In the case of Microsoft, competition has sometimes inhibited improvement. . . . But I agree with you that people should be generally free in their pursuit of word processor happiness.
There would be nothing wrong with how you altered the statement if MS Office were open source.
Since MS isn't open source, non-programmer type folks who work daily with a word processor on heavily formatted documents have limited choices if they care about trying to implement open source in a professional office.
OO is the sole open source application that currently stands up to the proprietary competition. It would be great if it could be improved further.
OpenOffice is the best! I use it in my office every day to produce tons of heavily formatted documents. It saved me. I'm never going back to Microsoft Office.
Koffice was not as useful as OpenOffice when I tried to switch before. Why not just concentrate on making OpenOffice better and better?
I don't want a cheat that makes the character invulnerable or have unlimited ammo or all the heavy weapons. Don't those cheats make the game easier than a quicksave? Being able to save a game in mid-mission hardly seems like a cheat. A quicksave is often a standard part of a game.
You're right that its not easy to start the missions over and repeat all of the same parts over and over and over . . . esp. that remote control helicopter.
But its not fun either.
I thought it was interesting that the suit focused on the phrase "kill the Haitians" at a point in the game when the player is being exhorted to --- albeit simulated --- action.
Speech which creates imminent danger may not be protected. (e.g. yelling "fire" in the theatre).
There was a circuit split on a similar issue of whether nude photos of children based on "simulated" children were obscene, i.e. no actual children involved. (Raphael's Madonna with the Goldfinch???)
There was more than one circuit that decided that question in the affirmative.
Has anyone linked to any briefing in the case? There's an issue of whether the GTA games cause or have been correlated to increased violent behavior --- as opposed to maybe being correlated with lessened violent behavior.
I'm wondering whether regulating actual guns might not go much further toward reducing violence. Just a thought . . . .
I'm unfamiliar with the court case on GTA, but its a risky proposition to trade the marketplace for the courts on the job of protecting minority groups from the "intolerant majority" i.e. bullies.
Market forces are more likely to inhibit speech. Advertiser discomfort with a favorable portrayal of an unpopular minority or viewpoint leads to a lowest-common-denominator effect in commercial media.
GTA Vice City has cheats to make the cars fly and to play a fat guy --- now it has multiplayer. Is there a cheat or addon that lets the player save during a mission? Is that too much to ask?
Our cultural vocabulary for violent acts and the instruments of violence is unashamedly nuanced while sextalk is circumscribed to babytalk about genitals.
. . .
On the other hand, maybe CA teenage boys' fixation on shooting off all of those guns is touching a puritanical nerve somewhere.
Its not an old one, but I like Charles Petzold's book, Code: the Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. There's a great example about dolphins learning (binary) math on their flippers. I WISH I'd had it back when.
:) I'm the one speaking from ye olde keister-hole --- I overcame my midafternoon torpor and looked up 17 USC 504(c) on Findlaw, and I think you're right. It looks like statutory damages of up to $150k are authorized for willful violations, and a private party can bring the suit.
Rest easy GPL?
You mean criminal fines though, right? If the US Attorney doesn't file, what civil remedy is available? I'm wondering whether a civil suit could be brought (has been?) on a theory like unjust enrichment?
I've wondered before about the practicalities of enforcing GPL? When a proprietary license is violated, presumably there are money damages alleged as part of the complaint. What are the damages for violating a GPL license?
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In the case of Microsoft, competition has sometimes inhibited improvement. . . . But I agree with you that people should be generally free in their pursuit of word processor happiness.
There would be nothing wrong with how you altered the statement if MS Office were open source. Since MS isn't open source, non-programmer type folks who work daily with a word processor on heavily formatted documents have limited choices if they care about trying to implement open source in a professional office. OO is the sole open source application that currently stands up to the proprietary competition. It would be great if it could be improved further.
OpenOffice is the best! I use it in my office every day to produce tons of heavily formatted documents. It saved me. I'm never going back to Microsoft Office. Koffice was not as useful as OpenOffice when I tried to switch before. Why not just concentrate on making OpenOffice better and better?
I think the US Supreme Court agreed in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition.
That's a GREAT idea for the helicopter mission. I wish I'd thought of it!
I don't want a cheat that makes the character invulnerable or have unlimited ammo or all the heavy weapons. Don't those cheats make the game easier than a quicksave? Being able to save a game in mid-mission hardly seems like a cheat. A quicksave is often a standard part of a game. You're right that its not easy to start the missions over and repeat all of the same parts over and over and over . . . esp. that remote control helicopter. But its not fun either.
I thought it was interesting that the suit focused on the phrase "kill the Haitians" at a point in the game when the player is being exhorted to --- albeit simulated --- action. Speech which creates imminent danger may not be protected. (e.g. yelling "fire" in the theatre). There was a circuit split on a similar issue of whether nude photos of children based on "simulated" children were obscene, i.e. no actual children involved. (Raphael's Madonna with the Goldfinch???) There was more than one circuit that decided that question in the affirmative.
Has anyone linked to any briefing in the case? There's an issue of whether the GTA games cause or have been correlated to increased violent behavior --- as opposed to maybe being correlated with lessened violent behavior. I'm wondering whether regulating actual guns might not go much further toward reducing violence. Just a thought . . . .
I'm unfamiliar with the court case on GTA, but its a risky proposition to trade the marketplace for the courts on the job of protecting minority groups from the "intolerant majority" i.e. bullies. Market forces are more likely to inhibit speech. Advertiser discomfort with a favorable portrayal of an unpopular minority or viewpoint leads to a lowest-common-denominator effect in commercial media.
GTA Vice City has cheats to make the cars fly and to play a fat guy --- now it has multiplayer. Is there a cheat or addon that lets the player save during a mission? Is that too much to ask?
Our cultural vocabulary for violent acts and the instruments of violence is unashamedly nuanced while sextalk is circumscribed to babytalk about genitals. . . . On the other hand, maybe CA teenage boys' fixation on shooting off all of those guns is touching a puritanical nerve somewhere.
Well pretend guns are so much easier to regulate than real ones. . . .
Its not an old one, but I like Charles Petzold's book, Code: the Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. There's a great example about dolphins learning (binary) math on their flippers. I WISH I'd had it back when.
:) I'm the one speaking from ye olde keister-hole --- I overcame my midafternoon torpor and looked up 17 USC 504(c) on Findlaw, and I think you're right. It looks like statutory damages of up to $150k are authorized for willful violations, and a private party can bring the suit. Rest easy GPL?
You mean criminal fines though, right? If the US Attorney doesn't file, what civil remedy is available? I'm wondering whether a civil suit could be brought (has been?) on a theory like unjust enrichment?
I've wondered before about the practicalities of enforcing GPL? When a proprietary license is violated, presumably there are money damages alleged as part of the complaint. What are the damages for violating a GPL license?