I for one would love to see neverwinter nights(oNWN) released into the public domain. Right now the server portion is just sitting somewhere doing nothing because of a copyright dispute between AOL and TSR. If they released the server program, I'm sure there would be thousands of people ready to start an oNWN server. It didn't use much bandwidth because it was back in the day where 2400bps was fast. You could probably host 500 users on DSL these days)
This will be even better for when they want to put in the RFID monitoring hardware so they know where you are all the time, how much money you're carrying, and how fast you're going...and which websites you'll be visiting. Sounds like British big brother is on the ball.
People still quote kazaa as the service of choice because we don't want the **IA relizing (sp?)that its actually winMX, or DC++(which would be great if you could do multiple sources at once). So in other words, tell people you use kazaa so those dumbarse users will keep getting sued, and don't mention winMX or DC++ again) BTW, I use kazaa, its great.
Guys, I know we love to bash MS here, but lets keep in mind that most linux distribs are download only, and therefore will also carry the label. Redhat's update software...thats a risk, gentoo's emerge process...thats a risk. Lets not turn this into a MS bash, that's not what its about.
If you think $ companys like MS are gonna let this go through, you are dead wrong. MSs contribution to the GNP last year is about 10x the contribution the entire RIAA made to the GNP. MS alone has deeper pockets than the RIAA, and there is no way this will pass.
More than one entity can lobby their cause. You may want to bash MS, but in the end of this one, and HR2572, you have companies like MS to thank for your privacy.
Too bad redhat, or gentoo, or any other linux company couldn't support the cause eh? It doesn't matter how open-source you are if you can't support your own cause.
No way this one passes...ever.
p.s. The linux bash was just a counter to the M$ bash, I don't actually believe that.
I agree that it should be monitored. Just like chat rooms are monitored, and news groups are monitored. Any evidence of child pornography should be aggressivly persued, and those at fault should be held accountable. We don't need a law requiring age verification on p2p software. This is just a last ditch effort on part of the RIAA.
I get more porn spammed to my email than I do real mail. No one has ever verified that I am over the age of 18. No one checks whether I am over 18 before they pop up an advertisement for porn off my web browser.
Are you also saying that cameras are THE prime manufacturing device for kiddie porn, and that they should be monitored as such? No cameras, no child porn. For god sakes, Its the criminals that are committing the crimes, not the regular people on the p2p network.
Your train of thought disgusts me. This act threatens our civil liberties. Period. That is what is at stake. Regardless of kiddie porn, child safety, or copyrights, this act threatens to place one more little restriction on us. They are hiding behind child pornography this time. Maybe they will use the same excuse when its time to implant that locator chip in your head that monitors your thoughts. Maybe they will decide that all bedrooms can be used for kiddie porn and they should have gubment monitored cameras in them. That would of course include your bedroom.
This IS what is at stake. Small steps have a way of leading to bigger bolder steps, and once a law like this gets passed, it would be alot easier to monitor your bedroom using the same logic.
Your point is valid, but the means by which the problem is being attacked are wrong. If they can FIND kiddie porn on a p2p network, then they can FIND the person who is sharing it. The person who is sharing it is at fault, not the network it is shared on.
You see, this is the kind of mentality that just proves that 90% of the people out there have no clue what p2p really is. Yes, there is illegal content, no there should not be laws to regulate it. There are already laws that regulate the illegal stuff. The network is not illegal, just as the internet is not illegal, and the US mail is not illegal. The network should continue to operate as it does now. If someone comes across something illegal, and can PROVE that it is illegal, then by all means, that person has given up their right to privacy, and have landed themselves in jail/court, or whatever appropriate destination is for them.
Knives are used to murder, yet I have many knives and have not killed anyone.
Penises are used to commit rape, I have one, and I haven't raped anyone.
Cars could be used to run over small children, I have a car, I have not ran over any children, although I did run over a squirl once, it wasn't my fault though.
You see, by your logic, the act of enabling a crime to be committed makes it a crime. Thats not the way America works. The only things that are crimes, are um...crimes.
So friggin what? Fact is that the US mail is a big part of child porn. Your web browser is a big part of child friggin porn. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how big of a part of child porn it is, the PERSON who is taking pictures of kiddies is the BIGGEST part of child porn. Period. If they found pictures of kiddies on a p2p network, then by all means, arrest those people. Leave the network alone.
I am a resident of Pennsylvania, and felt that it is my duty to at least make my displeasure known. I do not however live in this congressman's district, so my message may never be read. If I get a response, I will post it here.
Congressman Pitts,
This message is a response to H. R. 2885, which has been recently introduced. First of all, let me say that I despise the amount of pornography that can be found on the internet. I applaud Pennsylvania's recent stand against child pornography, where several hundred child pornography sites were banned from Pennsylvania. The result of those actions were good, and made the internet a better place. H. R. 2885 promises to not yield similar results. The only parties that will benefit from this act will be the corporations that have backed it.
I've used p2p(pier to pier) software for several years. I use it for legitimate purposes, sharing poetry, or short stories with other novice writers. I have never once come across any child pornography that was misrepresented as anything else. I fear that the restrictions that may be put in place will do more harm to the civil liberties of the users and authors of software. I believe that I have a right to my own privacy as I share my works with others who also have a right to their own privacy.
The issue here is not pornography on p2p networks. The issue is the sagging music industry. The music industry has every right to ensure that their works are not stolen or pirated, but I do not believe that they have a right to influence how I access the p2p network. The legal uses of p2p networks are being threatened by the short sighted executives in charge of a relatively small industry.
Also, if the RIAA can get the identities of the persons who are sharing their copyrighted works, then why can law enforcement agencies simply get the identities of those that are sharing child pornography as well? The act of having the chile pornography should be enough evidence to warrant a legal search/siezure of their computer hardware. I agree that those that break the law should be punished for their crimes, but those who do not break the law, should not be punished for the crimes of others.
At the end of the day, we are all still living in America, the greatest country on earth. We take our civil liberties very seriously, as many people have fought and died to protect them. I fear that soon our civil liberties will all but dissapear. Please think twice about H. R. 2885, and what it means for the legitimate file sharers. Please realize that we can identify those that are breaking the law, and those that are not, and also that action can be taken against those that break the law without affecting those that do not.
Thank you for your time,
God Bless.
Yes, in retrospect I realize that the issue is child pornography and not chile pornogrophy. Please leave my spelling alone, there was no spell checker on his site, and I'm a programmer so I can't spell worth dick.
Nobody has suggested that the RIAA should not have the right to protect against piracy. The RIAA has every right to do everything in its power to stop piracy. This includes working with government agencies, and law enforcement agencies.
The problem is that a "child-molestor" has more rights than a "file-sharer" when it comes to privacy. The law enforcement agencies have to come up with some "evidence" before arresting, the "child-molestor" whereas the RIAA just has to go to the courthouse before it can bring action agains the "file-sharer"
I think the RIAA should have to gather some evidence before filing a suit. Now you may ask "How do you gather evidence against an anonymouse user?" The answer? PM them and say "Hey can I download that song off of you? I want to see if I like it before I buy the album." If the person responds "Yes I'll start your download." then you have all the evidence you need to prove that they are doing something illegal. If the person doesn't respond, or says "I'd rather you not download off of me unless you own the song." then leave them the hell alone.
Fact is that I have a perfectly good reason for sharing my files. I want to be able to access "my" files anywhere that I go. I don't want to set up a VPN to my computer. I use the sharing software to share files with myself, and I have text files in my shared folder that state that I own all of the cds, and you cannot download them unless you own them too.
Anyways, the RIAA is fucking with civil liberties. We don't have to come up with a solution for them. They have to come up with a solution for themselves. The constitution protects us from shit like this.
Slashdot Mirror
I for one would love to see neverwinter nights(oNWN) released into the public domain. Right now the server portion is just sitting somewhere doing nothing because of a copyright dispute between AOL and TSR. If they released the server program, I'm sure there would be thousands of people ready to start an oNWN server. It didn't use much bandwidth because it was back in the day where 2400bps was fast. You could probably host 500 users on DSL these days)
This will be even better for when they want to put in the RFID monitoring hardware so they know where you are all the time, how much money you're carrying, and how fast you're going...and which websites you'll be visiting. Sounds like British big brother is on the ball.
I don't usually read MS bashing threads, but the rest of the news blows today. Aparently all I have to do is say MS sucks to get modded +5.
MS Sucks!
MS Sucks!
I said it twice, now you owe me 10.
--
I reread your first 4 or 5 words like 6 times, and then considered modding you down for crappy punctuation before I got the point of your post)
God I wish I had mod points, that's the funniest thing I ever read(lately).
xboxmediaplayer, XBMP for short, or xboxmediacenter which is newer, but buggier. Doh, another darn DMCA violation revealed in a post.
Yeah, this is going to make my xbox obsolete. Oh well, I guess I still need to play coleco games on something.
People still quote kazaa as the service of choice because we don't want the **IA relizing (sp?)that its actually winMX, or DC++(which would be great if you could do multiple sources at once). So in other words, tell people you use kazaa so those dumbarse users will keep getting sued, and don't mention winMX or DC++ again) BTW, I use kazaa, its great.
Guys, I know we love to bash MS here, but lets keep in mind that most linux distribs are download only, and therefore will also carry the label. Redhat's update software...thats a risk, gentoo's emerge process...thats a risk. Lets not turn this into a MS bash, that's not what its about.
If you think $ companys like MS are gonna let this go through, you are dead wrong. MSs contribution to the GNP last year is about 10x the contribution the entire RIAA made to the GNP. MS alone has deeper pockets than the RIAA, and there is no way this will pass.
More than one entity can lobby their cause. You may want to bash MS, but in the end of this one, and HR2572, you have companies like MS to thank for your privacy.
Too bad redhat, or gentoo, or any other linux company couldn't support the cause eh? It doesn't matter how open-source you are if you can't support your own cause.
No way this one passes...ever.
p.s. The linux bash was just a counter to the M$ bash, I don't actually believe that.
I agree that it should be monitored. Just like chat rooms are monitored, and news groups are monitored. Any evidence of child pornography should be aggressivly persued, and those at fault should be held accountable. We don't need a law requiring age verification on p2p software. This is just a last ditch effort on part of the RIAA.
I get more porn spammed to my email than I do real mail. No one has ever verified that I am over the age of 18. No one checks whether I am over 18 before they pop up an advertisement for porn off my web browser.
Are you also saying that cameras are THE prime manufacturing device for kiddie porn, and that they should be monitored as such? No cameras, no child porn. For god sakes, Its the criminals that are committing the crimes, not the regular people on the p2p network.
Your train of thought disgusts me. This act threatens our civil liberties. Period. That is what is at stake. Regardless of kiddie porn, child safety, or copyrights, this act threatens to place one more little restriction on us. They are hiding behind child pornography this time. Maybe they will use the same excuse when its time to implant that locator chip in your head that monitors your thoughts. Maybe they will decide that all bedrooms can be used for kiddie porn and they should have gubment monitored cameras in them. That would of course include your bedroom.
This IS what is at stake. Small steps have a way of leading to bigger bolder steps, and once a law like this gets passed, it would be alot easier to monitor your bedroom using the same logic.
Your point is valid, but the means by which the problem is being attacked are wrong. If they can FIND kiddie porn on a p2p network, then they can FIND the person who is sharing it. The person who is sharing it is at fault, not the network it is shared on.
You see, this is the kind of mentality that just proves that 90% of the people out there have no clue what p2p really is. Yes, there is illegal content, no there should not be laws to regulate it. There are already laws that regulate the illegal stuff. The network is not illegal, just as the internet is not illegal, and the US mail is not illegal. The network should continue to operate as it does now. If someone comes across something illegal, and can PROVE that it is illegal, then by all means, that person has given up their right to privacy, and have landed themselves in jail/court, or whatever appropriate destination is for them.
Knives are used to murder, yet I have many knives and have not killed anyone.
Penises are used to commit rape, I have one, and I haven't raped anyone.
Cars could be used to run over small children, I have a car, I have not ran over any children, although I did run over a squirl once, it wasn't my fault though.
You see, by your logic, the act of enabling a crime to be committed makes it a crime. Thats not the way America works. The only things that are crimes, are um...crimes.
So friggin what? Fact is that the US mail is a big part of child porn. Your web browser is a big part of child friggin porn. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how big of a part of child porn it is, the PERSON who is taking pictures of kiddies is the BIGGEST part of child porn. Period. If they found pictures of kiddies on a p2p network, then by all means, arrest those people. Leave the network alone.
Well I can't speak for Kazaa, but I know that the other one that this guy is probably talking about acts this way.
I am a resident of Pennsylvania, and felt that it is my duty to at least make my displeasure known. I do not however live in this congressman's district, so my message may never be read. If I get a response, I will post it here.
Congressman Pitts,
This message is a response to H. R. 2885, which has been recently introduced. First of all, let me say that I despise the amount of pornography that can be found on the internet. I applaud Pennsylvania's recent stand against child pornography, where several hundred child pornography sites were banned from Pennsylvania. The result of those actions were good, and made the internet a better place. H. R. 2885 promises to not yield similar results. The only parties that will benefit from this act will be the corporations that have backed it.
I've used p2p(pier to pier) software for several years. I use it for legitimate purposes, sharing poetry, or short stories with other novice writers. I have never once come across any child pornography that was misrepresented as anything else. I fear that the restrictions that may be put in place will do more harm to the civil liberties of the users and authors of software. I believe that I have a right to my own privacy as I share my works with others who also have a right to their own privacy.
The issue here is not pornography on p2p networks. The issue is the sagging music industry. The music industry has every right to ensure that their works are not stolen or pirated, but I do not believe that they have a right to influence how I access the p2p network. The legal uses of p2p networks are being threatened by the short sighted executives in charge of a relatively small industry.
Also, if the RIAA can get the identities of the persons who are sharing their copyrighted works, then why can law enforcement agencies simply get the identities of those that are sharing child pornography as well? The act of having the chile pornography should be enough evidence to warrant a legal search/siezure of their computer hardware. I agree that those that break the law should be punished for their crimes, but those who do not break the law, should not be punished for the crimes of others.
At the end of the day, we are all still living in America, the greatest country on earth. We take our civil liberties very seriously, as many people have fought and died to protect them. I fear that soon our civil liberties will all but dissapear. Please think twice about H. R. 2885, and what it means for the legitimate file sharers. Please realize that we can identify those that are breaking the law, and those that are not, and also that action can be taken against those that break the law without affecting those that do not.
Thank you for your time, God Bless.
Yes, in retrospect I realize that the issue is child pornography and not chile pornogrophy. Please leave my spelling alone, there was no spell checker on his site, and I'm a programmer so I can't spell worth dick.
Nobody has suggested that the RIAA should not have the right to protect against piracy. The RIAA has every right to do everything in its power to stop piracy. This includes working with government agencies, and law enforcement agencies. The problem is that a "child-molestor" has more rights than a "file-sharer" when it comes to privacy. The law enforcement agencies have to come up with some "evidence" before arresting, the "child-molestor" whereas the RIAA just has to go to the courthouse before it can bring action agains the "file-sharer" I think the RIAA should have to gather some evidence before filing a suit. Now you may ask "How do you gather evidence against an anonymouse user?" The answer? PM them and say "Hey can I download that song off of you? I want to see if I like it before I buy the album." If the person responds "Yes I'll start your download." then you have all the evidence you need to prove that they are doing something illegal. If the person doesn't respond, or says "I'd rather you not download off of me unless you own the song." then leave them the hell alone. Fact is that I have a perfectly good reason for sharing my files. I want to be able to access "my" files anywhere that I go. I don't want to set up a VPN to my computer. I use the sharing software to share files with myself, and I have text files in my shared folder that state that I own all of the cds, and you cannot download them unless you own them too. Anyways, the RIAA is fucking with civil liberties. We don't have to come up with a solution for them. They have to come up with a solution for themselves. The constitution protects us from shit like this.