I have had spyware that was damm hard to remove. It was one of those "browser hijackers" that would direct to one of those sites that sell domain names. A spyware removal program found it but couldn't remove it. This was because it became part of the windows 98 operating system and any attempt to delete the file from the directory or the windows registry would give a "file in use" error. I ended up having to boot the computer in DOS mode and delete the file then reboot in windows.
This is almost meaningless. Verizon (and most ISP's) assign their IP's dynamically, which means you need more than the IP address. You also need the time and date.
It is however, quite meaningful for those who have fixed IP addresses.
The one thing mp3.com did was to allow users to find the artists. Sure every band has a website and can host their own music, but how do users find bands they don't already know? There are millions of bands out there. That is what mp3.com did for me. I was a heavy user, but my usage declined as fewer artists posted their gig info on the site, and vivendi screwed up the features that allowed a user to find shows in one's locality.
"With today's web hosting market, bandwidth is cheap enough for bands to afford to distribute their music themselves, and if anybody is reading this and needs space for their band, my company (Cerebral Tech, Inc) will host you with no strings for ten bucks a month, just send me an email.
"
mp3.com was not sold as a "going concern". It probably couldn't be since there were undoubtedly large lawsuits pending. (If they could have sold it intact they certainly would have since vivendi only wants cash, and the more $$ the better.) So the only way Vivendi could sell it and get all the cash was to sell assets, withdraw all cash, wait 180 days, and put the empty shell of a company into ch7.
Could they have sold the library? No, they did not own the library. Could they have sold all customer accounts and infrastructure? Possibly, but they had to find a willing buyer. There may have been FTC problems in selling the customer accounts since that is a transfer of personal information in liquidation, something that is frowned upon. It could still have been done, but only if users were given ample time to either agree to it or delete themselves from the system. And they still would have had to find a willing buyer. I'm sure CNET didn't want to buy a pig in a poke. Obviously they saw an opportunity to obtain the domain name and brand on the cheap and went for it. I don't know if CNET was interested in buying the customer accounts, but if they were they would have certainly have asked vivendi to indemnify them for any illegal covers in the database. Vivendi just wants cash. They would never indemnify anybody. Vivendi doesn't care about the big labels either. They want to sell universal music too, and would if they could get enough for it. Also, as I understand it, they can't sell universal music for a few years without serious tax implications, although I don't understand why this is. Vivendi is nothing more than an impersonal conglomerate run by a french banker's administrator of liquidation. They are selling everything, and in a few years vivendi probably won't exist.
They probably couldn't transfer the database to the archive, since remember they don't own the copyrights of the material in the database, and doing that would open them up to lawsuits. Everything in a conglomerate must be cleared by teams of lawyers.
I don't know what CNET does or doesn't intend to do with the domain name and brand. They don't seem to know themselves. I hope they figure it out quickly. I gave them my suggestions. Let's see what they do.
So you can verify your vote. So what. With computers everone could verify their own votes and the totals could still be changed. Having a receipt kept for recount offers some protection, since that requires fraudsters to print up fake receipts, or arrange for the receipts to be discarded by error.
I am much less concerned about a black box that only records a few minutes of data and is only extractable in A CRASH SITUATION than I am about speed cameras and the potential of RFID devices such as those "easy-pass" toll booth things.
Speed cameras are an extremely efficient way to raise revenue. The District of Columbia raised tens of millions of dollars last year (mostly from out-of state residents too), and with their expansion plans will expect to net $100 million/year....and they are not even using those things in the most efficient manner posible!! With such vast revenues possible, and most states in dire financial straits, expect those things to expand nationwide before the end of the decade.
Eventually, expect the RFID devices that allow you to roll thru toll boths to become mandatory. Such devices could actually be incorporated into the tax or inspection stickers everyone must put on a car, and would allow:
-- Efficient collection of tolls without impeding traffic and allow toll booths to be put up everywhere
-- tracking of vehicles all around the US for homeland security purposes
-- efficient issuance of speeding tickets the same way the PA and NJ turnpikes did in the old days with the old-style toll tickets (distance/time = average speed)
-- efficient enforcement of tax and inspection laws for vehicles
Now you are talking real big brother!!!
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I have had spyware that was damm hard to remove. It was one of those "browser hijackers" that would direct to one of those sites that sell domain names. A spyware removal program found it but couldn't remove it. This was because it became part of the windows 98 operating system and any attempt to delete the file from the directory or the windows registry would give a "file in use" error. I ended up having to boot the computer in DOS mode and delete the file then reboot in windows.
This is almost meaningless. Verizon (and most ISP's) assign their IP's dynamically, which means you need more than the IP address. You also need the time and date. It is however, quite meaningful for those who have fixed IP addresses.
The one thing mp3.com did was to allow users to find the artists. Sure every band has a website and can host their own music, but how do users find bands they don't already know? There are millions of bands out there. That is what mp3.com did for me. I was a heavy user, but my usage declined as fewer artists posted their gig info on the site, and vivendi screwed up the features that allowed a user to find shows in one's locality. "With today's web hosting market, bandwidth is cheap enough for bands to afford to distribute their music themselves, and if anybody is reading this and needs space for their band, my company (Cerebral Tech, Inc) will host you with no strings for ten bucks a month, just send me an email. "
mp3.com was not sold as a "going concern". It probably couldn't be since there were undoubtedly large lawsuits pending. (If they could have sold it intact they certainly would have since vivendi only wants cash, and the more $$ the better.) So the only way Vivendi could sell it and get all the cash was to sell assets, withdraw all cash, wait 180 days, and put the empty shell of a company into ch7. Could they have sold the library? No, they did not own the library. Could they have sold all customer accounts and infrastructure? Possibly, but they had to find a willing buyer. There may have been FTC problems in selling the customer accounts since that is a transfer of personal information in liquidation, something that is frowned upon. It could still have been done, but only if users were given ample time to either agree to it or delete themselves from the system. And they still would have had to find a willing buyer. I'm sure CNET didn't want to buy a pig in a poke. Obviously they saw an opportunity to obtain the domain name and brand on the cheap and went for it. I don't know if CNET was interested in buying the customer accounts, but if they were they would have certainly have asked vivendi to indemnify them for any illegal covers in the database. Vivendi just wants cash. They would never indemnify anybody. Vivendi doesn't care about the big labels either. They want to sell universal music too, and would if they could get enough for it. Also, as I understand it, they can't sell universal music for a few years without serious tax implications, although I don't understand why this is. Vivendi is nothing more than an impersonal conglomerate run by a french banker's administrator of liquidation. They are selling everything, and in a few years vivendi probably won't exist. They probably couldn't transfer the database to the archive, since remember they don't own the copyrights of the material in the database, and doing that would open them up to lawsuits. Everything in a conglomerate must be cleared by teams of lawyers. I don't know what CNET does or doesn't intend to do with the domain name and brand. They don't seem to know themselves. I hope they figure it out quickly. I gave them my suggestions. Let's see what they do.
So you can verify your vote. So what. With computers everone could verify their own votes and the totals could still be changed. Having a receipt kept for recount offers some protection, since that requires fraudsters to print up fake receipts, or arrange for the receipts to be discarded by error.
I am much less concerned about a black box that only records a few minutes of data and is only extractable in A CRASH SITUATION than I am about speed cameras and the potential of RFID devices such as those "easy-pass" toll booth things. Speed cameras are an extremely efficient way to raise revenue. The District of Columbia raised tens of millions of dollars last year (mostly from out-of state residents too), and with their expansion plans will expect to net $100 million/year....and they are not even using those things in the most efficient manner posible!! With such vast revenues possible, and most states in dire financial straits, expect those things to expand nationwide before the end of the decade. Eventually, expect the RFID devices that allow you to roll thru toll boths to become mandatory. Such devices could actually be incorporated into the tax or inspection stickers everyone must put on a car, and would allow: -- Efficient collection of tolls without impeding traffic and allow toll booths to be put up everywhere -- tracking of vehicles all around the US for homeland security purposes -- efficient issuance of speeding tickets the same way the PA and NJ turnpikes did in the old days with the old-style toll tickets (distance/time = average speed) -- efficient enforcement of tax and inspection laws for vehicles Now you are talking real big brother!!!