The ACTA saga rolls on. One bonus of stories like this is that it shows how worried the participants are by the attention they are receiving. This after all was supposed to be pushed through on the QT.
Note the special pleading going on - we will not search your iPod, it's just an augmentation of existing regulations etc. No mention of the fact they are still presuming guilt on the part of the consumer and are asking for unprecedented intrusion into individuals personal data.
The fact is this is a treaty designed by copyright holders to give them more powers to protect their IP at the expense of everyone else. No doubt the provisions will be used against major traffickers of stolen IP but they will also be used against individuals by overzealous companies too.
Yes, if the countries of the world could get together to stamp out this shit it would be great, but let's be realistic.
Mikko's a nice guy but we can't get together and stamp out genocide (Darfur et al), arms dealing (see the UN security council's arms sales) or world peace what hope do we have with cybercrime.
It's a nice idea, similar to mice getting together to decide to put a bell round the necks of all cats, just who's going to do it?
Yes, in the short term this might cut spam rates a little bit, but others will step in to fill the gap. The only way to stop spam is to educate people not to buy from it and the industry has been trying that for years.
Like all security problems meatware is the biggest fail point. People are just plain dumb a lot of the time, especially when they think they can get rich quick or get a bigger penis or set of breasts.
What is it with US telcos and SMS.
SMS was an accidental hit in Europe; an engineering tool that people discovered and used free. Now the telcos over there have modest charges for sending it and rake in billions each year.
But in the US first they tried to charge for sending and receiving, then massively increased the cost and now this. What is it US telcos have against SMS, I genuinely don't understand?
In the 1950s the government set about a huge project to link America's cities and states via high speed road links. The investment has paid off well, and a similar project on our power infrastructure (especially if they could build a fibre network alongside) would pay off just as handsomely.
A few years ago then Home Secretary David Blunkett tried something similar with the RIP Act, which would have given these kind of powers to bodies as obscure as parish councils. He said it wasn't until his son (an IT consultant) sat down and explained the problems this could cause that he dropped the plans.
Even if such a plan were possible as the one proposed it would run into massive opposition, not just from the other two parties but from ISPs, phone companies et al. With Labour as weak politically as they are now I hope this one will be a dead duck.
Bear in mind as well that these documents always over egg the pudding so that some areas can be dropped as concessions. Nevertheless I'll be writing to my old MP laying out the reasons why this is a stunningly bad idea.
After all, judging from the very low number of people who actually filed a complaint, 2,676 at the last count, it wasn't really an issue anyway.
The Hot Coffee mod was difficult to install and, while it was stupid to leave it in the game, the company has been punished enough.
I tested the 7 inch screen Eee PC when it first came out and a screen that size is pretty much useless when it comes to internet use of serious document preparation.
The article doesn't mention a VGA port but at that price I'd be amazed if it has one.
Still, I suppose any computer, even if it does give you eyestrain, is better than none.
The more I see on this case the more I think Childs is being set up as a scapegoat.
The guy built the networking side from scratch and it seems management were happy with him running it with sole admin rights. Then a new admin comes in and he freaks out and gets overprotective.
And a $5 million bail? Murderers don't get that much.
Well I found my current apartment through the site, but it took weeks of combing out the wankers before I did. But in San Francisco it's something of an institution so you've got to use it.
When it comes to Craigslist then it's a case of buyer, and seller, beware.
The site originally started out as a good idea but rapidly became spammed up with dodgy sellers, fake ads and boring rants.
While there are still a few nuggets of gold in among the trash (best of rants and raves is always worth a look) it's increasingly becoming irrelevant.
I'm not surprised they didn't bother to show, since they take such a lax attitude that getting into a battle to protect user anonymity would just be too much effort.
Got sent his video and was entranced. It summed up an awful lot of what I felt was wrong with my life. I'd raise a glass to him but have given up drinking based on that lecture.
It's worked before - look at GSM. That was developed in the very early days of mobile telephony because Europe recognised that a single standard would be essential. Not joining in set the US mobile telephony back a decade.
Just as Eisenhower signed off on the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act to kickstart the roads system in the US so too should the government act to fund this.
We have to go electric in the future, gas power isn't a viable long term solution and oil is going to be too valuable in the future to waste on driving around. But the 'free market' isn't going to fund the kind of network we need in the short term. Sure, they'll build the cars but infrastructure costs are beyond them.
Without a national infrastructure program the move towards electric transportation will be slow and patchy. This really is a case of if we build it they will come.
I've been shown child pornography by the police while writing an article on this and this is not teenagers mucking around, it's children being abused by adults.
For hundreds of years elections have been held using paper and pencil ballots, and fraud was very difficult to get away with. This is because you have to employ large numbers of people to commit it.
Electronic voting can be subverted very simply indeed, just by one person with the right technical knowledge. All electronic voting should be scrapped until a reasonably secure system can be organised, most likely by open source solutions. Even then there's no real reason for it.
And what the hell was the CEO doing installing patches? Sounds highly suspicous to me.
Look, the deal isn't perfect and certainly the banned list needs to be reviewed and an appeals process built in.
But, to misquote South Park, these people fuck children. I'll fight for internet free speech and open access but not for this, it's one of the few things I'd be in favour of blocking because it's abuse.
You could argue it's the thin end of the wedge and if it is then I'll fight alongside to prevent other stuff being banned. Just not this.
Agreed. Moving it to the moon is a nice idea but accomplishes nothing practical, apart from making it harder to resupply. If we are to use the ISS as a building point it's going to be easier to get the materials up to it while it's in low earth orbit.
That said it could do with some thrusters of its own anyway, in case it needs repositioning and a mission gets delayed.
Agreed, the basic principles look sound and it reuses working technology rather than the Ares probe, which seems to be about reinventing the Saturn system 50 years down the line.
But I fear Nasa bureaucracy will chew this idea and spit it out, because it isn't Ares and look, they have all these lovely pictures of how it might work, ten or so years down the line.
Besides, engineers never have good idea, that's for officials to do.
AOL is suffering from a lot of things but in the UK what's really hurt them is the commoditisation of the internet. AOL made its reputation on ease of use, helping my mother and millions of other newbys get online. It was simple, well supported, and dominated the dial up market.
Now broadband is the norm and accounts for over two thirds of UK internet connections. There are a handful of suppliers who all sell kit that is as easy to use as AOL's code and they are largely telcos who own the pipes rather than renting them. AOL is living off its old user base, which explains their tricky cancellation procedure.
There's little to keep people at AOL now. It's underfunded its internet portal, AIM is interoperating with other IM systems and Google's beating the pants off AOL in local service provision. The Carphone Warehouse deal shows how little impact AOL has today.
Maybe it'll spur a retro market for AOL emails...
Slashdot Mirror
The ACTA saga rolls on. One bonus of stories like this is that it shows how worried the participants are by the attention they are receiving. This after all was supposed to be pushed through on the QT.
Note the special pleading going on - we will not search your iPod, it's just an augmentation of existing regulations etc. No mention of the fact they are still presuming guilt on the part of the consumer and are asking for unprecedented intrusion into individuals personal data.
The fact is this is a treaty designed by copyright holders to give them more powers to protect their IP at the expense of everyone else. No doubt the provisions will be used against major traffickers of stolen IP but they will also be used against individuals by overzealous companies too.
Yes, if the countries of the world could get together to stamp out this shit it would be great, but let's be realistic. Mikko's a nice guy but we can't get together and stamp out genocide (Darfur et al), arms dealing (see the UN security council's arms sales) or world peace what hope do we have with cybercrime. It's a nice idea, similar to mice getting together to decide to put a bell round the necks of all cats, just who's going to do it?
Yes, in the short term this might cut spam rates a little bit, but others will step in to fill the gap. The only way to stop spam is to educate people not to buy from it and the industry has been trying that for years.
Like all security problems meatware is the biggest fail point. People are just plain dumb a lot of the time, especially when they think they can get rich quick or get a bigger penis or set of breasts.
What is it with US telcos and SMS. SMS was an accidental hit in Europe; an engineering tool that people discovered and used free. Now the telcos over there have modest charges for sending it and rake in billions each year. But in the US first they tried to charge for sending and receiving, then massively increased the cost and now this. What is it US telcos have against SMS, I genuinely don't understand?
Greater interstate trade at lower cost for a start. It helps businesses get their products around faster and more cheaply.
In the 1950s the government set about a huge project to link America's cities and states via high speed road links. The investment has paid off well, and a similar project on our power infrastructure (especially if they could build a fibre network alongside) would pay off just as handsomely.
Shock! Horror! Next we'll be hearing of ursine defecation in arboreal settings.
A few years ago then Home Secretary David Blunkett tried something similar with the RIP Act, which would have given these kind of powers to bodies as obscure as parish councils. He said it wasn't until his son (an IT consultant) sat down and explained the problems this could cause that he dropped the plans.
Even if such a plan were possible as the one proposed it would run into massive opposition, not just from the other two parties but from ISPs, phone companies et al. With Labour as weak politically as they are now I hope this one will be a dead duck.
Bear in mind as well that these documents always over egg the pudding so that some areas can be dropped as concessions. Nevertheless I'll be writing to my old MP laying out the reasons why this is a stunningly bad idea.
After all, judging from the very low number of people who actually filed a complaint, 2,676 at the last count, it wasn't really an issue anyway. The Hot Coffee mod was difficult to install and, while it was stupid to leave it in the game, the company has been punished enough.
I'm amazed, and slightly chagrined.
I tested the 7 inch screen Eee PC when it first came out and a screen that size is pretty much useless when it comes to internet use of serious document preparation.
The article doesn't mention a VGA port but at that price I'd be amazed if it has one.
Still, I suppose any computer, even if it does give you eyestrain, is better than none.
If this is the level of fuckwittage he had to deal with while in his job I'm not surprised he locked others out.
The more I see on this case the more I think Childs is being set up as a scapegoat. The guy built the networking side from scratch and it seems management were happy with him running it with sole admin rights. Then a new admin comes in and he freaks out and gets overprotective. And a $5 million bail? Murderers don't get that much.
Well I found my current apartment through the site, but it took weeks of combing out the wankers before I did. But in San Francisco it's something of an institution so you've got to use it.
When it comes to Craigslist then it's a case of buyer, and seller, beware.
The site originally started out as a good idea but rapidly became spammed up with dodgy sellers, fake ads and boring rants.
While there are still a few nuggets of gold in among the trash (best of rants and raves is always worth a look) it's increasingly becoming irrelevant.
I'm not surprised they didn't bother to show, since they take such a lax attitude that getting into a battle to protect user anonymity would just be too much effort.
Got sent his video and was entranced. It summed up an awful lot of what I felt was wrong with my life. I'd raise a glass to him but have given up drinking based on that lecture.
It's worked before - look at GSM. That was developed in the very early days of mobile telephony because Europe recognised that a single standard would be essential. Not joining in set the US mobile telephony back a decade.
Just as Eisenhower signed off on the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act to kickstart the roads system in the US so too should the government act to fund this.
We have to go electric in the future, gas power isn't a viable long term solution and oil is going to be too valuable in the future to waste on driving around. But the 'free market' isn't going to fund the kind of network we need in the short term. Sure, they'll build the cars but infrastructure costs are beyond them.
Without a national infrastructure program the move towards electric transportation will be slow and patchy. This really is a case of if we build it they will come.
I've been shown child pornography by the police while writing an article on this and this is not teenagers mucking around, it's children being abused by adults.
For hundreds of years elections have been held using paper and pencil ballots, and fraud was very difficult to get away with. This is because you have to employ large numbers of people to commit it.
Electronic voting can be subverted very simply indeed, just by one person with the right technical knowledge. All electronic voting should be scrapped until a reasonably secure system can be organised, most likely by open source solutions. Even then there's no real reason for it.
And what the hell was the CEO doing installing patches? Sounds highly suspicous to me.
Look, the deal isn't perfect and certainly the banned list needs to be reviewed and an appeals process built in.
But, to misquote South Park, these people fuck children. I'll fight for internet free speech and open access but not for this, it's one of the few things I'd be in favour of blocking because it's abuse.
You could argue it's the thin end of the wedge and if it is then I'll fight alongside to prevent other stuff being banned. Just not this.
Agreed. Moving it to the moon is a nice idea but accomplishes nothing practical, apart from making it harder to resupply. If we are to use the ISS as a building point it's going to be easier to get the materials up to it while it's in low earth orbit.
That said it could do with some thrusters of its own anyway, in case it needs repositioning and a mission gets delayed.
Agreed, the basic principles look sound and it reuses working technology rather than the Ares probe, which seems to be about reinventing the Saturn system 50 years down the line. But I fear Nasa bureaucracy will chew this idea and spit it out, because it isn't Ares and look, they have all these lovely pictures of how it might work, ten or so years down the line. Besides, engineers never have good idea, that's for officials to do.
One's a smug, self-important wanker and the other's a pretentious git. Sounds perfect for Apple. Sorry, having a bad day.
AOL is suffering from a lot of things but in the UK what's really hurt them is the commoditisation of the internet. AOL made its reputation on ease of use, helping my mother and millions of other newbys get online. It was simple, well supported, and dominated the dial up market. Now broadband is the norm and accounts for over two thirds of UK internet connections. There are a handful of suppliers who all sell kit that is as easy to use as AOL's code and they are largely telcos who own the pipes rather than renting them. AOL is living off its old user base, which explains their tricky cancellation procedure. There's little to keep people at AOL now. It's underfunded its internet portal, AIM is interoperating with other IM systems and Google's beating the pants off AOL in local service provision. The Carphone Warehouse deal shows how little impact AOL has today. Maybe it'll spur a retro market for AOL emails...