That might be different, though. AFAIK, malls (at least the enclosed ones) are private property, so the owners can set pretty much any rules they like as long as they aren't in violation of the law.
This is a very good point. We hear "people in public have no reasonable expectation of privacy" (I happen to agree with this) all the time, yet the corporations can sue you if their public signage appears in a work of art you create. Not that this sort of double-standard shocks me anymore, but hey.
"But somewhere along the way, Mr. BadGuy starts stealing your widgets on the way to the store."
Here's where your analogy fails.
Change "starts stealing" to "uses his nanomachine replicator to make copies of your widgets" and you'll be back on track. Except nanomachine replicators don't exist, so there is no real-world analogy here. Unless your widgets consist of printed pages and Mr. Badguy is using a copier.
Re:the difference between stealing and copyright..
on
LokiTorrent Shut Down
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· Score: 1
"i'm sure ripping Ashlee Simpsons cd doesn't prevent her from buying whatever she wants."
Well, she still can't afford to spell her name properly, Mr. Smart Guy.
I just had a great idea. Star a torrent site, get a large following, start collecting money for a few months (citing fears of a lawsuit), then make it look like the MPAA defaced my site and shut me down.
The current (well, for me, since I'm in the US) issue of Computer Music has an interview with Roni Size, who mentions that he just threw out a ton of his CDs after ripping them to his hard drive. According to the linked article above, Norway is considering this law to bring the country into line with the rest of the EU. Does this mean Roni Size is a criminal for daring to rip his own legally-purchased CDs?
"you think every parent has read the ESRB web site?"
I'm going to have to refer you to the part where I said there's nothing ambiguous about "MATURE 17+". This is the actual stamp used on the actual game boxes. You said your mother "let" your younger brother have the game, which I took to mean she bought it for him. If she didn't buy it for him, perhaps she should screen this sort of thing more closely. Violence in video games is not a closely-guarded secret to anyone who's ever picked up a newspaper or turned on the news. It is still not up to the government to babysit our kids--it's up to us.
"Good stories make people care about all three (LotR, for instance)"
You have to admit, it's at least a little subjective. I thought LotR was garbage. Yes, the story and characters were interesting, but the upwards of 30-40 pages of boring descriptions with little exposition literally put me to sleep on several occasions. Getting through the book was a major force of will, and I only read it because several people told me it was a good read.
Tolkein just wasn't a very good writer, even though his ideas were incredible and certainly a lot of fun.
"It will be similar to an existing course where students learn how to create computer viruses. The aim is to develop new ways to fight these online nuisances."
The sky isn't falling, Chicken Little.
If you don't understand how something like spam begins and propagates, how are you supposed to fight it? Nothing to see here, move along.
I'm sorry, but there is very little ambiguity in a label that says "MATURE 17+" placed in a conspicuous location (and yes, it is conspicuous on GTA games) right on the box. As another poster pointed out, the ESRB is doing a fine job of educating parents who pay attention. Short of coming into homes and giving parents large posters describing the ratings, there's not much else they can do.
I had that problem too. So I ripped the legally-rented DVD onto a blank one and watched it. Way to go, Macrovision! You are directly responsible for this act of piracy!
That would be great if there were any evidence at all that filesharing cost the RIAA money. Oh, look, another year of record-breaking sales figures (no pun intended).
They've been selling these on walmart.com for a long time now. Reviews say the laptops are flimsy and cheaply-built, and there was a problem with advertising at first because the supplier lied to Wal-Mart about the specs and allegedly hacked the BIOS to report a higher CPU speed than what was actually installed.
These things also don't have a PCMCIA slot, so if all you need is a cheap wireless laptop that runs sluggishly, this might be a good deal for you. I should note that linux runs fine on my $350 Ebayed P3 Thinkpad, though.
Slashdot Mirror
That might be different, though. AFAIK, malls (at least the enclosed ones) are private property, so the owners can set pretty much any rules they like as long as they aren't in violation of the law.
"This is a ludacris, insane mockary of our legal system."
And that's a ludicrous, insane mockery of the English language.
This is a very good point. We hear "people in public have no reasonable expectation of privacy" (I happen to agree with this) all the time, yet the corporations can sue you if their public signage appears in a work of art you create. Not that this sort of double-standard shocks me anymore, but hey.
So you would prefer that these extremists met privately somewhere else, where no one could keep an eye on them or refute their stupidity?
I could "potentially" run over the first pedestrian I see this morning. I'm heading out to turn myself in...see you later.
"See how people used to become dizzy from the frightening array of free press outlets that used to question the government's actions."
Yeah, I miss those too.
"But somewhere along the way, Mr. BadGuy starts stealing your widgets on the way to the store."
Here's where your analogy fails.
Change "starts stealing" to "uses his nanomachine replicator to make copies of your widgets" and you'll be back on track. Except nanomachine replicators don't exist, so there is no real-world analogy here. Unless your widgets consist of printed pages and Mr. Badguy is using a copier.
"i'm sure ripping Ashlee Simpsons cd doesn't prevent her from buying whatever she wants."
Well, she still can't afford to spell her name properly, Mr. Smart Guy.
I just had a great idea. Star a torrent site, get a large following, start collecting money for a few months (citing fears of a lawsuit), then make it look like the MPAA defaced my site and shut me down.
#5: Profit!
The current (well, for me, since I'm in the US) issue of Computer Music has an interview with Roni Size, who mentions that he just threw out a ton of his CDs after ripping them to his hard drive. According to the linked article above, Norway is considering this law to bring the country into line with the rest of the EU. Does this mean Roni Size is a criminal for daring to rip his own legally-purchased CDs?
"Mrs. Crabtree, I failed the test because I'm too smart, according to this recent study."
"you think every parent has read the ESRB web site?"
I'm going to have to refer you to the part where I said there's nothing ambiguous about "MATURE 17+". This is the actual stamp used on the actual game boxes. You said your mother "let" your younger brother have the game, which I took to mean she bought it for him. If she didn't buy it for him, perhaps she should screen this sort of thing more closely. Violence in video games is not a closely-guarded secret to anyone who's ever picked up a newspaper or turned on the news. It is still not up to the government to babysit our kids--it's up to us.
"Good stories make people care about all three (LotR, for instance)"
You have to admit, it's at least a little subjective. I thought LotR was garbage. Yes, the story and characters were interesting, but the upwards of 30-40 pages of boring descriptions with little exposition literally put me to sleep on several occasions. Getting through the book was a major force of will, and I only read it because several people told me it was a good read.
Tolkein just wasn't a very good writer, even though his ideas were incredible and certainly a lot of fun.
Read chapter 34 (exerpts of which are in this thread) and try to tell me the editors thought it was a "generally good" story with only minor flaws.
No longer available, but that (as well as chapter 11) was written by Andrew Burt, former admin of nyx.net and an all-around cool guy.
"It will be similar to an existing course where students learn how to create computer viruses. The aim is to develop new ways to fight these online nuisances."
The sky isn't falling, Chicken Little.
If you don't understand how something like spam begins and propagates, how are you supposed to fight it? Nothing to see here, move along.
I'm sorry, but there is very little ambiguity in a label that says "MATURE 17+" placed in a conspicuous location (and yes, it is conspicuous on GTA games) right on the box. As another poster pointed out, the ESRB is doing a fine job of educating parents who pay attention. Short of coming into homes and giving parents large posters describing the ratings, there's not much else they can do.
"The industry's self-regulation failed. So someone else wants to regulate them."
Don't blame the industry for your mother's ignorance. ("Gee, I wonder what this 'Mature gamers only' sticker means? Oh well...")
Heck, who needs fine motor skills anyway?
"I'm not planning on getting hi-def until it's the only option left."
And of course, by then you'll be completely screwed. Keep on not caring.
"Citizen, you owe ASCAP $100 for thinking of the 'Happy Birthday to You' tune!"
"But I wasn't thinking of it, I swear!"
"You are now. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
I had that problem too. So I ripped the legally-rented DVD onto a blank one and watched it. Way to go, Macrovision! You are directly responsible for this act of piracy!
That would be great if there were any evidence at all that filesharing cost the RIAA money. Oh, look, another year of record-breaking sales figures (no pun intended).
Mod parent down. -1: RTFA
So this isn't the Balance notebook I was thinking of and it does come with a cardbus slot, but I'm still willing to bet reviewers will find it flimsy.
They've been selling these on walmart.com for a long time now. Reviews say the laptops are flimsy and cheaply-built, and there was a problem with advertising at first because the supplier lied to Wal-Mart about the specs and allegedly hacked the BIOS to report a higher CPU speed than what was actually installed.
These things also don't have a PCMCIA slot, so if all you need is a cheap wireless laptop that runs sluggishly, this might be a good deal for you. I should note that linux runs fine on my $350 Ebayed P3 Thinkpad, though.
"Kapioski added that one man even drove 400 miles to use the technology."
What a tool.