I am interested in good answers to this as well. Before yahoo, gmail, etc. I was moving jobs and decided on getting a family domain name so I could keep the same email address. Now that domain hosts email for most of my family. I'd like to put the domain name in my will along with instructions to transfer it since I'm the point of contact.
I think that as a community we should provide answers to key questions as well but I am interested in data-centric answers:
1) Do patents stiffle innovation? That's the main argument pro/con. The answer HAS to be an economic one, ie an econometric study or something similar for me believe it. I hear too much rhetoric and NO hard data from either side. The U.S. Constitution, Article I. Sec. 8 believes protecting the right of inventors will encourage innovation. Our community keeps saying 'well, in software that's different, the framers never had software patents in mind'. We have to show numbers again for this. Software was once NOT patentable so the data is there.
2) What is a 'good' length of time for copyrights?
Yes, balancing the rights of authors to their works and the right of the public to access those works free of charge for fair use or after a 'reasonable' length of time makes sense. The issue of what constitutes 'fair use' and what is 'reasonable time' should once again be backed up with data that shows that under a given copyright system 1) authors are being remunerated fairly, 2) the creation of new works are not being unduly stiffled and 3) the public is not being hampered in their fair usage. My nirvana would be to run a copyright simulation engine that takes in different copyright models (ie times of expiration, usage scenarios, etc.) and outputs metrics such as income from works, amount of fair use, increase/decrease in works produced, etc.
Anybody has any ideas on how to go about getting hard data answers to these issues or am I being naive and it is not possible to get answers?
It's a settlement alright. In the courts, there are two types of precedent. Binding precedent and persuasive precedent. Binding precedent are cases that must be followed by the courts. Persuasive precedent are cases that guide the court towards a ruling but may or may not be followed. A settlement is NEITHER. So, although it's nice to see the GPL be used in the legal system the caselaw precedent is still not there.
I wonder where the line between was is convenient for humans and what is just wasteful (exploitation of environmental resources) lies. In this case it seems that we have crossed it by a rather large margin.
Because of the characteristics of the job, now it is the leading example of a global economy's labor market distribution. It makes sense to pay the lowest overall cost, including long-term economic costs wherever that resource may happen to be. Why do I say it's like a 7-11 job? Because supply outstrips demand and the costs of resources are so low. If you want an example, look at the cost of custom software at www.rentacoder.com. The TOP programmer (by their metrics of course) average project cost is $467.03! A custom portal site with e-commerce bells and whistles goes for $1500. And of course, these guys are based in India.
As a immigrant I came here, got an education (BS and Masters in Comp. Sci.) and programmed for 10 years as tech lead. I saw the light and realized that programming is a dead end as a money-making career. Sure, it's fun, but the avg. programmer will not be able to make a living in the US, it's too easy to rent someone elsewhere. I don't think this is necessarily bad, in the end we simply will reach standard of living equality with other countries.
So, what to do? I'm in law school now. I figured the next tech wave is going to be in intellectual property. Job prospects are good and the money is even better.
Note: Not a lawyer, but working on it:-)
Chilliware's last business address was in California, LA I believe. As such the California Unclaimed Property Law and Regulations should probably apply. I belive the principle of Bona vacantia holds in California. Basically, unclaimed property, including unclaimed intangible property, 'escheats' to the state. This means that the state legally owns it. They in turn can sell it, if the State Controller believes the sale value is worth more than setting up the sale. If so, the sale must be "preceeded by single publication of notice thereof, at least one week in advance of sale, in an English language newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property is to be sold."
Check out
http://www.sco.ca.gov/col/ucp/lawregs/ucplaw.pdf
for the details.
Slashdot Mirror
I am interested in good answers to this as well. Before yahoo, gmail, etc. I was moving jobs and decided on getting a family domain name so I could keep the same email address. Now that domain hosts email for most of my family. I'd like to put the domain name in my will along with instructions to transfer it since I'm the point of contact.
I think that as a community we should provide answers to key questions as well but I am interested in data-centric answers:
1) Do patents stiffle innovation? That's the main argument pro/con. The answer HAS to be an economic one, ie an econometric study or something similar for me believe it. I hear too much rhetoric and NO hard data from either side.
The U.S. Constitution, Article I. Sec. 8 believes protecting the right of inventors will encourage innovation. Our community keeps saying 'well, in software that's different, the framers never had software patents in mind'. We have to show numbers again for this. Software was once NOT patentable so the data is there.
2) What is a 'good' length of time for copyrights? Yes, balancing the rights of authors to their works and the right of the public to access those works free of charge for fair use or after a 'reasonable' length of time makes sense. The issue of what constitutes 'fair use' and what is 'reasonable time' should once again be backed up with data that shows that under a given copyright system 1) authors are being remunerated fairly, 2) the creation of new works are not being unduly stiffled and 3) the public is not being hampered in their fair usage. My nirvana would be to run a copyright simulation engine that takes in different copyright models (ie times of expiration, usage scenarios, etc.) and outputs metrics such as income from works, amount of fair use, increase/decrease in works produced, etc.
Anybody has any ideas on how to go about getting hard data answers to these issues or am I being naive and it is not possible to get answers?
It's a settlement alright. In the courts, there are two types of precedent. Binding precedent and persuasive precedent. Binding precedent are cases that must be followed by the courts. Persuasive precedent are cases that guide the court towards a ruling but may or may not be followed. A settlement is NEITHER. So, although it's nice to see the GPL be used in the legal system the caselaw precedent is still not there.
Actually, it was the school's stupidity. They gave her a bike with NO BRAKES. Granted, she should have tested it beforehand but still, it was not all her fault. http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/2004/040825. Police.accident.html
I wonder where the line between was is convenient for humans and what is just wasteful (exploitation of environmental resources) lies. In this case it seems that we have crossed it by a rather large margin.
Because of the characteristics of the job, now it is the leading example of a global economy's labor market distribution. It makes sense to pay the lowest overall cost, including long-term economic costs wherever that resource may happen to be. Why do I say it's like a 7-11 job? Because supply outstrips demand and the costs of resources are so low. If you want an example, look at the cost of custom software at www.rentacoder.com. The TOP programmer (by their metrics of course) average project cost is $467.03! A custom portal site with e-commerce bells and whistles goes for $1500. And of course, these guys are based in India. As a immigrant I came here, got an education (BS and Masters in Comp. Sci.) and programmed for 10 years as tech lead. I saw the light and realized that programming is a dead end as a money-making career. Sure, it's fun, but the avg. programmer will not be able to make a living in the US, it's too easy to rent someone elsewhere. I don't think this is necessarily bad, in the end we simply will reach standard of living equality with other countries. So, what to do? I'm in law school now. I figured the next tech wave is going to be in intellectual property. Job prospects are good and the money is even better.
Note: Not a lawyer, but working on it :-)
Chilliware's last business address was in California, LA I believe. As such the California Unclaimed Property Law and Regulations should probably apply. I belive the principle of Bona vacantia holds in California. Basically, unclaimed property, including unclaimed intangible property, 'escheats' to the state. This means that the state legally owns it. They in turn can sell it, if the State Controller believes the sale value is worth more than setting up the sale. If so, the sale must be "preceeded by single publication of notice thereof, at least one week in advance of sale, in an English language newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property is to be sold."
Check out
http://www.sco.ca.gov/col/ucp/lawregs/ucplaw.pdf
for the details.