A copy of my post re: "MP3 Sharing Not Serious Threat To CD Sales"
"I think what the RIAA is really scared of is the fact that P2P distribution might allow an artist to gain fame and make money without going through the "major label system""
Being a musician (blues guitarist here) myself, I can see the logic to this argument. I've known a couple of bands/artists that had high hopes when they got "signed", only to have their work "deep-sixed" because the label saw their work as possibly taking away from one or more of their "cash-cow", heavily-promoted and marketed artists. I think the real way out here is independent online marketing and sales by the artists themselves, marketing through P2P, and sales through an online service like Taxi or mp3.com. After several decades (I'm 46) of watching the labels screw artists, they couldn't pay me enough to sign with them. Granted, I might not ever get a grammy or a gold/platinum record, but at least I'll have more control of what gets released and when, and a larger chunk of whatever money is made. Plus, it might get a few more butts filling seats at gigs, which is what I live for anyway (there just isn't _anything_ like the feeling of connecting with a live audience, and riding that energy!).
"I think what the RIAA is really scared of is the fact that P2P distribution might allow an artist to gain fame and make money without going through the "major label system""
Being a musician (blues guitarist here) myself, I can see the logic to this argument. I've known a couple of bands/artists that had high hopes when they got "signed", only to have their work "deep-sixed" because the label saw their work as possibly taking away from one or more of their "cash-cow", heavily-promoted and marketed artists. I think the real way out here is independent online marketing and sales by the artists themselves, marketing through P2P, and sales through an online service like Taxi or mp3.com. After several decades (I'm 46) of watching the labels screw artists, they couldn't pay me enough to sign with them. Granted, I might not ever get a grammy or a gold/platinum record, but at least I'll have more control of what gets released and when, and a larger chunk of whatever money is made. Plus, it might get a few more butts filling seats at gigs, which is what I live for anyway (there just isn't _anything_ like the feeling of connecting with a live audience, and riding that energy!).
"Of course there will never be a situation where there won't be an x86 platform that can't run Linux, it is too popular in Japan, India and China."
I can see a scenario in which hardware is regionalised like DVD players are now, except with much higher penalties for trafficking in regionless or out-of-region hardware. Wouldn't it just be a kick in the teeth to get less prison time for 10 pounds of cocaine than 10 pounds of regionless motherboards/processors?
Here in S.W. Michigan, Comcast won't allow me to have broadband without also paying for basic cable. I really don't want the damned cable TV, and _don't_ want to pay for it, but I'm held hostage since there isn't a DSL service or another cable service offered in this area. Besides, even to have DSL, I'd have to have a standard phone line installed. (I only have cell phone service..much cheaper than a standard telco phone here.)
"Donald Rumsfeld shook Saddam's hand at a time when we *knew* that he was a mass murderer,"
True, but I've often heard diplomacy described as the art of saying, "Nice doggie"..while searching for a stick. I think Rumsfeld may have had a similar thought as he smiled at Saddam.
"This is supposed to be a sign on top of the 747, where the orbiter links to the top of the 747's fuselage. It reads "Place Orbiter Here...Black Side Down"."
The scary thing is, what happened that necessitated that particular warning/instruction? I have visions of an orbiter needing extensive vertical stabiliser repair.:-D
I find it offensive that your default page, seen when linking to InformationWeek from a recent LinuxToday article, seems to accuse LinuxToday of unauthorised redistribution of content. Simply using a small fair-use excerpt of an article, with a link to the entire article on your site, is NOT content redistribution. It's more like free advertising. Furthermore, as the head of marketing, I find your actions extremely counter-intuitive, as I thought the idea of marketing a website was to get hits, so as to generate advertising revenue. Personally, if I were you, I'd get rid of the mental giant that came up with THAT very, very bad idea. All you have done is alienate a large chunk of readers, and simply copy-and-pasting the link works around the blocking anyways. Congratulations on losing another potential subscriber. Not particularly because of the referral blocking per-se, but, because of your demonstrated inability to understand how the web works. Why on earth would I consider your publication(s) as a reliable, knowledgeable source on information technology? It would be like asking the designer of the Hindenburg how to make my gas furnace safe. I have also compiled a list of advertisers from your sites, and a copy of this e-mail will be forwarded to their administration and marketing departments. Hope you weren't counting on a bonus this quarter.
From what I've read about (un)Trusted Computing, yes, there will be an option in the BIOS config to turn off T.C.. The problem(s) then is any data/documents/images/etc. that were created or imported while T.C. was enabled are now inaccessable. Plus, if the Cisco T.C.-enabled routers get implemented widely enough that turning on the T.C. functionality becomes practical (widspread in P.C.s', etc.), you won't be able to access the net in any meaningful way. So, sure, you can turn it off, but you'll be left with a crippled (for practical purposes), isolated box. I kinda look at it as, I'm paying the same $X dollars for a crippled P.C., in terms of functionality, as I *was* paying for a non-crippled box, and, to add insult to injury, the only coin they accept in payment to use my own PC/data, is my control of my PC/data.:/
Don't misunderstand, I wasn't dissing Flight Gear by any means..I consider it to be a real jewel in FOSS gaming. I'd just like to see more..if I had the skills, I'd love to write a combat flight sim version:( . I can see some really cool Tux-themed nose art:-P
"Doing away with IP can only help weed out the chaff."
If you do away with the motivation to invest the resources necessary to invent by not allowing the investor to realise any profit, or even recoup the expenses, how will anything new get created? Will you make having full citizenship/rights conditional on an individual contributing an idea/invention? If someone has an idea, will you make it illegal for them to withold it? Would you make a criminals' release from prison conditional on contributing an invention? Will you assign the government the job of invention? *Limited* IP rights encourage invention and innovation by making investing the resources in developing an idea attractive.
..are the only reason why this isn't a windoze-free box. I know that there's Flight Gear, but it's a long ways from my favorite flight sim, European Air War (by Infogrames). I also love the MechWarrior game series (I own all the MW-3/MW-4/Mercenaries+expansion packs). I just wish that somebody other than M$ had the rights to it. USB joysticks are a pain to get working in linux, also. *IF* a linux-gaming distro came out with anything close to the same quality/quantity games available, and better support for joysticks, graphics cards, etc., I'd be grabbing a copy pronto, and saying a permanent goodbye to windoze. The biggest problem is game makers not porting to linux, which a new distro, no matter how good a gaming platform it may be, won't affect until the game makers see enough of a market for it to be worth the effort/expense.
"Will people will stop making music just because they can't sell 10 million CD:s? No."
Well, if I can't afford to keep myself in strings, food, rent, etc., then yes, I won't be producing any music. The problem is the middlemen making it necessary to sell 10 million CDs in order for the artist to get enough money to keep producing music. An artist creating new music isn't comparable to a buggy-whip manufacturer. Creating new/unique music isn't obsolete, just the distribution model set up by the labels/RIAA is. You need to differentiate between artists/musicians, and the media industry. The situation is more comparable to a buisiness owner in a city being forced to use the local mob-run delivery company. You wouldn't (I hope) argue that the buisiness owner should give up trying to make a living from his buisiness, rather than stopping the mob-run delivery company from extorting money at both ends, would you?
..may be what's needed. I'm a musician myself, and I personally wouldn't sign with a label if offered. I would like to see an expansion of websites like Taxi and mp3.com, among others. If more artists/musicians were educated/informed about what's available for them online as far as distribution and sales, the lack of artists/musicians willing to sign with the labels would eventually make the whole point moot. Most musicians I've met have absolutely no clue when it comes to computers and the internet, and are blown away with the possibilities of independent marketing and sales of their work that are possible (not to mention keeping the lions' share of the money) online. I feel that *if* more musicians/artists were informed about what resources are already available online now to sell/distribute their work, a significant percentage would refuse to get sucked into the labels/RIAA meatgrinder, and more independent distribution/sales websites would spring up to satisfy demand. This would effectively move the RIAA comepletely out of the loop, and force a change in the industry. As long as artists/musicians continue to view the labels/RIAA as the only viable means to get their work sold/distributed/marketed, the labels and the RIAA will continue to be able to dictate terms, to both the artists/musicians, and to consumers.
because no matter which crowd I'm in front of when I start pawing around and pulling stuff out, it almost never fails to produce a "WTF is THAT!?!?" from whichever crowd, geek or musician, I happen to be around at the moment:-D. (Sadly, haven't ran across any fellow-geek, linux-using blues players around my area, hope I'm not _that_ rare a breed:-/ )
"The DMCA is powerless mere inches beyond the US border."
On the face of it, that's true. However, if that scenario came to pass (trips to international waters to avoid the DMCA), it would be quite likely that if the participants were to return to the U.S., they would be arrested and prosecuted anyways. Maybe for DMCA violations, maybe not, but some charge would be dreamed up. Possibly an international racketeering/organised crime/RICO charge, and (not sure what prison time/fines DMCA violations can get you) possibly much increased penalties. If the U.S. gov. is willing to extend F.C.C. powers to international waters in order to raid and stop offshore pirate radio broadcasters who only competed with local radio broadcasters, how far would they be willing to go for a whole industry (or a significant portion of one)?
Precisely.."theft" and "stealing" are incorrect terms for the nature of the illegality in copying/sharing copyright-protected content. However, using such loaded terms makes using anti property-theft tactics such as raids by armed law enforcement agents, corporate enforcement street raids like the ones in San Francisco by the RIAA, and other such draconian measures usually reserved for crimes like bank robbery or narcotics trafficking, more palatable to the politicians and the masses. It sounds much better for the congresscritters to say they're passing a law against piracy/theft than it does to say they're passing a law to remove your fair-use rights to protect their big money contributors.
I know there's probably something I'm not thinking of that would disqualify this idea, but why not just use a simple carbon paper ballot with, say, the original and 2 copies being generated, then the poll worker runs it (over? through? across?) an optical reader that sends the count over normal phone lines, to a central tabulation center, where the results can be quickly evaluated, then verified against the paper copies. There should be a workable model similar to this that could be implemented, and could avoid many of the pitfalls this experiment has revealed.
Never had money seized, but one time I got pulled over (in MI also, btw) on the highway to pick up some computer equipment/parts from a shop in a nearby town. I had about $900 USD, and the trooper saw the wad in my wallet when I hauled it out for the mandatory DL check. He started really checking me and the car out, but, luckily I had the invoice for the order with me, and he quickly apoligised, saying it wasn't so much trying to roust people just for having money, but just a matter of their own safety. A lot of cops have been shot in MI, a lot of them State Troopers, on traffic stops in recent years, and anything out of the ordinary gets their attention, as it could mean them going home tonight..or not.
Ok..then would it be terrorism if a guy threatened to kick his neighbors' behind if his neighbors' dog took one more crap in his front yard? What if it were 2 neighbors? 3? Or, what if it were just one neighbor, but the fight/threat was over politics? I can see where, unless the law is better defined, the government could use it to charge anyone it doesn't like with a terrorism charge, instead of a normal civil/criminal charge. Theoretically, could Bush charge some of the dems with terrorism, as they have used the tactic of trying to scare people (and not always with facts) into voting against him?
Just wondering, if the purpose is just a cheap O-scope, or if it being PC-based is the point. If all that is needed is a cheap, high-quality O-scope, I'd check Fair Radio Sales, http://www.fairradio.com/oscill.htm They have an awesome selection of surplus electronics and test equipment. The URL I listed has listed on that page, a Tektronix 7603N11S Checked, for $400 USD. If PC-based is what you have to have, down the same page:
PCS500 is a digital storage oscilloscope that uses a computer to display waveforms. All standard oscilloscope functions are available through the supplied Windows program. All normal oscilloscope funtions can be selected with the mouse. Optically isolated connections are made through the computers parallel port. The oscilloscope and transient recorder have two independent channels with a sampling frequency up to 1GHz. Any waveform displayed on the screen can be stored for later use. Timebase: 20ns to 100ms per division. trigger source: CH1, CH2, EXT or free run. sampling frequency - real-time: 1.25KHz to 50MHz, repetitive: 1GHz. Spectrum analyzer frequency range: 0...1.2KHz to 25MHz. Transient recorder: time scale: 20ms/div to 2000s/div. max. recording time: 9.4hours/screen. 2 channels, 1 external trigger input. Input impedance: 1Mohm// 30pF. Frequency response: 0Hz to 50MHz (+/- 3dB). Max. input voltage : 100V (AC + DC). Input coupling: DC, AC and GND. Supply voltage: 9-10Vdc / 1000mA. Includes: PCS500 unit, 2 test leads, PC parallel cable, practical manual, CD with software. #PCS500, New, $497.00
Granted, it's Windows-based, but there it is. I love Fair Radio..great people, super deals..learned of them from my Amateur Radio days.
As to conflict of interest, the current law enforcement practice of property/money/assets seized in drug busts going to the police department has resulted in law enforcement tending to target those with the most assets to be seized. An example from where I live: There is a crack house being openly run down the street in an abandoned run-down house. I and many of my neighbors have complained repeatedly, with no results. However, there have been several other occupied, decent houses, owned by families in most cases, in this same neighborhood, that have been raided for relatively minor amounts of marijuana (1-2 ounces), usually brought into the house by the kids of the owners, and have been seized for forfeiture, buying the local cops nice new toys, and ruining the lives of said families. However, the crack house has *never* been raided. I have a nephew in a nearby city who is a cop, and he said that's a pretty common practice, with the new seizure laws. He said, "Besides, raiding a crack house might get a cop shot, where it's much safer to raid Joe Sixpack and his families' house, and the payoff is much better..nothing much to sell at the next law enforcement auction at a crack house."
"So, the artist, they might go to one company that will give them a loan (but won't demand copyright ownership in exchange)."
Therein lies a large reason why so many musicians/artists end up as chattel to the labels. Most musicians/artists are dirt poor, and have no "real" capital with which to secure a loan. Most lending/investment institutions would laugh themselves sick at the idea of lending money to an artist/musician, even *with* having all rights to the material as a condition. Hell, at one point, I was working a day job, had a good credit history, and applied for a small loan (approx. $2000 USD) to purchase a new guitar. I made the mistake of answering the questions on the loan application honestly about what the loan was for (a new guitar). I got turned down flat. I re-applied a couple months later, (same place, same amount, same type loan, etc.) and the only difference was I stated the purpose of the loan as being for a vacation. I got approved with no hassles. Those are the kinds of hurdles/biases that artists/musicians face in securing money to create/promote/market their work(s).
Slashdot Mirror
A copy of my post re: "MP3 Sharing Not Serious Threat To CD Sales"
"I think what the RIAA is really scared of is the fact that P2P distribution might allow an artist to gain fame and make money without going through the "major label system""
Being a musician (blues guitarist here) myself, I can see the logic to this argument. I've known a couple of bands/artists that had high hopes when they got "signed", only to have their work "deep-sixed" because the label saw their work as possibly taking away from one or more of their "cash-cow", heavily-promoted and marketed artists. I think the real way out here is independent online marketing and sales by the artists themselves, marketing through P2P, and sales through an online service like Taxi or mp3.com. After several decades (I'm 46) of watching the labels screw artists, they couldn't pay me enough to sign with them. Granted, I might not ever get a grammy or a gold/platinum record, but at least I'll have more control of what gets released and when, and a larger chunk of whatever money is made. Plus, it might get a few more butts filling seats at gigs, which is what I live for anyway (there just isn't _anything_ like the feeling of connecting with a live audience, and riding that energy!).
"I think what the RIAA is really scared of is the fact that P2P distribution might allow an artist to gain fame and make money without going through the "major label system""
Being a musician (blues guitarist here) myself, I can see the logic to this argument. I've known a couple of bands/artists that had high hopes when they got "signed", only to have their work "deep-sixed" because the label saw their work as possibly taking away from one or more of their "cash-cow", heavily-promoted and marketed artists. I think the real way out here is independent online marketing and sales by the artists themselves, marketing through P2P, and sales through an online service like Taxi or mp3.com. After several decades (I'm 46) of watching the labels screw artists, they couldn't pay me enough to sign with them. Granted, I might not ever get a grammy or a gold/platinum record, but at least I'll have more control of what gets released and when, and a larger chunk of whatever money is made. Plus, it might get a few more butts filling seats at gigs, which is what I live for anyway (there just isn't _anything_ like the feeling of connecting with a live audience, and riding that energy!).
"Of course there will never be a situation where there won't be an x86 platform that can't run Linux, it is too popular in Japan, India and China."
I can see a scenario in which hardware is regionalised like DVD players are now, except with much higher penalties for trafficking in regionless or out-of-region hardware. Wouldn't it just be a kick in the teeth to get less prison time for 10 pounds of cocaine than 10 pounds of regionless motherboards/processors?
Here in S.W. Michigan, Comcast won't allow me to have broadband without also paying for basic cable. I really don't want the damned cable TV, and _don't_ want to pay for it, but I'm held hostage since there isn't a DSL service or another cable service offered in this area. Besides, even to have DSL, I'd have to have a standard phone line installed. (I only have cell phone service..much cheaper than a standard telco phone here.)
" We are seeing an evolution of comments. Rather than merely failing to RTFA, the poster failed to even read the slashdot headline!"
:-P
Heh!..I wonder if the next step will be someone posting comments for another story on another site entirely!
" Slashdot logic."
:-D
I can already feel the fabric of space-time ripping at putting those two words together.
"Donald Rumsfeld shook Saddam's hand at a time when we *knew* that he was a mass murderer,"
True, but I've often heard diplomacy described as the art of saying, "Nice doggie"..while searching for a stick. I think Rumsfeld may have had a similar thought as he smiled at Saddam.
"This is supposed to be a sign on top of the 747, where the orbiter links to the top of the 747's fuselage. It reads "Place Orbiter Here...Black Side Down"."
:-D
The scary thing is, what happened that necessitated that particular warning/instruction? I have visions of an orbiter needing extensive vertical stabiliser repair.
Dear Sir,
I find it offensive that your default page, seen when linking to InformationWeek from a recent LinuxToday article, seems to accuse LinuxToday of unauthorised redistribution of content. Simply using a small fair-use excerpt of an article, with a link to the entire article on your site, is NOT content redistribution. It's more like free advertising. Furthermore, as the head of marketing, I find your actions extremely counter-intuitive, as I thought the idea of marketing a website was to get hits, so as to generate advertising revenue. Personally, if I were you, I'd get rid of the mental giant that came up with THAT very, very bad idea. All you have done is alienate a large chunk of readers, and simply copy-and-pasting the link works around the blocking anyways.
Congratulations on losing another potential subscriber. Not particularly because of the referral blocking per-se, but, because of your demonstrated inability to understand how the web works. Why on earth would I consider your publication(s) as a reliable, knowledgeable source on information technology? It would be like asking the designer of the Hindenburg how to make my gas furnace safe. I have also compiled a list of advertisers from your sites, and a copy of this e-mail will be forwarded to their administration and marketing departments. Hope you weren't counting on a bonus this quarter.
From what I've read about (un)Trusted Computing, yes, there will be an option in the BIOS config to turn off T.C.. The problem(s) then is any data/documents/images/etc. that were created or imported while T.C. was enabled are now inaccessable. Plus, if the Cisco T.C.-enabled routers get implemented widely enough that turning on the T.C. functionality becomes practical (widspread in P.C.s', etc.), you won't be able to access the net in any meaningful way. So, sure, you can turn it off, but you'll be left with a crippled (for practical purposes), isolated box. I kinda look at it as, I'm paying the same $X dollars for a crippled P.C., in terms of functionality, as I *was* paying for a non-crippled box, and, to add insult to injury, the only coin they accept in payment to use my own PC/data, is my control of my PC/data. :/
Don't misunderstand, I wasn't dissing Flight Gear by any means..I consider it to be a real jewel in FOSS gaming. I'd just like to see more..if I had the skills, I'd love to write a combat flight sim version :( . I can see some really cool Tux-themed nose art :-P
"Doing away with IP can only help weed out the chaff."
If you do away with the motivation to invest the resources necessary to invent by not allowing the investor to realise any profit, or even recoup the expenses, how will anything new get created? Will you make having full citizenship/rights conditional on an individual contributing an idea/invention? If someone has an idea, will you make it illegal for them to withold it? Would you make a criminals' release from prison conditional on contributing an invention? Will you assign the government the job of invention? *Limited* IP rights encourage invention and innovation by making investing the resources in developing an idea attractive.
..are the only reason why this isn't a windoze-free box. I know that there's Flight Gear, but it's a long ways from my favorite flight sim, European Air War (by Infogrames). I also love the MechWarrior game series (I own all the MW-3/MW-4/Mercenaries+expansion packs). I just wish that somebody other than M$ had the rights to it. USB joysticks are a pain to get working in linux, also. *IF* a linux-gaming distro came out with anything close to the same quality/quantity games available, and better support for joysticks, graphics cards, etc., I'd be grabbing a copy pronto, and saying a permanent goodbye to windoze. The biggest problem is game makers not porting to linux, which a new distro, no matter how good a gaming platform it may be, won't affect until the game makers see enough of a market for it to be worth the effort/expense.
"Will people will stop making music just because they can't sell 10 million CD:s? No."
Well, if I can't afford to keep myself in strings, food, rent, etc., then yes, I won't be producing any music. The problem is the middlemen making it necessary to sell 10 million CDs in order for the artist to get enough money to keep producing music. An artist creating new music isn't comparable to a buggy-whip manufacturer. Creating new/unique music isn't obsolete, just the distribution model set up by the labels/RIAA is. You need to differentiate between artists/musicians, and the media industry. The situation is more comparable to a buisiness owner in a city being forced to use the local mob-run delivery company. You wouldn't (I hope) argue that the buisiness owner should give up trying to make a living from his buisiness, rather than stopping the mob-run delivery company from extorting money at both ends, would you?
..may be what's needed. I'm a musician myself, and I personally wouldn't sign with a label if offered. I would like to see an expansion of websites like Taxi and mp3.com, among others. If more artists/musicians were educated/informed about what's available for them online as far as distribution and sales, the lack of artists/musicians willing to sign with the labels would eventually make the whole point moot. Most musicians I've met have absolutely no clue when it comes to computers and the internet, and are blown away with the possibilities of independent marketing and sales of their work that are possible (not to mention keeping the lions' share of the money) online. I feel that *if* more musicians/artists were informed about what resources are already available online now to sell/distribute their work, a significant percentage would refuse to get sucked into the labels/RIAA meatgrinder, and more independent distribution/sales websites would spring up to satisfy demand. This would effectively move the RIAA comepletely out of the loop, and force a change in the industry. As long as artists/musicians continue to view the labels/RIAA as the only viable means to get their work sold/distributed/marketed, the labels and the RIAA will continue to be able to dictate terms, to both the artists/musicians, and to consumers.
because no matter which crowd I'm in front of when I start pawing around and pulling stuff out, it almost never fails to produce a "WTF is THAT!?!?" from whichever crowd, geek or musician, I happen to be around at the moment :-D. (Sadly, haven't ran across any fellow-geek, linux-using blues players around my area, hope I'm not _that_ rare a breed :-/ )
"The DMCA is powerless mere inches beyond the US border."
On the face of it, that's true. However, if that scenario came to pass (trips to international waters to avoid the DMCA), it would be quite likely that if the participants were to return to the U.S., they would be arrested and prosecuted anyways. Maybe for DMCA violations, maybe not, but some charge would be dreamed up. Possibly an international racketeering/organised crime/RICO charge, and (not sure what prison time/fines DMCA violations can get you) possibly much increased penalties. If the U.S. gov. is willing to extend F.C.C. powers to international waters in order to raid and stop offshore pirate radio broadcasters who only competed with local radio broadcasters, how far would they be willing to go for a whole industry (or a significant portion of one)?
Precisely.."theft" and "stealing" are incorrect terms for the nature of the illegality in copying/sharing copyright-protected content. However, using such loaded terms makes using anti property-theft tactics such as raids by armed law enforcement agents, corporate enforcement street raids like the ones in San Francisco by the RIAA, and other such draconian measures usually reserved for crimes like bank robbery or narcotics trafficking, more palatable to the politicians and the masses. It sounds much better for the congresscritters to say they're passing a law against piracy/theft than it does to say they're passing a law to remove your fair-use rights to protect their big money contributors.
I know there's probably something I'm not thinking of that would disqualify this idea, but why not just use a simple carbon paper ballot with, say, the original and 2 copies being generated, then the poll worker runs it (over? through? across?) an optical reader that sends the count over normal phone lines, to a central tabulation center, where the results can be quickly evaluated, then verified against the paper copies. There should be a workable model similar to this that could be implemented, and could avoid many of the pitfalls this experiment has revealed.
Never had money seized, but one time I got pulled over (in MI also, btw) on the highway to pick up some computer equipment/parts from a shop in a nearby town. I had about $900 USD, and the trooper saw the wad in my wallet when I hauled it out for the mandatory DL check. He started really checking me and the car out, but, luckily I had the invoice for the order with me, and he quickly apoligised, saying it wasn't so much trying to roust people just for having money, but just a matter of their own safety. A lot of cops have been shot in MI, a lot of them State Troopers, on traffic stops in recent years, and anything out of the ordinary gets their attention, as it could mean them going home tonight..or not.
H+BEDV offers a free antivirus program for home use. There are versions for windows, linux, and even DOS.
http://www.hbedv.com/download/download.htm
Ok..then would it be terrorism if a guy threatened to kick his neighbors' behind if his neighbors' dog took one more crap in his front yard? What if it were 2 neighbors? 3? Or, what if it were just one neighbor, but the fight/threat was over politics? I can see where, unless the law is better defined, the government could use it to charge anyone it doesn't like with a terrorism charge, instead of a normal civil/criminal charge. Theoretically, could Bush charge some of the dems with terrorism, as they have used the tactic of trying to scare people (and not always with facts) into voting against him?
Just wondering, if the purpose is just a cheap O-scope, or if it being PC-based is the point. If all that is needed is a cheap, high-quality O-scope, I'd check Fair Radio Sales, http://www.fairradio.com/oscill.htm
// 30pF. Frequency response: 0Hz to 50MHz (+/- 3dB). Max. input voltage : 100V (AC + DC). Input coupling: DC, AC and GND. Supply voltage: 9-10Vdc / 1000mA. Includes: PCS500 unit, 2 test leads, PC parallel cable, practical manual, CD with software. #PCS500, New, $497.00
They have an awesome selection of surplus electronics and test equipment. The URL I listed has listed on that page, a Tektronix 7603N11S Checked, for $400 USD. If PC-based is what you have to have, down the same page:
PCS500 is a digital storage oscilloscope that uses a computer to display waveforms. All standard oscilloscope functions are available through the supplied Windows program. All normal oscilloscope funtions can be selected with the mouse. Optically isolated connections are made through the computers parallel port. The oscilloscope and transient recorder have two independent channels with a sampling frequency up to 1GHz. Any waveform displayed on the screen can be stored for later use. Timebase: 20ns to 100ms per division. trigger source: CH1, CH2, EXT or free run. sampling frequency - real-time: 1.25KHz to 50MHz, repetitive: 1GHz. Spectrum analyzer frequency range: 0...1.2KHz to 25MHz. Transient recorder: time scale: 20ms/div to 2000s/div. max. recording time: 9.4hours/screen. 2 channels, 1 external trigger input. Input impedance: 1Mohm
Granted, it's Windows-based, but there it is. I love Fair Radio..great people, super deals..learned of them from my Amateur Radio days.
As to conflict of interest, the current law enforcement practice of property/money/assets seized in drug busts going to the police department has resulted in law enforcement tending to target those with the most assets to be seized. An example from where I live: There is a crack house being openly run down the street in an abandoned run-down house. I and many of my neighbors have complained repeatedly, with no results. However, there have been several other occupied, decent houses, owned by families in most cases, in this same neighborhood, that have been raided for relatively minor amounts of marijuana (1-2 ounces), usually brought into the house by the kids of the owners, and have been seized for forfeiture, buying the local cops nice new toys, and ruining the lives of said families. However, the crack house has *never* been raided. I have a nephew in a nearby city who is a cop, and he said that's a pretty common practice, with the new seizure laws. He said, "Besides, raiding a crack house might get a cop shot, where it's much safer to raid Joe Sixpack and his families' house, and the payoff is much better..nothing much to sell at the next law enforcement auction at a crack house."
"So, the artist, they might go to one company that will give them a loan (but won't demand copyright ownership in exchange)."
Therein lies a large reason why so many musicians/artists end up as chattel to the labels. Most musicians/artists are dirt poor, and have no "real" capital with which to secure a loan. Most lending/investment institutions would laugh themselves sick at the idea of lending money to an artist/musician, even *with* having all rights to the material as a condition. Hell, at one point, I was working a day job, had a good credit history, and applied for a small loan (approx. $2000 USD) to purchase a new guitar. I made the mistake of answering the questions on the loan application honestly about what the loan was for (a new guitar). I got turned down flat. I re-applied a couple months later, (same place, same amount, same type loan, etc.) and the only difference was I stated the purpose of the loan as being for a vacation. I got approved with no hassles. Those are the kinds of hurdles/biases that artists/musicians face in securing money to create/promote/market their work(s).