...are scary. Think about it. They have more power than many countries, and answer only to their shareholders, and mostly to their wealthiest shareholders. Their existence is completely selfish and without a moral base. They sway governments to their cause through corruption.
Eventually, the distinction between government and corporation will disappear. Government "of the people and for the people" will be replaced by corporate decree.
These behemoths prefer democracy only so far as it helps their bottom line. Beyond that, the democratic voice is an annoying insect to be swatted.
OK, so SBC goes after a little player to establish precedent. So why doesn't another Big Player, whose interests are being threatened by SBC, weigh in on the little player's side? With financial support, if nothing else.
Tell SBC to take their patent, fold it til it's all corners, and stuff it up their ass!
Now I can see why much of the world sees the US as a bunch of imperialists. Everything we do, we just gotta export, including political correctness, blue jeans, and that steaming pile of shit we call the DMCA. And anybody that does not toe the line, we either bribe with incentives or threaten with bombs. We need to fix our own affairs, and most importantly to the rest of the world: mind our f*cking business!
The tools required are money, organization, lawyers, and an utter lack of morality.
Hmmm, this describes the *AA, most mid- to large corporations. Sounds like tyranny: "Sic Semper Tyrannis (thus always to tyrants)". Power leads to corruption leads to war.
Our lords and masters. Bow down to them, and make no insult, or you'll be thrown in the dungeon! Public flogging, too. They're probably lurking here to see if they can make an example of any John Hancocks.
We have a Democratic Republic. This means that we elect people to hold office that we feel will act in the best interest of the American people.
At least this was (maybe) their original intent, before being bought out by lobbyists and other bribes we call "soft money." Democracy goes to the highest bidder and corporations rule the land. All hail Caesar(r)!
I'd sooner buy a Segway, and I ain't buying a Segway. Travelling on highways is hairy enough without having to worry about power lines, birds, and oh yeah, that ever present assh*le who knows nothing about how to drive a flying car. Just a bad idea.
You really want these things flying overhead? Home insurance would go up because of these things falling through your roof.
I suspect that if flying horses ever once existed, we killed them off after the umpteenth horse turd ripped through our shingles.
Remember when they said we would never break 128 bit encryption? Where would we be if it was illegal to try?
What really cranks me is that the DMCA prohibits even talking about it... clearly a shot across the bow of the First Amendment.
So what's next on the corporate wish list? Do away with the Bill of Rights completely? Corporate selfishness (protecting the shareholder despite risk of destroying the country) will result in a showdown they don't want.
Clearly, most/.ers would like to see Hillary stripped naked (well that could blind a person), tarred and feathered, and ridden out of town on a syphillitic jackass. No love lost here. Of course, this cannot be done, because next thing you know, we'd want to have it done to the rest of the RIAA.
What do you call 6 members of the RIAA buried up to their necks in sand? A good start.
...into key chain material. If it were as simple as changing a jumper setting, maybe ATI would have something to worry about. Otherwise, ATI should just shrug and say WTF.
**AA has paid too much to Congress to have it any other way. They'll be collecting your ISP fee, hacking your computer, and sueing you blind for "copyright violations." (This, in addition to the "tax" on all blank recordable media of any kind.) Five years from now, their goons will be kicking your door down at 3am, just for a spot check!
So where's our say when these fees are levied? When quasi-governmental agencies lobby for (buy) special laws favorable to them? Is there a price sheet somewhere? They won't be happy until this is officially the US of *AA, and everyone has to bow humbly to their Imperial majesties in Hollywood.
IANAL, but couldn't any EULA associated with alleged illegal activities be considered non-binding? I could have you sign a contract stating that you will shoplift specific items from Kmart for me, but I could never have it legally enforced.
1) If all the mass of the universe (!), every galaxy, star, planet, shipyard, three-bedroom apartment and breadmaker, once occupied the space of a walnut, wouldn't that be a super-duper-duper massive black hole? How did all the stuff get out?
2) Assuming the stuff did get out (since I'm writing this), wouldn't the light from that explosion have preceded the material? In other words, we can't look "back" at something that already happened, since we would have to have traveled FTL to do this. And, ATAE and GR, we can't do FTL. (Just imagine trying to pick up radio broadcasts from the 1920's. We'd have to travel in an FTL spaceship to a point just outside the 80-some lightyear radius bubble of that wavefront.)
This is not to say that I believe creationism any better, but that I am a skeptic of most theories.
I'm wondering why all the biggest most successful capitalists in North America are suddenly running scared from competition (one of the basic principals of capitalism) all of a sudden.
I used to think that democracy and capitalism were strongly linked, but it is really more of a rogue's alliance. Capitalism would abandon any "perfect" democracy devoid of opportunities for unfair governmental influence ("soft" money, bribes, misc. corruption).
Slashdot Mirror
...are scary. Think about it. They have more power than many countries, and answer only to their shareholders, and mostly to their wealthiest shareholders. Their existence is completely selfish and without a moral base. They sway governments to their cause through corruption.
Eventually, the distinction between government and corporation will disappear. Government "of the people and for the people" will be replaced by corporate decree.
These behemoths prefer democracy only so far as it helps their bottom line. Beyond that, the democratic voice is an annoying insect to be swatted.
...from a great guy, but there are too many rich special interests out there, greasing too many palms.
Somebody will tie a rock to this pig's neck and sink it, as sure as a certain company wants to be the only channel.
OK, so SBC goes after a little player to establish precedent. So why doesn't another Big Player, whose interests are being threatened by SBC, weigh in on the little player's side? With financial support, if nothing else.
Tell SBC to take their patent, fold it til it's all corners, and stuff it up their ass!
Now I can see why much of the world sees the US as a bunch of imperialists. Everything we do, we just gotta export, including political correctness, blue jeans, and that steaming pile of shit we call the DMCA. And anybody that does not toe the line, we either bribe with incentives or threaten with bombs. We need to fix our own affairs, and most importantly to the rest of the world: mind our f*cking business!
The tools required are money, organization, lawyers, and an utter lack of morality.
Hmmm, this describes the *AA, most mid- to large corporations. Sounds like tyranny: "Sic Semper Tyrannis (thus always to tyrants)". Power leads to corruption leads to war.
Who does the RIAA think they are?!
Our lords and masters. Bow down to them, and make no insult, or you'll be thrown in the dungeon! Public flogging, too. They're probably lurking here to see if they can make an example of any John Hancocks.
We have a Democratic Republic. This means that we elect people to hold office that we feel will act in the best interest of the American people.
At least this was (maybe) their original intent, before being bought out by lobbyists and other bribes we call "soft money." Democracy goes to the highest bidder and corporations rule the land. All hail Caesar(r)!
I'd sooner buy a Segway, and I ain't buying a Segway. Travelling on highways is hairy enough without having to worry about power lines, birds, and oh yeah, that ever present assh*le who knows nothing about how to drive a flying car. Just a bad idea.
You really want these things flying overhead? Home insurance would go up because of these things falling through your roof.
I suspect that if flying horses ever once existed, we killed them off after the umpteenth horse turd ripped through our shingles.
Remember when they said we would never break 128 bit encryption? Where would we be if it was illegal to try?
What really cranks me is that the DMCA prohibits even talking about it... clearly a shot across the bow of the First Amendment.
So what's next on the corporate wish list? Do away with the Bill of Rights completely? Corporate selfishness (protecting the shareholder despite risk of destroying the country) will result in a showdown they don't want.
Clearly, most /.ers would like to see Hillary stripped naked (well that could blind a person), tarred and feathered, and ridden out of town on a syphillitic jackass. No love lost here. Of course, this cannot be done, because next thing you know, we'd want to have it done to the rest of the RIAA.
What do you call 6 members of the RIAA buried up to their necks in sand? A good start.
Ford F*ckus
Ford Exploder
Ford Excessive
Did I miss any?
...in anal probe quality control.
I think the "everyone uses Widnows apps, so kids should learn to use Windows" is a silly bugaboo.
Many people seem stuck in this reasoning:
Why should everyone learn Windows? Because everyone uses Windows.
Why should everyone use Windows? Because everyone is learning Windows.
I'm sure there's more to it than that, but it is an easy mistake. (And I posted this from a Redhat 8.0 box.)
...into key chain material. If it were as simple as changing a jumper setting, maybe ATI would have something to worry about. Otherwise, ATI should just shrug and say WTF.
**AA has paid too much to Congress to have it any other way. They'll be collecting your ISP fee, hacking your computer, and sueing you blind for "copyright violations." (This, in addition to the "tax" on all blank recordable media of any kind.) Five years from now, their goons will be kicking your door down at 3am, just for a spot check!
And what happens when the smallest chip feature is a single silicon atom? What then? Huh? Huh?
So where's our say when these fees are levied? When quasi-governmental agencies lobby for (buy) special laws favorable to them? Is there a price sheet somewhere? They won't be happy until this is officially the US of *AA, and everyone has to bow humbly to their Imperial majesties in Hollywood.
...since you would have so many pricks in one place.
I think this book would have a thing or 2 to say about the BMW Seven-Forty-who-gives-a-fluck: The Design of Everyday Things
IANAL, but couldn't any EULA associated with alleged illegal activities be considered non-binding? I could have you sign a contract stating that you will shoplift specific items from Kmart for me, but I could never have it legally enforced.
...David Brin was kind enough to give me an autographed copy when I visited his house
That and a restraining order?
1) If all the mass of the universe (!), every galaxy, star, planet, shipyard, three-bedroom apartment and breadmaker, once occupied the space of a walnut, wouldn't that be a super-duper-duper massive black hole? How did all the stuff get out?
2) Assuming the stuff did get out (since I'm writing this), wouldn't the light from that explosion have preceded the material? In other words, we can't look "back" at something that already happened, since we would have to have traveled FTL to do this. And, ATAE and GR, we can't do FTL. (Just imagine trying to pick up radio broadcasts from the 1920's. We'd have to travel in an FTL spaceship to a point just outside the 80-some lightyear radius bubble of that wavefront.)
This is not to say that I believe creationism any better, but that I am a skeptic of most theories.
Shwoopah... Shwoopah... Shwoopah... Ding!!!
Kinda like inventing the warp drive without having a source of dilithium crystals? Or inventing the satellite dish, but no satellites.
I'm wondering why all the biggest most successful capitalists in North America are suddenly running scared from competition (one of the basic principals of capitalism) all of a sudden.
I used to think that democracy and capitalism were strongly linked, but it is really more of a rogue's alliance. Capitalism would abandon any "perfect" democracy devoid of opportunities for unfair governmental influence ("soft" money, bribes, misc. corruption).