You also may purchase the item now that you've played it and see how much the game rocks. Conversely, you may not have purchased the item having never played it, deciding to spend your money on something else.
Which is why most software companies provide trial versions/demo/shareware/etc of their product.
Read the law? 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research
I don't see the part of fair use that allows for you to copy something to let someone "try out".
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
Definitely not allowed under "nonprofit educational purposes".
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. (emphasis yours)
Exactly. The vast distribution of copyrighted works over P2P networks, Newsgroups, and other means has a large effect upon the market and value for the copyrighted work. You distributing a couple copies may not have an large affect, but it does have an affect and you are contributing to something that does in fact negatively affect the software industry as a whole.
That last one, #4, is what should legitimize some forms of what's now considered "piracy". P2P filesharing, for example, extends market and adds value to the work.
False. It shrinks the market. Most software developers already offer demos of their product. End users are already able to try most software. Piracy removes many more people from the market than it adds. How does selling fewer copies, and thus making less money, add value to a work?
What I meant was the "profit" or revenue from you owning a copy of the game. As far as me being a socialist... I'm about as far from it as you can possibly be.
Since when do corporations (or anybody, for that matter) have a right to profit? By copying their game, you're not denying them their right to profit Except that you and others may have purchased the item had it not be made available via illegal means. Thus you are infringing on their rights to grant license to those who they choose to, and by the method and means that they choose.
Once upon a time, if money didn't change hands, no infringement had occurred. When was that time? When there were no tapes or other methods for home users to make copies?
That's called "Fair Use". "Fair Use" is not making as many copies as you want and giving them to people. Fair Use is being able to say, make MP3s from your CD (or vice-versa), record a TV show or radio broadcast, not distribute as many copies to as many people as you want.
which is why we can include scene snippets from a feature film in a review if we wanted)
Yes, but they can not simply show the whole movie.
If the law no longer represents the good of society and/or is no longer consistent with the intent of the law, and numerous attempts have been made to address the problems with the law and most/all have failed, what recourse would you suggest?
It is no longer good that people are not allowed to make and distribute unlimited copies of something that they have no right to distribute? Amazing premise there.
I used to buy into all that the pro-pirated BS too (oh but piracy actually makes the companies money!, you have a right to try the game for 24 hours, Fair Use allows this!, etc etc etc). That was about 12 years ago.
Hey pal, nice try and all, but Internet Privacy Act 1995 doesn't exist. Additionally, former U, S. President William Jefferson Clinton never signed into law any legislation which in any manner restricts anyone's access to Web sites selling illegal items. No similar law exists anywhere in the world. There is no law which in any way prohibits or restricts instituting criminal charges or litigation against such sites based upon a site's posting of this imaginary act.. Regardless of a posting of this fictitious act, any information obtained from these sites may be used by law enforcement and trademark holders for prosecution and litigation purposes.
Seriously now. Give me a break. Grow up. Get over it. The 24 hour thing is a myth.
The author of the AP story that claimed that strangely enough saw fit not to include this quote (which the AFP story does). Wonder why that is?
TEHRAN, Oct 19 (AFP) - It makes no real difference to Iran whether US President George W. Bush or Democrat contender John Kerry wins the presidential elections, a senior Iranian official said Tuesday.
"It makes no difference for us which of the two parties wins the elections," Iran's top national security official Hassan Rowhani said in an interview on state television.
Ahh, I see you read the AP version of the story, which omits a very important quote to clearly push a viewpoint. Here's the AFP version (yes, the Agence France-Presse):
TEHRAN, Oct 19 (AFP) - It makes no real difference to Iran whether US President George W. Bush or Democrat contender John Kerry wins the presidential elections, a senior Iranian official said Tuesday.
"It makes no difference for us which of the two parties wins the elections," Iran's top national security official Hassan Rowhani said in an interview on state television.
Women, on average, have a slower metabolism than men. This is due to them having a higher, on average, percentage of body fat (due to the natural features that women have). Thus, women produce less heat than men, on average, and like their environment to be slightly warmer.
There is nothing wrong with pointing out the phyiscal differences between sexes.
I have never worked at a company where there was an issue with men turning the heat up, which causes discomfort for others, just because they were a little too cold.
I suspect that with the recent high profile -1 day warez releases, more companies will consider Steam and its ilk to be a worthy of consideration, to protect the publishing companies margins.
With Steam the publishing company's margins are non-existant, because Steam is designed to cut the publishers out of the process. It's basically directly from the game developers to the end user - thus hugely increasing the profit for the developers while decreasing production costs.
The one flaw with this is that a lot of developers rely on funding from publishers to develop their games.
If a company creates a product and is selling this product, and you have a copy of the product, whether physical or digital, then you are required to have paid for this product (or have received it through other legitimate means).
If you were balking at my use of "profit"... think of revenue instead.
By me copying and downloading and then spreading their product I haven't denied them of anything.
Amazingly ignorant comment. You are denying them the profit they have a right to. No one has a right to possess a copy of the game if they have not received it through legit means. This whole theft/copyright infringment argument is tiring, because the end result is that people are breaking the law. Theft is not the wrong word to use, it's just that the definition of the word is dated. Good luck trying to bring webster's dictionary into court to try and protect yourself.
Grow up. Piracy is wrong and it does cost the industry jobs and a lot of money (although not as much as they claim).
And when programs used (still use?) parallel dongles (that sounds wrong) the crackers would either it ignore the dongle check, or create software that emulates the input/output of the dongle.
These security breaches occur at the plants that manufacture the PS2 discs themselves. Rockstar doesn't do this, an outside (sony approved?) company does this.
MySQL is better than PostgreSQL Redhat is better than Debian Windows XP is better than MAC OS X Bush is better than Kerry Conservatives are beter than Liberals Americans are better than Europeans
Why not just have my boss appear in the video game that I'm playing at 2am on a Saturday morning (during MY time) telling me that I need to join some conference meeting?
Great idea! That'll make up for your time slacking at work looking at ebay and slashdot.
No. Valve had stated in the past that the game would be available via Steam well ahead of its retail release. I'm not being "petulant" I'm just pissed off. They implied one thing and are now doing the other. I would never have bought the game via steam had I known this.
You knew you'd have to wait for the retail release date and to claim anything else is just being obstinant and whiney.
Sorry, it's Valve's fault. They knew what their contracts said, not joe schmoe the half life fan. They heavily implied that those of us who were stupid enough to say "Hey, this new steam thing is great! Why would I ever want a retail copy of a game?" would be able to play the game before it was in the stores.
It's Vavle's fault for misleading us. Vivendi is just enforcing its contract with Valve.
The last thing I read from Valve about the whole situation is that Vivendi was suing them to stop them from releasing the game on Steam before the retail street date. Valve's original plan was to release it via steam many weeks before it was in the store to get people to sign up for steam.
The purchasing website says: "Purchase any one of the three Half-Life® 2 Steam packages listed below, start playing Counter-Strike(TM): Source(TM) immediately, and be ready to start playing Half-Life 2 the moment it is made available!" - not that I won't be able to play it until the game is in stores. The game is complete. It _should_ be available now.
I haven't seen anything anywhere stating that it would be available on steam the same day it's available in the stores.
Gamers have been able to purchase (via pre-order) Half-Life 2 through developer Valve's Steam downloading service since last week. For those consumers, however, the game will not be playable until the 16th.
Wow great Valve. Not only do I not get a fucking CD, but I get to wait until the street release date too. What a bunch of fucking bullshit.
You understand that "my link" is to a non-partisan org, right?
I dont think he was blaming them. I read his link. I think he was just making the point (that any remotely intelligent person already knows) - that Bush is a filthy liar
Then I guess these people are lying too, right?
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -- Ted Kennedy, September 27, 2002
"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious danger, that he is a tyrant, and that his pursuit of lethal weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated. He must be disarmed." -- Ted Kennedy, Sept 27, 2002
"The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..." -- John Kerry, October 9, 2002
"The debate over Iraq is not about politics. It is about national security. It should be clear that our national security requires Congress to send a clear message to Iraq and the world: America is united in its determination to eliminate forever the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction." -- John Edwards, Oct 10, 2002
"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandates of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." -- Carl Levin, Sept 19, 2002
You understand this is an American election year, right?
any bills that were not passed were often as a direct result of Republican pig-headedness, using their malicious nature to block legitimate and often heart-felt bills
Yes, it was all those evil Republicans! How dare they stand against Kerry's "heart felt" tax increases and socialist programs! You're just upset because Republicans have better sex!
Of those involved in a committed relationship, who is very satisfied with their relationship? Republicans -- 87 percent; Democrats -- 76 percent
Who is very satisfied with their sex life? Republicans -- 56 percent; Democrats -- 47 percent
The poll analysis also reveals who has worn something sexy to enhance their sex life: Republicans -- 72 percent; Democrats -- 62 percent
When asked whether they had ever faked an orgasm, more Democrats (33 percent) than Republicans (26 percent) said they had.
Why would there be any bills for him to veto when he has a friendly House and Senate? Since the republicans have a majority in both, the bills coming out of both should be inline with what he would want to sign.
Slashdot Mirror
You also may purchase the item now that you've played it and see how much the game rocks. Conversely, you may not have purchased the item having never played it, deciding to spend your money on something else.
Which is why most software companies provide trial versions/demo/shareware/etc of their product.
Read the law?
106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research
I don't see the part of fair use that allows for you to copy something to let someone "try out".
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
Definitely not allowed under "nonprofit educational purposes".
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. (emphasis yours)
Exactly. The vast distribution of copyrighted works over P2P networks, Newsgroups, and other means has a large effect upon the market and value for the copyrighted work. You distributing a couple copies may not have an large affect, but it does have an affect and you are contributing to something that does in fact negatively affect the software industry as a whole.
That last one, #4, is what should legitimize some forms of what's now considered "piracy". P2P filesharing, for example, extends market and adds value to the work.
False. It shrinks the market. Most software developers already offer demos of their product. End users are already able to try most software. Piracy removes many more people from the market than it adds. How does selling fewer copies, and thus making less money, add value to a work?
What I meant was the "profit" or revenue from you owning a copy of the game. As far as me being a socialist... I'm about as far from it as you can possibly be.
Since when do corporations (or anybody, for that matter) have a right to profit? By copying their game, you're not denying them their right to profit
Except that you and others may have purchased the item had it not be made available via illegal means. Thus you are infringing on their rights to grant license to those who they choose to, and by the method and means that they choose.
Once upon a time, if money didn't change hands, no infringement had occurred.
When was that time? When there were no tapes or other methods for home users to make copies?
That's called "Fair Use".
"Fair Use" is not making as many copies as you want and giving them to people. Fair Use is being able to say, make MP3s from your CD (or vice-versa), record a TV show or radio broadcast, not distribute as many copies to as many people as you want.
which is why we can include scene snippets from a feature film in a review if we wanted)
Yes, but they can not simply show the whole movie.
If the law no longer represents the good of society and/or is no longer consistent with the intent of the law, and numerous attempts have been made to address the problems with the law and most/all have failed, what recourse would you suggest?
It is no longer good that people are not allowed to make and distribute unlimited copies of something that they have no right to distribute? Amazing premise there.
I used to buy into all that the pro-pirated BS too (oh but piracy actually makes the companies money!, you have a right to try the game for 24 hours, Fair Use allows this!, etc etc etc). That was about 12 years ago.
And then I grew up.
Hey pal, nice try and all, but Internet Privacy Act 1995 doesn't exist.
Additionally, former U, S. President William Jefferson Clinton never signed into law any legislation which in any manner restricts anyone's access to Web sites selling illegal items. No similar law exists anywhere in the world. There is no law which in any way prohibits or restricts instituting criminal charges or litigation against such sites based upon a site's posting of this imaginary act.. Regardless of a posting of this fictitious act, any information obtained from these sites may be used by law enforcement and trademark holders for prosecution and litigation purposes.
Seriously now. Give me a break. Grow up. Get over it. The 24 hour thing is a myth.
That is absolutely false. Man, I thought these type of "warez" myths died out years ago.
And 24-hours doesn't mean just one full day, you can play it for an hour a day for 3.5 weeks if you want.
I don't like to say this often, but you're a complete idiot.
The author of the AP story that claimed that strangely enough saw fit not to include this quote (which the AFP story does). Wonder why that is?
TEHRAN, Oct 19 (AFP) - It makes no real difference to Iran whether US President George W. Bush or Democrat contender John Kerry wins the presidential elections, a senior Iranian official said Tuesday.
"It makes no difference for us which of the two parties wins the elections," Iran's top national security official Hassan Rowhani said in an interview on state television.
Maybe you should get outside your little bubble.
Ahh, I see you read the AP version of the story, which omits a very important quote to clearly push a viewpoint. Here's the AFP version (yes, the Agence France-Presse):
TEHRAN, Oct 19 (AFP) - It makes no real difference to Iran whether US President George W. Bush or Democrat contender John Kerry wins the presidential elections, a senior Iranian official said Tuesday.
"It makes no difference for us which of the two parties wins the elections," Iran's top national security official Hassan Rowhani said in an interview on state television.
Women, on average, have a slower metabolism than men. This is due to them having a higher, on average, percentage of body fat (due to the natural features that women have). Thus, women produce less heat than men, on average, and like their environment to be slightly warmer.
There is nothing wrong with pointing out the phyiscal differences between sexes.
I have never worked at a company where there was an issue with men turning the heat up, which causes discomfort for others, just because they were a little too cold.
Were they studying offices full of women only? Seriously. Women love to play with the office furnistat, even if they've been told not to 100 times.
The worst thing in the world is to be working in an office that's too warm. It's just horrible.
Here's a secret people: if you're too cold, wear warming clothing! If I'm too hot, I can't take off all of my clothes (and keep my job).
I suspect that with the recent high profile -1 day warez releases, more companies will consider Steam and its ilk to be a worthy of consideration, to protect the publishing companies margins.
With Steam the publishing company's margins are non-existant, because Steam is designed to cut the publishers out of the process. It's basically directly from the game developers to the end user - thus hugely increasing the profit for the developers while decreasing production costs.
The one flaw with this is that a lot of developers rely on funding from publishers to develop their games.
Communism? It's called capitalism.
If a company creates a product and is selling this product, and you have a copy of the product, whether physical or digital, then you are required to have paid for this product (or have received it through other legitimate means).
If you were balking at my use of "profit"... think of revenue instead.
By me copying and downloading and then spreading their product I haven't denied them of anything.
Amazingly ignorant comment. You are denying them the profit they have a right to. No one has a right to possess a copy of the game if they have not received it through legit means. This whole theft/copyright infringment argument is tiring, because the end result is that people are breaking the law. Theft is not the wrong word to use, it's just that the definition of the word is dated. Good luck trying to bring webster's dictionary into court to try and protect yourself.
Grow up. Piracy is wrong and it does cost the industry jobs and a lot of money (although not as much as they claim).
And when programs used (still use?) parallel dongles (that sounds wrong) the crackers would either it ignore the dongle check, or create software that emulates the input/output of the dongle.
These security breaches occur at the plants that manufacture the PS2 discs themselves. Rockstar doesn't do this, an outside (sony approved?) company does this.
No need to fire programmers!
I'm going all out here.
MySQL is better than PostgreSQL
Redhat is better than Debian
Windows XP is better than MAC OS X
Bush is better than Kerry
Conservatives are beter than Liberals
Americans are better than Europeans
etc. etc. etc.
Why not just have my boss appear in the video game that I'm playing at 2am on a Saturday morning (during MY time) telling me that I need to join some conference meeting?
Great idea! That'll make up for your time slacking at work looking at ebay and slashdot.
- Your Boss
Your answers:
They were fine.
No.
Yes.
No.
Wow - is no one going to post anything for real? This is amazing. A first for slashdot?
No. Valve had stated in the past that the game would be available via Steam well ahead of its retail release. I'm not being "petulant" I'm just pissed off. They implied one thing and are now doing the other. I would never have bought the game via steam had I known this.
You knew you'd have to wait for the retail release date and to claim anything else is just being obstinant and whiney.
No. I'm just mad that Valve misled me and others.
Sorry, it's Valve's fault. They knew what their contracts said, not joe schmoe the half life fan. They heavily implied that those of us who were stupid enough to say "Hey, this new steam thing is great! Why would I ever want a retail copy of a game?" would be able to play the game before it was in the stores.
It's Vavle's fault for misleading us. Vivendi is just enforcing its contract with Valve.
The last thing I read from Valve about the whole situation is that Vivendi was suing them to stop them from releasing the game on Steam before the retail street date. Valve's original plan was to release it via steam many weeks before it was in the store to get people to sign up for steam.
The purchasing website says: "Purchase any one of the three Half-Life® 2 Steam packages listed below, start playing Counter-Strike(TM): Source(TM) immediately, and be ready to start playing Half-Life 2 the moment it is made available!" - not that I won't be able to play it until the game is in stores. The game is complete. It _should_ be available now.
I haven't seen anything anywhere stating that it would be available on steam the same day it's available in the stores.
I'll answer myself:
Gamers have been able to purchase (via pre-order) Half-Life 2 through developer Valve's Steam downloading service since last week. For those consumers, however, the game will not be playable until the 16th.
Wow great Valve. Not only do I not get a fucking CD, but I get to wait until the street release date too. What a bunch of fucking bullshit.
Is it going to be available on Steam? I bought the fucking thing, now give it to me. If it's gold, I want it.
I'm tired of the fucking games already.
I wasn't trying to equate them, I was trying to contrast them. Perhaps I did not do this effectively.
I dont think he was blaming them. I read his link. I think he was just making the point (that any remotely intelligent person already knows) - that Bush is a filthy liar
Then I guess these people are lying too, right?
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -- Ted Kennedy, September 27, 2002
"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious danger, that he is a tyrant, and that his pursuit of lethal weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated. He must be disarmed." -- Ted Kennedy, Sept 27, 2002
"The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..." -- John Kerry, October 9, 2002
"The debate over Iraq is not about politics. It is about national security. It should be clear that our national security requires Congress to send a clear message to Iraq and the world: America is united in its determination to eliminate forever the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction." -- John Edwards, Oct 10, 2002
"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandates of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." -- Carl Levin, Sept 19, 2002
You understand this is an American election year, right?
any bills that were not passed were often as a direct result of Republican pig-headedness, using their malicious nature to block legitimate and often heart-felt bills
Yes, it was all those evil Republicans! How dare they stand against Kerry's "heart felt" tax increases and socialist programs! You're just upset because Republicans have better sex!
Of those involved in a committed relationship, who is very satisfied with their relationship?
Republicans -- 87 percent; Democrats -- 76 percent
Who is very satisfied with their sex life?
Republicans -- 56 percent; Democrats -- 47 percent
The poll analysis also reveals who has worn something sexy to enhance their sex life:
Republicans -- 72 percent; Democrats -- 62 percent
When asked whether they had ever faked an orgasm, more Democrats (33 percent) than Republicans (26 percent) said they had.
Number of vetoes by Bush: ZERO
Why would there be any bills for him to veto when he has a friendly House and Senate? Since the republicans have a majority in both, the bills coming out of both should be inline with what he would want to sign.
This isn't that tough to figure out.