I wonder when the record companies' shareholders are going to come to that realization. They seem a little slow.
Are many of them divesting yet? A more secure investment might be something like...household products. However if the share prices and dividends(do they still do that?) are holding up, I would think that they have nothing to react to. May I assume that the record companies have a fairly diverse portfolio also? Don't some of them have big investments in heavy industry, such as ship building? Or shipping? So that, even to them, this could be nothing more than a blip? I could see this going on indefinitely.
The VW and pickup truck have proven to be very reliable, part of what makes them efficient. If our tractor trailers ran as badly as the shuttle, the country would be brought to its knees in a week. It doesn't matter how much weight you can carry if you can't make the deliveries. The shuttle was supposed to be able to launch 12-15 times a year. What are we getting? Twice? If we're lucky? Too bad we didn't keep the Saturn V operational.
I think the Russians are making more cargo deliveries also. Without a pilot, besides. At this point, I would also consider their way of doing it more efficient, and reliable. Their space truck is a Chevy. Ours is a Ford. For people, they use a compact. If it wasn't for them, we probably would have had to abandon the space station a long time ago.
I'm pretty sure my dad's parents said the same thing to him when they heard him playing the Beatles.
My dad saved those kind of comments for Led Zeppelin. Now that I'm old, I can understand. I sometimes wonder how I could listen to that stuff. But I still do. But some of the things I listened to then, I find positively disturbing now. And watching sixty year old rockers like Jagger and David Crosby is really bizarre. I sure hope Britney finds another career, or retires by the time she's sixty.
Not everybody wants to be tied to a contract. The concept is absurd from the get go. Yet people will do anything to have a cell phone. A true case of a "sucker born every minute". I don't know if there is any other country on the planet with this scam in place.
Instead, they would go to the legislative branch and get a law passed.
You mean they did go to the legislature, right? FISA is out of the picture now. They already don't need a warrant anymore. If we let them, they will pass a law prohibiting encryption. And they can hold you without charging you. In theory they can't do that to an American. But the law hasn't stopped these people yet. When it does, they simply change the law, as they just did. And remember, Clinton and his side of the Party tried to do the same thing, so don't expect any help from that crowd.
Now tell me, when you call someone with your phone, does the other party have to pay? No. They don't.
May I assume that you don't use a cell phone in the US? Because there, even when you receive a call, it's a race to see which runs out first, the battery, or your credit.
by an American company with solid venture fundings.
IBM? or Singer?:-) Let's not fool ourselves. Freedom is a dirty word in this post 9/11 world. It hardly gets mentioned in any of the debates or other political discussions having to do with the elections. The economy is all that matters.
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose...
But American companies are making tons of money from China too.
That doesn't explain the trade deficit if those numbers are to be believed. Maybe those companies should pay a bit higher tax. The stock market is so high because it doesn't take into account the accrued debt or it's assuming that these companies will pay up when the loan is called. The whole system is working on credit, or faith as the case may be, and Wall Street(and the government) is doing ok because its credit rating is still good. I would like to see what happens if the public was to close its bank accounts and cut up their credit cards. It bears repeating that ours is a faith based economy, and once that faith is lost, it's "game over, man". Remember, Enron's, WorldCom's, Lincoln Savings & Loan's numbers were all pretty good, too, just they got caught cooking the books. There is no reason to believe that the whole of Wall Street isn't doing the exact same thing. Don't be deceived by those "record" numbers. They are an illusion to keep that faith alive.
Web pages are getting ridiculously heavy, thanks to high-speed internet and people feeling that they don't have to optimize...
Actually it's because they're so heavily laden with advertising. Blocking the ads speeds things up considerably. In fact, when possible, I block everything that's not on the page I'm visiting. I don't know if there's a hosts file on the iPhone to edit.
Please, don't take my post as blanket anti-regulation. I don't believe in that at all. I just want the public to take their responsibility more seriously. The degree of required regulation of public utilities is in their hands through their government, that they put into place. I absolutely believe in the rights to access of all our infrastructure, the wires, the pipes, the roads, etc. Only through our representative government could we acquire this access in a fair manner. And we must make that government answer to us, not BIGCO, because nobody else will do it for us. This is supposedly why we give authority to the government. It is unfortunate that this authority is being misdirected against the people who gave it up to them. But that also is our own fault. It is also important to understand that no monopoly can exist for very long without government protection, where they are, possibly militarily, protected from competition. The power is ours to use or lose. I don't know if that's how the libertarians see it, but it is the way I do. I see nothing wrong with pooling of public resources through something that can be called "government", but we must insure that that government acts as a public servant, and not the master.
Which will never happen. Most Americans, let's face it, are simply disinterested when it comes to politics.
All of which goes to show who is really to blame. The telcos are only a symptom of our own complacency. Just like virtually every other problem you can name. Either way I'm glad to see this reported. I only wish it would be taken seriously by the public. But they don't have time to do anything, when they're so busy doing nothing...
China somehow has managed to break through our protections...
Sorry for the repetition, but again, China has all our money. We have no choice. There will be no protections from Chinese goods. They have the "nuclear option" that nobody else does. China is making the rules now. That's just not the case with Africa and South America.
...the Mexican telecom magnate and his monopoly in Mexico
A very heavily government protected monopoly. Hardly a case of "lack of regulation" I guarantee you. In fact it's a prime example for the libertarians to use against regulation. What we need is for the public to keep a close eye on how things are regulated and actually use their vote to weed out the crooks, otherwise it will only get worse.
Don't know how Africa enters the picture, but China has all our money. They can do whatever they want, and soon will get pretty much anything they ask for. They've tasted the raw meat of western style consumerism, and will only want more. They will "protect their interests" in the same fashion we do ours. And they have the power to do it. I doubt we can say the same for Africa at the moment. The only clout they have is the choice to buy their weaponry from us(US and Europe) or Russia and China, which is a pretty big hammer as far as the arms dealers are concerned, but has nothing to do with the copyright/patent problem. However that does little to console the drug dealers(big pharma) when they claim "eminent domain" on their products to provide affordable medical care. Heh, now that I think about it, they could have an effect on policy, but in that case, a good one.
A successful China doesn't need to be a negative to the world.
No, but strong IP law is a negative. And once China gets seriously into the game, they'll push for even stronger laws that will have the ultimate effect of suppressing innovation as is happening in the the US and Europe. Only the big corporations will benefit. Now is the time to show them and everybody else that copyrights and patents do more harm than good.
Slashdot Mirror
I work in computational biology
So, you're studying the germs on your keyboard? They say your toilet seat is cleaner, but I don't think I would eat off of either one of them.
I wonder when the record companies' shareholders are going to come to that realization. They seem a little slow.
Are many of them divesting yet? A more secure investment might be something like...household products. However if the share prices and dividends(do they still do that?) are holding up, I would think that they have nothing to react to. May I assume that the record companies have a fairly diverse portfolio also? Don't some of them have big investments in heavy industry, such as ship building? Or shipping? So that, even to them, this could be nothing more than a blip? I could see this going on indefinitely.
The VW and pickup truck have proven to be very reliable, part of what makes them efficient. If our tractor trailers ran as badly as the shuttle, the country would be brought to its knees in a week. It doesn't matter how much weight you can carry if you can't make the deliveries. The shuttle was supposed to be able to launch 12-15 times a year. What are we getting? Twice? If we're lucky? Too bad we didn't keep the Saturn V operational.
Those astronauts have balls of steel if they ride that thing down again.
Considering the make up the present crew, I believe "nerves of steel" would be a bit more appropriate.
I think the Russians are making more cargo deliveries also. Without a pilot, besides. At this point, I would also consider their way of doing it more efficient, and reliable. Their space truck is a Chevy. Ours is a Ford. For people, they use a compact. If it wasn't for them, we probably would have had to abandon the space station a long time ago.
And with those you pay to receive calls, right?
Well, if we get them to spin fast enough, we can attach a generator, and our energy problems will be solved.
is a cheap knock off.
I'm pretty sure my dad's parents said the same thing to him when they heard him playing the Beatles.
My dad saved those kind of comments for Led Zeppelin. Now that I'm old, I can understand. I sometimes wonder how I could listen to that stuff. But I still do. But some of the things I listened to then, I find positively disturbing now. And watching sixty year old rockers like Jagger and David Crosby is really bizarre. I sure hope Britney finds another career, or retires by the time she's sixty.
Not everybody wants to be tied to a contract. The concept is absurd from the get go. Yet people will do anything to have a cell phone. A true case of a "sucker born every minute". I don't know if there is any other country on the planet with this scam in place.
Instead, they would go to the legislative branch and get a law passed.
You mean they did go to the legislature, right? FISA is out of the picture now. They already don't need a warrant anymore. If we let them, they will pass a law prohibiting encryption. And they can hold you without charging you. In theory they can't do that to an American. But the law hasn't stopped these people yet. When it does, they simply change the law, as they just did. And remember, Clinton and his side of the Party tried to do the same thing, so don't expect any help from that crowd.
On the grounds that they can, and will if they desire. They don't need a reason. It's "for the children". How can you be against that?
So we can send the send the corrupt, authoritarian Germans back to the other side.
Then they will simply block anything they can't decipher, and the government will get a warrant to demand the key.
Now tell me, when you call someone with your phone, does the other party have to pay? No. They don't.
May I assume that you don't use a cell phone in the US? Because there, even when you receive a call, it's a race to see which runs out first, the battery, or your credit.
by an American company with solid venture fundings.
:-) Let's not fool ourselves. Freedom is a dirty word in this post 9/11 world. It hardly gets mentioned in any of the debates or other political discussions having to do with the elections. The economy is all that matters.
IBM? or Singer?
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose...
But American companies are making tons of money from China too.
That doesn't explain the trade deficit if those numbers are to be believed. Maybe those companies should pay a bit higher tax. The stock market is so high because it doesn't take into account the accrued debt or it's assuming that these companies will pay up when the loan is called. The whole system is working on credit, or faith as the case may be, and Wall Street(and the government) is doing ok because its credit rating is still good. I would like to see what happens if the public was to close its bank accounts and cut up their credit cards. It bears repeating that ours is a faith based economy, and once that faith is lost, it's "game over, man". Remember, Enron's, WorldCom's, Lincoln Savings & Loan's numbers were all pretty good, too, just they got caught cooking the books. There is no reason to believe that the whole of Wall Street isn't doing the exact same thing. Don't be deceived by those "record" numbers. They are an illusion to keep that faith alive.
Web pages are getting ridiculously heavy, thanks to high-speed internet and people feeling that they don't have to optimize...
Actually it's because they're so heavily laden with advertising. Blocking the ads speeds things up considerably. In fact, when possible, I block everything that's not on the page I'm visiting. I don't know if there's a hosts file on the iPhone to edit.
Please, don't take my post as blanket anti-regulation. I don't believe in that at all. I just want the public to take their responsibility more seriously. The degree of required regulation of public utilities is in their hands through their government, that they put into place. I absolutely believe in the rights to access of all our infrastructure, the wires, the pipes, the roads, etc. Only through our representative government could we acquire this access in a fair manner. And we must make that government answer to us, not BIGCO, because nobody else will do it for us. This is supposedly why we give authority to the government. It is unfortunate that this authority is being misdirected against the people who gave it up to them. But that also is our own fault. It is also important to understand that no monopoly can exist for very long without government protection, where they are, possibly militarily, protected from competition. The power is ours to use or lose. I don't know if that's how the libertarians see it, but it is the way I do. I see nothing wrong with pooling of public resources through something that can be called "government", but we must insure that that government acts as a public servant, and not the master.
Which will never happen. Most Americans, let's face it, are simply disinterested when it comes to politics.
All of which goes to show who is really to blame. The telcos are only a symptom of our own complacency. Just like virtually every other problem you can name. Either way I'm glad to see this reported. I only wish it would be taken seriously by the public. But they don't have time to do anything, when they're so busy doing nothing...
China somehow has managed to break through our protections...
Sorry for the repetition, but again, China has all our money. We have no choice. There will be no protections from Chinese goods. They have the "nuclear option" that nobody else does. China is making the rules now. That's just not the case with Africa and South America.
...the Mexican telecom magnate and his monopoly in Mexico
A very heavily government protected monopoly. Hardly a case of "lack of regulation" I guarantee you. In fact it's a prime example for the libertarians to use against regulation. What we need is for the public to keep a close eye on how things are regulated and actually use their vote to weed out the crooks, otherwise it will only get worse.
Don't know how Africa enters the picture, but China has all our money. They can do whatever they want, and soon will get pretty much anything they ask for. They've tasted the raw meat of western style consumerism, and will only want more. They will "protect their interests" in the same fashion we do ours. And they have the power to do it. I doubt we can say the same for Africa at the moment. The only clout they have is the choice to buy their weaponry from us(US and Europe) or Russia and China, which is a pretty big hammer as far as the arms dealers are concerned, but has nothing to do with the copyright/patent problem. However that does little to console the drug dealers(big pharma) when they claim "eminent domain" on their products to provide affordable medical care. Heh, now that I think about it, they could have an effect on policy, but in that case, a good one.
A successful China doesn't need to be a negative to the world.
No, but strong IP law is a negative. And once China gets seriously into the game, they'll push for even stronger laws that will have the ultimate effect of suppressing innovation as is happening in the the US and Europe. Only the big corporations will benefit. Now is the time to show them and everybody else that copyrights and patents do more harm than good.
That may or may not be true.