I've probably read those already. I am well aware that recording industry screws artists, but it is the artists who signed over their interests in the music in the first place to a known evil. Regardless of who has the rights, it is still true that some entity does. That entity gets to decide the means by which it will distribute its product and while I can wish they would be more open and fair, I still don't have a right to receive the music in a form other than how the copyright owner or the law grants. That fact is true no matter how bastardly the industry players may be.
Now that's a whole other issue and I agree with you completely. Just because a tool has a potential illegal use is no reason to make the tool illegal. Practically everything in existance can be used illegally, right down to red plastic cups. Even though underage kids can drink beer in them, it isn't a remotely valid reason to make them illegal.
I personally never saw the point of DRM anyway.... The reason people pay for digital downloads is that it is convenient and fast.
You forgot another important reason: to compensate the artist. Believe it or not, some people feel good about compensating others for work they find enjoyable (or in the case of linux: useful). I know this is not exactly a popular sentiment here, but I don't really have a problem with DRM. It isn't like I have natural god-given right to have someone's music on my terms alone -- the owner naturally has a say in whether he/she wants to avoid DRM and in all likelihood, give up a significant amount of direct compensation for the recording. Now, DRM-free music may very well be of great benefit for the artist in other ways, but we'd all be fooling ourselves if we thought nobody would take advantage of a DRM-free situation. And even if DRM-free distribution would make an artist the greatest thing in the world, it isn't our choice. People need to be allowed to make lousy decisions.
Personally, I avoid DRM'd music anymore because I got sick of the issues associated with it (I'm thinking of iTunes specifically, emusic is so much simpler), but whoever owns the music gets to make that DRM decision. I can be dissapointed, but I can't really blame them either. Very few people are willing to give as much as those in the GPL world do -- those who let most direct compensation go in exchange for indirect compensation.
I can see your point for someone who plays the lottery a lot. I'll admit however that I sometimes buy a lotto ticket so I can engage in the fantasy. For me, "sometimes" = 2x/year. That $80 over 40 years, if wisely invested, could end up being worth a whopping $800 which, 40 years from now, will probably have the buying power of about $86 in today's money (note: completely made up figure). It's a fun fantasy sometimes and I don't regret the loss. I can see how people spending 5, 10, or 20 bucks per week could be harming themselves, but then, that's their issue, not mine.
There really isn't much of a difference. A great deal of language is non-verbal. The "come on" in your first instance is just as strong as in the second. Look at it this way, presume the cop wasn't there "dressed like hooker" and smiling at you, chances are you wouldn't be tempted to get a "date". I'm not saying that legally, there would be a difference... I honestly don't know... but in reality, both are entrapment because its impossible to say the "crime" wouldn't have happened if the cops hadn't been there enabling it in the first place. Think of it this way, what if the cop was dressed dumpy and looking bitter and mean at people. Obviously, by dressing like a hooker and making non-verbal advances, she is trying to cause others to perform illegal behavior.
"Redneck" is racist, it just happens to be acceptably racist. The basis for the term is that white guys working in the sun all day will get a sunburned neck. So it relates to skin color/social class, has negative connotations, and is thus racist.
Computers are actually cheaper now even if the entry price has remained about a grand or so. I think I earned about $4-5/hr doing crappy jobs in college. My first computer (not counting the trs-80 coco) was about $1200 (a screamin' 386sx20). At $5/hr, that equals 240 hours of labor (not counting taxes and such). Minimum wage is now $7.63/hr (WA State), meaning I could get a similarly priced machine for 157.3 hours of labor. This hypothetical $1200 machine is cheaper by more than 80 hours of labor in the present day than when I was kid. Kids today -- freakin' whiners.
It's not a quote so much as excerpt from a sentence. On its own it means nothing and is misleading. I initially thought that it was talking about how combining two pre-existing products wouldn't really be patentable. But using the "teaching-suggestion-motivation" test, the Federal courts have actually been ruling that such things are patentable. That is why it is appalling writing -- first, it doesn't say anything because it is a fragment, and secondly, it leaves the reader to fill in those details, prossibly erroneously. Here is the full paragraph containing the phrase. Note that it describes an evidentiary test used to evaluate whether something is obvious:
The Federal Circuit's "teaching-suggestion-motivation
test" has been applied in hundreds of cases since 1985,
including in the decision below. App. at 16a-17a. The Federal
Circuit has repeatedly held that a "teaching or suggestion
or motivation" to combine prior art references is an
"essential evidentiary component" of any obviousness
holding. C.R. Bard, Inc. v. M3 Sys., Inc., 157 F.3d 1340, 1351-
52 (Fed. Cir. 1998). See also In re Dembiczak, 175 F.3d 994, 998
(Fed. Cir. 1999). The Federal Circuit applies this "teaching-
suggestion-motivation test" even where, as in this case, a
patent claims nothing more than a combination of pre-
existing, off-the-shelf components in which each component
performs exactly the same function that it had been known
and was designed to perform.
Don't bother RTFA. The FA is terribly written and confusing. For example:
That court has ruled, for instance, that even "a combination of preexisting, off-the-shelf components in which each component performs exactly the same function that it had been known and was designed to perform," KSR wrote in its petition for review by the Supreme Court (click for PDF).
That's an entire "paragraph" from the article. Notice how the main sentence goes nowhere? Essentially it says "the court has ruled that." Ruled what? All in all, this whole situation is appalling. Obvious patents are appalling and TFA is appalling.
There's a large probability the garage bands do the work themselves. It is very cheap to burn a disk and put in an insert if there are no labor costs (i.e., DIY). To do a good job on one album could easily take 30 minutes or more. Yes, the burning only takes 5 minutes, and the printing 1, but you need reliable labor to get the order, process it, ensure the right disk goes in the correct envelope, address it, apply postage, etc. All of these little things added together could easily be a half hour. If you go for an automated solution, be prepared to spend incredible amounts of money on the equipment. Anyway, if you think it's a good idea, just do it. I look at it and see too many problems (foremost, burned discs suck) to consider it a viable business model and I certainly wouldn't invest my own money in it. I might be dead wrong though. People have bought crazier things.
If I'm going to buy a CD, I want it pressed not burned. Any self respecting slashdotter should know that burnable media have a lousy shelf life. Secondly, it would cost a hell of a lot to sell custom prints. You have to pay someone to burn the disks, print the insert, cut it out, fold it, take the jewel case apart, put it in correctly, address the envelope, apply postage and take it to the post office. A custom burn job like this would be very expensive compared even to the inflated cost of commercial discs. Add to that the big question mark regarding shelf life, and you have a business sure to cost its investors money. Digital distribitution makes much more sense: miniscule labor cost, no worries about angry customers coming back in 5 years raising holy hell about their dead discs.
This is something that people who were not petulant two-year olds could agree to in a matter of seconds ("Your place or mine?").
TFA isn't clear on who called the deposition. Most lawyers like to have depostions they call performed on their home turf. The notion is that there is some psychological advantage to have the depostion occur in their own lair rather than in a place the witness will feel comfortable. It's likely the defense called this deposition because Plaintiff wants it set up in a neutral territory -- the court reporter's office -- and the defense wants it at its office. That's my guess at the motivation behind their wrangling anyway. It's pretty traditional for the person who calls a deposition to get to name the place (*), so it is understandable that the defense would be frustrated. One thing is certain, nobody scores points with the judge if the question of location is brought to the court.
(*) There are of course many perfectly valid reasons why deps might be held elsewhere than the office of the party who called the deposition.
Interestingly the old Japanese "foot" (shaku) was base 10. There were 10 sun in a shaku and 10 bu in a sun. For reference, one shaku is just shy of one foot. It starts to break down after that though... for example, there are 6 shaku in one ken. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_unit
Personally, I would hate to see XGL get canned. I just upgraded an older Suse version to 10.1 and setting up the XGL/Compiz stuff was extremely easy (install nvidia drivers and 3 or 4 rpms -- then turn it on through the control center). The eye candy is second to none. Some of it is just dressing, but some is going to great. For example, the Expose like feature is flawlessly smooth (compare to the clunky Kompose). I can't really say how impressed I am with it. For years, linux DEs have been perfectly functional and fairly good looking. Windows and OSX are goiong to have to play catch-up compared to XGL -- that feels good.
Also, my hardware isn't awesome and it still runs great (athlon 2200+, 128mb nvidia based card -- I've never spent more than $65 on a video card so you know it isn't even close to top of the line).
Slashdot Mirror
I've probably read those already. I am well aware that recording industry screws artists, but it is the artists who signed over their interests in the music in the first place to a known evil. Regardless of who has the rights, it is still true that some entity does. That entity gets to decide the means by which it will distribute its product and while I can wish they would be more open and fair, I still don't have a right to receive the music in a form other than how the copyright owner or the law grants. That fact is true no matter how bastardly the industry players may be.
Now that's a whole other issue and I agree with you completely. Just because a tool has a potential illegal use is no reason to make the tool illegal. Practically everything in existance can be used illegally, right down to red plastic cups. Even though underage kids can drink beer in them, it isn't a remotely valid reason to make them illegal.
Personally, I avoid DRM'd music anymore because I got sick of the issues associated with it (I'm thinking of iTunes specifically, emusic is so much simpler), but whoever owns the music gets to make that DRM decision. I can be dissapointed, but I can't really blame them either. Very few people are willing to give as much as those in the GPL world do -- those who let most direct compensation go in exchange for indirect compensation.
I can see your point for someone who plays the lottery a lot. I'll admit however that I sometimes buy a lotto ticket so I can engage in the fantasy. For me, "sometimes" = 2x/year. That $80 over 40 years, if wisely invested, could end up being worth a whopping $800 which, 40 years from now, will probably have the buying power of about $86 in today's money (note: completely made up figure). It's a fun fantasy sometimes and I don't regret the loss. I can see how people spending 5, 10, or 20 bucks per week could be harming themselves, but then, that's their issue, not mine.
8.1 million dollars buys a lot of solace. That what was the head guy's take last year.
I wish I hadn't posted already cause I got mod points and you deserve some inisghtful modding.
There really isn't much of a difference. A great deal of language is non-verbal. The "come on" in your first instance is just as strong as in the second. Look at it this way, presume the cop wasn't there "dressed like hooker" and smiling at you, chances are you wouldn't be tempted to get a "date". I'm not saying that legally, there would be a difference ... I honestly don't know ... but in reality, both are entrapment because its impossible to say the "crime" wouldn't have happened if the cops hadn't been there enabling it in the first place. Think of it this way, what if the cop was dressed dumpy and looking bitter and mean at people. Obviously, by dressing like a hooker and making non-verbal advances, she is trying to cause others to perform illegal behavior.
"Redneck" is racist, it just happens to be acceptably racist. The basis for the term is that white guys working in the sun all day will get a sunburned neck. So it relates to skin color/social class, has negative connotations, and is thus racist.
50 beefy ones.
Computers are actually cheaper now even if the entry price has remained about a grand or so. I think I earned about $4-5/hr doing crappy jobs in college. My first computer (not counting the trs-80 coco) was about $1200 (a screamin' 386sx20). At $5/hr, that equals 240 hours of labor (not counting taxes and such). Minimum wage is now $7.63/hr (WA State), meaning I could get a similarly priced machine for 157.3 hours of labor. This hypothetical $1200 machine is cheaper by more than 80 hours of labor in the present day than when I was kid. Kids today -- freakin' whiners.
Actually, that is the price for students. You'll note this model does not appear on the main page, only the page for students. So 899 is the price.
That's an entire "paragraph" from the article. Notice how the main sentence goes nowhere? Essentially it says "the court has ruled that." Ruled what? All in all, this whole situation is appalling. Obvious patents are appalling and TFA is appalling.
There's a large probability the garage bands do the work themselves. It is very cheap to burn a disk and put in an insert if there are no labor costs (i.e., DIY). To do a good job on one album could easily take 30 minutes or more. Yes, the burning only takes 5 minutes, and the printing 1, but you need reliable labor to get the order, process it, ensure the right disk goes in the correct envelope, address it, apply postage, etc. All of these little things added together could easily be a half hour. If you go for an automated solution, be prepared to spend incredible amounts of money on the equipment. Anyway, if you think it's a good idea, just do it. I look at it and see too many problems (foremost, burned discs suck) to consider it a viable business model and I certainly wouldn't invest my own money in it. I might be dead wrong though. People have bought crazier things.
If I'm going to buy a CD, I want it pressed not burned. Any self respecting slashdotter should know that burnable media have a lousy shelf life. Secondly, it would cost a hell of a lot to sell custom prints. You have to pay someone to burn the disks, print the insert, cut it out, fold it, take the jewel case apart, put it in correctly, address the envelope, apply postage and take it to the post office. A custom burn job like this would be very expensive compared even to the inflated cost of commercial discs. Add to that the big question mark regarding shelf life, and you have a business sure to cost its investors money. Digital distribitution makes much more sense: miniscule labor cost, no worries about angry customers coming back in 5 years raising holy hell about their dead discs.
But being foolish with how you spend your money is no reason to send someone to prison.
Here ya go: http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=online+gambli ng+casino
No paid ads though. I wonder if that's new since the law. Google gives plenty of ads on the same search.
With the cost of divorce, you could skip the whole LOVE thing and get five or six sexbots. More fun, less money.
Plainly, the US needs no assistance from Al-Queda to achieve police state status.
(*) There are of course many perfectly valid reasons why deps might be held elsewhere than the office of the party who called the deposition.
Interestingly the old Japanese "foot" (shaku) was base 10. There were 10 sun in a shaku and 10 bu in a sun. For reference, one shaku is just shy of one foot. It starts to break down after that though ... for example, there are 6 shaku in one ken. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_unit
He shoulda gotten in on the Vonage IPO.
Personally, I would hate to see XGL get canned. I just upgraded an older Suse version to 10.1 and setting up the XGL/Compiz stuff was extremely easy (install nvidia drivers and 3 or 4 rpms -- then turn it on through the control center). The eye candy is second to none. Some of it is just dressing, but some is going to great. For example, the Expose like feature is flawlessly smooth (compare to the clunky Kompose). I can't really say how impressed I am with it. For years, linux DEs have been perfectly functional and fairly good looking. Windows and OSX are goiong to have to play catch-up compared to XGL -- that feels good.
Also, my hardware isn't awesome and it still runs great (athlon 2200+, 128mb nvidia based card -- I've never spent more than $65 on a video card so you know it isn't even close to top of the line).