When a U.S. NBA team wins a championship, they are referred to as the 'World Champions', even though I don't recall them narrowly beating that team from Zaire for their victory. So the grandparent poster did have a point, to an extent.
I'm sure that part of the disabling hack would include fooling the sensors into thinking the device is working. That's the problem with this type of system, it would only work if the technology was 'guaranteed unhackable'. While that may make a nice sounding marketing term, you could not seriously make this claim about very many electronic devices.
False or fraudulent typically means when there was intent to decieve. Making an error or not keeping a receipt is not evidence of fraud. As always, I ANAL, but this is how the law usually works.
When implemented correctly, keystroke sniffing and screen capturing software should not even be an issue on public computers. If the machine is running Windows, just run it on a restricted access account with no ability to install anything or change settings. You would think that companies like Kinkos that have publicly accessible workstations would figure this out.
If you think offshore outsourcing is bad now, just wait until IT is unionized. Several posters have commented on the disappearance of American jobs in textiles, steel, electronic assembly, etc. What do these jobs have in common? They were all unionized, and now they don't exist. I'm not saying I like it this way and that unions would not have some benefits, I'm just saying they would not work and would provide much more incentive to offshore.
It may not be perfect, but I really do think the national registry is working. I have not had a single telemarketing call since then, and I was previously getting up to 20 calls a day! Some of this may have had to do with me treating callers rudely and putting them on hold until they hung up, since the number of calls did start to drop even before the list was in effect. Maybe telemarketing firms are finally taking a hint and realizing that nobody wants their worthless crap. Now if only we could make spammers do the same.
No shit. In fact, I've always said that RealPlayer is the original spyware. Before this term was even coined, RealPlayer would take over your entire machine, send data about your usage back to the mother ship, and was a real bitch to get rid of. And no matter how many preferences you unchecked (be my default player, load on startup, run all the time, etc.) it would STILL be running in the background.
Considering they are owned by Viacom, I'd say they definitely have some leverage. Then again, it could be one of those cases where one division of a huge corporation wants something different than another division.
Notice your standard of living is up too. Remember back in the 70s when most people had 1 TV and if you were well to do you might have had 2? How much did your first VCR cost? Although the cost of living has been going up, I think you'll find that people spend less of their income, percentage wise, on basic living essentials. Then again, people today define cable TV and a car with leather seats as basic essentials. One thing for sure, most people today have a better standard of living and comfort level than the super rich had in the late 1800s.
Man, do I wish I had mod points. This is so true. As companies get bigger, upper management usually becomes more and more disconnected from day to day operations and loses touch with the customers. In addition, the main purpose of the business in their minds is to provide them with power and control. Money is the enabler, but control is the most important thing to these now-bigshot executives. For example, look back to earlier copying restriction efforts. Record companies fought home tape recorders for years before finally conceding and then watching their sales increase. The reason they fought it had less to do with money than with control. They wanted to be the only source for music. I firmly believe that the music industry as a whole will see more profits as a result of digital music exchange, even if the music files have little or no DRM. Many insiders believe this too, but record company execs are too busy protecting their own empires.
If Intertrust had played their cards right, they would have introduced a DRM standard as 'open' for all manufacturers to use, maybe even gotten it legislated into law, and then 5 years later sued for patent infringement. Since Intertrust is now owned by 2 big players in the electronics industry, this would give them one hell of an advantage over their competitors. Poor Intertrust, they really missed the boat on this one.
When I removed my computer from the Linksys router that I had been using and connected it directly to the cable modem, I started getting these Messenger popups that had never been a problem with the router in place. I was running ZoneAlarm and made sure it was properly set up, but they kept coming until I disabled the service. So personal firewalls do not always protect from this, but apparently a non-routable IP address does.
Unfortunately, what you just described is all too common with public construction projects. Chicago is about to spend half a billion dollars just to renovate the Brown Line. Somehow I think a privatized subway system would get it done for less. A LOT less.
Hey, this certainly doesn't make any less sense than their other tactics. They pretty much would have to sue themselves if by some leap of faith they got the GPL invalidated.
What a terrible video store. Even Blockbuster, which certainly has won no customer service awards, will take your word for it if you say a disk won't play. Not like it really costs them anything to let you have another one.
Saddam is one dumb (sheep) fucker. Anyone who raids a couple of billion U.S. dollars from the central bank before fleeing Baghdad has no need to stay in Iraq. Why isn't he sipping a pina colada on a beach somewhere? Fortunately, his own stupidity did him in.
Oh noes, the monopoly broadband providers will be toast! Seriously, this is a good thing. Now cable and phone companies will have to actually compete to offer better value, not merely rake in the cash in exchange for poor service.
Maybe there's something I'm missing here, but you can format the new machines and install 2000 on them, right? I would think that paying for an XP license would entitle you to 'downgrade' to 2k. If this is not the case, I think a lot of corporate IT departments may rethink their strategy of buying Dells with the latest MS operating system on them.
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When a U.S. NBA team wins a championship, they are referred to as the 'World Champions', even though I don't recall them narrowly beating that team from Zaire for their victory. So the grandparent poster did have a point, to an extent.
I'm sure that part of the disabling hack would include fooling the sensors into thinking the device is working. That's the problem with this type of system, it would only work if the technology was 'guaranteed unhackable'. While that may make a nice sounding marketing term, you could not seriously make this claim about very many electronic devices.
False or fraudulent typically means when there was intent to decieve. Making an error or not keeping a receipt is not evidence of fraud. As always, I ANAL, but this is how the law usually works.
When implemented correctly, keystroke sniffing and screen capturing software should not even be an issue on public computers. If the machine is running Windows, just run it on a restricted access account with no ability to install anything or change settings. You would think that companies like Kinkos that have publicly accessible workstations would figure this out.
Just give it a few years and most aspects of the DMCA will have been exported to Europe along with most of the developed (and developing) world.
Yes, but they are old enough to vote, so politicians can't dick them around as easily.
If you think offshore outsourcing is bad now, just wait until IT is unionized. Several posters have commented on the disappearance of American jobs in textiles, steel, electronic assembly, etc. What do these jobs have in common? They were all unionized, and now they don't exist. I'm not saying I like it this way and that unions would not have some benefits, I'm just saying they would not work and would provide much more incentive to offshore.
It may not be perfect, but I really do think the national registry is working. I have not had a single telemarketing call since then, and I was previously getting up to 20 calls a day! Some of this may have had to do with me treating callers rudely and putting them on hold until they hung up, since the number of calls did start to drop even before the list was in effect. Maybe telemarketing firms are finally taking a hint and realizing that nobody wants their worthless crap. Now if only we could make spammers do the same.
No shit. In fact, I've always said that RealPlayer is the original spyware. Before this term was even coined, RealPlayer would take over your entire machine, send data about your usage back to the mother ship, and was a real bitch to get rid of. And no matter how many preferences you unchecked (be my default player, load on startup, run all the time, etc.) it would STILL be running in the background.
Would that be the debt that was incurred when these countries violated UN sanctions to make sales to Iraq. Gee, I feel really bad for these countries.
Considering they are owned by Viacom, I'd say they definitely have some leverage. Then again, it could be one of those cases where one division of a huge corporation wants something different than another division.
Notice your standard of living is up too. Remember back in the 70s when most people had 1 TV and if you were well to do you might have had 2? How much did your first VCR cost? Although the cost of living has been going up, I think you'll find that people spend less of their income, percentage wise, on basic living essentials. Then again, people today define cable TV and a car with leather seats as basic essentials. One thing for sure, most people today have a better standard of living and comfort level than the super rich had in the late 1800s.
Man, do I wish I had mod points. This is so true. As companies get bigger, upper management usually becomes more and more disconnected from day to day operations and loses touch with the customers. In addition, the main purpose of the business in their minds is to provide them with power and control. Money is the enabler, but control is the most important thing to these now-bigshot executives. For example, look back to earlier copying restriction efforts. Record companies fought home tape recorders for years before finally conceding and then watching their sales increase. The reason they fought it had less to do with money than with control. They wanted to be the only source for music. I firmly believe that the music industry as a whole will see more profits as a result of digital music exchange, even if the music files have little or no DRM. Many insiders believe this too, but record company execs are too busy protecting their own empires.
If Intertrust had played their cards right, they would have introduced a DRM standard as 'open' for all manufacturers to use, maybe even gotten it legislated into law, and then 5 years later sued for patent infringement. Since Intertrust is now owned by 2 big players in the electronics industry, this would give them one hell of an advantage over their competitors. Poor Intertrust, they really missed the boat on this one.
When I removed my computer from the Linksys router that I had been using and connected it directly to the cable modem, I started getting these Messenger popups that had never been a problem with the router in place. I was running ZoneAlarm and made sure it was properly set up, but they kept coming until I disabled the service. So personal firewalls do not always protect from this, but apparently a non-routable IP address does.
Unfortunately, what you just described is all too common with public construction projects. Chicago is about to spend half a billion dollars just to renovate the Brown Line. Somehow I think a privatized subway system would get it done for less. A LOT less.
Hey, this certainly doesn't make any less sense than their other tactics. They pretty much would have to sue themselves if by some leap of faith they got the GPL invalidated.
What a terrible video store. Even Blockbuster, which certainly has won no customer service awards, will take your word for it if you say a disk won't play. Not like it really costs them anything to let you have another one.
I don't know about the rest of /. readers, but I for one don't want to see a picture of this grandma's boobs.
I couldn't find her house, but I think I found where she bought her computer.
Saddam is one dumb (sheep) fucker. Anyone who raids a couple of billion U.S. dollars from the central bank before fleeing Baghdad has no need to stay in Iraq. Why isn't he sipping a pina colada on a beach somewhere? Fortunately, his own stupidity did him in.
Oh noes, the monopoly broadband providers will be toast! Seriously, this is a good thing. Now cable and phone companies will have to actually compete to offer better value, not merely rake in the cash in exchange for poor service.
Wow, and I thought only Americans were that ignorant. Looks like the British public schools could use some work too.
Maybe there's something I'm missing here, but you can format the new machines and install 2000 on them, right? I would think that paying for an XP license would entitle you to 'downgrade' to 2k. If this is not the case, I think a lot of corporate IT departments may rethink their strategy of buying Dells with the latest MS operating system on them.
I don't think copyright would be your main concern here. You're much more likely to have problems with so called ecommerce patents.