Wanna have some serious stoopid fun? Edit a 2.0 theme and bump the version up to 3.*. I did that, tried using the theme, & got a totally unreadable FF screen. I was not thrilled. Fix for that was to erase my.mozilla directory and use the backup. (You DO back that stuff up, right????)
They also left us other documents that go a long way to explaining where their heads were at. Federalist Papers anyone? More nifty stuff is available at the click of a mouse.
Are we sure it's still the Land of the Free and Home of Brave ?
Sure we are, we're perfectly free to chant all the pro-government propaganda slogans they come up with. Just make sure you're in a Free Speech zone when you do, and make sure you smile for the FBI cameras. Don't bother looking for Media-controlled cameras, there won't be any, they'll be down at the 'main event' where all the action is, recording everything our Glorious Leaders have to say.
I guess we can't see movies any more like Fast Times At Ridgemont High since they portray onscreen underage sex.....well, at least we got to see Phoebe Cates back in the good old days....
Expect to see movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High pulled off the shelf faster than Traci Lords' movies were if this passes.
The problem with the civil litigation system in the US is, anybody can sue anybody for anything.
I can sue you because it's Friday. All I have to do is show why it being Friday hurts me, and why I think it's your fault, and it becomes an actionable 'offense'.
How about an illegitimate authority? I'm a bastard. Do I qualify?
Seriously, though, to me, this sounds like the Vatican is backpedalling in order to do damage control, similar to the efforts of the 'Intelligent Design' people.
Specialization has, for most professions, been a way for the industry to differentiate between its own members. It is not a government-recognized title. For example, a medical doctor can legally perform brain surgery without the 7 year neurosurgery residency. More than that, someone who has completed the 7-year training and *fails* the neurosurgery boards can legally perform brain surgery.
Litigious bastards that we Americans are, there's just too much happening in the law 'field' for one person to keep track of. Thus, a 'specialty', like family law, criminal law, tax law, ad nauseum, where the specialist is expected to have a good solid grip on what's been happening in courts around the country in his 'specialty'.
All governments become more aristocratic over time. They serve the needs of a smaller and smaller elite few, to the detriment of the greater and greater majority.
So the United States was serving a smaller group when women got the vote? When minorities got the vote? And when poll taxes were eliminated?
While your statement makes for a nice soundbite, it's vastly far from true. There are plenty of countries, including the US, that have extended political power to formerly disenfranchised groups.
Mind if I ask where you've been the last 25 years or so?
The only time a politician listens to anybody these days is when that somebody is handing them a nice fat check for their campaign warchest. The 'citizens' they listen to are the corporations that fund them getting back into office again. Have you looked at some of the hairbrained laws coming out of Washington these days? Pro-IP was written by RIAA itself, not just a legal terrorist organisation, but a PAC (Political Action Committee for the uninformed), a high powered lobby. Lobbyists are campaign contributors through their PACs. While the telco bill getting telcos out of a jackpot for illegally handing over data to the government might or might not have been written by the telcos themselves, it sure as hell benefits them, and they contribute heavily to both sides of the aisle.
A politician wants back into office to play statesman again? You better believe he'll throw as much bias towards his contributors as he thinks he can get away with, just about to the point of flat out stupidity. Hey, who cares, there's an election coming, and those checks can just as easily go to the other guy...
Music takes a negligible amount of labor to reproduce in digital formats.
Emphasis mine. Just because you can make a copy of something for 5 cents doesn't mean that each copy should cost 5 cents. Distribution and manufacturing are only a small part of the expenses involved in putting out a mass media CD.
So what's wrong with 10 cents a copy? Twice what it costs to 'distribute' an electronic copy, enough to show a profit when you sell a few million copies.
Actually, the profit margins increase in economies of scale, as your production costs are fixed, and after the product is put into an electronic format, no further production costs are needed to produce it, just to distribute it.
Actually, the way it works in practice is, it's legal until SCOTUS rules on it. Problem is, SCOTUS can't/won't rule on the legality/Constitutionality of a law until it's brought before them after the trial, the appeal, etc. And even then, they can refuse to hear it.
Not really. They're just gettin theirs while the getting's good. And if they can rig the new laws coming up that cover 'grandfathering in' existing suits and filings, even better.
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That's because when you make things foolproof, all you do is generate a stronger class of fool. Darwinian selection at its finest.
Wanna have some serious stoopid fun? Edit a 2.0 theme and bump the version up to 3.*. I did that, tried using the theme, & got a totally unreadable FF screen. I was not thrilled. Fix for that was to erase my .mozilla directory and use the backup. (You DO back that stuff up, right????)
You're forgetting the part about no third parties are allowed to know of their existence in your case. You just sent yourself and your buddy to prison
They also left us other documents that go a long way to explaining where their heads were at. Federalist Papers anyone? More nifty stuff is available at the click of a mouse.
Sure we are, we're perfectly free to chant all the pro-government propaganda slogans they come up with. Just make sure you're in a Free Speech zone when you do, and make sure you smile for the FBI cameras. Don't bother looking for Media-controlled cameras, there won't be any, they'll be down at the 'main event' where all the action is, recording everything our Glorious Leaders have to say.
Expect to see movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High pulled off the shelf faster than Traci Lords' movies were if this passes.
Actually, if I can show enough evidence that the day being Friday hurts me, and it's your fault, it's not frivolous. It would have standing.
Sure it can. That's what case law is all about.
I can sue you because it's Friday. All I have to do is show why it being Friday hurts me, and why I think it's your fault, and it becomes an actionable 'offense'.
That's mostly because we're not their customers, we're their product. Their advertisers are their customers.
They keep this up, they might someday modernise to the 20th Century in 40 or 50 years...
I'm gonna need a bigger back yard...
But will they pour hot grits over a statue of Natalie Portman?
Seriously, though, to me, this sounds like the Vatican is backpedalling in order to do damage control, similar to the efforts of the 'Intelligent Design' people.
Litigious bastards that we Americans are, there's just too much happening in the law 'field' for one person to keep track of. Thus, a 'specialty', like family law, criminal law, tax law, ad nauseum, where the specialist is expected to have a good solid grip on what's been happening in courts around the country in his 'specialty'.
Less talk and more reloading! Don't let any of them get away!!
So what? He's a judge now. Unseating a sitting judge takes a lot. The old expression of 4 acts of God & an act of Congress come to mind.
Around here (north west Arizona), they refuse to pick something up without sufficient postage.
RIAA is suing a guy who's homeless. Where do you hook up a computer in a cardboard box?
Mind if I ask where you've been the last 25 years or so?
The only time a politician listens to anybody these days is when that somebody is handing them a nice fat check for their campaign warchest. The 'citizens' they listen to are the corporations that fund them getting back into office again. Have you looked at some of the hairbrained laws coming out of Washington these days? Pro-IP was written by RIAA itself, not just a legal terrorist organisation, but a PAC (Political Action Committee for the uninformed), a high powered lobby. Lobbyists are campaign contributors through their PACs. While the telco bill getting telcos out of a jackpot for illegally handing over data to the government might or might not have been written by the telcos themselves, it sure as hell benefits them, and they contribute heavily to both sides of the aisle.
A politician wants back into office to play statesman again? You better believe he'll throw as much bias towards his contributors as he thinks he can get away with, just about to the point of flat out stupidity. Hey, who cares, there's an election coming, and those checks can just as easily go to the other guy...
You're not paying attention. We're talking electronic media, aka, an MP3, NOT a CD.
So what's wrong with 10 cents a copy? Twice what it costs to 'distribute' an electronic copy, enough to show a profit when you sell a few million copies.
Actually, the profit margins increase in economies of scale, as your production costs are fixed, and after the product is put into an electronic format, no further production costs are needed to produce it, just to distribute it.
The problem, of course, is, the lesser of two evils is STILL evil. That's just something you just can't paint over.
Actually, the way it works in practice is, it's legal until SCOTUS rules on it. Problem is, SCOTUS can't/won't rule on the legality/Constitutionality of a law until it's brought before them after the trial, the appeal, etc. And even then, they can refuse to hear it.
Not really. They're just gettin theirs while the getting's good. And if they can rig the new laws coming up that cover 'grandfathering in' existing suits and filings, even better.