the public information the RIAA is using is only available via the p2p networks themselves right? so what if the developers of the p2p neteworks wrote a clause into the licensing agreement forbidding the use of such information gathering under penalty of (ideally death but) severe monetary damages? could kazaa, grokster, etc. write in such a clause? then the RIAA's use of such information would also fall prey to legal attack.
it would als be neat if the information collected somehow violated rights as the RIAA is doing the collectiing rather than a law enforcement agency? maybe some conflict of interest provision (doubtful) or some due process provision?
In some cases, esp. where federal monies are concerned, law requires that if a commercial solution exists already that they be used over development of similar/same alternatives. So is the environment is primarily windows (or some versions of linux) then development with free software, where similar commercial products are available, can be illegal.
If you're really hardcore you can probably get by with a good leatherman tool and a Nnoppix CD, however......
for software Knoppix is great or GNUWin as it contains an OS, a number of apps and a lot of tools/utilities that can be used for diagnostics and fixing. I highly reccoment Knoppix, as all you need is a bootable CD drive and RAM to run it. Plus it's Linux based ($0.25 for a CDR) and even has some games.
On the hardware side, i always have a pair of needlenose pliers, a screwdriver with multiple bits for different sized screws, a can of air (I once saved a computer that wouldn't start solely becuase of the amount of dust buildup) and i like to have my own NIC and drivers should a network conection prove available. The vid card drivers would be good but you would have to know specifics and its far easier just to work with minimal graphics for repair/maintainence.
That's the bare minimum. If you have the space, i would also tack on bootable floppies (win98 boot disk is decent enough);2-3 blank floppies for random file movement (you never know what you may have to back up from a machine); a 56K modem + working drivers in case a network connection should be unavailable; I also reccoment some high-explosives or a big hammer, because some machines just can't be saved and after hoursr of frustrating trying, sometimes it's better to put them down in a fitting manner.
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the public information the RIAA is using is only available via the p2p networks themselves right? so what if the developers of the p2p neteworks wrote a clause into the licensing agreement forbidding the use of such information gathering under penalty of (ideally death but) severe monetary damages? could kazaa, grokster, etc. write in such a clause? then the RIAA's use of such information would also fall prey to legal attack.
it would als be neat if the information collected somehow violated rights as the RIAA is doing the collectiing rather than a law enforcement agency? maybe some conflict of interest provision (doubtful) or some due process provision?
In some cases, esp. where federal monies are concerned, law requires that if a commercial solution exists already that they be used over development of similar/same alternatives. So is the environment is primarily windows (or some versions of linux) then development with free software, where similar commercial products are available, can be illegal.
If you're really hardcore you can probably get by with a good leatherman tool and a Nnoppix CD, however...... for software Knoppix is great or GNUWin as it contains an OS, a number of apps and a lot of tools/utilities that can be used for diagnostics and fixing. I highly reccoment Knoppix, as all you need is a bootable CD drive and RAM to run it. Plus it's Linux based ($0.25 for a CDR) and even has some games. On the hardware side, i always have a pair of needlenose pliers, a screwdriver with multiple bits for different sized screws, a can of air (I once saved a computer that wouldn't start solely becuase of the amount of dust buildup) and i like to have my own NIC and drivers should a network conection prove available. The vid card drivers would be good but you would have to know specifics and its far easier just to work with minimal graphics for repair/maintainence. That's the bare minimum. If you have the space, i would also tack on bootable floppies (win98 boot disk is decent enough);2-3 blank floppies for random file movement (you never know what you may have to back up from a machine); a 56K modem + working drivers in case a network connection should be unavailable; I also reccoment some high-explosives or a big hammer, because some machines just can't be saved and after hoursr of frustrating trying, sometimes it's better to put them down in a fitting manner.