http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1532 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:15:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1532
Heard of a little thing called the Prohibition? It was a little thing, you might not have heard of it, but it was a period in the 1920's when you couldn't buy alcohol. Shocking, I know. The government went around saying it was illegal to buy beer, and punished anyone they could find.
Guess what happened? Even though it technically was difficult to buy beer (you couldn't do so openly, you had to be circumspect about it, go through shady channels, basically some amount of effort) and it was underground by default seeing as how it was illegal...people still continued to drink. In large numbers. The US government threw 15,000 agents last I checked at this, and failed completely.
This was because the PEOPLE didn't want it to be illegal.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c248 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:15:46 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c248 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1517 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:15:43 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1517
AJ, let me give you some advice. You're never going to convince anyone to join your side by making insane arguments like you do. If you want to get people to agree with you, you may want to use some logic every now and then.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c246 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:15:38 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c246 By the way, the Prenda team forced those actions on the judge.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1495 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:15:15 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1495 You're assuming that the same amount of infringement would occur in the absence of DRM. I don't think you can show that. The harder it is to infringe, the less people will do it

Can you show that the presence of DRM decreases infringement in any significant manner? You can't. And those who created DMCA couldn't possibly show it. Empirical evidence however shows, that even with DRM present, content is pirated. The moment DRM is scraped - content is pirated as if DRM didn't exist. Even if DRM slightly slows this process (on the time which it takes to break it) - it's hardly relevant, since DRM is usually broken pretty fast.

However, besides all these points, DRM itself is unethical. Therefore DMCA 1201 should be considered unethical.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c241 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:11:11 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c241
John Steele was the one who wanted to brag about making millions per day, and chose to drag his feet on revealing information, then publicly whine that the judge hates copyright. You do the math. Vindictive judges for vindictively uncooperative plaintiffs.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c222 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:09:41 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c222 promised "a lot of egg on people's faces"???]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/14172323158/judge-not-impressed-prenda-alan-cooper-lawsuit.shtml#c430 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:08:53 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/14172323158/judge-not-impressed-prenda-alan-cooper-lawsuit.shtml#c430 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/00554723091/more-details-emerge-key-legal-fight-over-dmca-abuse.shtml#c193 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:08:00 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/00554723091/more-details-emerge-key-legal-fight-over-dmca-abuse.shtml#c193 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c200 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:07:32 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c200 immature.. like teenager... 14 years old.

Don't ask me how I know.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1479 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:05:21 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1479
If there's no DRM preventing me from making a backup I wouldn't have to download a copyright-infringing copy of the same file, you pinhead.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/01450023148/makers-nutella-force-fan-who-created-world-nutella-day-to-shut-it-down-updated.shtml#c598 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:04:23 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/01450023148/makers-nutella-force-fan-who-created-world-nutella-day-to-shut-it-down-updated.shtml#c598 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1456 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:02:02 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1456
Yeah, we can do that. Everything that the tax money pays for (roads, sidewalks, street lights, police, firemen) will from this day forth be payed for by you directly.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3817 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:59:58 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/10233423003/bug-allows-same-sex-marriage-nintendo-game-nintendo-releases-patch-to-fix-it.shtml#c3817 the state's Romeo & Juliette law is applicable...at the discretion of the judge.

Here in California, for example, she wouldn't have even committed a crime.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c186 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:58:22 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15164823159/bad-day-prenda-continues-judge-rejects-stay-adds-1k-per-day-each-day-they-dont-pay-up.shtml#c186
I just hope he has paperwork that can be used to prove that the court has been lied to and that Steele and Hammershite are and have been lying to the court. If he can identify where all the money went i am sure the court will be able to seize most of it if this is not resolved soon. Saying that i wonder if they have all transferred ownership of their assets to their wives and other business partners.

If i was anyone they knew i would be telling them to keep me out of it all and to stay away from me until this is all resolved. I am sorry but when they have already thrown friends under the buss i would not be taking a chance that i was going to be next.

That is unless they gave me a few million to look after for them, then i would be transferring it and moving out of the country to retire in some place they could not find me.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/01321523153/kitchen-nightmares-lawyers-threaten-infamous-samy-amy-if-they-talk-about-their-experience-show.shtml#c373 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:56:48 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/01321523153/kitchen-nightmares-lawyers-threaten-infamous-samy-amy-if-they-talk-about-their-experience-show.shtml#c373 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c1374 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:52:43 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c1374
The context of this particular article is interesting, as it's embedded in a larger narrative that seems to give the impression that sexual harassment and abuse is actually a non-issue for women on campus, which -- if you ask any women on campuses today -- is clearly not the case.

I frankly find thefire.org an insidious presence online -- a stealth ultra-conservative group that makes things sound just reasonable enough that their articles get picked up by respectable websites like Techdirt (and Boing Boing, the other website I've seen citing them) because they at first glance appear to support a more progressive "open" political agenda.

I would urge the authors of this website (as well as its readers) to use good judgement and critical analysis of sources before jumping on the bandwagon.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130505/14372422951/court-finds-fantasy-stories-obscene.shtml#c1097 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:51:03 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130505/14372422951/court-finds-fantasy-stories-obscene.shtml#c1097 Don't like it? Just close the book!

You miss the point. It isn't about just the content of the book or my reading it, rather the concern is the effects of that book on society as a whole and certain impressionable members who may choose to act differently after reading it.

Left alone and permitted without restriction, this sort of thing expresses that society thinks this is okay, acceptable in it's own way, and that the acts portrayed in it are equally acceptable.

Those acts are not acceptable. Discussion and enjoying of those acts, even as "fiction" certainly runs the risk of eroding society and encouraging bad acts.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1444 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:50:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1444
I applaud your fervor for trying to do something to correct the issues, even if it means "one step at a time", but the problem is the "fix" is covering an issue that, in my opinion, isn't as relevant as the rest of the law.

If someone came to you an claimed patching a leaky hole in a dam is fixing the dam, how much credibility would you put into the remark?

The hole obviously indicates there's a problem with the dam, just as the anti-circumvention clause indicates there's a problem with the law.

I know I should be much more supportive, but I suppose I'm just tired of getting my hopes up only to see the crushed as either not enough people stand up to repair the dam or that the faulty contractor bribes enough politicians to make the issue go away another day.

This is what this law does. It pushes the bigger issues away for another day, and until this day arrives, businesses (who are trying to serve those very customers complaining they can't do with their product as they want) are being closed down due to the much, much bigger problem of the DMCA: take down notices and false claims of copyright ownership.

Bigger fish to fry, and this law seems to be going after goldfish rather than the white whale.

Good luck with this fight, but I hope no one minds I sit this one out.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c983 Tue, 21 May 2013 17:49:46 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c983
If you want to try helping the police try encouraging good behaviour rather then defending bad behaviour. Don't just sit around and whine about what others are doing, go video tape them doing good deeds and post those on YT.]]>