Parker 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (17)

• On the post: DailyDirt: Advertising Is Content, And It's Often Better When It's Amusing

  

  Parker ( profile ), 06 May, 2014 @ 04:53am

  Re: Advertising

  It's the advertising itself, in form or another, that pays for the content you're reading/enjoying on your connection.
  
  In a way, the Techdirt blog is a form of advertising content for Mike Masnick et al's paid projects.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Advertising Is Content, And It's Often Better When It's Amusing

  

  Parker ( profile ), 06 May, 2014 @ 04:52am

  Good job

  Hey Techdirt - Thanks for these regular round-ups of related news. I've been enjoying them on the site for the past few months.

• On the post: Police Officer Fired Over Questionable Confrontation, Would Have Gone Unnoticed Without YouTube Video

  

  Parker ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2012 @ 09:45am

  Death Threats?

  Did the officer threaten to kill the kid at one point???
  
  I get how some people don't want to get filmed for just doing their job. But a Police Officer is a public-facing job. They should be filmed.

• On the post: Is Piracy Also Increasing The Quality Of New Movies?

  

  Parker ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2009 @ 09:38am

  Too bad not everyone sees it this way...

  ...especially the guys that made the amazing vikings versus aliens movie, Outlander.
  In a blog post, they complain that their film was one of the most downloaded ("stolen", as they say) on filesharing sites one week: http://outlanderthemovie.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/outlander-wins-the-week/
  
  The comments are especially worth reading.

• On the post: MySpace: That Great Club Everyone Used To Go To

  

  Parker ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2009 @ 07:14am

  What happened to Techdirt?

  Biting commentary and great insight into copyright law and technology for most of the week, and today Masnick busts out a comparison of social networks to night clubs?
  
  It must be casual Friday at the Floor 64 offices :)

• On the post: Could PR People Replace Journalists?

  

  Parker ( profile ), 21 May, 2009 @ 07:40am

  PRs as content Providers

  Blogs/online newspapers or whatever you want to call the new media are already incredibly busy trying to report every story, and PR pros are there to provide them with content in the form that they can use to share with their audience.
  Any overly-spun or falsified info will quickly be discovered and blasted.
  
  I think that PR pros are already serving some sort of journalism role, and how big of a role they will continue to serve depends on what happens to the media over the next few years.
  
  It may turn out that people want to get information directly from companies and organizations, rather than from a journalistic intermediary. In this case, the PR pros will certainly be journalists, providing news and information to the public.

• On the post: Photographers Testing Innovative Business Models As Well

  

  Parker ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2009 @ 06:30am

  Photo Models

  That is an interesting model, but the problem I have with it is that you still have to pay to access the content.
  While it isn't exactly the same style of photography, I like the model of a photographer here in Toronto: he attends a lot of events, and takes great casual portraits of people and posts these on his website for them to use as their profile photo on other sites (Twitter, Facebook), or just use as great photos. These photos then become an advertisement for his photography business, where he will charge for more formal or custom portraits. It also serves as promotion for him to sell prints of his other photographs. I think he is quite successful, and it all comes back to him giving away the digital versions of casual portraits.

• On the post: Groove Armada's Business Model Experiments; Halfway There

  

  Parker ( profile ), 04 Feb, 2009 @ 04:04pm

  Special Sharing Widgets?

  anything with a "special sharing widget" can't be a good idea.
  
  That said, I'm all for the idea of corporate-sponsored music: artist gets paid, fans get music. It is a win-win situation.
  
  Artists that worry about "selling out" just have to make sure they work with a brand that they want to be aligned with.

• On the post: Gears Of War DRM Makes It Unplayable As Of Yesterday

  

  Parker ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2009 @ 11:18am

  Silly?

  You say its getting silly to post these examples, but I think that continually pointing out the errors of these ways and balancing them with the times when a product has been successful because of piracy or a lack of DRM is needed.

• On the post: How One 'No Name' Musician Used Free Music To Build A Following

  

  Parker ( profile ), 21 Jan, 2009 @ 07:12am

  Its all in a name?

  I really don't see how his name matters in this case, Mr. Big Content. If that was really the case, bands and artists would be changing their name to more descriptive ones all the time. Doug Painter would be selling millions of dollars worth of painted canvases.
  
  Rose M. Welch - Agreed! "Masnick's Law" would be a great band name. Of course, the band would then have to fine TechDirt everytime Mike used the phrase "Masnick's Law"...
  
  Finally, I think what is key here is one of the last statement's in Mike's post: 'and even people asking to commission him to write new music for them.'
  
  THIS is is business model - not giving music away from free, but using the free music to promote himself. These commissions might involve writing wedding songs for people or writing commercials, but the bottom line is that they pay and enable him to produce more music for fans to enjoy. Everyone wins.

• On the post: Dear Australia: Software Knows No Borders

  

  Parker ( profile ), 14 Jan, 2009 @ 06:22am

  Australian Border Patrol Is Crazy

  I went to Australia a few years ago on a student visa to do a one-year post-graduate degree. I order to bring avoid paying hefty duty charges on my laptop, I had to bring proof that I had purchased it a year before the day I was to enter Australia.
  An American Football team traveling on the same plan as me had to unload all of their luggage at customs and wash off the bottom of their cleats so as not to bring any foreign soil or seeds onto Australian turf.
  That seems reasonable to me, not barring entry of newer laptops or database dudes.
  
  I definitely agree with Simon that resources should be better sent supporting local software development.

• On the post: Watchmen Producer Explains Why Fox Doesn't Deserve A Cut

  

  Parker ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2009 @ 02:14pm

  Unfortunately, it seems like Fox is correct in a legal sense here. I especially have to agree with them after reading the response from Fox's spokesperson that was posted on the Hitflix post that is referenced in this Techdirt post.
  
  And yes, I agree with you that the law doesn't make sense here.
  
  However, Fox and their army of lawyers think it makes sense.

• On the post: It's Not A Television, It's Just Another Screen

  

  Parker ( profile ), 09 Jan, 2009 @ 07:50am

  It doesn't matter if the big networks can't adapt - with so much great technology
  
  Look at something like http://www.clarkandmichael.com - the show with Michael Cera. While it is being supported by a network, it certainly doesn't need that network to survive.
  New technology makes it easy for creative people to make interesting content. The cost of distribution is essentially nothing, and the potential for an online audience is huge.
  
  Another great example of this is the purepwnage.com.
  
  Also - what is a mini itx or atx motherboard? I'm not really a technical person.

• On the post: Copyright Once Again Being Used To Hinder Culture, Not Enable It

  

  Parker ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2009 @ 11:22am

  Donate...

  Paul that is great that you donated, but I don't think that sort of model is something everyone will be able to survive on.
  
  I agree with Jess about using the songs. How integral are they to film? Could the creator of the movie just as easily have hired some up-and-coming jazz musicians that might like to see their music included for free? This would have been beneficial to both the film and the musicians.

• On the post: Teacher Threatens Linux Distributor: No Software Is Free

  

  Parker ( profile ), 11 Dec, 2008 @ 11:19am

  Joke?

  I'm torn over whether or not its a joke - if so, it is hilarious, especially because of that Linux during college line.
  
  I'd believe it if it wasn't - while "brainwashed" might not be the right word, some people have very strong opinions about things, and who knows where they got them.
  
  I can understand the teacher's point about it not properly preparing students for a future in which Microsoft rules the business world. The teacher is probably thinking that learning Linux is akin to writing the same way they txt their frnds, as the young kids do these days.

• On the post: Newspaper Tries Going From Free To Paid

  

  Parker ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2008 @ 09:46am

  I think that what is interesting to note is that even the print versions of some newspapers are moving to free, realizing that
  Metro news is one example that comes to mind here in Toronto (though I think it is also distributed elsewhere).
  
  Similarly, most cities have free weekly magazines/papers that primarily talk about local events/arts/news. I don't see why this kind of model couldn't be expanded to a daily publication, supported by advertising.

• On the post: Monty Python Puts All Its Content On YouTube To Increase Sales Of Scarce Goods

  

  Parker ( profile ), 19 Nov, 2008 @ 12:44pm

  I fully support this move, but at what point will the combination of mobile internet (in cars, on phones, anywhere) combined with more options on online videos (audio commentary, etc) mean that no one will want to buy DVDs?
  Maybe I'm thinking just a bit too far down the road.