Lets face it. If the web author knows the filter words it is easy to hack around any filter. If I create a page that has JPEGs names Pic1.peg, Pic2.peg,... Picn.peg no filter in the world is going to trap it. I could have B&D photos or photos of the Grand Canyon. These filters can only have limited value as long as they only have limited deployment. As soon as they become a real problem authors will find ways around them.
If what I've been hearing so long from the Micros~1 press office Bill Gates wrote DOS 20 years ago de novo with just two brain cells in an afternoon (and Al created the Internet that same morning). So all of these DOS attacks are a plot from Bill, right??
If you read the the text of the judge's orders sealing the records & shutting down the web pages with the he was very carefull to only shut down the source code. He explicitly allowed the discussion about the topic as well as links to other pages. Rather than treat this code as some holy relic lets build a full understanding of how the logic of this system works. That is one genie that can not be put back in the bottle. The open source community is strongest at doing engineering out in the open lets pour the spotlight of the open souce community on how this puppy works. At one time it was said that only great corperations could write a *nix. Open source has changed all that. Once the whole world knows how this system works there can be no trade secret. We have the technological power to change the world lets use it! So lets get those copies of Schneir out and get cracking.
You're right. This guy is great! I was ROFL for 5 minutes. His email to the Norwegian copy about pronting out the documents and putting them in the dumpster with the other trash musht have given them fits.
Inviting the public to come and watch his appartment being searcheced was smart. Serving coffee for the search gives him extra style points.
It's a good thing he lives in a rather free country otherwise he would simply vanish.
I'm not sure that being a grade AAA A** Hole would help our cause, but it does warm the heart.
I work out every morning at the same club that Microsoft buys membership for it's programmers and it is very interesting. It is mostly late 30s and 40s. There are a very large number of 40 something women who were obviously very attractive in their youth and are showing signs of age (this is of course normal, the gods know I don't have all of my hair anymore). Many work for Microsoft, but some are married to Microsoft. Several (still) wear sorority Tee shirts. So, if stereo-types hold these were the ones that were snubing Mr. Pocket-protector. So who is worried about their status here, the geek or the babe? Maybe the geek is the trophy? Or maybe they just want to keep fit like the rest of us.
First, of all, VC do not need to see anything technical. They invest in the people doing the plan, not technology. The biz plan is proof that you are savey enough to make money just as a schematic is the common tongue of electronics. If the VC have any questions about your tech they will hire a consultant (engineer) to evaluate your tech. It is fair to have the consultant sign the NDA. VC & angles are bean counters and business people. They need to see resumes and business plans not source code and schematics. The simple matter is you need to check on the VCs before you call them. Their web site should list who they have invested with before. Call the comtroller of companies they have invested in and check their referances or call another VC at random & or SBA and check if they are for real.
Speaking of NDAs, what do you want to keep from the public? That you are starting a business, that have a really cool name for a web site, who your partners are? If you really restrict what you cover in your NDA you have a better chance of having others signing it. The other type of IP protection is trade seceret protection. If you ever disclose anything to anybody without an NDA you can loose trade seceret protection. Trade secerets are a bit more nebulous, but they are worth protecting. You are trying to do two things with an NDA protect yourself from the VCs as well as show that you have take due care to prevent the info from be coming public. If you don't trust the VCs don't talk to them. You don't have enough money to sue them. What you are really doing to trying to prove that you have taken due care so that you can protect youself in the future. Imagine thinking up the key technology for nono tech, getting the patents and just as the industry is ramping up and is about to start paying you big buck some putz finds out that you spread your idea all over town and some shark comes in and overturns your patent.
As far as documenting your idea's creation date, use the PTOs disclosure statement as described in a previous post. It's cheap and bomb proof. DO NOT USE A NOTARY's SEAL, it will not stand up. Have two ENGINEERS read and sign/date a note at the bottom that they have read and understand what was written.
The day you publicly (non-NDA) disclose any ideas that might be patentable you start a one year clock before you must file in the US. Public disclosure can end some patent rights overseas the instant you disclose.
I see this as just another in a continuing chain of dehumanization that we all face everyday. Yesterday, I went to the Bellevue , WA (no I don't work for M$) CompUSA store to get Java Cafe. Sure I could have gotten less mail order, but hack I want instant gratification. I pay with my credit card, sign the receipt that is two feet long (no joke, it has tons of legal boiler plate I'm obliged to sign to get out the door). As I'm walking out the door, some snooty teenager dressed in a grubby CompUSA uniform marks at me, "Gime your receipt." Having paid full retail to dig through shabby shelve that lack accurate price tags I'm in no mood to deal a rude officious brat. I just keep walking. He follow after me calling, "hay you ya gatta show me your receipt." I finally turn and quietly say, "no." He give me this, "WHAT?" And has this look like I just tossed him out of a 747. He just was unable to conceive of someone standing up for them self.
Don't get me wrong. I understand they are trying to prevent shoplifting. I grew up in my family's grocery store so I understand how much pilfering hurts a business. I understand now that it probably cut my families income by 10 or 20%. On the other hand my grandfather ran a small store that was part of a semi-rural community and frisking his customers on the way out the door would have put him out of business.
We are paying customers. Do we need to put up with this shit? If you shop at Safeway or many other stores you don't get the same price if you don't use your store ID card. Go to Radio Shack, try to blow off giving them your name and watch them sputter and spit. (BTW I remember when Radio Shack used to mail a catalog to you house using your first initial and last name...I always used Fred Ucker for my name).
The Pepsi ad on the ID cards can be useful. Organize a boycott of Pepsi because of the Orwellian use of Social Security number. One phone call from Pepsi to the principal threatening to kill their payoff will get the SS#s off the ID yesterday.
Slashdot Mirror
Lets face it. If the web author knows the filter words it is easy to hack around any filter. If I create a page that has JPEGs names Pic1.peg, Pic2.peg, ... Picn.peg no filter in the world is going to trap it. I could have B&D photos or photos of the Grand Canyon. These filters can only have limited value as long as they only have limited deployment. As soon as they become a real problem authors will find ways around them.
S-
If what I've been hearing so long from the Micros~1 press office Bill Gates wrote DOS 20 years ago de novo with just two brain cells in an afternoon (and Al created the Internet that same morning). So all of these DOS attacks are a plot from Bill, right??
;-)
If you read the the text of the judge's orders sealing the records & shutting down the web pages with the he was very carefull to only shut down the source code. He explicitly allowed the discussion about the topic as well as links to other pages. Rather than treat this code as some holy relic lets build a full understanding of how the logic of this system works. That is one genie that can not be put back in the bottle. The open source community is strongest at doing engineering out in the open lets pour the spotlight of the open souce community on how this puppy works. At one time it was said that only great corperations could write a *nix. Open source has changed all that. Once the whole world knows how this system works there can be no trade secret. We have the technological power to change the world lets use it! So lets get those copies of Schneir out and get cracking.
You're right. This guy is great! I was ROFL for 5 minutes. His email to the Norwegian copy about pronting out the documents and putting them in the dumpster with the other trash musht have given them fits.
Inviting the public to come and watch his appartment being searcheced was smart. Serving coffee for the search gives him extra style points.
It's a good thing he lives in a rather free country otherwise he would simply vanish.
I'm not sure that being a grade AAA A** Hole would help our cause, but it does warm the heart.
Scott
I work out every morning at the same club that Microsoft buys membership for it's programmers and it is very interesting. It is mostly late 30s and 40s. There are a very large number of 40 something women who were obviously very attractive in their youth and are showing signs of age (this is of course normal, the gods know I don't have all of my hair anymore). Many work for Microsoft, but some are married to Microsoft. Several (still) wear sorority Tee shirts. So, if stereo-types hold these were the ones that were snubing Mr. Pocket-protector. So who is worried about their status here, the geek or the babe? Maybe the geek is the trophy? Or maybe they just want to keep fit like the rest of us.
WARNING: AN ENGINEERS VIEW NOT A LAWERS
First, of all, VC do not need to see anything technical. They invest in the people doing the plan, not technology. The biz plan is proof that you are savey enough to make money just as a schematic is the common tongue of electronics. If the VC have any questions about your tech they will hire a consultant (engineer) to evaluate your tech. It is fair to have the consultant sign the NDA. VC & angles are bean counters and business people. They need to see resumes and business plans not source code and schematics. The simple matter is you need to check on the VCs before you call them. Their web site should list who they have invested with before. Call the comtroller of companies they have invested in and check their referances or call another VC at random & or SBA and check if they are for real.
Speaking of NDAs, what do you want to keep from the public? That you are starting a business, that have a really cool name for a web site, who your partners are? If you really restrict what you cover in your NDA you have a better chance of having others signing it. The other type of IP protection is trade seceret protection. If you ever disclose anything to anybody without an NDA you can loose trade seceret protection. Trade secerets are a bit more nebulous, but they are worth protecting. You are trying to do two things with an NDA protect yourself from the VCs as well as show that you have take due care to prevent the info from be coming public. If you don't trust the VCs don't talk to them. You don't have enough money to sue them. What you are really doing to trying to prove that you have taken due care so that you can protect youself in the future. Imagine thinking up the key technology for nono tech, getting the patents and just as the industry is ramping up and is about to start paying you big buck some putz finds out that you spread your idea all over town and some shark comes in and overturns your patent.
As far as documenting your idea's creation date, use the PTOs disclosure statement as described in a previous post. It's cheap and bomb proof. DO NOT USE A NOTARY's SEAL, it will not stand up. Have two ENGINEERS read and sign/date a note at the bottom that they have read and understand what was written.
The day you publicly (non-NDA) disclose any ideas that might be patentable you start a one year clock before you must file in the US. Public disclosure can end some patent rights overseas the instant you disclose.
Best of luck
Scott
PS How do you get a free meal out of a VC?
Put your finger down it's throat.
Blech!
I see this as just another in a continuing chain of dehumanization that we all face everyday. Yesterday, I went to the Bellevue , WA (no I don't work for M$) CompUSA store to get Java Cafe. Sure I could have gotten less mail order, but hack I want instant gratification. I pay with my credit card, sign the receipt that is two feet long (no joke, it has tons of legal boiler plate I'm obliged to sign to get out the door). As I'm walking out the door, some snooty teenager dressed in a grubby CompUSA uniform marks at me, "Gime your receipt." Having paid full retail to dig through shabby shelve that lack accurate price tags I'm in no mood to deal a rude officious brat. I just keep walking. He follow after me calling, "hay you ya gatta show me your receipt." I finally turn and quietly say, "no." He give me this, "WHAT?" And has this look like I just tossed him out of a 747. He just was unable to conceive of someone standing up for them self.
Don't get me wrong. I understand they are trying to prevent shoplifting. I grew up in my family's grocery store so I understand how much pilfering hurts a business. I understand now that it probably cut my families income by 10 or 20%. On the other hand my grandfather ran a small store that was part of a semi-rural community and frisking his customers on the way out the door would have put him out of business.
We are paying customers. Do we need to put up with this shit? If you shop at Safeway or many other stores you don't get the same price if you don't use your store ID card. Go to Radio Shack, try to blow off giving them your name and watch them sputter and spit. (BTW I remember when Radio Shack used to mail a catalog to you house using your first initial and last name...I always used Fred Ucker for my name).
The Pepsi ad on the ID cards can be useful. Organize a boycott of Pepsi because of the Orwellian use of Social Security number. One phone call from Pepsi to the principal threatening to kill their payoff will get the SS#s off the ID yesterday.
On On