Shadow Six 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: University Promises To Report File Sharers To Police, Tells Students They Can Spend 5 Years In Jail

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2010 @ 12:44pm

    I used to live about 45 minutes from Valdosta, I've been there a thousand times. The town is like Mayberry :) I think this underscores the quality of education one might expect to receive :)

  • On the post: FBI Apparently Investigating Anonymous' 'Operation Payback' Denial Of Service Attacks

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2010 @ 10:29am

    On that note

    "it will scare off folks involved in these attacks" I'm really glad you brought this up. The act of "making an example" of someone in an attempt to dissuade others from following in their footsteps, is mutually exclusive to justice. In fact, it is a human rights violation, as well as a violation of public trust. Criminal justice *has to be* uniform, systemic and above all indiscriminate. When the system is used as a weapon of terror, it becomes an oppressive device that hearkens back to the iron fisted brutality of the British empire in the 1800's.

  • On the post: Chief Patent Judge Feigns Ignorance Of How Often Patents Are Used To Hinder Innovation

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2010 @ 08:49pm

    The exact opposite of regulation

    This was an enjoyable read. Not because it reiterates the obvious but because the distinct point of view between the people that practice law, and the people that actually do the research that results in patents, has been growing rapidly. It's always refreshing to see that someone who is steeped in the system can still see the forest for the trees. I almost always hear "you would have to be a patent attorney to understand the issues" and I remind them that, as system for attorneys by attorneys, was never the intent of the system in the first place. Also the term of a patent should be related to the barrier to entry of a given market. The seemingly whimsical nature of the USPTO's willingness to introduce monopolies into a free market, is extremely troubling to most people who are observing from outside the legal prospective... especially, to those of us who actually develop new technologies.

  • On the post: Zynga Trying To Patent Virtual Currency

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2010 @ 11:05am

    Re:

    I think it goes the other way man. They get the patent they get a hungry lawyer, they get to controll their industry, blocking startups from disrupting their racket, and they collect on work they had nothing to do with. That's pretty much the same story with deep pockets in all industry process patents.

  • On the post: Fallacy Debunking: Successful New Business Model Examples Are The 'Exception'

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2010 @ 01:14am

    Re: cowardly examples...

    "That's the problem people have with your ignorant ideals of magic business models. Even with the most innovative music business models, no one is exactly raking in the dough, unless you are a huge act that already has a crapload of devout followers (NIN comes to mind)."

    ummm yeah that IS the point. You don't make dedicated fans by suing the freckles off of every fresh faced kid. So, here ya go, the music industry is going through the same metamorphosis that the News Papers, Books, TV, Movies and even software is going through. Net revenue (budump ching) may drop initially, but the merchandising, live shows, Bah Mitzvahs or what have you, will have fewer greedy creeps, taking more than they deserve. By trimming the (mostly) fat. Artists will prosper, and manage their own celebrity directly with their fans. Basically an army of lawyers, performance rights "societies", record labels, managers A-X ... will have to pound sand... they make terrible backup singers anyway.



    "I challenge you to state actual dollar amounts artists are making with your praised innovative business models. Put up or shut up..."

    Well, whats say you put up a reasonable comparator first so we're not comparing apples to oranges. I'm going to need you to scan their tax forms and driver license photos. Please provide us with, the name of act, if not evident by the above documents.


    I look forward to your next post Mr. Coward. If that is indeed your real name.

  • On the post: Did The RIAA Really Just Come Out In Support Of 'Opt-In' Copyright? [Updated]

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 16 Oct, 2010 @ 09:58am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Even opt-out would be an improvement

    "is more an artifact of the way that book publishing middlemen worked, or how the record companies worked than anything else, isn't it? "


    That's exactly what I was saying. It's the Internet which has given everyone a venue, and they (the parties mentioned above) would prefer to keep the riff-raff out.

  • On the post: Did The RIAA Really Just Come Out In Support Of 'Opt-In' Copyright? [Updated]

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 15 Oct, 2010 @ 04:50pm

    Re: Re: Re: Even opt-out would be an improvement

    I did know that. I also know that it worked in favor of ONLY the big dogs. The little guy had no venue. So, it wasn't even an issue with the powers that be. Today, EVERYONE is creating constantly and sharing, extending and (unfortunately) protecting, their works in ways that are as innovative as the works themselves. So, the only way I see this working out, is expressly declaring public domain on your work. The free software movement (gpl and other copyleft licenses), would be over. Presuming that it turns out to be a matter of money... which you can BET it will be, regardless of the initial legislation. Then, it's patents all over again. Believe me, they wouldn't be supporting it, if it were not good for them, and bad for us. They think it has to be that way.

  • On the post: Canadian Court Says Amazon's One-Click Patent Should Be Allowed

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 15 Oct, 2010 @ 03:20pm

    YES!

    Good to know that invention is safely in the hands of it's inventor. Who I'm sure spent billions on research. Picture teams of people in lab coats, standing around a person sitting in front of a computer, with all sorts of sensors hooked up to him. They're watching... waiting patiently, then the flash of genius, he USES the mouse. Not clicking twice like every other un-inventive stodge... but ... ONCE~!

    Boom! Do you have any idea how many clicks are saved everyday because Amazon shared this with the world through this patent. Do you? Well, I asked an expert and he said 23462664763245627.001 clicks are saved every day. That's enough energy to power the entire sun for 10,000 years. So, next time you enjoy a sunny day, remember.. you have Amazon to thank.

  • On the post: Did The RIAA Really Just Come Out In Support Of 'Opt-In' Copyright? [Updated]

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 15 Oct, 2010 @ 03:04pm

    Re: Even opt-out would be an improvement

    wait..."opt-in would be much, much better"... How would that even work? As in, would you have to file some sort of application like patents? Would all works be released into the public domain until the approval or what not? Wouldn't opt out make more sense? Where in you have the option to surrender your work, rather than not owning it until the government says so? I mean, to say, "from this moment on it's PD", that should be a fundamental right, but I cant imagine having everything automatically in PD. It there's money involved, opt-in is a horrible idea, IMO. Sounds like a giveaway to those that would lockup culture that they had nothing to do with creating. I suppose, I'd have to see a context of implementation... But I'm admittedly skeptical.


    BTW: Nina, I'm a huge fan of your work! :)

  • On the post: Red Hat Settles Patent Case With Acacia… But Won't Share The Details

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2010 @ 12:30pm

    Re: what you will

    If you would like to know more about how lobbyists like "staff" and "angrydude" are working to convince people that the asinine patents coming out of the system are as American as apple pie, you should visit piausa.org before looking at unbiased facts. Then decide for yourself, just keep in mind that they're in business to "help inventors" so they have incentive to keep the system in it's current state, where in, the bar for receiving a patent is so ridiculously low that they can get anyone with an idea into the patent process. There are very few people in the software engineering community that would deny that the system is broken, and needs immediate retroactive reform, to stop "one click" imagination patents. They're costing tens of BILLIONS every year, and are transferring that wealth into the hands of those that seek to further erode the patent system.

    While visiting their site, be sure to note that many of the "facts" are half-truths, skewed or have since been resolved in such a way, that weakens their position, and so they neglect to update them. They also, forget to mention that the system was broken only 10 years ago, when the government got swept up in the "idea economy" mantra of of the dot com gold rush and decided that people could patent ideas as a process. The investment banks realized their folly and adjusted their policies. However it's A LOT harder for the government to pull back entitlements...

  • On the post: Red Hat Settles Patent Case With Acacia… But Won't Share The Details

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2010 @ 11:50am

    Re: Patents, the GPL, and RH's clear guilt..

    Wow, ok.. you're misrepresenting a number of facts here.

    1. the GPL v2 has an implied patent grant, the GPL v3 has an explicit grant. Meaning that your software cant be tainted if using the GPL as your license.


    2. Sigh,no, RedHat does not "get it" as you imply "support software patents". They were sued by this NPE and took em' to task. Then the company simply offered to end the dispute if they'd call it a "settlement" and Acacia could move on to the next chump who would just pay up without a lengthy trial that could very well end up like the first Redhat trial, where they lost the junk patent. See how that works? Acacia wants fast settlement money, not hard fought risky litigation.

    3. How old are you? You argue like a teenage kid who's just learning to belong to something and runs around writing "TEAM JACOB RUULEZ!!" on every bathroom wall.

    ~ great job!!

  • On the post: Peer-To-Patent About To Come Back?

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2010 @ 11:20am

    Re: The only obviousness problem here...

    I think that's obvious...

  • On the post: Red Hat Settles Patent Case With Acacia… But Won't Share The Details

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 08:02pm

    Re: Masnik is a tool

    You wrote:

    "We are in the process of converting InventorEd to Drupal at this time. InventorEd services people all over the world, many of whom are using older computers and may be on dialup or radio link communications (outback) which are costly. So InventorEd was intentionally designed for low bandwidth. And yes, it was designed starting in the 1990s and has been through two major updates. It was created in raw html initially and then maintained with Front Page because doing so was easy. And yes, I do realize that Front Page produces crappy code but with over 700 web pages on the site expediency trumped the code issue.

    PIAUSA serves as an example of how open source can be a very poor value. It is based on EZ Publish, an atrocious piece of bloated crap. We paid for commercial use and I have to say that it never delivered on the claims. When we are finished with InventorEd we will also be converting PIAUSA to Drupal.

    I have nothing against open source except for the fact that much of it is worth exactly what people pay and the entitlement mentality of those in the community who think that they should be able to pilfer others intellectual property to use as a loss leader to generate consulting fees.

    Ronald J. Riley,
    "



    Drupal *is* opensource you dullard. Just admit it, you don't know what the hell your talking about. You wave your banners and keep reciting the pamphlet you picked up at the patent clerk's office. Never admitting the obvious because if it weren't for dogma you'd have a hard time supporting the system that pays your bar tab...

  • On the post: Sarkozy: We Must Regulate The Internet To Ensure Freedom

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 07:47am

    Kermit the Frog Legs

    Man I'm glad I don't live there!

  • On the post: Denying The Public Domain Has A Very Real Cost

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 07:40am

    Re: Present Copyright Law Is Unconstitutional

    I delivered a lecture regarding this very subject recently. There are several areas where I suspect a violation of rights. One of which, is so obvious and so many frustrated justices ruling in favor of big content, hinted at this defense, that I suspect it's use is eminent... can anyone guess what I'm talking about?

  • On the post: Libel Cases In The UK Hit A Ten Year High… Just As People Were Declaring Libel Dead In The US

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 12 Oct, 2010 @ 03:53am

    preemptive libel

    Please! no one say "I'm glad I don't live there!". That's a pre-roll for bad news.

  • On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 11 Oct, 2010 @ 03:07am

    Re: Re: @this patent guy then @151

    He's talking about software patents. Like the ones you read about here. Granted by some examiner who's "skilled in the art" because he has a background using Excel macros.

    He's absolutely right BTW, there is no way these entitlements can be sustained. More people are starting to realize what a mistake we've made in creating a system where imagination alone is worth ridiculous mountains of cash. The big things that were pushing for in reform now is a safe harbor, much shorter duration, reduced liability and grace in the event that theres no other option but to infringe while the patent is working its way out of the court system.

  • On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 11 Oct, 2010 @ 02:49am

    Re: Re: So your a business expert Mike, charging big money to review business plans !!..

    Exactly! See, one copies, because reinventing the wheel would leave us with nothing but wheels. So, just consider this, "Microsoft - Apple - HP - Cisco - Micron - IBM - Intel" all copied others, and they make up a significant portion of the Global Economy. In fact, you could say, they prove that copying is the key to success... actually that's exactly what you did say...just now...

    If every tech startup took the time to search the USPTO's database of potentially infringed algorithmic patents, then they seek to pay the patent holder before they do anything... Well, that means that only those with lot's of capitol to burn would ever start a business. Truly innovative startups don't really get capitol like that, Because their business is unproven. Given the current burdens imposed upon todays US based entrepreneur, I find it hard to expect any business to go out and hire a patent attorney to search for the hundred or so "inventors" that demand a pound of flesh from every dupe who believes he invented burping.


    By the way, how much did the patent licenses cost you for your sites? I see several well known patents that you make use of. Just out of curiosity, are you paying IBM's quarterly or annual rate? You should share your story of happily paying the fees that those mega corps charge, and how it makes you feel like a real American?

  • On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 11 Oct, 2010 @ 02:10am

    Re: Re: exclude others

    The Microsoft thicket is a real problem, actually the whole idea patent thing is a real problem... but, oddly enough, to add more WTF to the situation, you can't patent a recipe. You might be able to patent the act of pouring the ingredients into a container though.

  • On the post: Why Imitation Gets A Bad Rap… And Why Companies Need To Be More Serious About Copying

    Shadow Six ( profile ), 11 Oct, 2010 @ 02:04am

    Re: Re: Re: Just a thought

    So, in a situation where someone invents something and someone else patents it, who do you support? The "inventor" or the patent holder?

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