If I were you, I would print T-shirts with that message on them. That is one of the best comments I've read on Slashdot in... probably the last month. (This may or may not have something to do that I hardly read Slashdot anymore.) Though I usually refrain from posting pointless replies like this, I guess my Karma can stand a few negative points... even though it will never go back up.
Normally, I would've emailed you, but you didn't provide an address.
You apparently have no idea what a Camel Testicle Scraper gets paid (a CTSC is a very prestigous cert indeed.)
For someone who claims to know what they're talking about, you sure know how to mess up your acronyms. Being a CCTS (that's Certified Camel Testicle Scraper) myself, I cringed when I read your mangling of that prestigious certification's name.
As much as I find the publishers' idea silly, I am a bit confused over the opinions of Slashdotters over this. They seem very hypocritical.
When the RIAA attacked Napster, I heard most people saying this: "I already paid for it once, so why should I pay for it again?" In this case, it seems that the "it" is implied as being the content. Therefore, once you have paid the publisher for the content, you should be able to have as many copies of it in as many different media types as you want, as long as you're the only one using them. (This is, of course, within reason. I should be able to let an SO listen to them, etc.)
On the other hand, here we cry out that the person should be paying for the physical book itself, and paying the publisher for the content doesn't really matter.
There is an even better solution to this problem, which doesn't any changes on the part of the merchant. American Express is already implementing it, AFAIK. What is this wonderful system? Disposable credit card numbers.
Everything is already computerized, so this merely adds a few more DB queries. You phone (or go to their website) AmEx and ask for one. They issue a disposable credit card number with a set credit limit that will become invalid after the first use.
The real question here is what the hell was the company doing storing a database of these cards in the first place? Isn't their job only to check if it is valid and then charge it? I can understand keeping the cards for a short time until payment is recieved and confirmed, but after then...
The article even mentions that the company had "test numbers" in the database. Am I the only one who thinks that those were left in there from the days the code was being developed because noone bothered to clean up the database?
Oh yeah, and these numbers are sold for a couple of dollars a piece in Russia. No joke.
There already are limitations on copyright. That is how it has always been. That is the whole point. The company enjoys a limited monopoly, and then the works are transferred into the public domain. However, the time a copyright has effect has gradually been increased from 7 years to 75 years, mostly through the efforts of our friends at Disney. Most people today don't even realize why Copyright Law was created in the first place.
Copyright Law was created to encourage companies to produce works for the people -- not for companies to be able to have a virtually unlimited monopoly on the copyrighted works.
Yes, I feel similarly about this. I respect Theo, and I respect the project. It definitely has its place. However, it occurs to me that Theo has learned to do something very well and is hanging on to it until the last moment because he feels safe there. He has learned to audit code for buffer overruns (OK, I'm oversimplifying), and he has been doing it for a very long time, afraid of trying something new.
Perserverence is not always a sign of strength or skill. Once you learn how to add, you move on to multiplication.
I have a similar tendency to like DOS. I have spent a whole lot of time playing with it, and am not afraid to say that I know it well. DOS is very simple, but very stable, meaning that there is rarely anything new for it. I know that the latest version of Norton Utilities for DOS will be 8.0, and the latest version of NC will always be 5.0. I know how to fix things in it.
However, I also know that it is old and not good, which is why I don't use it anymore (except for the occasional 5-day contract at some company with a bunch of 386es). I am instead trying new things.
Single processor x86 Unix and C are nice and safe. SMP is new stuff, and you no longer feel warm and comfy there, sort of like getting out of bed on a winter morning. But you have to get out of bed... that's the way the whole thing works.:-)
Slashdot Mirror
Normally, I would've emailed you, but you didn't provide an address.
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Stroke Of Luck Lit 176 (39%)
Stroke Of Luck Awards 501 (111%)
S.O.L. 500,000 10 (2%)
Funny, I always though that S.O.L. stood for something else...
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For someone who claims to know what they're talking about, you sure know how to mess up your acronyms. Being a CCTS (that's Certified Camel Testicle Scraper) myself, I cringed when I read your mangling of that prestigious certification's name.
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When the RIAA attacked Napster, I heard most people saying this: "I already paid for it once, so why should I pay for it again?" In this case, it seems that the "it" is implied as being the content. Therefore, once you have paid the publisher for the content, you should be able to have as many copies of it in as many different media types as you want, as long as you're the only one using them. (This is, of course, within reason. I should be able to let an SO listen to them, etc.)
On the other hand, here we cry out that the person should be paying for the physical book itself, and paying the publisher for the content doesn't really matter.
Huh?
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Reminds me of England and the soon-to-be U.S. a few hundred years ago...
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Wired == Vogue for geeks.
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Everything is already computerized, so this merely adds a few more DB queries. You phone (or go to their website) AmEx and ask for one. They issue a disposable credit card number with a set credit limit that will become invalid after the first use.
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The article even mentions that the company had "test numbers" in the database. Am I the only one who thinks that those were left in there from the days the code was being developed because noone bothered to clean up the database?
Oh yeah, and these numbers are sold for a couple of dollars a piece in Russia. No joke.
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Copyright Law was created to encourage companies to produce works for the people -- not for companies to be able to have a virtually unlimited monopoly on the copyrighted works.
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Perserverence is not always a sign of strength or skill. Once you learn how to add, you move on to multiplication.
I have a similar tendency to like DOS. I have spent a whole lot of time playing with it, and am not afraid to say that I know it well. DOS is very simple, but very stable, meaning that there is rarely anything new for it. I know that the latest version of Norton Utilities for DOS will be 8.0, and the latest version of NC will always be 5.0. I know how to fix things in it.
However, I also know that it is old and not good, which is why I don't use it anymore (except for the occasional 5-day contract at some company with a bunch of 386es). I am instead trying new things.
Single processor x86 Unix and C are nice and safe. SMP is new stuff, and you no longer feel warm and comfy there, sort of like getting out of bed on a winter morning. But you have to get out of bed... that's the way the whole thing works. :-)
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