This reminds me of the debut of Ice T's hardcore band, Body Count. It was kind of second-rate hardcore, not too noteworthy, but since he sang about killing cops (and, naturally, because it was Ice T) there was a huge uproar and a demand for the album to be banned. I can remember a friend of mine saying, "I've got to get a copy of that before they ban it." He did, as did thousands of others.
It's a familiar story (Madonna, Eminem, etc.) - it just cracks me up. The more uproar you raise, the more millions you put in their pockets.
I think the way it's supposed to work in a free society is that you discuss and argue... banning works that are obscene or sophomorically offensive elevates them to a level of importance they don't deserve.
btw, I just got Vice City, it's a lot of fun... highly recommended!
Someone downloading the file would then use it to retrieve the actual content from a "Content Reference Server". The content would be in a copy-protected format, designed not be shareable.
DRM'ed content, no surprise there...
Albhy Galuten, chairman of the CRF, says: "This would essentially say, if you have the rights to this piece of content, we don't care what kind of device you're using. It would say, tell me the device, and we'll send you the correct file."
OK, so then I can put it on my portable mp3 player next month... but will it still be there two years from now when I upgrade it? What if you decide a song is no longer worth hosting? Will you give me a non-DRM'ed copy then???
to say he is being prosecuted for "accessing his own property" is simply shrill hyperbole.
It's not simply hyperbole, it's a contrast with previous applications of the law that presumably invovled other people's property (e.g., data on a server that the defendant did not own). In this case, the data resides on DVDs that are physically owned by Johansen. This is a meaningful difference.
...beef jerky? Surely these guys are just having fun at Nasa's expense. This is actually from the site:
The Eros Project is primarily sponsored by Beefjerky.com. You can support this critial legal work in progress by trying some delicious "Final Frontier Jerky" from Beefjerky.com. This is the beef jerky that is selected by Astronauts and has flown to Space three times.
So is Beef Jerky the new Tang? This certainly would put a new spin on the old saying "He gets more Tang than an astronaut."
Corporate infiltration in schools is already well underway... from the article:
Schools are offered free televisions in exchange for compelling students to watch a brief current-events program larded with commercials, a project known as Channel One. (The advertisers seem to be getting their money's worth: researchers have found that Channel One viewers, as contrasted with a comparison group of students, not only thought more highly of products advertised on the program but were more likely to agree with statements such as "money is everything," "a nice car is more important than school," "designer labels make a difference," and "I want what I see advertised.")(5)
Even more disturbing than having public schools sanction and expose children to advertisements(6) is the fact that corporate propaganda is sometimes passed off as part of the curriculum. Math problems plug a particular brand of sneakers or candy; chemical companies distribute slick curriculum packages to ensure that environmental science will be taught with their slant.(7) A few years ago, someone sent me a large, colorful brochure aimed at educators that touts several free lessons helpfully supplied by Procter & Gamble. One kit helps fifth graders learn about personal hygiene by way of Old Spice after-shave and Secret deodorant, while another promises a seventh-grade lesson on the "ten steps to self-esteem," complete with teacher's guide, video, and samples of Clearasil.
In the case of car engines, Honda would have a complaint with Audi, because Audi would be involved in actively producing the engines. The consumers are only purchasing and using them, which would not violate the patent.
In terms of software copyright, things get trickier, because the act of using the software implies copying. Aside from making backup copies of the media your OS came on, which any sane person will do, the act of running the software involves creating a copy of the executable code in memory. IANAL, but I believe this argument has held up in court. Whether this entitles them to money, or just to prevent your continued use of the software, I have no idea.
It'll probably never matter, though, because there probably isn't any basis for their claims.
Well, at least a drug-smuggling-pilot-turned-snitch is a somewhat better person to have in charge of all of our personal information than Disgraced Iran-Contra Felon John Poindexter (as El Reg tends to call him... or something similar).
Anyone who can remember back to the year 2000 knows that the State of Florida can certainly be trusted to handle millions of documents in an appropriate fashion.
I'd like to know what the algorithm is for the reproduction of the poems. This reminds me of some of Burroughs' methods (cut-up, fold-in, etc) that involved somewhat random combinations of his own stuff with different texts. Much of it was terrible, but there were occasional moments of seeming intelligence to the texts.
Burroughs also used to talk about language as "the word virus", which seems to be exactly what we have here! Say what you want about Burroughs, he was ahead of his time.
Comparisons to previous workplace revolutions only go so far... especially considering the escalating timeframe in which all of this could happen.
Think of the continual acceleration of innovation that Moore's law implies. Radical innovations will start coming closer and closer on each others' coattails. Yet the time it takes humans to mature from birth to adulthood will (presumably) remain somewhere around 20 years. Social and cultural change relies to a large extent on generational changes, and I don't think it can hope to keep pace with these technological changes.
I think that is at the core of the author's point... yes, ultimately human society will adjust, but in the short term, you'd better put a spiked battering ram on the front of your road-warrior-mobile, because there is going to be some crazy shit.
It is disturbing that SCO's stock value is shooting up because of these insane claims. That SCO can even bring in $1 from these IP claims is pure, and at this point doubtful, speculation. This doesn't increase my confidence in the stock market...
The Means of Production and Distribution...
on
Open Source Music
·
· Score: 1
...are ours! Musicians of the world, unite!
I can understand the apprehension of professional musicians at this stuff. One answer is that the revenue stream may have to shift towards performance rather than recording sales.
For the hobbyists, closet musicians, and mad scientists relentlessly twisting knobs on hopelessly complicated Reaktor synths, this is great. I've been trying to get something like this going among my friends for a while now.
When I think of the origins of music, I think of a bunch of people around a fire making songs with whatever was at hand. The advent of sound recording, expensive equipment, and media conglomerates generated more advanced means of making and manipulating music, while creating a relatively closed system. It was no longer possible for the average person to make the kind of music they listened to. Now it seems like everyone is doing it. So what if P Diddy's empire crumbles? Musicians who really have something to offer to a crowd looking for a great experience will never go broke.
Both serve the same function as the perpetual wars in 1984 - they exist to justify strict control at home, massive defense budgets, and "the struggle for freedom" abroad (i.e., military intervention in defense of US economic interests). The War on Terror is extremely convenient - terrorists are all over the world; there are no defined criteria that could be used to declare the war finished; and it resonates very well with post-911 sentiment.
Bush is a terrifying figure. He's got half the nation waving the flag while the economy goes down the tubes, and freedoms are routinely chipped away by sweeping legislation.
Slashdot Mirror
It's a familiar story (Madonna, Eminem, etc.) - it just cracks me up. The more uproar you raise, the more millions you put in their pockets.
I think the way it's supposed to work in a free society is that you discuss and argue... banning works that are obscene or sophomorically offensive elevates them to a level of importance they don't deserve.
btw, I just got Vice City, it's a lot of fun... highly recommended!
So is Beef Jerky the new Tang? This certainly would put a new spin on the old saying "He gets more Tang than an astronaut."
Yeah, it's a bit off-topic, but there seem to be a lot of people with experience reading this thread.
In terms of software copyright, things get trickier, because the act of using the software implies copying. Aside from making backup copies of the media your OS came on, which any sane person will do, the act of running the software involves creating a copy of the executable code in memory. IANAL, but I believe this argument has held up in court. Whether this entitles them to money, or just to prevent your continued use of the software, I have no idea.
It'll probably never matter, though, because there probably isn't any basis for their claims.
Well, at least a drug-smuggling-pilot-turned-snitch is a somewhat better person to have in charge of all of our personal information than Disgraced Iran-Contra Felon John Poindexter (as El Reg tends to call him... or something similar).
Anyone who can remember back to the year 2000 knows that the State of Florida can certainly be trusted to handle millions of documents in an appropriate fashion.
Burroughs also used to talk about language as "the word virus", which seems to be exactly what we have here! Say what you want about Burroughs, he was ahead of his time.
Think of the continual acceleration of innovation that Moore's law implies. Radical innovations will start coming closer and closer on each others' coattails. Yet the time it takes humans to mature from birth to adulthood will (presumably) remain somewhere around 20 years. Social and cultural change relies to a large extent on generational changes, and I don't think it can hope to keep pace with these technological changes.
I think that is at the core of the author's point... yes, ultimately human society will adjust, but in the short term, you'd better put a spiked battering ram on the front of your road-warrior-mobile, because there is going to be some crazy shit.
It is disturbing that SCO's stock value is shooting up because of these insane claims. That SCO can even bring in $1 from these IP claims is pure, and at this point doubtful, speculation. This doesn't increase my confidence in the stock market...
I can understand the apprehension of professional musicians at this stuff. One answer is that the revenue stream may have to shift towards performance rather than recording sales.
For the hobbyists, closet musicians, and mad scientists relentlessly twisting knobs on hopelessly complicated Reaktor synths, this is great. I've been trying to get something like this going among my friends for a while now.
When I think of the origins of music, I think of a bunch of people around a fire making songs with whatever was at hand. The advent of sound recording, expensive equipment, and media conglomerates generated more advanced means of making and manipulating music, while creating a relatively closed system. It was no longer possible for the average person to make the kind of music they listened to. Now it seems like everyone is doing it. So what if P Diddy's empire crumbles? Musicians who really have something to offer to a crowd looking for a great experience will never go broke.
Both serve the same function as the perpetual wars in 1984 - they exist to justify strict control at home, massive defense budgets, and "the struggle for freedom" abroad (i.e., military intervention in defense of US economic interests). The War on Terror is extremely convenient - terrorists are all over the world; there are no defined criteria that could be used to declare the war finished; and it resonates very well with post-911 sentiment. Bush is a terrifying figure. He's got half the nation waving the flag while the economy goes down the tubes, and freedoms are routinely chipped away by sweeping legislation.