hfbs 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Movie Showing How Music Can Help Dementia Patients Held Up… By The Difficulty In Licensing The Music

    hfbs ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2012 @ 04:46am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Yep, copyright is suppose to get more artists to create new works. It does this by getting their previous works out into the public domain so they can't rest on their laurels and use them as unlimited money for their entire life.

    Thanks for playing :)

  • On the post: GEMA Hikes Venue Performance Royalties 500%, Threatens Germany's Underground Club Scene

    hfbs ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2012 @ 03:37am

    Re:

    But it's for the artists! They should get compensated for their work! Well, not the artists in the underground because fuck you, that's why. Give the money to the artists that don't need it as much!

  • On the post: Yet Another Study Shows You Can Compete With Piracy

    hfbs ( profile ), 20 Jul, 2012 @ 12:42pm

    Re: I finally see the light...piracy is ba-od!

    memeCats.... "I haz cant spend moneyz?"....

    *eye twitches* must... not.... rage...

  • On the post: Apple Has To Advertise That Samsung's 'Not Cool' Tablet Is No iPad Copycat

    hfbs ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2012 @ 05:12pm

    Re: This May Lead To Innovation...

    Well, if by 'invent', you mean 'copy and repackage previous ideas of competitors', you might be right.

  • On the post: Answer Some Trivia Questions To Get A Free Copy Of Year Zero; The Epic Sci-Fi Story Of What Happens When Aliens & Copyright Intermingle

    hfbs ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2012 @ 04:26pm

    Here's a funny little coincidence - I'll be listening to the audiobook version of that "increasingly inaccurately named trilogy" tonight, narrated by its author.

  • On the post: German Supreme Court Suggests Cyber Lockers Need To Filter Content If Alerted To Copyright Infringement

    hfbs ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 08:00am

    Re: Re: Re:

    "What would I possibly want or need to "share" that would be too large to "share" by any other means?"

    As I said below, song files on collaborations. Being a musically-inclined kinda guy, I know a thing or two, so lets break it down:

    My friend and I want to create a song together. He lives in another part of the country, so sharing vis USB is unfeasible. It's a pretty epic track, over 30 mins in length, divided into 3 movements. Now even I know a track 30 mins in length is hard to work with, so let's work with 10 minute lengths. For each of the movements, there's a kick drum, snare, cymabls/crashes/rides, pads, guitars, the bassline and a spare track for fills or what have you. That's 7 tracks minimum. They have to the best quality, naturally so we use .wavs. So let's see.. 1 .wav track at 10 mins, that's about 95 MB. 7 tracks in total is 665 MB.. 3 movements adds up to nearly 2 gigs. Zipping it up would bring it down, of course, but only to about 1.5 gigs.

    And that's just one example of sending large files with no copyrighted works present. Would you like another?

  • On the post: German Supreme Court Suggests Cyber Lockers Need To Filter Content If Alerted To Copyright Infringement

    hfbs ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 07:39am

    Re:

    Try reading the article next time, champ:

    "While the judge apparently dismissed this concern because of Rapidshare's name ("The service is called RapidShare and not RapidStore... and that says it all.") that's really troubling. Just because the company is called "RapidShare" it does not mean that's all the company can do. Lots of companies change over time, and it's a little crazy for a judge to hold them to exactly what their original name says."

    Also, as mentioned above, sharing does not have to mean illegal file-sharing. Personal photos to family, song files in a collaboration with friends (not copyrighted works, original stuff), Creative Commons/public domain works..

    Also, even if something has just one legit use, it makes no sense to ban it. You don't ban crowbars, knives, cars etc just because they CAN be used illegally. Sure, knives are good for cutting stuff like rope, branches, straps and shit (I work on a ferry and every deck crew member must carry such a knife for emergencies like getting caught in ropes while tying up) but to make them illegal because they can be used to hurt others? Can't see that happening.

  • On the post: Olympics Can't Hire Enough Actual Security, But Fully Staffed With 'Brand Police'

    hfbs ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 04:25am

    Re:

    Seconded. While I can't comment on the state of things in the capital, I can tell you that down here in Weymouth (the sailing avenue), pretty much everyone thinks it's utter bollocks. The town's nowhere near suitable for the extra traffic predicted and people aren't terribly excited about having the whole of the main town centre (including vital roads) shut down or restricted.

    From what I read about the security detail down here, it's pretty bad too - some days have had a staff shortage of 60% and on the best days, they can only manage 85% of total. I haven't seen any security people around, but I'm told they're here. I suppose they'll be more obvious during the actual games, but I'm buggered if I'm going out then.. everywhere's going to be heaving. The only time I'll go out is to work and even then, my commute's blocked, so we've had had to do a complete shuffle round of routes and stuff.. Nightmare, I tell you.

  • On the post: Excerpt From Rob Reid's Year Zero; Plus A Chance To Win The Book

    hfbs ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2012 @ 01:45pm

    "I know this sucks for those of you not in those places, but there's nothing we can do about it."

    That does suck. Quite a lot actually..

  • On the post: Dear Angry Person: People Who Criticize You Likely Aren't Defaming You Or Infringing On Your Copyright

    hfbs ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 08:42am

    "...would need to be judges within the specific..."

    judged*

    :)

  • On the post: The Warehousing And Delivery Of Digital Goods? Nearly Free, Pretty Easy, Mostly Trivial

    hfbs ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2012 @ 04:38am

    Huh. While I can't speak for proper 'warehousing' goods (for example, the iTunes store or even the Wikileaks server farm), personally speaking, at home, buying and filling my 1TB ext HDD turns out to be a lot cheaper and easier than buying and filling a cupboard for physical copies of movies and CDs. I'm not too hot at estimating weights anyway, but I'm assured that it's a lot lighter as well.

  • On the post: UK Pensioner Could Face Arrest For Atheist Poster

    hfbs ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2012 @ 08:12am

    Re: Re: Re: 2 rules to be an atheist

    "If you are fully confident in your belief, then why bother?"

    Good point, where are all the christians/atheists who aren't posting because they are firm in their (non/)belief? Why are those people?

    Oh right, that's it. They're not posting.

  • On the post: UK Pensioner Could Face Arrest For Atheist Poster

    hfbs ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2012 @ 07:51am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Burden of proof does not work that way - it's on the person asserting a claim (i.e. that god exists) and "if this responsibility or burden of proof is shifted to a critic, the fallacy of appealing to ignorance is committed"

    I can't prove god doesn't exist because it's impossible to prove a negative (try it for yourself - prove that unicorns don't exist. Go ahead, I'll wait), but seeing as I've seen no objective evidence that god does exist, I therefore assume he doesn't.

    And no, proof from the Bible, vicars or something like 'today is very nice and sunny, therefore God exists because he made it' will not be accepted. They are objective/can be attributed to other factors.

  • On the post: UK Pensioner Could Face Arrest For Atheist Poster

    hfbs ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2012 @ 07:38am

    Re: Re:

    You can tell I've been on the internet too long when I thought better phrasing for the Act would be something like:

    'threatening or abusive or insulting with the intent to provoke violence or which may rustle someones jimmies'

  • On the post: EU Commissioner Reveals He Will Simply Ignore Any Rejection Of ACTA By European Parliament Next Week

    hfbs ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2012 @ 02:58am

    Re:

    In fairness, they never say it will be changed for the better..

    Voter: Hello, MP? I'd like the copyright law changed please
    MP: Sure thing, taxpayer, one 'death penalty for possible infringement' coming up!
    Voter: No, I meant changed so it's less draconion
    MP: Oh right, sorry - life sentence for possible infringement is certainly a good idea!
    Voter: You misunderstand - less draconian and more suitable for the digital age
    MP: Ohh, I get it now! Yeah, sorry. I'll whip that through straight away!
    ...
    Voter: What exactly did you 'whip through'?
    MP: Well, I listened to your suggestion of making it less absurd than death penalty for possible infringement (which if you ask me, is perfectly reasonable, or so I'm reliably told by the copyright industries) and how you really wanted it changed, so the proposed law is a fine for a billion pounds a year for your lifetime (and 70 years thereafter) if the MPAA/RIAA can prove you visited a torrent site. See, you don't even have to go to jail, it's a much nicer law, isn't it?
    Voter: ....

  • On the post: Tech Still One Step Ahead: New Service Downloads Torrents Directly To Dropbox

    hfbs ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2012 @ 02:41am

    Re:

    7/10.

    Not bad, I like a good old Reductio ad Hitlerum.

  • On the post: Tech Still One Step Ahead: New Service Downloads Torrents Directly To Dropbox

    hfbs ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2012 @ 02:32am

    Re: Re:

    "Dropbox is too big and has too many people using it for perfectly legal purposes."

    Funny, I would've said the same thing could be said about Megaupload.

  • On the post: Congressional Staffer Says SOPA Protests 'Poisoned The Well', Failure To Pass Puts Internet At Risk

    hfbs ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2012 @ 08:44am

    Re:

    *she, *her. I got confused by that Steve bloke.

  • On the post: Congressional Staffer Says SOPA Protests 'Poisoned The Well', Failure To Pass Puts Internet At Risk

    hfbs ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2012 @ 08:43am

    "The report then goes to to state that the thick envelope, later found to contain a large sum of money, handed to Moore after he made his speech, totally did not come from the MAFIAA"

  • On the post: New iPhone Connector Port Revealed, Thus Wiping Out Several Generations Of Accessories In One Fell Swoop

    hfbs ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2012 @ 03:17am

    Good job that this is exactly what every iDiot was crying out for, eh guys? Guys? It was what you wanted, right? Oh.. it wasn't..? Well tough!

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