vegetaman 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (216)

• On the post: Canadian University Association Surrenders Completely By Withdrawing From Copyright Hearings

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2012 @ 05:57pm

  Wow.

  So, the natural progression of this, is that we assume people are always going to do something bad with all things at all times, so we must levy a "bad citizen tax" (call it what you will, honestly) on those items.

• On the post: Web Documentary: How The Internet Changed Heavy Metal

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2012 @ 05:51pm

  Nice.

  Not only has the internet given my band an audience, it has also given us a chance to continue to make new music in spite of the hundreds (or thousands) of miles that may separate us. And it allows us to collaborate with people on other continents, who we may never have met otherwise.
  
  And that we give our songs away for free? I know for me personally, I just enjoy making the music and sharing it with people (who will also hopefully enjoy it). It is my hobby, and I don't need any money for it.

• On the post: Author Discovers Assassin's Creed Uses Same Cliche'd SciFi Trope As His Book… Sues For Infringement

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2012 @ 05:54pm

  Re:

  He who controls the genetic memory controls the universe.
  
  The genes must flow!

• On the post: Open Access And The Art Of Contract Hacking

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2012 @ 05:51pm

  Re: Re: Prisoner's Dilemma

  This may bite me in the ass in the future, but I must admit -- I quit renewing my ACM membership once I got out of college. And I did research in college and never used ACM for any of it.

• On the post: Canadian Universities Have One Week To Stop A Disastrous Copyright Licensing Deal

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2012 @ 04:29pm

  Well, of course!

  May 1st is seriously really soon. It is only a week away. What exactly is the emergency?
  
  Somebody might think twice about the decision they're making, rather than stepping off the cliff to a terrible licensing deal just because they had to make a snap judgment.

• On the post: No, Telling Customers Why Your Product Is Better Than A Competitor's Is Not Trademark Infringement

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2012 @ 04:26pm

  Nice.

  Judges, I beg you, please don't go down this wormhole.
  
  The biggest barrier to entry here would be that it would require people at large to know how the technology actually works (and not spout off about how one of them THINKS it actually works)...

• On the post: Web Series To Explore The Impact Of The Internet On Heavy Metal

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2012 @ 04:20pm

  The Internet has been great for metal...

  As a metal fan (but not necessarily a Metallica fan...), I think the internet has been great for metal. I have been able to share high quality recordings of my own band's stuff for free (at least, it was fairly easy, back when we had megaupload), find all sorts of great bands (and I still buy CDs and music performance DVDs), and meet people who liked the same sort of bands I do -- as well as finding out about shows within a 6-8 hour driving radius. The Internet has been fantastic for my own foray into heavy metal.

• On the post: Tool Singer Defends His Lawn: Decries Our Entitled, Uncreative Society

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2012 @ 03:59pm

  Commentary

  Cool, a story I submitted got posted! Since I think it is relevant, I will post my comments I did on the blabbermouth piece here as well:
  
  "Right... But, on the flip side, look at the price of digital goods versus the price of physical goods. People expect to be able to use their products across all of their devices by only buying something once... The genie is out of the bottle, and whining about it isn't going to fix it. I still like buying physical CDs, personally (I prefer to buy them from shows at merch tables), and will do stuff like iTunes as a last resort. And I can't necessarily blame people for wanting stuff immediately, the problem is that there isn't an easy way for them to get the high quality music, legally, in a DRM-free way. People don't like strings being attached, either. If you're selling a product, you have to tailor to the consumer, unless you've cornered the market or something... I'll blow money on STEAM all the time, because they offer a service that I enjoy for a great price, and their sales are phenomenal. iTunes sales? Pfft, what? At least sometimes Amazon runs sales on physical CDs, at least."

• On the post: People Rushing To Give Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Just Hours For Brand New Adventure Game

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2012 @ 05:24pm

  Holy crap!

  266% funded, $1,064,138 pledged, 32 days left...
  
  UNBELIEVABLE!

• On the post: People Rushing To Give Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Just Hours For Brand New Adventure Game

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2012 @ 05:12pm

  Re: Re:

  I concur -- I also follow GrumpyGamer on Twitter, and am full on in support of this because I think Ron Gilbert is a genius and can't wait to see what happens here. I still have fond memories of playing Maniac Mansion in my youth and it is still one of my favorite games (and I see some fans are doing a 3D remake of it as well).
  
  ...And I see they just crossed OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS on the kickstarter here! Holy crap!

• On the post: Ubisoft Cuts Off Legit Players With DRM Server Migration; Pirates Play On

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2012 @ 04:29pm

  Exactly. And, furthermore...

  Hey Ubisoft, you know what would improve your service? Legitimate buyers being able to play the games they bought from you whenever the hell they want!
  
  *BEGIN RANT*
  
  This is why I specifically seek out PC games that do not have DRM for purchase (and no, I do not pirate). Sadly, that is becoming harder and harder to find these days. [And for the record, I am okay with Steam and have no issues using the service.] But secuROM and it's ilk? Keep that crap off my system, thank you.
  
  And limited amounts of activations? Well a fat lot of good any of that does me once their servers go down. I can only hope that 5 years from now that corporations can look back on this DRM movement and go "man, what were we thinking? We totally tried to fuck ourselves and our customers".
  
  Oh, that's right, they don't seem to give a shit about their legitimate paying customers. Assholes.
  
  *END RANT*

• On the post: Congress Trying To Regulate Certain Wireless Spectrum Issues… In A Payroll Tax Bill?

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 07:37pm

  Congress Fail...

  "Wireless Internet, you say? So it's like, a series of invisible tubes?"

• On the post: Senator Wyden Attacked For Actually Trying To Get Stuff Done, Rather Than Playing Partisan Politics

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 04:59pm

  Of course...

  Of course they don't like Wyden; he's making them all look bad.
  
  "Gentlemen, we've got to protect our phony baloney jobs! HARUMPF! HARUMPF!"

• On the post: Universal Music Claims Copyright Over Song That It Didn't License, Just Because One Of Its Artists Rapped To It On A Leaked Track

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2012 @ 04:03pm

  Re:

  Something about keeping our children safe from that "independent" music that isn't label approved. After all, it's just as dangerous as that "open source" software. Anybody can do it -- so it must be bad, and stuff!

• On the post: Tiny Gamemaker Takes The Right Approach To Giant Zynga Copying Its Game: It Thanks Them

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2012 @ 04:19pm

  Re: X-Gen Studios has something to say on this subject

  I believe the point of that image is that a lot of people have had issues with people copying their ideas for iPhone app games -- it wasn't accusing Nimblebit of any copying.
  
  I just googled the app store and these games and wound up with the following information:
  
  I Dig It -> InMotion Software, LLC
  
  StickWars -> John E. Hartzog

• On the post: State Of The Union Address Highlights The Dirty Trick Of Hiding More Draconian IP Rules In 'Trade Agreements'

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2012 @ 03:58pm

  Re: Political Mindsets

  My bad, I forgot to sign in when I made that comment. Much like I forgot to mention the important step between the two quotes where people stuff politician's pockets with money.

• On the post: Joe Biden Picked An Interesting Day To Raise Money From Silicon Valley…

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 19 Jan, 2012 @ 04:41pm

  Let's see...

  Politician Thought Process:
  
  "Pay them lip service, take their money, and fuck them over anyway."

• On the post: Senator Ron Wyden To The Internet: Thank You For Speaking Up… But We're Not Done Yet

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 18 Jan, 2012 @ 04:33pm

  Well...

  We're finally getting to the point where we will finally see if the loud cries of the constituents against terrible legislative action can drown out the flapping sound of money in a politician's ear...

• On the post: Why Is NBCUniversal Threatening To Report Commenters They Disagree With To Their Employers?

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 16 Jan, 2012 @ 05:34pm

  Time is of the essence.

  More like reporting on videos that went viral weeks ago and are already are old news.

• On the post: Unfortunate: 'Open' Advocate Darrell Issa Sponsoring Bill That Will Close Off Open Access To Gov't Funded Research

  

  vegetaman ( profile ), 09 Jan, 2012 @ 03:45pm

  Lesson Learned...

  I guess the timeless phrase still holds true: Never trust a politician.

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