Sitting on a couch in my parents basement, posting to Slashdot from my Linux-running laptop, surrounded by empty McDonalds wrappers and cans of Jolt provided through a generous grant from the U.S. taxpayer.
Nope, I'm just asking the Slashdot community (especially the editors) to be consistent. Most people here argue that downloading copyrighted music from P2P isn't stealing, but then turn around and call this particular instance burglary.
I agree that the staffers' actions (and the congresscritters who directed them, if any) were unethical, but it doesn't even come close to burglary. What was 'stolen'?
Now if the headline read something more accurately like "spying", I wouldn't have had anything to say.
If the common sentiment here is that copying files isn't stealing, then how is what the Republicans may or may not have done considered burglary?
Trespassing? Perhaps. Spying? That's a stretch. But BURGLARY?? This looks more to me like Michael once again using inflammatory headlines to push his well-known anti-Republican agenda on the readers of Slashdot.
Mod me down if you don't like what I'm suggesting, but really folks, think about it for a minute.
"If the downloading of music means more people showing up to a performance, then it is the artist who wins."
I think you're reaching for some reason to justify illegal downloading of music. I have NO sympathy for the greedy "artists" (puh-lease!) who think an RIAA contract is a big score.
If they're any good, they'd make much more $$ by submitting their music to places like Magnatunes, where they get 50% of each album sale.
"They'll equate your "voting with your wallet" as 'sales lost due to piracy'"
Not if those falling sales numbers come with with a similar drop in illegal downloading of RIAA-produced music..
"Now I buy all my music vinyl and download."
...and by downloading, you are arming the RIAA with the only excuse they need to justify laws like the Canadian tax. You're not doing anyone any favors by downloading RIAA-distributed music.
Glad to see the parent's tripe modded down proper.
If you think our freedom is something that was just given to us, then you are both naive and ungrateful.
Have a chat with your grandfather about how much freedom costs; I'd be willing to bet he is very well aware of the price our soldiers pay to keep people like you safe and stupid..
It's got to be possible. We set a university backup power supply on fire during a LAN party we were hosting in one of the classrooms.
Apparently, the one guy's HUGE powered speaker system was too much of a draw for the building to take. The result was an awful ozone smell coming from down the hall, several pissed-off engineering students, and a half a building without power.
Undeterred, we simply moved across the hall and resumed the event:)
"With/. being one of the largest content delivery systems on the net..."
That's a very ambivalent way of phrasing "channeling thousands upon thousands of simultaneous connections to your website, reducing your servers to a pile of flaming wreckage".
"It looks like Linksys wants to use superior GPL code, but doesn't want to play by the rules and let competitors in on the action. If they were going to act this way, than they should have stuck to proprietary works."
Hence the reason why corporate industries shy away from the GPL and developing OSS in general. Giving competitors their superior code means they lose their competetive edge, and consequently costs them money.
You don't need bombs or guns to beat down an enemy.
In the case of the Cold War (and I knew someone would bring that up) we used the Soviet Union's own economy as a weapon against them. Strategists knew that the communist nation would eventually collapse under its own weight.
Maybe not as spectacular as a nuclear holocaust, but the Soviet Union was every bit as beat down as Nazi Germany was 45 years earlier. They simply had no choice but to submit.
"will presumably be bought by individuals who will be able to decide for themselves which items to track, and which to simply ignore."
Presuably, yes, but what about when it's used to track, say, a filandering spouse or a truant son or daughter? I cann't imagine these people would voluntarily consent to be tracked like this.
Slashdot Mirror
It's arrogance that makes these 133t h4x0rz use their 'mad programming skillz' for detrimental purposes.
Humility inspires people to use their talent for good.
Some moderators must be too young to appreciate a classic piece of Slashdot history.
Whether or not you are mature enough admit it, that statement holds a lot of truth. And it applies to OSS in general as well.
No, I'm not bitter...
That's called a double-standard.
Never said that.
But if downloading copyrighted music over P2P isn't "stealing" then this sure as shit isn't "burglary".
Now if the headline read something more accurately like "spying", I wouldn't have had anything to say.
Trespassing? Perhaps. Spying? That's a stretch. But BURGLARY?? This looks more to me like Michael once again using inflammatory headlines to push his well-known anti-Republican agenda on the readers of Slashdot.
Mod me down if you don't like what I'm suggesting, but really folks, think about it for a minute.
I think you're reaching for some reason to justify illegal downloading of music. I have NO sympathy for the greedy "artists" (puh-lease!) who think an RIAA contract is a big score.
If they're any good, they'd make much more $$ by submitting their music to places like Magnatunes, where they get 50% of each album sale.
Not if those falling sales numbers come with with a similar drop in illegal downloading of RIAA-produced music..
"Now I buy all my music vinyl and download."
...and by downloading, you are arming the RIAA with the only excuse they need to justify laws like the Canadian tax. You're not doing anyone any favors by downloading RIAA-distributed music.
If you think our freedom is something that was just given to us, then you are both naive and ungrateful.
Have a chat with your grandfather about how much freedom costs; I'd be willing to bet he is very well aware of the price our soldiers pay to keep people like you safe and stupid..
No hidden goatse or replaced text in this one, so go ahead and mod it up!
Take a look at the network traffic of any university. Can you really blame electronics companies for not being trusting of their target market?
But for those who choose to stray from their field of expertise, don't say I didn't warn you!
Apparently, the one guy's HUGE powered speaker system was too much of a draw for the building to take. The result was an awful ozone smell coming from down the hall, several pissed-off engineering students, and a half a building without power.
Undeterred, we simply moved across the hall and resumed the event :)
That's a very ambivalent way of phrasing "channeling thousands upon thousands of simultaneous connections to your website, reducing your servers to a pile of flaming wreckage".
Hence the reason why corporate industries shy away from the GPL and developing OSS in general. Giving competitors their superior code means they lose their competetive edge, and consequently costs them money.
In the case of the Cold War (and I knew someone would bring that up) we used the Soviet Union's own economy as a weapon against them. Strategists knew that the communist nation would eventually collapse under its own weight.
Maybe not as spectacular as a nuclear holocaust, but the Soviet Union was every bit as beat down as Nazi Germany was 45 years earlier. They simply had no choice but to submit.
And wars aren't won by making nice with the enemy (as much as Jane Fonda would have us believe). Wars are won by beating the enemy into submission.
Name me one war that was resolved with diplomacy instead of might of arms.
You're new here, aren't you.
Presuably, yes, but what about when it's used to track, say, a filandering spouse or a truant son or daughter? I cann't imagine these people would voluntarily consent to be tracked like this.
You're new here, aren't you.
Unless that's the very point of the parent post, in which case my sarcasm meter must not be working very well.
I know Micro$oft is Evil, and Gentoo is Good, and *BSD is good (even if it IS dying), and, but what's the official alignment of RedHat?
This will then prompt publishers to include several pages at the beginning of every book with nothing but "sex sex sex sex sex sex..."