The relatively few deaths caused by psychotic gun wielders is but a scratch on the body of humanity. But the emotional response of seeing an innocent killed causes humanity to thrash about in the dark trying to hit the thing that scratched it. Meanwhile humanity ignores the ton of bricks that are still a mile up, but clearly falling its way.
Cave-lawyer: "No, no, no. You can't have a patent on fire just on the process of making fire. If you make a fire by rubbing two sticks together you owe Cave-man a bear hide."
Cave-hunter: "Well, I made this fire by banging two stones together so bug off."
Cave-lawyer: "In that case you can either give Cave-man 3 beaver pelts (of which I will keep 2 for services), or we will sue you for a side of Mastadon."
Cave-hunter: "But I thought you said his patent was only on making fire by rubbing two sticks together?"
Cave-lawyer: "Doesn't matter. We wrote the patent with such broad terminology that we can still sue you. Better you just pay up the 3 little pelts than risk losing an entire half of a Mastadon. Plus you will be held up in extended court proceedings away from the hunt while your wife and children starve."
(Very early in its history, the human race goes extinct.)
Notice in the article how they talk about releasing it for download at first, then switching that after a set time to streaming with the provision to remove the streaming. In other words, they want to have a launch window. Problem is, that isn't how the internet works. Once you put something out, it is out, there is no reigning back in. I suspect that this is the missing piece of the puzzle. Because they are unable to control windows of availability the old fogies at EMI reject the idea completely.
The real problem with that youtube video is that there is NO VIDEO, probably because of copyright (bullshit) restrictions. I only "watched" enough of it to get the point. But I was hoping for some flaunting of glee girl butts. That would have kept me watching to the end!
That lack of video in that glee video just makes the point stronger.
Through creativity he modified something to sound almost completely different from the original. He made something new. Then someone else copied exactly what he did and didn't give him any credit for it. That is the problem here. I am all for anyone copying anything from anybody just as long as they admit it is a copy and give credit where it is due.
Yeah, legal gobbledygook and complicated arbitrary rules make the whole situation fine, don't they. Just means only the big guy with the team of lawyers can do whatever they want to the little guy. Thanks for making clear exactly what is wrong with this.
Re: Re: Re: My comment about this article over on the "Opposing Views" website
Raise your hand if you worked at a university and haven't gone into the computer closet to jiggle a few wires to get your connection to work. Sure the door says "Authorized Personnel Only", but I thought that knowing what you are doing makes you authorized.
I reread that and realize it sounds bad. I wish he hadn't offed himself at all, of course. But I think he should have fought harder to fight the charges rather than giving up prematurely as though he had already lost. The mind is fragile.
I would rather that he had fought all the charges and then offed himself after (if) he lost.
But I can see someone like him getting depressed just by the in-the-face realization that some people are so cruel, that the system is so cold, and there is just nothing that you can do about it. I too become depressed when I think about these things, but I can just put it out of mind and dwell instead on snowflakes and unicorns. He couldn't.
You know that there are limits to everything. I consider myself principled, but if somebody held a gun to my head and told me to apologize for something I hadn't done I would do so, just to make them go away.
Swartz did return all documents to JSTOR, pay restitution and apologize. ... you cannot say Swartz didn't know and acknowledge that his conduct was wrongful.
And you never just payed the fine or apologized when you knew in your heart you were in the right? No one ever just apologized or paid the fine to make the thing go away or from other outside pressure or just convenience?
"Ah, since you paid the fine you admit that you ran the red light!"
"Yeah, I apologize for getting a blowjob in the Oval Office."
Why are prosecutors given so much power over what the end punishment of a criminal is? Seems like there should be more separation between the judge and the lawyers. Another thing I am wondering is if there are any consequences to lawyers for bringing bogus charges to court. Like, say they bring somebody up on 10 charges and the judge finds him guilty of 4. The prosecutor gets a -6 on their record or something?
Prosecutor: "Unless you sign off on this speeding ticket, chum, I'm gonna throw the book at you. That's right, I'll charge you with everything! You will be in court 20 years at least. You musta done something."
Not entertainment, but there is a large copyright industry built around the selling of academic papers. This, as a closet scientist, is an insane situation to me. I have to pay $25 just to look at some of the papers I am interested in. Knowledge should be free.
It remains unclear the motivations for the prosecutor bullying in this particular (Swartz) situation, though. What is clear is that it should not have happened.
If there is no competing service then you have customers locked in no matter if they sign a contract or not. That is exactly my situation. I have 1 ISP available to use. When I moved here they made me sign a 2 year contract. I plan to live here 10 years and be on internet the entire time, so the contract is worthless from their end. From my end it is actually a benefit because it locks them in to not raising my rates for 2 years.
In this case I think you are just over blowing some marketing rhetoric of this company. They found that people that are unstable are unwilling to sign a long term contract. They found that by lowering the fee for no contract some of them would sign up for the short term. Basically they found that wise business practice can make them more money. Then they spin it in the news as doing something special for people. It is only special because most other companies are too stupid to figure out that having a no-contract option can make them more money.
The govt as a whole may appear hypocritical but that is a symptom of the real problem. (some of) The people in charge of our govt offices are pushing their own agendas ahead of the agendas of the people they work for (us). It is symptomatic throughout the govt now to the point where everybody expects it like business as usual. This includes revolving doors and congresspeople that favor lobby interests over constituent interests.
I often hear people say things like "but the President doesn't have the power to do anything about that so how can we blame him?" Well, the Pres appoints these heads doesn't he? He has oversight and is letting it go on. These heads are not doing their jobs if they put themselves first! Obama seems like a nice guy and I like a lot of what he says, but the fact that he lets guys Leibowitz, Holder, Bernanke, and many others in his administration go on about their way means that he condones what they are doing. And what they are doing is screwing up everything they have charge over for the sake of their own personal gain.
Nothing is changing. People fear change and they are unable to think for themselves so they will continue to vote for whoever the media tells them to vote for and against their own best interests.
On the post: California Senator Leland Yee Tells Gamers To Shut Up And Let The Grown Ups Talk
all of this is a distraction
On the post: California Senator Leland Yee Tells Gamers To Shut Up And Let The Grown Ups Talk
Re:
On the post: Steve Jobs Used Patents Like A Mob Boss: Threatened To Sue Palm Over Patents If It Poached Any Apple Employees
What if Cave-man had a patent on fire.
Cave-hunter: "Well, I made this fire by banging two stones together so bug off."
Cave-lawyer: "In that case you can either give Cave-man 3 beaver pelts (of which I will keep 2 for services), or we will sue you for a side of Mastadon."
Cave-hunter: "But I thought you said his patent was only on making fire by rubbing two sticks together?"
Cave-lawyer: "Doesn't matter. We wrote the patent with such broad terminology that we can still sue you. Better you just pay up the 3 little pelts than risk losing an entire half of a Mastadon. Plus you will be held up in extended court proceedings away from the hunt while your wife and children starve."
(Very early in its history, the human race goes extinct.)
On the post: Old EMI Email Shows They Knew That Giving Away Songs For Free Leads To More Sales
launch window
On the post: Jonathan Coulton Publicly Shames Fox For Copying His Arrangement In Glee
Re: This is an Absolute Travesty
That lack of video in that glee video just makes the point stronger.
On the post: Jonathan Coulton Publicly Shames Fox For Copying His Arrangement In Glee
Re:
On the post: Jonathan Coulton Publicly Shames Fox For Copying His Arrangement In Glee
Re:
On the post: Carmen Ortiz's Husband Criticizes Swartz Family For Suggesting Prosecution Of Their Son Contributed To His Suicide
Re: Re: Re: My comment about this article over on the "Opposing Views" website
On the post: Carmen Ortiz's Husband Criticizes Swartz Family For Suggesting Prosecution Of Their Son Contributed To His Suicide
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NOTHING wrong?
On the post: Carmen Ortiz's Husband Criticizes Swartz Family For Suggesting Prosecution Of Their Son Contributed To His Suicide
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NOTHING wrong?
But I can see someone like him getting depressed just by the in-the-face realization that some people are so cruel, that the system is so cold, and there is just nothing that you can do about it. I too become depressed when I think about these things, but I can just put it out of mind and dwell instead on snowflakes and unicorns. He couldn't.
On the post: Carmen Ortiz's Husband Criticizes Swartz Family For Suggesting Prosecution Of Their Son Contributed To His Suicide
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NOTHING wrong?
On the post: Carmen Ortiz's Husband Criticizes Swartz Family For Suggesting Prosecution Of Their Son Contributed To His Suicide
Re: Re: Re: NOTHING wrong?
And you never just payed the fine or apologized when you knew in your heart you were in the right? No one ever just apologized or paid the fine to make the thing go away or from other outside pressure or just convenience?
"Ah, since you paid the fine you admit that you ran the red light!"
"Yeah, I apologize for getting a blowjob in the Oval Office."
On the post: Carmen Ortiz's Husband Criticizes Swartz Family For Suggesting Prosecution Of Their Son Contributed To His Suicide
Plea Bargaining
Prosecutor: "Unless you sign off on this speeding ticket, chum, I'm gonna throw the book at you. That's right, I'll charge you with everything! You will be in court 20 years at least. You musta done something."
On the post: Aaron Swartz Could Have Killed Someone, Robbed A Bank & Sold Child Porn & Faced Less Time In Prison
Re: Re:
It remains unclear the motivations for the prosecutor bullying in this particular (Swartz) situation, though. What is clear is that it should not have happened.
On the post: ISP Says It's Doing Away With Contract Requirements; Wants People To Pay Them For Offering Good, Reliable Service
but is there any competition?
In this case I think you are just over blowing some marketing rhetoric of this company. They found that people that are unstable are unwilling to sign a long term contract. They found that by lowering the fee for no contract some of them would sign up for the short term. Basically they found that wise business practice can make them more money. Then they spin it in the news as doing something special for people. It is only special because most other companies are too stupid to figure out that having a no-contract option can make them more money.
On the post: NRA's Plan: If We Blame Video Games & Movies For Sandy Hook Massacre, Perhaps People Will Stop Blaming Guns
Re:
Where is the "blame the frailty of the human mind" option?
On the post: DMCA Fun: Movie Studios Issue Takedowns Over Their Authorized Films
the Thoughts of a Movie exec
On the post: Google Staredown With FTC May Result In FTC Blinking
Re: Re: Harm is easy to find if not willfully blind.
On the post: Google Staredown With FTC May Result In FTC Blinking
Re: hypocitical
I often hear people say things like "but the President doesn't have the power to do anything about that so how can we blame him?" Well, the Pres appoints these heads doesn't he? He has oversight and is letting it go on. These heads are not doing their jobs if they put themselves first! Obama seems like a nice guy and I like a lot of what he says, but the fact that he lets guys Leibowitz, Holder, Bernanke, and many others in his administration go on about their way means that he condones what they are doing. And what they are doing is screwing up everything they have charge over for the sake of their own personal gain.
On the post: That Was Fast: Hollywood Already Browbeat The Republicans Into Retracting Report On Copyright Reform
Re: