Well, there's a huge portion of it which is already in the public domain. So we could start with that.
While we are at it, let's scale back the copyright limits back to life of creator + 20 years (or even farther back as far as I'm concerned), and bring back more of the booty which the corporations have plundered from us, the public.
There are better posts, modded high even, above which detail what I'm about to say, but the point of the tax is to fund public broadcasting, the opint of which is to prevent a media which is excessively controlled by vested interets. This is the current situation in the U.S. An early strategy of the Nazi regime was to remove laws restricting private ownership of media, allowing a few corporations to control all mass information dissemination, making it easier to control public opinion and filter information. So I think the idea of having a non-private non-corporate media system in addition to private options is a good one. Now the question is how to pay for it?
Please take a look at another post in this topic titled "private taxation begins at home". It makes some good points, which I will not repeat here, as I assume you know how to do a ctl-f.
Another option for funding would have been to fund these services from income tax, or property tax or some such, but the idea was to tax people who actually make use of the service. While it's a bit of an administrative pain, I like the idea. On the other hand if you have alternatives to suggest, I would be happy to hear them. However let me say in advance that I do not think fully privatized media is a good alternative, for the reason I have given, and which others in this topic have already elaborated on.
If you are interested in a detailed analysis of corporate media control in the modern world (the critisicm is not only limited to the U.S.) may I recommend "Manufactured Consent" which is available both as a book and as a documentary film.
I'm in Switzerland where we have a similar such TV tax, but the tax is only per household, not per TV. So wouldn't a small business still only pay the same fee as a household with one computer, regardless of how many computers they own? In this case I would expect that while the tax is yet another annoying detail, it isn't really a burden for the average small business. Do you agree with this, or am I making false assumptions?
Slim odds of conquering developign nations? My tukus!
Compromise, adapting to the realities of business world and adapting to social pressures? That's unamerican!
C'mon Microsoft, instead of shelling out all that money to your investors, let's see use that money productively. Hire a mercenary company, buy some tanks and fighter planes, and let the new age of corporate warfare begin! Then when you've established a military Junta you sure as hell won't have to worry about getting the police to enforce your copyright law! And talk about monopolistic power!
Well, it's initial research isn't it. Clearly there are other factors to consider. But I think it's impressive as 'proof of concept' anyway: indicating that further research (i.e. handling turns, pedestrians, etc) is worthwhile.
As for pedestrians, It's pretty common in busier intersections here in Europe to provide overpasses or underpasses. Hell I've even seen them in Canada and Alaska, and a few places in the states. So where these are worthwhile this issue can even be dropped (and in fact these kind of high traffic areas are probably the domain of interest for the technology).
What the hell is wrong with all you people? It's been said in other posts, but bears repeating. It's fantastic and admirable that Turner is saying these things. He's exactly the right person to be complaining about it.
The rule changes he opposes/opposed profit/profited him! That doesn't make him a hypocrite, that makes him a rare thing among the wealthy: a man of principle. Good for him.
Okay, I'm completely against software patents. BUT, let's admit that there is a hell of a lot of corporate power against us getting software patents thrown out.
So what about a compromise: Say six months or a year on software or IP patents with no renewability. The justification is obvious: devleopment and communication is much higher today, and we want to keep it that way. This way if a company comes up with a novel idea, they get to profit off of it for a year, and recoup some of their development expenses (ahem). And the idea goes back into the public arena after a reasonable time removing the mafia aspect of software patents.
Now, I know there are still a number of countries out there where flogging is a punishment: Afghanistan, Angola, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Kyrgystan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Quartar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates (VAR) and Yemen.
I would make a trip, and even go so far as to buy an admission ticket, if I could see a spammer flogged. Perhaps this could even be a tourist industry...
It's the single most evil piece of music I think I've ever heard (except for Wumpscut).
How can you possibly make that claim? So many counterexamples come to mind... Anything by Vanilla Ice for example, or M.C. Hammer, or "The Macarena" all spring immediately to mind.
My personal choice for most evil song ever is "Heaven is a Place on Earth" which I think was by Belinda Carlisle. Somehow the world conspired to have my radio alarm clock wake me with this spermatazoa of satan every morning of my senior year of high school.
In the three times I've heard this in the last five years, I just had to take the rest of the day off and recover.
I love Anime, and I've had vaginal intercourse with over 35 women (I lost count), and sexual intercourse (including hand jobs, oral sex etc) with more than 50.
Some of them really like Anime too. Miyazaki films are great films to show a date, and they usually come out of them interested in watching more Anime. If you're seeing a girl on a regular basis, a really good choice is maison ikkoku.
I agree the DMCA is a reprehensible piece of legislature. It was designed to help corporations at the expense of citizens, which is precisely the opposit of what should be the true goal of governments.
However, if you use the DMCA in this case, who are you benefiting? You, a citizen, and the FSF and Free Software movement. Who are you hurting? A guy who's taking advantage of people and making a crooked buck off of your work. Further this kind of behavior damages the legitimacy and marketability of these licenses. So nail him with the DMCA.
I don't think using the DMCA here will strengthen the law, or make it more difficult to combat. Am I wrong about this? I'd like to know if so.
I don't see a moral dilemna here. The law exists. I don't see any contradiction in simultaneously using the law, and fighting against it. In fact, in a public hearing or something of that nature, I would consider a comment to the effect of "I myself have used the DMCA to enforce the LGPL on some of my works. Nonetheless I feel it is a faulty law which causes more harm than good..." quite reasonable. I would also consider the person making the statement to be speaking from a position of experience and first hand knowledge.
And if you ever get the opportunity to nail a corporation that was behind the DMCA with an application of the DMCA, then hoo-rah. Hit them as hard as you can.
Man partisan politics is one of the most screwed up things about this country.
Clinton was F-ck. He was a more charming F-ck, and better at international relations that Bush, but he was still a F-ck. These laws are wrong. It's the existance of the laws that is bad. This is a pretty typical pattern. Make a law. Enforce it lightly while the people get used to the existence of the law. Then, nail them hard. Bad law. Simple as that. Laws need to be designed carefully so they cannot be abused.
I agree the Republicans are evil. But Clinton was a big globalization bastard and his administration just created smooth sailing for all those corporations shipping jobs overseas so they can get away with only paying $2-$5 bucks an hour with no benefits. During the Clinton administration, despite the robust economic growth, the average wage DECLINED. What's that mean? Bigger seperation of wealth. Less job security.
We have to stop voting for evil F-cks. Be they Republican or Democrat.
We also need to stop the system of institutionalized bribery that is campaign finance in the U.S., and try to hand more power to the people, and remove it from the corporate moeny structure. And a good first step to doing this is to realize that: Neither the democrats nor the republicans have your interests at heart.
I mostly agree with you, but I am far from satisfied with Linux gaming. It's not getting any worse since Loki went under, and I'm grateful for that. In fact with NWN, UT, and CW, I think it's better.
Will be, or is Unreal2 available for Linux
I'm too busy to game like I used to when I was 18. But the collection of games I have does get a bit stale. FreeCiv is kind of clunky. Yes great game, but after you've played civ3 on widows it tough to go back. A-C is great. Still kill productivity with those.
But man sometimes there's games out there I really want to play. Black & White was one, though I was actually disapointed. Max Payne was brilliant. You might find your interest in gaming rekindled after playing that. What a superb game.
And I'm sure there are more that are equally great, that I didn't play cuz I resent booting into that windows partition.
Wouldn't it be great if more companies started using cross-platform libraries? I bet if they did this, you'd see a lot of development groups offering to port just for a portion of the Linux sales. If Linux can grab enough of a market share (I like to think that it will eventually), you might see this become quite common, to the point where microsoft would have to make all of it's libraries avalaible cross platform in order to gain adoption.
But that's getting into wishful thinking. But I don't think it's impossible.
I agree. I totally disagree with the article writer, in that I found the ending of Trigun to be one of the few Anime endings I didn't find dissapointing. Self consistent, philosophical, and enjoyable.
Also, I really like the way the series builds up. Starts out light and silly, and then gets damned serious. You start out seeing Vash like the insurance girls see him. And the scene where Vash explains his past to millie... Wow, that was great.
I think of all the Anime series I've seen, this and Irresponsible Captain Tylor are tied for my favorite.
I'm not obligated to live in the US? What the hell are you on? I'm reasonably well trained profesional, graduate degree from the ETH in Zurich, but I can't get a work/residency permit to save my life. Two years ago it was okay, but Switzerland (which apparently cares about it's citizens) is dropping the number of aufenthaltsbewilligung drastically inorder to reduce unemployment.
Where am I supposed to go? I'm and American citizen because I had the mixed fortune to be born in the US. It's the only place I'm entitled to live. So now I'm stuck going back to a country where the corporation is king, and who cares if half the people are unemployed, as long as the corporate masters are making their big bucks exploiting third world countries? Great. Okay, I'm not obligated to live in the U.S. Suicide is always an option...
Dick. There's nothing wrong with trying to protect your wages. If people don't stand up to vested interests you get situations like the begininning of industrial age with 12 yr old kids being worked to death for starvation wages. Or serfdom. It's economics... man you're a bozo.
I agree with this sentiment, and DO NOT consider it flamebait.
While I would agree that the bush administration is the closest thing in the modern world to a nazi regime, Bush isn't a hitler. He's a goddman puppet. At least reagan could remember his lines. This guys embarassing.
Unlike a lot of my friends, i wasn't dissapointed in Chicken Run. I think the reason was I went in under the presumption that this animation style didn't really lend itself to a feature film
What I mean is the pacing... The wallace and Gromit shorts were side splittingly funny but you couldn't keep up that level of humor for an hour and half. It's just not possible. The audience isn't strong enough. So then at points the story can start to drag, and even the cute and charming quality of animaton won't carry it.
But anway, W&G have a little more character than the chickens. Maybe they'll be able to carry a full length movie better. Maybe not. I'm sure I'll enjoy it either way, even it it's not the fantastic experience of the original W&G shorts
I'm hoping this was tongue in cheek. for anyone who doesn't take this as a joke (hopefully it was one) this post's for you:
You condider this a fix? this is one of the horrors of the modern age. Rather than places like India, Indonesia, Mexico, etc getting decent working conditions and wages, we want them to become our little slave labor camps (oh but they aren't slaves, we pay them wages... sorry, let's call it indentured servitude). All so that the top parasites can get higher and higher profit margins. And this has the additional benefit of giving said parasites leverage over workers in the US and Europe to remove their fair wages. It's particularly bad in the blue collar circle, and now it's hitting the IT industry too! Some Fix!
And let's not even talk about the horrors engaged in by my government (the good old u s of a) to make sure none of them uppity little 3rd worlders try to institute any kind of worker reforms!
Why is software so expensive? Is it TOO expensive? I don't know that it is. Why is some software too expensive? Monoplies, and excessive profit margins. Bill and his billions ought to indicate that there is a problem aside from just paying excessive wages. And to my mind excessive wages only start at management level. The people producing the work seldom get paid enough, let alone too much.
I have a dual boot system (win XP and redhat) I work almost exclusively in Linux, but boot to windows to watch DVD's. Why?
Well, I live in Europe, but I'm american, so region free dvd'ing is a big issue for me. At first I noticed that yes, I can rip some other-region dvd's to my hd. But not all. It depended on the encryption. For example, I could not rip the region 2 DVD of Buffy the Vampire slayer (which I own. I just wanted to rip it so I could watch it on my computer, since it some episodes don't play correctly on my PS2).
When I flashed my DVD's bios to make it region free, I no longer had this problem. I can rip anything. I can also play any DVD under windows. Unfortunately, I can no longer watch encrypted DVD's under linux. I know I had the software setup correctly because prior to the flashing I could watch any dvd of the appropriate region. Now even dvd's which previously played, no longer do so.
So I'm wondering if some of the information in your posting are entirely accurate. Specifically, my experience says one cannot always rip the content of a disc, regardless of region. It seems to be possible only when the dvd is not encrypted.
I don't know the root cause of this, but based on that experience, I'd guess flashing of the bios will still be necessary for encrypted cd's.
that said, I'm thinking my problem is I don't have a tool like DVD genie for linux, that software sets a region code when scanning the dvd to play it. Anyone know of a solution to this problem?
Slashdot Mirror
There are persistent rumors that you will be eliminating the fifth column before your european release. Any truth to this?
informed scientists like me know how to spell "fluctuate"
While we are at it, let's scale back the copyright limits back to life of creator + 20 years (or even farther back as far as I'm concerned), and bring back more of the booty which the corporations have plundered from us, the public.
There are better posts, modded high even, above which detail what I'm about to say, but the point of the tax is to fund public broadcasting, the opint of which is to prevent a media which is excessively controlled by vested interets. This is the current situation in the U.S. An early strategy of the Nazi regime was to remove laws restricting private ownership of media, allowing a few corporations to control all mass information dissemination, making it easier to control public opinion and filter information. So I think the idea of having a non-private non-corporate media system in addition to private options is a good one. Now the question is how to pay for it?
Please take a look at another post in this topic titled "private taxation begins at home". It makes some good points, which I will not repeat here, as I assume you know how to do a ctl-f.
Another option for funding would have been to fund these services from income tax, or property tax or some such, but the idea was to tax people who actually make use of the service. While it's a bit of an administrative pain, I like the idea. On the other hand if you have alternatives to suggest, I would be happy to hear them. However let me say in advance that I do not think fully privatized media is a good alternative, for the reason I have given, and which others in this topic have already elaborated on.
If you are interested in a detailed analysis of corporate media control in the modern world (the critisicm is not only limited to the U.S.) may I recommend "Manufactured Consent" which is available both as a book and as a documentary film.
I'm in Switzerland where we have a similar such TV tax, but the tax is only per household, not per TV. So wouldn't a small business still only pay the same fee as a household with one computer, regardless of how many computers they own? In this case I would expect that while the tax is yet another annoying detail, it isn't really a burden for the average small business. Do you agree with this, or am I making false assumptions?
Compromise, adapting to the realities of business world and adapting to social pressures? That's unamerican!
C'mon Microsoft, instead of shelling out all that money to your investors, let's see use that money productively. Hire a mercenary company, buy some tanks and fighter planes, and let the new age of corporate warfare begin! Then when you've established a military Junta you sure as hell won't have to worry about getting the police to enforce your copyright law! And talk about monopolistic power!
C'mon, let's see some freedom to innovate!
As for pedestrians, It's pretty common in busier intersections here in Europe to provide overpasses or underpasses. Hell I've even seen them in Canada and Alaska, and a few places in the states. So where these are worthwhile this issue can even be dropped (and in fact these kind of high traffic areas are probably the domain of interest for the technology).
The rule changes he opposes/opposed profit/profited him! That doesn't make him a hypocrite, that makes him a rare thing among the wealthy: a man of principle. Good for him.
So what about a compromise: Say six months or a year on software or IP patents with no renewability. The justification is obvious: devleopment and communication is much higher today, and we want to keep it that way. This way if a company comes up with a novel idea, they get to profit off of it for a year, and recoup some of their development expenses (ahem). And the idea goes back into the public arena after a reasonable time removing the mafia aspect of software patents.
Comments?
I would make a trip, and even go so far as to buy an admission ticket, if I could see a spammer flogged. Perhaps this could even be a tourist industry...
My personal choice for most evil song ever is "Heaven is a Place on Earth" which I think was by Belinda Carlisle. Somehow the world conspired to have my radio alarm clock wake me with this spermatazoa of satan every morning of my senior year of high school.
In the three times I've heard this in the last five years, I just had to take the rest of the day off and recover.
What do you have against a business legitemately getting the rights to something before broadcasting it, as the law demands?
Some of them really like Anime too. Miyazaki films are great films to show a date, and they usually come out of them interested in watching more Anime. If you're seeing a girl on a regular basis, a really good choice is maison ikkoku.
So don't believe the stereotypes.
However, if you use the DMCA in this case, who are you benefiting? You, a citizen, and the FSF and Free Software movement. Who are you hurting? A guy who's taking advantage of people and making a crooked buck off of your work. Further this kind of behavior damages the legitimacy and marketability of these licenses. So nail him with the DMCA.
I don't think using the DMCA here will strengthen the law, or make it more difficult to combat. Am I wrong about this? I'd like to know if so.
I don't see a moral dilemna here. The law exists. I don't see any contradiction in simultaneously using the law, and fighting against it. In fact, in a public hearing or something of that nature, I would consider a comment to the effect of "I myself have used the DMCA to enforce the LGPL on some of my works. Nonetheless I feel it is a faulty law which causes more harm than good..." quite reasonable. I would also consider the person making the statement to be speaking from a position of experience and first hand knowledge.
And if you ever get the opportunity to nail a corporation that was behind the DMCA with an application of the DMCA, then hoo-rah. Hit them as hard as you can.
So I say do it!
Clinton was F-ck. He was a more charming F-ck, and better at international relations that Bush, but he was still a F-ck. These laws are wrong. It's the existance of the laws that is bad. This is a pretty typical pattern. Make a law. Enforce it lightly while the people get used to the existence of the law. Then, nail them hard. Bad law. Simple as that. Laws need to be designed carefully so they cannot be abused.
I agree the Republicans are evil. But Clinton was a big globalization bastard and his administration just created smooth sailing for all those corporations shipping jobs overseas so they can get away with only paying $2-$5 bucks an hour with no benefits. During the Clinton administration, despite the robust economic growth, the average wage DECLINED. What's that mean? Bigger seperation of wealth. Less job security.
We have to stop voting for evil F-cks. Be they Republican or Democrat.
We also need to stop the system of institutionalized bribery that is campaign finance in the U.S., and try to hand more power to the people, and remove it from the corporate moeny structure. And a good first step to doing this is to realize that: Neither the democrats nor the republicans have your interests at heart.
Will be, or is Unreal2 available for Linux
I'm too busy to game like I used to when I was 18. But the collection of games I have does get a bit stale. FreeCiv is kind of clunky. Yes great game, but after you've played civ3 on widows it tough to go back. A-C is great. Still kill productivity with those.
But man sometimes there's games out there I really want to play. Black & White was one, though I was actually disapointed. Max Payne was brilliant. You might find your interest in gaming rekindled after playing that. What a superb game.
And I'm sure there are more that are equally great, that I didn't play cuz I resent booting into that windows partition.
Wouldn't it be great if more companies started using cross-platform libraries? I bet if they did this, you'd see a lot of development groups offering to port just for a portion of the Linux sales. If Linux can grab enough of a market share (I like to think that it will eventually), you might see this become quite common, to the point where microsoft would have to make all of it's libraries avalaible cross platform in order to gain adoption.
But that's getting into wishful thinking. But I don't think it's impossible.
Also, I really like the way the series builds up. Starts out light and silly, and then gets damned serious. You start out seeing Vash like the insurance girls see him. And the scene where Vash explains his past to millie... Wow, that was great.
I think of all the Anime series I've seen, this and Irresponsible Captain Tylor are tied for my favorite.
The show I really miss is Firefly. I thought that was brilliant. Pity it didn't succeed.
Where am I supposed to go? I'm and American citizen because I had the mixed fortune to be born in the US. It's the only place I'm entitled to live. So now I'm stuck going back to a country where the corporation is king, and who cares if half the people are unemployed, as long as the corporate masters are making their big bucks exploiting third world countries? Great. Okay, I'm not obligated to live in the U.S. Suicide is always an option...
Dick. There's nothing wrong with trying to protect your wages. If people don't stand up to vested interests you get situations like the begininning of industrial age with 12 yr old kids being worked to death for starvation wages. Or serfdom. It's economics... man you're a bozo.
While I would agree that the bush administration is the closest thing in the modern world to a nazi regime, Bush isn't a hitler. He's a goddman puppet. At least reagan could remember his lines. This guys embarassing.
I think they should have named Lindows something different like Joe's Windows.
Now Just imagine if all of us did this, a different person, every week, for years. Eventually he'd get repentant.
What might be even better: take the spam out of the can and splat it against his car window...
Okay, individually some of us will get caught and fined, but really, isn't it worth it?
What I mean is the pacing... The wallace and Gromit shorts were side splittingly funny but you couldn't keep up that level of humor for an hour and half. It's just not possible. The audience isn't strong enough. So then at points the story can start to drag, and even the cute and charming quality of animaton won't carry it.
But anway, W&G have a little more character than the chickens. Maybe they'll be able to carry a full length movie better. Maybe not. I'm sure I'll enjoy it either way, even it it's not the fantastic experience of the original W&G shorts
You condider this a fix? this is one of the horrors of the modern age. Rather than places like India, Indonesia, Mexico, etc getting decent working conditions and wages, we want them to become our little slave labor camps (oh but they aren't slaves, we pay them wages... sorry, let's call it indentured servitude). All so that the top parasites can get higher and higher profit margins. And this has the additional benefit of giving said parasites leverage over workers in the US and Europe to remove their fair wages. It's particularly bad in the blue collar circle, and now it's hitting the IT industry too! Some Fix!
And let's not even talk about the horrors engaged in by my government (the good old u s of a) to make sure none of them uppity little 3rd worlders try to institute any kind of worker reforms!
Why is software so expensive? Is it TOO expensive? I don't know that it is. Why is some software too expensive? Monoplies, and excessive profit margins. Bill and his billions ought to indicate that there is a problem aside from just paying excessive wages. And to my mind excessive wages only start at management level. The people producing the work seldom get paid enough, let alone too much.
Wish I hadn't used all my moderator points.
Well, I live in Europe, but I'm american, so region free dvd'ing is a big issue for me. At first I noticed that yes, I can rip some other-region dvd's to my hd. But not all. It depended on the encryption. For example, I could not rip the region 2 DVD of Buffy the Vampire slayer (which I own. I just wanted to rip it so I could watch it on my computer, since it some episodes don't play correctly on my PS2).
When I flashed my DVD's bios to make it region free, I no longer had this problem. I can rip anything. I can also play any DVD under windows. Unfortunately, I can no longer watch encrypted DVD's under linux. I know I had the software setup correctly because prior to the flashing I could watch any dvd of the appropriate region. Now even dvd's which previously played, no longer do so.
So I'm wondering if some of the information in your posting are entirely accurate. Specifically, my experience says one cannot always rip the content of a disc, regardless of region. It seems to be possible only when the dvd is not encrypted.
I don't know the root cause of this, but based on that experience, I'd guess flashing of the bios will still be necessary for encrypted cd's.
that said, I'm thinking my problem is I don't have a tool like DVD genie for linux, that software sets a region code when scanning the dvd to play it. Anyone know of a solution to this problem?