I'm sick of people using the coffee cup story as an example of frivolous lawsuits in the U.S., when there are so many real frivolous lawsuits to cite.
The coffee cup story has been thrown around so much that few people have heard the facts as they really happened. The McDonalds coffee was not only hot, it was scalding, and capable of almost instantaneous destruction of skin, flesh
and muscle. Worse yet, the paper cup it was in was capable of easily collapsing and spilling the contents. Because of its insanely high temperature, the coffee was a real danger.
I think having an open source search engine that people can modify and deploy would be an excellent thing, and here is why. Currently, google has the complete power to highlight or censor anything on the web. So far, they have used this power wisely, but that's no guarantee that it'll always be so. If they go public, you may find this power being used to increase the shareholders' wealth, rather than in the highest standards of fairness as it is today.
With that in mind, how would this project help? It would allow webmasters to quickly & easily modify it for their needs, and deploy their own niche engines; in other words, Google would be supplemented by 10,000 niche search engines, each focusing on a specific field (microsoft propaganda, for instance). This would create a balance of power, ensuring that no single search engine accumulates an insane amount of control over the web as a whole.
Did you know that 'Network users have a back door to your hard drive while you're online, thereby seeing your personal, private information, such as bank records, social security number, etc.'?
Nope. Nor did I know that I can get music and movies online for free. Thanks for informing me, MPAA!
..I'd like to suggest a proxy system so those of us who are stuck in the U.S. can proxy our searches and downloads through the computer of a friend who lives in a truly free country, possibly even in encrypted format.
This wouldn't have to be automated or anything, but an easy way to specify the IP of the person through whom you'd like to relay all kazaa traffic will ensure our protection - for now.
Before you guys get too excited, check out what Opera's Revolutionary M2 has to offer. While the rest of the email clients were busy copying each other, Opera has been innovating a great deal. The result? A mail client that's unlike any other, with features like a threaded view for replies (useful for mailing lists!) and automatically created views for each of your contacts (which are also added automatically by analyzing your email), each of your mailing lists, etc.
The built-in spamfilter rocks, too, and it's really fast and responsive - so give it a try.:)
1. Click on URL, you're redirected to registration/login page 2. Go to URL bar, replace "www" with "archive" in the URL, leaving the rest alone, and hit ENTER 3. The system will bounce you around a few erroneous URLs, before returning you to the homepage 4. All NYT links will now work without registration, thanks to a special cookie set by the bouncing process
Freenet already does this, with the bonus of encrypting inter-node communications so even sniffing network traffic won't help you determine what's going on. Sadly, the setup of sending the files themselves over P2P takes it's toll on transfer speed - which is probably why Kazaa doesn't do it.
Been there, done that - and for much less than $100 a day. In fact, Pre-Paid Legal Services has their top-of-the-notch plan for $25/mo. and a lesser plan for even less.
More such companies can be found with a simple google search.
1. Click on URL, you're redirected to registration/login page 2. Go to URL bar, replace "www" with "archive" in the URL, leaving the rest alone, and hit ENTER 3. The system will bounce you around a few erroneous URLs, before returning you to the homepage 4. All NYT links will now work without registration, thanks to a special cookie set by the bouncing process
And even if it/is/ in that legal grey area and isn't clearly illegal, isn't it a really stupid move regardless? It seems like by hiding the people pirating the distribution-prohibited music, it helps give the RIAA/more/ reason to jack up CD prices and impose arm-bending DRM practices.
But doesn't that give users even/more/ of an incentive to use P2P instead of buying?
Two words: plausible deniability. You will always be connected to someone, and that someone will always be able to determine who you are (well, there are rare exceptions, but that's not the point.) So the trick is not to fool anyone, but to make it impossible for the sender to prove that the person who's requesting the file is actually the one who's violating the law, and vice-versa.
How do you go about this? First, let's make sure each P2P node talks to the nodes around it in encrypted text, and the keys are unique for every 2 nodes. Now, let's use these nodes to actually transfer the file, rather than just search for it. Now, stop for a moment and consider what's going on here: you're sending a file to me; you know that and I know that, but you don't know whether I am just acting as a relay to pass the file on (and immediately delete it), or whether I'm the one who's actually downloading it. Network sniffing won't help you determine that either, because you can only decrypt the info I send to you, not whatever I'm sending to other people.
On the same token, I don't know whether you are really the file's host, or whether you're passing it along to me from someone else (who, in turn, may be just passing it along from someone else as well.)
No hop knows what's going on, except for it's own traffic with the hops right next to it - so the RIAA evil server has no way to determine where the traffic is actually going, and therefore who to sue.
Actually, the First Amendment only states that THE GOVERNMENT cannot violate your freedom to say what you want. Private businesses (say, the TV station in your example) can squelch your freedom of speech right to their hearts' desire.
Careful there, you're beginning to sound a little too confident. There are currently 19 unpatched vulnerabilities in IE, some of which can be used to get a trojan into your system if you so much as look at a web page with IE, or read an email. Yes, the email one even affects non-MS clients such as Eudora, although IE is still to blame.
Agreed! The most important effect of securing the computers of the public at large will be that DDoS drone networks will cease to exist. I have no problem with people harming themselves through their ignorance, but when their computers are hacked and made to contribute to DDoS attacks, it's a BIG DEAL and should be everybody's problem.
Sadly, the public still doesn't care, and I fear this will never happen.
To quote a certain James Bond movie (Tomorrow Never Dies), the most important part of any news story is not the who, or the where, or the when, but the why. This story is clearly lacking that, and I still have no clue why this is happening. Would someone care to clue me in?
Why limit yourself to just music? If a CD-ROM holds 700MB (4,900,000,000 bits), then there are 2^4900000000 potential CDs. Patent them all, and sue any and everyone who releases a CD-ROM.
...
By the way, one of those disks will have Taco's editor password on it.:)
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The coffee cup story has been thrown around so much that few people have heard the facts as they really happened. The McDonalds coffee was not only hot, it was scalding, and capable of almost instantaneous destruction of skin, flesh and muscle. Worse yet, the paper cup it was in was capable of easily collapsing and spilling the contents. Because of its insanely high temperature, the coffee was a real danger.
tissue paper dispenser?
I think having an open source search engine that people can modify and deploy would be an excellent thing, and here is why. Currently, google has the complete power to highlight or censor anything on the web. So far, they have used this power wisely, but that's no guarantee that it'll always be so. If they go public, you may find this power being used to increase the shareholders' wealth, rather than in the highest standards of fairness as it is today.
With that in mind, how would this project help? It would allow webmasters to quickly & easily modify it for their needs, and deploy their own niche engines; in other words, Google would be supplemented by 10,000 niche search engines, each focusing on a specific field (microsoft propaganda, for instance). This would create a balance of power, ensuring that no single search engine accumulates an insane amount of control over the web as a whole.
Yesssss *drool* very fine indeed.
There are only 4 comments, and none above the score of 1. Must be a new record.
Perhaps this topic image would have been appropriate?
The whole thing reeks of a gov't conspiracy. At least, his friends and coworkers seem to think so.
Nope. Nor did I know that I can get music and movies online for free. Thanks for informing me, MPAA!
- Joe User
..I'd like to suggest a proxy system so those of us who are stuck in the U.S. can proxy our searches and downloads through the computer of a friend who lives in a truly free country, possibly even in encrypted format.
This wouldn't have to be automated or anything, but an easy way to specify the IP of the person through whom you'd like to relay all kazaa traffic will ensure our protection - for now.
The built-in spamfilter rocks, too, and it's really fast and responsive - so give it a try. :)
1. Click on URL, you're redirected to registration/login page
2. Go to URL bar, replace "www" with "archive" in the URL, leaving the rest alone, and hit ENTER
3. The system will bounce you around a few erroneous URLs, before returning you to the homepage
4. All NYT links will now work without registration, thanks to a special cookie set by the bouncing process
If that's not a challenge, I don't know what is.
Freenet already does this, with the bonus of encrypting inter-node communications so even sniffing network traffic won't help you determine what's going on. Sadly, the setup of sending the files themselves over P2P takes it's toll on transfer speed - which is probably why Kazaa doesn't do it.
More such companies can be found with a simple google search.
Quick! Buy the CD now so when they finally get to you, you can claim prior ownership.
1. Click on URL, you're redirected to registration/login page
2. Go to URL bar, replace "www" with "archive" in the URL, leaving the rest alone, and hit ENTER
3. The system will bounce you around a few erroneous URLs, before returning you to the homepage
4. All NYT links will now work without registration, thanks to a special cookie set by the bouncing process
But doesn't that give users even /more/ of an incentive to use P2P instead of buying?
Two words: plausible deniability. You will always be connected to someone, and that someone will always be able to determine who you are (well, there are rare exceptions, but that's not the point.) So the trick is not to fool anyone, but to make it impossible for the sender to prove that the person who's requesting the file is actually the one who's violating the law, and vice-versa.
How do you go about this? First, let's make sure each P2P node talks to the nodes around it in encrypted text, and the keys are unique for every 2 nodes. Now, let's use these nodes to actually transfer the file, rather than just search for it. Now, stop for a moment and consider what's going on here: you're sending a file to me; you know that and I know that, but you don't know whether I am just acting as a relay to pass the file on (and immediately delete it), or whether I'm the one who's actually downloading it. Network sniffing won't help you determine that either, because you can only decrypt the info I send to you, not whatever I'm sending to other people.
On the same token, I don't know whether you are really the file's host, or whether you're passing it along to me from someone else (who, in turn, may be just passing it along from someone else as well.)
No hop knows what's going on, except for it's own traffic with the hops right next to it - so the RIAA evil server has no way to determine where the traffic is actually going, and therefore who to sue.
Ooh, does that mean I can filter MS Office documents out of my life forever?
Actually, the First Amendment only states that THE GOVERNMENT cannot violate your freedom to say what you want. Private businesses (say, the TV station in your example) can squelch your freedom of speech right to their hearts' desire.
Careful there, you're beginning to sound a little too confident. There are currently 19 unpatched vulnerabilities in IE, some of which can be used to get a trojan into your system if you so much as look at a web page with IE, or read an email. Yes, the email one even affects non-MS clients such as Eudora, although IE is still to blame.
In a surprising turnaround, a new candidate who calls himself l33td00d has won the election, accumulating 10 trillion votes in a matter of seconds.
Sadly, the public still doesn't care, and I fear this will never happen.
To quote a certain James Bond movie (Tomorrow Never Dies), the most important part of any news story is not the who, or the where, or the when, but the why. This story is clearly lacking that, and I still have no clue why this is happening. Would someone care to clue me in?
Why limit yourself to just music? If a CD-ROM holds 700MB (4,900,000,000 bits), then there are 2^4900000000 potential CDs. Patent them all, and sue any and everyone who releases a CD-ROM.
... :)
By the way, one of those disks will have Taco's editor password on it.