These people create this software for one reason; To allow people to steal copyrighted material. They didn't keep it to themselves, but instead chose to broadcast the info to others. This makes them an accessory to a crime in that they knowingly provided assistance to people committing crimes. This is what the DMCA was supposed to be able to do. Unfortunately, the DMCA turned into a overly broad piece of legislation that lumps those who crack encryption schemes for purposes other than violating copyright in with these criminals. I hope they are found guilty, but I also hope that cases like Skylarov show that the law is overly broad, and that intent in circumventing copyright for non fair-use purposes must be proven as well. As an analogy, it's not illegal to hand someone a crowbar. However, if you're standing next to the guy in front of a jewelry store and hand him a crowbar knowing he's going to use it to break the window, then you are an accessory to the crime.
"While I don't think it's a terrible thing to create software and hardware to illegally use satellite TV..."
It is if you then sell a companion card and offer the software as a package to allow someone to illegally access dircttv.
It's a good thing that we don't have a DMCA-style piece of legislation for weapons, or any person who has PVC pipes, potatos and hairspray in their house could be brought up on charges.
You can be arrested for possessing a bomb, even if you never use it. The reason your analogies fail is that some things have no legitimate purpose, such as software to crack dircttv.
You don't own the EM spectrum that is over your property, any more than you own the airspace over your property. The FCC distributes and regulate EM transmissions.
Your arguement is flawed in that it completely ignores copyright law. Copyright is granted to the author automatically. He shouldn't need to take any technical steps to protect it. In this case, that means you don't have the right to watch the feed without paying for it, even if no encryption scheme is present.
These are people who hack or bypass the smart card technology to allow access to directtv without paying for it. They make a lot of money, selling the cards for around $400, with support included to fight directtv antipiracy.
"So when does it just stop being the sincerest form of flattery and just become utter, pathetic laziness?"
Most of the switch ads have some person complaining about how difficult or unreliable pcs are and how reliable and easy to use macs are. Since the MS bashing in the commercials are overly subjective, it only makes sense to find people who will testify the opposite is true.
"Apple basically has to grow 10x more than Microsoft does in a year just to make a noticable difference in market share."
Recheck your math. The percent market share is directly proportional to the percent growth of each market. For instance, if macs have a 5% market share and the market grows by 4x while the pc market grows by only 2x, the apple mrket share has risen to over 10%. That is substantial. Don't use bad logic to hide the fact that Apple is not gaining ground. Apple is just one more maker of personal computers, which, in their case, are for the most part incompatible with the rest of the industry.
ok. why don't you do it? Who the hell is going to risk resources setting up a company that may or may not go bankrupt, and doesn't even have the incentive of making money at the end of the day.
In America, people buy resources from the govt. The land, for instance, is not the peoples, unless they paid the govt for it. Not sure how the the FCC gives out bandwidth, but they should chagre for people who want to broadcast off off their own property. This way the bandwidth isn't being wasted, but instead used for something that's worth at least the price being charged for the bandwidth, if the company is to remain in business. Your comment makes no sense because someone has to put up the satellite, and they should pay the govt. for the bandwidth, and sell you some of it at a profit. I believe this was MSs plan for awhile anyway.
Wireless is only good for the "last mile connection". Currently, the internet backbone runs at Tb/s rates. This is not very easy to get, even with a number of wireless routes in parallel. Not to mention that the number of hops increases substantially, making the latency poor.
So if Linux is a viable copmpetitor, MS is not a monopoly. Therefore, MS's practices are no longer anticompetitive, any more than Apple, Sun, etc. Case dismissed.
Greed is not a problem for a corporation, since they are governed by laws that channel that greed into productive behavior. A greedy govt. is a problem, however, since they have the option of using force to get whatever they want. A socialist govt. is in charge of deciding who needs what, and how much of anything anyone should get. This is way too much power for a group to have that relies on force to dictate their terms. Capitalsim under a govt. that protects the rights of individuals is a better system since trade allows productive individuals the opportunity to obtain the things they want, rather than depending who they know in the govt. to get these things.
People need to work to live. Food, clothing and shelter don't appear out of thin air. This basic tenet dictates human nature. Even in modern society, the cost of these essential itens still accounts for the majority of the time spent by the average worker. Most people don't enjoy work, and would prefer to work less if they could do so and earn the same wage. Therefore, if a person does not get compensated for the worth of his work, but instead is given what society thinks he NEEDS, his incentive to do worthwhile work is diminished. Productivity suffers, and even the most basic necessities become scarce. In summary, although people have free will, they are bound necessities in order to survive. Since a person is an individual, he is governed by self-interest. You cannot remove that. IF he feels his work isn't benefitting him personally, he will invest his effort in other things more fulfilling for himself, which will not necessarily be productive to the society that he's being charged with supporting. Read Ayn Rand forn a more thorough, eloquent arguement.
America and Europe are modern because they understand that the job of govt. is to protect the rights of individuals, instead of enslaving individuals for their own goals. The statements are not ignorant. Terrorists' actions are based on faith, fear, ignorance, and jealosy, rather than reason and respect for other individuals as free beings.
We were defending South Vietnam from North Vietnam, and lost. The south Vietnamese were happy we were defending them. Comparing us to terrorists for defending a sovereign nation just sounds stupid to anyone who can reason. Just because police and terrorists both carry guns, doesn't mean there is no way to tell the difference between the two.
"Pretty funny how that works -- the more a country embraces policies of compassion and fairness, the more liked they are in the world."
Been to North Korea lately? That hell-hole is a product of decdes of communism. Plenty of REASONABLE people are pissed-off at them too. People attacking the US, on the other hand, are basing it on faith, fear, and jealosy.
Most people only work in order to survive. You tell them they will be provided for whether or not they work, and they'll stop working. Productivity goes to hell. Your country goes bankrupt. Don't believe me. Look at the former Soviet Union and North Korea for good examples of society under communism.
I believe shutting down sites like this is a clear violation of the 1st amendment right to free speech. If free people want to barter votes across state lines, that's their right. It seems like a worse crime to me to circumvent free speech than to undermine the electoral process. The promises made online should not be binding, however, and shouldn't ever be incorporated into a future computerized voting system. If I promise to vote for Gore so you vote for Nader, and then I vote for Bush instead, you shouldn't have any recourse. That's the risk you take in trying to circumvent the system.
"No, Gore won. In popular, and in the final Florida vote count across the state. Bush STOLE the presidency, fair & square."
Actually, most reports showed Bush won the vote in Fl. What's amusing is that if all the vote for Nader were cast for Gore instead, Gore would have won FL and the election.
Funny, I find a voting system that can elect someone who loses the popular vote to be pretty lame. And I mean that statement in both senses.
The best way to think of the presidential election is 50 state elections, with a weighted average based on the population of each state. It gives states with smaller populations a voice in the decision process and forces candidates to visit more places than just NYC, Chicago, and LA when campaigning.
The Democratic party in CA is incompetent. 5th largest economy in the world, but one of the worst state credit ratings because of all the debt incurred. Is it a cooincidence that CA is being run by the Democratic party? Davis' policies caused a power disaster in CA. I still here power conservation PSAs on the radio in an age where SUV sales are approaching 50% of car sales. That's not an energy crisis, that's govt. incompetence at regulating an industry that should be left to open market. CA sales tax is 8% and they're considering raising it. Now internet taxes PLUS internet access fees. I wish people in CA would get a clue and stop electing Democrats into office.
"Why doesn't the federal government help CA out, we 'were' a major source of taxes, all we need is a break. Sigh..."
Why would a Reblican federal govt. help out an incompetent Democratic CA govt. that can't manage their spending and think regulation and higher taxes are the answer to solve all their money problems. How Davis got re-elected after the CA power fiasco just goes to show how out of touch with reality the ave CA voter is.
Re:Technology gives - and technology takes away
on
Instant Concert CDs?
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· Score: 1
"If there is one word which doesn't belong next to the word "music", it's the word "business"."
Yes. All musicians should be forced to have day jobs, or hope for some rich altruistc benefactor comes along.
"I'd heard that they were concerned about the possibility of "fail safe" switches going off when attacking installations that have weapons of mass destruction. The concern was that if these installations were severed from communication with Baghdad the weapons would automatically be launched. "
That doesn't sound very fail safe, but I wouldn't but it past Hussein to define fail safe this way.
I disagree. Open source gives the enemy govt. complete access to your source code, making it much easier to find and exploit weaknesses in your security.
Slashdot Mirror
These people create this software for one reason; To allow people to steal copyrighted material. They didn't keep it to themselves, but instead chose to broadcast the info to others. This makes them an accessory to a crime in that they knowingly provided assistance to people committing crimes. This is what the DMCA was supposed to be able to do. Unfortunately, the DMCA turned into a overly broad piece of legislation that lumps those who crack encryption schemes for purposes other than violating copyright in with these criminals. I hope they are found guilty, but I also hope that cases like Skylarov show that the law is overly broad, and that intent in circumventing copyright for non fair-use purposes must be proven as well. As an analogy, it's not illegal to hand someone a crowbar. However, if you're standing next to the guy in front of a jewelry store and hand him a crowbar knowing he's going to use it to break the window, then you are an accessory to the crime.
"While I don't think it's a terrible thing to create software and hardware to illegally use satellite TV..."
It is if you then sell a companion card and offer the software as a package to allow someone to illegally access dircttv.
It's a good thing that we don't have a DMCA-style piece of legislation for weapons, or any person who has PVC pipes, potatos and hairspray in their house could be brought up on charges.
You can be arrested for possessing a bomb, even if you never use it. The reason your analogies fail is that some things have no legitimate purpose, such as software to crack dircttv.
You don't own the EM spectrum that is over your property, any more than you own the airspace over your property. The FCC distributes and regulate EM transmissions.
Your arguement is flawed in that it completely ignores copyright law. Copyright is granted to the author automatically. He shouldn't need to take any technical steps to protect it. In this case, that means you don't have the right to watch the feed without paying for it, even if no encryption scheme is present.
These are people who hack or bypass the smart card technology to allow access to directtv without paying for it. They make a lot of money, selling the cards for around $400, with support included to fight directtv antipiracy.
"So when does it just stop being the sincerest form of flattery and just become utter, pathetic laziness?"
Most of the switch ads have some person complaining about how difficult or unreliable pcs are and how reliable and easy to use macs are. Since the MS bashing in the commercials are overly subjective, it only makes sense to find people who will testify the opposite is true.
"Apple basically has to grow 10x more than Microsoft does in a year just to make a noticable difference in market share."
Recheck your math. The percent market share is directly proportional to the percent growth of each market. For instance, if macs have a 5% market share and the market grows by 4x while the pc market grows by only 2x, the apple mrket share has risen to over 10%. That is substantial. Don't use bad logic to hide the fact that Apple is not gaining ground. Apple is just one more maker of personal computers, which, in their case, are for the most part incompatible with the rest of the industry.
ok. why don't you do it? Who the hell is going to risk resources setting up a company that may or may not go bankrupt, and doesn't even have the incentive of making money at the end of the day.
In America, people buy resources from the govt. The land, for instance, is not the peoples, unless they paid the govt for it. Not sure how the the FCC gives out bandwidth, but they should chagre for people who want to broadcast off off their own property. This way the bandwidth isn't being wasted, but instead used for something that's worth at least the price being charged for the bandwidth, if the company is to remain in business. Your comment makes no sense because someone has to put up the satellite, and they should pay the govt. for the bandwidth, and sell you some of it at a profit. I believe this was MSs plan for awhile anyway.
Wireless is only good for the "last mile connection". Currently, the internet backbone runs at Tb/s rates. This is not very easy to get, even with a number of wireless routes in parallel. Not to mention that the number of hops increases substantially, making the latency poor.
So if Linux is a viable copmpetitor, MS is not a monopoly. Therefore, MS's practices are no longer anticompetitive, any more than Apple, Sun, etc. Case dismissed.
Greed is not a problem for a corporation, since they are governed by laws that channel that greed into productive behavior. A greedy govt. is a problem, however, since they have the option of using force to get whatever they want. A socialist govt. is in charge of deciding who needs what, and how much of anything anyone should get. This is way too much power for a group to have that relies on force to dictate their terms. Capitalsim under a govt. that protects the rights of individuals is a better system since trade allows productive individuals the opportunity to obtain the things they want, rather than depending who they know in the govt. to get these things.
People need to work to live. Food, clothing and shelter don't appear out of thin air. This basic tenet dictates human nature. Even in modern society, the cost of these essential itens still accounts for the majority of the time spent by the average worker. Most people don't enjoy work, and would prefer to work less if they could do so and earn the same wage. Therefore, if a person does not get compensated for the worth of his work, but instead is given what society thinks he NEEDS, his incentive to do worthwhile work is diminished. Productivity suffers, and even the most basic necessities become scarce. In summary, although people have free will, they are bound necessities in order to survive. Since a person is an individual, he is governed by self-interest. You cannot remove that. IF he feels his work isn't benefitting him personally, he will invest his effort in other things more fulfilling for himself, which will not necessarily be productive to the society that he's being charged with supporting. Read Ayn Rand forn a more thorough, eloquent arguement.
America and Europe are modern because they understand that the job of govt. is to protect the rights of individuals, instead of enslaving individuals for their own goals. The statements are not ignorant. Terrorists' actions are based on faith, fear, ignorance, and jealosy, rather than reason and respect for other individuals as free beings.
We were defending South Vietnam from North Vietnam, and lost. The south Vietnamese were happy we were defending them. Comparing us to terrorists for defending a sovereign nation just sounds stupid to anyone who can reason. Just because police and terrorists both carry guns, doesn't mean there is no way to tell the difference between the two.
"Pretty funny how that works -- the more a country embraces policies of compassion and fairness, the more liked they are in the world."
Been to North Korea lately? That hell-hole is a product of decdes of communism. Plenty of REASONABLE people are pissed-off at them too. People attacking the US, on the other hand, are basing it on faith, fear, and jealosy.
Most people only work in order to survive. You tell them they will be provided for whether or not they work, and they'll stop working. Productivity goes to hell. Your country goes bankrupt. Don't believe me. Look at the former Soviet Union and North Korea for good examples of society under communism.
I believe shutting down sites like this is a clear violation of the 1st amendment right to free speech. If free people want to barter votes across state lines, that's their right. It seems like a worse crime to me to circumvent free speech than to undermine the electoral process. The promises made online should not be binding, however, and shouldn't ever be incorporated into a future computerized voting system. If I promise to vote for Gore so you vote for Nader, and then I vote for Bush instead, you shouldn't have any recourse. That's the risk you take in trying to circumvent the system.
"No, Gore won. In popular, and in the final Florida vote count across the state. Bush STOLE the presidency, fair & square."
Actually, most reports showed Bush won the vote in Fl. What's amusing is that if all the vote for Nader were cast for Gore instead, Gore would have won FL and the election.
Funny, I find a voting system that can elect someone who loses the popular vote to be pretty lame. And I mean that statement in both senses.
The best way to think of the presidential election is 50 state elections, with a weighted average based on the population of each state. It gives states with smaller populations a voice in the decision process and forces candidates to visit more places than just NYC, Chicago, and LA when campaigning.
The Democratic party in CA is incompetent. 5th largest economy in the world, but one of the worst state credit ratings because of all the debt incurred. Is it a cooincidence that CA is being run by the Democratic party? Davis' policies caused a power disaster in CA. I still here power conservation PSAs on the radio in an age where SUV sales are approaching 50% of car sales. That's not an energy crisis, that's govt. incompetence at regulating an industry that should be left to open market. CA sales tax is 8% and they're considering raising it. Now internet taxes PLUS internet access fees. I wish people in CA would get a clue and stop electing Democrats into office.
"Why doesn't the federal government help CA out, we 'were' a major source of taxes, all we need is a break. Sigh..."
Why would a Reblican federal govt. help out an incompetent Democratic CA govt. that can't manage their spending and think regulation and higher taxes are the answer to solve all their money problems. How Davis got re-elected after the CA power fiasco just goes to show how out of touch with reality the ave CA voter is.
"If there is one word which doesn't belong next to the word "music", it's the word "business"."
Yes. All musicians should be forced to have day jobs, or hope for some rich altruistc benefactor comes along.
"I'd heard that they were concerned about the possibility of "fail safe" switches going off when attacking installations that have weapons of mass destruction. The concern was that if these installations were severed from communication with Baghdad the weapons would automatically be launched. "
That doesn't sound very fail safe, but I wouldn't but it past Hussein to define fail safe this way.
They should keep it simple.
I disagree. Open source gives the enemy govt. complete access to your source code, making it much easier to find and exploit weaknesses in your security.