(The law also created new penalties for hackers who literally kill people over the Internet.)
Ignoring for the moment the practicalities of killing somebody over the Internet(!?), doesn't the USA already have murder/manslaughter laws? Why does there need to be special legislation depending on the method employed? Do you have special laws for murder with a knife; with a gun; with a mango?
Good questions. All I know is that a whole lot of MMORPG players are totally screwed.
DoJ: "What? You play a paladin in EverQuest? Murderer! We know about that guard you killed in Freeport to get your Soulfire!!! Take him away, boys!"
My point, though, is that I make a point to flaunt the fact that I can do everything that my friends are doing using tools that are freely available.
Ok, I'll forgive you for being a law student (j/k! we need more lawyers like Lessig).
We are indeed in agreement, and thanks for helping fight the mindshare battle.
--K.
Re:good luck
on
Ark Linux
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Perhaps on a technical level, Linux is more stable, more customizable, and more secure than Windows, and certainly the open-source ideal is admirable, but when you consider task-based computing where the main focus is on getting work done (which is all that matters to most end users), the mishmash of current Linux builds is just a pain.
I agree with you here. Technically, Linux has owned Windows for years but we're only now beginning to make inroads that target end-users.
the mishmash of current Linux builds is just a pain.
This is the point I want to discuss. While today, the different distros are probably confusing to and alienating potential end-users (due to their task-based nature), tomorrow those "confusing distros" could become "viable inter-operating alternatives". That means competition and competition means jobs because multiple companies are able to capture niches of the market. I like Red Hat 8.0 for its easy install and slick GUI. I like SuSe for its easy install and snappier GUI. I like Debian for its packages and I like FreeBSD for its security. See, each one of these distros fills a niche. They scratch an itch for each individual customer.
What we have to work hardest on is overcoming the real barrier-to-entry: mindshare. Microsoft has ruled the roost for so long now that most people don't even know they have options and the non-geek people that have heard of Linux think it's a "hacker's" OS.
You're right. We've still got a lot of work to do, but it's not just writing code...it's changing minds. And you don't have to be a code-hacker to educate people about their options.
I beta-tested TSO. Took me about one hour to decide that it was fundamentally flawed. I'm glad they held the open beta because it convinced me that this was NOT a game I would enjoy.
I think it's great when MMOG game developers offer open public beta-tests. It puts lots of eyeballs on their game (better chance that bugs will be found) and as the release of EQ taught us, it's never a bad idea to load-test your servers in beta. Also, if their game is good on a fundamental level (even if a few bugs still have to be found)...word of mouth will do all the pre-selling they'll need.
Probably would help get people to "read the damn thing" if you actually posted it.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Your argument (that the 1st amendment doesn't distinguish between citizens and corporations regarding free speech) does have merit. Perhaps a bit less venom in your assertions would give them greater weight.
P2P is only perceived to be evil by the people that have the most to lose when their customer-base doesn't need them anymore.
Most of the people that I know that use P2P don't care how the RIAA (or Microsoft or the US gov't) feels about it. And the RIAA in particular certainly doesn't help its cause by releasing CDs that deny people their right to fair use. P2P is the modern equivalent to Thoreou's (sp?) Civil Disobedience. Bad laws will be broken and no amount of litigation weilding bad laws by those with obsolete business models will make people stop a practice that they don't feel is "wrong".
All we can do is hope Boucher gets his good law passed.
I swear, while I can understand that one *might* get more acceptance if he treads on the beaten path, I find that it's just a lo teasier to be creative and make my own plots and characters. That's half the fun of writing a comic/story, right?
I kinda think there's a balance to be struck there. Certainly we need original, free-thinking individuals to create new content. But we also need other creative individuals to expand upon those original works. This is the nature of the concept of a public commons.
I hope the *AA organizations eventually borrow a clue from the wisdom of the Japanese culture.
If Linux can not be installed without modified hardware in %97 of the worlds computers then its DEAD!
That's a valid point. If 97% of the world's computer users adopt the BOHICA attitude, then I'll leave them to their fate. But anyone challenging my ownership of my computer will hit the brick wall that is my will. My optimistic, idealistic, and perhaps naive gut instinct is that they will just stop buying PCs that can't perform all of the functions that they're used to.
If you do not have %100 control of your system then you do not own it. These words are from Jack Valentini and not myself.
I'm having a hard time understanding your point. I have 100% control of my systems and...ummm, Jack's an ass.
Bill Gates will own %97 of the worlds computers and there is shit you can do about it.
And this has been proven...how?
Linux will be a mac only project in the future or will turn into Xenix aka SCO OpenServer which requires a special set of hardware to run reliably. Special non drm hardware will be needed to run linux so this is why I am convinced it will die a SCO like death.
Fair enough. That's your prediction of the future. Here's my bet: People like you will continue to espouse the philosophy that it's hopeless to resist. People like me will invalidate people like you by making the people that bent you over irrelevant.
That's scary and perhaps indicative of a larger problem. What keeps you from flunking the students that don't "get it"?
The issue of a teacher's ability to inspire curiosity in the student is also relevant to your statement (although I don't mean to imply that you are a bad teacher). Might make for a good Ask Slashdot discussion.
Pilgrim, who earns his living as a Web accessibility consultant
Someone out there in the world makes a living as a Web accessibility consultant???
I'll risk redundancy in order to educate you folks that want to turn the Internet into $$$ by invalidating everything it stands for. This is Lawrence Lessig's quote from this Alan Cox essay:
Most of the great leaps of the computer age have happened despite, rather than because of, (Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)). (B)efore the Internet the proprietary network protocols divided customers, locked them into providers and forced them to exchange much of their data by tape. The power of the network was not unlocked by IPR. It was unlocked by free and open innovation shared amongst all.
Google is a search engine. It is a good search engine. When it fails to work for you, there are other search engines that you can use. That someone is earning a living by bumping up search engine results combined with this lawsuit by an obviously clueless company makes me worry about the future of this wonderful network that was created in an environment without MBAs, script-kiddies, and lawyers (apologies to EFF and LL...no offense).
As long as some PC's can freely run any software, there will always be ways to defeat DRM. Or said differently, without total control, they control nothing.
Right on. And even if you live in the US... remember that there are such things as soldering irons and oscilloscopes. Hey, you mastered Linux right? Comparatively speaking, the laws of Ohm and Kirchoff are n00b material. Even an AOL luser could learn! (Ok, that might be stretching things.):)
I will. Then I'll crack the everloving shit out of it. The angst that I'll feel about giving my money to any company that supports this kind of crap will (hopefully) be replaced by joy when I (or others) prove what an utterly futile concept 'Trusted Computing' really is.
As long as the government doesn't mandate or forbid things, we are rid of the monopolies. The definition of monopoly was originally based on whether or not the government allowed competition.
I don't think we are ever really rid of monopolies but I do agree that the government plays are large role in the regulation of monopolies. You should read the full history of AT&T. It's such a mixed bag. Here we have a government-regulated monopoly for most of the 20th century that essentially laid the last mile (i.e. the copper line), invented the transistor, invented UNIX, gave UNIX away (yay!), got busted into different companies, tried to take UNIX back (boo!), and is struggling to compete today. (If there's a RUN-ON sentence option for modding down...go for it.:) I'm left wondering what would have happened if AT&T had been broken up in the 1940s...would we be further along than we are now or even further behind?
Did you really think this one through? If I put up a server (or even just a site on geocities) on the Web, that very act implies that I am soliciting traffic.
If I were to send Alan Ralsky my email address and then complain about spam...THAT would be hypocrisy. But anyone putting a website on the World Wide Web is offering their site to...well, the world.:)
In deference to many posts below, I do believe that the "slashdot effect" is an unfortunate compliment to many unsuspecting websites. But I'll be the first to defend/. against any idiot that tries to sue because of some stupid "linking policy".
--K.
Re:SO let me get this straight...
on
Metaverse Launched?
·
· Score: 5, Funny
So... it's just like a MMORPG, except when some kid pisses you off, you can't murder him?
Right! You just shoot him with a paintball gun...it's much more humane.:D
Why should the color of a persons skin or their sex be considered over how well they perform their job?
Good question, Vic. The answer is this: diversity. Consider this: Back when most of the top leadership of the biggest companies were getting their MBAs, the corporate culture was very different than it is today. Real or imagined (or maybe even hyped in some cases), it was shown through numerous studies that men made more than women and whites made more than minorities. This led to a backlash by women and minorities (probably deservedly so in many cases, but that's not the point). The rallying cry of "Diversity is a Good Thing(tm)" was overwhelming.
That was then, this is now but we still have people in upper management positions who think this way. I suspect (hope?) that within a few generations, more insightful business leaders (male/female/black/white/latino/etc.) will grasp the concept that we're beyond mandated diversity now. Unfortunately, there will always be bigots and whenever one is found, it will attract headlines. We can only hope that as society evolves, the bigots will in time breed themselves out of existence.
He simply refuses to understand that we are quickly entering into an age where either all information will be controlled or all information will be free. Information is so easy to copy, modify, and manipulate - there can be no middle ground.
Actually, after reading his book I'm more inclined to think that he understands the issues at stake on a different level.
The problem is it's being addressed on a national level.
That's a valid point. It leads to what I personally call a "slashdot paradox". I'm outraged that a Russian programmer (and then, the company that employed him) was prosecuted here in the US for software that is legal in Russia. Yet if Prof. Lessig's law is passed in the US...paradox. It could be argued that laws passed in the US have typically been adopted in one form or another around the world (which sucks...ref: DMCA) but that could be countered by the jurisdictional nightmare that the RIAA/MPAA have run into while trying to prosecute Kazaa.
The blessing and (for right now at least) the curse of the Internet is that it globalizes the public commons. We're only now beginning to confront all of the issues that are raised by this fact.
If I understand Free As In Freedom correctly, the GPL exists because the FSF doesn't believe in CS development in the first place. The idea that software can be free and still earn profits for its developers is a hard one to swallow for some, but that is the environment that the GPL was designed for.
Agree or disagree with the concept of free software, but the fact remains that the GPL was written to promote a world where closed-source software doesn't exist.
Maybe Linus is right. Maybe CS and OS software can coexist peacefully. Maybe RMS is right. Maybe all software should be free and open-source and there is no middle ground. All of the fretting about the GPL by CS developers makes me wonder which side of the debate is more hardheaded.
(Not disagreeing with you, Hayzeus; just trying to shed some light on the debate itself.)
I have had to learn how to play dumb on more than one occasion.
Please un-learn that, ToddN. Believe me, I understand why you feel this way (hell, I posted the parent). But consider this: you have an understanding of computers that other people lack. You can deny that knowledge or you can use it to educate others. And I do mean educate, not convince. People that I talk to don't even know that they have options when it comes to operating systems or office suites. So when they come to me with a problem with a Microsoft product, I'll fix it for them...but I never neglect to mention that there are alternatives if they want to avoid the hassle in the future.
Don't play dumb. Be smart enough to make people respect your opinion.
No need to stay silent, kcb. Just tell them that you don't work with that software anymore so you don't know how to fix their problem. Then tell them about this FREE software that has worldwide support via www.google.com.
Slashdot Mirror
Good questions. All I know is that a whole lot of MMORPG players are totally screwed.
DoJ: "What? You play a paladin in EverQuest? Murderer! We know about that guard you killed in Freeport to get your Soulfire!!! Take him away, boys!"
snicker
--K.
The genie has officially left the bottle. That's right; the genie has left the bottle. Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.
--K.
Ok, I'll forgive you for being a law student (j/k! we need more lawyers like Lessig).
We are indeed in agreement, and thanks for helping fight the mindshare battle.
--K.
I agree with you here. Technically, Linux has owned Windows for years but we're only now beginning to make inroads that target end-users.
This is the point I want to discuss. While today, the different distros are probably confusing to and alienating potential end-users (due to their task-based nature), tomorrow those "confusing distros" could become "viable inter-operating alternatives". That means competition and competition means jobs because multiple companies are able to capture niches of the market. I like Red Hat 8.0 for its easy install and slick GUI. I like SuSe for its easy install and snappier GUI. I like Debian for its packages and I like FreeBSD for its security. See, each one of these distros fills a niche. They scratch an itch for each individual customer.
What we have to work hardest on is overcoming the real barrier-to-entry: mindshare. Microsoft has ruled the roost for so long now that most people don't even know they have options and the non-geek people that have heard of Linux think it's a "hacker's" OS.
You're right. We've still got a lot of work to do, but it's not just writing code...it's changing minds. And you don't have to be a code-hacker to educate people about their options.
--K.
I beta-tested TSO. Took me about one hour to decide that it was fundamentally flawed. I'm glad they held the open beta because it convinced me that this was NOT a game I would enjoy.
I think it's great when MMOG game developers offer open public beta-tests. It puts lots of eyeballs on their game (better chance that bugs will be found) and as the release of EQ taught us, it's never a bad idea to load-test your servers in beta. Also, if their game is good on a fundamental level (even if a few bugs still have to be found)...word of mouth will do all the pre-selling they'll need.
Hopefully, There will get it right.
--K.
Your argument (that the 1st amendment doesn't distinguish between citizens and corporations regarding free speech) does have merit. Perhaps a bit less venom in your assertions would give them greater weight.
--K.
Great site, mod parent Informative. Thanks for the link.
--K
Dammit Hilary, stop trolling /. (j/k couldn't resist) :)
P2P is only perceived to be evil by the people that have the most to lose when their customer-base doesn't need them anymore.
Most of the people that I know that use P2P don't care how the RIAA (or Microsoft or the US gov't) feels about it. And the RIAA in particular certainly doesn't help its cause by releasing CDs that deny people their right to fair use. P2P is the modern equivalent to Thoreou's (sp?) Civil Disobedience. Bad laws will be broken and no amount of litigation weilding bad laws by those with obsolete business models will make people stop a practice that they don't feel is "wrong".
All we can do is hope Boucher gets his good law passed.
--K.
Your question is pretty subjective. "Stuff that matters" to me might not matter to you.
I read newspapers and their
--K.
I kinda think there's a balance to be struck there. Certainly we need original, free-thinking individuals to create new content. But we also need other creative individuals to expand upon those original works. This is the nature of the concept of a public commons.
I hope the *AA organizations eventually borrow a clue from the wisdom of the Japanese culture.
--K.
That's a valid point. If 97% of the world's computer users adopt the BOHICA attitude, then I'll leave them to their fate. But anyone challenging my ownership of my computer will hit the brick wall that is my will. My optimistic, idealistic, and perhaps naive gut instinct is that they will just stop buying PCs that can't perform all of the functions that they're used to.
I'm having a hard time understanding your point. I have 100% control of my systems and...ummm, Jack's an ass.
And this has been proven...how?
Fair enough. That's your prediction of the future. Here's my bet: People like you will continue to espouse the philosophy that it's hopeless to resist. People like me will invalidate people like you by making the people that bent you over irrelevant.
--K.
That's scary and perhaps indicative of a larger problem. What keeps you from flunking the students that don't "get it"?
The issue of a teacher's ability to inspire curiosity in the student is also relevant to your statement (although I don't mean to imply that you are a bad teacher). Might make for a good Ask Slashdot discussion.
--K.
Read this. From the linked article:
Someone out there in the world makes a living as a Web accessibility consultant???
I'll risk redundancy in order to educate you folks that want to turn the Internet into $$$ by invalidating everything it stands for. This is Lawrence Lessig's quote from this Alan Cox essay:
Google is a search engine. It is a good search engine. When it fails to work for you, there are other search engines that you can use. That someone is earning a living by bumping up search engine results combined with this lawsuit by an obviously clueless company makes me worry about the future of this wonderful network that was created in an environment without MBAs, script-kiddies, and lawyers (apologies to EFF and LL...no offense).
--K.
Right on. And even if you live in the US... remember that there are such things as soldering irons and oscilloscopes. Hey, you mastered Linux right? Comparatively speaking, the laws of Ohm and Kirchoff are n00b material. Even an AOL luser could learn! (Ok, that might be stretching things.)
--K.
I will. Then I'll crack the everloving shit out of it. The angst that I'll feel about giving my money to any company that supports this kind of crap will (hopefully) be replaced by joy when I (or others) prove what an utterly futile concept 'Trusted Computing' really is.
--K.
I don't think we are ever really rid of monopolies but I do agree that the government plays are large role in the regulation of monopolies. You should read the full history of AT&T. It's such a mixed bag. Here we have a government-regulated monopoly for most of the 20th century that essentially laid the last mile (i.e. the copper line), invented the transistor, invented UNIX, gave UNIX away (yay!), got busted into different companies, tried to take UNIX back (boo!), and is struggling to compete today. (If there's a RUN-ON sentence option for modding down...go for it.
--K.
Did you really think this one through? If I put up a server (or even just a site on geocities) on the Web, that very act implies that I am soliciting traffic.
:)
/. against any idiot that tries to sue because of some stupid "linking policy".
If I were to send Alan Ralsky my email address and then complain about spam...THAT would be hypocrisy. But anyone putting a website on the World Wide Web is offering their site to...well, the world.
In deference to many posts below, I do believe that the "slashdot effect" is an unfortunate compliment to many unsuspecting websites. But I'll be the first to defend
--K.
Right! You just shoot him with a paintball gun...it's much more humane.
Paintball guns don't kill avatars...avatars kill avatars....errrr...
--K.
Good question, Vic. The answer is this: diversity. Consider this: Back when most of the top leadership of the biggest companies were getting their MBAs, the corporate culture was very different than it is today. Real or imagined (or maybe even hyped in some cases), it was shown through numerous studies that men made more than women and whites made more than minorities. This led to a backlash by women and minorities (probably deservedly so in many cases, but that's not the point). The rallying cry of "Diversity is a Good Thing(tm)" was overwhelming.
That was then, this is now but we still have people in upper management positions who think this way. I suspect (hope?) that within a few generations, more insightful business leaders (male/female/black/white/latino/etc.) will grasp the concept that we're beyond mandated diversity now. Unfortunately, there will always be bigots and whenever one is found, it will attract headlines. We can only hope that as society evolves, the bigots will in time breed themselves out of existence.
--K.
Actually, after reading his book I'm more inclined to think that he understands the issues at stake on a different level.
--K.
That's a valid point. It leads to what I personally call a "slashdot paradox". I'm outraged that a Russian programmer (and then, the company that employed him) was prosecuted here in the US for software that is legal in Russia. Yet if Prof. Lessig's law is passed in the US...paradox. It could be argued that laws passed in the US have typically been adopted in one form or another around the world (which sucks...ref: DMCA) but that could be countered by the jurisdictional nightmare that the RIAA/MPAA have run into while trying to prosecute Kazaa.
The blessing and (for right now at least) the curse of the Internet is that it globalizes the public commons. We're only now beginning to confront all of the issues that are raised by this fact.
--K.
If I understand Free As In Freedom correctly, the GPL exists because the FSF doesn't believe in CS development in the first place. The idea that software can be free and still earn profits for its developers is a hard one to swallow for some, but that is the environment that the GPL was designed for.
Agree or disagree with the concept of free software, but the fact remains that the GPL was written to promote a world where closed-source software doesn't exist.
Maybe Linus is right. Maybe CS and OS software can coexist peacefully. Maybe RMS is right. Maybe all software should be free and open-source and there is no middle ground. All of the fretting about the GPL by CS developers makes me wonder which side of the debate is more hardheaded.
(Not disagreeing with you, Hayzeus; just trying to shed some light on the debate itself.)
--K.
Please un-learn that, ToddN. Believe me, I understand why you feel this way (hell, I posted the parent). But consider this: you have an understanding of computers that other people lack. You can deny that knowledge or you can use it to educate others. And I do mean educate, not convince. People that I talk to don't even know that they have options when it comes to operating systems or office suites. So when they come to me with a problem with a Microsoft product, I'll fix it for them...but I never neglect to mention that there are alternatives if they want to avoid the hassle in the future.
Don't play dumb. Be smart enough to make people respect your opinion.
--K.
No need to stay silent, kcb. Just tell them that you don't work with that software anymore so you don't know how to fix their problem. Then tell them about this FREE software that has worldwide support via www.google.com.
:)
Embrace and extend hasn't been patented yet.
--K.
Thanks for the clarification; I've never been sure about the etymology of that phrase so I always screw it up.
I agree with the rest of your post (see my reply to demon above) too.
--K.