To me it seems like UW simply wants to treat its students like adults and not dedicate half a day of someone's time to tracking down a particular student from an IP address to give them an opportunity at a better settlement deal.
Pluses: No need to waste time on cases not worth a subpoena, no need to act as an intermediary, no need to provide bandwidth to students who are subpoena'd. Cheap and easy all around!
Minuses: For the student - no chance for a cheap settlement, judgment on public record which harms credit and employability.
If I were a pirate, I wouldn't necessarily be cheering this decision.
Check out this conclusion from a 2002 Slate article:
Cable saved UHF-TV, while a TV-tuner mandate that cost consumers millions got the credit. Now the FCC positions to take a bow for forcing billions more in consumer costs for unused, and possibly unusable, digital tuners. "In the end," Powell says, "we have to make a judgment about what is in the consumers' best interest."
Be sure to play this game with people whose friendship you do not mind losing (or who enjoy getting stabbed in the back). I played this game when I was in college with a group of friends, and there are some who still will not speak to each other. Some of the lies, deceptions and betrayals made Survivor look like diplomacy for dummies. I still have the same copy of the game, unopened lurking in my closet - like Jumanji.
Many people have non-economically motivated projects with a similar scope of publicty and investment - model trains, airplanes, Eagle Scout projects or charity. There are intrinsic rewards to doing these things. Creating an Open Source project that is used by others as a college student is as or more admirable than completing a widely used Eagle Scout project.
The desire to leave a mark and make a difference is commendable. If Aiden can't make a living from it, the skills he's learned from a successful project are rare and very marketable in many areas. There sure are worse ways to spend your time.
Survey says...review and version features are primarily used by MS product management to track Word review and version features.
On a serious note, people who need features like these drive the decision to buy the software that has it. What would be the point of switching word processors if you had to implement a third-party version control system for clerks and typists (and more sophisticated users)? Once you get hooked on a complex feature you do not even want to spend the time learning another vendors implementation of the same feature.
The small percentage of users (in large corporations) who need these features lock MS Word in for the other 99% of the users. This is fantastic for MS or any other implementer of a complex feature integrated into ubiquitous software.
$480/year for repetitive movies, videos, shows, channels is too much even for the gainfully employed.
Broadcast is by definition a local service. Strong cable stations would crush weaker local stations, leading to an even more homogenous TV experience than exists now.
Finally, how else can we enjoy major league sporting events for free now that tickets and food at the stadium cost more than a day's pay (and Wrigley Field has been screened from the neighboring apartments)?
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Pluses: No need to waste time on cases not worth a subpoena, no need to act as an intermediary, no need to provide bandwidth to students who are subpoena'd. Cheap and easy all around!
Minuses: For the student - no chance for a cheap settlement, judgment on public record which harms credit and employability.
If I were a pirate, I wouldn't necessarily be cheering this decision.
Please do not disparage crackers. Upstanding crackers don't want no part of 'puters.
Be sure to play this game with people whose friendship you do not mind losing (or who enjoy getting stabbed in the back). I played this game when I was in college with a group of friends, and there are some who still will not speak to each other. Some of the lies, deceptions and betrayals made Survivor look like diplomacy for dummies. I still have the same copy of the game, unopened lurking in my closet - like Jumanji.
The desire to leave a mark and make a difference is commendable. If Aiden can't make a living from it, the skills he's learned from a successful project are rare and very marketable in many areas. There sure are worse ways to spend your time.
Survey says...review and version features are primarily used by MS product management to track Word review and version features. On a serious note, people who need features like these drive the decision to buy the software that has it. What would be the point of switching word processors if you had to implement a third-party version control system for clerks and typists (and more sophisticated users)? Once you get hooked on a complex feature you do not even want to spend the time learning another vendors implementation of the same feature. The small percentage of users (in large corporations) who need these features lock MS Word in for the other 99% of the users. This is fantastic for MS or any other implementer of a complex feature integrated into ubiquitous software.
$480/year for repetitive movies, videos, shows, channels is too much even for the gainfully employed.
Broadcast is by definition a local service. Strong cable stations would crush weaker local stations, leading to an even more homogenous TV experience than exists now.
Finally, how else can we enjoy major league sporting events for free now that tickets and food at the stadium cost more than a day's pay (and Wrigley Field has been screened from the neighboring apartments)?