I thought these books were both by the same publisher; i.e. the same entity owns the commercial copyright to both.
So even if one does infringe the copyright of the other, what is all the fuss about ? Is the publisher suing himself, and if so will the court not tell him to go away and stop wasting the court's time ?
We get trained not to build in platform dependencies; Java is pretty much sufficient for anything user-interface-ish or back-endish that we need to do.
So what is Steamboat Springs doing, that needs Windows ? And can we help them achieve neutrality soon ?
It opens a can of worms, if you change the laws. It is really unlikely that you will get consensus on what to change them to.
Besides, for 'software' in these days of public Internet, the real question is 'Can I maintain the software ? Can I resolve defects, or get them resolved, as they are found'. When the answer to that becomes 'no', the software cannot be used; it gets exploited, and you get eaten by worms and viruses.
Copyright, as practised by UC-Berkeley (FreeBSD crowd) is wonderful. Their lawyers knocked AT&T out cold, and we are all benefitting.
As practised by Hollywood is somewhat on shifting sand; I'm looking forward to my free-libre DVD of Steamboat Willie, and when that arrives I will be willing to discuss it. (Personally, I think that 'freeing' some of the early Mickey Mouse cartoons would be brilliant for the Disney brand. But I accept that it is not by decision.)
It would be fascinating to see the democratic mandate for the copyright law. Which public referendum was is put to, how did the vote go, and when will it be revisited ?
It's OK for the French and the Americans to have different copyright laws.
The French have French laws, which date back to Napoleon. The Americans have (mostly) English laws, from the time when the Founding Fathers went across the Atlantic, and that then traces back to William the Connqueror. Oh... maybe the English have French laws too, then.
And I seem to remember that the French gave the Americans the Statue of Liberty.
Copyright's a commercial thing. I expect this decision --- if it stands --- will make a number of companies think about how and whether to do business in France.
Acquitted is not the right word for it. Judge sending the SCPP away with a flea in their ear, and saying "You took this guy's computer away ? Now give it back, say sorry, promise not to do it again, and start respecting his privacy" is more like it.
I think the cookie would have crumbled differently if he had been in England, though.
Patents (and copyrights) are commercial tools; they are supposedly to help the 'right' person make money by commercialising something.
However, with 'software', what matters is not really 'Do I have the right to sell it'; what matters is 'Do I have the ability to service it'.
You can buy all the Windows licenses you like; but with no service ability, then they will be infected with worms and viruses within fifteen minutes of connection to the public Internet.
Really, 'patents' get seriously in the way of businesses being able to use software to do anything.
'Copyrights' are sort-of OK, provided the buyer and the seller enter into a contract in full knowledge of what they are getting into; ask about the warranty !
Can anyone ask the guy "How will a software patent held by SAP help SAP's commercial clients ?"
Also "How will it help SAP to hire a programmer who knows what he or she is doing, to help SAP resolve a defect that may at some future stage be found in their product"
(It won't. In fact it will make life difficult in both cases.)
The guy did not steal any actual cash; nor did he sell stolen items for cash. He also did not cause injury to any person. He seems a bright guy; the sort I would want to teach my children about computers, or participate in a research project. So (if I was in a hiring position, and I thought he had reformed, and he was honest about what he had done) I would consider hiring him.
The financial loss to the employer is somewhat arbitrary; the bill from IBM could be any amount you wanted. Arguably, the employer shuold have had a long-term service contract which would cover this eventuality, plus the possibility of flooding like New Orleans, plus worse, all in the service with no additional charge. If that had been in place, the damage would have been under the magic $5000, and the guy could have been given his thousand hours of community service... teaching teenagers to program computers, hopefully... instead of jail time.
So I would be a little cautious about throwing him out with the bathwater. Someone might need him again some day, and forgiving might possibly be wiser.
Well, it may or may not be illegal. For one thing, it is possible that the user of the IP address in question may have permission to distribute; Sony surely have permission to distribute the CDs they are selling, and they sell distribution rights too. For another, it is possible that the human paying the bill for the account may be unaware that his/her IP address is being used for the purpose.
It's not criminal... I think... only distributing 'Star Wars' before official release is criminal... though I would defend the right of you Americans to have any law you want to vote for, so you could make 'copyright infringement' criminal if you wished (and were prepared to have taxpayers fund the bill for the prison food for th guilty).
The 'freedom point' is where people sing their own songs, and write their own software. From there, you can vary so that some buy songs that others sing, and some buy software that others write.
When the RIAA stop trying to change Berne Convention... 50 years after the artist's death, his/her songs become free... and start respecting the other 'fair use' points, then they will have more success at getting everyone else to repect Berne. It cuts both ways.
Look, really, it's my computer. Sometimes it's private (none of anyone else's business what it's doing); sometimes I want some help checking whether it in infected with a virus, bacterium, worm, amoeba, horse, elephant, or whatever.
Sometimes it's doing something confidential between me and my employer; in which case the bank had better check with my employer if they want to do anything with the computer.
I think Mass. are specifying (in their procurement contract) that all of their citizens need to be able to read the state documents without paying anyone any license fees. It's quite a reasonable request.
If a vendor wants to satisfy the request with a royalty-bearing format, the vendor should include the royalty charge in the quote to the State of Mass. This is how publishers like SpringerVerlag work; you can pay them one amount to distribute your work under a royalty-bearing copyright, or a higher amount to distribute your work under a no-royalty copyright.
Mass. will make up their mind when all the bids which meet their specifications are in.
Is there a giant 'cookie jar' out there, where I can send the cookies that I no longer want or need (but don't mind if someone else has); and in return maybe I can take a few cookies that someone else has turned in, play about with, and find what they do ?
If M$ keep clomping around like an 800lb gorilla... doing things like putting a price on people's head when they poke fun at defects in Windows http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4659329.stm and getting judges to give 140 hours community service to anyone who makes their Xbox run 'hello world' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4650225.stm
and tryuing to stop people from 'manufacturing, marketing, or importing' bit-strings http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4655955.stm
then they are going to be taken out so fast, by people who know what they are doing, that their feet will not touch the ground.
Coexistence fine by me, but you have to put the weapons down. Beat every last sword into a ploughshare. Promise not to use any that you may keep by accident. Show by deeds that you mean it.
No warranty, of course, but safer that way.
People wanting to participate
on
Software Telescope
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Of course you can participate. The Dutch Education Ministry has just run a competition; prize of 3 laptop computers for the school with the most creative idea of how to use radiotelescope and attached supercomputer in a school classroom.
And for the winner, IBM drops in a team to make it happen.
So, what do you want to do, and how do you propose to do it ?
You don't even need to reboot
on
Test Driving Linux
·
· Score: 2, Informative
One way to attempt to handle this is to make sure there's plenty of material around which may well be 'prior art', i.e. demonstrably invented before any patent.
My contribution is to put a pile of 'Live Linux for Windows' CDs here Linux-for-Windows
Your mileage may vary, of course, but I think they make great executive toys.
Scrabble, being an English word, is not in itself encumberable. Like 'Window'.
So, the guy should invent a new game; I think a version of JumpNBump could be described as 'scrabbling about'; and post that to his web site instead. I might help with design, coding, or test skills.
Fortunately you cannot patent 'method of teaching the English Language'. I think.
The rest of us should take a copy of the Hasbro letter and frame it; and keep it as a reminder of what happens when you spend yout ten bucks (or whatever it is) on products from that company.
The '2.6' kernels are normally set up with HZ = 1000; that is, they take 1000 timer interrupts per second. That's hard to handle in emulation; so the '2.4' kernel ones (Knoppix 3.7 is good) are maybe more practical. Kanotix-for-Windows seems good, too; a 2.6 kernel but built with 80586 code... fewer instructions to emulate.
If you know how to rebuild the SUSE Live kernel with HZ=100, please get in touch !
Linux runs everywhere, and it works ! Let no-one say (in the future) that they invented some part of it, claim it's novel, and encumber it with a patent.
As far as I know there were no fines. Only courts can impose those. There were agreements; I think there was fear and intimidation; I think (though goodness only knows why) there were payments made by individuals who were not 'implicated' presumably on behalf of those who were.
Interesting to see what happens if some of these cases come to court with someone like EFF taking the defence brief and standing the financial risk of losing. There is a significant public interest in knowing and understanding what the laws are. Meanwhile, BPI should quit saying they can enforce the law ; that's intimidation which is criminal ; only the courts can enforce the law. The BPI can bring evidence and representation before the courts, same as anyone else can.
It would be fun to role-play this. In principle, the laws are set up by the Queen (as constitutional leader). I wonder if she had this outcome in mind for her loyal subjects. If not, I wonder if she'll change the laws. Copyright is a 'choice' thing.
Music 'libre' at http://www.etree.org/ . They like it if you share. They won't sue their customers. Better model.
Slashdot Mirror
So even if one does infringe the copyright of the other, what is all the fuss about ? Is the publisher suing himself, and if so will the court not tell him to go away and stop wasting the court's time ?
We get trained not to build in platform dependencies; Java is pretty much sufficient for anything user-interface-ish or back-endish that we need to do. So what is Steamboat Springs doing, that needs Windows ? And can we help them achieve neutrality soon ?
Besides, for 'software' in these days of public Internet, the real question is 'Can I maintain the software ? Can I resolve defects, or get them resolved, as they are found'. When the answer to that becomes 'no', the software cannot be used; it gets exploited, and you get eaten by worms and viruses.
As practised by Hollywood is somewhat on shifting sand; I'm looking forward to my free-libre DVD of Steamboat Willie, and when that arrives I will be willing to discuss it. (Personally, I think that 'freeing' some of the early Mickey Mouse cartoons would be brilliant for the Disney brand. But I accept that it is not by decision.)
It would be fascinating to see the democratic mandate for the copyright law. Which public referendum was is put to, how did the vote go, and when will it be revisited ?
The French have French laws, which date back to Napoleon. The Americans have (mostly) English laws, from the time when the Founding Fathers went across the Atlantic, and that then traces back to William the Connqueror. Oh ... maybe the English have French laws too, then.
And I seem to remember that the French gave the Americans the Statue of Liberty.
Copyright's a commercial thing. I expect this decision --- if it stands --- will make a number of companies think about how and whether to do business in France.
Acquitted is not the right word for it. Judge sending the SCPP away with a flea in their ear, and saying "You took this guy's computer away ? Now give it back, say sorry, promise not to do it again, and start respecting his privacy" is more like it.
I think the cookie would have crumbled differently if he had been in England, though.
However, with 'software', what matters is not really 'Do I have the right to sell it'; what matters is 'Do I have the ability to service it'.
You can buy all the Windows licenses you like; but with no service ability, then they will be infected with worms and viruses within fifteen minutes of connection to the public Internet.
Really, 'patents' get seriously in the way of businesses being able to use software to do anything.
'Copyrights' are sort-of OK, provided the buyer and the seller enter into a contract in full knowledge of what they are getting into; ask about the warranty !
Also "How will it help SAP to hire a programmer who knows what he or she is doing, to help SAP resolve a defect that may at some future stage be found in their product"
(It won't. In fact it will make life difficult in both cases.)
The guy did not steal any actual cash; nor did he sell stolen items for cash. He also did not cause injury to any person. He seems a bright guy; the sort I would want to teach my children about computers, or participate in a research project. So (if I was in a hiring position, and I thought he had reformed, and he was honest about what he had done) I would consider hiring him. The financial loss to the employer is somewhat arbitrary; the bill from IBM could be any amount you wanted. Arguably, the employer shuold have had a long-term service contract which would cover this eventuality, plus the possibility of flooding like New Orleans, plus worse, all in the service with no additional charge. If that had been in place, the damage would have been under the magic $5000, and the guy could have been given his thousand hours of community service ... teaching teenagers to program computers, hopefully ... instead of jail time.
So I would be a little cautious about throwing him out with the bathwater. Someone might need him again some day, and forgiving might possibly be wiser.
Well, it may or may not be illegal. For one thing, it is possible that the user of the IP address in question may have permission to distribute; Sony surely have permission to distribute the CDs they are selling, and they sell distribution rights too. For another, it is possible that the human paying the bill for the account may be unaware that his/her IP address is being used for the purpose. It's not criminal ... I think ... only distributing 'Star Wars' before official release is criminal ... though I would defend the right of you Americans to have any law you want to vote for, so you could make 'copyright infringement' criminal if you wished (and were prepared to have taxpayers fund the bill for the prison food for th guilty).
The 'freedom point' is where people sing their own songs, and write their own software. From there, you can vary so that some buy songs that others sing, and some buy software that others write. When the RIAA stop trying to change Berne Convention ... 50 years after the artist's death, his/her songs become free ... and start respecting the other 'fair use' points, then they will have more success at getting everyone else to repect Berne. It cuts both ways.
Look, really, it's my computer. Sometimes it's private (none of anyone else's business what it's doing); sometimes I want some help checking whether it in infected with a virus, bacterium, worm, amoeba, horse, elephant, or whatever. Sometimes it's doing something confidential between me and my employer; in which case the bank had better check with my employer if they want to do anything with the computer.
I think Mass. are specifying (in their procurement contract) that all of their citizens need to be able to read the state documents without paying anyone any license fees. It's quite a reasonable request. If a vendor wants to satisfy the request with a royalty-bearing format, the vendor should include the royalty charge in the quote to the State of Mass. This is how publishers like SpringerVerlag work; you can pay them one amount to distribute your work under a royalty-bearing copyright, or a higher amount to distribute your work under a no-royalty copyright. Mass. will make up their mind when all the bids which meet their specifications are in.
Is there a giant 'cookie jar' out there, where I can send the cookies that I no longer want or need (but don't mind if someone else has); and in return maybe I can take a few cookies that someone else has turned in, play about with, and find what they do ?
Coexistence fine by me, but you have to put the weapons down. Beat every last sword into a ploughshare. Promise not to use any that you may keep by accident. Show by deeds that you mean it.
No warranty, of course, but safer that way.
And for the winner, IBM drops in a team to make it happen.
So, what do you want to do, and how do you propose to do it ?
Toys, of course, but a good way to learn.
Or you could google for 'winknoppix' . Plenty served !
I hope their tax returns reflect it.
My contribution is to put a pile of 'Live Linux for Windows' CDs here Linux-for-Windows
Your mileage may vary, of course, but I think they make great executive toys.
Chris
So, the guy should invent a new game; I think a version of JumpNBump could be described as 'scrabbling about'; and post that to his web site instead. I might help with design, coding, or test skills.
Fortunately you cannot patent 'method of teaching the English Language'. I think.
The rest of us should take a copy of the Hasbro letter and frame it; and keep it as a reminder of what happens when you spend yout ten bucks (or whatever it is) on products from that company.
There's plenty of alternatives.
If you know how to rebuild the SUSE Live kernel with HZ=100, please get in touch !
Please explain. Slow, I grant you, but I haven't found any bugs. And it's only by feeding back on the bugs that we'll get things made any better.
Torrents here http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/torrents /
In the spirit of UK National Science Week, this one works nicely http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/knosci.p ng
They all 'autorun'. Most of them 'boot', too. Have fun !
Free Linux with every Windows http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/knosci.p ng !
Torrents here http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/torrents /. They all 'autorun'. Share and Enjoy !
Linux runs everywhere, and it works ! Let no-one say (in the future) that they invented some part of it, claim it's novel, and encumber it with a patent.
Torrents available here http://home.btconnect.com/chrisandcarolyn/torrents /
Interesting to see what happens if some of these cases come to court with someone like EFF taking the defence brief and standing the financial risk of losing. There is a significant public interest in knowing and understanding what the laws are. Meanwhile, BPI should quit saying they can enforce the law ; that's intimidation which is criminal ; only the courts can enforce the law. The BPI can bring evidence and representation before the courts, same as anyone else can.
It would be fun to role-play this. In principle, the laws are set up by the Queen (as constitutional leader). I wonder if she had this outcome in mind for her loyal subjects. If not, I wonder if she'll change the laws. Copyright is a 'choice' thing.
Music 'libre' at http://www.etree.org/ . They like it if you share. They won't sue their customers. Better model.