"Oh, so sorry I didn't spend the extra money each month on a cell/mobile phone that I neither need nor want, even though YOU think I should. Douchebag."
WTF? I'm guessing you're from the States then? Not everyone lives there and pays through the nose for mobile service. I live in China- for $1.25/month (I checked the exchange rate) I get 20 minutes and 60 text messages, with overage at $.01-$.02/minute (too many decimal places when I tried to calculate). Another $3 tacked onto my plan gives me 50MB of GPRS data. If I wanted to I could change to a service plan that charges $6 for 400 minutes. it's dirt cheap. So please- remember that for some people a cellphone service plan is a trivial amount of money to spend and also that being a button away from the latest phone call can save you- it's your fault if you get stuck in the desert or in a similar empty area with no call box nearby. My cellphone facilitates my social life (camera/music/mail/organizer/games)- you don't ahve much of one, looks like.
Nope- it's a legitimate part of Yahoo's services (at least their Chinese set of services). Never heard of anyone in the US being arrested for it (after my school blocked P2P in the states I showed all my friends how to use it and not one has been arrested so far.
Dear America-
This goes both ways. NOBODY can force us to sell oil to you, and NOBODY can force us to sto pirating from you.
Just as much love,
The Rest of the World
I don't. Well, I LIVE in China- Wii games are $.75 aiece and a pre-modded Wii (haven't seen anyone selling an unmodded one yet) runs for about $275-$400 (hey, Wiis are actually in stock here in Shanghai at every gaming place I've been to- come on over if you want one; I've seen about 20 in one electronics mall). Nintendo is definitely lying about the lack of manufacturing capacity if China can maintain stock constantly while the US and Japan can't. Whoops- ran off on a tangent. Still, I don't mind all the piracy- better for me because the record labels price legitimate CDs to compete against the pirated copies. Ayumi Hamasaki's A BEST album goes for $3 here (yes, it's legit- but it's also "not for distribution outside of mainland China"- wonder why?) for example. If albums were priced here same as in the States I'd be buying pirated copies.
Right- this is CHINA we're talking about. Just look at their military spending- the US will be a smoking crater if they try to pull anything on the countries on their piracy watchlist.
Of course they won't. But amateur photographers that only used point-and-shoots in the first place (say, me) will (in fact, I already have- first a Sharp 902, which I lost, then a Toshiba 904T- both take excellent pictures in the right conditions, but the Sharp more closely resembles a real camera and is more tolerant of bad conditions while the Toshiba kind of sucks- I'm saving up for another 902 or maybe a 903). I really like the fact that while I can't carry a full-on camera (let alone a dSLR- I really hate them because they're hard to use. It took the longest time before I found how to adjust the exposure and ISO settings- before that my pictures were mostly white. I will never use one of those again until they become more user friendly) everywhere with me, I can do this with my cellphone.
That's why people are campaigning for Verizon to open up non-Verizon activations- so you can get phones like the MOTOFONE without having to wait for Verizon to sell it (you know they won't- they make a killing off their internet, games, ringtones, etc).
You can, the people who are into point and shoot are too dumb to (personal expierience with family members-they don't particularly like the photos they hav from the short time they used a SLR camera and can't figure out how to make them look better and can't be bothered to). Frankly, I can, but I can't be bothered to- if my cameraphone can print out decent 8x10s (I shit you not- but then again I don't buy my cameraphones from the States- not when Korea and Japan offer far better) I don't need anything better.
Uh-huh, right. I do believe that your problem lies in the fact that your post alone gives me no idea what model "camera" phone you have (I had a Nokia like yours- it took pictures as bad as you describe because it's a 6820- its selling point wasn't supposed to be the camera it was the full qwerty keyboard it had). Try Sharp- specifically their 902SH/903SH cameraphones. You'll change your tune- I did.
OK, thanks. I did have some trouble with that before and was stopped on the basis of "how do I know it's for you and it's not going to go on eBay or something?" Glad to know I was in the right there.
Oooh, yes. Using the "but I had a virus/adware and my computer became a spam-sending zombie" line would probably get you out of having to have that old hard drive be left exactly as it was- unless the RIAA would like to pay damages to those that were affected by the infected computer.
Paying for it doesn't mean you're out of the woods- I live in China. Quite a bit of my music collection I can't bring back even though I paid for it. Yes, some of it is because it's a commercially pirated disc, but others are because they say "not for distribution outside of Mainland China"- those are perfectly legit, licensed discs. I paid for them, I want to take them with me- why can't I (apart from the pirated ones- but I actually have had trouble with the licensed CDs because it says that on the jewel cases)?
No they won't. China is a piracy haven- if it's built in China there WILL be some backdoor to allow decrypted output to pass through unrestricted channels or to get around key revocation. They can't have that when DRM is such a big thing to them. For that matter, people aren't buying HD-DVD here (China) because there's no pirated content for it (think about it- after getting something that expensive are you really going to spend that much more on discs, especially with a salary lower than most Americans would call minimum wage?). Yes, entertainment is a luxury, not a right, blah blah blah... Still doesn't curb piracy (I wholeheartedly embrace it- not going to be hypocritical and preach against it; doesn't mean I never buy legit content when I can- it's priced at 1/3 the prices I see in the States in an attempt to compete against piracy).
Liability within the reach of US courts? How do they plan to enforce this, especially if said broadcast is coming from a place like China from a company who otherwise has no other ties to the US? US-based companies already caved to China before- they probably will again (like China will just let the US extradite its people, much less for copyright hassles), saving internet radio.
... to China. There it will thrive because the US can't touch them. Look at their military budget- who'd want to fool around with them, especially when they make all our stuff? Also, a Great Firewall won't work- they managed to hack US government computers, didn't they? If they won't fight militarily, they can cut off exports to the US. And the US considers China to be its most favored trading partner- I can see that going sour real fast.
Exactly. Plenty of places like that exist; but the primary country is China. The US can't do anything about it either- who manufactures most of their stuff now that the US itself won't? China. Who do the US have a trade deficit with? China. China can cut off exports to the US, or they could flood the US market with knock-offs if they're pissy enough.
Slashdot Mirror
Great- why wont people see that the 2 main parties aren't good for anything and start going for 3rd parties?
"Oh, so sorry I didn't spend the extra money each month on a cell/mobile phone that I neither need nor want, even though YOU think I should. Douchebag." WTF? I'm guessing you're from the States then? Not everyone lives there and pays through the nose for mobile service. I live in China- for $1.25/month (I checked the exchange rate) I get 20 minutes and 60 text messages, with overage at $.01-$.02/minute (too many decimal places when I tried to calculate). Another $3 tacked onto my plan gives me 50MB of GPRS data. If I wanted to I could change to a service plan that charges $6 for 400 minutes. it's dirt cheap. So please- remember that for some people a cellphone service plan is a trivial amount of money to spend and also that being a button away from the latest phone call can save you- it's your fault if you get stuck in the desert or in a similar empty area with no call box nearby. My cellphone facilitates my social life (camera/music/mail/organizer/games)- you don't ahve much of one, looks like.
And at this point it's plain the MAFIAA isn't paying.
Nope- it's a legitimate part of Yahoo's services (at least their Chinese set of services). Never heard of anyone in the US being arrested for it (after my school blocked P2P in the states I showed all my friends how to use it and not one has been arrested so far.
And they do. They also sometimes export this stuff to the rest of the world (Where do you think actors like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee come from?).
Dear America- This goes both ways. NOBODY can force us to sell oil to you, and NOBODY can force us to sto pirating from you. Just as much love, The Rest of the World
I don't. Well, I LIVE in China- Wii games are $.75 aiece and a pre-modded Wii (haven't seen anyone selling an unmodded one yet) runs for about $275-$400 (hey, Wiis are actually in stock here in Shanghai at every gaming place I've been to- come on over if you want one; I've seen about 20 in one electronics mall). Nintendo is definitely lying about the lack of manufacturing capacity if China can maintain stock constantly while the US and Japan can't. Whoops- ran off on a tangent. Still, I don't mind all the piracy- better for me because the record labels price legitimate CDs to compete against the pirated copies. Ayumi Hamasaki's A BEST album goes for $3 here (yes, it's legit- but it's also "not for distribution outside of mainland China"- wonder why?) for example. If albums were priced here same as in the States I'd be buying pirated copies.
Right- this is CHINA we're talking about. Just look at their military spending- the US will be a smoking crater if they try to pull anything on the countries on their piracy watchlist.
Frankly, I'd love it! To compare apples to apples, you do mean laws like the PATRIOT Act and the DMCA, right? YES!!!11!!1!!!!one!!!
When the thing costs $800 you expect quality similar to what they'd give to full digital cameras (like Sony Cybershots, probably not like on dSLRs).
I bought one because I wanted to experiment with manual settings on my photos. Didn't quite turn out that way, as you can see.
Of course they won't. But amateur photographers that only used point-and-shoots in the first place (say, me) will (in fact, I already have- first a Sharp 902, which I lost, then a Toshiba 904T- both take excellent pictures in the right conditions, but the Sharp more closely resembles a real camera and is more tolerant of bad conditions while the Toshiba kind of sucks- I'm saving up for another 902 or maybe a 903). I really like the fact that while I can't carry a full-on camera (let alone a dSLR- I really hate them because they're hard to use. It took the longest time before I found how to adjust the exposure and ISO settings- before that my pictures were mostly white. I will never use one of those again until they become more user friendly) everywhere with me, I can do this with my cellphone.
That's why people are campaigning for Verizon to open up non-Verizon activations- so you can get phones like the MOTOFONE without having to wait for Verizon to sell it (you know they won't- they make a killing off their internet, games, ringtones, etc).
You can, the people who are into point and shoot are too dumb to (personal expierience with family members-they don't particularly like the photos they hav from the short time they used a SLR camera and can't figure out how to make them look better and can't be bothered to). Frankly, I can, but I can't be bothered to- if my cameraphone can print out decent 8x10s (I shit you not- but then again I don't buy my cameraphones from the States- not when Korea and Japan offer far better) I don't need anything better.
Uh-huh, right. I do believe that your problem lies in the fact that your post alone gives me no idea what model "camera" phone you have (I had a Nokia like yours- it took pictures as bad as you describe because it's a 6820- its selling point wasn't supposed to be the camera it was the full qwerty keyboard it had). Try Sharp- specifically their 902SH/903SH cameraphones. You'll change your tune- I did.
Except that I could have *sworn* that a selling point of the N95 was the Zeiss lens on the camera?
OK, thanks. I did have some trouble with that before and was stopped on the basis of "how do I know it's for you and it's not going to go on eBay or something?" Glad to know I was in the right there.
Geez- someone actually tried to bring an element from the AMERICAN constitution in AUSTRALIA? I must be new here.
Oooh, yes. Using the "but I had a virus/adware and my computer became a spam-sending zombie" line would probably get you out of having to have that old hard drive be left exactly as it was- unless the RIAA would like to pay damages to those that were affected by the infected computer.
Paying for it doesn't mean you're out of the woods- I live in China. Quite a bit of my music collection I can't bring back even though I paid for it. Yes, some of it is because it's a commercially pirated disc, but others are because they say "not for distribution outside of Mainland China"- those are perfectly legit, licensed discs. I paid for them, I want to take them with me- why can't I (apart from the pirated ones- but I actually have had trouble with the licensed CDs because it says that on the jewel cases)?
No they won't. China is a piracy haven- if it's built in China there WILL be some backdoor to allow decrypted output to pass through unrestricted channels or to get around key revocation. They can't have that when DRM is such a big thing to them. For that matter, people aren't buying HD-DVD here (China) because there's no pirated content for it (think about it- after getting something that expensive are you really going to spend that much more on discs, especially with a salary lower than most Americans would call minimum wage?). Yes, entertainment is a luxury, not a right, blah blah blah... Still doesn't curb piracy (I wholeheartedly embrace it- not going to be hypocritical and preach against it; doesn't mean I never buy legit content when I can- it's priced at 1/3 the prices I see in the States in an attempt to compete against piracy).
Liability within the reach of US courts? How do they plan to enforce this, especially if said broadcast is coming from a place like China from a company who otherwise has no other ties to the US? US-based companies already caved to China before- they probably will again (like China will just let the US extradite its people, much less for copyright hassles), saving internet radio.
... to China. There it will thrive because the US can't touch them. Look at their military budget- who'd want to fool around with them, especially when they make all our stuff? Also, a Great Firewall won't work- they managed to hack US government computers, didn't they? If they won't fight militarily, they can cut off exports to the US. And the US considers China to be its most favored trading partner- I can see that going sour real fast.
Exactly. Plenty of places like that exist; but the primary country is China. The US can't do anything about it either- who manufactures most of their stuff now that the US itself won't? China. Who do the US have a trade deficit with? China. China can cut off exports to the US, or they could flood the US market with knock-offs if they're pissy enough.
China's a good place to consider. Play all the music you want- but less talk.