Once fully implemented, unless the computer you use has this chip enabled & linked to an identity, your ISP's routers won't let you connect.
Oh well, I guess it's back to the age of the BBSes, then. (Only with wireless links instead of telephone lines)
I'm not too sure that would work in any meaningful way for many people, as I'm sure the FCC along with other government assets would be mobilized and used to track & silence unauthorized transmissions if needed relative to how much activity is occurring.
Even if there is some success with this method, part of the "Trusted Computing" plan is to incorporate it into as much computing & networking equipment as reasonably possible. I'm sure the FCC would mandate TC functionality be incorporated into things like wireless routers, being that they too can see the possibilities. So, only old equipment (likely EOL'd by government mandate) will be non-TC with no new stock, parts, or software updates available.
If they have shut down the 'net to an extent that the idea of trying this is being considered, the probability that marshal law has already been declared is high, so extreme measures being used against "blackout" violators (aka "traitorous rebel scum" by the gov.) could be very likely.
Under those kinds of conditions I'd think most regular folks would be cowering in their houses just praying that they and their loved ones don't get killed or starve to death, rather than risking everything setting up a wireless network.
"...This company had apparently viewed game tax relief as a measure that would have given the UK an unfair advantage over other nations."
Wait...over here in the US they're telling us that increasing taxes is an economic stimulus and will create jobs, stimulate investment, and grow the economy. Wouldn't increasing the gaming software sector's taxes be an incentive for growth instead of a burden if that's true?
"Trusted Computing" aka TC/TCG/LaGrande/NGSCB/Longhorn/Palladium/TCPA is one of the greatest threats to freedom and anonymity ever known. Read the FAQ.
This is what the administration is talking about implementing. This will give the government a frightening amount of control & power over the internet and communications. This isn't some card you carry around, it's built right into the CPU and gives the government total control over your computer *and any information in it*.
It will control what gets published on the 'net and even provides the ability to remove all instances of a document from any computer that connects to the 'net and retroactively "unpublish" anything the government (and it's friends) don't like. No more WikiLeaks.
Once fully implemented, unless the computer you use has this chip enabled & linked to an identity, your ISP's routers won't let you connect. It will allow control over what software may be installed. Forget linux and other F/OSS software and systems getting certified, at least at costs (in both financial terms and in freedom/security) an F/OSS project could reasonably afford or tolerate.
This is a wet-dream for governments wanting to control people & information, and their multinational corporate friends.
-FBI Copyright Enforcement Special Weapons & Tactics Division
Under my First Amendment right, I can clearly state that my constitutionally-protected opinion of that quote is that you should go fuck yourself with several lawn care implements.
That's all true, however if there were no copyright, how would you eat without taking a second job?
We eat just fine because we don't need to depend on copyright but on a simple contract to get paid for playing a gig, and use recordings for promotion and even give them away as loss-leaders.
WOW! you've solved what scientists and experts have been investigating for weeks. Perhaps they need you to teach them since they are so slow.
No, *I* didn't "solve" anything, I simply listen to what the actual facts are from a number of different news and science sources instead of getting my "information" from partisan political sources.
Since you're now down to attacking the messenger without being able to actually refute any of the facts or logical arguments I've presented in any of my replies, you're obviously now running on nothing but ideological fumes, so this will be my last post in this thread.
I'm truly saddened about the damage occurring to the Gulf, I used to live down there and know people that are suffering. I'm all for punishing those individuals involved and fining the crap out of BP, who was responsible for preventing this sort of thing from occurring.
It makes me sick that the administration seems far more concerned with using this emergency ("never let a good emergency go to waste"-Rom Immanuel) to advance their political and ideological goals while lining their political allies' pockets instead of dealing with this disaster effectively, fairly, and logically.
I see no problem with investigating what happened before more wells are drilled to prevent it from happening again.
Well then, you can relax.
The causes are *individual people* employed by *one* company on *one* of many operations by it and many other companies both foreign & domestic, broke regulations already in place and knowingly took unsafe shortcuts that were and are not typical or standard practice, and the rigs were all re-inspected shortly after the DH incident with this in mind and found to be well within compliance other than a small number of very minor violations, few affecting actual integrity of the drilling and well itself.
So, without any evidence that a ban would do any actual good, and definite evidence that it will cause much harm, it would be illogical to enact. Remember, we can only halt drilling in waters the US controls and only that by US companies outside those limits, not all the foreign drilling by foreign-owned companies that will continue within range to cause damage with a spill/blowout.
... We know that we must run deficits, large ones, in order to create a demand stimulus large enough to moderate this trough of the economic cycle. Nonetheless, we have politicians trying to score political points by railing against deficit spending -- which didn't bother them for the past 8 years when they were in charge....
While I won't argue with the fact that establishment Republicans are hypocrites, I believe your economic assertions are in error. Keynesian economics have been fully discredited, in my view. I subscribe to the Austrian School of economics, which states that reducing government spending and allowing bad debt to be liquidated is the only way to ensure the long-term stability of the economy.
What you essentially said is that my view is ignorant, but perhaps you should investigate your own claims, and explain why Keynesian economic policies of running large deficits allowed the Great Depression to persist for 15 years, if it is so obviously the solution to a troubled economy.
But my point is that there are ideas out there other than the one you believe to be true; it does not mean that people that disagree with you are ignorant.
Oh, fer $DEITY's sake mods, c'mon! Troll!?!?
This is simply another viewpoint, logically & reasonably presented. I thought the whole idea of a forum for "nerds" is to present opposing logical arguments and debate on the merits of logic and facts, not to make it another ideologically-driven, partisan political blivet (military circa WW2 definition).
As if oil spills don't cause lost jobs. A bunch if fishermen, hotel workers, and restaurant workers would disagree. So will those who see their energy and fuel bills go up.
Umm, we've had only one "spill", however the word "incident" with spillage as a consequence would be more accurate. Russian deep-submersibles are reported to have found a fracture in the sea bed at the Deep Horizon well, so this incident may well have happened even if every safety rule & regulation were followed to the letter and then some, if it were the result of an unpredictable natural event.
Finally, is stopping the rest of the platforms and companies in the Gulf, who have had zero accidents, at major impact to the already very shaky US economic and employment situations, going to reduce or eliminate damage from this Deep Horizon spill? Wouldn't having more resources nearby, at the very least, be worth considering? How about at least signing the waivers to allow foreign marine assistance in the cleanup?
Why is the administration crippling US oil companies while investing heavily in a foreign oil company?
US oil companies like B(ritish) P(etroleum) and (Royal Dutch) Shell, you mean?
Oh, I'm sorry. I guess the drilling ban doesn't include any US oil companies then?
If the drilling ban goes into effect, the oil rigs in the gulf will be leased to other oil companies and moved, and they won't be coming back anytime soon. Tens of thousands of US jobs will also leave with the rigs. Drilling won't stop, it will just move, and in the process make George Soros huge amounts of wealth and increase US energy costs enormously. Huge increases in energy costs and enormous job losses aren't exactly what one needs in an economic crisis.
This is an example of rampant government corruption and Progressive ideology run amok.
Yahoo's Newsroom is reporting that the judge who overturned the drilling moratorium holds stock in drilling companies.
No conflict of interest here, no sir...
Just like there's no conflict of interest in the fact that the US government just loaned the Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras 2 billion dollars for offshore drilling in depths far exceeding the moratorium.
Funny coincidence also that George Soros, (who, through the Center For American Progress & John Podesta, who also headed Obama's transition team and chose who filled most of the top positions in the administration) invested a huge amount in Petrobras only days before the government's decision to invest. George Soros stands to make a killing from the drilling moratorium.
Why is the administration crippling US oil companies while investing heavily in a foreign oil company?
...to write the music, play the music, write the book, design the product, you still need someone creative, and that someone still needs to eat, even if their costs have gone down, they still need to eat.
All of the things you mention, like writing & playing the music, we do already as a band in addition to product design (cover & label artwork, etc) as well as the recording & publishing. Where we may differ from big-label artists is that we don't view a recording and it's sales as our product, our purpose & goal. It's a promotional tool. We give away tons (many more than we sell) of physical CDs, and MP3s are freely available on the band's website. We make our money mainly from performances & merchandise like T-shirts, caps, etc.
The artists that you see publicly railing against "piracy" and in favor of copyright expansions have become part of the music "industry" themselves and have become dependent upon it. They've "sold out", as the cliche goes, and so their stances on issues surrounding copyright are to be expected, as they themselves have become nothing more than tools of the recording industry.
The price of copying data has dropped to almost nothing. So what? The price of creating the data in the first place hasn't.
As a lifelong musician, I can tell you that "creating the data", in the case of recording and publishing music, has most certainly gone down by orders of magnitude. My blues band has two CDs out on iTunes, AmazonMP3, and about 5 or 6 others and total cost (not counting the equipment we already had, but including the costs of publishing) was around $800, with physical CDs with liner & disc/cover artwork at about $2 each in 100-lots ready for sale as needed, complete with UPC coding/registration.
That's a small fraction of the cost to do the same thing in the '70s...or even the '80s or '90s, for that matter. That's one of the major reasons behind their aggressive attempts to maintain and increase their control of distribution channels, as well as using fear tactics rather indiscriminately against anyone using this, to them, "new intertubes thing" to violate copyright.
The internet is a threat because it's a distribution channel they don't control, so they hope to both scare potential infringers while using them as an excuse to lobby for legislation to increase control of the internet and it's users while removing privacy, anonymity, and individual freedom.
But, hey...as long as they don't have to do anything like adapt to a changing world, what does the hampering of technological progress and the loss of a few rights & freedoms matter, eh? Those lawyers they use to avoid audits of their books and cheat artists aren't cheap, never mind the hookers & blow.
The only group of people that have consistently paid barely any taxes and consistently voted themselves better treatment from the government are the filthy rich.
This one has flaws too, but at least it's better than FPTP hopefully.
It's not good enough. We have the technology to run a democracy right now. Anything less is tyranny.
Better take a look at past attempts at democracies, like ancient Greece. Pure democracies fail as soon as people realize they can vote themselves free stuff. That's part of the problem the US is having currently as ~46% (and growing rapidly) of US citizens pay no federal income taxes, so voting for more/larger entitlements doesn't cost them anything.
These expansions in government give more & more power to those in government, thus giving them incentive to keep the feedback loop going until the system crashes.
You want to destroy a country? Make it a democracy. A democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
"What will you do when more people are breaking your law than obeying it?"
The same thing we do with drug prohibition: expand the police force and increase the power that the police have, and then go ahead and incarcerate millions of people
But seriously, these dying businesses & business models need to have their ability to buy laws reined in, as their desperate attempts to distort reality are damaging the entire human race.
Because WE declare it so... That is all that is required.
Well, apparently there are a LOT of politicians & bureaucrats that don't believe people are smart enough to decide what their country & government should be like, and even get "irritated" to the point of public assault when someone asks them a simple question on their stance on issues & policies.
The problem is, the government has gone from simply setting ground rules to ensure a free and fair market, to micromanagement of nearly every aspect of a business and to the point that it has distorted the free and fair market that was the original goal.
Could it possibly occur to you the reason for this isn't that the Government isn't just grabbing as much power as possible, but rather the unscrupulous have gotten more and more crafty at what they do?
Could it possibly occur to you that the "unscrupulous" you speak of are both in government and in corporations/business, even to the point that many are in both, at least as far as their financial and political interests go?
The only way to make sure that every single person/entity/business is acting lawfully and ethically is to have absolute control and knowledge of all aspects of their lives, actions, and transactions. There are already laws against bad behaviors, the problem is that politicians & bureaucrats use selective (or just non-) enforcement in cases where it benefits either themselves, their ideologies, and/or their financial interests.
Don't thank the government, thank the labor unions. The government was on the side of the corporations back then, and even encouraged companies using union-busting thugs to beat down union members protesting poor/dangerous conditions and miserly pay. It wasn't until the unions were able to organize into large enough voting blocs to threaten politicians' elections that the government suddenly found a need to seriously improve conditions for the average US worker.
As has already been said, these new regulations are just another distraction from the piss-poor job elected officials have been doing, and an attempt to have something to point to on election day
No, thank the Government too. The Government isn't a monoculture, the "one party system" that a lot of libertarians complain about is only on very large, very complex issues. For all other things, there are huge differences between parties. In the 30's, we went from Herbert Hoover to FDR.
Wait, what? What does that have to do with the fact that it was unions that forced the government to establish in law fair labor practices? Regardless of what party may be in power, politicians are human beings with all the same faults that every other human has, including those in private sector companies and businesses.
The big difference is that those in government can send men with guns to force someone to do as they wish. Call me crazy, but I'd rather have the people with the guns & prisons under more restrictions as to what powers they may exercise, not give them more. Of course, someone may disagree if they've already had their jack-boot fitting done.
The market exists to conduct transactions, making it fair for all has been a result of Government intervention.
The problem is, the government has gone from simply setting ground rules to ensure a free and fair market, to micromanagement of nearly every aspect of a business and to the point that it has distorted the free and fair market that was the original goal.
It was only 100 years ago when 16 hours of labor a day was worth enough scrip for barely enough to live off of from the company store. Now 16 hours of labor is worth 8 hours plus 8 hours times one and a half.
Don't thank the government, thank the labor unions. The government was on the side of the corporations back then, and even encouraged companies using union-busting thugs to beat down union members protesting poor/dangerous conditions and miserly pay. It wasn't until the unions were able to organize into large enough voting blocs to threaten politicians' elections that the government suddenly found a need to seriously improve conditions for the average US worker.
As has already been said, these new regulations are just another distraction from the piss-poor job elected officials have been doing, and an attempt to have something to point to on election day.
It's people like you that lead to lakes dying or even catching on fire.
Oh, you don't agree with the methods the AC used to reply, wishing the person he disagrees with to put a gun in their mouth and pull the trigger. I see. So, it's not attacking the speaker rather than the speaker's argument you have a problem with, it's more a matter of style?
Why not try, you know, having an open mind?
And nationalizing ANWR drilling!?!? I thought we wanted it done right. At least with a private corp you can sue them, jail people, freeze assets, etc in the case of criminal negligence or other bad behavior. The government has sovereign immunity. It's also run by politicians who will never allow themselves and their friends to be put in any serious jeopardy.
Not only will we have THE most inefficient, corrupt, and incompetent sector doing the drilling in a National Wildlife Preserve, when something DOES happen, all there will be are some hearings, maybe a special panel, a ballyhooed report, and a few scapegoat's heads will roll. Meanwhile, those guilty and profiting will go right on without pause. You know it's true. That's what always happens.
Government regulations are reflections of the hopes/dreams of politicians and bureaucrats.
FTFY to more-accurately reflect today's Federal government's attitude of doing whatever they damn well please once they've gotten elected, even over the very vocal objections of a wide majority of their own constituents.
lxtoc_1 was simply a matter of the mexican national oil company ignoring something that almost exclusively effected the Texas coast.
And how does that differ from how BP acted? Do the world a favor, find a loaded gun, put in in your mouth, turn off the safety, and pull the trigger.
Great! Then you must be in favor of drilling in places like ANWR then, since not drilling at all would mean economic collapse and many deaths unless there's a practical & economical substitute *right now*, along with all it's necessary infrastructure in place.
By the way, very classy of you with the gun bit. I stand in awe of your intellect and ability to debate a topic civilly and persuade with the brilliance of your logic.
Slashdot Mirror
Once fully implemented, unless the computer you use has this chip enabled & linked to an identity, your ISP's routers won't let you connect.
Oh well, I guess it's back to the age of the BBSes, then. (Only with wireless links instead of telephone lines)
I'm not too sure that would work in any meaningful way for many people, as I'm sure the FCC along with other government assets would be mobilized and used to track & silence unauthorized transmissions if needed relative to how much activity is occurring.
Even if there is some success with this method, part of the "Trusted Computing" plan is to incorporate it into as much computing & networking equipment as reasonably possible. I'm sure the FCC would mandate TC functionality be incorporated into things like wireless routers, being that they too can see the possibilities. So, only old equipment (likely EOL'd by government mandate) will be non-TC with no new stock, parts, or software updates available.
If they have shut down the 'net to an extent that the idea of trying this is being considered, the probability that marshal law has already been declared is high, so extreme measures being used against "blackout" violators (aka "traitorous rebel scum" by the gov.) could be very likely.
Under those kinds of conditions I'd think most regular folks would be cowering in their houses just praying that they and their loved ones don't get killed or starve to death, rather than risking everything setting up a wireless network.
Strat
"...This company had apparently viewed game tax relief as a measure that would have given the UK an unfair advantage over other nations."
Wait...over here in the US they're telling us that increasing taxes is an economic stimulus and will create jobs, stimulate investment, and grow the economy. Wouldn't increasing the gaming software sector's taxes be an incentive for growth instead of a burden if that's true?
Strat
"Trusted Computing" aka TC/TCG/LaGrande/NGSCB/Longhorn/Palladium/TCPA is one of the greatest threats to freedom and anonymity ever known. Read the FAQ.
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
This is what the administration is talking about implementing. This will give the government a frightening amount of control & power over the internet and communications. This isn't some card you carry around, it's built right into the CPU and gives the government total control over your computer *and any information in it*.
It will control what gets published on the 'net and even provides the ability to remove all instances of a document from any computer that connects to the 'net and retroactively "unpublish" anything the government (and it's friends) don't like. No more WikiLeaks.
Once fully implemented, unless the computer you use has this chip enabled & linked to an identity, your ISP's routers won't let you connect. It will allow control over what software may be installed. Forget linux and other F/OSS software and systems getting certified, at least at costs (in both financial terms and in freedom/security) an F/OSS project could reasonably afford or tolerate.
This is a wet-dream for governments wanting to control people & information, and their multinational corporate friends.
Strat
"Your proposal is acceptable."
-FBI Copyright Enforcement Special Weapons & Tactics Division
Under my First Amendment right, I can clearly state that my constitutionally-protected opinion of that quote is that you should go fuck yourself with several lawn care implements.
Not a Will Smith fan either, I take it? :P
Strat
That's all true, however if there were no copyright, how would you eat without taking a second job?
We eat just fine because we don't need to depend on copyright but on a simple contract to get paid for playing a gig, and use recordings for promotion and even give them away as loss-leaders.
Strat
They can pry the Creative Commons from my cold dead fingers
"Your proposal is acceptable."
-FBI Copyright Enforcement Special Weapons & Tactics Division
Strat
WOW! you've solved what scientists and experts have been investigating for weeks. Perhaps they need you to teach them since they are so slow.
No, *I* didn't "solve" anything, I simply listen to what the actual facts are from a number of different news and science sources instead of getting my "information" from partisan political sources.
Since you're now down to attacking the messenger without being able to actually refute any of the facts or logical arguments I've presented in any of my replies, you're obviously now running on nothing but ideological fumes, so this will be my last post in this thread.
I'm truly saddened about the damage occurring to the Gulf, I used to live down there and know people that are suffering. I'm all for punishing those individuals involved and fining the crap out of BP, who was responsible for preventing this sort of thing from occurring.
It makes me sick that the administration seems far more concerned with using this emergency ("never let a good emergency go to waste"-Rom Immanuel) to advance their political and ideological goals while lining their political allies' pockets instead of dealing with this disaster effectively, fairly, and logically.
Strat
I see no problem with investigating what happened before more wells are drilled to prevent it from happening again.
Well then, you can relax.
The causes are *individual people* employed by *one* company on *one* of many operations by it and many other companies both foreign & domestic, broke regulations already in place and knowingly took unsafe shortcuts that were and are not typical or standard practice, and the rigs were all re-inspected shortly after the DH incident with this in mind and found to be well within compliance other than a small number of very minor violations, few affecting actual integrity of the drilling and well itself.
So, without any evidence that a ban would do any actual good, and definite evidence that it will cause much harm, it would be illogical to enact. Remember, we can only halt drilling in waters the US controls and only that by US companies outside those limits, not all the foreign drilling by foreign-owned companies that will continue within range to cause damage with a spill/blowout.
Strat
... We know that we must run deficits, large ones, in order to create a demand stimulus large enough to moderate this trough of the economic cycle. Nonetheless, we have politicians trying to score political points by railing against deficit spending -- which didn't bother them for the past 8 years when they were in charge. ...
While I won't argue with the fact that establishment Republicans are hypocrites, I believe your economic assertions are in error. Keynesian economics have been fully discredited, in my view. I subscribe to the Austrian School of economics, which states that reducing government spending and allowing bad debt to be liquidated is the only way to ensure the long-term stability of the economy.
What you essentially said is that my view is ignorant, but perhaps you should investigate your own claims, and explain why Keynesian economic policies of running large deficits allowed the Great Depression to persist for 15 years, if it is so obviously the solution to a troubled economy.
But my point is that there are ideas out there other than the one you believe to be true; it does not mean that people that disagree with you are ignorant.
Oh, fer $DEITY's sake mods, c'mon! Troll!?!?
This is simply another viewpoint, logically & reasonably presented. I thought the whole idea of a forum for "nerds" is to present opposing logical arguments and debate on the merits of logic and facts, not to make it another ideologically-driven, partisan political blivet (military circa WW2 definition).
Strat
As if oil spills don't cause lost jobs. A bunch if fishermen, hotel workers, and restaurant workers would disagree. So will those who see their energy and fuel bills go up.
Umm, we've had only one "spill", however the word "incident" with spillage as a consequence would be more accurate. Russian deep-submersibles are reported to have found a fracture in the sea bed at the Deep Horizon well, so this incident may well have happened even if every safety rule & regulation were followed to the letter and then some, if it were the result of an unpredictable natural event.
Finally, is stopping the rest of the platforms and companies in the Gulf, who have had zero accidents, at major impact to the already very shaky US economic and employment situations, going to reduce or eliminate damage from this Deep Horizon spill? Wouldn't having more resources nearby, at the very least, be worth considering? How about at least signing the waivers to allow foreign marine assistance in the cleanup?
Strat
Why is the administration crippling US oil companies while investing heavily in a foreign oil company?
US oil companies like B(ritish) P(etroleum) and (Royal Dutch) Shell, you mean?
Oh, I'm sorry. I guess the drilling ban doesn't include any US oil companies then?
If the drilling ban goes into effect, the oil rigs in the gulf will be leased to other oil companies and moved, and they won't be coming back anytime soon. Tens of thousands of US jobs will also leave with the rigs. Drilling won't stop, it will just move, and in the process make George Soros huge amounts of wealth and increase US energy costs enormously. Huge increases in energy costs and enormous job losses aren't exactly what one needs in an economic crisis.
This is an example of rampant government corruption and Progressive ideology run amok.
Strat
Yahoo's Newsroom is reporting that the judge who overturned the drilling moratorium holds stock in drilling companies.
No conflict of interest here, no sir...
Just like there's no conflict of interest in the fact that the US government just loaned the Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras 2 billion dollars for offshore drilling in depths far exceeding the moratorium.
Funny coincidence also that George Soros, (who, through the Center For American Progress & John Podesta, who also headed Obama's transition team and chose who filled most of the top positions in the administration) invested a huge amount in Petrobras only days before the government's decision to invest. George Soros stands to make a killing from the drilling moratorium.
Why is the administration crippling US oil companies while investing heavily in a foreign oil company?
Strat
...to write the music, play the music, write the book, design the product, you still need someone creative, and that someone still needs to eat, even if their costs have gone down, they still need to eat.
All of the things you mention, like writing & playing the music, we do already as a band in addition to product design (cover & label artwork, etc) as well as the recording & publishing. Where we may differ from big-label artists is that we don't view a recording and it's sales as our product, our purpose & goal. It's a promotional tool. We give away tons (many more than we sell) of physical CDs, and MP3s are freely available on the band's website. We make our money mainly from performances & merchandise like T-shirts, caps, etc.
The artists that you see publicly railing against "piracy" and in favor of copyright expansions have become part of the music "industry" themselves and have become dependent upon it. They've "sold out", as the cliche goes, and so their stances on issues surrounding copyright are to be expected, as they themselves have become nothing more than tools of the recording industry.
Strat
The price of copying data has dropped to almost nothing. So what? The price of creating the data in the first place hasn't.
As a lifelong musician, I can tell you that "creating the data", in the case of recording and publishing music, has most certainly gone down by orders of magnitude. My blues band has two CDs out on iTunes, AmazonMP3, and about 5 or 6 others and total cost (not counting the equipment we already had, but including the costs of publishing) was around $800, with physical CDs with liner & disc/cover artwork at about $2 each in 100-lots ready for sale as needed, complete with UPC coding/registration.
That's a small fraction of the cost to do the same thing in the '70s...or even the '80s or '90s, for that matter. That's one of the major reasons behind their aggressive attempts to maintain and increase their control of distribution channels, as well as using fear tactics rather indiscriminately against anyone using this, to them, "new intertubes thing" to violate copyright.
The internet is a threat because it's a distribution channel they don't control, so they hope to both scare potential infringers while using them as an excuse to lobby for legislation to increase control of the internet and it's users while removing privacy, anonymity, and individual freedom.
But, hey...as long as they don't have to do anything like adapt to a changing world, what does the hampering of technological progress and the loss of a few rights & freedoms matter, eh? Those lawyers they use to avoid audits of their books and cheat artists aren't cheap, never mind the hookers & blow.
Strat
The only group of people that have consistently paid barely any taxes and consistently voted themselves better treatment from the government are the filthy rich.
O RLY?
Strat
This one has flaws too, but at least it's better than FPTP hopefully.
It's not good enough. We have the technology to run a democracy right now. Anything less is tyranny.
Better take a look at past attempts at democracies, like ancient Greece. Pure democracies fail as soon as people realize they can vote themselves free stuff. That's part of the problem the US is having currently as ~46% (and growing rapidly) of US citizens pay no federal income taxes, so voting for more/larger entitlements doesn't cost them anything.
These expansions in government give more & more power to those in government, thus giving them incentive to keep the feedback loop going until the system crashes.
You want to destroy a country? Make it a democracy. A democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
Strat
"What will you do when more people are breaking your law than obeying it?"
The same thing we do with drug prohibition: expand the police force and increase the power that the police have, and then go ahead and incarcerate millions of people
Well, they DO still have a number of the old concentration camps preserved in Germany. They could just dust them off and light the pilot lights on the old ovens. Solves the overcrowded prison & incarceration costs problems, as well as eliminating recidivism among copyright violators. They could also simply swap-out the swastikas for the "©" symbol and save a ton on flags & signage.
I keed, I keed!
But seriously, these dying businesses & business models need to have their ability to buy laws reined in, as their desperate attempts to distort reality are damaging the entire human race.
Strat
Because WE declare it so... That is all that is required.
Well, apparently there are a LOT of politicians & bureaucrats that don't believe people are smart enough to decide what their country & government should be like, and even get "irritated" to the point of public assault when someone asks them a simple question on their stance on issues & policies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru2VLANgPHs
I wouldn't count on government officials with attitudes like that regarding the people they represent to pay much attention to what "the people" want.
Strat
I said;
And nationalizing ANWR drilling!?!? I thought we wanted it done right.
You replied;
I find it humorous that you think the government has immunity from screw-ups.
I don't know who...or what...you're replying to, but maybe you should actually read posts before relying?
Just a suggestion.
Strat
The problem is, the government has gone from simply setting ground rules to ensure a free and fair market, to micromanagement of nearly every aspect of a business and to the point that it has distorted the free and fair market that was the original goal.
Could it possibly occur to you the reason for this isn't that the Government isn't just grabbing as much power as possible, but rather the unscrupulous have gotten more and more crafty at what they do?
Could it possibly occur to you that the "unscrupulous" you speak of are both in government and in corporations/business, even to the point that many are in both, at least as far as their financial and political interests go?
The only way to make sure that every single person/entity/business is acting lawfully and ethically is to have absolute control and knowledge of all aspects of their lives, actions, and transactions. There are already laws against bad behaviors, the problem is that politicians & bureaucrats use selective (or just non-) enforcement in cases where it benefits either themselves, their ideologies, and/or their financial interests.
Don't thank the government, thank the labor unions. The government was on the side of the corporations back then, and even encouraged companies using union-busting thugs to beat down union members protesting poor/dangerous conditions and miserly pay. It wasn't until the unions were able to organize into large enough voting blocs to threaten politicians' elections that the government suddenly found a need to seriously improve conditions for the average US worker.
As has already been said, these new regulations are just another distraction from the piss-poor job elected officials have been doing, and an attempt to have something to point to on election day
No, thank the Government too. The Government isn't a monoculture, the "one party system" that a lot of libertarians complain about is only on very large, very complex issues. For all other things, there are huge differences between parties. In the 30's, we went from Herbert Hoover to FDR.
Wait, what? What does that have to do with the fact that it was unions that forced the government to establish in law fair labor practices? Regardless of what party may be in power, politicians are human beings with all the same faults that every other human has, including those in private sector companies and businesses.
The big difference is that those in government can send men with guns to force someone to do as they wish. Call me crazy, but I'd rather have the people with the guns & prisons under more restrictions as to what powers they may exercise, not give them more. Of course, someone may disagree if they've already had their jack-boot fitting done.
Strat
you must be a libertarian.
The market exists to conduct transactions, making it fair for all has been a result of Government intervention.
The problem is, the government has gone from simply setting ground rules to ensure a free and fair market, to micromanagement of nearly every aspect of a business and to the point that it has distorted the free and fair market that was the original goal.
It was only 100 years ago when 16 hours of labor a day was worth enough scrip for barely enough to live off of from the company store. Now 16 hours of labor is worth 8 hours plus 8 hours times one and a half.
Don't thank the government, thank the labor unions. The government was on the side of the corporations back then, and even encouraged companies using union-busting thugs to beat down union members protesting poor/dangerous conditions and miserly pay. It wasn't until the unions were able to organize into large enough voting blocs to threaten politicians' elections that the government suddenly found a need to seriously improve conditions for the average US worker.
As has already been said, these new regulations are just another distraction from the piss-poor job elected officials have been doing, and an attempt to have something to point to on election day.
Strat
...you'd need some pretty pliable sheep to believe that one.
Welcome to America 2.0, the result of 100 years of dumbing-down the populace.
Strat
I don't agree with the method AC used to reply
In the same post as;
It's people like you that lead to lakes dying or even catching on fire.
Oh, you don't agree with the methods the AC used to reply, wishing the person he disagrees with to put a gun in their mouth and pull the trigger. I see. So, it's not attacking the speaker rather than the speaker's argument you have a problem with, it's more a matter of style?
Why not try, you know, having an open mind?
And nationalizing ANWR drilling!?!? I thought we wanted it done right. At least with a private corp you can sue them, jail people, freeze assets, etc in the case of criminal negligence or other bad behavior. The government has sovereign immunity. It's also run by politicians who will never allow themselves and their friends to be put in any serious jeopardy.
Not only will we have THE most inefficient, corrupt, and incompetent sector doing the drilling in a National Wildlife Preserve, when something DOES happen, all there will be are some hearings, maybe a special panel, a ballyhooed report, and a few scapegoat's heads will roll. Meanwhile, those guilty and profiting will go right on without pause. You know it's true. That's what always happens.
Strat
Government regulations are reflections of the hopes/dreams of politicians and bureaucrats.
FTFY to more-accurately reflect today's Federal government's attitude of doing whatever they damn well please once they've gotten elected, even over the very vocal objections of a wide majority of their own constituents.
No need to thank me.
Strat
lxtoc_1 was simply a matter of the mexican national oil company ignoring something that almost exclusively effected the Texas coast.
And how does that differ from how BP acted? Do the world a favor, find a loaded gun, put in in your mouth, turn off the safety, and pull the trigger.
Great! Then you must be in favor of drilling in places like ANWR then, since not drilling at all would mean economic collapse and many deaths unless there's a practical & economical substitute *right now*, along with all it's necessary infrastructure in place.
By the way, very classy of you with the gun bit. I stand in awe of your intellect and ability to debate a topic civilly and persuade with the brilliance of your logic.
Bravo, Sir, Bra-vo!
Strat