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User: I+Want+GNU!

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Comments · 236

  1. the record companies on Copyright Office Proposes Webcasting Regs · · Score: 1

    These record companies just keep getting worse and worse. The sad thing is, barely any artists actually get paid for their work anyway. The artist gets screwed over, as does the consumer, by associations like the RIAA, the middlemen who take all the money. It is preposterous that they keep doing this with unnatural laws and restrictions on the music that they didn't even create themselves, and I say that the artists should stand up to them once and for all and throw down the shackles of current music copyright law! They should take matters into their own hand, set up co-op type of organizations, and distribute music themselves! This way, artists that don't make much money at all now could make a lot more, and artists that do make a lot could make even more. Plus, prices could be lower since the RIAA isn't artificially keeping them high, and this helps the end-user as well! More musicians could actually make money off their work, whereas many at the moment are struggling to make a living.

  2. Re:IP and Beta Testers on Beta-Testers and Intellectual Property? · · Score: 1

    I apologize for breaking this to you in such a manner, but what seems logical is not the US Copyright Law. Sure, they wrote the code and provided free service to the others, but US Copyright mandates that everything people say or think, that is written down or recorded in some manner (such as email), is that person's Intellectual Property, even if inherently obvious. Any derivative works, even if the origin was known already, are property of that first respective user. It is rather unfortunate that obvious knowledge can so easily be copyrighted, but the silly US legal system already allowed patents on the hyperlink, image galleries, and buying things with one click.

  3. Re:Not unless they suggest improvements on Beta-Testers and Intellectual Property? · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Oh? Since when don't I own IP of things I point out? You don't need to completely solve the problem to own your own IP. Maybe you are smarter than the rest of us, but aren't many jobs about what you are speaking, that which is problem solving? I firmly believe that everyone owns the rights to their own IP, things that they think of and have in writing. Now, the only question is if they use it for good or evil. Information wants to be free, but you can't go stealing other information from people and claiming "but oh! they didn't tell me how to code the problem fix!" Sorry to point this out, but I felt it had to be said.

  4. It is all in the contract.. on Beta-Testers and Intellectual Property? · · Score: 1, Interesting

    IANAL, but my company got into a messy situation like this once before. Basically, if you don't have an explicit contract and you live in the US, you are screwed. The way the US copyright law is setup is that if you have an idea or something written down (such as in an email), you automatically have a copyright to it. You can still buy a copyright with the copyright office in order to prove it, but even without doing this you still have all rights to your Intellectual Property. It is really sad the way this works, but it is the law, so we must face it. So, I recommend either giving them the appropriate share of profits, or moving to Europe. :-) Simple as that, even if you made it. Sad, huh?

  5. They did! on Palm OS 5.0 Preview · · Score: 0, Troll

    I emailed Palm user support and they sent me some back! They have preview software with demo emulation of them available if you email user support and you are a developer (they just didn't say so on that url)! They are trying hard to keep all their developers on base. It isn't the PalmOS great, it is the amazing developer community that surrounds them, and they are trying to keep them happy! For, without third party developers, all you have is extra space but nothing to do with it, and it is just a fancy organizer.

  6. Re:Thin on detail on Palm OS 5.0 Preview · · Score: 1

    No, I am fully aware of that, it is just that there are powertools for SDK users that don't come with the free version. It is missing tons of the features that developers need and no serious developers would go without. They are just trying to get people interested in it so that they buy the real thing! I think I would know, since I have produced **many** independent GPL software packages for PalmOS, but it has been complicated by the fact that several of my fellow developers do not own a license to these power tools, if you will.

  7. Re:Palm/Visor... on Palm OS 5.0 Preview · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How is this a downside? It fits perfectly with Handspring's market strategy! They have to pay Palm for each upgrade, but of course they can still sell the Visors with only the newest OS on them. Plus, I'm sure Palm wouldn't want one of their licensees to have a userbase getting all the upgrades for free, then they wouldn't sell many new ones, would they now!!?!

  8. Re:but the patent... on Palm OS 5.0 Preview · · Score: 1, Insightful
    Palm sales aren't down because people are buying so many HP's & Compaq's....a 44% decline in Palm's unit sales would be more units than HP and Compaq sell in a year. Palm sales are down because people with Palm 3's (or even older) are still using them to do the same simple tasks they've done since day 1 and have no reason to upgrade. They saturated the market but haven't managed to create upgrade demand.
    Let me get this straight...you think that they are losing 44% by virtue of saturating the market, in other words selling too many?? I have read all the news articles and this is not so, it is due to declining market share that it is losing to all the great new color PDAs. You are either a cunning troll or a misinformed user.
  9. Re:Thin on detail on Palm OS 5.0 Preview · · Score: 1
    Most importantly, will Palm still be freely allowing development by releasing the SDK for free? (the move to ARM might have given them an opportunity to switch from gcc, thereby making this a question)
    I love linux and GPL stuff as much as the next guy, and perhaps even more (I added some of the HTTPS protocol stuff, and got my office to switch to it), but cmon, do you really think Palm is gonna do that? They make **TONS** of money from developers by selling SDKs, and it is one of their largest revenue streams. **Plus**, they already have a **huge** developer base, and releasing it for free would not increase that by much.
  10. but the patent... on Palm OS 5.0 Preview · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I am not a patent lawyer, but what about Xerox's patent on the Graffiti technology? With all due respect to Palm for making a popular product, Xerox patented the technology that makes them the most popular. Plus, Palm sales are down 44%, and people are wanting to get the flashier HP PDA's these days. I remain skeptical over how much this can improve. Palms are pretty good for the amount of money they are (although Visors are better), but they really cannot compare to the HP-Jordana series and the Compaq iPaq, not to mention all these Linux PDAs that are coming out.

  11. I work in AI, and... on Arguing A.I. · · Score: 2, Funny

    I work researching Artificial Intelligence, and I can tell you firsthand that these are not just fantasies. In the future, with advances like nanotechnology and quantum computing, it will be much, *much*, easier to write a complex AI in a small space. I mean, what are humans but computers? We have our central processor unit and several other hi-tech gizmos. But, we are organic, and this causes many problems. It is easy to become diseased and pass on. But, with quantum computing and nanotech, we will be able to do much more complex things without all the bugs and hassles of organic computing, which is humans!