When people start talking about being pro-Freedom (a redundant phrase if ever I heard one) good guys helping others you can practically hear the battle hymns in the background and see the waving flags.
I usually hear hollow breathing overlaid upon the Imperial March. Both sides believe that the other is the Evil Empire.
What's your "good reason" to support the blatant sociopaths at Microsoft?
None whatsoever.However, that's why I try to use free OSes wherever possible. I don't know why you decided to automatically polarize the conversation into Windows vs. Mac though: I didn't even mention Gates, Hell & Co. Still have to make a living and support my family, so at this point in my life I write Windows code. I'd rather not, but jobs for engineers in my age group don't exactly fall off trees (not anymore.) At home though, which is what I was talking about, we're a Linux shop (KDE, Gnome, XFCE, whatever anyone happens to prefer.)
The truth is that Apple Computer is just as much of an evil enterprise that Microsoft, Inc. at this point. Both Ballmer and Jobs dissemble very easily (I think they both practice lying when they get up in the morning, they're both so good at it.) The difference is that Microsoft's customers don't believe a word that comes from their CEO's mouth, and Apple customers will defend everything their pet corporate overlord does 'til their dying breath.
My guess is that AT&T will keep T-Mobile as a "competitor." That way they can have two parts of the market. Just like Tracfone and NET10. They're both owned by Tracfone - and have entirely different charge schemes.
Which is hysterical in its own right. "Owning" a "competitor". Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha.
Really though, what it comes down to is that they want to position themselves to serve different markets, have brand recognition for different types of service, and that's one way to do it.
That's precisely what I'm saying. AT&T works elsewhere. T-Mobile, at least according to the coverage map on their website, has no coverage north of MKE/MSN. Certainly none in Green Bay/Fox River Valley area where I am most of the time. So sadly, I am stuck using AT&T when I'd prefer T-Mobile.
T-Mobile plan (for which I pay $65/month for what I listed above) also includes unlimited voice roaming AND unlimited data roaming. Coverage maps be damned, and that's a good part of why I hate this impending merger. T-Mobile was offering a good nationwide service at a reasonable price, and I know I'm going to lose that. "Good for consumers" my ass.
International treaties undermining liberties in individual nations is a big problem. More and more it's being used by special interests to undermine democratic decision making ("policy laundering").
Yes, and in the United States even unConstitutional treaties have to be honored, as I understand it.
That's the US reasoning. That's the US reasoning. In Europe, control of their creations is viewed as an intrinsic right of artists and creators.
Sure, and that actually is the way it is here. You are granted copyright at the moment of creation, and it is yours unless you explicitly transfer that right. Furthermore, the idea that a temporary monopoly encourages the production of creative works was something that our Founders debated at some length. Jefferson, in particular, was no fan of copyright, but commercial interests won out even then.
What has happened, so far as the music industry is concerned, is that a bunch of (largely foreign owned) corporations took over media distribution in this country, controlling it with an iron fist for decades. That forced artists to deal with the music cartel, which offered usurious contracts in exchange for ownership of the works in question and, of course, the lion's share of any profits. What we're seeing here are the consequences of the sudden loss of control of content distribution afforded by the Internet, and that includes both legitimate and illegitimate means of distributing music online.
It is disingenuous to characterize this as solely an American problem, that we're somehow the cause of all of this. The reality is, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act, the Audio Home Recording Act, and a number of other rotten laws, were put in place by the likes of the RIAA at the behest of both domestic (Disney, et al) and foreign entities (Sony and Bertelsmann to name a few.) Essentially, Europe's corporate powers corrupted our copyright system, effectively conscripting the considerable power of the United States Federal Government to extend their hegemony.
You bear some responsibility for this, and the fact that your own politicians are buying into it so readily indicates that the corruption runs pretty deep, worldwide.
A government which was against what private interests in the dirtiest, rotten country of the world, switches stance out of the blue.
Dirtiest? Rottenest? Really?
And even if that were one hundred percent true... what does it make the politicians in Denmark and Spain that went along with it? Saints?
There are selfish, corrupt people in every single country on this planet. Deal with it, and stop slandering entire societies with one overbroad brush. Makes you seem ignorant and petty.
As in, the infinite team of monkeys will soon have had enough time to allow the RIAA high command to copyright every possible work? This does not seem to be out of the question, at this rate.
Why not? Just don't allow the creative element of a society to hold copyright, or directly earn anything from their works. Require them to give up their rights to the nearest large copyright holder.
I recently moved to Denmark. But the first thing that popped into my mind when reading this, was indeed to go outside and shout "Dansk jävlaaaaar!!!!". I don't think my neighbours will like me after that, though:)
Did you look at the date of the press release? February 24th 2011. It is more than a month ago, and so far very little has been in the Danish media on the subject. Something is indeed rotten...
Well, did you take the time to write a letter in a newspaper ?
- It's not fair to cry about the lack of public debate if you're not willing to start it..
And unfortunately we can't expect politicians to hang out on slashdot...
Anyway, are we doing anything about this? do politicians even know that we care? Perhaps we (Danish slashdot users) should do something... ideas?
I'd start by finding out which specific politicians are responsible for this and, more importantly, what means were used to convince them to change their minds. Follow the money back to whatever organization bribed them and then shout it from the rooftops. Embarrass the hell out of them.
No slur intended upon your government, by the way. I'm American, and our political leaders sold themselves (and us) down the river some time ago. So whenever I hear that the content industry has won another round, I have a pretty good idea how they did it.
Why do cellular providers get to make artificial distinction within the data service.
Email to you phone included in data plan.
Phone mobile hotspot so your laptop can get email... EXTRA $$$
It's all just 1s and 0s, so stop dicking us with "unlimited" data plans that have limits and advertised service speeds that are far from approachable.
Well, my T-Mobile plan is pretty good. I have a 5 Gig "cap", which isn't a hard cap, it just means that I get throttled if I go over it. I don't, however, ever lose connectivity or get extra charges. I pay for HSUPA speeds, and I actually get about 7-8 mbits/sec out of it (that's using a USB tether to my laptop and running a bunch of speedtests, including broadbandreports.com.) I have a G2, and I track my usage (T-Mobile's site gives you that info as well, and they match up pretty well) and I've never gone above about 1.5 gigs in a month. That's just me... obviously your mileage will vary. I can tether and use VoIP software without getting yelled at (or charged.) And yes, I'm thoroughly pissed off at AT&T for screwing up a good thing by buying my provider. Fuckers.
And for anyone who wants to use an operating system that actually, you know, WORKS. Skip gnome, kde, xfce, ghrdx, efjiwc, and all the other unpronounceable crap that passes for code in the open sores world.
The problem with the Mac is that I really, really don't like who I'd have to thank for it. I prefer not to support blatant sociopaths without a good reason. And lots of gratuitous eye candy isn't a good reason.
I'll stick with my various revs of Windows and Linux, thank you very much.
"more focused, aware, effective, capable, respected, delighted, and at ease."
Wow! If it also made me more continent, gas free, fresh, and leave me with cleaner hair, it would be perfect!
Forget the hair, I think it's cleaner air that you need.
Honestly? what these guys did was tame, and kind of funny.
You're certainly entitled to your point of view. Mine, as a developer of some thirty years, is that you don't play games like that. Period.
As for the morality of it? Meh - it could backfire on them (or maybe not... after all, what are *you* going to do about it?
Me? I already told you: not give them any of my money. So far as I'm concerned, you either accept some copyright infringement as a cost of doing business... or find another business. A "gentle reminder" does NOT include accessing private information on a user's cell phone and using it without authorization to broadcast an attempt to embarrass that user. If you're capable of reliably detecting that the product has truly been illegally copied, a "gentle reminder" would be a pop-up notifying the user that the product was not legitimately purchased. Better yet, just don't allow the illegal copy to execute. Cripes. This is not rocket science.
Good business ethic is what it is. Hell, even Microsoft wouldn't pull something like this: it's childish and stupid, and merely makes your legitimate users distrust you.
You may not like the terms associated to it, such as "freeloaders", "theft" or "stealing", but those aren't just 'technically' accurate, they are apt.
Well, if you're talking about U.S. copyright law they are not apt. Well, freeloading is reasonable, I'd say. Apply some critical thinking (not to mention a few facts) here yourself. The terms are not only technically inaccurate, but legally inaccurate as well. I know this is an old, old complaint, but it's not legally theft, because the owner is not deprived of his property, only (potential) profit. It is, in fact, copyright infringement, and it is so because it is a civil, not a criminal matter. Unless you're talking about true pirates (those who commit copyright infringement on a significant scale for profit) the term theft doesn't apply. I can see you have strong personal feelings on the matter (that, or you are paid by the RIAA) but that doesn't change the facts.
Now, having said that, the way it's looking from the the legal perspective here, copyright infringement will probably be criminalized in the relatively near future. If so, then you'll have a case.
Slashdot Mirror
When people start talking about being pro-Freedom (a redundant phrase if ever I heard one) good guys helping others you can practically hear the battle hymns in the background and see the waving flags.
I usually hear hollow breathing overlaid upon the Imperial March. Both sides believe that the other is the Evil Empire.
Marriage: It's a lot of work, but in the long run, eventually one of you dies.
LIfe's a bitch, then you marry one ... and then you die.
If you extract the ROM out of an Apple device, is that a core dump?
It's a bit slice.
What's your "good reason" to support the blatant sociopaths at Microsoft?
None whatsoever.However, that's why I try to use free OSes wherever possible. I don't know why you decided to automatically polarize the conversation into Windows vs. Mac though: I didn't even mention Gates, Hell & Co. Still have to make a living and support my family, so at this point in my life I write Windows code. I'd rather not, but jobs for engineers in my age group don't exactly fall off trees (not anymore.) At home though, which is what I was talking about, we're a Linux shop (KDE, Gnome, XFCE, whatever anyone happens to prefer.)
The truth is that Apple Computer is just as much of an evil enterprise that Microsoft, Inc. at this point. Both Ballmer and Jobs dissemble very easily (I think they both practice lying when they get up in the morning, they're both so good at it.) The difference is that Microsoft's customers don't believe a word that comes from their CEO's mouth, and Apple customers will defend everything their pet corporate overlord does 'til their dying breath.
My guess is that AT&T will keep T-Mobile as a "competitor." That way they can have two parts of the market. Just like Tracfone and NET10. They're both owned by Tracfone - and have entirely different charge schemes.
Which is hysterical in its own right. "Owning" a "competitor". Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha.
Really though, what it comes down to is that they want to position themselves to serve different markets, have brand recognition for different types of service, and that's one way to do it.
That's precisely what I'm saying. AT&T works elsewhere. T-Mobile, at least according to the coverage map on their website, has no coverage north of MKE/MSN. Certainly none in Green Bay/Fox River Valley area where I am most of the time. So sadly, I am stuck using AT&T when I'd prefer T-Mobile.
T-Mobile plan (for which I pay $65/month for what I listed above) also includes unlimited voice roaming AND unlimited data roaming. Coverage maps be damned, and that's a good part of why I hate this impending merger. T-Mobile was offering a good nationwide service at a reasonable price, and I know I'm going to lose that. "Good for consumers" my ass.
International treaties undermining liberties in individual nations is a big problem. More and more it's being used by special interests to undermine democratic decision making ("policy laundering").
Yes, and in the United States even unConstitutional treaties have to be honored, as I understand it.
That's the US reasoning. That's the US reasoning. In Europe, control of their creations is viewed as an intrinsic right of artists and creators.
Sure, and that actually is the way it is here. You are granted copyright at the moment of creation, and it is yours unless you explicitly transfer that right. Furthermore, the idea that a temporary monopoly encourages the production of creative works was something that our Founders debated at some length. Jefferson, in particular, was no fan of copyright, but commercial interests won out even then.
What has happened, so far as the music industry is concerned, is that a bunch of (largely foreign owned) corporations took over media distribution in this country, controlling it with an iron fist for decades. That forced artists to deal with the music cartel, which offered usurious contracts in exchange for ownership of the works in question and, of course, the lion's share of any profits. What we're seeing here are the consequences of the sudden loss of control of content distribution afforded by the Internet, and that includes both legitimate and illegitimate means of distributing music online.
It is disingenuous to characterize this as solely an American problem, that we're somehow the cause of all of this. The reality is, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act, the Audio Home Recording Act, and a number of other rotten laws, were put in place by the likes of the RIAA at the behest of both domestic (Disney, et al) and foreign entities (Sony and Bertelsmann to name a few.) Essentially, Europe's corporate powers corrupted our copyright system, effectively conscripting the considerable power of the United States Federal Government to extend their hegemony.
You bear some responsibility for this, and the fact that your own politicians are buying into it so readily indicates that the corruption runs pretty deep, worldwide.
A government which was against what private interests in the dirtiest, rotten country of the world, switches stance out of the blue.
Dirtiest? Rottenest? Really?
... what does it make the politicians in Denmark and Spain that went along with it? Saints?
And even if that were one hundred percent true
There are selfish, corrupt people in every single country on this planet. Deal with it, and stop slandering entire societies with one overbroad brush. Makes you seem ignorant and petty.
As in, the infinite team of monkeys will soon have had enough time to allow the RIAA high command to copyright every possible work? This does not seem to be out of the question, at this rate.
Why not? Just don't allow the creative element of a society to hold copyright, or directly earn anything from their works. Require them to give up their rights to the nearest large copyright holder.
At the current pace of extending copyright terms, copyrights themselves will have no meaning.
No meaning relevant to their original (and in the U.S., Constitutionally-mandated) purpose, but they will still have value. Not to us, of course.
I recently moved to Denmark. But the first thing that popped into my mind when reading this, was indeed to go outside and shout "Dansk jävlaaaaar!!!!". I don't think my neighbours will like me after that, though :)
Do they like you now? If not ... go for it.
and the marketing of prefab boy bands preteen female vocalists can't possibly make economic sense -- their audience doesn't have any income!
No, but their parents do.
I dislike children actually.
Have you tried them slathered in barbecue sauce and slow-roasted over an open spit?
"Children? Of course I like children. I prefer mine boiled." -- W.C. Fields
I think the word you were looking for is Freeloa... er... Descendants.
"Parasites" works as well.
Did you look at the date of the press release? February 24th 2011. It is more than a month ago, and so far very little has been in the Danish media on the subject. Something is indeed rotten ...
Well, did you take the time to write a letter in a newspaper ? - It's not fair to cry about the lack of public debate if you're not willing to start it.. And unfortunately we can't expect politicians to hang out on slashdot... Anyway, are we doing anything about this? do politicians even know that we care? Perhaps we (Danish slashdot users) should do something... ideas?
I'd start by finding out which specific politicians are responsible for this and, more importantly, what means were used to convince them to change their minds. Follow the money back to whatever organization bribed them and then shout it from the rooftops. Embarrass the hell out of them.
No slur intended upon your government, by the way. I'm American, and our political leaders sold themselves (and us) down the river some time ago. So whenever I hear that the content industry has won another round, I have a pretty good idea how they did it.
Why do cellular providers get to make artificial distinction within the data service.
Email to you phone included in data plan. Phone mobile hotspot so your laptop can get email... EXTRA $$$
It's all just 1s and 0s, so stop dicking us with "unlimited" data plans that have limits and advertised service speeds that are far from approachable.
Well, my T-Mobile plan is pretty good. I have a 5 Gig "cap", which isn't a hard cap, it just means that I get throttled if I go over it. I don't, however, ever lose connectivity or get extra charges. I pay for HSUPA speeds, and I actually get about 7-8 mbits/sec out of it (that's using a USB tether to my laptop and running a bunch of speedtests, including broadbandreports.com.) I have a G2, and I track my usage (T-Mobile's site gives you that info as well, and they match up pretty well) and I've never gone above about 1.5 gigs in a month. That's just me ... obviously your mileage will vary. I can tether and use VoIP software without getting yelled at (or charged.) And yes, I'm thoroughly pissed off at AT&T for screwing up a good thing by buying my provider. Fuckers.
At least they have decided on a Gnomenclature.
Yes, you can read all about it in the Necrognomicon.
I just noticed that on gnome.org it says "Hosted by Canonical" at the bottom. Isn't it great how they're getting along, what with all the drama? :)
Yes, it is. Of course, I notice that there's no Ubuntu release on their download page ...
Mac.
Personally I find the Mac garish and overdone. But hey, that's just me. I still use the command line every day.
I _do_ feel more focused, aware, effective, capable, respected, delighted, and at ease... of course, that might just be the Ritalin...
Personally, I go for Valium: it doesn't make me particularly focused, effective, capable or respected, true. But I am delighted and very much at ease.
And for anyone who wants to use an operating system that actually, you know, WORKS. Skip gnome, kde, xfce, ghrdx, efjiwc, and all the other unpronounceable crap that passes for code in the open sores world.
Here's all you need.
Think different. Think better. Think APPLE!
The problem with the Mac is that I really, really don't like who I'd have to thank for it. I prefer not to support blatant sociopaths without a good reason. And lots of gratuitous eye candy isn't a good reason.
I'll stick with my various revs of Windows and Linux, thank you very much.
"more focused, aware, effective, capable, respected, delighted, and at ease." Wow! If it also made me more continent, gas free, fresh, and leave me with cleaner hair, it would be perfect!
Forget the hair, I think it's cleaner air that you need.
Honestly? what these guys did was tame, and kind of funny.
You're certainly entitled to your point of view. Mine, as a developer of some thirty years, is that you don't play games like that. Period.
As for the morality of it? Meh - it could backfire on them (or maybe not... after all, what are *you* going to do about it?
Me? I already told you: not give them any of my money. So far as I'm concerned, you either accept some copyright infringement as a cost of doing business ... or find another business. A "gentle reminder" does NOT include accessing private information on a user's cell phone and using it without authorization to broadcast an attempt to embarrass that user. If you're capable of reliably detecting that the product has truly been illegally copied, a "gentle reminder" would be a pop-up notifying the user that the product was not legitimately purchased. Better yet, just don't allow the illegal copy to execute. Cripes. This is not rocket science.
Good business ethic is what it is. Hell, even Microsoft wouldn't pull something like this: it's childish and stupid, and merely makes your legitimate users distrust you.
You may not like the terms associated to it, such as "freeloaders", "theft" or "stealing", but those aren't just 'technically' accurate, they are apt.
Well, if you're talking about U.S. copyright law they are not apt. Well, freeloading is reasonable, I'd say. Apply some critical thinking (not to mention a few facts) here yourself. The terms are not only technically inaccurate, but legally inaccurate as well. I know this is an old, old complaint, but it's not legally theft, because the owner is not deprived of his property, only (potential) profit. It is, in fact, copyright infringement, and it is so because it is a civil, not a criminal matter. Unless you're talking about true pirates (those who commit copyright infringement on a significant scale for profit) the term theft doesn't apply. I can see you have strong personal feelings on the matter (that, or you are paid by the RIAA) but that doesn't change the facts.
Now, having said that, the way it's looking from the the legal perspective here, copyright infringement will probably be criminalized in the relatively near future. If so, then you'll have a case.