sdpate 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: DailyDirt: Better Learning Techniques (Maybe)

    sdpate ( profile ), 14 Nov, 2013 @ 03:12am

    Brain Train

    Rats all those myths debunked. I do like Mozart in the morning for complex tasks versus rock and roll or jazz. They forgot to debunk that repetition builds retention.

  • On the post: How Important Is Attribution In Copyright Issues?

    sdpate ( profile ), 28 Mar, 2012 @ 04:24am

    Attribution

    Under Canadian and other British Commonwealth law, the concept of Fair Dealing (analogous but not identical to US Fair Use), use of copyrighted material is allowed in a news report, research paper, etc only when the original source receives attribution. Without attribution, any use in Canada of copyrighted material is an infringement. If a specific use is allowable under Fair Dealing is still subjective although the common uses of news reporting are well established.

  • On the post: New Study Shows Majority Of Americans Against SOPA; Believe Extreme Copyright Enforcement Is Unreasonable

    sdpate ( profile ), 16 Nov, 2011 @ 05:10am

    Charts

    Charts with gradients of the same color do not communicate, they confuse. Can't read or bother to read this story when most of the charts are confusing. Charts are supposed to make assimilating the info easier.

  • On the post: Lessons Learned From 'Pay What You Want'

    sdpate ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2011 @ 03:39am

    Making free pay

    One way to turn free customers into paying customers is to release an upgrade of the game or enhanced version that costs a small amount of money. Embed the code in the free download that sets the clock ticking. Use a locking algorithm to secure the serialized free copy to the upgrade. Sure some people will get around it but most people will pay. That being said, I have been using Avast at the free level for years. That's their problem since they haven't built a compelling model for upgrading and the price is too steep for the incremental value.

  • On the post: Good News, Bad News: ACTA, TPP And Lessons Not Learned

    sdpate ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2011 @ 04:13am

    IP

    In the post industrial, post IT economy, intellectual property is the major asset of the US. Of course, it wants more protection not less.

  • On the post: Google Loses Patent Case Filed By Patent Attorney Who Was Helping Fight Patent Excesses

    sdpate ( profile ), 22 Apr, 2011 @ 02:02am

    Patents

    It's all about money. Google is trying to make money and so is the patent troll or computer company. The whole system is geared to making money. What makes Linux users exempt from the game?

  • On the post: Dumbest Lawsuit Ever? HuffPo Sued By Bloggers Who Agreed To Work For Free… But Now Claim They Were Slaves

    sdpate ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2011 @ 03:12am

    Vitriol

    Hard to read past the vitriolic ad hominem rant up. "Village idiot" - surely you can discuss the subject more rationally.

  • On the post: The Difference Between Ideas And Execution — And What's Missing From 'The Social Network'

    sdpate ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2010 @ 12:05am

    The Social Network

    Does the story mean you didn't see it? "By pretty much all accounts, The Social Network sounds like a fantastic movie (which is what you'd expect from Aaron Sorkin)."

    If so your story is a straw man.

    The movie doesn't make those point about lawyers and suing people. It paints the people who sued Zuckerberg as parasites.

  • On the post: The Guardian Makes It Super Simple For Blogs To Repost Its Content

    sdpate ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2010 @ 02:18am

    Guardian.co.uk

    I read that story last week and it seemed like a good idea until you start reading the reams of legal terms. One says you have reprint rights for 24 hours. The others are so legalistic, I quit reading. Sent the Guardian an email to clarify the 24 hour rule with no reply.

    It's just as easy to take what you want with attribution.

  • On the post: Unwilling To Compete, Canadian Booksellers Association Tries To Block Amazon Distribution Center

    sdpate ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2010 @ 02:46am

    Amazon

    Yes we get ripped off in Canada to protect inefficient businesses.

    I haven't bought a book in a bookstore for over two years but I buy books every couple of weeks - almost always from Amazon but price is not the issue. Amazon makes it easy. There is community on Amazon and their customer service is great. Sometimes it's cheaper.

  • On the post: When You Try To Figure Out Who Owns Imaginary 'Property,' Things Get Confusing Fast

    sdpate ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2010 @ 02:39am

    Copyright

    Real property that you can touch and walk on gets tied up in legal action all the time over undisclosed but registered liens. Anyone who buys a piece of land without a legal search for clear title is considered idiotic. The purchaser of the music copyrights should have taken the time to search the US Copyright office for registered ownership, then gotten an affidavit and other assurance that the songs were clearly within the scope of purchase.

    Just because the deal is complex doesn't negate the rights of the parties.

  • On the post: More Bloggers Suing For Gov't Press Passes

    sdpate ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2010 @ 01:41am

    Bloggers as journalists

    How did you get to be such a fuddy duddy on this issue - freedom of the press. The Canadian Supreme Court ruled that blogging is a medium of the press not a pejorative and that we have the same rights as people working for the networks or newspapers.

    Freedom of the press is a principal of democracy. Bloggers who are journalist are just a new format.

  • On the post: Bogus Copyright Claim Silences Yet Another Larry Lessig YouTube Presentation

    sdpate ( profile ), 03 Mar, 2010 @ 03:40am

    YouTube is the past

    Posting almost anything on YouTube gets you in trouble. YouTube wants to be Hulu and is taking anything down on the word of the big studios and media companies.

    Last week I got two notices on NASA footage which is what got me deleted last fall. Fox and AP are at it again.

    Why bother? There are other places to post video and other communities to belong to.

    Fighting back, which I've done, gets you deleted as well.

  • On the post: Free Is Not An Aberration; It's Basic Economics

    sdpate ( profile ), 03 Mar, 2010 @ 03:36am

    Why does information have to be free

    I can't speak with the certainty of a Web 2.0 zealot since I see both side of the argument. If the internet is about content and if we don't have some way of compensating those who create it, we won't get more than mashups after awhile. Right now we're living in someone else's house. They bought it and paid the lights and filled the cupboard with books, music, videos, pictures, and other information.

    Google is digitizing out of print books which sounds like a wonderful project to free the books until you realize those books aren't old, only out of print. Out of print can happen withing a few years of publication. Don't the writers deserve to be paid, or should they tour? Should musicians only get paid when they tour? Should songwriters only get paid if they tour?

    Jaron Lanier said "Information doesn't deserve to be free."

    The issue is complex and those who speak without doubt or equivocation may be flat lining a complex issue.

  • On the post: Olympics Using Bogus Copyright Claims To Take Down All Videos Of Fatal Luge Crash

    sdpate ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2010 @ 12:33am

    IOC responds

    The IOC has been running around this week demanding everyone take down the video.

    "IOC Tries To Restrict Freedom of the Press" is there email to NJN Network.

    Our reply was that "fair play" of video material in a news story is allowed under the Canadian copyright law.

    Covered in story "IOC issues take down of news coverage about luge death in David and Goliath battle"

    Copyright property in Canada is protected under the Copyright Act. The owner of the copyright has, with some limitations, the right to control when a copyrighted work can be exhibited, broadcast, or reproduced.

    The Copyright Act (Canada) specifically allows news reporting as Fair Dealing and an allowed use of copyright materials. This is how CBS as a non-licensee broadcast the story along with CBC and other networks, quoting,

    “29.2 Fair dealing for the purpose of news reporting does not infringe copyright if the following are mentioned: (a) the source; and (b) if given in the source, the name of the …(iv) broadcaster, in the case of a communication signal.”

    Copyright allows the IOC to get paid, which finances the Games, by broadcasters around the world. In the United States NBC has the rights – which is why Jay Leno is off the air for a few weeks. In Canada, CTV has the rights to exclusive coverage.

    However, that doesn’t stop CBC from setting up shop in Vancouver and broadcasting sports “news” clips of events and wins. Re-broadcast of short video clips is going on around the world because it is allowed by law and convention.

    So the official media get the total coverage and the rest of the media get to report bits and bites. For example, CBC carried the luge accident the day it happened. It was on every major newscast.

    No other rights exist outside the Act. “Sec. 1.2 Copyright shall not subsist in Canada otherwise than as provided by subsection (1), except in so far as the protection conferred by this Act is extended as hereinafter provided to foreign countries to which this Act does not extend.” The IOC does not have rights beyond those for everyone.

  • On the post: Olympics Using Bogus Copyright Claims To Take Down All Videos Of Fatal Luge Crash

    sdpate ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2010 @ 04:31am

    Olympics as Fascists

    Is the Olympics a religion? Is a world government outside all others, run by a IOC and Coke?

    Canada is indulging in a modern day renaissance of Greek sports worship. We chased our tails zig-zagging across the country carrying a lit torch. People worshiped the silly thing. Guess people need Gods, even when given the chance to think for themselves.

    All the human rights abuse, civil rights abuse, denial of free speech and of course the obsessive copyright of everything "olympic" - it's a farce.

    The reason they don't want people seeing the video - which is hopeless since it's bootlegged everywhere, is that some design idiot put the rail that killed the luge athlete in the exact place it needed to be for a killing zone.

  • On the post: Google Music Blog Mess Highlights Why Three Strikes Will Not Work

    sdpate ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2010 @ 04:22am

    Google the all-wise

    Google's phony motto of "do no harm" is a laugh, a pacifier for an organization that runs roughshod over individuals.

    The copyright mess is not solved by three strikes. But their attitude is a warning to people who want free services: don't look to Google.

    My 300 video YouTube account was taken down because Fox made fraudulent claims on NASA vidoes - and they are public domain. 3 strikes and you're out.

    I have my own site now but it's tough sledding finding and re-posting them. I lost some momentum as people have to find the new site and without community, the numbers will be lower.

    That's the price we pay for independence from our not so-gentle 800 pound gorilla.

  • On the post: YouTube Taking Down Public Domain Works?

    sdpate ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2009 @ 11:56am

    Takedowns

    The footage in question was as pure as the driven snow. I got up early and recorded the NASA coverage live and broadcast it within a few minutes - the time it took me to convert to flv. I'm a space nut and had been covering the run-up for days. I was posting stuff to YouTube of the pre-ample, last 10 minutes and last 3 minutes. All public domain.

    Over at Expecting Rain we have been following the takedown and suspension of Bob Dylan videos - a barometer of life on the web by Web Sheriff.

    I can't print the chart here but this is the link to NJN http://www.njnnetwork.com/njn/?p=26641

    "There's something funny going on, I can feel it in the air"

  • On the post: Reuters Steps Up; Says Linking, Excerpting, Sharing Are Good Things For The News

    sdpate ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2009 @ 05:51pm

    Reuters is lying

    I understand what is legal or not. The clip was part of a story on NJN Network with enough comment and info on YouTube to make it legal.

    The point is - they had no copyright of the clib - not one iota. It was filmed by the CBC crew in Washington or licensed by them.

    BBC did the the same thing to me on an Iranian cellphone video that they didn't own, until I told them to piss off. The Brits like that talk.

    News organizations share all the time except they hate Internet blogs, journals whatever.

    Personally I don't believe in copyright. Share the love and share the info.

  • On the post: Reuters Steps Up; Says Linking, Excerpting, Sharing Are Good Things For The News

    sdpate ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2009 @ 01:48pm

    Reuters is lying

    I understand what is legal or not. The clip was part of a story on NJN Network with enough comment and info on YouTube to make it legal.

    The point is - they had no copyright of the clib - not one iota. It was filmed by the CBC crew in Washington or licensed by them.

    BBC did the the same thing to me on an Iranian cellphone video that they didn't own, until I told them to piss off. The Brits like that talk.

    News organizations share all the time except they hate Internet blogs, journals whatever.

    Personally I don't believe in copyright. Share the love and share the info.

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