First, allow me to address the subect line. No, the law is not "outdated".
Which law? The original law created by the founders of the U.S.A, or the mangled version of the law that exists today?
If the law of the land instead said that meat-work is valuable and brain-work is worthless, you would be a poor factory worker in sweatshop economy.
He's not saying it is worthless, but he is saying that giving an author control of copyrights to a work as an incentive to create more works needs to be re-evaluated. I haven't come up with an altrernative method, but personally I would like information to spread more rapidly than it does now, with no restrictions. For "art", the value of this is doubtful, but for useful information such as works that teach people "how to" do something, it is easy to see the benefit to the country as a whole. For instance, I come up with a new algorithm that makes not only one application more efficient, but also a slew of other applications more efficient if the knowledge of it were spread. So, which is more beneficial, my putting artificial restrictions (monetary or otherwise ) on the spread ( copying ) of the algorithm, or letting it be copied freely to make applications more efficient as quickly as possible?
Add to that the fact that many musician complain about recording companies, that even if the manufacturing costs have dropped, the cost of music has increased (the cost of books has DROPPED).
This claim is often repeated on slashdot, but is it actually true ? I remember being in high-scool (1990), and I purchased cassette tapes for anywhere between $8 and $11. A CD would have cost a few dollars more (I think about 12-14), so I didn't buy CDs. Today, a CD is between $11 and $18. So I don't think the price in CDs has jumped substantially relative to the cost of living. As for books getting cheaper, when was the last time you tried to buy a text book ? I don't think this claim is correct either.
Where do you shop? I pay $22 on the average per CD.
And you can add to that the fact that many songs are unavailable at stores because the recording companies found that these were too old or that there is no interrest in these.
Whine, whine, whine. Go to a specialty music store, or buy from Amazon (very good range).
From my experience, many works are out of print and no one but the copyright holder has the ability to make them available, thanks to copyright laws. Yes, you can search used/specialty shops for the original, But what if you cannot find it. What if you can only find a copy of it on a file-sharing system because one of the few holders of the original media has chosen to share it? You forgot to handle that case.
Add to that the wories like protected-CD (well... these are not really CD as they don't conform to the standard), mandatory messages on DVD, Zone system on DVD,... which dissappear when you've a copy... These are incentive to copy... and signs that there is some abuse of the market system...
I agree with you and the creator of the CD standard ( Panasonic ) also agrees with you. They are putting pressure on this companies to label their CD's appropriately ( i.e. impaired CD, non-compliant CD )but it hasn't stuck yet. The DVD region system is definitely an artificial price-fixing tool to sell the same product at different prices based on the local market, while preventing buyers to purchase item from outside of their market for the purpose of saving money. In this way, the seller makes more money and the buyer is stuck with a product that may not work if they relocate themselves to another market. Not to mention the fact that they might not be able to give it as a gift or trade to someone in another market ( region ).
Sorry if this is a little sloppy, the cost for making a post while pressed for time. Hopefully this port fleshes out this thread ( and one that is beneficial ).
Yep, I mean, MSN originally started as a competitor to the Internet. Then M$ gave up on that idea and decided to go with the "embrace and extend" route.
true that, so while the key is in the data is vulnerable, if they can get into your computer,of course. I wonder if it would be better to have the decoding algorith read when the system boots up, and then you can remove the key. If the fbi/etc/ comes in and grabs your equipment, then when the boot your computer up in their forsenics lab, all they will see is garbage, since you didn't leave the key in.
Anyway, this isn't a perfect security model, from the other posts it seems like this is just to make your data unreadable if it leaves your possession.
In other news, the American Mafia was inspired by the Telemarkers lawsuit to sue local and federal law enforcement agencies. A Mafia leader known as "The Don" stated, "By outlawing the activities of our organization - wrecking stores to get protection money, kidnapping for ransom, blackmailing, etc. - these agencies are putting countless hard-working Americans out of work. Why, Joey took a bullet last night while roughing up a small business owner who was behind on his protection payments. Is this how we are repaid for all of our efforts?"
Well, this is your future if you choose to do tech support for non-technical people:
Your Manager: Don't jump!
You: I am not answering the phone anymore!
Your Manager: Why do you feel the need to end it all?
You: I've told that guy 100 times how to cold reboot his computer. The last time I told him was 10 minutes ago, and he's already calling again for support!
Your Manager: Some people need more help than others, there is no reason to end it all.
You: No, this guy proves there is no hope left for the human race, it's overrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I can't believe all the replies this ( and similiar ) post! Ok, times are tough in the U.S. economy, so we should *temporarily* tighten our belts. But giving up the thought of living comfortably should not be on anyone's agenda. All the research, development, and the funding of the first two is for the purpose of raising the standard of living in the U.S. If the general population kneels down and promises to give up all of the conveniences of for the honor of being giving a job, what will happen is the destruction of the middle class and a return to a medieval Europe type system of nobles and serfs with disparate standards of living.
Do we really want that? I don't. I would rather have the wealth shared as evenly as possible among the people than have a few insanely wealthy people exploiting the poverty-stricken masses. Wake up and look at what is going on around you, and choose to further the cause a high standard of living for everyone, or sit back and watch the situation degrade. I am speaking from the perspective of the U.S. , but I really believe it applies to anywhere in the world.
Sheesh, next thing someone will be posting about how they make ends meet by living in a shoebox and recommend it to others. It may take some effort, but don't lose sight that there is a lot more you can have than that shoebox if you put your mind to it./me gets off of his shoe..err...soapbox
Yep, when you are first setting up a Linux box, it can take a while to download and install an app + dependencies if you didn't choose to install them during initial installation. I install apps two ways, if I just want the version of the app that was current when my distro came out, then I will use the package manager ( urpmi is my favorite ), or if I want the lastest stable build of an app, I will download it and its dependencies, and then compile/install each one in the correct order.
The first way is extremely easy as the package manager handle the dependencies for you. The second way makes me feel totally in control of my system, and that is a very good feeling.
Excuse me, but you haven't justified the "confronting people" part. Why are you confronting them? If you unsure if an action you feel you need to take to fix the computer is ok, you call them and ask. Once it is fix, you hand them an invoice for services rendered and clarify anything on the bill, like what you had to do, how the problem could be prevented in the future, etc. This sometime includes telling them that their favorite
news-ticker plugin was the cause of the problem and let them know that if they reinstall it the problem will most likely re-occur. Offer them an alternative program if you know of a safe one, or give some advice on how to search and find a replacement if they really need it.
I often have to rebuild customers systems for them, including backing up their data, and make a strong effort not to look at their data and to especially not to remember anything I did see by accident ( like if the user has Windows and has turned on the single-click document opening and I subsequently open a document I was trying to drag and drop to back it up ).
ok, now to the next part, you are either trying to be evangelistic about codemning Peer to Peer applications and pushing this agenda on your customers, or perhaps you are trying to be helpful and informing the customer that there are possible copyright infringement liabilities for downloading certain files that are available on the P2P network in question. You have to careful when informing them of such things, making clear it is only to make them aware for their safety and that you are not trying to tell them what to do one way or the other. Very difficult to do, as some people automatically take offense to any unsolicited advice.
My point? It is none of your business what your customers do with their computer unless the user is under some agreement that restricts the usage of the computer in question, say you are an in-house IT support tech for a large corporation and you are servicing company computers that users bring in. In that case company policy is still overriden by applicable laws as I am reminded anytime a former employee's manager requests data from his computer. My employer has gotten bitten by privacy laws and now we have time-consuming procedures to complete to get access to business-related documents on that users computer.
Long email, but I was take back by the parent post and wanted to thoroughly clarify my position.
You may not have meant this, but I got from your post that if someone downloads a movie and watches it, then they will not subsequently go see it in a movie theatre, or by the DVD later on.
This is just isn't the case. Many downloaders use the low-quality copy to preview the movie and decide if it's worth their time/money to go see it. Kind of like downloading mp3's to sample an audio CD. Watching a low-quality ( or even pretty good quality ) entertaining movie on a small computer screen is nothing like watching it with your friend and other viewer in a big screen theatre with a kick-ass stereo system. Previewing ruins the experience for some, but for others it isn't a problem. I know people who preview a movie, then go watch it with me if its good, then buy the DVD when it comes out, if they liked it.
If you weren't insinuating wait I think you were saying , then I feel it was still good to post this perspective to make sure slashdotter's knew it existed.
SCO is doing its best to muddy the waters, instilling fear and doubt in current/potential Linux
users. The purpose is slow down the spread of Linux while increase the apparent value of its stock. There is no lawsuit coming, SCO will never lay claim to IP in Linux, because it would would expose that facts concerning it IP, and that would not be in line with the goals I outlined above.
So, to sum it up, SCO will do anything to increase the fear and doubt ( aka muddying the waters ), and we can expect to see further actions of this nature in the future. And, of course, we will see more stories about this on Slashdot.
So, what kind of CDROM drive do you have? I had trouble with installing RH9 on my old P3 computer with an NEC SCSI drive on a tekram scsi controller. Turned out it was the cdburner I used to make the installation disks. I reburned the install cd's for RH9 and it installed fine. I did the same thing on my toshiba tecra 8100 laptop, and it set everything up correctly, included the dual boot with Windows XP. And suprisingly, the LCD display was perfect.
The problem with Java is that its still closed source and entirely subject to Sun's agenda. I keep hearing an open-source implementation is coming along ( Kaffe, I think ) , but I actually prefer to not install Java on Linux right now. Apache/Perl/ work fine for me as far as web development goes.
Good to hear Linux won, and people/corporations are definitely catching the Linux 'bug', which is also good. However, the one thing that I hope changes is perceived need for open source software ( including Linux itself ) to be Microsoft clones. Understandably, if you just want to get Windows converts, you should make the transition as easy as possible. But, if you actually want to innovate and build a better product, then its time to stop calling your program a 'replacement for' or a 'clone of' and just make good software. In this way, open source proves that it can stand on its own, stops playing catch-up with closed source apps, and because an industry leader!/me gets off his soapbox.
Tell me about it, I found IRC mp3 channels to be better than napters, especially the ones that had entire albums. It's funny, how this system can help artists. Last year I downloaded an mp3 and discovered a German artist named "Blumchen" who I later searched the web for and found ( and purchased ) several cd's from that artist. Now I listening to nothing but European music that I would not even hear about if I only frequented the local stores or listened to the local radio stations here in the U.S.
Any, that turned into a bit of a rant, but the point is that Napster was most likely, with few exceptions ) the home of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys fans.
For those who are interested in European music, I found www.eil.com as a fairly good source so far, and I am trying to locate a another online vendor or European music ( in the original language, of course ).
I agree with you 100%. Any standard for data storage/transmission should be free and open. This will benefits everyone by making information accessible to everyone and at the same time leaves room for competition in implementing the means for storage/transmission. The other (closed/pay for licensing the standard ) only benefits...well, you read the article about one of the people it benefits. Which way do you think is better?
Another perspective on ISP's targetted customers
on
AOL: Amazon Who?
·
· Score: 1
I would just like to clarify that not all telcomm companies even care about residential customers. The one I work for only provides voice/data services to businesses, and then only business order 6 lines or more. Oh, and SDSL is the only type of DSL offered.
As far as AOL competing in this space, I will not clam that it will never happen, but an AOL that gets business customers will need to offer quite a different product than the one they sell to residential ones.
On the subject of CD/DVD sales, I see them getting a good amount of business from AOL subscribers as they can make it extremely easy for their customers to locate/buy these items( via the AOL interface ). Their business would then do well for the same reason Internet Exploder is popular with Windows users...it's right there in your face, no need to go looking for a competing product.
How will this affect Amazon/Barnes&Noble? Not much, those companies have loyal customer bases and plenty of marketing also.
I think what person who started the thread meant is that CG effects do not look as real as techniques used in the past. That is my take on it too, I see CG effects, and I think I am watching a cartoon. There are a few exceptions to this, but mostly I am no longer "in" the movie once the first bad CG scene is shown.
I have got to say, that is one of the most convincing proofs that some people have too much time on their hands. What is worse is that I took the time to read it.
Thank you! As an American muslim, it's funny when I read/hear news that refers to the middle-east as the "muslim world", I think to myself, "ok, so it happened on Earth, they could be a little more specific."
I have seen both types of my fellow Americans, those who like the simplicity of casting all their frustration/hate/blame against a certain group of people. For example, I have a friend who says he hates the French because of their purported sales of weapons to Iraq. I say who do you hate in particular? He says all of them. He won't even listen to French music when I play it because of the (purported ) actions of the French government. It's much easier to just hate them all than inform himself of who actually committed the act that he resents.
Anyhow, all I can says is most of the people who discriminate against an entire country,race,religion are those who are also to lazy to even learning about what it they think hate. e.g. criticize Islam without knowing anything about the religion. I thought it was interesting when I met a muslim scholar for the first time, and he knew the ( King James ) bible better than I did, while I had been a Christian for the longest time before converting to Islam.
Sorry for the long, post, but I feel ( just as in any case ) making judgements about things you are ignorant of is wrong.
Slashdot Mirror
Which law? The original law created by the founders of the U.S.A, or the mangled version of the law that exists today?
If the law of the land instead said that meat-work is valuable and brain-work is worthless, you would be a poor factory worker in sweatshop economy.
He's not saying it is worthless, but he is saying that giving an author control of copyrights to a work as an incentive to create more works needs to be re-evaluated. I haven't come up with an altrernative method, but personally I would like information to spread more rapidly than it does now, with no restrictions. For "art", the value of this is doubtful, but for useful information such as works that teach people "how to" do something, it is easy to see the benefit to the country as a whole. For instance, I come up with a new algorithm that makes not only one application more efficient, but also a slew of other applications more efficient if the knowledge of it were spread. So, which is more beneficial, my putting artificial restrictions (monetary or otherwise ) on the spread ( copying ) of the algorithm, or letting it be copied freely to make applications more efficient as quickly as possible?
Add to that the fact that many musician complain about recording companies, that even if the manufacturing costs have dropped, the cost of music has increased (the cost of books has DROPPED).
This claim is often repeated on slashdot, but is it actually true ? I remember being in high-scool (1990), and I purchased cassette tapes for anywhere between $8 and $11. A CD would have cost a few dollars more (I think about 12-14), so I didn't buy CDs. Today, a CD is between $11 and $18. So I don't think the price in CDs has jumped substantially relative to the cost of living. As for books getting cheaper, when was the last time you tried to buy a text book ? I don't think this claim is correct either.
Where do you shop? I pay $22 on the average per CD.
And you can add to that the fact that many songs are unavailable at stores because the recording companies found that these were too old or that there is no interrest in these.
Whine, whine, whine. Go to a specialty music store, or buy from Amazon (very good range).
From my experience, many works are out of print and no one but the copyright holder has the ability to make them available, thanks to copyright laws. Yes, you can search used/specialty shops for the original, But what if you cannot find it. What if you can only find a copy of it on a file-sharing system because one of the few holders of the original media has chosen to share it? You forgot to handle that case.
Add to that the wories like protected-CD (well... these are not really CD as they don't conform to the standard), mandatory messages on DVD, Zone system on DVD, ... which dissappear when you've a copy... These are incentive to copy... and signs that there is some abuse of the market system...
I agree with you and the creator of the CD standard ( Panasonic ) also agrees with you. They are putting pressure on this companies to label their CD's appropriately ( i.e. impaired CD, non-compliant CD )but it hasn't stuck yet. The DVD region system is definitely an artificial price-fixing tool to sell the same product at different prices based on the local market, while preventing buyers to purchase item from outside of their market for the purpose of saving money. In this way, the seller makes more money and the buyer is stuck with a product that may not work if they relocate themselves to another market. Not to mention the fact that they might not be able to give it as a gift or trade to someone in another market ( region ).
Sorry if this is a little sloppy, the cost for making a post while pressed for time. Hopefully this port fleshes out this thread ( and one that is beneficial ).
Yep, I mean, MSN originally started as a competitor to the Internet. Then M$ gave up on that idea and decided to go with the "embrace and extend" route.
Finished Product? If we ignore all of the serivice packs and patchs, it is a finished product.
true that, so while the key is in the data is vulnerable, if they can get into your computer,of course. I wonder if it would be better to have the decoding algorith read when the system boots up, and then you can remove the key. If the fbi/etc/ comes in and grabs your equipment, then when the boot your computer up in their forsenics lab, all they will see is garbage, since you didn't leave the key in.
Anyway, this isn't a perfect security model, from the other posts it seems like this is just to make your data unreadable if it leaves your possession.
Here are a few links about it->
1
2
3
Well, this is your future if you choose to do tech support for non-technical people:
Your Manager: Don't jump!
You: I am not answering the phone anymore!
Your Manager: Why do you feel the need to end it all?
You: I've told that guy 100 times how to cold reboot his computer. The last time I told him was 10 minutes ago, and he's already calling again for support!
Your Manager: Some people need more help than others, there is no reason to end it all.
You: No, this guy proves there is no hope left for the human race, it's overrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I can't believe all the replies this ( and similiar ) post! Ok, times are tough in the U.S. economy, so we should *temporarily* tighten our belts. But giving up the thought of living comfortably should not be on anyone's agenda. All the research, development, and the funding of the first two is for the purpose of raising the standard of living in the U.S. If the general population kneels down and promises to give up all of the conveniences of for the honor of being giving a job, what will happen is the destruction of the middle class and a return to a medieval Europe type system of nobles and serfs with disparate standards of living.
/me gets off of his shoe..err...soapbox
Do we really want that? I don't. I would rather have the wealth shared as evenly as possible among the people than have a few insanely wealthy people exploiting the poverty-stricken masses. Wake up and look at what is going on around you, and choose to further the cause a high standard of living for everyone, or sit back and watch the situation degrade. I am speaking from the perspective of the U.S. , but I really believe it applies to anywhere in the world.
Sheesh, next thing someone will be posting about how they make ends meet by living in a shoebox and recommend it to others. It may take some effort, but don't lose sight that there is a lot more you can have than that shoebox if you put your mind to it.
Yep, when you are first setting up a Linux box, it can take a while to download and install an app + dependencies if you didn't choose to install them during initial installation. I install apps two ways, if I just want the version of the app that was current when my distro came out, then I will use the package manager ( urpmi is my favorite ), or if I want the lastest stable build of an app, I will download it and its dependencies, and then compile/install each one in the correct order.
The first way is extremely easy as the package manager handle the dependencies for you. The second way makes me feel totally in control of my system, and that is a very good feeling.
Excuse me, but you haven't justified the "confronting people" part. Why are you confronting them? If you unsure if an action you feel you need to take to fix the computer is ok, you call them and ask. Once it is fix, you hand them an invoice for services rendered and clarify anything on the bill, like what you had to do, how the problem could be prevented in the future, etc. This sometime includes telling them that their favorite
news-ticker plugin was the cause of the problem and let them know that if they reinstall it the problem will most likely re-occur. Offer them an alternative program if you know of a safe one, or give some advice on how to search and find a replacement if they really need it.
I often have to rebuild customers systems for them, including backing up their data, and make a strong effort not to look at their data and to especially not to remember anything I did see by accident ( like if the user has Windows and has turned on the single-click document opening and I subsequently open a document I was trying to drag and drop to back it up ).
ok, now to the next part, you are either trying to be evangelistic about codemning Peer to Peer applications and pushing this agenda on your customers, or perhaps you are trying to be helpful and informing the customer that there are possible
copyright infringement liabilities for downloading certain files that are available on the P2P network in question. You have to careful when informing them of such things, making clear it is only to make them aware for their safety and that you are not trying to tell them what to do one way or the other. Very difficult to do, as some people
automatically take offense to any unsolicited advice.
My point? It is none of your business what your customers do with their computer unless the user is under some agreement that restricts the usage of the computer in question, say you are an in-house IT support tech for a large corporation and you are servicing company computers that users bring in. In that case company policy is still overriden by applicable laws as I am reminded anytime a former employee's manager requests data from his computer. My employer has gotten bitten by privacy laws and now we have time-consuming procedures to complete to get access to business-related documents on that users computer.
Long email, but I was take back by the parent post and wanted to thoroughly clarify my position.
>I hope this costs them a fortune and that they decide they might be better off promoting music instead of screwing their fans.
The RIAA has fans? Marvellous.
You may not have meant this, but I got from your post that if someone downloads a movie and watches it, then they will not subsequently go see it in a movie theatre, or by the DVD later on.
This is just isn't the case. Many downloaders use the low-quality copy to preview the movie and decide if it's worth their time/money to go see it. Kind of like downloading mp3's to sample an audio CD. Watching a low-quality ( or even pretty good quality ) entertaining movie on a small computer screen is nothing like watching it with your friend and other viewer in a big screen theatre with a kick-ass stereo system. Previewing ruins the experience for some, but for others it isn't a problem. I know people who preview a movie, then go watch it with me if its good, then buy the DVD when it comes out, if they liked it.
If you weren't insinuating wait I think you were saying , then I feel it was still good to post this perspective to make sure slashdotter's knew it existed.
Peace
.
SCO is doing its best to muddy the waters, instilling fear and doubt in current/potential Linux
users. The purpose is slow down the spread of Linux while increase the apparent value of its stock. There is no lawsuit coming, SCO will never lay claim
to IP in Linux, because it would would expose that facts concerning it IP, and that would not be in line with the goals I outlined above.
So, to sum it up, SCO will do anything to increase the fear and doubt ( aka muddying the waters ), and we can expect to see further actions of this nature in the future. And, of course, we will see more stories about this on Slashdot.
Yep, it sounds just like Safari Online. I use that to make my technical references available online. Now if I only had time to read them...
So, what kind of CDROM drive do you have? I had trouble with installing RH9 on my old P3 computer with an NEC SCSI drive on a tekram scsi controller. Turned out it was the cdburner I used to make the installation disks. I reburned the install cd's for RH9 and it installed fine. I did the same thing on my toshiba tecra 8100 laptop, and it set everything up correctly, included the dual boot with Windows XP. And suprisingly, the LCD display was perfect.
The problem with Java is that its still closed source and entirely subject to Sun's agenda. I keep hearing an open-source implementation is coming along ( Kaffe, I think ) , but I actually prefer to not install Java on Linux right now. Apache/Perl/ work fine for me as far as web development goes.
but in this case, all I have to say is:
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!
P.S. SCO should consider going into comedy, they would be an overnight hit!
Good to hear Linux won, and people/corporations are definitely catching the Linux 'bug', which is also good. However, the one thing that I hope changes is perceived need for open source software ( including Linux itself ) to be Microsoft clones. Understandably, if you just want to get Windows converts, you should make the transition as easy as possible. But, if you actually want to innovate and build a better product, then its time to stop calling your program a 'replacement for' or a 'clone of' and just make good software. In this way, open source proves that it can stand on its own, stops playing catch-up with closed source apps, and because an industry leader! /me gets off his soapbox.
Tell me about it, I found IRC mp3 channels to be better than napters, especially the ones that had entire albums. It's funny, how this system can help artists. Last year I downloaded an mp3 and discovered a German artist named "Blumchen" who I later searched the web for and found ( and purchased ) several cd's from that artist. Now I listening to nothing but European music that I would not even hear about if I only frequented the local stores or listened to the local radio stations here in the U.S.
Any, that turned into a bit of a rant, but the point is that Napster was most likely, with few exceptions ) the home of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys fans.
For those who are interested in European music, I found www.eil.com as a fairly good source so far, and I am trying to locate a another online vendor or European music ( in the original language, of course ).
I agree with you 100%. Any standard for data storage/transmission should be free and open. This will benefits everyone by making information accessible to everyone and at the same time leaves room for competition in implementing the means for storage/transmission. The other (closed/pay for licensing the standard ) only benefits...well, you read the article about one of the people it benefits. Which way do you think is better?
As far as AOL competing in this space, I will not clam that it will never happen, but an AOL that gets business customers will need to offer quite a different product than the one they sell to residential ones.
On the subject of CD/DVD sales, I see them getting a good amount of business from AOL subscribers as they can make it extremely easy for their customers to locate/buy these items( via the AOL interface ). Their business would then do well for the same reason Internet Exploder is popular with Windows users...it's right there in your face, no need to go looking for a competing product.
How will this affect Amazon/Barnes&Noble? Not much, those companies have loyal customer bases and plenty of marketing also.
He'll probably find himself on the wrong side of a katana is he tries that.
Thanks for tip! Though I am using 15GB DLT tapes now for backup, it may still come in handy someday.
I think what person who started the thread meant is that CG effects do not look as real as techniques used in the past. That is my take on it too, I see CG effects, and I think I am watching a cartoon. There are a few exceptions to this, but mostly I am no longer "in" the movie once the first bad CG scene is shown.
I have got to say, that is one of the most convincing proofs that some people have too much time on their hands. What is worse is that I took the time to read it.
Thank you! As an American muslim, it's funny when I read/hear news that refers to the middle-east as the "muslim world", I think to myself, "ok, so it happened on Earth, they could be a little more specific."
I have seen both types of my fellow Americans, those
who like the simplicity of casting all their frustration/hate/blame against a certain group of people. For example, I have a friend who says he hates the French because of their purported sales of weapons to Iraq. I say who do you hate in particular? He says all of them. He won't even listen to French music when I play it because of the (purported ) actions of the French government. It's much easier to just hate them all than inform himself of who actually committed the act that he
resents.
Anyhow, all I can says is most of the people who discriminate against an entire country,race,religion are those who are also to lazy to even learning about what it they think hate. e.g. criticize Islam without knowing anything about the religion. I thought it was interesting when I met a muslim scholar for the first time, and he knew the ( King James ) bible better than I did, while I had been a Christian for the longest time before converting to Islam.
Sorry for the long, post, but I feel ( just as in any case ) making judgements about things you are ignorant of is wrong.