Actually, I thought they decided upon Paul Ryan on the Republican side. He's vulnerable, he supported both, and his opponent -- Rob Zerban -- has already come on Reddit to do an AMA and endeared the users with his platform.
I'm a huge Coldplay fan, and I've loved both singles that have come out from their new album, so the day it came out, I immediately went to Spotify. I didn't see it on there, so I figured maybe I'd gotten the date wrong and double-checked. Nope, right day, so what the hell? I Googled and found out that they were holding it from Spotify. I don't really pirate music anymore now that I have an easier method to listen with a Spotify account (that I *gasp* pay for!). So, I still haven't heard the new album, despite being a big fan. Way to serve your fans, Coldplay.
I don't like the "report and cruise on by" method in this sort of case. Why are you reporting a comment that isn't spam? Why are we democratically removing comments that are discussing the topic at hand simply because the sentiment is flawed? How about correcting the flawed arguments like intelligent people instead of covering our eyes and ears? I had to un-hide the original comment (which I didn't even initially see, because it was hidden) simply to understand the intelligent counter-points people were making in reply.
TLDR; Please stop clicking "report" for non-spam comments, regardless of trollism.
Sounds to me like a good book would have it both ways. Who says there only has to be one interesting twist or key plot point? The author can reveal some key point early, but nevertheless include a key twist. That method gives you both a reason to read the introduction with an eye to foreshadowing and build-up as well as a fun surprise at the end.
Although I wasn't blown away by The Book Thief, the author of that used the above method, basically telling you flat out at the beginning that someone important dies at the end. Then in the middle, he tells you some other important people who will die in the end. There's still some unexpected twists before you're done, though.
I'm in the same boat as this woman. Last month I got a letter from Steele, Hansmeier (their tagline being, "A leading anti-piracy law firm") representing Hard Drive Productions, Inc. in a lawsuit against me claiming that I illegally downloaded a pornographic video owned by HDP via BitTorrent. The trouble is -- I didn't download the file in question. (And, for what it's worth, I've never downloaded porn via BitTorrent.)
They have my IP address connected to the download, so obviously someone with access to my router downloaded the file. I have roommates, though. I also have people who visit me frequently. (I live in Vegas, so I get lots of visitors.) I've also opened my WiFi signal from time to time to let people use it without having to go through my security (I use MAC address filters, among other things) and then forget to reinstate the security after they leave.
They wanted me to pay $2,900 to settle for that single file. This is obviously extortion, especially since part of the settlement letter was them effectively saying, "If you don't settle, keep in mind we'll plaster your name all over the Internet to publicly shame you for downloading porn."
So, I've got a few interesting points/questions regarding this situation that I was hoping you or your readers could answer:
1) I know the legal system is screwed up with Internet-age cases, but an IP address alone couldn't possibly be sufficient evidence to win a lawsuit claiming that I personally downloaded this file, could it? I realize this is a flawed analogy -- and please provide a better analogy if you can think of one -- but to me, that's like a gun I own being used in a murder, and me getting convicted based on that evidence alone. You can only prove that my gun was used, not that I was the killer.
2) How was the person who downloaded this file supposed to know that it was illegal? They certainly couldn't have known before they downloaded it, and I sincerely doubt there was any way to know *after* they downloaded it, either. If you have no way of knowing that you've downloaded copyrighted content, how can what you've done be illegal? They're basing their case on people assuming they're downloading something illegally, not knowing they're downloading something illegally. There are plenty of porn companies who gladly put some of their videos on BitTorrent sites as *promotional tools* to whet people's appetites for more.
3) The mass settlement letters are obviously a money grab. What's more, since there's the threat of a lawsuit/public humiliation if you don't accept the settlement, I don't see how this doesn't amount to blatant extortion. (For the record, I declined the settlement since I didn't download the file.)
4) Branching off of the public-humiliation aspect of their extortion letter, would I have a reasonable countersuit for defamation?
5) I’m also considering the idea of using a few of my friends in PR to launch a PR campaign against the porn company and the law firm. Is there any merit to such a campaign?
They have not served me papers yet -- although I did have a phone conversation with a representative from the Steele office wherein I declined settlement. They may not actually serve me since a single file might not be worth their time, and it’s a shakedown anyway, but I’d like to be prepared. I’d also like to preemptively strike in any ways I can. I want to use this case to set an example.
Exactly. For all of the privacy concerns people have regarding Facebook, and all of the credit Google is getting for Circles ... Facebook did that a loooong while ago. Maybe they didn't publicize it enough, but I have tons of groups, all with different permissions. I have Facebook groups for people I don't know (I used to be semi-famous in a very small niche on the Internet, so I get randos), people who I trust with anything and everything, people who get offended by anti-religious humor, people who like to talk politics, and so forth. So, yeah ... you're wrong on this one, Mike, unless I'm missing something.
Well, the first two words of your subject are correct, in the very least. Send this sort of thing to "Submit a Story," don't post it in a random story.
Thank God for our babysitter government here in the U.S. Heaven forbid I use my personal funds to play a game of skill for pleasure and potential profit.
Guess I'll go play on any of the hundreds of less-reputable, less secure online poker sites that remain open. Thanks for having my best interests in mind!
PS. The tone of the DoJ press release was tilting with all of its horrible poker metaphors. Way to trivialize the fact that you just took six-figure incomes away from thousands of Americans, asshats. Dozens of my friends are now unemployed.
... there actually are people out there who would buy an eBook for $19? That's insane. Even if the hardcover were $25, why would you ever buy an eBook for $19? Sure, the hardback price even says [Bargain] in the title, but that's irrelevant considering the digital edition shouldn't cost that much regardless of the hardback price.
Heroes came to mind for me with this post, as well. I personally thought that was an effective use of product placement. It wasn't until the second season when the cheerleader got all excited about the Nissan Rogue that I connected the dots that the Versa was an obvious product placement. It fit the story in an unobtrusive way why he kept saying the car's name, and I actually found myself imitating the line as a joke with friends here and there, proving that it was an effective marketing tool that didn't take away from the story.
You say: "'pay what you want' appears to work much better with a charitable component..."
I recall reading about a study (I forget where) regarding an experiment set up around the digital photos you can buy after you get off a rollercoaster. They priced them four different ways to see how people reacted:
1) Fixed price
2) Pay what you want price
3) Fixed, and half goes to charity
4) Pay what you want, and half goes to charity
They found found two things: 1) More people bought with the pay-what-you-want model, resulting in higher total profits, and 2) fewer people paid when charity was involved compared to the same model without charity, but those who did pay paid more than they would have without the charity component.
In the end, the profit for the company was highest with the pay-what-you-want charity component despite, fewer people buying the product.
For my two cents, I think fewer people paid when charity was involved because there was an additional mental transaction cost. You no longer were buying just a photo, you were also donating to a charity. That's two transactions. People wouldn't think of that as, "I'm paying for a photo and some of it is going to charity," they're subconsciously thinking, "I'm paying for a photo and I also have to donate to a charity." They figure out how much they would pay for the photo and how much they would give to the charity, and if the resulting number is in their budget and doesn't make them feel guilty, they'd pay it. That's why fewer people pay, but those who do pay more ... they're actually donating as a separate mental transaction.
I think Mike missed another important point: One of the major selling points for the Kindle (at least, for me and many people I know) is that there are hundreds of free public domain eBooks that Amazon offers. The first thing I did when I got my Kindle was "buy" more than 100 of these free books and load them onto my Kindle. I'd imagine that many Kindle owners do the same thing. Also, many authors "sell" free short stories or older books in some series they write (to entice people to pay for the later books in the series).
I get receipts for these free books, and that leads me to believe that as far as Amazon is concerned, they "sold" me that free book. If that's the case, their eBook numbers are even more meaningless.
I went through a phase when I was in college when I wanted to make a bunch of music using music samples (royalty free bits of 2-10 second long instrumentation that I combined to make songs). The software was expensive, and I wasn't sure I'd really get any use out of it or stick with the hobby. So, I pirated the software.
Well, I did stick with the hobby, and after about a year of making lame music I went out and bought the software. I already had the pirated software, but I went and bought the real software anyway. The real software was less buggy, had access to updates and free music samples, and had access to support/documentation. Plus I wanted to support the makers of the software I thought was so great.
You know what else? I worked at Best Buy at the time, and whenever someone asked me about that sort of software, I recommended the software I'd used pirated.
So, the software maker's profit if I hadn't pirated? $0. There's no way I would have spent the money on a whim, and their free trial software was too limited for me ever to make the plunge and actually buy. Piracy made them money. Seems like horribly bad accounting to count my pirated copy as a net loss when it actually made them at least three purchases worth of money.
Lol, pathetic attempt at advertising your (presumably crappy) Web filter with a comment that adds nothing to the conversation. Not only that, but you should do your research; everyone who reads Techdirt already knows that Web filters are fairly pointless and easily circumnavigated.
The worst part ...
... is that when profits suffer because of moves like this, they'll claim the lost money was due to pirates ... which is technically correct.
Wasn't it Paul Ryan?
Actually, I thought they decided upon Paul Ryan on the Republican side. He's vulnerable, he supported both, and his opponent -- Rob Zerban -- has already come on Reddit to do an AMA and endeared the users with his platform.
Ryan seemed to fit all of the necessary criteria.
Still haven't heard the album ...
I'm a huge Coldplay fan, and I've loved both singles that have come out from their new album, so the day it came out, I immediately went to Spotify. I didn't see it on there, so I figured maybe I'd gotten the date wrong and double-checked. Nope, right day, so what the hell? I Googled and found out that they were holding it from Spotify. I don't really pirate music anymore now that I have an easier method to listen with a Spotify account (that I *gasp* pay for!). So, I still haven't heard the new album, despite being a big fan. Way to serve your fans, Coldplay.
Re: Re: Re: So don't pay or play! -- But I know you'll pirate it,
I don't like the "report and cruise on by" method in this sort of case. Why are you reporting a comment that isn't spam? Why are we democratically removing comments that are discussing the topic at hand simply because the sentiment is flawed? How about correcting the flawed arguments like intelligent people instead of covering our eyes and ears? I had to un-hide the original comment (which I didn't even initially see, because it was hidden) simply to understand the intelligent counter-points people were making in reply.
TLDR; Please stop clicking "report" for non-spam comments, regardless of trollism.
Why not have it both ways?
Sounds to me like a good book would have it both ways. Who says there only has to be one interesting twist or key plot point? The author can reveal some key point early, but nevertheless include a key twist. That method gives you both a reason to read the introduction with an eye to foreshadowing and build-up as well as a fun surprise at the end.
Although I wasn't blown away by The Book Thief, the author of that used the above method, basically telling you flat out at the beginning that someone important dies at the end. Then in the middle, he tells you some other important people who will die in the end. There's still some unexpected twists before you're done, though.
Case against me just like this.
I'm in the same boat as this woman. Last month I got a letter from Steele, Hansmeier (their tagline being, "A leading anti-piracy law firm") representing Hard Drive Productions, Inc. in a lawsuit against me claiming that I illegally downloaded a pornographic video owned by HDP via BitTorrent. The trouble is -- I didn't download the file in question. (And, for what it's worth, I've never downloaded porn via BitTorrent.)
They have my IP address connected to the download, so obviously someone with access to my router downloaded the file. I have roommates, though. I also have people who visit me frequently. (I live in Vegas, so I get lots of visitors.) I've also opened my WiFi signal from time to time to let people use it without having to go through my security (I use MAC address filters, among other things) and then forget to reinstate the security after they leave.
They wanted me to pay $2,900 to settle for that single file. This is obviously extortion, especially since part of the settlement letter was them effectively saying, "If you don't settle, keep in mind we'll plaster your name all over the Internet to publicly shame you for downloading porn."
So, I've got a few interesting points/questions regarding this situation that I was hoping you or your readers could answer:
1) I know the legal system is screwed up with Internet-age cases, but an IP address alone couldn't possibly be sufficient evidence to win a lawsuit claiming that I personally downloaded this file, could it? I realize this is a flawed analogy -- and please provide a better analogy if you can think of one -- but to me, that's like a gun I own being used in a murder, and me getting convicted based on that evidence alone. You can only prove that my gun was used, not that I was the killer.
2) How was the person who downloaded this file supposed to know that it was illegal? They certainly couldn't have known before they downloaded it, and I sincerely doubt there was any way to know *after* they downloaded it, either. If you have no way of knowing that you've downloaded copyrighted content, how can what you've done be illegal? They're basing their case on people assuming they're downloading something illegally, not knowing they're downloading something illegally. There are plenty of porn companies who gladly put some of their videos on BitTorrent sites as *promotional tools* to whet people's appetites for more.
3) The mass settlement letters are obviously a money grab. What's more, since there's the threat of a lawsuit/public humiliation if you don't accept the settlement, I don't see how this doesn't amount to blatant extortion. (For the record, I declined the settlement since I didn't download the file.)
4) Branching off of the public-humiliation aspect of their extortion letter, would I have a reasonable countersuit for defamation?
5) I’m also considering the idea of using a few of my friends in PR to launch a PR campaign against the porn company and the law firm. Is there any merit to such a campaign?
They have not served me papers yet -- although I did have a phone conversation with a representative from the Steele office wherein I declined settlement. They may not actually serve me since a single file might not be worth their time, and it’s a shakedown anyway, but I’d like to be prepared. I’d also like to preemptively strike in any ways I can. I want to use this case to set an example.
Re: Facebook does offer it
Exactly. For all of the privacy concerns people have regarding Facebook, and all of the credit Google is getting for Circles ... Facebook did that a loooong while ago. Maybe they didn't publicize it enough, but I have tons of groups, all with different permissions. I have Facebook groups for people I don't know (I used to be semi-famous in a very small niche on the Internet, so I get randos), people who I trust with anything and everything, people who get offended by anti-religious humor, people who like to talk politics, and so forth. So, yeah ... you're wrong on this one, Mike, unless I'm missing something.
Re: Off Topic But Informative
Well, the first two words of your subject are correct, in the very least. Send this sort of thing to "Submit a Story," don't post it in a random story.
http://www.techdirt.com/submitstory.php
PC version?
Am I missing it, or is there not a PC version of this app?
Babysitter Government
Thank God for our babysitter government here in the U.S. Heaven forbid I use my personal funds to play a game of skill for pleasure and potential profit.
Guess I'll go play on any of the hundreds of less-reputable, less secure online poker sites that remain open. Thanks for having my best interests in mind!
PS. The tone of the DoJ press release was tilting with all of its horrible poker metaphors. Way to trivialize the fact that you just took six-figure incomes away from thousands of Americans, asshats. Dozens of my friends are now unemployed.
Holy God ...
... there actually are people out there who would buy an eBook for $19? That's insane. Even if the hardcover were $25, why would you ever buy an eBook for $19? Sure, the hardback price even says [Bargain] in the title, but that's irrelevant considering the digital edition shouldn't cost that much regardless of the hardback price.
Re:
Heroes came to mind for me with this post, as well. I personally thought that was an effective use of product placement. It wasn't until the second season when the cheerleader got all excited about the Nissan Rogue that I connected the dots that the Versa was an obvious product placement. It fit the story in an unobtrusive way why he kept saying the car's name, and I actually found myself imitating the line as a joke with friends here and there, proving that it was an effective marketing tool that didn't take away from the story.
Facebook page
It was just mean to post that link to their Facebook page ;) Now it's overrun with people ridiculing the poor woman.
Not that I didn't like/comment/unlike myself ... just sayin'.
Re: Re: About the Charitable Component
No, that's definitely not it ;)
About the Charitable Component
You say: "'pay what you want' appears to work much better with a charitable component..."
I recall reading about a study (I forget where) regarding an experiment set up around the digital photos you can buy after you get off a rollercoaster. They priced them four different ways to see how people reacted:
1) Fixed price
2) Pay what you want price
3) Fixed, and half goes to charity
4) Pay what you want, and half goes to charity
They found found two things: 1) More people bought with the pay-what-you-want model, resulting in higher total profits, and 2) fewer people paid when charity was involved compared to the same model without charity, but those who did pay paid more than they would have without the charity component.
In the end, the profit for the company was highest with the pay-what-you-want charity component despite, fewer people buying the product.
For my two cents, I think fewer people paid when charity was involved because there was an additional mental transaction cost. You no longer were buying just a photo, you were also donating to a charity. That's two transactions. People wouldn't think of that as, "I'm paying for a photo and some of it is going to charity," they're subconsciously thinking, "I'm paying for a photo and I also have to donate to a charity." They figure out how much they would pay for the photo and how much they would give to the charity, and if the resulting number is in their budget and doesn't make them feel guilty, they'd pay it. That's why fewer people pay, but those who do pay more ... they're actually donating as a separate mental transaction.
Re: Re: Brimstone!
+1
Was going to comment something to this effect, but meh, you said it more eloquently.
Do Free Ebooks Count As Ebooks Sold?
I think Mike missed another important point: One of the major selling points for the Kindle (at least, for me and many people I know) is that there are hundreds of free public domain eBooks that Amazon offers. The first thing I did when I got my Kindle was "buy" more than 100 of these free books and load them onto my Kindle. I'd imagine that many Kindle owners do the same thing. Also, many authors "sell" free short stories or older books in some series they write (to entice people to pay for the later books in the series).
I get receipts for these free books, and that leads me to believe that as far as Amazon is concerned, they "sold" me that free book. If that's the case, their eBook numbers are even more meaningless.
Pirates as Free Trial Users
I went through a phase when I was in college when I wanted to make a bunch of music using music samples (royalty free bits of 2-10 second long instrumentation that I combined to make songs). The software was expensive, and I wasn't sure I'd really get any use out of it or stick with the hobby. So, I pirated the software.
Well, I did stick with the hobby, and after about a year of making lame music I went out and bought the software. I already had the pirated software, but I went and bought the real software anyway. The real software was less buggy, had access to updates and free music samples, and had access to support/documentation. Plus I wanted to support the makers of the software I thought was so great.
You know what else? I worked at Best Buy at the time, and whenever someone asked me about that sort of software, I recommended the software I'd used pirated.
So, the software maker's profit if I hadn't pirated? $0. There's no way I would have spent the money on a whim, and their free trial software was too limited for me ever to make the plunge and actually buy. Piracy made them money. Seems like horribly bad accounting to count my pirated copy as a net loss when it actually made them at least three purchases worth of money.
Re: Re:
Erm ... circumvented...
Re:
Lol, pathetic attempt at advertising your (presumably crappy) Web filter with a comment that adds nothing to the conversation. Not only that, but you should do your research; everyone who reads Techdirt already knows that Web filters are fairly pointless and easily circumnavigated.