First off let's just acknowledge that SCOTUS got the obscenity ruling wrong in the first place.
Any ruling which depends on "know it when I see it" cannot be solid jurisprudence. I don't care what court they sit on.
The community standard fails because it isn't based on the community. It is instead based on the standards of a group of individuals who generally are supposed to represent the community but that in this case simply cannot know what the community really thinks.
That is unless they are either snooping on my internet and TV viewing, or they've gone around asking everyone what they think.
In some areas of the country I am sure that a strict standard might fly. But in most, it really wouldn't if you put it to the test for real.
Honestly it isn't up to any government to stop me from consuming porn if I want to, and I'd argue they shouldn't be putting out of business an entire industry which isn't any more harmful in the hands of a normal sane person than tobacco or alcohol, and is arguably FAR less.
Given the obsession some people seem to have with limiting all things sex, it seems that they protest too much! The ought get their heads out of the gutter and leave mine there if I want it there! :)
First, SCOTUS got it wrong with the obscenity standard. Any time a justice says "I know it when I see it" it isn't good law.
Prurient interest or not, the notion of what is or is not obscene has changed dramatically over the years. A simple nude would have been obscene some time ago, and this even varies to the community standard.
As to promoting the useful arts, well what arts do you consider useful? Playboy is porn by most people's view, but it can be argued to contain the same simple nudes which were painted and photographed years back and which enjoy protection.
Photography and videography are art forms. Sure, the subject matter of the average Vivid Video production isn't what you'd call classy or tasteful but it is film making and that's an art form.
The obscenity standard itself is bad policy and any matter of pieces can fall into that category. Fetish takes on many forms.
Elimnate it altogether instead of going after the creators and trying to make connections from them to terrorists (which has been attempted). Rest assured the next "conservative" in the POTUS role will be sure to take action on this issue...you know, for our own good...oh yea and for the children too. :)
The content on my TV isn't free. Not by a long shot.
Comcast inks a deal with content owners to provide said content on its network. Comcast then recoups that cost by charging me a monthly fee.
There is no free now matter how hard you want it to be.
If you're looking at this as only an over the air discussion then fine you'd be correct 20 years ago, but that's not how it is today, sorry. The content is paid for. Many times over as it turns out.
I can watch HBO series and get no commercials. I can listen to my Sirius radio and get no commercials. Somehow they all survive. Shocking.
Look, people hate change as a general rule especially when it threatens a comfortable existence. Business is no different. The MPAA and their members need to compete and evolve. Arguing now that the VCR decision was wrong, please, the motion picture industry would be nowhere they are now without the home rental market they so feared and then wildly profited off of.
Why did there need to be subsidy paid to the recording and motion picture business on blank media...just in case it was used for piracy? Remember they wanted the same of hard disk drives? Seriously. The industry can survive. It can be as popular and profitable as ever, but it has to learn to evolve, and it doesn't want to.
I personally have no stomach for regulation being created to buoy an industry that refuses to innovate and evolve. Just like the buggy whip industry. Evolve or die. That's how this works. There is no entitlement to profit or survival as a business. You earn it. Artists get that. The MPAA companies and RIAA companies don't. Simple as that.
Well heck all you have to do is look at the fact that "legally" I can rip a CD but oh we've put their CSS on the disc so now it's encryption cracking and "illegal" if you do it with a DVD.
Sorry about your luck if something happens to the disc and your kid decides to ruin it. Guess you get to buy another one.
And that's what it's all about. Buying more copies. They'd have you buying a new license for every device if they could.
This is the stupidity we live with in dealing with Hollywood content.
It is what drives many to find a way to rip the DVD anyway while waving a middle digit at the industry. No you aren't getting another $35 from me to buy a digital copy of Mad Men to watch on my iPad. Nevermind it's for personal use.
Which does beg a question too on public performance. Watching a DVD on a player you bring on an airplane flight would be a performance and you'd be breaking the law there too, heck probably have been.
They really have no idea how to interact or work with their customers other than treating them as criminals right from the start. And the more of these restrictions and demands they get made into law the more often they can claim damages for us not paying them every time we watch a movie.
No, my right to be paid for my movie trumps your right to get it for nothing.
Sorry friend but you have NO "right" to be paid for your movie. You have the right to TRY to be paid for it.
There's a difference that you types don't seem to ever get.
And try again but he's not saying he has a right to get it for nothing. However, the MPAA/RIAA have for years among others gamed the copyright law system to make sure nothing ever reaches the public domain. And that was never the intent of copyright or patent law.
Sure, they are poking fun at Best Buy. Just like lots of other commercials have done the same to competitors who use something like a blue shirt as part of their image.
Big freakin deal. No basis for a suit unless they really used a BB type logo somewhere which they didn't on the guy's shirt etc.
The store actually looks more like the old CompUSA or TigerDirect stores before they changed them around.
The t-shirt thing...yea ok whatever I've seen that kind of logo used before in the electronics space. This is just BB trying to scare NewEgg into pulling the spots and the shirts with a threat.
When copyright was allowed to be assigned to corporate entities instead of individuals, where the "life" of the "author" or "inventor" ends up being limitless.
That and of course corporate lobbies to extend the definition of "limited time" so that they'd never have to see their inventions actually subject to the intended terms of the Copyright and Patent provisions.
So now on the GPS, yea if the car was owned by him then there's no issue. It's his property. Just like LoJack or heck OnStar...they can track the vehicle. Perfectly legal.
Now if it's her car, owned entirely by her then that's a different matter.
Interesting though the affidavit pretty much covers any matter of sins. It basically says anything I say is likely untrue, but doesn't mention the GPS issue at all.
It really was a brilliant plan, akin to entrapment on her part really but he turned it around. Pretty sweet.
It really has nothing to do with disliking inventors or patents. That's your red herring.
The issue is having the patents abused. Thus is the case here. Nothing about patent law is intended to force the marketplace to implement your idea. You are not, by default, guaranteed to actually make money off of that patented idea. If the idea is so great, then it's up to you to sell it and get the market to agree it's great. Being forced into it isn't "public acceptance" or acknowledgment.
In this case, there is no previously issued regulation which compels a table saw maker to include this SawStop technology. None whatsoever. I believe there might be some regulation regarding cutting guards for example, which all makers include to some degree.
Whether Delta/Porter Cable or Jet or whomever else would decide to partner with SawStop to implement their patented technology is the choice of that company. Certainly they would have a unique marketing message to make there if they were, and if the marketplace honestly feels there is value in SawStop's technology.
However, a jury ruling which essentially (as was already mentioned) creates guaranteed revenue for SawStop by either: a) rendering all other vendors open for lawsuit, or b) by creating a de facto requirement for licensing is completely and utterly in violation of the spirit and purpose of patent law.
There is no defense for this action, and Ryobi should certainly appeal. As a 30 year user of table saws of various brands. SawStop technology's existence has been for only a scant few of those years. Personal responsibility should be the order of the day here, full stop. No woodworker, professional or hobbyist with any respect for the industry would file such a suit. Pathetic attempts at a money grab aren't part of properly implemented patent law.
If there is to follow some sort of actual regulation, then SawStop's patent must be invalidated, or licensing must be at a fair price. If SawStop is going to win over business from the likes of Delta/PC or Jet, or any other major maker, it should be on market acceptance of their technology as superior, not a jury de facto mandate they pay extortionate prices to license a patent or get sued.
One also should understand that the saw this fellow was using is most likely one of the "cheap" homeowner variety you can purchase for just a few hundred bucks at a local home center. This isn't even a "contractor" grade saw that runs $500 or so, and it certainly isn't a UniSaw type unit that can retail for several thousand dollars. Even SawStop's own units cost several grand.
I certainly understand your passion for inventors and protection by patents however, where I think you fall short is in not understanding when and how they are abused. You seem to be of the opinion that it never happens, or that "any action necessary" is OK. As in anything balance is necessary.
Certainly you cannot believe the type of activity we're seeing in this case is beneficial to patent holders or inventors?
Large scale fail
First off let's just acknowledge that SCOTUS got the obscenity ruling wrong in the first place.
Any ruling which depends on "know it when I see it" cannot be solid jurisprudence. I don't care what court they sit on.
The community standard fails because it isn't based on the community. It is instead based on the standards of a group of individuals who generally are supposed to represent the community but that in this case simply cannot know what the community really thinks.
That is unless they are either snooping on my internet and TV viewing, or they've gone around asking everyone what they think.
In some areas of the country I am sure that a strict standard might fly. But in most, it really wouldn't if you put it to the test for real.
Honestly it isn't up to any government to stop me from consuming porn if I want to, and I'd argue they shouldn't be putting out of business an entire industry which isn't any more harmful in the hands of a normal sane person than tobacco or alcohol, and is arguably FAR less.
Given the obsession some people seem to have with limiting all things sex, it seems that they protest too much! The ought get their heads out of the gutter and leave mine there if I want it there! :)
Premise is wrong to start with...
First, SCOTUS got it wrong with the obscenity standard. Any time a justice says "I know it when I see it" it isn't good law.
Prurient interest or not, the notion of what is or is not obscene has changed dramatically over the years. A simple nude would have been obscene some time ago, and this even varies to the community standard.
As to promoting the useful arts, well what arts do you consider useful? Playboy is porn by most people's view, but it can be argued to contain the same simple nudes which were painted and photographed years back and which enjoy protection.
Photography and videography are art forms. Sure, the subject matter of the average Vivid Video production isn't what you'd call classy or tasteful but it is film making and that's an art form.
The obscenity standard itself is bad policy and any matter of pieces can fall into that category. Fetish takes on many forms.
Elimnate it altogether instead of going after the creators and trying to make connections from them to terrorists (which has been attempted). Rest assured the next "conservative" in the POTUS role will be sure to take action on this issue...you know, for our own good...oh yea and for the children too. :)
(untitled comment)
The ACs are so sad.
The content on my TV isn't free. Not by a long shot.
Comcast inks a deal with content owners to provide said content on its network. Comcast then recoups that cost by charging me a monthly fee.
There is no free now matter how hard you want it to be.
If you're looking at this as only an over the air discussion then fine you'd be correct 20 years ago, but that's not how it is today, sorry. The content is paid for. Many times over as it turns out.
I can watch HBO series and get no commercials. I can listen to my Sirius radio and get no commercials. Somehow they all survive. Shocking.
Look, people hate change as a general rule especially when it threatens a comfortable existence. Business is no different. The MPAA and their members need to compete and evolve. Arguing now that the VCR decision was wrong, please, the motion picture industry would be nowhere they are now without the home rental market they so feared and then wildly profited off of.
Why did there need to be subsidy paid to the recording and motion picture business on blank media...just in case it was used for piracy? Remember they wanted the same of hard disk drives? Seriously. The industry can survive. It can be as popular and profitable as ever, but it has to learn to evolve, and it doesn't want to.
I personally have no stomach for regulation being created to buoy an industry that refuses to innovate and evolve. Just like the buggy whip industry. Evolve or die. That's how this works. There is no entitlement to profit or survival as a business. You earn it. Artists get that. The MPAA companies and RIAA companies don't. Simple as that.
The joys of copyright law and big media
Well heck all you have to do is look at the fact that "legally" I can rip a CD but oh we've put their CSS on the disc so now it's encryption cracking and "illegal" if you do it with a DVD.
Sorry about your luck if something happens to the disc and your kid decides to ruin it. Guess you get to buy another one.
And that's what it's all about. Buying more copies. They'd have you buying a new license for every device if they could.
This is the stupidity we live with in dealing with Hollywood content.
It is what drives many to find a way to rip the DVD anyway while waving a middle digit at the industry. No you aren't getting another $35 from me to buy a digital copy of Mad Men to watch on my iPad. Nevermind it's for personal use.
Which does beg a question too on public performance. Watching a DVD on a player you bring on an airplane flight would be a performance and you'd be breaking the law there too, heck probably have been.
They really have no idea how to interact or work with their customers other than treating them as criminals right from the start. And the more of these restrictions and demands they get made into law the more often they can claim damages for us not paying them every time we watch a movie.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Sorry friend but you have NO "right" to be paid for your movie. You have the right to TRY to be paid for it.
There's a difference that you types don't seem to ever get.
And try again but he's not saying he has a right to get it for nothing. However, the MPAA/RIAA have for years among others gamed the copyright law system to make sure nothing ever reaches the public domain. And that was never the intent of copyright or patent law.
Another fact that is so often ignored.
Intent is obvious
Sure, they are poking fun at Best Buy. Just like lots of other commercials have done the same to competitors who use something like a blue shirt as part of their image.
Big freakin deal. No basis for a suit unless they really used a BB type logo somewhere which they didn't on the guy's shirt etc.
The store actually looks more like the old CompUSA or TigerDirect stores before they changed them around.
The t-shirt thing...yea ok whatever I've seen that kind of logo used before in the electronics space. This is just BB trying to scare NewEgg into pulling the spots and the shirts with a threat.
Trouble is...
When copyright was allowed to be assigned to corporate entities instead of individuals, where the "life" of the "author" or "inventor" ends up being limitless.
That and of course corporate lobbies to extend the definition of "limited time" so that they'd never have to see their inventions actually subject to the intended terms of the Copyright and Patent provisions.
Classic.
So now on the GPS, yea if the car was owned by him then there's no issue. It's his property. Just like LoJack or heck OnStar...they can track the vehicle. Perfectly legal.
Now if it's her car, owned entirely by her then that's a different matter.
Interesting though the affidavit pretty much covers any matter of sins. It basically says anything I say is likely untrue, but doesn't mention the GPS issue at all.
It really was a brilliant plan, akin to entrapment on her part really but he turned it around. Pretty sweet.
Back to the lab
Looks like I need to restart work on my e-voting system that would blow these clowns out of the water once & for all.
Enough idiots designing systems just to make a buck from the government.
Re: fraud
"If they really believed the market didn't want it they wouldn't be making it, now would they."
SawStop believes the market wants it. Not every manufacturer is in agreement.
There's a difference.
Re: Re: Really a watershed case, or...?
Ronald,
It really has nothing to do with disliking inventors or patents. That's your red herring.
The issue is having the patents abused. Thus is the case here. Nothing about patent law is intended to force the marketplace to implement your idea. You are not, by default, guaranteed to actually make money off of that patented idea. If the idea is so great, then it's up to you to sell it and get the market to agree it's great. Being forced into it isn't "public acceptance" or acknowledgment.
In this case, there is no previously issued regulation which compels a table saw maker to include this SawStop technology. None whatsoever. I believe there might be some regulation regarding cutting guards for example, which all makers include to some degree.
Whether Delta/Porter Cable or Jet or whomever else would decide to partner with SawStop to implement their patented technology is the choice of that company. Certainly they would have a unique marketing message to make there if they were, and if the marketplace honestly feels there is value in SawStop's technology.
However, a jury ruling which essentially (as was already mentioned) creates guaranteed revenue for SawStop by either: a) rendering all other vendors open for lawsuit, or b) by creating a de facto requirement for licensing is completely and utterly in violation of the spirit and purpose of patent law.
There is no defense for this action, and Ryobi should certainly appeal. As a 30 year user of table saws of various brands. SawStop technology's existence has been for only a scant few of those years. Personal responsibility should be the order of the day here, full stop. No woodworker, professional or hobbyist with any respect for the industry would file such a suit. Pathetic attempts at a money grab aren't part of properly implemented patent law.
If there is to follow some sort of actual regulation, then SawStop's patent must be invalidated, or licensing must be at a fair price. If SawStop is going to win over business from the likes of Delta/PC or Jet, or any other major maker, it should be on market acceptance of their technology as superior, not a jury de facto mandate they pay extortionate prices to license a patent or get sued.
One also should understand that the saw this fellow was using is most likely one of the "cheap" homeowner variety you can purchase for just a few hundred bucks at a local home center. This isn't even a "contractor" grade saw that runs $500 or so, and it certainly isn't a UniSaw type unit that can retail for several thousand dollars. Even SawStop's own units cost several grand.
I certainly understand your passion for inventors and protection by patents however, where I think you fall short is in not understanding when and how they are abused. You seem to be of the opinion that it never happens, or that "any action necessary" is OK. As in anything balance is necessary.
Certainly you cannot believe the type of activity we're seeing in this case is beneficial to patent holders or inventors?