It's also the case that people can't expect a name just because they are famous.
There's no statute in the UK or US on what is cybersquatting, but judges have pretty much decided, and come up with good judgements.
In the cases of Jeanette Winterson and Julia Roberts, people were using their names as domain names. Both argued that the names were there rights.
However, in the case of Anand Mani, who is also known as A R Mani, he argued that his business had been running since 1981 and so had as much right to the name Armani. Similarly, if some actor came along called Tim Almond, and wanted timalmond.com, they'd have to but it off me, because I have as much right to use it as they do, and I was there first. IIRC the law doesn't give rights because "I'm famous"
Actually, my first response to someone offering me $10 would be to do nothing. A request for $10 for my domain isn't even a starting point for a negotiation.
Saying that, if I got a letter from some lawyers representing Microsoft, I'd be on the phone to an IP lawyer as quickly as possible.
I'm still surprised at how many people spend money on the "latest PC" when their modem or hard drive is going to be what's restricting them.
Of course, salespeople who are on a percentage commission aren't going to dissude them, and nor does a lot of the computer press who are wowwed by the latest and greatest stuff (often regardless of long-term practicality).
I have to work quite hard on people I know, trying to convince them to find a good local guy who will custom build a machine at a lower price who will give them what they want and will know what to do if something goes wrong. And still they go to some big warehouse-style retailer.
The change is about 2 main factors... people realising that it really works, and certain software being available (an equivalent of Access/Paradox/DB3 would be good for getting a few more businesses over).
As for Microsoft's war chest, it's $40 billion. Sounds like a fortune, right? Let's say though that Microsoft's share price starts slipping because they're not selling to home users (people have a PC that does what they need, and not many are upgrading), and businesses start switching to Linux. That $40 billion equates to $4 a share, and I wouldn't mind betting that some shareholders would want this released.
Microsoft have nowhere to go but down IMO. Many businesses are fed up with forced licensing/upgrading and are looking at switching. Home users are generally not buying licenses as the market for PC ownership is now saturated. PC software doesn't "break" like a TV or a CD player, and it does 99% of what people want (can you seriously tell me that Office 2003 over Office 2000 is a 'must-have' upgrade).
The lawsuits are going to mostly be counterproductive. Open source is as much about philosophy as products, and the more people are brought into the philosophy, the worse it is for Microsoft. Let's say they find infringing code in Linux - code will be rewritten very fast and minor damages will be paid. Life will go on. Any publicity the case gets will convince more and more people to take Linux seriously.
A lot of companies in history have tried to use FUD to defend their market share. In some cases, they win because the company they are FUDding are too small, and get beaten by it. In many cases (and I believe Linux will be among these), the company doing the FUD loses because people find enough people using the new thing and switch.
I think the growth of Linux will snowball with the hardware and software. The two will go hand in hand.
As more people write drivers and software, more people will switch. Each person (or company) that switches will encourage manufacturers to write drivers and software.
It's a bit like when I use other people's Windows machines and they have file extensions turned off. There should be an option in Windows for "look, I know what I'm doing" mode that shows all extensions, doesn't hide files like Program Files.
User design needs much more thought than it is given. The who Win95 Start...Programs... thing is just horrible. I really prefer the old Win3.1 interface.
I don't like the "I'm going to hide things you don't use much" thingy either. It just makes life more complicated for me. Yes, I know I can switch it off, but then, I've got to find that switch. Is it in Accessories or Control Panel or do I set folder properties. Note, this is rhetorical - I don't want an answer, but you get my point.
I agree. I saw Minority Report, and didn't notice that some things were done with CGI. I assumed they had good stuntmen, or something had been made using models (trying not to give anything away here!).
It was only when I saw the extras that I twigged what had been done.
There was a recent BBC documentary (I think in the Imagine series) where there was some discussion about 2D vs 3D, where someone was saying that come the next 2D hit, they'll all go back to it.
And there was John Lasseter talking about that creative genius Miyazaki. Incidentally who uses 2D.
To concur with many authors on this thread, it's not about the 2d or the computers. In the same way that scripts and characters, not actors make good movies, so scripts and characters, not 3d and computers make good movies.
For a lot of corporate america (even giant companies), their websites matter shit except to probably investors or potential customers.
There's companies like Amazon and Expedia who need huge systems, but there's also companies like Exxon or McDonalds. Are their businesses going to collapse if their websites are down?
Re:when we're finished patting ourselves on the ba
on
2003: Year of Apache
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· Score: 3, Interesting
One argument... it's irrelevant.
If Microsoft are trying to sell it on the basis of "big professional companies use IIS", it doesn't really work for me. I'm interested in what sites like Amazon, Google, the BBC, Tesco, Natwest, BT, British Airways and the IMDB run on. Stuff that either gets a lot of traffic, has to be secure or both.
I don't have a list of the Forbes 500, but I've had a look at the FTSE 100 in the UK, and a great deal of those companies don't have what I'd call major websites - their businesses don't depend on high traffic. There are companies involved in Biotech, Construction, Mining and Food production.
I was real close to buying a double set of Aretha Franklin and the latest Outkast album, and letting my ban on buying RIAA albums slip. Glad to get a reminder and put me back on the straight and narrow.
Maybe I'll go and get some more classical music from Naxos instead.
Code speed is becoming as important for PCs as it was for mainframes years ago.
I forsaw a few years ago the virtual end of C++ for business apps (OK, not that great a guess) on the basis that as machines got faster, the speed of execution would become less important.
Granted, there are always times for C++ - games, major packages, embedded devices and occassionally for common libraries. But it's often going to be a cost toss-up. If you're writing a library used in a system by 10 users, is it worth it? For 1000 users, the extra cost may be.
What's more important now is disc and network IO. That's where performance gains can be greatest for smallest amounts of work.
One of the biggest things that happens with the UK government is that they announce how much money they are spending on something, but there's no mention of the expected results for the increased spending.
So saying "we are putting 10 billion into health" can just mean lots of shiny hospitals or can be wasted on paperwork.
I think it's Jamaica where they improved health by massively increasing their budget on health education. It's a much cheaper approach than spending extra money on heart surgery.
The only significant market for media sales (music, movies, and probably software too) is the bulk of non-technical people who look for the easy solution, for decent quality, and are willing to pay for it.
There's always going to be people who won't pay for it. Often at a certain age and will grow out of it.
I worked in a record shop, and we used to see the same old faces coming in with 'scratched' records, and requesting a refunds, probably after they'd taped it. Of course, 99+% of our customers weren't like that.
You could say the same about ringtones. a few people probably hack the ringtones out of their phones (I guess) but most people are willing to spend a small amount of money to get it.
The problem is that Napster wasn't just about getting something for nothing, it later became about convenience. Get the music you want and get it right now.
I've just had a look at the movies on Divx and MovieFlix.com, and there's nothing major. Stuff I'd expect stuck rotting between shelves in a video rental store.
It's the equivalent of about $4 a share... not bad. Of course, if the share price starts going down a lot, they may have to dip into that to satisfy stockholders.
I almost wonder if they want to do something else with it when the computer game is up, like biotech or something.
There's some other reasons that I could imagine. IBM can see how Linux works in a large enterprise by using their own. If people start saying "this don't work", they can find replacements, get things in, make changes etc. That experience has got to count with external customers.
Additionally, once they've got it working, and know how to get it going, how about they start selling IBM Desktop Linux. What's the best known branded Linux? RedHat. Respect to RH, but for a lot of bosses, particularly in small businesses, someone like IBM releasing a Distro or a Linux PC would raise the credibility of Linux (even if it's Suse or RH rebadged with tweaks).
And finally, they stop handing over money to a competitor.
But the one area that Open Source is very wanting is easy Application Install packages.
Generally, I'd agree with this, but OOo for Windows installs pretty easy.
As far as being 2 to 4 years behind, it is behind a little, but the thing is that Microsoft are now going to struggle to put new features in, because you just don't need anything else in a Word Processor. OOo could even go past MS Office in a couple of years.
I think more so than Linux, it's the biggest threat the Microsoft. They have great margins on it, and it locks people into Windows.
Question... is that real money or some kinda Enron/Parmalat accountancy BS definition of money? Like do Microsoft have a bank statement that says "closing balance $40,000,000,000".
I was just saying to one of my coworkers today - look at all the shit running on our SQL Server - memory being wasted on stuff that we can't get shot of because it's installed by default.
I want a DB server to be a basic OS with a database engine running on it. If I want a nice view, I should have to load those tools on separately, or use a remote machine to use those tools.
I once worked at a company that bought PCs from their mainframe supplier. Cost a bloody fortune each, but when I asked why we weren't buying Dell or Gateway, I was always told "support". I even pointed out that those companies had support contracts.
A lot of companies were like this. Over time, they realised that actually, Dell and so forth were just as good as their overpriced suppliers (better) and switched.
When I started working about 15 years ago, there were a lot of old lags in business who were scared of computers. The people who were project managers then are now running companies today. Perhaps 15 years from now, people from agressive companies using Linux will be taking over blue chips, and knowing full well that the shit works, and that it's cheaper to run (particularly once set up and not requiring new licenses).
Slashdot Mirror
There's no statute in the UK or US on what is cybersquatting, but judges have pretty much decided, and come up with good judgements.
In the cases of Jeanette Winterson and Julia Roberts, people were using their names as domain names. Both argued that the names were there rights.
However, in the case of Anand Mani, who is also known as A R Mani, he argued that his business had been running since 1981 and so had as much right to the name Armani. Similarly, if some actor came along called Tim Almond, and wanted timalmond.com, they'd have to but it off me, because I have as much right to use it as they do, and I was there first. IIRC the law doesn't give rights because "I'm famous"
Saying that, if I got a letter from some lawyers representing Microsoft, I'd be on the phone to an IP lawyer as quickly as possible.
Of course, salespeople who are on a percentage commission aren't going to dissude them, and nor does a lot of the computer press who are wowwed by the latest and greatest stuff (often regardless of long-term practicality).
I have to work quite hard on people I know, trying to convince them to find a good local guy who will custom build a machine at a lower price who will give them what they want and will know what to do if something goes wrong. And still they go to some big warehouse-style retailer.
As for Microsoft's war chest, it's $40 billion. Sounds like a fortune, right? Let's say though that Microsoft's share price starts slipping because they're not selling to home users (people have a PC that does what they need, and not many are upgrading), and businesses start switching to Linux. That $40 billion equates to $4 a share, and I wouldn't mind betting that some shareholders would want this released.
Microsoft have nowhere to go but down IMO. Many businesses are fed up with forced licensing/upgrading and are looking at switching. Home users are generally not buying licenses as the market for PC ownership is now saturated. PC software doesn't "break" like a TV or a CD player, and it does 99% of what people want (can you seriously tell me that Office 2003 over Office 2000 is a 'must-have' upgrade).
The lawsuits are going to mostly be counterproductive. Open source is as much about philosophy as products, and the more people are brought into the philosophy, the worse it is for Microsoft. Let's say they find infringing code in Linux - code will be rewritten very fast and minor damages will be paid. Life will go on. Any publicity the case gets will convince more and more people to take Linux seriously.
A lot of companies in history have tried to use FUD to defend their market share. In some cases, they win because the company they are FUDding are too small, and get beaten by it. In many cases (and I believe Linux will be among these), the company doing the FUD loses because people find enough people using the new thing and switch.
As more people write drivers and software, more people will switch. Each person (or company) that switches will encourage manufacturers to write drivers and software.
The only problems I've had have been trivial, and bearable. Certainly enough to get it out of a locked format to an unlocked format.
User design needs much more thought than it is given. The who Win95 Start...Programs... thing is just horrible. I really prefer the old Win3.1 interface.
I don't like the "I'm going to hide things you don't use much" thingy either. It just makes life more complicated for me. Yes, I know I can switch it off, but then, I've got to find that switch. Is it in Accessories or Control Panel or do I set folder properties. Note, this is rhetorical - I don't want an answer, but you get my point.
It was only when I saw the extras that I twigged what had been done.
Looks to me like they are returning to the dark days of 'The Black Hole', 'Pete's Dragon' and 'The Rescuers'.
And there was John Lasseter talking about that creative genius Miyazaki. Incidentally who uses 2D.
To concur with many authors on this thread, it's not about the 2d or the computers. In the same way that scripts and characters, not actors make good movies, so scripts and characters, not 3d and computers make good movies.
In other news, I'll be phoning Trading Standards.
So, do you have SCO source code then (IE, in AIX)?
For a lot of corporate america (even giant companies), their websites matter shit except to probably investors or potential customers.
There's companies like Amazon and Expedia who need huge systems, but there's also companies like Exxon or McDonalds. Are their businesses going to collapse if their websites are down?
If Microsoft are trying to sell it on the basis of "big professional companies use IIS", it doesn't really work for me. I'm interested in what sites like Amazon, Google, the BBC, Tesco, Natwest, BT, British Airways and the IMDB run on. Stuff that either gets a lot of traffic, has to be secure or both.
I don't have a list of the Forbes 500, but I've had a look at the FTSE 100 in the UK, and a great deal of those companies don't have what I'd call major websites - their businesses don't depend on high traffic. There are companies involved in Biotech, Construction, Mining and Food production.
Maybe I'll go and get some more classical music from Naxos instead.
I forsaw a few years ago the virtual end of C++ for business apps (OK, not that great a guess) on the basis that as machines got faster, the speed of execution would become less important.
Granted, there are always times for C++ - games, major packages, embedded devices and occassionally for common libraries. But it's often going to be a cost toss-up. If you're writing a library used in a system by 10 users, is it worth it? For 1000 users, the extra cost may be.
What's more important now is disc and network IO. That's where performance gains can be greatest for smallest amounts of work.
So saying "we are putting 10 billion into health" can just mean lots of shiny hospitals or can be wasted on paperwork.
I think it's Jamaica where they improved health by massively increasing their budget on health education. It's a much cheaper approach than spending extra money on heart surgery.
Can they get a delay on this at all, or try and appeal to a senior court, or are they now going to have to show their hand?
There's always going to be people who won't pay for it. Often at a certain age and will grow out of it.
I worked in a record shop, and we used to see the same old faces coming in with 'scratched' records, and requesting a refunds, probably after they'd taped it. Of course, 99+% of our customers weren't like that.
You could say the same about ringtones. a few people probably hack the ringtones out of their phones (I guess) but most people are willing to spend a small amount of money to get it.
The problem is that Napster wasn't just about getting something for nothing, it later became about convenience. Get the music you want and get it right now.
I've just had a look at the movies on Divx and MovieFlix.com, and there's nothing major. Stuff I'd expect stuck rotting between shelves in a video rental store.
I almost wonder if they want to do something else with it when the computer game is up, like biotech or something.
There's some other reasons that I could imagine. IBM can see how Linux works in a large enterprise by using their own. If people start saying "this don't work", they can find replacements, get things in, make changes etc. That experience has got to count with external customers.
Additionally, once they've got it working, and know how to get it going, how about they start selling IBM Desktop Linux. What's the best known branded Linux? RedHat. Respect to RH, but for a lot of bosses, particularly in small businesses, someone like IBM releasing a Distro or a Linux PC would raise the credibility of Linux (even if it's Suse or RH rebadged with tweaks).
And finally, they stop handing over money to a competitor.
Generally, I'd agree with this, but OOo for Windows installs pretty easy.
As far as being 2 to 4 years behind, it is behind a little, but the thing is that Microsoft are now going to struggle to put new features in, because you just don't need anything else in a Word Processor. OOo could even go past MS Office in a couple of years.
I think more so than Linux, it's the biggest threat the Microsoft. They have great margins on it, and it locks people into Windows.
Question... is that real money or some kinda Enron/Parmalat accountancy BS definition of money? Like do Microsoft have a bank statement that says "closing balance $40,000,000,000".
I want a DB server to be a basic OS with a database engine running on it. If I want a nice view, I should have to load those tools on separately, or use a remote machine to use those tools.
I once worked at a company that bought PCs from their mainframe supplier. Cost a bloody fortune each, but when I asked why we weren't buying Dell or Gateway, I was always told "support". I even pointed out that those companies had support contracts.
A lot of companies were like this. Over time, they realised that actually, Dell and so forth were just as good as their overpriced suppliers (better) and switched.
When I started working about 15 years ago, there were a lot of old lags in business who were scared of computers. The people who were project managers then are now running companies today. Perhaps 15 years from now, people from agressive companies using Linux will be taking over blue chips, and knowing full well that the shit works, and that it's cheaper to run (particularly once set up and not requiring new licenses).