It's been well proven that a closed society with strict immigration and trade policies is far less efficient than an open one. The US has always been fairly open in terms of immigration and trade and we seem to be the largest world economy by far.
Take a look at software. Copy protected, closed source, limited distribution, special requirements to become a developer. These things all will ultimately hinder progress.
What we have here is a bunch of L33t "US citizens" who can't compete with a poor third world country and who want their government to protect their financial interests. Boo Hoo.
The government has one function. That is to make sure that the people aren't being screwed by those with money and power (read large corporations). The government is the buffer between runaway corporate greed and an incentive based capitalism.
In this case, our government should require a reciprocal agreement with India so that everyone has a fair shot.
Protectionism is not the answer. Adaptation is the answer. I think Soong sounds like a smart guy and could easily join the rank of other entreprenuers that this country is famous for. Then he could exploit the workers in 3rd world nations too!
In terms of social effects, a prohibition will cause a redistribution of the traffic in an efficient manner. As long as there is demand, there will be a black market. Hence, we may see fewer large repositories of files but more smaller ones. Or perhaps an anonymous, encrypted network will emerge. Or, God forbid, the recording industry actually tries to provide it's customers with the music they want at a fair price and convenience.
My favorite theory is that the RIAA dies a slow death and the music industry is given back to the artists and the people.
Absolutely this type of legislation protects the interests of large corporations.
The question I have is how does this benefit the average citizen?
After all, corporations are not entitled to representation in congresss and yet we constantly get legislation in their favor. Write your congressperson and leet them know you don't approve of legislation that only helps special interests.
A smart person will discern the difference between a malicious hacker and a whistle blower.
Who is served by putting this guy in jail? Does this mean the next MS security loophole will be found by someone with less than honorable intentions? There is a reality to situations like this and yes, sometimes a literal infringement of the law is a good thing.
Ok people, how many "real world" ie. non-altruistic individuals would still keep a "backup" copy of the song after selling it on Ebay?
This is what the industry is afraid of and rightly so. If we didn't have 4 million Kazaa users freely swapping commercial songs, then the industry might not be so paranoid.
I know it's really easy to argue that our civil liberties are being trampled and I agree they are. But how do we fix the illegal file swapping AND maintain our constitutional rights?
My cynical side tells me that the situation will continue to develop into an us and them cyberwar. The anonymity and convenience of the internet facilitiates this. A legal battle will only serve to draw the proverbial line in the sand but will not change the situation until the two sides come together.
Does anyone agree that if music was more readily accessible (ie. iTunes), then most of us wouldn't be tempted to go to Kazaa when we really want to simply purchase the song. We don't want to drive to the store or wait for an online order to be shipped and we don't want to buy a whole album of crap along with it.
In terms of transferring songs. I have gigabytes of ripped songs from my vast CD collect on my computer. I filled up one hard drive so I buy another larger one and just copy the mp3s over. I haven't stolen anything or given anything away. What's wrong with this? The industry would make it so difficult to do stuff like this if they could.
The P2P network has just as many online users as it did a year ago....
I think what's happening is that the old tactic of doling out content slowly and a limited way in order to force the public into paying the highest possible price is backfiring. What do they expect? For years we've been brainwashed into thinking that instant gratification is the one true goal in life. Now that the P2P networks have given it to us, the RIAA complains. Ironic and just.
M
Absolutely, the internet model, with all it's quirks, spammers, abuses and brilliant thinkers has without a doubt proven to be a huge paradigm shift in thinking about the way things can be done. It's also been a big headache for those who would like to control it all.(chuckle)
As I see it, anytime you have power(not just electricity) controlled by a single or few entities, you have the potential for abuse and catastrophy.
Why does everyone think the government should be the source and solution to all our needs. Why not have a government that facilitates our doing these things for ourselves. As we in California saw with energy deregulation, the power companies immediately raised rates, doctored the books and pulled all sorts of tricks to suck money out of the consumer. You can't deregulate a monopoly and not risk a lot of problems.
I would like to see more local energy generating solutions including solar and wind power with backup natural gas turbine generators. Couple this with government tax incentives or rebates for being self-sufficient and you won't have the crisis we just saw.
Seems like standard legal jargon to me. Protect everything, guarantee nothing, deny any responsibility whatsoever and put the onus on the consumer(or in this case those who won the lawsuit).
I'll bet the lawyers get paid first and promptly and you know what...I don't think anyone is the least bit surprised.
I would assume it's because the video rental business is established and of course benefits the MPAA. In other words, no one has a vested interest in shutting it down. But how come I can rent (thru Netflix) a Norah Jones concert DVD and yet I can't rent a Norah Jones music CD? I need a legal explanation here.
I've seen ones in San Francisco. Lots of technology there. The exploratorium and there's this Sony technology expo thing I've not seen but heard is cool. Lawrence hall of science in Berkeley, etc...
Elected officials for the most part view serving their constituents as a measure of how much money they bring to thier district. Whether it's a subsidy, tax break, low income program, or whatever. When people vote for you, they're voting for someone to be the squeaky wheel and get the grease.
I think the best we can hope for is to elect people based on their fundamental ideas and their track record. An educated and informed electorate is necessary to counteract the hype.
M
Hey man, it is a giveaway to the rich. The rich will sock it away and become richer. The lower classes won't even be able to pay for the lost government services with their tax break. And we all will pay (or our kids will pay) for huge deficit this creates. Don't believe trickle-down econ theory. It was proved to be a fallacy by economists years ago.
I just saw that a number of high profile musicians are pissed off about Apple's "single-song" pay downloading service. They want to control exactly what the consumer gets. (In this case a whole album of bad songs with one good one)
I've heard of people downloading the latest Harry Potter book off of Kazaa, not because they don't want to pay for it but because they want it in a more compact form (electronic or paperback) and don't want to wait for the publisher to milk the hardcover version. It's not about cost, it's about convenience.
Case in point, Walmart has announced that they're going to try a flat-fee video rental approach. I've been going to a local video store with this policy and it's the best.
Give the consumer what they want at a reasonable price and they will beat a path to your door to get it (cash in hand).
The US 2000 Presidential election fiasco was a clear example of a case of political interests subverting an imperfect voting system.
A better balloting method would have helped but ultimately those who controlled the counting(Florida officials and ultimately, the supreme court), were able to sway the outcome. We effectively had the "source code" to the Florida system. A punched card is for all practical purposes "open sourced". This didn't matter because the method of polling and counting were compromised.
The wierd thing is that this is all documented and yet very few seem to care.
True security is not found in the military. Look at Israel, do they live in a secure state? How do you feel about security in the US and abroad these days now that we've asserted ourselves via our military.
The best way to be secure is to be on good terms will ALL your neighbors, respect their ideas and their rights to express them, treat people fairly as if you would like the same treatment, and remember that the use of deadly force is a last chance means of survival.
Obviously solar panels require energy to make. The good thing is that they don't polute while they are converting sunlight to electricity and they don't make us dependent upon a limited resource.
Like gasoline engines, if solar panels were produced in large enough quantities, they could be much more efficient. Unfortunately, this would lessen the control that governments and industry have over the average person. Think about it.
Yes, but when you have several kW of solar panels on your roof like I do, you CAN make a difference and it IS cost effective. The last I heard, no one has a monopoly on the sun...
As for fossil fuels, there's the environmental cost of getting that oil out of the ground(or national park) and the cost of paying for crooks like the guys at Enron and the cost of that war in Iraq, etc. It's not that simple.
There is a certain amount of fudging that goes on in life. You brag about driving a two hour drive(at the speed limit) in 1 1/2 hours. You make a copy of a CD for a friend. You let someone
"borrow" a software program. If we followed the law exactly, and reported anything that seems to break the law, then it would suck to live here. These IT guys had one responsibility when they encountered the porn. It was serious enough to warrant telling their supervisor and serious enough to go to the cops if they thought it was being ignored. The company better have a pretty damn good reason for firing them as a jury will have little sympathy for the company.
I just bought a couple of CD's from CDBaby.com. FWIW, CDBaby will sell your CD online for $4 per copy. You send them the CDs, they put up a web page and handle all the transaction stuff( credit cards, etc) and send you a check (and hopefully a request for more of your hot selling CDs). the artist I was looking at had 3 FULL LENGTH mp3s that I could play at will. It was painless, cheap, and I know the artist got $8 per CD that I bought. BTW, the artist sets the selling price.
Fuck the RIAA, MPA, etc. They are obsolete.
How about selling TRADEMARKED domain names (filed and approved, of course). It would seem that the domain name selling business could add value to their sometimes unscrupulous business by providing this as an option.
M
And so if your new table lamp that you just bought only accepts incandescent bulbs from one manufacturer (at their price), is this not the same as a monopoly?
Ultimately, the market should decide these issues. We still have a right to say we don't like them and we have a duty to complain when our legislators make laws that punish us for trying to fix our own products that we bought and paid for (DMCA).
It is illegal to sell a product under cost and in the process obtain a monopoly on that product. This is called dumping.
I'm sure the communications providers think that with these sorts of laws they'll be able to rake in the dough by forcing router and NAT users to pay extra for the privelige of subnetting.
I'm hopeful that the Cisco's of the world, who sell us our home router/firewall/NAT/wireless boxes at CompUSA are going to see that this legislation will curb their business.
Unless they lobby for an exemption...
What about the surcharge on blank cassette tapes (those blank tapes were going to "kill" the record industry, right)?
I think the independent music labels plus the advances in technology will kill the RIAA eventually and this will be a good thing. We all need to keep fighting the push to enact new laws to "protect" the copyright holders. We already have laws to for this. In fact, we already have laws that the DCMA, Patriot Act I & II, and other legislation propose to combat that are already in place. Why do we need more? Ask Ashcroft and Co. The last time I checked, tterrorism was still illegal...
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It's been well proven that a closed society with strict immigration and trade policies is far less efficient than an open one. The US has always been fairly open in terms of immigration and trade and we seem to be the largest world economy by far.
Take a look at software. Copy protected, closed source, limited distribution, special requirements to become a developer. These things all will ultimately hinder progress.
What we have here is a bunch of L33t "US citizens" who can't compete with a poor third world country and who want their government to protect their financial interests. Boo Hoo.
The government has one function. That is to make sure that the people aren't being screwed by those with money and power (read large corporations). The government is the buffer between runaway corporate greed and an incentive based capitalism.
In this case, our government should require a reciprocal agreement with India so that everyone has a fair shot.
Protectionism is not the answer. Adaptation is the answer. I think Soong sounds like a smart guy and could easily join the rank of other entreprenuers that this country is famous for. Then he could exploit the workers in 3rd world nations too!
M
To leech or not to leech...a very good question.
In terms of social effects, a prohibition will cause a redistribution of the traffic in an efficient manner. As long as there is demand, there will be a black market. Hence, we may see fewer large repositories of files but more smaller ones. Or perhaps an anonymous, encrypted network will emerge. Or, God forbid, the recording industry actually tries to provide it's customers with the music they want at a fair price and convenience.
My favorite theory is that the RIAA dies a slow death and the music industry is given back to the artists and the people.
M
Last count 4+ million users on Kazaa. It looks like the RIAA is having an effect. Too bad it's the opposite effect they want. M
Absolutely this type of legislation protects the interests of large corporations.
The question I have is how does this benefit the average citizen?
After all, corporations are not entitled to representation in congresss and yet we constantly get legislation in their favor. Write your congressperson and leet them know you don't approve of legislation that only helps special interests.
M
A smart person will discern the difference between a malicious hacker and a whistle blower.
Who is served by putting this guy in jail? Does this mean the next MS security loophole will be found by someone with less than honorable intentions? There is a reality to situations like this and yes, sometimes a literal infringement of the law is a good thing.
M
Ok people, how many "real world" ie. non-altruistic individuals would still keep a "backup" copy of the song after selling it on Ebay?
This is what the industry is afraid of and rightly so. If we didn't have 4 million Kazaa users freely swapping commercial songs, then the industry might not be so paranoid.
I know it's really easy to argue that our civil liberties are being trampled and I agree they are. But how do we fix the illegal file swapping AND maintain our constitutional rights?
My cynical side tells me that the situation will continue to develop into an us and them cyberwar. The anonymity and convenience of the internet facilitiates this. A legal battle will only serve to draw the proverbial line in the sand but will not change the situation until the two sides come together.
Does anyone agree that if music was more readily accessible (ie. iTunes), then most of us wouldn't be tempted to go to Kazaa when we really want to simply purchase the song. We don't want to drive to the store or wait for an online order to be shipped and we don't want to buy a whole album of crap along with it.
In terms of transferring songs. I have gigabytes of ripped songs from my vast CD collect on my computer. I filled up one hard drive so I buy another larger one and just copy the mp3s over. I haven't stolen anything or given anything away. What's wrong with this? The industry would make it so difficult to do stuff like this if they could.
Ok, I'm done.
M
The P2P network has just as many online users as it did a year ago.... I think what's happening is that the old tactic of doling out content slowly and a limited way in order to force the public into paying the highest possible price is backfiring. What do they expect? For years we've been brainwashed into thinking that instant gratification is the one true goal in life. Now that the P2P networks have given it to us, the RIAA complains. Ironic and just. M
Absolutely, the internet model, with all it's quirks, spammers, abuses and brilliant thinkers has without a doubt proven to be a huge paradigm shift in thinking about the way things can be done. It's also been a big headache for those who would like to control it all.(chuckle)
As I see it, anytime you have power(not just electricity) controlled by a single or few entities, you have the potential for abuse and catastrophy.
Why does everyone think the government should be the source and solution to all our needs. Why not have a government that facilitates our doing these things for ourselves. As we in California saw with energy deregulation, the power companies immediately raised rates, doctored the books and pulled all sorts of tricks to suck money out of the consumer. You can't deregulate a monopoly and not risk a lot of problems.
I would like to see more local energy generating solutions including solar and wind power with backup natural gas turbine generators. Couple this with government tax incentives or rebates for being self-sufficient and you won't have the crisis we just saw.
M
Seems like standard legal jargon to me. Protect everything, guarantee nothing, deny any responsibility whatsoever and put the onus on the consumer(or in this case those who won the lawsuit).
I'll bet the lawyers get paid first and promptly and you know what...I don't think anyone is the least bit surprised.
M
I would assume it's because the video rental business is established and of course benefits the MPAA. In other words, no one has a vested interest in shutting it down. But how come I can rent (thru Netflix) a Norah Jones concert DVD and yet I can't rent a Norah Jones music CD? I need a legal explanation here.
Thanks
I've seen ones in San Francisco. Lots of technology there. The exploratorium and there's this Sony technology expo thing I've not seen but heard is cool. Lawrence hall of science in Berkeley, etc...
Elected officials for the most part view serving their constituents as a measure of how much money they bring to thier district. Whether it's a subsidy, tax break, low income program, or whatever. When people vote for you, they're voting for someone to be the squeaky wheel and get the grease.
I think the best we can hope for is to elect people based on their fundamental ideas and their track record. An educated and informed electorate is necessary to counteract the hype. M
I saw 4.4M users on Kazaa right after reading this article. That doesn't indicate a drop to me...
Hey man, it is a giveaway to the rich. The rich will sock it away and become richer. The lower classes won't even be able to pay for the lost government services with their tax break. And we all will pay (or our kids will pay) for huge deficit this creates. Don't believe trickle-down econ theory. It was proved to be a fallacy by economists years ago.
I just saw that a number of high profile musicians are pissed off about Apple's "single-song" pay downloading service. They want to control exactly what the consumer gets. (In this case a whole album of bad songs with one good one)
I've heard of people downloading the latest Harry Potter book off of Kazaa, not because they don't want to pay for it but because they want it in a more compact form (electronic or paperback) and don't want to wait for the publisher to milk the hardcover version. It's not about cost, it's about convenience.
Case in point, Walmart has announced that they're going to try a flat-fee video rental approach. I've been going to a local video store with this policy and it's the best.
Give the consumer what they want at a reasonable price and they will beat a path to your door to get it (cash in hand).
M
The US 2000 Presidential election fiasco was a clear example of a case of political interests subverting an imperfect voting system.
A better balloting method would have helped but ultimately those who controlled the counting(Florida officials and ultimately, the supreme court), were able to sway the outcome. We effectively had the "source code" to the Florida system. A punched card is for all practical purposes "open sourced". This didn't matter because the method of polling and counting were compromised.
The wierd thing is that this is all documented and yet very few seem to care.
True security is not found in the military. Look at Israel, do they live in a secure state? How do you feel about security in the US and abroad these days now that we've asserted ourselves via our military.
The best way to be secure is to be on good terms will ALL your neighbors, respect their ideas and their rights to express them, treat people fairly as if you would like the same treatment, and remember that the use of deadly force is a last chance means of survival.
M
Obviously solar panels require energy to make. The good thing is that they don't polute while they are converting sunlight to electricity and they don't make us dependent upon a limited resource.
Like gasoline engines, if solar panels were produced in large enough quantities, they could be much more efficient. Unfortunately, this would lessen the control that governments and industry have over the average person. Think about it.
M
Yes, but when you have several kW of solar panels on your roof like I do, you CAN make a difference and it IS cost effective. The last I heard, no one has a monopoly on the sun...
As for fossil fuels, there's the environmental cost of getting that oil out of the ground(or national park) and the cost of paying for crooks like the guys at Enron and the cost of that war in Iraq, etc. It's not that simple.
M
There is a certain amount of fudging that goes on in life. You brag about driving a two hour drive(at the speed limit) in 1 1/2 hours. You make a copy of a CD for a friend. You let someone "borrow" a software program. If we followed the law exactly, and reported anything that seems to break the law, then it would suck to live here. These IT guys had one responsibility when they encountered the porn. It was serious enough to warrant telling their supervisor and serious enough to go to the cops if they thought it was being ignored. The company better have a pretty damn good reason for firing them as a jury will have little sympathy for the company.
I just bought a couple of CD's from CDBaby.com. FWIW, CDBaby will sell your CD online for $4 per copy. You send them the CDs, they put up a web page and handle all the transaction stuff( credit cards, etc) and send you a check (and hopefully a request for more of your hot selling CDs). the artist I was looking at had 3 FULL LENGTH mp3s that I could play at will. It was painless, cheap, and I know the artist got $8 per CD that I bought. BTW, the artist sets the selling price. Fuck the RIAA, MPA, etc. They are obsolete.
How about selling TRADEMARKED domain names (filed and approved, of course). It would seem that the domain name selling business could add value to their sometimes unscrupulous business by providing this as an option. M
And so if your new table lamp that you just bought only accepts incandescent bulbs from one manufacturer (at their price), is this not the same as a monopoly? Ultimately, the market should decide these issues. We still have a right to say we don't like them and we have a duty to complain when our legislators make laws that punish us for trying to fix our own products that we bought and paid for (DMCA). It is illegal to sell a product under cost and in the process obtain a monopoly on that product. This is called dumping.
I'm sure the communications providers think that with these sorts of laws they'll be able to rake in the dough by forcing router and NAT users to pay extra for the privelige of subnetting. I'm hopeful that the Cisco's of the world, who sell us our home router/firewall/NAT/wireless boxes at CompUSA are going to see that this legislation will curb their business. Unless they lobby for an exemption...
What about the surcharge on blank cassette tapes (those blank tapes were going to "kill" the record industry, right)? I think the independent music labels plus the advances in technology will kill the RIAA eventually and this will be a good thing. We all need to keep fighting the push to enact new laws to "protect" the copyright holders. We already have laws to for this. In fact, we already have laws that the DCMA, Patriot Act I & II, and other legislation propose to combat that are already in place. Why do we need more? Ask Ashcroft and Co. The last time I checked, tterrorism was still illegal...