking, Nuclear Power, Retail and Security (among others) who might take issue with that statement.
In essence I am very much opposed to all the nonsense about copy protection... to be precise, I believe they should pass a law PROHIBITING copy protection in the name of protecting fair use. That aside, I am going to take issue with some of the misleading things you are say.
If you want to talk about Britney Spears, Dr. Dre and the RIAA whining about losing their money, I am right there with you. But to say that actors and musicians are overpaid is an over generalization and incorrect.
If we ignore the minute minority that is financially successful, most actors and musicians make very modest livings. It was strange, therefore, back in the days of the Screen Actors Guild strike that everyone was complaining about rich actors striking in order to get even richer. Not really the case. Most of the members of SAG earn modest livings. They are the unknown people that appear in ads and commercials whos products you remember but whose faces you forget. They are the people in the back-ground and the small walk on parts. Some of those parts seem like they pay a lot of money, but when you consider that they will get work like that maybe once or twice a year, you realize that they must also work some other job as well.
Most musicians do things that don't make a lot of money either. Orchestral musicians for example, are not so highly paid. Singers, etc. don't necessarily get paid oodles for the jingles they sing or the albums their voices are on. Sometimes they work hard as wedding singers, bar singers and other little places where someone wants a live musician.
The neat thing about the peer to peer stuff (concerning music) was that it was a nice way to circumnavigate the main labels as a promotion vehicle, and that is what I suspect was the most fearsome aspect of it as far as the oligarchical industry was concerned.
But I know how you feel when the big artists become vocal about it. But it's not about them.
-- 2. Fighting evil, violent oppressors
I do that one.
-- 1. Your right to burn CD's at will
-- 2. Your right to mod a Tivo
-- 3. Your right to download software of
any type you desire.
In my field, those three end up sometimes being closely related to the first one.
These are all related to digital consumer rights, which as the human rights community becomes more and more dependent on technology to work, becomes more and more important to human rights as a whole.
I don't know, the protest seems more like fun, in some odd way.
Wow! How can you afford all the tools to do that? You must be loaded. Well.... ok, the modeller is free.
True, I've seen/worked professionally on the development platform. Generates very ugly and hacky code, but it does get the job done. Do not underestimate how much support those tools provide.
But overall, it hurts to look at that code, and it doesn't run anywhere else.
The only thing at this point keeping me with a very very old copy of Windows 98 at home is the fact that the games are all there.
Unfortunately, this situation does not seem to be diminishing. What's worse, more games are coming out for XBox, and NOT on the PC platform, meaning to continue my lifestyle, I would need one of those... which is unthinkable to me.
I will completely abandon Windows when I have outgrown computer games. All my favorite development tools are on GNU/Linux or are cross platform. In fact, I even like Netbeans (free/open software) better than Borland JBuilder, which I happen to like a lot. For graphics, I like Gimp, although it takes getting used to. Mozilla has finally reached a critical point in development for me (and I want to develop for Mozilla as a platform). OpenOffice does more than I'll ever need, and doesn't even give me enough problems with Word documents anymore. The chat clients are better, text editing better, etc. Evolution is better than Outlook for me. I've had it with that other MS thing.
But the games...
I used to work at home, and when I did, I used GNU/Linux. Now I work in an office, and I still use GNU/Linux there. In fact, we are working very hard to ensure that all of our clients use GNU/Linux. There are two reasons. One, Free and Open software does not cost money, that's obvious. Our clients are poor NGO's, often working in even poorer countries. But there is another... with the continuing introduction of new technologies to track and control content, computers and their use, it is concievable that it will become more difficult for our clients to continue working with Windows in the areas where they are working. Often, they live in places with oppressive governments and need to maintain a certain degree of anonymity and we must be certain that there computer does not communicate what they do to a third party. Can't do it with closed source stuff, and more and more it's harder to do with Windows.
In short, our clients are only using microsoft for application compatibility, but that will change. In some instances, their lives may depend on it.
Woah! Void the warranty? Is that anywhere in writing, because if so it's the case we need to stop the order! It does defeat the purpose of going with Dell at all.
The problem was that we wanted to make sure that we had good support in case something went wrong with the hardware. Our client, who is not very technical and has no resources (I think the organization is 2 people so far) would not be able to maintain it themselves in the event that their relationship with us terminates. Do the other other vendors who do in fact sell perfectly adaquate computers (using non-Intel parts, for a start) provide that level of support, if so, then who?
Of course, I once had an experience with Dell where they wouldn't support a network PCMCIA card that they shipped with a laptop they were shipping me because it didn't come installed in the machine. I think they should have made sure that if they send me 2 things that are meant to be used together, they know that they work together (if I bought the card seperately or from another vendor I understand them not supporting it). Ok, I will except insults telling me how I should never have returned to Dell after THAT experience.
The problem was that we wanted to make sure that we had good support in case something went wrong with the hardware. Our client, who is not very technical and has no resources (I think the organization is 2 people so far) would not be able to maintain it themselves in the event that their relationship with us terminates.
Do the other other vendors who do in fact sell perfectly adaquate computers (using non-Intel parts, for a start) provide that level of support, if so, then who?
Right, I did misread it, and I'm sorry about that. I agree with your post. All this law would do would really shift the burden of proof, and frankly, I'm not in the mood for that.
It actually took me this long to realize I had mispelled "warfare". Thanks.
Interesting. The shift in the burden of truth. I do believe you have a point in that this is what the law is intended to do. Otherwise, the burden of proof is on the RIAA to show they didn't cause damage they are liable for.
You know, I never figured out if someone proved there is a causal link. Did the industry give the politician money, and then they voted they way they want, or does industry just give money to people who have the same attitudes to them. Is this Berman fellow already on the other side of the copyright issue and the music industry decided to help his campaign (thereby undermining democracy in a much more subtle way) or is he just taking bribes?
I've always believed in the bribing scenario, but we need more conclusive proof to make the case.
I didn't realize those two techniques were not legal, and even after posting to other people about them. How are they illegal?
I think that's still too weak a reason to introduce the bill. Potential for many unintended side effects.
There is due process. The bill discusses a whole series of procedures that a "file trader" can undertake in order to hold the company liable for illegal damage.
Oh, I am still against the thing, just not for that reason.
I think that P2P warefare IS an ideology.
I wrote a program when I was at university to do that. It was so cool. It was so useless.
Hooray! I love the absence of the rule of law! It reminds me of Afghanistan and Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
However, putting forth something constructive is harder to do.
It's very likely the lawyer who wrote the article is using MS software (which although I hate it with a passion, it seems as if almost everyone uses that stuff). Does maybe that Norton stuff help out with some of these issues? I know they produce firewall software. Of course, and easy to use Open Source solution would be better, but loads of people seem to prefer wasting money.
I think those folks have no pretense about being great software producers. They have written something that functions, in general, sufficiently. Been in to the code, and even have added code, and I agree it's in knots, and they have no intent on re-writing it. Fortunately, character generation is not a highly mission critical application. Was able to use it very successfully in practice.