I thought the whole point of the US/UK invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan was to provide the freedoms that the West enjoyed to those people. At least that was the delusion imposed on the citizens as far as I am concerned.
The irony of trying to stop a clerical regime with iron grip is so absurd it is almost funny. These clerics didn't just rise straight to the top, then chipped at freedoms until the point where there was none, and then govern in a way that prevents people having their own ideas...Is this where we are heading in the West? Maybe Middle-East style life is our Future, not our past...
The reason why this doesn't fall under the same category as brewing your own beer is that the beer does not damage the road which requires maintenance. I suppose in the UK with free healthcare you could argue that by making your own beer you are not paying your taxes that pay the hospitals that you may end up in with due to (vast) quantities of beer you consume, but not in the US, you pay for your treatment. If you are going to use the roads, you pay the tax to maintain said road. Now, if he was running around on a farm I can understand why the tax levy should be waived, but he wasn't, he was on your highway, hence he was avoiding tax and thereby foregoing some of the money that would go into maintaining the road for you and I...Now, if everyone did this...no roads.
Q: At what point has/will the EU overstepped its bounds?
A: It can't! If a US company wishes to do business in the EU market then the US company must abide by EU law, just like an EU company has to in a US market (forget for a moment the startling US protectionism, and EU come to that). If the US government is able to force a recently merged European bank (admitedly into a US owned one) to close the bank accounts of citizens of Austria (after having 10 years history with the bank) merely due to the fact they were born in Cuba (now have dual nationality), one has to question US morality in business. http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=5728 22007
I hope Microsoft get dragged through the EU judiciary and come out the other side as a subdued, and much more humble company. If it doesn't, the EU hasn't worked properly in this case. BTW, not only Microsoft, but Apple and its DRM; US and its far-reaching laws (meaning US based business must also adhere to US rules even when doing business outside US soil) need to be quashed...Immediately.
won't block non-porn sites until we receive complaints, and the website has to have no educational value for us to consider blocking."
This is no different than the Nazi's burning books. The Nazi's were deciding what was and was not good/educational to read, so are you. The fact that the medium is different is irrelevant.
It is similar to a problem I have here in the UK. I am not allowed to have a controlled fire in my own back garden to burn my garden waste. I repeat. I am unable to use a natural (as in nature) phenomenon (fire) because someone else has decided that it is not in my or my neighbours interests. Let's take this one step further to test the boundaries of the Americans on slashdot. Iran is unable to develop a technology that others have deemed unsuitable for them...hmmmm...Seems like everyone is a censor.
And there is going to be my point, even as a father I censor things from my child (specifically porn). I would never stop wikipedia because it is peoples voice, right or wrong, its up to my son's mind whether he chooses to believe it or not (or find other sources to corroberate the info). And there is the rub...do you allow access and get your children to learn to corroberate sources of information, or do you teach them to rely on a single source of information for the TRUTH? If the latter is true, I am sure FOX, CNN and the government would be very happy with you.
Anyone who know anything about copyright law knows that everytime you write a piece of original work onto paper it is automatically copyrighted to you, that is the point of copyright. Therefore, for the RIAA and MPAA to say:
"They would like the legislation to exempt anyone who owns a copyright, patent, trademark, or trade secret from restrictions against pretexting."
Basically means that they would like everyone, you, I, them, to be exempt. Everyone owns at least one copyright, even those that think otherwise. Ergo, the law is a waste of time and if this request is even being thought about it would be a mockery and waste of good peoples tax money!
This just won't stand up in higher courts, it can't. The net would fall over if this case stands the appeal. This would mean that any online search engine that returned snippits of the site (google, MS, Yahoo, Altavista etc. etc. etc) would be in contravention of copyright. Are we going to have search links returned and that is all? How useful would THAT be...NOT.
How about quoting? Is this no longer alowed outside the educational realm? If I quote someone as part of a link, that would be wrong? Slashdot is in for it then too.
This is bigger than on the face of it seems and it is merely the newspapers attempt to get some of google's cash, which is ok by me cause google should just cut them off and blacklist them. Bye bye paper goodbye.
These figures are warped. I bet you anything that this does not include the porn industries sales. Even if they have not made any yet, when they hit the market, they will far outsell anything BlueRay can chuck out.
Oh, not to mention the HD-DVD is coming down in price really really quickly while BlueRay is still a milking cow.
Slightly off-topic, but should someone be paying US to install Vista on our machines rather than the other way round? Surely this type of DRM hell that is being imposed is in the interest of the audio/video lobby groups and hence should be funded by them? Why in the hell should I be paying (a lot)for a crippled OS.
Correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn't an O/S be an enabling piece of software, not a disabling one?
With the respect to this technology, I am not too worried. If I find that the O/S (should I get it from somewhere) does this to a piece of content I shall never ever buy another piece of content. Hence the people pushing this will be at a loss over their idiotic, money-spinning bulls**t. Rant over.
Couldn't we just fire the containers off towards the Sun and forget about it...Surely the Sun would burn up this material and we wouldn't have any waste on Earth...
This is semi-serious, what would the implications be?
Isn't it ironic that the word in the image that I need to type to verify I am human is "ignorant"...hahaha
I was reading through the natural answers to this story but then I thought about it a little longer...
Mp3 player, tax...
'These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it. So it's time to get paid for it.'
So...My logic is that if I am paying up front when buying my mp3 player for these repositories for stolen music, should I therefore have the right to that copyright music merely by paying for my Zune/iPod? Hence can not be prosecuted for downloading vast quantities of illegal music at a later date? "Judge, I paid for the tax levied on my device for containing illegal works hence I have the right to have illegal works on this device." The tax on the player, of course, is paying for the rights as per Doug Morris' word. The copy on your PC could be considered a backup;)
If the majority of people didn't have an escapism (such as games, iPods, programming, even reading) then they would be much more interested it the absolute disgrace the "REAL" world is actually in. People might actually start complaining about it and the government don't want that! Real life? Pfft, government wants to make a market that will keep the population in a semi-artificial (yet remarkably relaxing) state, and make us pay for it...
I buy PS3/Xbox360/Wii/iPod (my money) that I have to work for (and pay taxes). Those items consume my time and hence have less time to devote to things like the complete failure in the Middle East.
Enough off-topic, the guy is a moron. If you take an iPod and consider it not real life then your a moron! It is a real person recording their real voice (sometimes) onto a medium that can be duplicated and distributed to as many people that are willing to buy it, which is another real life shite experience...shopping...(thank the lord for Internet shopping). Oh, and I still have my little boy, wife and 9-6 job...My life is just the way I like it thank you very much.
I suppose you wish cars, guns, hell even aquaducts to be gone? Hey, let's go back to the time of disciples and prostitutes...Now there's a good idea! Not!
What is stopping me having an XP partition to [cough]backup[cough] my media into a non-DRM format and then using Vista to play them?
Any DRM in Vista will be useless to protecting any content until all previous Windows versions are completely eradicated from the market, something that doesn't usually happen for a good number of years.
Having said that, I don't tend to copy stuff, I tend to listen/watch and if I like it that much I will buy. The only reason that this scares the bejesus out of the record/film industry is that they won't sell as many dire movies/songs...In actual fact, I think it is a good way for the industry to work out what their customer base actually likes versus the hundreds of hours of complete crap that these places churn out on a yearly basis.
But the next version of windows after Vista is based on a 2.6.x.xx or possibly a 2.7.x.xx kernel...Of course, this will be the repackaged SCO version...
So let me get this straight, Nintendo are now striking at the whole age spectrum...
Not enough that parents sit their kids in front of a television all day/evening, it now seems as though Nintendo want to do the same in retirement homes across the world!
I can see it now:
Nurse: Take this pill... Patient: Ok Nurse: Now be a good boy and play with you wii wii thing...
To be honest, I really don't like the sound of holding a Sony controller with a Sony battery in it...It would bring a new dimension to GTA if the controllers suddenly burst into flames as I am hit by a flamethrower though...
Slashdot Mirror
I thought the whole point of the US/UK invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan was to provide the freedoms that the West enjoyed to those people. At least that was the delusion imposed on the citizens as far as I am concerned.
The irony of trying to stop a clerical regime with iron grip is so absurd it is almost funny. These clerics didn't just rise straight to the top, then chipped at freedoms until the point where there was none, and then govern in a way that prevents people having their own ideas...Is this where we are heading in the West? Maybe Middle-East style life is our Future, not our past...
The reason why this doesn't fall under the same category as brewing your own beer is that the beer does not damage the road which requires maintenance. I suppose in the UK with free healthcare you could argue that by making your own beer you are not paying your taxes that pay the hospitals that you may end up in with due to (vast) quantities of beer you consume, but not in the US, you pay for your treatment. If you are going to use the roads, you pay the tax to maintain said road. Now, if he was running around on a farm I can understand why the tax levy should be waived, but he wasn't, he was on your highway, hence he was avoiding tax and thereby foregoing some of the money that would go into maintaining the road for you and I...Now, if everyone did this...no roads.
Governments shutting down websites cause of negative reviews/disparate policies? (eye of the beholder)
Game producers shutting down websites cause of negative reviews? (eye of the beholder)
Tell you what, why don't we just gag everyone. Who needs free speech? Who indeed...Karem
Q: At what point has/will the EU overstepped its bounds?
A: It can't! If a US company wishes to do business in the EU market then the US company must abide by EU law, just like an EU company has to in a US market (forget for a moment the startling US protectionism, and EU come to that). If the US government is able to force a recently merged European bank (admitedly into a US owned one) to close the bank accounts of citizens of Austria (after having 10 years history with the bank) merely due to the fact they were born in Cuba (now have dual nationality), one has to question US morality in business. http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=5728 22007
I hope Microsoft get dragged through the EU judiciary and come out the other side as a subdued, and much more humble company. If it doesn't, the EU hasn't worked properly in this case. BTW, not only Microsoft, but Apple and its DRM; US and its far-reaching laws (meaning US based business must also adhere to US rules even when doing business outside US soil) need to be quashed...Immediately.
Karem
Huh? I can't even read...
It is similar to a problem I have here in the UK. I am not allowed to have a controlled fire in my own back garden to burn my garden waste. I repeat. I am unable to use a natural (as in nature) phenomenon (fire) because someone else has decided that it is not in my or my neighbours interests. Let's take this one step further to test the boundaries of the Americans on slashdot. Iran is unable to develop a technology that others have deemed unsuitable for them...hmmmm...Seems like everyone is a censor.
And there is going to be my point, even as a father I censor things from my child (specifically porn). I would never stop wikipedia because it is peoples voice, right or wrong, its up to my son's mind whether he chooses to believe it or not (or find other sources to corroberate the info). And there is the rub...do you allow access and get your children to learn to corroberate sources of information, or do you teach them to rely on a single source of information for the TRUTH? If the latter is true, I am sure FOX, CNN and the government would be very happy with you.
Karem
Basically means that they would like everyone, you, I, them, to be exempt. Everyone owns at least one copyright, even those that think otherwise. Ergo, the law is a waste of time and if this request is even being thought about it would be a mockery and waste of good peoples tax money!
Karem
How about quoting? Is this no longer alowed outside the educational realm? If I quote someone as part of a link, that would be wrong? Slashdot is in for it then too.
This is bigger than on the face of it seems and it is merely the newspapers attempt to get some of google's cash, which is ok by me cause google should just cut them off and blacklist them. Bye bye paper goodbye.
Karem
Oh, and also the head bop, whereby the head rocks back and forward or up and down, also to some pre-defined rhythm.
Karem
Oh, not to mention the HD-DVD is coming down in price really really quickly while BlueRay is still a milking cow.
Karem
Wouldn't you get feedback through your speakers before being able to do anything possibly damaging?
Karem
Correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn't an O/S be an enabling piece of software, not a disabling one?
With the respect to this technology, I am not too worried. If I find that the O/S (should I get it from somewhere) does this to a piece of content I shall never ever buy another piece of content. Hence the people pushing this will be at a loss over their idiotic, money-spinning bulls**t. Rant over.
Karem
This is semi-serious, what would the implications be?
Isn't it ironic that the word in the image that I need to type to verify I am human is "ignorant"...hahaha
Mp3 player, tax...
'These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it. So it's time to get paid for it.'So...My logic is that if I am paying up front when buying my mp3 player for these repositories for stolen music, should I therefore have the right to that copyright music merely by paying for my Zune/iPod? Hence can not be prosecuted for downloading vast quantities of illegal music at a later date? "Judge, I paid for the tax levied on my device for containing illegal works hence I have the right to have illegal works on this device." The tax on the player, of course, is paying for the rights as per Doug Morris' word. The copy on your PC could be considered a backup ;)
Karem
I buy PS3/Xbox360/Wii/iPod (my money) that I have to work for (and pay taxes). Those items consume my time and hence have less time to devote to things like the complete failure in the Middle East.
Enough off-topic, the guy is a moron. If you take an iPod and consider it not real life then your a moron! It is a real person recording their real voice (sometimes) onto a medium that can be duplicated and distributed to as many people that are willing to buy it, which is another real life shite experience...shopping...(thank the lord for Internet shopping). Oh, and I still have my little boy, wife and 9-6 job...My life is just the way I like it thank you very much.
I suppose you wish cars, guns, hell even aquaducts to be gone? Hey, let's go back to the time of disciples and prostitutes...Now there's a good idea! Not!
Oh wait...
Karem
You website has also said goodnight...Maybe it's running off of Vista...May we suggest, erm, Linux?
Any DRM in Vista will be useless to protecting any content until all previous Windows versions are completely eradicated from the market, something that doesn't usually happen for a good number of years.
Having said that, I don't tend to copy stuff, I tend to listen/watch and if I like it that much I will buy. The only reason that this scares the bejesus out of the record/film industry is that they won't sell as many dire movies/songs...In actual fact, I think it is a good way for the industry to work out what their customer base actually likes versus the hundreds of hours of complete crap that these places churn out on a yearly basis.
Karem
But the next version of windows after Vista is based on a 2.6.x.xx or possibly a 2.7.x.xx kernel...Of course, this will be the repackaged SCO version...
3+1+1+2+6=13
Unlucky theories (or excuses from M$ for their tripe their about to release) to follow...
drum roll
drum roll
PHP Sharp, or PHP# for short...
Not enough that parents sit their kids in front of a television all day/evening, it now seems as though Nintendo want to do the same in retirement homes across the world!
I can see it now:
Nurse: Take this pill...
Patient: Ok
Nurse: Now be a good boy and play with you wii wii thing...
A dual partition disk with CD music on one side and high-quality MP3 files on the other, that is MP3, not DRM WMA or M4P or any other DRM rubbish.
Karem,
Karem