Ltlw0lf's Favorite Techdirt Posts of the Week
from the huffing-and-puffing dept
This week's posts ran the gamut from the evils of DMCA/ACTA/TPP, to computer security issues, to the government’s effort to pass draconian treaties which are most likely binding even when the government says they aren’t, to cheap computers that will revolutionize the world. There is always a lot of good stuff on Techdirt to talk about.
One of my most favorite posts this week would have to have been the article about how Hollywood would like to see us space-shift DVDs by forcing us to take the DVD to a store to convert into a file for use in our non-DVD capable devices. They appear to be hoping that by offering this capability, they will head off the consumer groups out there who are trying to get the Librarian of Congress to allow ripping of DVDs as an exception to the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision.
It also outlines something that many of us here say regularly in the comments; that the gatekeepers are so used to holding all the cards, abusing their producers and customers alike with one-sided contracts, DRM, and onerous regulations and they really don’t want to change. And neither do their customers, who will continue ripping the DVDs themselves, violating the anti-circumvention provision of the DMCA because it is easier and more effective than any legitimate alternative Hollywood has provided. And of course, we are talking about space-shifting, which was a legally protected activity until DMCA made it illegal only if the material was encrypted to protect copyright.
The gatekeepers won't be successful in this effort until they can control software distribution all over the world and outlaw computers which can be modified by the user, and I just can't see this happening in a post-SOPA world, no matter how much the gatekeepers would like to believe that the SOPA backlash was a one-off event caused by "misinformation" and "undemocratic" processes. Something that most of those who participated in the anti-SOPA demonstrations felt pretty much summed up the actions of those behind SOPA with the backroom deals, the laws for sale, regulatory capture, and the efforts to discredit those behind the anti-SOPA demonstrations as lapdogs for Google.
And of course, we have the EFF fighting against companies sending out automated bogus DMCA takedowns for things they have no legal right taking down. Hopefully someone will bring some sanity to this problem – but I am not holding my breath. I used to think DMCA was an army where SOPA was a nuclear holocaust. But now it looks like the DMCA is an army with nuclear bombs – placing them somewhat indiscriminately and with no concern of legality or collateral effects. At some point, like everything else, it will backfire on the gatekeepers, as we have seen recently where two gatekeepers sue each other over the public domain or over trademarks. Someone is going to issue a takedown for another gatekeeper, and the nuclear armageddon will begin. Especially with automation, where companies really aren’t checking the results to assure that the results are correct but which does not appear to be happening in these cases (every engineer/scientist learns early on in their career to check the results.)
Moving on, this week saw a couple posts on computer security issues. We had the post on how the University of Michigan hacked the online voting system that was placed online specifically for the public to test the functionality and security of the system. We have to commend OSDV and Washington D.C. for doing the right thing and putting the system online to be tested. And the University of Michigan (and the others) who tested the system to its fullest and made the results available. This effort will make the system more secure, if they take what they learn and fix the problems and don't introduce new ones. We know that many of the problems discovered here also exist in the closed source voting systems, and this is precisely why those closed source systems are so hard to trust.
On a lighter note, we have the post on the Raspberry Pi, and how it could be a big problem for oppressive regimes. So many people were excited about the product that they crashed the server. Having cheap and small devices which run open source operating systems and applications can make things far more difficult for countries and gatekeepers who want to control how everyone uses their computers. Having less devices to worry about securing, and tailoring the 20W $25 PCs to replace the 650W $500 Desktop PC will have a better effect on the environment. Now if they can get the computer to fit into an Altoids tin, that would be awesome.
And finally, something I found to be surprising, is that teaching styles of teachers are much more of a distraction then computers in the classroom. I didn’t have a laptop with me in school until I was in my senior year in college, and that was only on a special occasion. However, it makes sense, as I find I am most efficient when I allow myself a couple short opportunities to visit Techdirt. Though if my boss is reading, I am multi-tasking and I am blocked waiting for the tasks to finish.
Re: Re: Re: As I've said, police aren't even thugs now, just attack dogs.
Nine cops and no cop cameras. Incredible.
This is actually quite common. Not very many agencies have car mounted cameras, and even fewer have officer mounted cameras. Cameras are expensive (though not really that bad,) and money has to get spread around to higher priorities. Many cops buy still cameras for investigations, but they don't carry them on them all the time. With camera cell-phones, this is often the best camera they have with them, capable of capturing video and still shots, and they aren't likely going to be using them when they interact with the public.
That is a little less suspect than phones of private citizens being taken and when returned, the video missing. That is extremely suspect, and is unacceptable. Evidence of a crime needs to be properly documented so that the chain-of-evidence is preserved. The people directly involved in the use of force that resulted in a death should not have had anything to do with the collection of the evidence, and the police should have asked for copies of the evidence, not confiscating the phone where the evidence could be destroyed by someone who is unfamiliar with the phone over a 3rd party who knows how to use the phone and doesn't have a vested interest in making the evidence disappear. There are way too many opportunities for corruption here, and the only way to fix it would have been following the rules (which assure integrity of the evidence over convenience.) They should have subpoenaed the evidence, not asked a judge for a search warrant. If they were concerned about tampering the evidence, then they could have sat with the person and assured that the video was recorded to CD properly.
Re: As I've said, police aren't even thugs now, just attack dogs.
it's as though eye-witness testimony is being edged out entirely.
Eye-witness testimony is notoriously sketchy. The camera, when it captures the whole truth and isn't tampered with, is a lot better than human memories, which can forget, rationalize, etc, and people have been convicted of a crime based on witness testimony when other technologies (i.e. DNA, video tape, etc.) have ultimately overturned those convictions. The problem is that cameras are still really crappy and don't capture everything, and they tend to be directional and may not capture stuff happening on the periphery.
However, it is not being edged out entirely. In most cases, video-tape and other technology enhances what the eye-witnesses saw, giving juries a better idea about what really happened.
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Does the US not have Debt Sheriffs?
Kinda, we have debt collectors, bounty hunters and repossessors, But they are usually commercial entities with no law enforcement powers and very strict rules on what they can do (which they often break.) The Sheriff or Marshall is usually responsible for seeing that the orders of the court are enforced.
They might be useful with this hive of scum and villainy.
Considering the characters above, this would be like a Chronicles of Riddick moment where you use one evil to take out another evil. I wouldn't wish debt collectors, bounty hunters, or repossessors on anyone...talk about a hive of scum and villainy.
Re: There's always a scapegoat
In the 80's I played Dungeons and Dragons so I guess that makes me a mass killer.
I don't remember the mass killer part. People who used to ridicule me about D&D said it was antisocial, devil worshiping, and made me susceptible to killing myself, but I'd always laugh because they obviously never played themselves and didn't have a clue.
It will be sad when enough people start believing this bull and put some bad laws in place.
Unfortunately, and it may be my cynicism, but that is likely the expected outcome (for the children.)
(untitled comment)
So what the court has said to Hansmeier in their rejection of his admittance to the California bar is:
"Welcome to the big leagues, govern yourself accordingly."
Nice.
Re: Someone doesn't understand the mechanics of an MMO
I don't think our friend Blue understands how important those 70% 'freeloaders' are for a f2p MMO (I'll give him a hint--MMO = massively MULTIPLAYER online). If only a very few are playing, the game becomes almost impossible to play because you can't find anyone to play with (almost all the content worth playing needs multiple people to experience it--especially endgame content and PvP). With every MMO I've played, the main reason I quit was the lack of decent people playing at the time of day I was playing it. Those 'freeloaders' are providing a service in the game by creating a large player base which makes the game more valuable to the ones who are willing and able to pay. This is why their revenue doubled. At the rate things were going, if they didn't go f2p the game would have been dead in a year (and it's kinda hard to get any profit from a dead MMO).
Even EvE, where every moment you spend in LowSec/NullSec you wish there were less people playing the game at that particular moment, wouldn't be awesome without the number of players it has.
The only reason EvE hasn't gone F2P is that there is still a bunch of folks willing to pay $35 for two months to play it (and considerably less considering you can pay in advance or with ISK.
Re: Re: No Tazers?
If they aren't already, then cops should be held accountable for every single bullet shot, every tazer cartidge.
It depends on the department policy. Most of the departments I am aware of (which is actually a very, very small sample,) require use of force forms for anything above talking/yelling. Use of a baton or physical force, less than lethal force, and lethal force all are required to be logged by the officer, and in some cases, may be investigated by detectives from internal affairs and/or independent third party reviewers (Police Oversight Committees, the DA, and lawyers.)
The problem is who they are accountable to...they may be required by policy to complete use of force forms, but those forms can disappear within the bureaucracy or may be tampered with, and they may just ignore policy and not file a use-of-force form if they think they will get away with it.
It is important to note that any use of force, even those called "non-lethal" (I wish they'd stop calling it that, because any use of force could be lethal. It is less than lethal, if used properly against a healthy individual, but there is always a chance, and sometimes a pretty high chance that any use of force may result in a death.) People have been known to have extreme reactions to pepper spray, and tazers could kill. And a baton against the head or chest is likely to severely injure or kill just like any other hard, blunt object. And even "choke holds" (carotid holds/arm-barred holds) can kill.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Blizzard's fix was to not allow single player, which 100% got rid of that problem.
Got rid of Blizzard's problem...for the players, especially those who have spotty internet coverage...not so much.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Because we're living in a Brave New World, not in 1984.
And me without my soma...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Superior sense: if you like HHGTG, DON'T WATCH THE MOVIE!
Exactly. I love the fact there are six books in the trilogy...
Especially from an author who said in an interview with the BBC before his untimely death that he hated writing and would miss deadlines on purpose because he liked the sound they made when they whooshed by.
Re:
We have a white towel signed by Douglas Adams. My husband, in Chicago for college in the mid 80's, went to a book signing and Adams was happy to oblige.
Now I am envious, all I have is a signed copy of Starship Titanic.
Re: Re: Superior sense: if you like HHGTG, DON'T WATCH THE MOVIE!
I listened to the radio version, then watched the tv mini-series. I should have avoided the movie.
I read the books when I was in junior high, had a "borrowed" copy of the radio play from BBC (did I just admit to being a pirate?,) the original miniseries from the BBC on video, all six books in both paperback and hardcover (and now in e-book format,) as well as all of Adams other books.
I don't understand why people didn't like the movie. It wasn't at the same level as HHGTG, but it also wasn't written by Adams either. It had a lot of the original work, and a couple "new" things from Adams (the point of view gun was awesome Adams,) but for the most part it was written by an American who, like myself, missed a lot of the original English Comedy when we read the book (it took me five years to get the joke about moving little green pieces of paper around, and that wasn't particularly English humor.)
I enjoyed the movie, knowing full well it was called Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but was really little more than a homage piece to Adams.
And Blue, there were five original books written by Adams for HHGTG, six if you include Mostly Harmless (which I do.)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: And you're TRYING to fan the fanboy flames again!
I would prefer 2.
Me too, but I've been yelled at before for doing 2, because 1 is faster?!? I seem to remember a teacher once telling me (back when I cared,) about how 1 was chosen as correct by MLA, only to have a judge in a court case come along and say that 2 was more correct because 1 added ambiguity to the sentence, as in two could be another name for one, etc..
I like 2, because, I love commas. See, Blue, this is how you properly derail a topic!
Re: Re: Re: Re: And you're TRYING to fan the fanboy flames again!
One two three and four.
I said rarely necessary.
But riddle me this, Batman; which of the following is the most correct use of commas and why?
1. One, Two, Three and Four
2. One, Two, Three, and Four
3. One, Two, Three, and, Four
I suspect if you asked three different grammer nazis, you'd get three different answers.
Re: Re: Re:
What did WC3 do wrong? The game wasn't loaded with DRM, you could play offline, you could play via LAN, it had great online support, was well-balanced, it was the best RTS I had ever played (and probably still is).
There isn't anything wrong with it. I still play it, though it does have DRM in the form of a CD key. BNETD was a server platform, coded by volunteers reverse engineering the BattleNet communications protocols that allowed anyone to set up a BattleNet like server to play Blizzard games. The user had to type a CD key on installing the game, but the game would play fine if the user didn't type in the key associated with their game (thus there were a lot of Serialz for the game.) Battlenet verified the CD key and allowed the user to play online. Since BNETD didn't have this functionality, people who didn't have a valid CD key were allowed to play on BNETD without issue.
In February 2002, Blizzard filed a DMCA request to take down BNETD because it violated Blizzard's sacred copyrights. They later sued BNETD, which BNETD lost. Nevermind it had perfectly legal uses, Blizzard shut down BNETD because it was in direct competition with their service and because it couldn't include the CD checking capabilities of their system. PVPGN replaces BNETD, and apparently Blizzard/Vivindi-Universal hasn't gone after PVPGN yet (probably because it supports their older games which they have already moved on from.)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
If you want to talk about waste, why does the Marine Corps have a band?
Tradition. There was a time where the bands were only military, as nobody could afford to have a non-military one.
And for the most part, they are cheap (beyond the initial investments,) as payroll isn't as huge as a professional musician (not that they aren't professional, the Navy enlisted MU is usually a college graduate, and they tend to be the highest educated enlisted personnel.) And Marine musicians, like every other Marine, is a rifleman first. But having them pay to give out their music to you for free is a little too much.
Re: And you're TRYING to fan the fanboy flames again!
Yes, you 14 year olds think it's vital, but most have gone on to the fun of playing.
I'm nearly 3 times that age, Blue, and yet I am still interested in it.
PS: missing comma, should be "tweeted me, out of the blue." I'z famous, ya know.
Nope. You can put a comma in there, but it isn't necessary. Commas show "breaths" in written language and are rarely necessary. They certainly aren't necessary at the end of a sentence, because the reader will take a breath at the period anyway. As someone who likes commas, I wouldn't have even used one there.
Not everything is about you blue. Actually, nothing is about you. Get some help, your delusions of grandeur are showing.
Re:
As for me, I didn't buy DIII
I was a very big fan of everything Blizzard until Vivindi-Universal bought them. Warcraft III and BNETD destroyed them in my eyes, and I discontinued purchasing anything from Blizzard. No Diablo III, no World of Warcraft (and that was probably the best decision ever, given my history with EvE.) Someone came along with a perfect tool for those who wanted to play Blizzard games with their friends, and the company trounced on them because they bypassed DRM (for the record, everyone who played on the BNETD server with me bought their copies when they were released, and some of us multiple times.) I've never even had an urge to pick up DIII off the discount bin.
EA has completely destroyed the Command & Conquer series with DRM. I bought C&C Patriots, which wouldn't install because I had the wrong CDROM drive. The only way I could play it was to download the nocd crack and break the game I legally purchased. Then came C&C3, which I bought, and had the same problems with. The game would play for a while, then I'd get to one level where everything would blow up before the game started. Found out that was a DRM feature, but unlike Patriots, they wanted you to get into the game before it would happen, so you'd go out and buy the game. I had already bought the game, so I downloaded the nocd crack, and voila, game worked fine.
At some point, EA lost me in their DRM battle. I now buy all my games from GoG (and sometimes steam, when I know that it is only Steam DRM I am purchasing.)
What will be interesting is when all this is said and done, how many people did what I did with DIII? How many people would have bought SimCity 5, but chose not to because of EA? I was interested in SimCity 5, as I have 1-4, but the moment I heard DRM and always-on, I wanted nothing to do with it. How many "lost sales" did they lose by being douches?
Re:
All this advise is bollocks with the sole goal of making money.
Exactly. Of course, the best take-home advice in all of this is to get out there and be active. Sitting in front of the TV and the computer is what is killing us.
Re: Re: Re:
Yes, but the Marine Corp. has the clout and money to get people to negotiate with them. That option is wide open for them, although they still can't offer the work as true public domain material.
Why does the Marine Corps, which should be spending money frugally on stuff they need to remain the best in the world militarily, have to spend their money to distribute copyrighted material to the citizens for free? Quite frankly, as a taxpayer, I am quite appalled at the suggestion. The military should spend its money doing what it is mandated to do, and stop wasting it on pet projects.
If they could, through influence, get the copyright owner to release it for free, then fine. But them paying so that the public gets it for free, the GAO audit on that one would be frightening.
Nope, the best way to handle this was the way they handled it...comply with the FOIA, with the caveat that publishing it may infringe on copyrights.
The better way to solve this would be to tackle copyright instead of throwing more money at something they aren't even mandated to do in the first place. Why someone should get imaginary rights to someone elses' work needs to be fixed. If I pay you for a hammer, I don't have to keep paying you each time I hit a nail. The composer already got their pay when the Marine Corps licensed the music, and thus should be free to distribute the results of their labor. If I copy your work, fine...(though I'd prefer we figured out a better way of you getting paid,) but if I take your work on paper and transform it into vibrations of air molecules due to my skill and effort, why should you get paid again if I want to distribute that work?