Jeff Rivett’s Techdirt Profile

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  • Apr 19th, 2012 @ 6:08am

    Component vs. HDMI

    I don't know where ARS got their information, but component cables are as capable as HDMI in terms of video quality. They work with 720p and up.

  • Jan 20th, 2012 @ 8:42am

    Not a chance this was goading

    For this suggestion of goading to make any sense, the people doing the goading would have needed to find or create security vulnerabilities on their web sites/servers. Nobody would do that. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor)

  • Jan 19th, 2012 @ 3:15pm

    Re: Re: Anti-SOPA lyrics for The Battle Hymn of the Republic

    Nina, you just made my sister's day! By the way, you rock.

  • Jan 18th, 2012 @ 8:11am

    Anti-SOPA lyrics for The Battle Hymn of the Republic

    My sister wrote the following in response to SOPA (sung to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic):

    Mine eyes have seen the glory of an internet that’s free
    … free in Yemen, and Oaxaca, also free to you and me
    Not speaking of who pays for it, but human liberty
    The Internet is free!

    Lobbyists take sand and pound it
    Leave the net the way you found it
    We will learn to route around it!
    The Internet is free!

    You’ve woken up a Golem you will never ever stop
    When under-20s get it they will fight you till they drop
    What kind of harvest will you get with ignorance the crop?
    The Internet is free!

  • Sep 21st, 2011 @ 7:00am

    Lying is part of every cop's bag of tricks

    Anyone who is surprised when a cop lies just hasn't been around cops very much. Cops' lying is a natural reaction to how much lying they face every day from the people they normally deal with. Which is not to excuse it by any means. In fact, I feel that cops should be held to a much higher standard of behaviour than us 'little people' because of their position of trust and the fact that they have so much power over us. If a cop decides they don't like you, they can - quite simply - destroy your life.

  • Jul 21st, 2010 @ 3:56pm

    Why the labels will fight to the bitter end

    Because they are publicly-traded companies, which means that management is responsible to the shareholder. They cannot and will not make a change that they know will reduce the company's profit, until such time as there is no other option. Some won't do it even then, and those companies will die.

  • Jul 15th, 2010 @ 10:38pm

    They really don't get it

    This ridiculous 'feature' with the cutesy name (I can just imagine the marketing meeting where they dreamed up that one) sends a message to potential (and actual) customers: "We think you're a criminal." They're going to lose a lot more customers than the hobbyists. The only company that can get away with this sort of crap is Apple, and that's only because the same idiots keep buying Apple's stuff and will never be swayed.

  • Jul 15th, 2010 @ 10:27pm

    The labels will be lucky to get 50%

    When this revolution is over, musicians will be - quite rightly - in control. The labels will provide services to musicians, including recording, promotion, tour organization, and so on. Some bands won't use the labels at all (think Radiohead), while others use the labels to do the stuff they aren't interested in doing themselves. Very few will continue to let the labels do everything, but even those artists will still be in control and make more money from their own creativity than the labels. The digital revolution is Pandora's Box, baby. Eventually all musicians will realize all they have to do is tell the labels to take a hike, and the labels will crawl back for any kind of deal they can get. Because the labels no longer control the process. The labels will still be profitable, just not obscenely so.

  • Jun 10th, 2010 @ 7:47am

    A thought experiment

    Whenever I read this kind of thing, I try to imagine what the world would be like if these bozos got everything they wanted. The only real winners in the resulting Orwellian landscape would be - as usual - lawyers. Every other person would be a lawyer. ::shudders::

  • Feb 26th, 2010 @ 6:50am

    Thought experiment

    It's illuminating to think about what the world would be like if the RIAA and their pals were granted all their wishes.