It's not a crutch to ignore the issue, it is a clarification of what we are discussing. There are important differences between copyright infringement and theft. There are entirely separate laws dealing with each of them. In sensible countries, one (copyright infringement) is a civil offence, and the other (theft) is a criminal offence. You cannot seriously claim that they are the same thing without dismissing a whole slew of important differences.
You stated that you have copied music before. Does that mean that you consider yourself a thief? Is the only thing that is stopping you from robbing stores the increased risk of being caught?
No matter how much Ubuntu wants to put in MP3 support, they can't! It's patented. That means they're not allowed to, without paying license fees. License fees for patents are usually based on how many people are using the product, but Ubuntu don't know about every deployment because they allow free distribution of the OS.
Of course Ubuntu would have support for MP3 if they were allowed to!
There's barely any adapting to be done. People already download shows off the internet. All networks need to do is legitimize it and throw in some ads that aren't worth removing. All of a sudden, they would have adapted their model to file sharing.
That's not the end of it, though. I think this model has many other ways of making money. For example, the fact that TV shows are distributed online means that many more people will start hitting television network websites, looking for the downloads. There's no reason why those websites can't have banner ads to generate extra revenue (just like The Pirate Bay does), show-related games that keep people on the website, show-related ringtones for people to buy via SMS, and so on.
The television networks are actually crazy for not embracing this.
The MPAA, US government, and Swedish police took down the The Pirate Bay website. If I told you that was about to happen, you'd probably see it as a very bad thing for bittorrent file-sharers and Swedes.
Instead, the action has been criticised in Sweden, gained the pirate party a lot more support and publicity, and the website has been put back up within about 2 days. Now it's hosted in other countries, and if any of those countries attempt to take it down, you can bet that it will again get widespread coverage in the news.
The Pirate Bay has gone from being a website into an idea. The MPAA thought they could just take it down and that would be the end of it. Instead, it seems that any attempt to take it down just gets support for file sharers and causes copyright laws to be questioned. Other countries can take it down, too, but the Swedes have set an example - there will be political backlash every time someone tries to mess with The Pirate Bay.
There should be an episode where a nasty old man is selling cake. After he sells it to one person, they try to share it with their friend, but the old man intervenes. Then Captain Copyleft comes along and saves the day - he makes cake for everyone to share.
I think software patents, proprietary file formats/codecs, and the lack of Free Software video card drivers are the only things preventing Ubuntu and some other Linux operating systems from being "better than Windows". That's a massive improvement from 5 years ago. If we can manage to get those issues sorted out (RESEARCH BEFORE VOTING AND LOBBYING!) then I think Ubuntu will be unstoppable.
It's important to realise, though, that the goal isn't to "beat Windows". The goal is a Free Software operating system that we can all use. Ideally, we should be able to enjoy community, culture and the internet in absolute freedom - freedom to share, create, study, and enjoy.
This will need to happen not only through a Free operating system, but also through projects like Wikipedia, and other "Free Culture" media. Movies, music, games, and books should all become free (as in freedom) within the next 10 years. Some say it will never happen, but I think that what has been accomplished already is proof that it will happen.
Not everyone is a programmer and the most important projects in the future are no longer programming ones, but creative ones. Programmers still have a major role to play, though. Free tools need to be created that allow people to easily create Free Culture. Eventually, everyone needs to get involved, and Wikipedia is proof that there are so many people who will get involved as soon as it becomes easy to be involved.
We need the cooperation of the video card companies. The only thing preventing what you describe is the lack of a Free Software driver for nvidia/ati cards.
I'm not sure about this, but it might be possible to reverse-engineer the proprietary drivers to see what they do, and build a Free Software driver based on that.
Compromising the principles of our community just to get more people into our community is pointless, though.
This may come as a surprise to you, but most viruses exploit flaws in Microsoft software to spread themselves.
Microsoft's initial product is defective, malicious people take advantage of the defects to create problems for users, Microsoft then charges users to remove the problems that their defective software allowed for in the first place.
Who you blame for viruses is debatable, but there's no doubt that Microsoft have a conflict of interests problem if they start selling virus scanner software. If they make their OS too secure, eventually they will kill the need for their new virus scanner product.
The fact that they intend for this service to be used mostly with Windows Vista is proof that they expect Windows Vista to have flaws for viruses to exploit.
I've got a feeling they're not going to get away with this quite as easily as you think they will. Most companies are not stupid enough to not see what's going on here.
The most effective way of stopping terrorists is taking away their cause. Believe it or not, terrorists don't blow up hundreds of people as well as themselves because they "hate freedom" or any of that rubbish.
Why should games ever become "finished"? If there is a first-person or platform game, can't additional levels always be added to it? Can't new, exciting enemies and weapons also be added in newer versions? Can't the graphics get better and better, as newer hardware comes out?
The only reason why games are ever "finished" is because proprietary software companies want to put them into a box and release them, but even in the proprietary games industry, you still see companies releasing mission packs, which are essentially just version updates (new levels, new monsters, maybe some new gameplay, etc) for the original game.
The time for free culture is coming, because a lot of the software necessary for digital freedom has been created. It's now time to start thinking about free culture, which includes games, movies, music, comics, novels, artwork, and probably other things that don't come to my mind at the moment.
Linux distributions are unlike most operating systems in that most of the software they use is already written before they start. Most of the work involves putting all of the pieces (known to work correctly on their own) together and ensuring that they still work. There's other things involved too, of course, but my point is that the bulk of Ubuntu is programs that were created as separate projects, and this is how Ubuntu is able to be put together so quickly.
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No, you can vote for plenty of other parties, too! You just don't want to.
It's not a crutch to ignore the issue, it is a clarification of what we are discussing. There are important differences between copyright infringement and theft. There are entirely separate laws dealing with each of them. In sensible countries, one (copyright infringement) is a civil offence, and the other (theft) is a criminal offence. You cannot seriously claim that they are the same thing without dismissing a whole slew of important differences.
You stated that you have copied music before. Does that mean that you consider yourself a thief? Is the only thing that is stopping you from robbing stores the increased risk of being caught?
Copyright infringement isn't theft. Anyone claiming it is automatically loses all credibility.
No matter how much Ubuntu wants to put in MP3 support, they can't! It's patented. That means they're not allowed to, without paying license fees. License fees for patents are usually based on how many people are using the product, but Ubuntu don't know about every deployment because they allow free distribution of the OS.
Of course Ubuntu would have support for MP3 if they were allowed to!
There's barely any adapting to be done. People already download shows off the internet. All networks need to do is legitimize it and throw in some ads that aren't worth removing. All of a sudden, they would have adapted their model to file sharing.
That's not the end of it, though. I think this model has many other ways of making money. For example, the fact that TV shows are distributed online means that many more people will start hitting television network websites, looking for the downloads. There's no reason why those websites can't have banner ads to generate extra revenue (just like The Pirate Bay does), show-related games that keep people on the website, show-related ringtones for people to buy via SMS, and so on.
The television networks are actually crazy for not embracing this.
The MPAA, US government, and Swedish police took down the The Pirate Bay website. If I told you that was about to happen, you'd probably see it as a very bad thing for bittorrent file-sharers and Swedes.
Instead, the action has been criticised in Sweden, gained the pirate party a lot more support and publicity, and the website has been put back up within about 2 days. Now it's hosted in other countries, and if any of those countries attempt to take it down, you can bet that it will again get widespread coverage in the news.
The Pirate Bay has gone from being a website into an idea. The MPAA thought they could just take it down and that would be the end of it. Instead, it seems that any attempt to take it down just gets support for file sharers and causes copyright laws to be questioned. Other countries can take it down, too, but the Swedes have set an example - there will be political backlash every time someone tries to mess with The Pirate Bay.
It isn't. It grants people freedom and is restrictive only to the extent that it forbids others from taking away that freedom.
Apple are enemies of Free Software. They sell and promote DRM - Digital Restrictions Management.
Restrictions are opposite Freedom.
Surely it would be Captain Copyleft.
There should be an episode where a nasty old man is selling cake. After he sells it to one person, they try to share it with their friend, but the old man intervenes. Then Captain Copyleft comes along and saves the day - he makes cake for everyone to share.
I always find it interesting to see how paranoid governments are, compared with their citizens.
Yeah, and then when nothing happens they can say "look at our good work! we stopped the attack!"
I reckon red would be more effective. Can you imagine the frustration? People would start killing each other.
I think software patents, proprietary file formats/codecs, and the lack of Free Software video card drivers are the only things preventing Ubuntu and some other Linux operating systems from being "better than Windows". That's a massive improvement from 5 years ago. If we can manage to get those issues sorted out (RESEARCH BEFORE VOTING AND LOBBYING!) then I think Ubuntu will be unstoppable.
It's important to realise, though, that the goal isn't to "beat Windows". The goal is a Free Software operating system that we can all use. Ideally, we should be able to enjoy community, culture and the internet in absolute freedom - freedom to share, create, study, and enjoy.
This will need to happen not only through a Free operating system, but also through projects like Wikipedia, and other "Free Culture" media. Movies, music, games, and books should all become free (as in freedom) within the next 10 years. Some say it will never happen, but I think that what has been accomplished already is proof that it will happen.
Not everyone is a programmer and the most important projects in the future are no longer programming ones, but creative ones. Programmers still have a major role to play, though. Free tools need to be created that allow people to easily create Free Culture. Eventually, everyone needs to get involved, and Wikipedia is proof that there are so many people who will get involved as soon as it becomes easy to be involved.
We need the cooperation of the video card companies. The only thing preventing what you describe is the lack of a Free Software driver for nvidia/ati cards.
I'm not sure about this, but it might be possible to reverse-engineer the proprietary drivers to see what they do, and build a Free Software driver based on that.
Compromising the principles of our community just to get more people into our community is pointless, though.
Actually, the problem is whoever hires people who are qualified for task A to do task B.
This may come as a surprise to you, but most viruses exploit flaws in Microsoft software to spread themselves.
Microsoft's initial product is defective, malicious people take advantage of the defects to create problems for users, Microsoft then charges users to remove the problems that their defective software allowed for in the first place.
Who you blame for viruses is debatable, but there's no doubt that Microsoft have a conflict of interests problem if they start selling virus scanner software. If they make their OS too secure, eventually they will kill the need for their new virus scanner product.
The fact that they intend for this service to be used mostly with Windows Vista is proof that they expect Windows Vista to have flaws for viruses to exploit.
I've got a feeling they're not going to get away with this quite as easily as you think they will. Most companies are not stupid enough to not see what's going on here.
Trust needs to be earned.
Since capitalism is so great, why not let them sell you the oil at the "market price"?
As for Israel, why not take a neutral approach? Seems to be working for Sweden.
Don't politicians make lots of phone calls, some of which would be international calls? I knew it! Damn terrorists.
The most effective way of stopping terrorists is taking away their cause. Believe it or not, terrorists don't blow up hundreds of people as well as themselves because they "hate freedom" or any of that rubbish.
Stallman isn't anti-copyright. He does want shorter copyright terms and non-commercial sharing allowed, though.
Why should games ever become "finished"? If there is a first-person or platform game, can't additional levels always be added to it? Can't new, exciting enemies and weapons also be added in newer versions? Can't the graphics get better and better, as newer hardware comes out?
The only reason why games are ever "finished" is because proprietary software companies want to put them into a box and release them, but even in the proprietary games industry, you still see companies releasing mission packs, which are essentially just version updates (new levels, new monsters, maybe some new gameplay, etc) for the original game.
The time for free culture is coming, because a lot of the software necessary for digital freedom has been created. It's now time to start thinking about free culture, which includes games, movies, music, comics, novels, artwork, and probably other things that don't come to my mind at the moment.
Of course it's news. Without this, many people might not realise that it is coming out in a week or so.
Do you think CNN and BBC won't mention anything about Windows Vista a week before it gets released? The fact that something big is imminent is news.
Six extra weeks can help a lot.
Linux distributions are unlike most operating systems in that most of the software they use is already written before they start. Most of the work involves putting all of the pieces (known to work correctly on their own) together and ensuring that they still work. There's other things involved too, of course, but my point is that the bulk of Ubuntu is programs that were created as separate projects, and this is how Ubuntu is able to be put together so quickly.