If people are afraid to purchase items on eBay because of jerk sellers, then people won't buy things, and good sellers will use a more reputable service to sell, so eBay will take in fewer fees. In order to survice, eBay needs to keep up its reputation with the end consumer,
You're going way beyond the "next quarter" thinking that appears prevalent in today's corporate mindset.
Still, it's better than living in Iran and Afghanistan.
This statement would hold true if the U.S. were exactly like Iran/Afghanistan in all respects save that everyone received a free ice cream cone every other Friday.
What are you talking about? If Microsoft has taught us anything, it's that innovation *does* happen in a flash. I mean, it doesn't take *that* long to write a cheque, now, does it?
before the second trimester, life is very much nothing but a blob, and completely undeserving of equal protection as a human being...
where do we draw the line exactly? i don't know. beware anyone who does.... the important thing is that because we don't know where to draw the line exactly does not mean we can't draw a line at all. and anyone who thinks that when a sperm meets an egg we get something that is equivalent to a human child is flat out lunatic religious fanatic
How can you declare where the line is, then claim not to know where the line is, then pass judgment on those who claim to know where the line is as being people who one should be wary of, then claim that we can still draw a line just as long as it's not one you disagree with? WTF is wrong with you? Were you aborted as a fetus or something?
Furthermore, why should the shape of something determine whether or not it is deserving protection of a human being? There are hugely obese people that are nothing more than blobs. Ah, but maybe you meant that the development level of certain organs -- heart, brain, whatever -- should be used as a measuring stick? If so, then what of people with disabilities in those areas? Are people with artificial hearts really "people"? What about retards?
(Damn, even *I* think this is a weird post. Am I on drugs or something?)
...only 15 cases of copyright infringement via file sharing were investigated in Sweden last year. So bribes or no bribes, it's not exactly a systematic witch hunt.
Right. The number would have to be ten times as high in order to qualify as an official official witch hunt.
Unfortunately, there were some rights issues involved and they couldn't do that simultaneously (although they still plan on releasing this way in the not-too-distant future...)
So, are you saying we should expect the downloadable version to be available next Sunday, A.D.?
The idea for a game is not protected by copyright. The same is true of the name or title given to the game and of the method or methods for playing it.
Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author's expression in literary, artistic, or musical form.
US copyright law for games
The US law is similar to the Canadian law WRT boardgames:
Copyright protects the expression of an idea and not the idea itself. For example, an idea for a board game would not be protected by copyright, but the expression of this idea in the form of written rules and playing instructions would be protected as a literary work. - Canadian Copyright Policy FAQ
You can take any existing game, rewrite the rules in your own words (while avoiding the use trademarks, e.g. "Scrabble") and publish it. That is your right. There's no law to stop you from creating your own Scrabble game just so long as it does not infringe on any of Hasbro's trademarks. The rules, method of play, and alphabet are not copyrightable.
Personally, I am totally against garbage like these "sex offender" lists. IMHO, the proper course of action is to put murders, rapists, child molesters, etc. to death and be done with it. When the government doesn't properly punish crime, the individuals have little recourse but to take the law into their own hands (whether it be murdering these people, or ostracizing them for being on "the list").
the increasing global economic cost of counterfeiting and piracy - which is currently between $500 and $600 billion/year in lost sales
Question: where are these hundreds of billions of dollars in "lost sales" we keep hearing about? If the sale was lost, surely the money must be sitting around *somewhere*. Do we all have a few grand just sitting around the house that we've "saved" from sharing media?
After all, without copyright, what would become of the next Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, or da Vinci?
Without copyright, the next Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, or da Vinci would probably enjoy the same everlasting success as the original Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, or da Vinci because their works would not be locked up in some vault for life + infinity years and would, instead, be free for the entire world to enjoy and appreciate.
Slashdot Mirror
You're going way beyond the "next quarter" thinking that appears prevalent in today's corporate mindset.
Unfortunately, it's all too easy to turn "unreasonable" into "reasonable" by way of many small "reasonable" steps over time.
This statement would hold true if the U.S. were exactly like Iran/Afghanistan in all respects save that everyone received a free ice cream cone every other Friday.
Declaring that you refuse to accept the definition of certain words is not a constructive tactic for debate.
What does that mean: "a spiritual component of your body"?
What an ironic response.
Methinks I doth feed the troll too much
I think you are confusing "having no soul" with "not believing in God". Your "soul" is the emergent property of your collection of atoms; it's *you*.
Oh, right. They hadn't invented the advanced concept of "rounding off" or "rough estimate" at that time. Silly me.
(My OP was modded down -2 and Thanshin's lame response was modded +5 Informative? Could Slashdot modders be any more blatantly biased?)
Does any idiotic thing get modded up as long as it blasts Christianity? Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about the principles of Euclidian geometry.
What are you talking about? If Microsoft has taught us anything, it's that innovation *does* happen in a flash. I mean, it doesn't take *that* long to write a cheque, now, does it?
where do we draw the line exactly? i don't know. beware anyone who does.
How can you declare where the line is, then claim not to know where the line is, then pass judgment on those who claim to know where the line is as being people who one should be wary of, then claim that we can still draw a line just as long as it's not one you disagree with? WTF is wrong with you? Were you aborted as a fetus or something?
Furthermore, why should the shape of something determine whether or not it is deserving protection of a human being? There are hugely obese people that are nothing more than blobs. Ah, but maybe you meant that the development level of certain organs -- heart, brain, whatever -- should be used as a measuring stick? If so, then what of people with disabilities in those areas? Are people with artificial hearts really "people"? What about retards?
(Damn, even *I* think this is a weird post. Am I on drugs or something?)
...only 15 cases of copyright infringement via file sharing were investigated in Sweden last year. So bribes or no bribes, it's not exactly a systematic witch hunt.Right. The number would have to be ten times as high in order to qualify as an official official witch hunt.
pr0n just got a whole lot more intimate.
"Yeah, baby! Melt those liquid crystals! I love the way you set my registers! Just looking at you makes my swapfile get bigger..."
If you have trouble seeing that, then I doubt anyone can successfully explain it to you.
So, are you saying we should expect the downloadable version to be available next Sunday, A.D.?
Michael Bay's.
You can take any existing game, rewrite the rules in your own words (while avoiding the use trademarks, e.g. "Scrabble") and publish it. That is your right. There's no law to stop you from creating your own Scrabble game just so long as it does not infringe on any of Hasbro's trademarks. The rules, method of play, and alphabet are not copyrightable.
I've heard a lot of stupid claims over intellectual "property" before, but this one really takes the cake*.
(*used with permission from Duncan Hines, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Foods Group, LLC.)
Can't get enough of my Hitler Crisp...
C'mon, guys, let's just agree to let Microsoft have this one, eh?
Talc is technically a rock...
A 30% recidivism rate for sex offenders (at least in the state of Washing for the year 2004) is not what I'd call "pretty damned small".
Not that I'm agreeing with the murder or the publishing of these terrible lists.
That and insanely high recidivism rates in the US.
Personally, I am totally against garbage like these "sex offender" lists. IMHO, the proper course of action is to put murders, rapists, child molesters, etc. to death and be done with it. When the government doesn't properly punish crime, the individuals have little recourse but to take the law into their own hands (whether it be murdering these people, or ostracizing them for being on "the list").
One man's nightmare is another man's -- oop, I've said too much...
Question: where are these hundreds of billions of dollars in "lost sales" we keep hearing about? If the sale was lost, surely the money must be sitting around *somewhere*. Do we all have a few grand just sitting around the house that we've "saved" from sharing media?
Here's a tip:
If you don't want something to become public knowledge -- accessible by anyone -- then don't put it on the internet.
Without copyright, the next Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, or da Vinci would probably enjoy the same everlasting success as the original Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, or da Vinci because their works would not be locked up in some vault for life + infinity years and would, instead, be free for the entire world to enjoy and appreciate.