And considering the latest and greatest ipod with their higher quality (still not great) screens is sure to cost around 400-500...still expensive. I agree, this is not what I want my doctors utilizing. I guess if a DR wanted to use this to store my medical records - but i would hope the OS is as tested as medical equipment OS'.
Then by that notion, anyone who has passed sys admin 101 should never have to worry about making a mistake. Implementations CAN and DO go wrong at the production level, even if they went perfectly at the staging level. It happens...it's always good to review with your boss before you implement something huge. But that is my opinion.
Except when the next guy who has balls screws something up, something big time, and a lot of people get negatively affected. Then it will be on/. how this guy screwed up XYZ's customer base. There is a reason a person should get approval from his superiors, it is not just a CYA but a "hey does this sound good." This guy is probably high up (CTO?) so makes these decisions on his own anyhow.
Yea right. If something get's screwed up, then you lose your job for "not asking". At least if you asked you can say "hey you guys approved it." Luckily he didn't screw up (and even guru's can screw up)
Our resources are not so limited that we can't focus on multiple lawsuits, ranging from slavery to ipod nano's. Is the ipod nano more important then slavery, no, but is it important - sure. The legislature is not ramming laws to protect the companies because of other bigger issues - they are doing so for other reasons (some altruistic, some not so much).
Notice that this statement is meant to sound like Apple just rigged Grandma's respirator to fail due to shoddy workmanship. While there is certainly damage to the Nano, and the coating process is "clearly defective", I don't buy for a minute the last statment that the players are irrparably damaged. There are plenty ways that Apple can make good without paying a fucking nickle to these assholes.
It doesn't sound like that at all...in fact it just sounds like a lawyer utilizing strong language - which is something you should do if you are making a complaint, or a lawsuit. You are not going to write "we think that it might be possible the nano might scratch, where the other ipods will not". At no point did they claim apple was evil or tried to ripoff people who purchased the nano - so no, relating apple to someone who rigged grandma's respirator is completely false.
The problem is compounded by the fact that Microsoft is large and can throw TONS of money towards advertising and lobbying to make HD-DVD the format. While they may not win it will definately slow the whole process down.
I do not think this is a problem, especially since Sony can do the same thing. Since this is not going to be lobbys against congress, but against the people - I don't mind if MS throws some money down my way (assuming they will make their product cheaper).
I don't think this will affect Xbox games anyhow. Think about it, can you import XBOX 360 to PS3? No, so what does it matter. Companies will still make a game for XBOX, but this will help ensure that no hacks come out to let someone who owns a PS3 play XBOX 360 games - since the media is of a different type.
If anything, this new blue-ray type will hurt DVD vendors...now they will have to subscribe to the Blue-ray format...we are assuming, obviously, that blue-ray won this competition - which is still unclear.
On a side note: We have HD-TV...how does blue-ray affect this compared to HD-DVD....also, can blue ray be used on my regular DVD player (it plays DVD+/-r, vcd, mpeg, jpg, etc). Can HD-DVD be used on my current player? I think the format that supports the current player will have the advantage.
I said more than once that people such have to right to do what they want as long as another wasn't harmed, and that if someone is harmed then the one causing the harm should be charged and/or sued. Along with liberty comes responsibility.
And two responses to this. The punishment needs to fit the crime. As such 1) the punishment for a type of crime needs to be defined ahead of time to be fair and 2) people need to know that a potential action is considered a crime. For example: If I own a pizza shop across the street from you pizza shop, there is nothing illegal for me to get you put out of business by making better pizza, offering better specials, advertising. But it is illegal for me to send Vinnie and the boys to break up your shop. It is illegal for me to print in the news that your restaurant has rats and cockroaches. Without laws, how am I to know this is illegal? The laws are defined to let people know what is wrong, and to let them know what to expect if they get caught for doign the wrong act.
Can you name one thing where current laws offer less protection online than they do irl?
Actually this one is very easy. Spamming laws. By your method we should have never needed to create spamming laws because there were laws on the books to take care of this...obviously there wasn't.
I am complaining about a potential law that is retarded, I see no added protection being offered by requiring licensing of people who sale stuff on eBay on consignment. BNut if you want internet regulations you can move to China where you'll have plenty of regulations. Just don't try to regulate what I do online.
Ok here is added protection: With this law, a person has to be registered and as such when I go to utilize a consignment operator I could use that as one of my requirements. When I get someone with a license, I know they can be tracked and I am less likely to be scammed. I don't think I need to move to China. And in this country, any country actually, there are going to be laws you like and laws you do not like...just like you get regulated with your offline activities, you can be regulated with your online activities.
I see NO NEED for another govenment program creating more redtape and costing more money and tyme
You are assuming they are going to be creating a whole new department. Personally I think they will use the department, they already have, who handles licensing in a given state/county. No reason to create what is already there. If anything, it will give those employees more work and they will better earn their pay.
As long as they exist they aren't safe
Neither is a car, or my house with a gas furnace, or bicycle but we are not goign to live in a cave for the rest of our lives (which in and of itself could be deemed dangerous). Nobody said safety is gauranteed...that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and make things safer. I may not get 100% safety out of a nuclear power plant, but I would rather have 95% then 50%. Also, regulations on these refineries help make our environment cleaner.
All the same I'm still a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, which gives individuals the right to bare arms
Really that's irrelvant to our argument. I was arguing that just because you never encountered a situation does not mean it didn't happen
No really, no matter what quote you got from Franklin, my protection trumps your liberty. IMHO you are free to do whatever you want to do in life so long as you do not harm someone else. Since people are willing to harm others there has to be regulations to act as a deterrent. Also, the laws on the books don't cover every situation, and you know as well as I know the Internet doesn't have that many laws on it yet to protect people; and you know that lawyers find loopholes, so laws are made to close those. Thanks for trying to oversimplify and demonise the legislation process. Complain about retarded laws is fine, but complaining about laws that actually help people is reprehensible
Do you really think the amount a person has to pay for a license will really cover the costs of administering the program?
Yea, actually I do. You want to know why? Because the people in this department are doing more things then just waiting to get money from some ebay consigner; they are collecting fee's for other licenses (i.e. health insurance licenses, notary licenses, etc.) Not to mention, even if it is a gov't program that loses money it is a service that is needed - you know these people working in the gov't office processing any checks the people send. Remember, the gov't is not allowed to make a profit; they have to break even (ideal) or lose money.
Then you must be against nuclear power plant, chemical plants, and oil refineries amoung other facilities that could potentially cause great harm such as oil tankers.
You must be wrong. But I am for stronger regulations that will make nuclear/chemical oil plants safer.
That I know of nobody I know has been scammed by internet auctions though I've known a few who got scammed in real life
I don't know, nor have I known, anybody who has been shot; that doesn't mean it never happens.
If you are a under the age of 18, you can use this service only in conjunction with, and under the supervision of your parents or guardians.
Are your nephews parents supervising him at all points of the transaction? There is a loophole; and there is another reason why these laws are not defined and needed. Just because we have a shitload of laws (some applicable, some completely retarded) does not mean we do not need new laws. To say that every law in the books covers every topic in life is like what Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, in 1899 said:"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
Now I will grant that some things have come sooner because of space research. However what is the cost in things that we could have now if engineers hadn't been focused on space? This question cannot of course be answered, which is why I reject all arguments that space was really good for us. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, since we don't have a proper scientific controlled experiment we cannot know.
I am sure someone in Europe said the same thing to Columbus when he asked for money to get some ships and travel to the Indies. Maybe he was wrong and we should have all stayed in Europe.
I stand corrected on all the other points (specific inventions) which I have bene misled:)
As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Our journey to space has brought us many great technologies...maybe they would have come about anyhow, but they DEFINITELY did come out because of our space endeavors. Some items: Flame retardant material used on the space ship to protect the astronauts is used in fire fighter equipment. Microwave (you know the stuff people use to cook with) was invented for astronauts. Satellite technology - yea those satellites sure don't get up there on their own. There are plenty of other examples.
There are many reasons to explore space:
1)It is an endeavor that will help bind many of us together - look at the projects we do with other countries that surround space travel, even during the cold war -it was one of the few positive connections we had with Russia
2)We are explorers - we always have been...because we first ventured beyond our cave and discovered fire, and then explored accross the ocean to bring us to a new land, and from there we found that we could fly...space is the next step..this is fuel for our souls.
3)The research done can yield new techniques, technologies, etc that may have a benefit to our everyday lives - just reference my example's above.
4)We may not be alone, and while we won't find life (probably) in this generation or the next ten, we eventually will
5)For the tin-foil hat folks - well some asteroid is bound to destroy us eventually, it would be nice if we were say spread out on different planets.
6)Travelling to space and doing research may bring more knowledge to us about us.
I don't care what we use to justify exploration into space, as long as we get there. Unfortunately, our elected officials and all those people who look at the bottom line want to see immediate benefits. You tell them we should spend 50 billion so we can find out that Mars may have had a couple of water molecules 3 million years and politicians will laugh; on the other hand, you tell them that by doing this research we could find a way to bring resources from Mars that will make our lives easier then they are more likely to consider it.
Just wanted to point out the delightful contrast between the Grandparents post, which is probably the funniest thing I've read all week and your post which is probably one of the least funny things I've ever read.
In future, please leave the attempts at humour to people who actually have a sense of humour.
Traumatic memories? I'm sorry. I will print your reply, and the next time I think to write something funny I will be sure to take the print out and wipe my ass with it.
Your's truly.
To more regulations that shut out individuals who want to run their own SOHO,...The USA is supposed to be the land of the free, not the land of regulations.
I don't think this is such a big deal, and it is alarmist. The US does support small business' - and this can be proved with all of the small business programs available from the gov't. As for the "land of regulations" well we have regulations, and they are needed for many reasons - in this case to protect the consumer...it's not such a bad thing...oh and let's not forget the regulation of the land - The Constitution
Now that we require licenses for eBay saler why not require them for garage/yard sales?" I don't know about where you live but in my area garage/yard sales may last from Firday afternoon, evening to Sunday.
They are not talking about joe schmoe ebay seller, they are talking about consignment sellers - two different groups of people. As for the time frame of garage sales - you can get the permit to range for multiple days - it's just rare to see a multi-day garage sale. This is a moot point, as it is irrelevant to our discussion.
Laws that already protect buyers from unscrupulous salers. Isn't this supposed to be a reason the require eBay salers to have licenses? Or is it really a new tax? It's also possible to sue for fraud and what not. eBay offers protection as well, directly or indirectly, such as escrow accounts. eBay has it's own fraud investigation unit and has sued others for fraud. It's within eBay's interest to reduce or eliminate fraud, if they don't the word will get out and buyers as well as sellers will go to another auction site. Last I heard Amazon was going to try to grab some of eBay's market. A freemarket takes corrective measures.
Unfortunately we do not have many internet laws to protect the consumer at this point. Not to mention, this potential law will help prevent consumers from getting scammed. I would rather have pre-emptive protection then have to TRY and trace someone I contacted from the internet - which can be very hard.
Good for you, but not everyone comes from a middle class. Mine was lower class. Luckily while others in our neighberhood dropped out of school to work our mom encouraged my two sisters and I to get finish school and go to college. One reason I enlisted in the army was to save money to go to college as did my older sister. We still had to work parttime though to make ends meet. My younger sister worked fulltime while attending classes. As far as having the money to run a small business, like selling on eBay can be quite different than having money to take classes to get certified and buying a license. Requiring these will only prevent those who could do so from doing it because of the added costs. Some like my nephew only made enough to have some spending money.
Save up your money, and then start your business. This law is to protect the consumers, and my protection from scammers takes precedence to you being able to muster $500 to start your business. Really it does - because some of these lower class families who you know asked someone to sell something for them got scammed...and these lower class families can't afford to get scammed. Also, if you truly want to start a business, there are many small business programs available. And again, thanks for bringing up your nephew...what part of a person under the age of 18 is NOT permitted BY LAW to enter any legal contract especially things like ebay trading. Not only that, but ebay states that in their agreement.
Why should they or anyone else have to have a license to sell on consignment? Seems all it's for is another source of revenue. Thing is is I'd bet the costs of such regulations is more than the cost of licenses, if so then it's just another burden on taxpayers.
I told you why earlier in my post. As for the cost of the license - maybe initially it is a burdeon, but in the end it isn't because the cost to the gov't is mini
people have to fight each other with mad overclocked computers just to get some packets routed
Yea me fighting a computer dork really worries me. Hire's hacker to trace the web dorks IP address, find's out his physical address, goes to his house - beats him over the head with a cluebat(hardened), and then takes his computer, the deed to his IPv4 address, and his poster of Liv Tyler
When it becomes NECESSARY, through inconvenience or cost, to move to 6, we'll move to 6. You're wasting your breath arguing otherwise.
And this is the mentality that tends to cause the most damage. When you wait until something breaks, well you wait until something bad happens. What if what breaks is the stock market, and trading is halted for a day or so. What happens if what breaks is a nuclear missile silo. The fact that someone anticipated the need for change before the change was ABSOLUTELY needed is a good thing; and waiting until the last minute should not be on our list of things to do...really, do you want people to start selling books just like they did about Y2K? I mean, we were ready (and knew about it) years in advance, and still people wrote a bazillion books of crap to create a scare. "Yes martha, I am going to withdraw our entire life's savings into cash before our toaster eat's us."
There are plenty of other models - airplane safety/maintinance/upgrades, and preventative medicine/care are just two.
I am sure some analyst will come to their boss and say "Spend two million now, or ten million later" and their boss will probably say "let's spend the money later" cause they are stark raving morons.
One, this could be a first step and I'd rather stop it now than have to try stopping on a slippery slope.
Would you explain the "slippery slop" part to me. This could be a first step to what?
Two, from what I've heard some states require a license for a garage/yard sale.
Some, not all; and eBay does not count as a garage/yard sale. Usually the license for the garage/yard sale is a permit for that day. Vendors (i.e. hot dog stands) are required to have similar licenses, though theirs tend to be yearly and a person doing a garage sale probably wants a one-day pass.
How does it protect that isn't currently available?
Again, please explain...what isn't currently available? The regulation? Well yea, that is why they are trying to make it.
And whom? Big business?
Big business? Big business is any company over 100 people; this is trying to protect the consumers. If anything, it will require a person who wants to start consignments to have to register, take a few courses and spend some money. Probably under $500 bucks total. Hell, I could muster $500 when I was 15 years old and I came from a middle class, urban family.
Those who sale stuff on eBay for others may not be able to afford the money or tyme necessary to get a license and take a class
Around $500 is not much (and I give those numbers because the license is about $35, and these types of certification classes are around 200-500; I know because I took a required Fixed Annuity license class, which is way more complex then this). Also, if they don't have the time (one or two day course) to spend on a business endeaver then they really don't have time to run a business.
I haven't done anything like that my but my sister and her husband started buying and selling on eBay their own stuff.
This would not apply to people who are buying; only to people selling on consignment...your sister and her husband could continue to buy normally, continue to sell their personal things, but if they want to sell consignment they have to register.
required to go through a bunch of stuff to put up items on eBay to sale then it could force them to stop.
We are honestly not talking about that much money, or that many days of training. Really it isn't a big hoopla. If you want big hoopla try opening a small storefront.
At the tyme he was doing it he was still in high school,
Yea, I know you love your nephew, but think about this. Do you really want some highschool teen responsible for thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. Also, your nephew is not allowed to be engaged in transactions such as eBay since he is under 18 and cannot enter into a legally binding contract. This is a PERFECT example of why they need such a law - really it is.
and it's rather ironic that he's now in the Marines "protecting" those who would of made it illegal to sale on eBay
This is a slippary slope argument, and right now he is probably over the age of 18 (17 if he had his parents consent)...but either way, it's a slippary slope argument.
This potential law is to help protect the consumers - the people who want to get rid of their things and the people who want to buy. This is to protect them from people who are grossly unqualified (or in the case of your nephew, not legally permitted to do such transaction), and from potential scam artists.
Yea someone putting something on eBay is running an auction. They are requiring people who want to be consignment auctioneers. Basically, if you want to sell something on ebay - but you are terrible at marketing it - they will do all the work for you for a fee. So they are not asking Joe Schmoe who wants to sell his old sweater to get a license. They are not asking Joe Schmoe who wants to hire a consignment specialist to get a license...they are asking a consignment specialist to get a license. This is not uncommon. The difference between a traditional consignment store and eBay, is that when you walk into a consignment store there is a physical location -you meet people; there is overhead. If you, however, hire someone online to sell for you, and they ask for the product first well they could be scamming you and this is another level of protection.
I used a consignment person once; she asked me to send her pictures of my product...she didn't do that good of a job - at least she didn't do better then I could do so I ended up not using her again - but I am a little bit more savvy when it comes to online marketing (or marketing in general) then Joe Schmoe.
While I agree it is good for those who are doing this as a business (consignments) - it WILL move on to other things. Also, it will be hard to regulate.
It will also provide a new source of tax revenue, which is the main reason the gov't wants it.
It will cause some issues:
That $35 fee does not pay for the classes, which can be hundreds. And that surety bond - unless you are part of a company, you may have to front that money...that is a barrier to entry and not a lot of people can afford it. THe great thing about consignment on eBay is that you could get in for free.
Um, no. Having the browser BUNDLED allows you to go online and download Firefox
I am pretty sure I said this, wait let's see "As I have said before, having the browser integrated allows me to go online and get hte browser that I want to use"....yea that's what I said... so why are you disagreeing with me?
And Microsoft could just as easily include IE, Firefox, Mozilla, and Opera as co-equal browsers on the default install, and let you pick your favourite the first time you boot the system.
1) Isn't that bloatware? I mean, do I really want to jam four different browsers in my computer, make that five, we need to be fair to AOL...and hell there are more browsers, MS shouldn't discriminate - let's include Netscape and the rest.
2) Why should MS have to support their competitors? Does Symantec have to include a copy of CA ezTrust, or McAfee? Does Half-Life 2 have to include a copy of Everquest 2? No...that is silly, really it is.
Integrated and bundeled are different yes...one is built into the system, the other -- not necessarily. As for monopoly - I don't care what the court says (and you know they can make decisions based on political pressures). Monoply means there is ONE company. Windows is not the only OS, and people can just as easily get the others....OS X, all the Linux versions, IBM OS/2, Unix and it's variants, freeBSD and that's just to name some....also, the barrier to entry is minimal...you just need to have the programmers and capital to start advertising (assuming you are not giving it away).
Other then having a considerable market share advantage over Apple, Apple shows more of monopolistic traits then MS. This goes from hardware to software. As for what bundles with MS, unless you are buying the stand-alone version of MS, it is up to the computer store selling it to you. When I bought my Toshiba laptop and dell laptop it came with a TON of non-MS products.
And if MS has to sell their media player separately, then so does Apple - that is fair. Not to mention, MS is not restricting you from installing third party software.
In this country, since when does company X HAVE to render services to company Y. As far as I have ever seen a business can refuse service to anyone they please for any reason, so long as it is not the WRONG reason. The wrong reasons being discrimination (i.e. color, race, gender). Hell, we refuse to help our competitors...and frankly our competitors are not putting spyware on our clients computers.
Slashdot Mirror
And considering the latest and greatest ipod with their higher quality (still not great) screens is sure to cost around 400-500...still expensive. I agree, this is not what I want my doctors utilizing. I guess if a DR wanted to use this to store my medical records - but i would hope the OS is as tested as medical equipment OS'.
It's widely known that people suffer various ailments prior to storms. Maybe it's particularly bad in this person?
But really, this is sys admin 101
Then by that notion, anyone who has passed sys admin 101 should never have to worry about making a mistake. Implementations CAN and DO go wrong at the production level, even if they went perfectly at the staging level. It happens...it's always good to review with your boss before you implement something huge. But that is my opinion.
Except when the next guy who has balls screws something up, something big time, and a lot of people get negatively affected. Then it will be on /. how this guy screwed up XYZ's customer base. There is a reason a person should get approval from his superiors, it is not just a CYA but a "hey does this sound good." This guy is probably high up (CTO?) so makes these decisions on his own anyhow.
Yea right. If something get's screwed up, then you lose your job for "not asking". At least if you asked you can say "hey you guys approved it." Luckily he didn't screw up (and even guru's can screw up)
Our resources are not so limited that we can't focus on multiple lawsuits, ranging from slavery to ipod nano's. Is the ipod nano more important then slavery, no, but is it important - sure. The legislature is not ramming laws to protect the companies because of other bigger issues - they are doing so for other reasons (some altruistic, some not so much).
Notice that this statement is meant to sound like Apple just rigged Grandma's respirator to fail due to shoddy workmanship. While there is certainly damage to the Nano, and the coating process is "clearly defective", I don't buy for a minute the last statment that the players are irrparably damaged. There are plenty ways that Apple can make good without paying a fucking nickle to these assholes.
It doesn't sound like that at all...in fact it just sounds like a lawyer utilizing strong language - which is something you should do if you are making a complaint, or a lawsuit. You are not going to write "we think that it might be possible the nano might scratch, where the other ipods will not". At no point did they claim apple was evil or tried to ripoff people who purchased the nano - so no, relating apple to someone who rigged grandma's respirator is completely false.
The problem is compounded by the fact that Microsoft is large and can throw TONS of money towards advertising and lobbying to make HD-DVD the format. While they may not win it will definately slow the whole process down.
I do not think this is a problem, especially since Sony can do the same thing. Since this is not going to be lobbys against congress, but against the people - I don't mind if MS throws some money down my way (assuming they will make their product cheaper).
I don't think this will affect Xbox games anyhow. Think about it, can you import XBOX 360 to PS3? No, so what does it matter. Companies will still make a game for XBOX, but this will help ensure that no hacks come out to let someone who owns a PS3 play XBOX 360 games - since the media is of a different type.
If anything, this new blue-ray type will hurt DVD vendors...now they will have to subscribe to the Blue-ray format...we are assuming, obviously, that blue-ray won this competition - which is still unclear.
On a side note: We have HD-TV...how does blue-ray affect this compared to HD-DVD....also, can blue ray be used on my regular DVD player (it plays DVD+/-r, vcd, mpeg, jpg, etc). Can HD-DVD be used on my current player? I think the format that supports the current player will have the advantage.
I said more than once that people such have to right to do what they want as long as another wasn't harmed, and that if someone is harmed then the one causing the harm should be charged and/or sued. Along with liberty comes responsibility.
:)
And two responses to this. The punishment needs to fit the crime. As such 1) the punishment for a type of crime needs to be defined ahead of time to be fair and 2) people need to know that a potential action is considered a crime. For example: If I own a pizza shop across the street from you pizza shop, there is nothing illegal for me to get you put out of business by making better pizza, offering better specials, advertising. But it is illegal for me to send Vinnie and the boys to break up your shop. It is illegal for me to print in the news that your restaurant has rats and cockroaches. Without laws, how am I to know this is illegal? The laws are defined to let people know what is wrong, and to let them know what to expect if they get caught for doign the wrong act.
Can you name one thing where current laws offer less protection online than they do irl?
Actually this one is very easy. Spamming laws. By your method we should have never needed to create spamming laws because there were laws on the books to take care of this...obviously there wasn't.
I am complaining about a potential law that is retarded, I see no added protection being offered by requiring licensing of people who sale stuff on eBay on consignment. BNut if you want internet regulations you can move to China where you'll have plenty of regulations. Just don't try to regulate what I do online.
Ok here is added protection: With this law, a person has to be registered and as such when I go to utilize a consignment operator I could use that as one of my requirements. When I get someone with a license, I know they can be tracked and I am less likely to be scammed. I don't think I need to move to China. And in this country, any country actually, there are going to be laws you like and laws you do not like...just like you get regulated with your offline activities, you can be regulated with your online activities.
I see NO NEED for another govenment program creating more redtape and costing more money and tyme
You are assuming they are going to be creating a whole new department. Personally I think they will use the department, they already have, who handles licensing in a given state/county. No reason to create what is already there. If anything, it will give those employees more work and they will better earn their pay.
As long as they exist they aren't safe
Neither is a car, or my house with a gas furnace, or bicycle but we are not goign to live in a cave for the rest of our lives (which in and of itself could be deemed dangerous). Nobody said safety is gauranteed...that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and make things safer. I may not get 100% safety out of a nuclear power plant, but I would rather have 95% then 50%. Also, regulations on these refineries help make our environment cleaner.
All the same I'm still a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, which gives individuals the right to bare arms
Really that's irrelvant to our argument. I was arguing that just because you never encountered a situation does not mean it didn't happen
Well let's agree to disagree and call it that
No, my liberty trumps your sense of security.
No really, no matter what quote you got from Franklin, my protection trumps your liberty. IMHO you are free to do whatever you want to do in life so long as you do not harm someone else. Since people are willing to harm others there has to be regulations to act as a deterrent. Also, the laws on the books don't cover every situation, and you know as well as I know the Internet doesn't have that many laws on it yet to protect people; and you know that lawyers find loopholes, so laws are made to close those. Thanks for trying to oversimplify and demonise the legislation process. Complain about retarded laws is fine, but complaining about laws that actually help people is reprehensible
Do you really think the amount a person has to pay for a license will really cover the costs of administering the program?
Yea, actually I do. You want to know why? Because the people in this department are doing more things then just waiting to get money from some ebay consigner; they are collecting fee's for other licenses (i.e. health insurance licenses, notary licenses, etc.) Not to mention, even if it is a gov't program that loses money it is a service that is needed - you know these people working in the gov't office processing any checks the people send. Remember, the gov't is not allowed to make a profit; they have to break even (ideal) or lose money.
Then you must be against nuclear power plant, chemical plants, and oil refineries amoung other facilities that could potentially cause great harm such as oil tankers.
You must be wrong. But I am for stronger regulations that will make nuclear/chemical oil plants safer.
That I know of nobody I know has been scammed by internet auctions though I've known a few who got scammed in real life
I don't know, nor have I known, anybody who has been shot; that doesn't mean it never happens.
If you are a under the age of 18, you can use this service only in conjunction with, and under the supervision of your parents or guardians.
Are your nephews parents supervising him at all points of the transaction? There is a loophole; and there is another reason why these laws are not defined and needed. Just because we have a shitload of laws (some applicable, some completely retarded) does not mean we do not need new laws. To say that every law in the books covers every topic in life is like what Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, in 1899 said:"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
super-fast internet access via airships
Did someone find the floating rock from Final Fantasy 1 or are we talking about the Goodyear blimp?
Now I will grant that some things have come sooner because of space research. However what is the cost in things that we could have now if engineers hadn't been focused on space? This question cannot of course be answered, which is why I reject all arguments that space was really good for us. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, since we don't have a proper scientific controlled experiment we cannot know.
:)
I am sure someone in Europe said the same thing to Columbus when he asked for money to get some ships and travel to the Indies. Maybe he was wrong and we should have all stayed in Europe.
I stand corrected on all the other points (specific inventions) which I have bene misled
As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Our journey to space has brought us many great technologies...maybe they would have come about anyhow, but they DEFINITELY did come out because of our space endeavors. Some items: Flame retardant material used on the space ship to protect the astronauts is used in fire fighter equipment. Microwave (you know the stuff people use to cook with) was invented for astronauts. Satellite technology - yea those satellites sure don't get up there on their own. There are plenty of other examples.
There are many reasons to explore space:
1)It is an endeavor that will help bind many of us together - look at the projects we do with other countries that surround space travel, even during the cold war -it was one of the few positive connections we had with Russia
2)We are explorers - we always have been...because we first ventured beyond our cave and discovered fire, and then explored accross the ocean to bring us to a new land, and from there we found that we could fly...space is the next step..this is fuel for our souls.
3)The research done can yield new techniques, technologies, etc that may have a benefit to our everyday lives - just reference my example's above.
4)We may not be alone, and while we won't find life (probably) in this generation or the next ten, we eventually will
5)For the tin-foil hat folks - well some asteroid is bound to destroy us eventually, it would be nice if we were say spread out on different planets.
6)Travelling to space and doing research may bring more knowledge to us about us.
I don't care what we use to justify exploration into space, as long as we get there. Unfortunately, our elected officials and all those people who look at the bottom line want to see immediate benefits. You tell them we should spend 50 billion so we can find out that Mars may have had a couple of water molecules 3 million years and politicians will laugh; on the other hand, you tell them that by doing this research we could find a way to bring resources from Mars that will make our lives easier then they are more likely to consider it.
Just wanted to point out the delightful contrast between the Grandparents post, which is probably the funniest thing I've read all week and your post which is probably one of the least funny things I've ever read. In future, please leave the attempts at humour to people who actually have a sense of humour.
Traumatic memories? I'm sorry. I will print your reply, and the next time I think to write something funny I will be sure to take the print out and wipe my ass with it.
Your's truly.
To more regulations that shut out individuals who want to run their own SOHO,...The USA is supposed to be the land of the free, not the land of regulations.
I don't think this is such a big deal, and it is alarmist. The US does support small business' - and this can be proved with all of the small business programs available from the gov't. As for the "land of regulations" well we have regulations, and they are needed for many reasons - in this case to protect the consumer...it's not such a bad thing...oh and let's not forget the regulation of the land - The Constitution
Now that we require licenses for eBay saler why not require them for garage/yard sales?" I don't know about where you live but in my area garage/yard sales may last from Firday afternoon, evening to Sunday.
They are not talking about joe schmoe ebay seller, they are talking about consignment sellers - two different groups of people. As for the time frame of garage sales - you can get the permit to range for multiple days - it's just rare to see a multi-day garage sale. This is a moot point, as it is irrelevant to our discussion.
Laws that already protect buyers from unscrupulous salers. Isn't this supposed to be a reason the require eBay salers to have licenses? Or is it really a new tax? It's also possible to sue for fraud and what not. eBay offers protection as well, directly or indirectly, such as escrow accounts. eBay has it's own fraud investigation unit and has sued others for fraud. It's within eBay's interest to reduce or eliminate fraud, if they don't the word will get out and buyers as well as sellers will go to another auction site. Last I heard Amazon was going to try to grab some of eBay's market. A freemarket takes corrective measures.
Unfortunately we do not have many internet laws to protect the consumer at this point. Not to mention, this potential law will help prevent consumers from getting scammed. I would rather have pre-emptive protection then have to TRY and trace someone I contacted from the internet - which can be very hard.
Good for you, but not everyone comes from a middle class. Mine was lower class. Luckily while others in our neighberhood dropped out of school to work our mom encouraged my two sisters and I to get finish school and go to college. One reason I enlisted in the army was to save money to go to college as did my older sister. We still had to work parttime though to make ends meet. My younger sister worked fulltime while attending classes. As far as having the money to run a small business, like selling on eBay can be quite different than having money to take classes to get certified and buying a license. Requiring these will only prevent those who could do so from doing it because of the added costs. Some like my nephew only made enough to have some spending money.
Save up your money, and then start your business. This law is to protect the consumers, and my protection from scammers takes precedence to you being able to muster $500 to start your business. Really it does - because some of these lower class families who you know asked someone to sell something for them got scammed...and these lower class families can't afford to get scammed. Also, if you truly want to start a business, there are many small business programs available. And again, thanks for bringing up your nephew...what part of a person under the age of 18 is NOT permitted BY LAW to enter any legal contract especially things like ebay trading. Not only that, but ebay states that in their agreement.
Why should they or anyone else have to have a license to sell on consignment? Seems all it's for is another source of revenue. Thing is is I'd bet the costs of such regulations is more than the cost of licenses, if so then it's just another burden on taxpayers.
I told you why earlier in my post. As for the cost of the license - maybe initially it is a burdeon, but in the end it isn't because the cost to the gov't is mini
people have to fight each other with mad overclocked computers just to get some packets routed
Yea me fighting a computer dork really worries me. Hire's hacker to trace the web dorks IP address, find's out his physical address, goes to his house - beats him over the head with a cluebat(hardened), and then takes his computer, the deed to his IPv4 address, and his poster of Liv Tyler
When it becomes NECESSARY, through inconvenience or cost, to move to 6, we'll move to 6. You're wasting your breath arguing otherwise.
And this is the mentality that tends to cause the most damage. When you wait until something breaks, well you wait until something bad happens. What if what breaks is the stock market, and trading is halted for a day or so. What happens if what breaks is a nuclear missile silo. The fact that someone anticipated the need for change before the change was ABSOLUTELY needed is a good thing; and waiting until the last minute should not be on our list of things to do...really, do you want people to start selling books just like they did about Y2K? I mean, we were ready (and knew about it) years in advance, and still people wrote a bazillion books of crap to create a scare. "Yes martha, I am going to withdraw our entire life's savings into cash before our toaster eat's us."
There are plenty of other models - airplane safety/maintinance/upgrades, and preventative medicine/care are just two.
I am sure some analyst will come to their boss and say "Spend two million now, or ten million later" and their boss will probably say "let's spend the money later" cause they are stark raving morons.
One, this could be a first step and I'd rather stop it now than have to try stopping on a slippery slope.
Would you explain the "slippery slop" part to me. This could be a first step to what?
Two, from what I've heard some states require a license for a garage/yard sale.
Some, not all; and eBay does not count as a garage/yard sale. Usually the license for the garage/yard sale is a permit for that day. Vendors (i.e. hot dog stands) are required to have similar licenses, though theirs tend to be yearly and a person doing a garage sale probably wants a one-day pass.
How does it protect that isn't currently available?
Again, please explain...what isn't currently available? The regulation? Well yea, that is why they are trying to make it.
And whom? Big business?
Big business? Big business is any company over 100 people; this is trying to protect the consumers. If anything, it will require a person who wants to start consignments to have to register, take a few courses and spend some money. Probably under $500 bucks total. Hell, I could muster $500 when I was 15 years old and I came from a middle class, urban family.
Those who sale stuff on eBay for others may not be able to afford the money or tyme necessary to get a license and take a class
Around $500 is not much (and I give those numbers because the license is about $35, and these types of certification classes are around 200-500; I know because I took a required Fixed Annuity license class, which is way more complex then this). Also, if they don't have the time (one or two day course) to spend on a business endeaver then they really don't have time to run a business.
I haven't done anything like that my but my sister and her husband started buying and selling on eBay their own stuff.
This would not apply to people who are buying; only to people selling on consignment...your sister and her husband could continue to buy normally, continue to sell their personal things, but if they want to sell consignment they have to register.
required to go through a bunch of stuff to put up items on eBay to sale then it could force them to stop.
We are honestly not talking about that much money, or that many days of training. Really it isn't a big hoopla. If you want big hoopla try opening a small storefront.
At the tyme he was doing it he was still in high school,
Yea, I know you love your nephew, but think about this. Do you really want some highschool teen responsible for thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. Also, your nephew is not allowed to be engaged in transactions such as eBay since he is under 18 and cannot enter into a legally binding contract. This is a PERFECT example of why they need such a law - really it is.
and it's rather ironic that he's now in the Marines "protecting" those who would of made it illegal to sale on eBay
This is a slippary slope argument, and right now he is probably over the age of 18 (17 if he had his parents consent)...but either way, it's a slippary slope argument.
This potential law is to help protect the consumers - the people who want to get rid of their things and the people who want to buy. This is to protect them from people who are grossly unqualified (or in the case of your nephew, not legally permitted to do such transaction), and from potential scam artists.
Yea someone putting something on eBay is running an auction. They are requiring people who want to be consignment auctioneers. Basically, if you want to sell something on ebay - but you are terrible at marketing it - they will do all the work for you for a fee. So they are not asking Joe Schmoe who wants to sell his old sweater to get a license. They are not asking Joe Schmoe who wants to hire a consignment specialist to get a license...they are asking a consignment specialist to get a license. This is not uncommon. The difference between a traditional consignment store and eBay, is that when you walk into a consignment store there is a physical location -you meet people; there is overhead. If you, however, hire someone online to sell for you, and they ask for the product first well they could be scamming you and this is another level of protection.
I used a consignment person once; she asked me to send her pictures of my product...she didn't do that good of a job - at least she didn't do better then I could do so I ended up not using her again - but I am a little bit more savvy when it comes to online marketing (or marketing in general) then Joe Schmoe.
While I agree it is good for those who are doing this as a business (consignments) - it WILL move on to other things. Also, it will be hard to regulate.
It will also provide a new source of tax revenue, which is the main reason the gov't wants it.
It will cause some issues:
That $35 fee does not pay for the classes, which can be hundreds. And that surety bond - unless you are part of a company, you may have to front that money...that is a barrier to entry and not a lot of people can afford it. THe great thing about consignment on eBay is that you could get in for free.
Um, no. Having the browser BUNDLED allows you to go online and download Firefox
I am pretty sure I said this, wait let's see "As I have said before, having the browser integrated allows me to go online and get hte browser that I want to use"....yea that's what I said... so why are you disagreeing with me?
And Microsoft could just as easily include IE, Firefox, Mozilla, and Opera as co-equal browsers on the default install, and let you pick your favourite the first time you boot the system.
1) Isn't that bloatware? I mean, do I really want to jam four different browsers in my computer, make that five, we need to be fair to AOL...and hell there are more browsers, MS shouldn't discriminate - let's include Netscape and the rest.
2) Why should MS have to support their competitors? Does Symantec have to include a copy of CA ezTrust, or McAfee? Does Half-Life 2 have to include a copy of Everquest 2? No...that is silly, really it is.
Integrated and bundeled are different yes...one is built into the system, the other -- not necessarily. As for monopoly - I don't care what the court says (and you know they can make decisions based on political pressures). Monoply means there is ONE company. Windows is not the only OS, and people can just as easily get the others....OS X, all the Linux versions, IBM OS/2, Unix and it's variants, freeBSD and that's just to name some....also, the barrier to entry is minimal...you just need to have the programmers and capital to start advertising (assuming you are not giving it away).
That's it
Other then having a considerable market share advantage over Apple, Apple shows more of monopolistic traits then MS. This goes from hardware to software. As for what bundles with MS, unless you are buying the stand-alone version of MS, it is up to the computer store selling it to you. When I bought my Toshiba laptop and dell laptop it came with a TON of non-MS products.
And if MS has to sell their media player separately, then so does Apple - that is fair. Not to mention, MS is not restricting you from installing third party software.
In this country, since when does company X HAVE to render services to company Y. As far as I have ever seen a business can refuse service to anyone they please for any reason, so long as it is not the WRONG reason. The wrong reasons being discrimination (i.e. color, race, gender). Hell, we refuse to help our competitors...and frankly our competitors are not putting spyware on our clients computers.
You must now utilize Real Spyware...err Real Networks to listen to your music, and our advertisements.