The Queen prank is a good example of the seriousness of secret recordings. They cause a lot of real problems afterward. The objective of whacking the perps in such cases is to deter unauthorized recordings. The pranking is irrelevant. So, yes, Barber & Kaiser should do hard time. Sorry!
@Wally:"Saddam Hussein was not a true Muslim and his chosen denomination therein was used as a political front"
Saddam, like Joe Stalin, had limited ability to control the disruptive Muslims in his midst. The only thing they understand is terminal brute force, and democracy means nothing to them. For sure, there is a better solution somewhere, but it hasn't emerged yet. The Muslims in Russia are still waging chaos and terror, and the Sunnis in Iraq are doing likewise. They don't do democracy. For now, an iron fist will have to do. Their TV stations must be smashed, and their mullahs put in chains. That's the best we can ever hope for.
I never quite understand the volume of American hysteria over nuclear power. The problem of nuclear waste & weapons arises from the sale & use of cheap reactors. The Canadian CANDU reactors solve all the above problems, but they cost a little more. If a country is too cheap to include a percentage of CANDU reactors in their inventory, they'll have a nuclear waste disposal problem. Most of the noise is coming from marketing hysteria. It's a non-problem.
@Travis:"you gotta love it more when your country's politics are heavily influenced by a Church"
Most countries have the same offence in law. In Canada, for instance, it's a criminal code offense to make a disturbance in a church. Canadians manage to live with it. The Pussy Rioters would end up in jail in Canada, too. No big deal.
It's interesting that Google/YouTube is taking this direction because Google (and YouTube) have the worst comments and the worst communities, of any online enterprise. There's simply no comparison with Facebook or Yahoo! Or TechDirt. They're not even on the same planet.
Sometimes there's an obvious workaround that is so obvious that it's a puzzle that nobody has noticed. Region-restricted DVDs are as common as dirt, and region-free DVD players can be purchased in Chinatown for only $59 to play your British or Australian DVDs. So what happens when region-restricted DVD players are banned? You just pop them into your BluRay player which is region-free.
The predominance of some colors in movie posters is no surprise to painters. Some colors are way more expensive than others. Red ink, for example, is horrendously expensive, so poster printers avoid it if at all possible.
@Oblate:"Haven't you heard of the problem of rising ocean levels?"
There is no problem of "rising ocean levels". It's only a postulate from the eco-boffins. It's being pushed by The Maldives as a scheme to get free money from the UN.
Anonymous Coward:"If Dan Bull stole the music, he violated copyright, plain and simple...Now, he may want to try to claim fair use, but clearly this isn't parody, but rather rapping an opinion, which is not the same thing."
But he didn't steal it. He changed it to a different end. Fair use is not just parody, it also consists of altering a work to repurpose it. This is exactly what Mac Miller did. It's clearly fair use.
This entire issue is really a non-problem since there are heavy-water reactors run nicely on NON-enriched uranium, and can also recycle nuclear waste easily. One such design is the CANDU reactor from Candu Energy in Canada. There's 29 CANDUs running peacefully around the world.
You're hopelessly naive! DoJ can seize and keep anything by alleging RICO or "dishonest services". They're totally unprincipled and corrupt. Conrad Black is still trying to get his assets back even after being acquitted by the SCOTUS.
If Kim thinks this is a good idea, he'd better invite Conrad Black for lunch. Conrad ran into the DoJ and they ambushed him with an "honest services" fraud charge and an "obstruction of justice" charge. DoJ can convict anybody on these open-ended charges, and Black was jailed for 6 years. The America federal justice system is so corrupt that DoJ can lock up anybody they set their sights on. There's no escape. Black won his appeals, yet they still locked him up.
Re: The prank call that resulted in suicide
The Queen prank is a good example of the seriousness of secret recordings. They cause a lot of real problems afterward. The objective of whacking the perps in such cases is to deter unauthorized recordings. The pranking is irrelevant. So, yes, Barber & Kaiser should do hard time. Sorry!
Re: Rap
This is jihad music. Very popular with the marathon bomber dudes.
Re: Re: Re:
He sounds like another total fuckwit. I love it when these guys get cuffed and tossed into the paddy wagon. Who cares what happens to him afterward.
Re: Re:
He pleaded guilty to the charges, and he admits he did it. That looks pretty cut & dried to me.
Democracy? You're kidding!
@Wally:"Saddam Hussein was not a true Muslim and his chosen denomination therein was used as a political front"
Saddam, like Joe Stalin, had limited ability to control the disruptive Muslims in his midst. The only thing they understand is terminal brute force, and democracy means nothing to them. For sure, there is a better solution somewhere, but it hasn't emerged yet. The Muslims in Russia are still waging chaos and terror, and the Sunnis in Iraq are doing likewise. They don't do democracy. For now, an iron fist will have to do. Their TV stations must be smashed, and their mullahs put in chains. That's the best we can ever hope for.
Reactor hysteria
I never quite understand the volume of American hysteria over nuclear power. The problem of nuclear waste & weapons arises from the sale & use of cheap reactors. The Canadian CANDU reactors solve all the above problems, but they cost a little more. If a country is too cheap to include a percentage of CANDU reactors in their inventory, they'll have a nuclear waste disposal problem. Most of the noise is coming from marketing hysteria. It's a non-problem.
Re: tolerance
@Gwiz:"Correct me if I am wrong, but don't most religions include "tolerance" as a part of their teachings?"
The short answer: "No!" Maybe Christianity, but no others. (Consider yourself "corrected")
Re: It has nothing to do with a free speach
@Anonymous Coward:"Someone can get three years of jail time for doing similar show in Germany."
Canada, too.
Re: Re:
@DCX2:" But I don't think it's right for them to serve two years in prison."
They'd get that - and maybe more - in Canada. It's a criminal offence to make a disturbance in a church in Canada.
Re: asylum
@Anonymous Coward:"If I was them, I would leave the country immediately and ask for asylum in another country."
Don't try for asylum in Canada! The Pussies would end up behind bars in Canada, too. What they did is a criminal offence here.
Re: Religion is a bitch
@Travis:"you gotta love it more when your country's politics are heavily influenced by a Church"
Most countries have the same offence in law. In Canada, for instance, it's a criminal code offense to make a disturbance in a church. Canadians manage to live with it. The Pussy Rioters would end up in jail in Canada, too. No big deal.
Troll ID
It's interesting that Google/YouTube is taking this direction because Google (and YouTube) have the worst comments and the worst communities, of any online enterprise. There's simply no comparison with Facebook or Yahoo! Or TechDirt. They're not even on the same planet.
Re: Re: Poster colors
@Michael Ho:"do poster printers charge marketing agencies by the amount of colors they use"
Film studios don't do posters any more, but they used to charge more for red. Hence the palette was limited. Coca-cola didn't do movie posters.
Region codes
Sometimes there's an obvious workaround that is so obvious that it's a puzzle that nobody has noticed. Region-restricted DVDs are as common as dirt, and region-free DVD players can be purchased in Chinatown for only $59 to play your British or Australian DVDs. So what happens when region-restricted DVD players are banned? You just pop them into your BluRay player which is region-free.
Poster colors
The predominance of some colors in movie posters is no surprise to painters. Some colors are way more expensive than others. Red ink, for example, is horrendously expensive, so poster printers avoid it if at all possible.
rising ocean levels
@Oblate:"Haven't you heard of the problem of rising ocean levels?"
There is no problem of "rising ocean levels". It's only a postulate from the eco-boffins. It's being pushed by The Maldives as a scheme to get free money from the UN.
Re: Fair Use
Anonymous Coward:"If Dan Bull stole the music, he violated copyright, plain and simple...Now, he may want to try to claim fair use, but clearly this isn't parody, but rather rapping an opinion, which is not the same thing."
But he didn't steal it. He changed it to a different end. Fair use is not just parody, it also consists of altering a work to repurpose it. This is exactly what Mac Miller did. It's clearly fair use.
What radioactive waste?
This entire issue is really a non-problem since there are heavy-water reactors run nicely on NON-enriched uranium, and can also recycle nuclear waste easily. One such design is the CANDU reactor from Candu Energy in Canada. There's 29 CANDUs running peacefully around the world.
Re: challenging a financial seizure
You're hopelessly naive! DoJ can seize and keep anything by alleging RICO or "dishonest services". They're totally unprincipled and corrupt. Conrad Black is still trying to get his assets back even after being acquitted by the SCOTUS.
If Kim thinks this is a good idea . . .
If Kim thinks this is a good idea, he'd better invite Conrad Black for lunch. Conrad ran into the DoJ and they ambushed him with an "honest services" fraud charge and an "obstruction of justice" charge. DoJ can convict anybody on these open-ended charges, and Black was jailed for 6 years. The America federal justice system is so corrupt that DoJ can lock up anybody they set their sights on. There's no escape. Black won his appeals, yet they still locked him up.