"The electronics giant also claimed that Connectix tarnished the PlayStation trademark by selling the rival Virtual Game Station product."
"Dilution by tarnishment occurs when a famous mark is linked to poor quality or unwholesome products, or otherwise displayed in a derogatory manner.[46] If the use of the mark does not result in negative associations for the senior trademark user, then there is no dilution by tarnishment." - http://www.loundy.com/JMLS-Trademark.html
It sounds like Sony was really reaching to try and get Connectix on any of these kinds of accusations. I doubt that the dismissal of those charges were in any way a shock to Sony. I'm guessing they've been aiming to nail Connectix on the theft of a trade-secret all along, and these other trumped up charges are just for filler. As a result, I don't think the dismissal of these issues is really a positive sign for Connectix at all; rather, it probably bodes that the legal battle is going just as Sony has intended it to all along. With the verdict on the trade-secret theft pending, I wouldn't be popping marguaritas at Connectix any time soon....
The problem is that, of course, YOU'RE thinking "Breakins, DoS, privacy", which would be a great mindset for an International Internet policing agency to have. And the US delegates may even tout those as their primary issues, wooing all to their favor. But realistically, the US wants power over International policing of the Internet for the same reason any government has ever wanted control over anything; they want to regulate the IDEAS that US citizens have access to. They aren't interested in policing crime; they probably couldn't care less about legitimate, real criminal and security issues on the 'net. If the government here felt the same way about these issues as you and other informed 'netizens, there wouldn't be this problem...
This will probably be yet another attempt by the US to implement International law as a fait-accompli, forcing the rest of the world to agree using political and, always more important, economic pressure. Typically this has worked well for the States, with Europe typically divided amongst themselves on petty issues and Asia staying out of everything that looks to hurt the stock-market. But with the EU chomping at the bit to test the limits of its new political and economic union, it will be interesting to see how they stand against the US's age-old bully tactics. And when was the last time you heard of Japan taking a firm stand on any issue that wasn't clear-cut economics, as far as the International arena is concerned? I'm guessing the US is in for a surprise this time, facing the most unified European front they've ever seen. And is Japan's standpoint a harbringer of things to come? I think it would be wise for the EU to catch this changing wind quickly, grabbing support where it arises. Perhaps they could change their name to the EBU (Everybody But the US) and start sending open invitations to the rest of the globe...
When independent groups of right-minded people set out to see beyond marketting hype and manufacturers specs and actually TEST the products we use today, they are generally called Consumer Advocates, not malicious hackers. Computer software seems to be one of the few arenas today where the general public has been effectively misled to believe that those actually working in their best interest are somehow evil, lawbreaking freaks. What do you think the response of the public would be if UL found a defect in a baby toy and was SUED by the manufacturer? Or some automag independently crash tested a vehicle and found it didn't meet the safety rating the manufacturer claimed, and was likewise sued? In these situations, the public would of course be outraged that these companies were trying to not only coverup existing defects but PREVENT others from finding new defects! And yet, when it comes to software, we seem more than happy to put the muzzle on the only dogs who won't bite the end-user...
If you can find most of the intermediary machines used as launch points, of which the assumption is there will be a lot, you can hope that at least one of them will have logs and/or tracks which the cracker forgot to wipe or missed wiping. Sure, most of 'em may be duds, but it may only take one good, unaltered log out of a couple of hundred machines to trace the attack back much closer to the source.
Hello!? Who the fuck cares about privacy in this situation? I think the far more important issue is the fact that we're unjustifiably cutting of access to kids for a bunch of ignorant morons. I've got two brothers who are serious coders and have good friends around the country who are going to lose their ICQ accounts over this stupid law. Yeah, in the end, it'll be more inconvenience than disaster; they've still got IRC and ICB, after all... but if we want to moan about trampling on privacy rights, lets first start with how we're trampling on these kids rights.
Once again the American government fails to notice the most glaring flaw in all of its Internet policy; the fact that it is an international phenomena, and that instituting (non)anonymity laws in the States will do little to stop the flow of Internet based attacks that are hard or impossible to trace from international sources.
"The approach is similar to the practice among amateur programmers of making software utilities and games available free over the Internet." I guess to be a pro programmer you have to sell advertising space on your laptop, do a commercial spot for Pepsi, and refuse to code for at least one whole season while renegotiating your contract.
Take a look at the thread titled "Magnetic Transistors" in reply to this article. They mention methods that should work to make a magnetic transistor. By extension this means you can create a CPU; the base building block of a CPU is a transistor.
The fears of standardizing a Linux interface look seem to be mostly reactionary, knee-jerk emotions. The point of standardizing an interface feel isn't to lock those who know how to customize and hack X-Windows into one design; it's to provide everyone else with something stable, useful, and somewhat user-friendly. If you have the knowledge to customize, configure, and contort your particular X-Windows interface, a standardized design scheme isn't going to apply to you. There's absolutely no reason a standardization has to pre-empt the ability to completely redo your X-Windows setup. It just provides a useful, fully featured starting point for everyone. Once your feet are in the blocks, you can choose to run as far as you want with your X config.
A lot of cable/dsl bridge group users raise issue specifically about others being able to see their computers in the windows Network Neighborhood, which is why your NetBIOS port is gone. The ISP hasn't really done anything to increase security; instead, they are responding to a general customer complaint in order to make everybody happy again. Since the majority of serious attacks and intrusions don't provide so obvious a sign as showing up in the Windows Network Neighborhood, chances are ISPs are still a long way off from providing any tighter security, since no one will be wise enough to complain...
Since schools started banning trench-coats and black clothing, do you think the government will start trying to ban computers and net access? Heal the foot by cutting off the leg; sounds like something politicians would pursue...
1. You can telnet or ssh or your preferred remote access method into a Linux/FreeBSD/your OS here box to perform about 99% of your maintenance... don't need a new monitor or keyboard...
2. Can't argue there.
3. Hardware solutions may be quicker and more reliable, but tend to get updated slower and less often when a security issue is discovered. Witness the many routers and switches which have known security loopholes that still have not yet had firmware upgrades issued.
The biggest issue, though, is that if you're using a hardware solution because it's quick, easy, and most importantly because you don't have to learn anything to use it, then you aren't really doing much to secure yourself. Without active knowledge backing up your security measures, people WILL find ways around them.
Given the amount of money I lose in taxes, I would hope the FBI is competent enough that going to California is merely an opportunity for them to get firsthand logging information off the boxes which were comprimised. I would hope that, as has been suggested, the slant the media has given to their "hot-on-the-tail" hunt of the perpetrators to that area is your typical media hype and misunderstanding. I would hope that there really isn't some gung ho, clueless investigative director running around with a bunch of unmarked cars hoping to catch those 'dangerous felons' sneaking out of California computer labs under cover of darkness. Probably all these hopes would be futile, though. Oh well... at least my tax money pays for good healthcare too... oh, wait. It doesn't... nevermind...
The original post may have been only soso on the humor side, but this follow up has just given me enough laughs to make it through next week... intentional or not, thanx for the laughs Byter...
Whatever happened to Netscape 5? Are we just skipping version numbers now? You know a product has gone down the tubes when they start skipping version numbers for market appeal...
Most people do agree that DSL is the way to go, *IF* it's available in your area. Sadly, though, DSL relies heavily on existing phone line quality, and no matter how badly any given phone company may want to provide DSL (and not many seem to want to yet), there are still many customers (I've heard estimates as high as 70% on average) that will simply not have the quality of lines necessary for a DSL connection. So the issue is important because, for the majority of people, Cable access is still (and will probably remain for several years) their only broadband access choice.
Oh man baby... back when I was running my BBS, I told people this day was in the not so distant future... no one beleived me.. they called me mad, insane, crazy... ha! Ha ha! My genius is proved! All those hours of creating intricate BBS artwork with the ASCII character set vindicated! My day of glory has arrived! The future has arrived... we've come full circle... the cycle is copmlete... Muwah... muwah... muwahHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......
You have to remember that the American government is based on an entrenched two-party system. If they don't continue polarizing the issues, someone might notice that the current structure of the American government isn't adequate for handling the intricate issues that face it every day. More than two views on an issue like censorship implies that maybe there could be more than two parties vying to have the final word on the issue.
It is interesting to see so many failed attempts at defining what entails a geek; it is not, however, surprising. For the first time in our historical perspective, a culture arises without a specific ideology. Our motto is not an anti-ideology, or a lack of ideology. Instead, we have an eternally evolving ideology. Geeks will never be defined because we are always redefining; geeks will never be contented because we are always looking to shape the next great thing. We do not hope to achieve something great or to shape the world in some ideal image -- we wish only to keep shaping. Because damn if it isn't snazzy. In this light, do you think geekdom will collapse under its own weight, fly apart from its own whirling momentum, or simply help us come to grips with the unending change of our universe? Or, d) none of the above?
Slashdot Mirror
"The electronics giant also claimed that Connectix tarnished the PlayStation trademark by selling the rival Virtual Game Station product."
"Dilution by tarnishment occurs when a famous mark is linked to poor quality or unwholesome products, or otherwise displayed in a derogatory manner.[46] If the use of the mark does not result in negative associations for the senior trademark user, then there is no dilution by tarnishment." - http://www.loundy.com/JMLS-Trademark.html
It sounds like Sony was really reaching to try and get Connectix on any of these kinds of accusations. I doubt that the dismissal of those charges were in any way a shock to Sony. I'm guessing they've been aiming to nail Connectix on the theft of a trade-secret all along, and these other trumped up charges are just for filler. As a result, I don't think the dismissal of these issues is really a positive sign for Connectix at all; rather, it probably bodes that the legal battle is going just as Sony has intended it to all along. With the verdict on the trade-secret theft pending, I wouldn't be popping marguaritas at Connectix any time soon....
The problem is that, of course, YOU'RE thinking "Breakins, DoS, privacy", which would be a great mindset for an International Internet policing agency to have. And the US delegates may even tout those as their primary issues, wooing all to their favor. But realistically, the US wants power over International policing of the Internet for the same reason any government has ever wanted control over anything; they want to regulate the IDEAS that US citizens have access to. They aren't interested in policing crime; they probably couldn't care less about legitimate, real criminal and security issues on the 'net. If the government here felt the same way about these issues as you and other informed 'netizens, there wouldn't be this problem...
This will probably be yet another attempt by the US to implement International law as a fait-accompli, forcing the rest of the world to agree using political and, always more important, economic pressure. Typically this has worked well for the States, with Europe typically divided amongst themselves on petty issues and Asia staying out of everything that looks to hurt the stock-market. But with the EU chomping at the bit to test the limits of its new political and economic union, it will be interesting to see how they stand against the US's age-old bully tactics. And when was the last time you heard of Japan taking a firm stand on any issue that wasn't clear-cut economics, as far as the International arena is concerned? I'm guessing the US is in for a surprise this time, facing the most unified European front they've ever seen. And is Japan's standpoint a harbringer of things to come? I think it would be wise for the EU to catch this changing wind quickly, grabbing support where it arises. Perhaps they could change their name to the EBU (Everybody But the US) and start sending open invitations to the rest of the globe...
When independent groups of right-minded people set out to see beyond marketting hype and manufacturers specs and actually TEST the products we use today, they are generally called Consumer Advocates, not malicious hackers. Computer software seems to be one of the few arenas today where the general public has been effectively misled to believe that those actually working in their best interest are somehow evil, lawbreaking freaks. What do you think the response of the public would be if UL found a defect in a baby toy and was SUED by the manufacturer? Or some automag independently crash tested a vehicle and found it didn't meet the safety rating the manufacturer claimed, and was likewise sued? In these situations, the public would of course be outraged that these companies were trying to not only coverup existing defects but PREVENT others from finding new defects! And yet, when it comes to software, we seem more than happy to put the muzzle on the only dogs who won't bite the end-user...
If you can find most of the intermediary machines used as launch points, of which the assumption is there will be a lot, you can hope that at least one of them will have logs and/or tracks which the cracker forgot to wipe or missed wiping. Sure, most of 'em may be duds, but it may only take one good, unaltered log out of a couple of hundred machines to trace the attack back much closer to the source.
Hello!? Who the fuck cares about privacy in this situation? I think the far more important issue is the fact that we're unjustifiably cutting of access to kids for a bunch of ignorant morons. I've got two brothers who are serious coders and have good friends around the country who are going to lose their ICQ accounts over this stupid law. Yeah, in the end, it'll be more inconvenience than disaster; they've still got IRC and ICB, after all... but if we want to moan about trampling on privacy rights, lets first start with how we're trampling on these kids rights.
Once again the American government fails to notice the most glaring flaw in all of its Internet policy; the fact that it is an international phenomena, and that instituting (non)anonymity laws in the States will do little to stop the flow of Internet based attacks that are hard or impossible to trace from international sources.
"The approach is similar to the practice among amateur programmers of making software utilities and games available free over the Internet." I guess to be a pro programmer you have to sell advertising space on your laptop, do a commercial spot for Pepsi, and refuse to code for at least one whole season while renegotiating your contract.
Take a look at the thread titled "Magnetic Transistors" in reply to this article. They mention methods that should work to make a magnetic transistor. By extension this means you can create a CPU; the base building block of a CPU is a transistor.
The fears of standardizing a Linux interface look seem to be mostly reactionary, knee-jerk emotions. The point of standardizing an interface feel isn't to lock those who know how to customize and hack X-Windows into one design; it's to provide everyone else with something stable, useful, and somewhat user-friendly. If you have the knowledge to customize, configure, and contort your particular X-Windows interface, a standardized design scheme isn't going to apply to you. There's absolutely no reason a standardization has to pre-empt the ability to completely redo your X-Windows setup. It just provides a useful, fully featured starting point for everyone. Once your feet are in the blocks, you can choose to run as far as you want with your X config.
A lot of cable/dsl bridge group users raise issue specifically about others being able to see their computers in the windows Network Neighborhood, which is why your NetBIOS port is gone. The ISP hasn't really done anything to increase security; instead, they are responding to a general customer complaint in order to make everybody happy again. Since the majority of serious attacks and intrusions don't provide so obvious a sign as showing up in the Windows Network Neighborhood, chances are ISPs are still a long way off from providing any tighter security, since no one will be wise enough to complain...
Since schools started banning trench-coats and black clothing, do you think the government will start trying to ban computers and net access? Heal the foot by cutting off the leg; sounds like something politicians would pursue...
1. You can telnet or ssh or your preferred remote access method into a Linux/FreeBSD/your OS here box to perform about 99% of your maintenance... don't need a new monitor or keyboard...
2. Can't argue there.
3. Hardware solutions may be quicker and more reliable, but tend to get updated slower and less often when a security issue is discovered. Witness the many routers and switches which have known security loopholes that still have not yet had firmware upgrades issued.
The biggest issue, though, is that if you're using a hardware solution because it's quick, easy, and most importantly because you don't have to learn anything to use it, then you aren't really doing much to secure yourself. Without active knowledge backing up your security measures, people WILL find ways around them.
Given the amount of money I lose in taxes, I would hope the FBI is competent enough that going to California is merely an opportunity for them to get firsthand logging information off the boxes which were comprimised. I would hope that, as has been suggested, the slant the media has given to their "hot-on-the-tail" hunt of the perpetrators to that area is your typical media hype and misunderstanding. I would hope that there really isn't some gung ho, clueless investigative director running around with a bunch of unmarked cars hoping to catch those 'dangerous felons' sneaking out of California computer labs under cover of darkness. Probably all these hopes would be futile, though. Oh well... at least my tax money pays for good healthcare too... oh, wait. It doesn't... nevermind...
The original post may have been only soso on the humor side, but this follow up has just given me enough laughs to make it through next week... intentional or not, thanx for the laughs Byter...
On the plus side, I'll feel like I've moved up a notch in life when I start throwing out AOL DVD demo discs instead of the AOL CD demo discs...
Whatever happened to Netscape 5? Are we just skipping version numbers now? You know a product has gone down the tubes when they start skipping version numbers for market appeal...
Most people do agree that DSL is the way to go, *IF* it's available in your area. Sadly, though, DSL relies heavily on existing phone line quality, and no matter how badly any given phone company may want to provide DSL (and not many seem to want to yet), there are still many customers (I've heard estimates as high as 70% on average) that will simply not have the quality of lines necessary for a DSL connection. So the issue is important because, for the majority of people, Cable access is still (and will probably remain for several years) their only broadband access choice.
Oh man baby... back when I was running my BBS, I told people this day was in the not so distant future... no one beleived me.. they called me mad, insane, crazy... ha! Ha ha! My genius is proved! All those hours of creating intricate BBS artwork with the ASCII character set vindicated! My day of glory has arrived! The future has arrived... we've come full circle... the cycle is copmlete... Muwah... muwah... muwahHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......
Damn, I missed at least three good opportunities to use the word 'issue' again in that paragraph.
You have to remember that the American government is based on an entrenched two-party system. If they don't continue polarizing the issues, someone might notice that the current structure of the American government isn't adequate for handling the intricate issues that face it every day. More than two views on an issue like censorship implies that maybe there could be more than two parties vying to have the final word on the issue.
It is interesting to see so many failed attempts at defining what entails a geek; it is not, however, surprising. For the first time in our historical perspective, a culture arises without a specific ideology. Our motto is not an anti-ideology, or a lack of ideology. Instead, we have an eternally evolving ideology. Geeks will never be defined because we are always redefining; geeks will never be contented because we are always looking to shape the next great thing. We do not hope to achieve something great or to shape the world in some ideal image -- we wish only to keep shaping. Because damn if it isn't snazzy. In this light, do you think geekdom will collapse under its own weight, fly apart from its own whirling momentum, or simply help us come to grips with the unending change of our universe? Or, d) none of the above?