I don't think the plane ticket example would really hold up, though. When you get your ticket, you still have the ability to get a refund of your money (assuming it's not a non-refundable ticket). The equivalent of the "click through" would be when you check in and board the plane. The act of boarding the plane is what binds you to the contract printed on the ticket, not the purchase of the ticket.
Jutus, do NOT just roll over and give up.
This is just one of the ways that large coporations do their business. They send out these form letters and 90% of the complaintants give up (it's kinda like those mail in rebates... they bank on the fact that 80% of them will never be returned).
But I can tell you, with 100% confidence, (and this is based on my personal, real life experiences) that the squeaky wheel gets the grease . Make noise! Talk to supervisors (emails won't cut it, get on the phone), talk to their supervisors. Get PHONE NUMBERS AND NAMES. Basically, be the bane of their existance, and they will be more likely to spend the cash on you to get you to STFU.
Best of luck, and don't give up because some CS drone send you a form letter!
IIRC, Texas is also the only state that has exclusive rights to its coastal waters out to the international line (8 miles, maybe?), whereas the other coastal states only have 2 miles, and then the Government takes over from there.
And I think Texas is also allowed to secede if it ever wanted to, but I'm not so sure about that one.
But you can buy a 1 or 2 year old Cassiopeia for under $250, and still get the 320x200 16bit color, mp3 playback, network support, etc, etc.
Just have to be willing to buy it all new, ya know?
Assuming everyone stores their mp3's on their local machine.
Personally, if I considered this a threat, I would continue to use Windows at the desktop, and use Linux as my server storage solution (using Samba to map drives).
I haven't kept but about 5% to 10% of my total number of mp3's on my local machine since '98 or so, when hard drives started getting nice and cheap (especially the slower ones... who needs 10K RPM when you're pulling mp3's over a network connection?)
"The courts should order changes like this."
Correction: The market should order changes like this. The courts should be determining that MS has done something illegal, and if it has, what it needs to do to make up for it. Something as minor as this should not be in the realm of the courts. If enough customers wanted such a tool, someone would come out with one, and MS would then emulate the tool (or purchase it outright). It's the way the world works. I mean, look at StickyNotes on the mac. IIRC, Apple didn't program it, someone else did, and Apple thought it was such a good idea, it incorperated it.
Actually, I just graduated last Spring. And while I did have some small leeway in which courses I took which still counted for a degree (I think I had 2 or 3 slots like that), for the most part, my program was like most other upperclassman programs.
of course, Engineering is almost draconian about their classes; I've known some people have an easier time scheduling Masters level classes than other students have scheduling their engineering classes.
and I agree, the classroom environment is very much a give-and-take place, but the fact remains that there are numerous ways to not pay attention in class that are not disturbing to other students.
It wouldn't be a problem if there was only one selfish student in these classes, but that was not the point of my argument. You are only responsible for your actions. The worst excuse for poor behaviour is "Well, they were doing it."
The important thing to remember is that one student can mess up a lecture for everyone (I've seen it happen), and where there is one, there is probably more.
If a class doesn't interest you, don't make everyone else suffer just because you aren't happy.
Not really an option, most introductory classes are required attendance, even if it's not worth your time and you don't pay attention. Don't show and you fail. I take it you haven't been in college for a while. Schools don't cancel class in very bad weather because they say it's your option to go or not, but since attendance is required, you usually must go anyway
I don't know where you went to school, but my university cancelled classes in very bad weather and disasters. And the fact that your attendance in your classes is mandatory is irrelevant. That doesn't give you the right to disturb your fellow classmates who may or may not be interested in the topic. You do have a right to do your own thing quietly (I've slept, read magazines, the textbook, etc), but not to tap away at a keyboard (unless you have some kind of silent keyboard).
Do you think students get annoyed by professors who just read out of the book, don't make the lectures even worthwhile to hear? The street runs both ways, but since the profs have the power their point of view (which is cheaper to fix, so it's their way.) Classes should be interesting and engaging intrinsicly, not because someone mandated that you cannot do anything else, but must sit here and listen to me.
If a class isn't interesting to you, it's not the classes fault. Take a different class or, if that isn't possible, don't blame the class or the instructor that it's not what you call interesting. I fell asleep just about every time I went to my Stats classes, but I didn't complain that the teacher didn't interest me. It's not his job to make sure I'm being entertained or interested. Also, there are some classes that are only interesting to people who want to do that kind of stuff. I mean, think about Lambda Calculus. Some people get off on that crap. Me? I didn't go for math, so I took a different track.
For freshman just out of college that may be true, but a lot of people in college now have something called a life. Heard of it? They're returning to college, or have other responiblities, they may be expecting a baby. Blanket statements just don't cut it. Although cell phone use should be discouraged since it tends to make all the students not pay attention to what is going around on campus, because they're talking on the cells instead of listening.
Sorry, but I don't think that movie times and party addresses are more important than an education. A student's social life should be left behind at the classroom door. I don't think I haven't seen a pager or cell phone that can't be put on vibrate (either with special batteries or with a flip of a switch). There is no excuse for your cell phone to ring aloud in class. IMHO, students should be kicked out of the classroom for that, and punished. It's a horrible disturbance, and made even moreso due to the fact that is can so easily avoided (either turn it off or turn it to vibrate).
In the end, it's better to actually try to improve classes and the college, so that the tendancy to do these "distracting" things would be reduced or even eliminated. But that is the sensible thing to do, and if college has taught me anything it's that it never actually does the senible thing. Almost always the excat oppisite.
In my experience, if there is candy on the table, people are going to eat it, even if they know they shouldn't. There is no way that a classroom of students with full internet access would be able to resist the temptation to log onto/., AIM, ICQ, IRC, Bearshare, whatever. The best way to keep the student from partaking of such forbidden fruit is to simply fence it off.
Your arguments are based on a selfish view of your education (I don't like it, so it doesn't matter what I do). The fact of the matter is, you are ONE student among many, and your actions can completely mess up the environment for everyone else. If you want to waste your tuition money, go ahead, it's your right. But it is NOT your right to interfere with other students and their tuition money.
I just can't see how anyone can think Microsoft can or will become some kind of censoring machine.
Microsoft is a company, with division, departments, internal politics, and most importantly, investors.
Microsoft is not interested in GreenPeace, OSHA, Unions, or anything like that. Well only interested in them inasmuch as they are customers with money. The only way MS will ever try to squelch the political process is if some anti-corperation political nut in Washington decides that MS is too good (or Darwinian or whatever) at business and trys to exert some form of unfair limitations of their rights as a business.
Sure, MS doesn't always play nice. Sure, MS isn't the model of politeness. But this is corporate America, in a new Global economy.
The rules are changing, and in order to compete with corporations in countries with less restrictive regulations, American companies have to be that much better at the game.
Actually, I just spent $40 on a game at my local EB, and the game sucked. I took it back and exchanged it for another one, no questions asked.
You can TRY the game, but if it sucks, you have to expend the efford to return it.
Gaming does not make all decisions "impulsive" or "visceral." Quick decision making skills ARE imperative in gaming, that's true, but in my experience, the only time such decisions are 100% absolutely necessary is in the middle of a FPS or action game.
I know for a fact that quick, gut instinct decisions are the fast way to lose a RTS style game.
I think gaming creates a mental structure for BETTER decisions, such as on-the-fly strategic decisions (+100 health vs +100 armor), and long-term strategic decisions (bridgebuilding vs philosophy) made in an accelerated environment.
well, how else are they going to pay for the interest promised on T-Bills and other stuff?
AFAIK, a lot of funding for big projects comes from selling municipal bonds, and a large part of taxes goes to paying off the interest on those...
But as far as a university selling the work of its grad students and faculty goes, think about it this way:
If your local State University sells the work of its grad students and faculty, and makes some money, that's less taxpayer money that the school uses, and so that's less tax money that needs to be alotted for it next year. Which means less tax money going into that school.
So yes, "profit" is needed by the government, because it reduces deficit spending, which means ultimately lower taxes.
And I'd be willing to bet very few governments actually end the year with a surplus (which the Federal Gov't did last year, I believe), so in the grand scheme of things, there is no profit, just less deficit...
Your argument is silly... by your logic, you have the right to order cops and judges around...
after all, you pay taxes, so you are their employer.
And the truth is, *you* are not. *We* as taxpaying citizens are their bosses. The _public_ is the boss, not the individual. We are the bosses because we elect the judges, the commissioners, the other officials who then appoint others.
If you want your money to be spent the way you want, start a campaign to be heard, the more people, the more you will be heard.
But even then, your state university won't really listen, because (AFAIK) they have autonomy when it comes to their internal decisions.
How many of our past Presidents WOULD have made it through even the most basic clearance test?
Even to be a Federal Judge, you get people calling old roommates from college days and they scrutinize everything.
I can pretty much guarentee you that if our presidents were held to that kind of light, and that was the basis for them getting into office, our country would be very, very different.
It's not their past that is important, it's what they did about it, and what they've learned.
I'd much rather have a President who fucked up in the past and has since learned and grown from it.
Someone with a crystal clear record shows me that they were a middle of the road, non-risk taking kind of person, and in this world, you MUST take a few risks to succeed.
actually, for me, and I'm sure for a lot of people, music getsme just as worked up as an arcade game...
and I know for a fact it's not the graphics that do it, because I've been MUDding for 5 or 6years now, and I've had times where my adrenaline is going nutso.
and don't get me started on the affect of an impromptu drag race at a start light... whew!
Oh, yeah... GIGO... that's a classic...
Well, rather than let the government tell us what our kids can and can't see, why don't we just educate them to know better?
Shit, I've been playing Street fighter and Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct for years... I haven't ripped someone's spine out yet, I haven't even gotten into a FIGHT in like 10 years, despite loads of money gone into games.
The long term affects of video games are at best unclear, while the long term affects of alcohol and tobbacco are WELL documented, especially the affect of them on kids.
And what you're basically saying is that kids are too stupid to know when a game is a game, and not real life. That's complete bullshit. I can tell you right now that kids know the difference between those damned polygons on the screen and the flesh and blood next to them.
They know that in real life, Gunjack would kick Panda's ass because he's a fucking ROBOT.
And as far as knowing good and bad, where are the parents in the formula? I always thought that teaching good vs evil was the job of the parents, not the government, I mean, otherwise, it would be better to just stick our kids in government housing for 18 years and let Uncle Sam tell them what's going on.
Let the customer decide what is right for them, and let the government work on the important shit like education, roads, and national defence.
Think about it... who are you more afraid of: a foreign terrorist sneaking in through lax security and letting off sarin gas in a NY subway, or some 14 year old playing Silent Scope?
I recently got an old Toshiba P120 laptop, and before I had it a month I was using it for all my classwork (powerpoint/adobe photoshop, excel), and one day I was setting up for a presentation in a classroom, and I knocked it straight off a 5" cabinet onto a (thinly) carpeted floor. It landed square on the spine of the notebook.
I was sweating bullets (I had to present in like 15 minutes), but my little laptop booted right up and I haven't had a problem...
I think my Toshiba is going to be around for a while...
just need a new hard drive...:-)
Re:The RIAA's problem began 15 years ago...
on
RIAA CEO Speaks
·
· Score: 1
I never said it was wrong to copy it for personal use, but for distribution to others.
And no, IANAL, but I know enough to know that making copies of a copyrighted work and distributing it IS wrong, and illegal.
And since you want to nitpick, can you cite the specific statutes that make it OK to copy an album you legally own on vinyl or CD?
I mean, in order to talk about legal issues, you need to be a lawyer, right?
Slashdot Mirror
Here it is. Mostly in Japanese, but the important stuff is in English and Japanese.
I don't think the plane ticket example would really hold up, though. When you get your ticket, you still have the ability to get a refund of your money (assuming it's not a non-refundable ticket). The equivalent of the "click through" would be when you check in and board the plane. The act of boarding the plane is what binds you to the contract printed on the ticket, not the purchase of the ticket.
MediaFour is working on an app to allow the iPod to work with Windows. Hopefully Apple won't nuke them with the DMCA.
Jutus, do NOT just roll over and give up.
This is just one of the ways that large coporations do their business. They send out these form letters and 90% of the complaintants give up (it's kinda like those mail in rebates... they bank on the fact that 80% of them will never be returned).
But I can tell you, with 100% confidence, (and this is based on my personal, real life experiences) that the squeaky wheel gets the grease . Make noise! Talk to supervisors (emails won't cut it, get on the phone), talk to their supervisors. Get PHONE NUMBERS AND NAMES. Basically, be the bane of their existance, and they will be more likely to spend the cash on you to get you to STFU.
Best of luck, and don't give up because some CS drone send you a form letter!
IIRC, Texas is also the only state that has exclusive rights to its coastal waters out to the international line (8 miles, maybe?), whereas the other coastal states only have 2 miles, and then the Government takes over from there.
And I think Texas is also allowed to secede if it ever wanted to, but I'm not so sure about that one.
But you can buy a 1 or 2 year old Cassiopeia for under $250, and still get the 320x200 16bit color, mp3 playback, network support, etc, etc.
Just have to be willing to buy it all new, ya know?
Assuming everyone stores their mp3's on their local machine.
Personally, if I considered this a threat, I would continue to use Windows at the desktop, and use Linux as my server storage solution (using Samba to map drives).
I haven't kept but about 5% to 10% of my total number of mp3's on my local machine since '98 or so, when hard drives started getting nice and cheap (especially the slower ones... who needs 10K RPM when you're pulling mp3's over a network connection?)
>http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Palms/2547 /Basic_Humor.html
"The courts should order changes like this." Correction: The market should order changes like this. The courts should be determining that MS has done something illegal, and if it has, what it needs to do to make up for it. Something as minor as this should not be in the realm of the courts. If enough customers wanted such a tool, someone would come out with one, and MS would then emulate the tool (or purchase it outright). It's the way the world works. I mean, look at StickyNotes on the mac. IIRC, Apple didn't program it, someone else did, and Apple thought it was such a good idea, it incorperated it.
Actually, I just graduated last Spring. And while I did have some small leeway in which courses I took which still counted for a degree (I think I had 2 or 3 slots like that), for the most part, my program was like most other upperclassman programs.
of course, Engineering is almost draconian about their classes; I've known some people have an easier time scheduling Masters level classes than other students have scheduling their engineering classes.
and I agree, the classroom environment is very much a give-and-take place, but the fact remains that there are numerous ways to not pay attention in class that are not disturbing to other students.
It wouldn't be a problem if there was only one selfish student in these classes, but that was not the point of my argument. You are only responsible for your actions. The worst excuse for poor behaviour is "Well, they were doing it."
The important thing to remember is that one student can mess up a lecture for everyone (I've seen it happen), and where there is one, there is probably more.
If a class doesn't interest you, don't make everyone else suffer just because you aren't happy.
Not really an option, most introductory classes are required attendance, even if it's not worth your time and you don't pay attention. Don't show and you fail. I take it you haven't been in college for a while. Schools don't cancel class in very bad weather because they say it's your option to go or not, but since attendance is required, you usually must go anyway I don't know where you went to school, but my university cancelled classes in very bad weather and disasters. And the fact that your attendance in your classes is mandatory is irrelevant. That doesn't give you the right to disturb your fellow classmates who may or may not be interested in the topic. You do have a right to do your own thing quietly (I've slept, read magazines, the textbook, etc), but not to tap away at a keyboard (unless you have some kind of silent keyboard). Do you think students get annoyed by professors who just read out of the book, don't make the lectures even worthwhile to hear? The street runs both ways, but since the profs have the power their point of view (which is cheaper to fix, so it's their way.) Classes should be interesting and engaging intrinsicly, not because someone mandated that you cannot do anything else, but must sit here and listen to me. If a class isn't interesting to you, it's not the classes fault. Take a different class or, if that isn't possible, don't blame the class or the instructor that it's not what you call interesting. I fell asleep just about every time I went to my Stats classes, but I didn't complain that the teacher didn't interest me. It's not his job to make sure I'm being entertained or interested. Also, there are some classes that are only interesting to people who want to do that kind of stuff. I mean, think about Lambda Calculus. Some people get off on that crap. Me? I didn't go for math, so I took a different track. For freshman just out of college that may be true, but a lot of people in college now have something called a life. Heard of it? They're returning to college, or have other responiblities, they may be expecting a baby. Blanket statements just don't cut it. Although cell phone use should be discouraged since it tends to make all the students not pay attention to what is going around on campus, because they're talking on the cells instead of listening. Sorry, but I don't think that movie times and party addresses are more important than an education. A student's social life should be left behind at the classroom door. I don't think I haven't seen a pager or cell phone that can't be put on vibrate (either with special batteries or with a flip of a switch). There is no excuse for your cell phone to ring aloud in class. IMHO, students should be kicked out of the classroom for that, and punished. It's a horrible disturbance, and made even moreso due to the fact that is can so easily avoided (either turn it off or turn it to vibrate). In the end, it's better to actually try to improve classes and the college, so that the tendancy to do these "distracting" things would be reduced or even eliminated. But that is the sensible thing to do, and if college has taught me anything it's that it never actually does the senible thing. Almost always the excat oppisite. In my experience, if there is candy on the table, people are going to eat it, even if they know they shouldn't. There is no way that a classroom of students with full internet access would be able to resist the temptation to log onto /., AIM, ICQ, IRC, Bearshare, whatever. The best way to keep the student from partaking of such forbidden fruit is to simply fence it off.
Your arguments are based on a selfish view of your education (I don't like it, so it doesn't matter what I do). The fact of the matter is, you are ONE student among many, and your actions can completely mess up the environment for everyone else. If you want to waste your tuition money, go ahead, it's your right. But it is NOT your right to interfere with other students and their tuition money.
After all, they don't have many left as it is...
I just can't see how anyone can think Microsoft can or will become some kind of censoring machine.
Microsoft is a company, with division, departments, internal politics, and most importantly, investors.
Microsoft is not interested in GreenPeace, OSHA, Unions, or anything like that. Well only interested in them inasmuch as they are customers with money. The only way MS will ever try to squelch the political process is if some anti-corperation political nut in Washington decides that MS is too good (or Darwinian or whatever) at business and trys to exert some form of unfair limitations of their rights as a business.
Sure, MS doesn't always play nice. Sure, MS isn't the model of politeness. But this is corporate America, in a new Global economy.
The rules are changing, and in order to compete with corporations in countries with less restrictive regulations, American companies have to be that much better at the game.
Actually, I just spent $40 on a game at my local EB, and the game sucked. I took it back and exchanged it for another one, no questions asked.
You can TRY the game, but if it sucks, you have to expend the efford to return it.
Lemmings was what did it for me...
I was blown away by that music, and I played that game for hours and hours
Actually, I think it's more like 99.
Gaming does not make all decisions "impulsive" or "visceral." Quick decision making skills ARE imperative in gaming, that's true, but in my experience, the only time such decisions are 100% absolutely necessary is in the middle of a FPS or action game.
I know for a fact that quick, gut instinct decisions are the fast way to lose a RTS style game.
I think gaming creates a mental structure for BETTER decisions, such as on-the-fly strategic decisions (+100 health vs +100 armor), and long-term strategic decisions (bridgebuilding vs philosophy) made in an accelerated environment.
well, how else are they going to pay for the interest promised on T-Bills and other stuff?
AFAIK, a lot of funding for big projects comes from selling municipal bonds, and a large part of taxes goes to paying off the interest on those...
But as far as a university selling the work of its grad students and faculty goes, think about it this way:
If your local State University sells the work of its grad students and faculty, and makes some money, that's less taxpayer money that the school uses, and so that's less tax money that needs to be alotted for it next year. Which means less tax money going into that school.
So yes, "profit" is needed by the government, because it reduces deficit spending, which means ultimately lower taxes.
And I'd be willing to bet very few governments actually end the year with a surplus (which the Federal Gov't did last year, I believe), so in the grand scheme of things, there is no profit, just less deficit...
Your argument is silly... by your logic, you have the right to order cops and judges around...
after all, you pay taxes, so you are their employer.
And the truth is, *you* are not. *We* as taxpaying citizens are their bosses. The _public_ is the boss, not the individual. We are the bosses because we elect the judges, the commissioners, the other officials who then appoint others.
If you want your money to be spent the way you want, start a campaign to be heard, the more people, the more you will be heard.
But even then, your state university won't really listen, because (AFAIK) they have autonomy when it comes to their internal decisions.
How many of our past Presidents WOULD have made it through even the most basic clearance test?
Even to be a Federal Judge, you get people calling old roommates from college days and they scrutinize everything.
I can pretty much guarentee you that if our presidents were held to that kind of light, and that was the basis for them getting into office, our country would be very, very different.
It's not their past that is important, it's what they did about it, and what they've learned.
I'd much rather have a President who fucked up in the past and has since learned and grown from it.
Someone with a crystal clear record shows me that they were a middle of the road, non-risk taking kind of person, and in this world, you MUST take a few risks to succeed.
actually, for me, and I'm sure for a lot of people, music getsme just as worked up as an arcade game...
and I know for a fact it's not the graphics that do it, because I've been MUDding for 5 or 6years now, and I've had times where my adrenaline is going nutso.
and don't get me started on the affect of an impromptu drag race at a start light... whew!
Oh, yeah... GIGO... that's a classic...
Well, rather than let the government tell us what our kids can and can't see, why don't we just educate them to know better?
Shit, I've been playing Street fighter and Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct for years... I haven't ripped someone's spine out yet, I haven't even gotten into a FIGHT in like 10 years, despite loads of money gone into games.
The long term affects of video games are at best unclear, while the long term affects of alcohol and tobbacco are WELL documented, especially the affect of them on kids.
And what you're basically saying is that kids are too stupid to know when a game is a game, and not real life. That's complete bullshit. I can tell you right now that kids know the difference between those damned polygons on the screen and the flesh and blood next to them.
They know that in real life, Gunjack would kick Panda's ass because he's a fucking ROBOT.
And as far as knowing good and bad, where are the parents in the formula? I always thought that teaching good vs evil was the job of the parents, not the government, I mean, otherwise, it would be better to just stick our kids in government housing for 18 years and let Uncle Sam tell them what's going on.
Let the customer decide what is right for them, and let the government work on the important shit like education, roads, and national defence.
Think about it... who are you more afraid of: a foreign terrorist sneaking in through lax security and letting off sarin gas in a NY subway, or some 14 year old playing Silent Scope?
I recently got an old Toshiba P120 laptop, and before I had it a month I was using it for all my classwork (powerpoint/adobe photoshop, excel), and one day I was setting up for a presentation in a classroom, and I knocked it straight off a 5" cabinet onto a (thinly) carpeted floor. It landed square on the spine of the notebook.
I was sweating bullets (I had to present in like 15 minutes), but my little laptop booted right up and I haven't had a problem...
I think my Toshiba is going to be around for a while...
just need a new hard drive...:-)
I never said it was wrong to copy it for personal use, but for distribution to others.
And no, IANAL, but I know enough to know that making copies of a copyrighted work and distributing it IS wrong, and illegal.
And since you want to nitpick, can you cite the specific statutes that make it OK to copy an album you legally own on vinyl or CD?
I mean, in order to talk about legal issues, you need to be a lawyer, right?