Just 8 years for the population to replace all of their TVs sounds a little quick. Or does absolutely everyone in Japan replace their equipment way often?
indeed, but it's all part of the japanese strategy to give their industries a head start. it helps them to retain their competitive edge internationally.
create a home market and then try to export it.
it matters little what the FCC does. the US is only 280 million people. tv's - even fancy digital ones - are commodity items. the market is totally ruled by volume.
china and india and se asia is where the market will be, and the japanese want to be there first.
so going through the growing pains in the home market gives them a big advantage.
you see there are another ways of how government can stimulate economic growth other than simply (and blindly) slashing taxes.
The other side of SCO's contention is that Open Source software creation doesn't have mechanisms in place to prevent the incorporation of unlicensed code in OSS code. Here SCO's argument stumbles: OSS may implement as many or as few "Intellectual Property" safeguards on incorporated code as any commerical software creator. (emphasis mine.)
the issue, orthogonal, is not that OSS may implement , the question is whether or not OSS does implement IP safeguards.
the answer appears to be: no. as any visitor to this board quickly learns OSS developers don't want to read patents, they don't want to care about patents, and they are fighting tooth and nail in europe to make sure they don't have to.
to a reasonable observer, it would appear that OSS does not want to co-exist with proprietaty models, they want free and unfettered access to any technology which exists. proprietary or not. period.
the remarks in this thread about socialism touch on this. the existence of private property is a
threat to the ambitions of OSS. OSS developers are not content to remain in the public domain. this isn't good enough. the argument "if mozilla can't do this or that because of a patent then we all die" is pervasive among OSS developers.
as a defense against limits on functionality, or interoperability, OSS developers demand access to all domains: public and private.
the public confiscation of private property, or the abolition of private property is a hallmark of socialism and in this regard, the label "socialist" is appropriate.
SCO is right in theory even if they may be wrong regarding the facts in their own particular case. Unless OSS implements comprehensive measures to avoid patent and copyright infringement, it is simply a matter of time before the kernel actually does misappropriate someone's intellectual property.
Dan Bricklin the inventor of Visical sums it up appropriately:
"... I also feel that no matter how much you might feel that patents don't work for the software industry, and how much you may take up the torch to change the law, it is the law today and a fact of programming life as much as Microsoft, the instruction set of the machine we write for, the turning of the century number, and the need to pay for food. Ignoring them won't make them go away, nor protect you from those that do not have the same beliefs." (emphasis in original)
even if you dont' manage the whole article, just this paragraph is worth reading:
"Yet, there is a difference between implementing the activity of producing infinite and unlimited texts and the existence of already produced texts, which can perhaps be interpreted in infinite ways but are physically limited. In our same contemporary culture we accept and evaluate, according to different standards, both a new performance of Beethoven's Fifth and a new Jam Session on the Basin Street theme. In this sense, I do not see how the fascinating game of producing collective, infinite stories through the Net can deprive us of authorial literature and art in general. Rather, we are marching towards a more liberated society in which free creativity will coexist with the interpretation of already written texts. I like this. But we cannot say that we have substituted an old thing with a new one. We have both."
o Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
o The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
o Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.
o "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
o A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
o Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
o The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
o Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
o If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
o A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
o HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.
o Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
o Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
o Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
o A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
o Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
o The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
o You support states' rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt.
o What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
o Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
This is the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument.
Without guns, however, people would not be shooting each other. They would have to find another, more difficult way, to kill each other. Pulling a trigger is easy, having to use a knife makes a person think twice.
Without ISPs providing the gateway and the means, copyright violators will have to find other ways to steal.
Clamping down on ISPs won't make the problem go away, but one only needs to compare the homicide rates in Canada and the US to see that gun control works.
Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.
"Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.
Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
You support states' rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt.
What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
MS Office has and continues to enhance the productivity of 10's of millions of people. this closed, proprietary, buggy, awkward, featureless software has been the platform for vertical innovation in almost every industry on the planet changing the way people do business.
lateral innovations - like Open Office - have not yet had this same impact.
if you are going to argue innovation, you should consider the entire scope of innovation.
It wasn't lying, it was a matter of emphasis.
on
In Search of Stupidity
·
· Score: 5, Funny
"We didn't fake the data. It's called an aggressive headline."
Now where have we heard that before? At least these guys will be able to get a job in the Bush administration.
It is not surprising that people would hesitate about getting injected with anything labeled "Ebola." The disease is notoriously lethal, rapidly killing 50 percent to 90 percent of its victims. Just the thought makes people irrational.
Deadly yes, but are the chances of contracting it anywhere near the chance of being killed by the vaccine? When the mortality rate from the prevention is greater than for the actual disease NOT taking the vaccine is the rational decision. This is why they stopped giving smallpox vaccine to children in the 1970's - more children were becoming ill and dying from the vaccine than from smallpox.
this all sounds great... but it's not a market
on
The Open Code Market
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Game theory shows that market failure occurs when one person's consumption does not diminish the ability of others to also consume the product, a condition called "nonrivalous consumption" or "jointness of consumption."
Market failure can also occur when people who have not paid cannot be prevented from consuming the good, a condition called nonexcludability. Public goods by definition exhibit both jointness of consumption and nonexcludability.
Ergo, it may be a resource, but it can't be called a market.
Ng ran the Napster-style website from his bedroom at his family's home in Blacktown, and while none of the students made any money out of the site, the music industry alleges the pirated music cost it at least $60 million.
Counsel for the Commonwealth, Paul Roberts, SC, said Ng was well aware he was acting illegally. Not only was the site camouflaged - the web space had been let to him by a teenage boy in Perth - but Ng had co-written an essay for his information technology law course on "open source software licensing".
sort of speaks for itself.
a consideration in sentencing is the deterrent factor on others. jail doesn't seem unreasonable for a profligate offender who wontonly disregards the law.
the part about open source is entirely irrelevant - and it throw's dirt on lawful members of the community. give him an extra 6 mo. for that.
first, it should be noted, despite all efforts to the contrary, amazon's patent has been in force for a few years now and the world has not come to an end.
second, for all the/. FUD and hyperbole about the evils of software patents, the big winners in recent years have been the small independent developers like mike doyle and thomas woolston.
and it is the goliaths such as microsoft, e-bay, and barnes and noble, and soon IBM, who have had to pay.
McLain helps keep track of where they've been and where they need to go, but she says she's best behind the wheel.
"Personally I don't have a very good sense of direction. I just get lost even if I have a map," she says.
When asked if being directionally challenged makes her the perfect candidate for this job, she's very enthusiastic.
"I know what the most confused driver needs to know," she says.
which of course is nothing.
this isn't very reassuring.
I think it's just because almost no one (outside of slashdot and a few other niche places) seems to realize that there are much bigger issues at stake here.
ha, ha. that TV guy was smarter than you give him credit for... there is hope when even a TV reporter is able to see through the "bigger issues at stake here" bullshit.
if a TV reporter gets it maybe even a republican might be able to understand it.
those "bigger issues" which lessig, stallman, and, apparently, you hide behind are simply obfuscation for the real issue which is theft of private property.
think free as in free speech...
think about it long and hard, dimwits, while my friends and i drink all your beer without paying for it.
burrrrrrp.
having a more eloquent speaker won't change this, but it might help your side to confuse more people.
The only thing for certain is that people reading and posting to slashdot generally lack the slightest clue on the inner workings of the US Patent System.
Not only here on Slashdot, but here, and here. too.
The ignorance of the FFII and EFF about software patents is simply astonishing. I've talked to some of these people about their views on patents. Amusing. It's like talking to the Taliban about the importance of women's rights.
good point mr100percent. something don't be adding up here.
the NSA employs more mathmeticians than any other organization in the world. they can grow their own and roll their own.
the thing is they usually bogart it.
what i don't understand is why the NSA just doesn't pinch from someone else's bag - i mean who's gonna know it? they're the friggin's NSA - the government, they can do anything... and only traitors and slanderous villians would criticize the government.
it's an anti-rush limbo problem: on one hand, you have a crackhead who could get all the drugs he wanted legally and privately, but for some unexplicable reason bought his dope illegaly on the street through someone who could (and did) dime him out.
on the other hand, you have NSA could use whatever patented technique they wanted and no one would ever know, but they decide to go out and publicly annouce a license.
You don't buy a license to a physical item - like a dovetailing bit - you buy the bit. It's your's. You own it and have full right to use it for the purpose intended. You can sell it, loan it to someone else, and modify it (as long as the modification doesn't infringe someone else's patent).
The difference with this and a software license is that one rivalous, and one non-rivalous. I cannot loan someone my dovetailing bit without giving up posession myself. Thus, the bit is a rivalous asset.
On the other hand, software can be copied and shared with others without me giving up posession. In this manner, software as a product is non-rivalous. When you "buy" software you only ever receive a copy - the software company keeps posession of the original - so you what you are buying is a license to use.
The result is that marketplace innovation will suffer, and consumers will have to make do with fewer features and no way to exercise their legally protected fair-use rights.
this is not true.
there are a variety of analog recording machines which you can use for your "fair use," but fair use does not give anyone the right to make an exact copy - such as would be the case when a digital broadcast signal is transmitted.
the law recognizes that you can make an inferior copy of a broadcast for your personal use. you can record your justin timberlake CDs onto cassettes so you can listen while you're driving your car. no problem.
but what you, and the EFF, and the rest of the left want is the ability to record EXACT copies which can be distribute through channels other than broadcast. this is not "fair use." it is an expansion of fair use over what the law already recognizes.
when fair use was written the technology was vinyl and magnetic tape, printed books and photocopiers. fair use never gave anyone the right to make exact copies in any format, to be used on any machine.
the EFF should be honest about this and not try to present the issue as though "fair use" is being diminished - this is a lie worthy of the bush administration - the fact is that it is the EFF which is arguing for an unprecedented expansion of fair use.
Okay, now it's either legal OR it's civil disobedience (i.e., intentionally breaking a law, and accepting an unjust punishment, to draw attention to an issue).
I believe there is an argument that it is neither. It should be seen as protected speech under the protections of the first amendment of the US Constitution.
In the US supreme court's landmark Sullivan decision, it was firmly established that speech criticizing public officials was more or less immune to ordinary charges of libel.
The court adopted Madison's view that the people are the ultimate owners of the country.
As Justice Brennan wrote in the majority opinion,
Thus we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, casutic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials... and as an expression of grievance and protest on one of the major public issues of our time, would seem clearly to qualify for constitutional protection."
While Dieblod is "not" a government official, its involvement in the election of public officials should be close enough to invoke the free speech protections which the US Supreme Court has provided.
The ability to critize our public officials AND THEY WAY THEY ARE ELECTED is a fundamental American right.
Use it before the traitors who stole the last US election take it away.
Do we have anything going on in Congress to limit the scope and term of software patents..
Unlike the effort in Europe to actually change the law, software patents in the US are a result of the US Supreme Court's interpretations of existing law.
The US Congress played no "direct" role in the creation of software patents in the US, rather it was a series of US Supreme Court decisions (Gottschalk vs. Benson - 1972), (Parker vs. Flook - 1978), Diamond vs. Chakrabarty - 1980), and (Diamond vs. Diher - 1981) which expanded the scope of patents to cover software.
The US Congress did, however, during the 1990's change the laws to shorten the term of all US patents to 20 years.
Hopefully, the European Parliament will be able to see through the dis-information spread by the FFII, the Eurolinux something or other, and pass meaningful legislation this time.
Let us also hope that members of the Open Source movement will refrain this time from sending death threats to MEPs who do not support their radical and uninformed position.
The important thing in democracy is not the voting, it's the counting.
Any technology introduced to improve the act of voting cannot make the act of counting less transparent or democracy suffers.
It is apparent that Diebold's systems (not to mention Diebold's paranoia for secrecy) render the act of counting less accountable and less transparent. Ergo, democracy suffers.
If used in a close election - where exit polling and other secondary measurements are unable to confirm the results of the counting - the wrong person might actually get elected President of the United States of America.
With no sense of responsibility to the coutry at large, this illegitimate President might launch a series of Napoleonic wars to to compensate for his own feelings of inadequacy.
I digress into fantasy... the little blue ones I washed down with all those adult beverages must be kicking in.
Yet Torvalds' humble office is the de facto world headquarters for an operating system now used by more than 18 million people around the globe, and this self-described ordinary Joe is admired by legions of fans who cast him as a modern-day warrior courageous enough to challenge the most powerful technology companies in the universe and smart enough to win. It's easy to see why that hyperbolic depiction has taken hold.
win? according to what rules?
for his accomplishments this "ordinary Joe" should be wealthier than oprah, but he ain't.
bill gates probably spends more money on his annual car service than this torvalds makes in a year.
this is the core basic shortcoming of Linux and it's relatives - kernel developers get screwed into working for free.
i mean from the point of view of the worker - the ordinary Joe - who has better business model? the NFL with it's fat payroll, or the NCAA with it's rules against paying it's players.
Slashdot Mirror
indeed, but it's all part of the japanese strategy to give their industries a head start. it helps them to retain their competitive edge internationally.
create a home market and then try to export it.
it matters little what the FCC does. the US is only 280 million people. tv's - even fancy digital ones - are commodity items. the market is totally ruled by volume.
china and india and se asia is where the market will be, and the japanese want to be there first.
so going through the growing pains in the home market gives them a big advantage.
you see there are another ways of how government can stimulate economic growth other than simply (and blindly) slashing taxes.
The other side of SCO's contention is that Open Source software creation doesn't have mechanisms in place to prevent the incorporation of unlicensed code in OSS code. Here SCO's argument stumbles: OSS may implement as many or as few "Intellectual Property" safeguards on incorporated code as any commerical software creator. (emphasis mine.)
the issue, orthogonal, is not that OSS may implement , the question is whether or not OSS does implement IP safeguards.
the answer appears to be: no. as any visitor to this board quickly learns OSS developers don't want to read patents, they don't want to care about patents, and they are fighting tooth and nail in europe to make sure they don't have to.
to a reasonable observer, it would appear that OSS does not want to co-exist with proprietaty models, they want free and unfettered access to any technology which exists. proprietary or not. period.
the remarks in this thread about socialism touch on this. the existence of private property is a threat to the ambitions of OSS. OSS developers are not content to remain in the public domain. this isn't good enough. the argument "if mozilla can't do this or that because of a patent then we all die" is pervasive among OSS developers.
as a defense against limits on functionality, or interoperability, OSS developers demand access to all domains: public and private.
the public confiscation of private property, or the abolition of private property is a hallmark of socialism and in this regard, the label "socialist" is appropriate.
SCO is right in theory even if they may be wrong regarding the facts in their own particular case. Unless OSS implements comprehensive measures to avoid patent and copyright infringement, it is simply a matter of time before the kernel actually does misappropriate someone's intellectual property.
Dan Bricklin the inventor of Visical sums it up appropriately:
"... I also feel that no matter how much you might feel that patents don't work for the software industry, and how much you may take up the torch to change the law, it is the law today and a fact of programming life as much as Microsoft, the instruction set of the machine we write for, the turning of the century number, and the need to pay for food. Ignoring them won't make them go away, nor protect you from those that do not have the same beliefs." (emphasis in original)
ironic don't you think that the the gold standard for all republicans was the one who ended the gold standard.
double plus good scrotch.
even if you dont' manage the whole article, just this paragraph is worth reading:
"Yet, there is a difference between implementing the activity of producing infinite and unlimited texts and the existence of already produced texts, which can perhaps be interpreted in infinite ways but are physically limited. In our same contemporary culture we accept and evaluate, according to different standards, both a new performance of Beethoven's Fifth and a new Jam Session on the Basin Street theme. In this sense, I do not see how the fascinating game of producing collective, infinite stories through the Net can deprive us of authorial literature and art in general. Rather, we are marching towards a more liberated society in which free creativity will coexist with the interpretation of already written texts. I like this. But we cannot say that we have substituted an old thing with a new one. We have both."
Support freedom of money people. Only support banks that allow the free copying, distribution, and listening of their money in any format you choose.
o The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
o Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.
o "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
o A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
o Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
o The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
o Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
o If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
o A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
o HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.
o Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
o Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
o Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
o A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
o Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
o The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
o You support states' rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt.
o What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
o Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
you must be a NY yankees fan.
Without guns, however, people would not be shooting each other. They would have to find another, more difficult way, to kill each other. Pulling a trigger is easy, having to use a knife makes a person think twice.
Without ISPs providing the gateway and the means, copyright violators will have to find other ways to steal.
Clamping down on ISPs won't make the problem go away, but one only needs to compare the homicide rates in Canada and the US to see that gun control works.
Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.
"Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.
Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
You support states' rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt.
What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
MS Office has and continues to enhance the productivity of 10's of millions of people. this closed, proprietary, buggy, awkward, featureless software has been the platform for vertical innovation in almost every industry on the planet changing the way people do business.
lateral innovations - like Open Office - have not yet had this same impact.
if you are going to argue innovation, you should consider the entire scope of innovation.
Now where have we heard that before? At least these guys will be able to get a job in the Bush administration.
Deadly yes, but are the chances of contracting it anywhere near the chance of being killed by the vaccine? When the mortality rate from the prevention is greater than for the actual disease NOT taking the vaccine is the rational decision. This is why they stopped giving smallpox vaccine to children in the 1970's - more children were becoming ill and dying from the vaccine than from smallpox.
Market failure can also occur when people who have not paid cannot be prevented from consuming the good, a condition called nonexcludability. Public goods by definition exhibit both jointness of consumption and nonexcludability.
Ergo, it may be a resource, but it can't be called a market.
Counsel for the Commonwealth, Paul Roberts, SC, said Ng was well aware he was acting illegally. Not only was the site camouflaged - the web space had been let to him by a teenage boy in Perth - but Ng had co-written an essay for his information technology law course on "open source software licensing".
sort of speaks for itself.
a consideration in sentencing is the deterrent factor on others. jail doesn't seem unreasonable for a profligate offender who wontonly disregards the law.
the part about open source is entirely irrelevant - and it throw's dirt on lawful members of the community. give him an extra 6 mo. for that.
second, for all the /. FUD and hyperbole about the evils of software patents, the big winners in recent years have been the small independent developers like mike doyle and thomas woolston.
and it is the goliaths such as microsoft, e-bay, and barnes and noble, and soon IBM, who have had to pay.
McLain helps keep track of where they've been and where they need to go, but she says she's best behind the wheel. "Personally I don't have a very good sense of direction. I just get lost even if I have a map," she says. When asked if being directionally challenged makes her the perfect candidate for this job, she's very enthusiastic. "I know what the most confused driver needs to know," she says. which of course is nothing. this isn't very reassuring.
ha, ha. that TV guy was smarter than you give him credit for... there is hope when even a TV reporter is able to see through the "bigger issues at stake here" bullshit.
if a TV reporter gets it maybe even a republican might be able to understand it.
those "bigger issues" which lessig, stallman, and, apparently, you hide behind are simply obfuscation for the real issue which is theft of private property.
think free as in free speech...
think about it long and hard, dimwits, while my friends and i drink all your beer without paying for it.
burrrrrrp.
having a more eloquent speaker won't change this, but it might help your side to confuse more people.
Not only here on Slashdot, but here, and here. too.
The ignorance of the FFII and EFF about software patents is simply astonishing. I've talked to some of these people about their views on patents. Amusing. It's like talking to the Taliban about the importance of women's rights.
good point mr100percent. something don't be adding up here.
the NSA employs more mathmeticians than any other organization in the world. they can grow their own and roll their own.
the thing is they usually bogart it.
what i don't understand is why the NSA just doesn't pinch from someone else's bag - i mean who's gonna know it? they're the friggin's NSA - the government, they can do anything... and only traitors and slanderous villians would criticize the government.
it's an anti-rush limbo problem: on one hand, you have a crackhead who could get all the drugs he wanted legally and privately, but for some unexplicable reason bought his dope illegaly on the street through someone who could (and did) dime him out.
on the other hand, you have NSA could use whatever patented technique they wanted and no one would ever know, but they decide to go out and publicly annouce a license.
The difference with this and a software license is that one rivalous, and one non-rivalous. I cannot loan someone my dovetailing bit without giving up posession myself. Thus, the bit is a rivalous asset.
On the other hand, software can be copied and shared with others without me giving up posession. In this manner, software as a product is non-rivalous. When you "buy" software you only ever receive a copy - the software company keeps posession of the original - so you what you are buying is a license to use.
this is not true.
there are a variety of analog recording machines which you can use for your "fair use," but fair use does not give anyone the right to make an exact copy - such as would be the case when a digital broadcast signal is transmitted.
the law recognizes that you can make an inferior copy of a broadcast for your personal use. you can record your justin timberlake CDs onto cassettes so you can listen while you're driving your car. no problem.
but what you, and the EFF, and the rest of the left want is the ability to record EXACT copies which can be distribute through channels other than broadcast. this is not "fair use." it is an expansion of fair use over what the law already recognizes.
when fair use was written the technology was vinyl and magnetic tape, printed books and photocopiers. fair use never gave anyone the right to make exact copies in any format, to be used on any machine.
the EFF should be honest about this and not try to present the issue as though "fair use" is being diminished - this is a lie worthy of the bush administration - the fact is that it is the EFF which is arguing for an unprecedented expansion of fair use.
I believe there is an argument that it is neither. It should be seen as protected speech under the protections of the first amendment of the US Constitution.
In the US supreme court's landmark Sullivan decision, it was firmly established that speech criticizing public officials was more or less immune to ordinary charges of libel.
The court adopted Madison's view that the people are the ultimate owners of the country.
As Justice Brennan wrote in the majority opinion, Thus we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, casutic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials... and as an expression of grievance and protest on one of the major public issues of our time, would seem clearly to qualify for constitutional protection."
While Dieblod is "not" a government official, its involvement in the election of public officials should be close enough to invoke the free speech protections which the US Supreme Court has provided.
The ability to critize our public officials AND THEY WAY THEY ARE ELECTED is a fundamental American right.
Use it before the traitors who stole the last US election take it away.
Unlike the effort in Europe to actually change the law, software patents in the US are a result of the US Supreme Court's interpretations of existing law.
The US Congress played no "direct" role in the creation of software patents in the US, rather it was a series of US Supreme Court decisions (Gottschalk vs. Benson - 1972), (Parker vs. Flook - 1978), Diamond vs. Chakrabarty - 1980), and (Diamond vs. Diher - 1981) which expanded the scope of patents to cover software.
The US Congress did, however, during the 1990's change the laws to shorten the term of all US patents to 20 years.
Hopefully, the European Parliament will be able to see through the dis-information spread by the FFII, the Eurolinux something or other, and pass meaningful legislation this time.
Let us also hope that members of the Open Source movement will refrain this time from sending death threats to MEPs who do not support their radical and uninformed position.
Hear, hear.
The important thing in democracy is not the voting, it's the counting.
Any technology introduced to improve the act of voting cannot make the act of counting less transparent or democracy suffers.
It is apparent that Diebold's systems (not to mention Diebold's paranoia for secrecy) render the act of counting less accountable and less transparent. Ergo, democracy suffers.
If used in a close election - where exit polling and other secondary measurements are unable to confirm the results of the counting - the wrong person might actually get elected President of the United States of America.
With no sense of responsibility to the coutry at large, this illegitimate President might launch a series of Napoleonic wars to to compensate for his own feelings of inadequacy.
I digress into fantasy... the little blue ones I washed down with all those adult beverages must be kicking in.
win? according to what rules?
for his accomplishments this "ordinary Joe" should be wealthier than oprah, but he ain't.
bill gates probably spends more money on his annual car service than this torvalds makes in a year.
this is the core basic shortcoming of Linux and it's relatives - kernel developers get screwed into working for free.
i mean from the point of view of the worker - the ordinary Joe - who has better business model? the NFL with it's fat payroll, or the NCAA with it's rules against paying it's players.