Personally, I will never ever run any Win* on any of my systems ever again. However, I think we need to keep in mind "expansion = problems".
I think the argument that there are more Win* vulnerabilities than there are *nix vulnerabilities because Win* runs on 99% of desktops is valid. It only makes sense. Why would a malicious author write something that effects 1% versus 99%?
With the rise in popularity, and in my estimation, the continued winning of desktops by linux, I think the *nix community should stop whining about unfair comparisons/studies and really take a serious look at the actual basis of the comparisons.
In order to maintain momentum in winning desktop space from Win*, *nix developers/distros/companies need to continue the good work fixing vulnerabilities or eliminating them prior to realeases of distros/apps/updates etc...
Statistics can say anything you want them to say. However, since perception is reality for most people, the *nix community has to be impressive and secure in the minds of consumers.
I don't see why they didn't just ask the US how we landed two probes successfully. If I remember correctly, those things were supposed to work for a month or two, then die. As far as I know they're still going.
Or were they launched at around the same time to test different landing mechanisms? Could be, who knows?
Look man, I described how it worked out for me. I didn't dispute anything in the article, which I did read so FU on that one, nor did I make any claims of policy or any other procedures from Dell.
OoooooKay Francis, go iron your Che Guevara t-shirt and relax.
This is nothing more than a move by the **AA to cling to an outdated business model at our expense. By "our" I mean consumers.
BTW, the taxation levels in Europe don't seem to be much higher than the US. I moved to Hamburg Germany just over a year ago and pay about the same taxes, (about 2% more), but a small fraction of the Health Insurance costs compared to the US. The care seems better and definitely more available here. At least in my experience with my doctor so far.
Also, the ability to pay for socialized medicine has little to do with taxes or affording a military. It has everything to do with government regulated Insurance and Drug Industries. Insurance companies make money in Germany too but not the Trillions that the US companies earn each year.
It basically comes down to greed and selfishness. Since I'm American I can say this. Your typical American doesn't give a shit about anything that doesn't effect their life directly.
Since my wife is German and I live here, I can say this. Europeans seem to generally have a greater sense of community are concerned about caring for everyone whether it effects them directly or not.
I also believe that's why the Feds can get things passed into law like the DMCA, outrageous copyright law, and completey inadequate patent law. Your average American doesn't copy DVDs or the latest episode of Desperate Housewives. Therefore, they probably couldn't care less about DRM law.
Step 1) Make your backup installation CD Step 2) Format your hard drive and install from scratch
The backup CD, at least for me, is a full XP Pro installation CD without all the bundled software that comes on the pre-installed hard drive or the system recovery CD.
And by the way, if you email support, they will send you an XP disc and a drivers disc (for your model) in the mail for free. It took about 3 days.
Personally, I just wiped out the hard drive and installed Suse 10.
Silly Mexicans. They're almost as stupid as the French.
So what if it is part of a tracking system. In the event of a real attack, it would do absulutely zero good anyway. Other countries are not stupid. Such systems, I would imagine, would be very high on the target list.
I'm all for private networks! It is extremely frustrating that everyone wants to download stuff but no one wants to share their bandwidth. If private networks or groups can limit leechers and improve service to people who are also willing to share, that has value to me, and I would actually be willing to pay a subscription.
If you limit your concurrent uploads to 3 connections and 10k, you should be banned period! That defeats the whole purpose and is just greedy and childish.
Yes there are critical systems on the internet. For those of you who think you're so smarty pants, "who would put crit systems out there", what about email? Or B2B? Or electronic trading on NYSE, NASDAQ, etc? Or, or, or.....
According to a study I read a couple of years ago, and unless this has changed in the last couple years, and I hope it has, there are only about 4 buildings in the US that need to go away and the internet would be virtually gone until they could be replaced.
A coordinated attack on these facilities could effectively remove all net communications in the US for who knows ho long. I imagine the recovery would take quite a long time.
She should setup some type of bank account or something so that people who want to can contribute to her legal costs and join the fight! I imagine a whole lot of people interested in how personal privacy and legal rights have been eroding lately would be more than happy to contribute a couple dollars each.
It would go a long way in bringing public awareness to just how heavy-handed the **IAs are coming down on individuals and send a clear message that we're ready to fight back!
I read a Rolling Stone article a couple of years back that was pretty interesting. I obviously can't find it now though.
Anyway, the point of the article was that CD sales actually account for a very small percentage of an artists music income. I think it was something like 5-15%. The artist also has to go Platinum on the first 3-4 CDs to break even with the Label's initial investment. The music companies spend a shitload of money on recording sessions, image PR, advertising, Radio Payola, etc...
Where the artists make the real money is with live performances and merchandising where they have a lot more control over the financial aspects than they do from their Label contracts. Concerts supposedly work in the opposite way regarding the financial agreements with the Labels. The Label only gets something like 5-10% of the money generated by ticket prices and t-shirt sales.
So it would seem to me that P2P doesn't actually harm the artists as much as it does the Labels.
I moved from Arizona to Hamburg, Germany just over a year ago. The best move I've ever made. I make a little more money than the US national average for a Unix Admin but the cost of living here is much lower than Phoenix or my other recent home San Diego, CA.
The health care system here is also socialized but with an option for private health care (either exclusive or in addition to) your basic health care.
Naturally there is the language problem. You can live here if you don't speak German but it would be very very difficult. For me, that's not a problem though.
The immigration laws are extremely strict for most nationalities but not nearly as bad for Americans. They do kindof use a Catch22 system though. You can't get residence permission without employment and a registered address here. You can't rent an apartment or get a job without residence permission though. There are loopholes but it's tough.
Of course, if anyone in your family tree, has or had, even the slightest percentage of German blood you can get citizenship pretty easily.
If you're married to a German, you don't have to change your citizenship to live here. Of course you can if you want to but it's not required which is my case.
Crime is extremely low everywhere and the weather is similar to the Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York region.
The IT market is somewhat thin, similar to the US, but there are plenty of jobs out there.
It looks as though I owe you an apology. I thought your Canada references were just examples. I didn't realize you actually live there!
Since I'm American and lived there up until last year, I'm familiar with the laws in the US. Since I've been in Germany for just over a year, I am familiar with the laws here.
The difference between copyright violation and theft is simply semantics. The fact remains that they are both illegal in the US.
If you believe, morally, that it's Ok to copy music in Canada, that's a matter of opinion. If it's Ok legally then that's just the way it is.
One person buys a CD and makes copies for all of his friends, who then make copies for all of their friends, and so on and so on. That type of system would definitely make me seriously consider a career change if I were a musician. It doesn't seem fair but oh well.
The point is, the EU itself has absolutely no enforcement branch at all, as I stated.
As far as my UN comment goes, the meaning of the comment was to make a comparison between the inability of the UN to punish a country and the inability of the EU to punish a country. Considering of course not all the members agree.
The only power that either has is based on the consensus of it's members. If there is no consensus or cooperation between member countries, then there is, in effect, no punishment for breaking EU rules or regulations.
For example: Germany decides to deport all the Poles and Russians that dominate the construction jobs this weekend.
The EU says, "Hey, you can't do that! We fine you 10,000 euros for every person that you deported. We further demand you reinstate them in their previous jobs".
Germany to the EU: Um, Nope! We don't like that idea and we're not going to comply.
What is the EU going to do? Sue Germany? Kick them out of the EU? Embargo? Good luck!
That's the point. Perhaps an over simplified example but I'm sure you get the idea.
Wow, no matter what the topic it's still sad when people can't adequately express themselves and have to resort to personal attack. Quite redneck actually.
Making a copy of your friends CD for yourself is NOT covered under fair use. That is, in effect, stealing.
To set you straight again:
"Fair use" was designed to allow a person to buy a CD, make a copy for the car cd player, and maybe rip it for their MP3 player. In all those cases, the property remains in the hands and for the use of, the person that paid for the original which all used to be legal. Note the "used to be".
Then along comes the DMCA and it's now illegal to circumvent copy protection whether it's for your personal use or not. Since probably all music CDs made in the last few years have some type of copy protection, ripping it is illegal, plain and simple.
I never said that I sided with the **IA or EU or any other agency, company, organization, etc... Which leads me to further believe that you didn't read what I wrote or can't comprehend it.
I rip and copy and rip again just like everyone else.
What I find most interesting is how some people believe that downloading or copying music or movies or whatever is not wrong or illegal. Of course there's the moral and legal opinions regarding this subject.
Because people believe that they've been sandbagged into paying too much for music just to line the pockets of music industry executives, those people believe that it's somehow their right to do whatever they want with copyrighted works. Not so.
I'm not saying stop copying music. I'm not saying the music industry are within their rights. I just would like a little honesty out of people when it comes to breaking the law. Just because Sony didn't fess up to doing something evil doesn't mean that you have to lower your standards and rationalize theft.
Like me, I freely admit that I'm a thief on occasion. Just be truthful about it and don't whine and try to justify breaking the law because you feel like you got ripped off.
For example, you kinda pissed me off because you don't seem to think your arguments through and resort to verbal attacks of a personal nature when I made no offense toward you whatsoever.
Feeling that I've been wronged, I blow your head off.
When I go to trial, I say, "Well, the guy damaged my feelings and crippled my brain because of the comments that he installed in my memory".
Judge to me: You get the needle anyway because what you did was illegal!
See my point?
To me, the idea of using a filter isn't nearly as troubling as a court forcing a company to change it's software. Yes, flamebait, but the Microsoft deal wasn't anything near as frightening as this decision.
So what, no IE in Windows.
No search function in an application who's core function is based on searching? Very big deal!
What's really scary, is that this sets precedent. Other companies can now refer to this case as precedent to annihilate competition or simply something they don't like.
Technically, and I'm assuming you're referring to the Sony root kit, they didn't technically "Break" or "Cripple" anything. I hate the idea of some company installing something without my expressed permission on my equipment. But using the terms Break and Cripple are not accurate here.
##You call "reasonable" (sic) levying a special tax on blank media, "just in case" the media is used to "pirate" music?
There are only 2 absolute truths in the world: Death and Taxes. I'm a smoker and nearly half the retail cost of cigarettes is derived from taxes. Besides, media is so cheap, what's the difference?
##You call "reasonable" blackmailing people who MIGHT have shared music into paying multi-thousand dollars "settlements" without any proof of wrongdoing?
Wow, wrong again. They got the logs from the ISP, they got the search warrants for the contents of the PC, they got admissions from the perpetrators. Case closed.
##You call "reasonable" (I'm not making this up!) trying to force all society to use specially-designed hard-disks that will check whether the data they are writing is copyrighted?
Have to agree with that one. Forcing certain types of hardware is totally ridiculous!
##You call "reasonable" treating your customers like criminals?
If they break the law, Yes, that's reasonable. If you download music or movies and have never purchased the original retail version. You are stealing. Just because "everyone does it" doesn't mean it's Ok. Um, I may or may not have done this myself.
##You call all the abovementionned **ARROGANCE** "reasonable"? I'd hate to see what you call "unreasonable"...
Unreasonable is attacking someone when you haven't read the article or use arguements that don't make any sense.....
Ok, since most visitors of/. are in the US, a couple of things need to be cleared up. I'm American but live in Hamburg Germany.
The EU, as an establishment, have very little power over the member countries. It's much like the UN, which is a totally lame organization and always has been, but that's not the point.
The EU can recommend all they want but can't "enforce" anything unless the member states choose to do so. The EU does not have any enforcement branch whatsoever.
Every company I have worked for has always viewed the IT department as an unrecoverable but necessary expense on the balance sheets. We don't directly increase gross income, we only detract from it as a necessary evil.
Therefore, companies are all hot-and-heavy about outsourcing overseas because it's considerably cheaper. What they are now starting to understand, and perhaps too late, is that this only works well for telephone support type jobs and nothing else. As a Unix Admin I see this all the time with our customers.
I got really sick and tired of wondering every day when I got out of bed if this was the morning that I would be outsourced. So I started looking overseas. NO, NOT in India!
I accepted a job in Germany and now that I've been here for a year I see open positions all over the place in Europe. The Europeans are plenty happy to pay fair, and maybe even uberfair, wages to talented IT professionals. They are even more excited about American IT people because we are quite simply the best. Europe is always playing catchup to the US but I get the feeling that's changing now.
My advice to IT students: 1. Only study IT if that's what you really want to do. 2. The IT industry IS the socalled "Global Economy". Don't limit your job hunt to only the US. There are some really great opportunities elsewhere. 3. Generally, European IT shops work from 8am to 6pm. Anything outside of that doesn't generally concern them until the next morning. There are of course exceptions but they are rare. 4. Heavy Linux, moderate Unix, light Windows. Um, for the guy that said very few companies use Unix anymore, do some reading. 5. Don't exagerate on your resume! Your company will eventually find out and term you on the spot. 6. IT is a Catch 22. HR types want real experience but you can't get experience without a job but you can't get a job without experience. etc...etc... Once you do get in, don't get pinned into one function. No one wants an Exchange Admin that can't manage DNS. No one wants a HP-UX Admin that doesn't understand how to make it talk to Windows and so on.
I've been arguing this point with a friend. Everyone knows the GPL and that if you change it you're supposed to release the source code including your changes.
However, who is going to do anything about it if a company is in violation of the GPL?
Is an anonymous group of part-time coders going to send a cease and desist letter?
So far, the GPL has not been challenged in court. Most legal experts are of the opinion that the GPL is indefensable anyway. Or at least that it would be very difficult to defend.
Until a high profile GPL case precedent is set somewhere, GPL software is fair game!
Don't get me wrong, I'm all about OSS and GPL works. But really, a GPL isn't worth anything until a court precedent is established.
Gun manufacturers are without doubt NOT responsible for how their products are used. They meet all government requirements for warnings and safety paperwork provided with each purchase. Just like Tylenol, electrical appliances, cars....
Ok, you buy a second hand jacket. I wouldn't, but a lot of people do. The tag has been connected with a child rapist by the FBI. You go to the train station. You get scanned.
Suddenly, 15 FBI agents slam your face into the dirty floor and take you away for questioning in hand cuffs. You submit to a DNA test (no, not like the CSI TV show, it really does take a long time). It will take days if not weeks to prove they got the wrong person !!! In the meantime, there is no way they are going to let you out.
Since perception is reality, you lose your job, your wife, your friends, etc...etc... because you're a deviant child molester. I mean, you must be, the evening news said you're a suspected deviant so it must be true.
Perhaps a little bit extreme for an example but not out of the range of RFID possibility.
I liked the comment "What's it gonna take.....". If I read correctly, only about 23 percent of internet users in the US use broadband connections. (Census bureau)
Since VOIP isn't feasable over a "lowband" connection, I would have to conclude that the population effected by the possibility of a government agency tapping your connection is a relatively low number, compared to all internet users in the US.
If this is actually the case, the other 70-80 percent of internet users either don't care or don't know about the legislation. Even if they do know and do care, it won't effect them anyway, so to them it's no big deal.
People get pissed off and get laws changed when a law, or the lack of one, effects the MAJORITY or you get a MEDIA BLITZ (i.e. Amber Alerts) to get people's attention.
One constant in the US is the attitude that people just don't care about anything until it effects them directly. Sad but true!
It seems to me that this could be a plan to provide some kind of revenue flow as Tivo dies. The recent debate over the "broadcast flag", and Tivo's policy on how you can use, or how long you can keep recorded material, could probably have something to do with this service agreement.
Personally, I would never sign up for Tivo now because of the DRM provisions now being imposed on Tivo customers. And if I were a current customer, I would definitely be looking for an alternative right about now. Tivo users have become accustomed to doing just about whatever they want with their recorded material.
Those days are numbered or gone.
BTW, MythTV Rocks!
Slashdot Mirror
Personally, I will never ever run any Win* on any of my systems ever again. However, I think we need to keep in mind "expansion = problems".
I think the argument that there are more Win* vulnerabilities than there are *nix vulnerabilities because Win* runs on 99% of desktops is valid. It only makes sense. Why would a malicious author write something that effects 1% versus 99%?
With the rise in popularity, and in my estimation, the continued winning of desktops by linux, I think the *nix community should stop whining about unfair comparisons/studies and really take a serious look at the actual basis of the comparisons.
In order to maintain momentum in winning desktop space from Win*, *nix developers/distros/companies need to continue the good work fixing vulnerabilities or eliminating them prior to realeases of distros/apps/updates etc...
Statistics can say anything you want them to say. However, since perception is reality for most people, the *nix community has to be impressive and secure in the minds of consumers.
Only then will the momentum remain sustainable.
Just my 2 cents
I don't see why they didn't just ask the US how we landed two probes successfully. If I remember correctly, those things were supposed to work for a month or two, then die. As far as I know they're still going.
Or were they launched at around the same time to test different landing mechanisms? Could be, who knows?
Look man, I described how it worked out for me. I didn't dispute anything in the article, which I did read so FU on that one, nor did I make any claims of policy or any other procedures from Dell.
I just described my situation, nothing more.
OoooooKay Francis, go iron your Che Guevara t-shirt and relax.
This is nothing more than a move by the **AA to cling to an outdated business model at our expense. By "our" I mean consumers.
BTW, the taxation levels in Europe don't seem to be much higher than the US. I moved to Hamburg Germany just over a year ago and pay about the same taxes, (about 2% more), but a small fraction of the Health Insurance costs compared to the US. The care seems better and definitely more available here. At least in my experience with my doctor so far.
Also, the ability to pay for socialized medicine has little to do with taxes or affording a military. It has everything to do with government regulated Insurance and Drug Industries. Insurance companies make money in Germany too but not the Trillions that the US companies earn each year.
It basically comes down to greed and selfishness. Since I'm American I can say this. Your typical American doesn't give a shit about anything that doesn't effect their life directly.
Since my wife is German and I live here, I can say this. Europeans seem to generally have a greater sense of community are concerned about caring for everyone whether it effects them directly or not.
I also believe that's why the Feds can get things passed into law like the DMCA, outrageous copyright law, and completey inadequate patent law. Your average American doesn't copy DVDs or the latest episode of Desperate Housewives. Therefore, they probably couldn't care less about DRM law.
Step 1) Make your backup installation CD
Step 2) Format your hard drive and install from scratch
The backup CD, at least for me, is a full XP Pro installation CD without all the bundled software that comes on the pre-installed hard drive or the system recovery CD.
And by the way, if you email support, they will send you an XP disc and a drivers disc (for your model) in the mail for free. It took about 3 days.
Personally, I just wiped out the hard drive and installed Suse 10.
Wow, perfect for terrorists!
Um, have you learned nothing from 9/11?
It wouldn't have to be a long range weapon. They could fly a suicide Cesna packed with explosives into the thing and destroy it.
Silly Mexicans. They're almost as stupid as the French.
So what if it is part of a tracking system. In the event of a real attack, it would do absulutely zero good anyway. Other countries are not stupid. Such systems, I would imagine, would be very high on the target list.
I'm all for private networks! It is extremely frustrating that everyone wants to download stuff but no one wants to share their bandwidth. If private networks or groups can limit leechers and improve service to people who are also willing to share, that has value to me, and I would actually be willing to pay a subscription.
If you limit your concurrent uploads to 3 connections and 10k, you should be banned period! That defeats the whole purpose and is just greedy and childish.
Ok, maybe flamebait but here goes.
Yes there are critical systems on the internet. For those of you who think you're so smarty pants, "who would put crit systems out there", what about email? Or B2B? Or electronic trading on NYSE, NASDAQ, etc? Or, or, or.....
According to a study I read a couple of years ago, and unless this has changed in the last couple years, and I hope it has, there are only about 4 buildings in the US that need to go away and the internet would be virtually gone until they could be replaced.
A coordinated attack on these facilities could effectively remove all net communications in the US for who knows ho long. I imagine the recovery would take quite a long time.
She should setup some type of bank account or something so that people who want to can contribute to her legal costs and join the fight! I imagine a whole lot of people interested in how personal privacy and legal rights have been eroding lately would be more than happy to contribute a couple dollars each.
It would go a long way in bringing public awareness to just how heavy-handed the **IAs are coming down on individuals and send a clear message that we're ready to fight back!
Just a thought.
I read a Rolling Stone article a couple of years back that was pretty interesting. I obviously can't find it now though.
Anyway, the point of the article was that CD sales actually account for a very small percentage of an artists music income. I think it was something like 5-15%. The artist also has to go Platinum on the first 3-4 CDs to break even with the Label's initial investment. The music companies spend a shitload of money on recording sessions, image PR, advertising, Radio Payola, etc...
Where the artists make the real money is with live performances and merchandising where they have a lot more control over the financial aspects than they do from their Label contracts. Concerts supposedly work in the opposite way regarding the financial agreements with the Labels. The Label only gets something like 5-10% of the money generated by ticket prices and t-shirt sales.
So it would seem to me that P2P doesn't actually harm the artists as much as it does the Labels.
I moved from Arizona to Hamburg, Germany just over a year ago. The best move I've ever made. I make a little more money than the US national average for a Unix Admin but the cost of living here is much lower than Phoenix or my other recent home San Diego, CA.
The health care system here is also socialized but with an option for private health care (either exclusive or in addition to) your basic health care.
Naturally there is the language problem. You can live here if you don't speak German but it would be very very difficult. For me, that's not a problem though.
The immigration laws are extremely strict for most nationalities but not nearly as bad for Americans. They do kindof use a Catch22 system though. You can't get residence permission without employment and a registered address here. You can't rent an apartment or get a job without residence permission though. There are loopholes but it's tough.
Of course, if anyone in your family tree, has or had, even the slightest percentage of German blood you can get citizenship pretty easily.
If you're married to a German, you don't have to change your citizenship to live here. Of course you can if you want to but it's not required which is my case.
Crime is extremely low everywhere and the weather is similar to the Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York region.
The IT market is somewhat thin, similar to the US, but there are plenty of jobs out there.
It looks as though I owe you an apology. I thought your Canada references were just examples. I didn't realize you actually live there!
Since I'm American and lived there up until last year, I'm familiar with the laws in the US. Since I've been in Germany for just over a year, I am familiar with the laws here.
The difference between copyright violation and theft is simply semantics. The fact remains that they are both illegal in the US.
If you believe, morally, that it's Ok to copy music in Canada, that's a matter of opinion. If it's Ok legally then that's just the way it is.
One person buys a CD and makes copies for all of his friends, who then make copies for all of their friends, and so on and so on. That type of system would definitely make me seriously consider a career change if I were a musician. It doesn't seem fair but oh well.
The point is, the EU itself has absolutely no enforcement branch at all, as I stated.
As far as my UN comment goes, the meaning of the comment was to make a comparison between the inability of the UN to punish a country and the inability of the EU to punish a country. Considering of course not all the members agree.
The only power that either has is based on the consensus of it's members. If there is no consensus or cooperation between member countries, then there is, in effect, no punishment for breaking EU rules or regulations.
For example: Germany decides to deport all the Poles and Russians that dominate the construction jobs this weekend.
The EU says, "Hey, you can't do that! We fine you 10,000 euros for every person that you deported. We further demand you reinstate them in their previous jobs".
Germany to the EU: Um, Nope! We don't like that idea and we're not going to comply.
What is the EU going to do? Sue Germany? Kick them out of the EU? Embargo? Good luck!
That's the point. Perhaps an over simplified example but I'm sure you get the idea.
Wow, no matter what the topic it's still sad when people can't adequately express themselves and have to resort to personal attack. Quite redneck actually. Making a copy of your friends CD for yourself is NOT covered under fair use. That is, in effect, stealing. To set you straight again: "Fair use" was designed to allow a person to buy a CD, make a copy for the car cd player, and maybe rip it for their MP3 player. In all those cases, the property remains in the hands and for the use of, the person that paid for the original which all used to be legal. Note the "used to be". Then along comes the DMCA and it's now illegal to circumvent copy protection whether it's for your personal use or not. Since probably all music CDs made in the last few years have some type of copy protection, ripping it is illegal, plain and simple. I never said that I sided with the **IA or EU or any other agency, company, organization, etc... Which leads me to further believe that you didn't read what I wrote or can't comprehend it. I rip and copy and rip again just like everyone else. What I find most interesting is how some people believe that downloading or copying music or movies or whatever is not wrong or illegal. Of course there's the moral and legal opinions regarding this subject. Because people believe that they've been sandbagged into paying too much for music just to line the pockets of music industry executives, those people believe that it's somehow their right to do whatever they want with copyrighted works. Not so. I'm not saying stop copying music. I'm not saying the music industry are within their rights. I just would like a little honesty out of people when it comes to breaking the law. Just because Sony didn't fess up to doing something evil doesn't mean that you have to lower your standards and rationalize theft. Like me, I freely admit that I'm a thief on occasion. Just be truthful about it and don't whine and try to justify breaking the law because you feel like you got ripped off. For example, you kinda pissed me off because you don't seem to think your arguments through and resort to verbal attacks of a personal nature when I made no offense toward you whatsoever. Feeling that I've been wronged, I blow your head off. When I go to trial, I say, "Well, the guy damaged my feelings and crippled my brain because of the comments that he installed in my memory". Judge to me: You get the needle anyway because what you did was illegal! See my point?
To me, the idea of using a filter isn't nearly as troubling as a court forcing a company to change it's software. Yes, flamebait, but the Microsoft deal wasn't anything near as frightening as this decision.
So what, no IE in Windows.
No search function in an application who's core function is based on searching? Very big deal!
What's really scary, is that this sets precedent. Other companies can now refer to this case as precedent to annihilate competition or simply something they don't like.
Ok,
##You call "reasonable" breaking customer's computers by stealthily installing crippling software?
Technically, and I'm assuming you're referring to the Sony root kit, they didn't technically "Break" or "Cripple" anything. I hate the idea of some company installing something without my expressed permission on my equipment. But using the terms Break and Cripple are not accurate here.
##You call "reasonable" (sic) levying a special tax on blank media, "just in case" the media is used to "pirate" music?
There are only 2 absolute truths in the world: Death and Taxes. I'm a smoker and nearly half the retail cost of cigarettes is derived from taxes. Besides, media is so cheap, what's the difference?
##You call "reasonable" blackmailing people who MIGHT have shared music into paying multi-thousand dollars "settlements" without any proof of wrongdoing?
Wow, wrong again. They got the logs from the ISP, they got the search warrants for the contents of the PC, they got admissions from the perpetrators. Case closed.
##You call "reasonable" (I'm not making this up!) trying to force all society to use specially-designed hard-disks that will check whether the data they are writing is copyrighted?
Have to agree with that one. Forcing certain types of hardware is totally ridiculous!
##You call "reasonable" treating your customers like criminals?
If they break the law, Yes, that's reasonable. If you download music or movies and have never purchased the original retail version. You are stealing. Just because "everyone does it" doesn't mean it's Ok. Um, I may or may not have done this myself.
##You call all the abovementionned **ARROGANCE** "reasonable"? I'd hate to see what you call "unreasonable"...
Unreasonable is attacking someone when you haven't read the article or use arguements that don't make any sense.....
Ok, since most visitors of /. are in the US, a couple of things need to be cleared up. I'm American but live in Hamburg Germany.
The EU, as an establishment, have very little power over the member countries. It's much like the UN, which is a totally lame organization and always has been, but that's not the point.
The EU can recommend all they want but can't "enforce" anything unless the member states choose to do so. The EU does not have any enforcement branch whatsoever.
IT employees are a cost, that's the bottom line.
Every company I have worked for has always viewed the IT department as an unrecoverable but necessary expense on the balance sheets. We don't directly increase gross income, we only detract from it as a necessary evil.
Therefore, companies are all hot-and-heavy about outsourcing overseas because it's considerably cheaper. What they are now starting to understand, and perhaps too late, is that this only works well for telephone support type jobs and nothing else. As a Unix Admin I see this all the time with our customers.
I got really sick and tired of wondering every day when I got out of bed if this was the morning that I would be outsourced. So I started looking overseas. NO, NOT in India!
I accepted a job in Germany and now that I've been here for a year I see open positions all over the place in Europe. The Europeans are plenty happy to pay fair, and maybe even uberfair, wages to talented IT professionals. They are even more excited about American IT people because we are quite simply the best. Europe is always playing catchup to the US but I get the feeling that's changing now.
My advice to IT students:
1. Only study IT if that's what you really want to do.
2. The IT industry IS the socalled "Global Economy". Don't limit your job hunt to only the US. There are some really great opportunities elsewhere.
3. Generally, European IT shops work from 8am to 6pm. Anything outside of that doesn't generally concern them until the next morning. There are of course exceptions but they are rare.
4. Heavy Linux, moderate Unix, light Windows. Um, for the guy that said very few companies use Unix anymore, do some reading.
5. Don't exagerate on your resume! Your company will eventually find out and term you on the spot.
6. IT is a Catch 22. HR types want real experience but you can't get experience without a job but you can't get a job without experience. etc...etc... Once you do get in, don't get pinned into one function. No one wants an Exchange Admin that can't manage DNS. No one wants a HP-UX Admin that doesn't understand how to make it talk to Windows and so on.
My 2 cents
I've been arguing this point with a friend. Everyone knows the GPL and that if you change it you're supposed to release the source code including your changes.
However, who is going to do anything about it if a company is in violation of the GPL?
Is an anonymous group of part-time coders going to send a cease and desist letter?
So far, the GPL has not been challenged in court. Most legal experts are of the opinion that the GPL is indefensable anyway. Or at least that it would be very difficult to defend.
Until a high profile GPL case precedent is set somewhere, GPL software is fair game!
Don't get me wrong, I'm all about OSS and GPL works. But really, a GPL isn't worth anything until a court precedent is established.
Gun manufacturers are without doubt NOT responsible for how their products are used. They meet all government requirements for warnings and safety paperwork provided with each purchase. Just like Tylenol, electrical appliances, cars....
Ok, you buy a second hand jacket. I wouldn't, but a lot of people do. The tag has been connected with a child rapist by the FBI. You go to the train station. You get scanned.
Suddenly, 15 FBI agents slam your face into the dirty floor and take you away for questioning in hand cuffs. You submit to a DNA test (no, not like the CSI TV show, it really does take a long time). It will take days if not weeks to prove they got the wrong person !!! In the meantime, there is no way they are going to let you out.
Since perception is reality, you lose your job, your wife, your friends, etc...etc... because you're a deviant child molester. I mean, you must be, the evening news said you're a suspected deviant so it must be true.
Perhaps a little bit extreme for an example but not out of the range of RFID possibility.
I liked the comment "What's it gonna take.....". If I read correctly, only about 23 percent of internet users in the US use broadband connections. (Census bureau)
Since VOIP isn't feasable over a "lowband" connection, I would have to conclude that the population effected by the possibility of a government agency tapping your connection is a relatively low number, compared to all internet users in the US.
If this is actually the case, the other 70-80 percent of internet users either don't care or don't know about the legislation. Even if they do know and do care, it won't effect them anyway, so to them it's no big deal.
People get pissed off and get laws changed when a law, or the lack of one, effects the MAJORITY or you get a MEDIA BLITZ (i.e. Amber Alerts) to get people's attention.
One constant in the US is the attitude that people just don't care about anything until it effects them directly. Sad but true!
It seems to me that this could be a plan to provide some kind of revenue flow as Tivo dies. The recent debate over the "broadcast flag", and Tivo's policy on how you can use, or how long you can keep recorded material, could probably have something to do with this service agreement. Personally, I would never sign up for Tivo now because of the DRM provisions now being imposed on Tivo customers. And if I were a current customer, I would definitely be looking for an alternative right about now. Tivo users have become accustomed to doing just about whatever they want with their recorded material. Those days are numbered or gone. BTW, MythTV Rocks!