There will be a site set up at www.BuyTheMPAA.org very soon in an attempt to organize an effort towards Dr.Z's solution. We are waiting for the zone update to go through, but the site currently has content and will include a mailing list. The mailing list is also in the process of being set up but the database will be ready before the site goes live. As soon as you can get to the site, you can sign up for the list. For more info, contact BuyTheMPAA@nolab.org
More specifically, how will the ruling affect Microsoft's business practices in other countries and would it have economic benefit for the company to move to a less hostile country?
Microsoft recently made a 31.5 million dollar "investment" into a Taiwanese major cable internet provider. While this type of action might be covered in the ruling (insofar as the USA is concerned), will this apply to these practices in other countries and, assuming that it will not apply to other countries, how likely is it that other countries will take action similar to the action taken by the DoJ?
Previously it would have had great economic impact for a monopolistic company to change their location to another continent, but in the IT industry, this would not be as difficult as before. Could Microsoft feasibly move their base of operations to escape some repercussions of the ruling?
First, I have a problem with the idea that having gone to some companies and talked to people there and never hearing them bring up a particular issue is evidence that they don't care or ever that they support a stance. I know that if one of my customers comes in, I don't talk to him about everything I have ever believed in. Moronic.
The problem that I have with the "save our children from everything" campaign is that everyone blames *new* things for the problem. "Our children are affected by scenes of war on the television." I can only assume that they mean as opposed to war in their backyard like children around the world have dealt with since ever. "Violence in video games causes our children to be violent." But violence in the home has nothing to do with the problem. Violence in the home is still considered healthy by many people. "My teenagers are damaged by images of sex." Until recently, young teens were already married and having children. In some places they probably still are.
Parents complain about their children being exposed to things that until recently were considered normal or even healthy.
Predisposition to violence has been handed down both genetically and socially for thousands of years. I'm not saying that I think these things are good or even attractive, but I think they have gotten significantly better in the last hundred years. People in this country are creeping towards brains being valued over brawn but that hasn't eliminated brawn. I don't even think that eliminating brawn is a good idea. If I could pin-point violence genes and zap them out of teenagers, all it would bring is stagnation. It is the capability for violence in human body that forces change. Formerly this required actual displays of violence, but the same energies focussed on something else, for instance a social issue, are the things that fuel change. Yes, these energies are also what fuel repression but that is changing, at least in this country. Because Americans believe that they can fight back.
Violence is the expression of emotions that have been bred into humans since man learned that fire could burn him -- or anyone else. These emotions are good. We can not let our culture lose our drive. Our children need to learn that they can fight back against injustice and the most effective way is to show them people fighting back. But the children I know understand fighting with violence, not with words. It is only when they are adults that they understand that violence is not necessary in order to fight for what they believe in.
The circumstances that our children grow up in today are pristine compared to the circumstances of even 50 years ago. People act ungrateful for this change. They want everything to change right now and be perfect, but our genetics don't allow for that. Right now, people want to watch violence on tv. Suppressing it will backfire, stiffling our children and adults. If the trend of valuing brains over brawn continues, in two hundred years, people may not want to watch violence for recreation. Instead they might choose to watch the stories of great thinkers of their time. We can't change in one or two or even three generations what evolution has made man.
And frankly, teenagers will always want sex. But by that time, maybe female teenagers will be allowed to admit that they do to.
And, depending on the time that the agreement was made, he may not even have had to play the "I lied" card. The rules are very specific and the group I play with always brings this up near the end-game. A player can make any agreement, but any terms that would not take place during that players turn are optional. And you don't even have to be playing the "Cheating Game." The Cheating Game is way messed up.
Cthulhu: I'll make you a deal. Help me blow up Bjorne and I'll help you blow up Phone Phreaks during your turn.
Apparently, part of the system has been shut off. I was sent the email and followed their directions; I could not log in. So I looked around a bit and found this page: There is an engine that will search by your domain name. Mine was not found, implying that my account was deactivated.
"This form will only work if you have already signed up for dot com mail. If your browser informs you that it was unable to locate the server, that means you have not signed up for dot com mail. If you would like to get dot com mail call, 1-888-642-9675."
Since they activated mine automatically and sent me a notice of this, it appears that they have shut down 1st logins.
But it is completely understandable, since they can't seem to get around to mailing their bills. I asked to be billed by mail and had to pay on the website the day before the bill was due. I never got a bill by mail. I got a receipt for my payment within a week, though. With 30 days to get a bill to me, you think someone might have actually sent a bill before the due date. Several domains that were registered with my last place of employment were cancelled due to lack of payment. The bills were never received.
Forcing online billing is their way of saying that they can't do their own accounting.
I was taught that in order to be an attractive female, I had to act less intellegent than I am "so I wouldn't intimidate men." Luckily I was also taught to always be myself and other things that conflicted with that attitude, so I managed to break my programming pretty early. And believe me, nothing scares away men in bars that ask "What's your major?" like any type of science. Makes it easy to pick and choose. Plus, its entertaining.
Slashdot Mirror
There will be a site set up at www.BuyTheMPAA.org very soon in an attempt to organize an effort towards Dr.Z's solution. We are waiting for the zone update to go through, but the site currently has content and will include a mailing list. The mailing list is also in the process of being set up but the database will be ready before the site goes live. As soon as you can get to the site, you can sign up for the list. For more info, contact BuyTheMPAA@nolab.org
More specifically, how will the ruling affect Microsoft's business practices in other countries and would it have economic benefit for the company to move to a less hostile country?
Microsoft recently made a 31.5 million dollar "investment" into a Taiwanese major cable internet provider. While this type of action might be covered in the ruling (insofar as the USA is concerned), will this apply to these practices in other countries and, assuming that it will not apply to other countries, how likely is it that other countries will take action similar to the action taken by the DoJ?
Previously it would have had great economic impact for a monopolistic company to change their location to another continent, but in the IT industry, this would not be as difficult as before. Could Microsoft feasibly move their base of operations to escape some repercussions of the ruling?
First, I have a problem with the idea that having gone to some companies and talked to people there and never hearing them bring up a particular issue is evidence that they don't care or ever that they support a stance. I know that if one of my customers comes in, I don't talk to him about everything I have ever believed in. Moronic.
The problem that I have with the "save our children from everything" campaign is that everyone blames *new* things for the problem. "Our children are affected by scenes of war on the television." I can only assume that they mean as opposed to war in their backyard like children around the world have dealt with since ever. "Violence in video games causes our children to be violent." But violence in the home has nothing to do with the problem. Violence in the home is still considered healthy by many people. "My teenagers are damaged by images of sex." Until recently, young teens were already married and having children. In some places they probably still are.
Parents complain about their children being exposed to things that until recently were considered normal or even healthy.
Predisposition to violence has been handed down both genetically and socially for thousands of years. I'm not saying that I think these things are good or even attractive, but I think they have gotten significantly better in the last hundred years. People in this country are creeping towards brains being valued over brawn but that hasn't eliminated brawn. I don't even think that eliminating brawn is a good idea. If I could pin-point violence genes and zap them out of teenagers, all it would bring is stagnation. It is the capability for violence in human body that forces change. Formerly this required actual displays of violence, but the same energies focussed on something else, for instance a social issue, are the things that fuel change. Yes, these energies are also what fuel repression but that is changing, at least in this country. Because Americans believe that they can fight back.
Violence is the expression of emotions that have been bred into humans since man learned that fire could burn him -- or anyone else. These emotions are good. We can not let our culture lose our drive. Our children need to learn that they can fight back against injustice and the most effective way is to show them people fighting back. But the children I know understand fighting with violence, not with words. It is only when they are adults that they understand that violence is not necessary in order to fight for what they believe in.
The circumstances that our children grow up in today are pristine compared to the circumstances of even 50 years ago. People act ungrateful for this change. They want everything to change right now and be perfect, but our genetics don't allow for that. Right now, people want to watch violence on tv. Suppressing it will backfire, stiffling our children and adults. If the trend of valuing brains over brawn continues, in two hundred years, people may not want to watch violence for recreation. Instead they might choose to watch the stories of great thinkers of their time. We can't change in one or two or even three generations what evolution has made man.
And frankly, teenagers will always want sex. But by that time, maybe female teenagers will be allowed to admit that they do to.
My friends have been threatening for years to buy me a bubble to live in and now they can. Great. I'm thrilled. Anyone want to loan me a penknife?
And, depending on the time that the agreement was made, he may not even have had to play the "I lied" card. The rules are very specific and the group I play with always brings this up near the end-game. A player can make any agreement, but any terms that would not take place during that players turn are optional. And you don't even have to be playing the "Cheating Game." The Cheating Game is way messed up.
Cthulhu: I'll make you a deal. Help me blow up Bjorne and I'll help you blow up Phone Phreaks during your turn.
Yeah. Right.
Apparently, part of the system has been shut off. I was sent the email and followed their directions; I could not log in. So I looked around a bit and found this page: There is an engine that will search by your domain name. Mine was not found, implying that my account was deactivated.
"This form will only work if you have already signed up for dot com mail. If your browser informs you that it was unable to locate the server, that means you have not signed up for dot com mail. If you would like to get dot com mail call, 1-888-642-9675."
Since they activated mine automatically and sent me a notice of this, it appears that they have shut down 1st logins.
But it is completely understandable, since they can't seem to get around to mailing their bills. I asked to be billed by mail and had to pay on the website the day before the bill was due. I never got a bill by mail. I got a receipt for my payment within a week, though. With 30 days to get a bill to me, you think someone might have actually sent a bill before the due date. Several domains that were registered with my last place of employment were cancelled due to lack of payment. The bills were never received.
Forcing online billing is their way of saying that they can't do their own accounting.
I was taught that in order to be an attractive female, I had to act less intellegent than I am "so I wouldn't intimidate men." Luckily I was also taught to always be myself and other things that conflicted with that attitude, so I managed to break my programming pretty early. And believe me, nothing scares away men in bars that ask "What's your major?" like any type of science. Makes it easy to pick and choose. Plus, its entertaining.