Al Bert 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Is The US Meddling In Polish ACTA Voting?

    Al Bert ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2012 @ 10:54pm

    Re:

    It's crucial to realize that the state acts as its own representative in many ways. It will trade favors among those with something to offer, but it has little more than a ceremonial role as a representative of the people.

  • On the post: Is The US Meddling In Polish ACTA Voting?

    Al Bert ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2012 @ 10:43pm

    Re: Re: Re: you know what?

    They'll say the same thing they said about chris dodd. It's the same thing a criminal says to the press as he's whisked away after being tried guilty:

    "No comment"

  • On the post: Do Not Discuss The Movie You Just Saw

    Al Bert ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 09:29pm

    Re: Re: not a baseball fan

    It only appears crazy if you mistakenly think that the entertainment industry is concerned with providing anything to any customers. The only concern is profit. To let people use the IP in any uncontrolled form is to suddenly establish a potential market where they have no guaranteed profit terms. They'd rather extract money out of service providers contractually.

  • On the post: ICE Seizes 300 More Sites; Can't Have People Watching Super Bowl Ads Without Permission

    Al Bert ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 08:58pm

    Re: logical conclusion ?

    They draw the line where ever the IP industry tells them to. Of course, i'm sure little nagging doubts like "is anybody watching?" and "how much can i get away with" are big factors too.

  • On the post: ICE Seizes 300 More Sites; Can't Have People Watching Super Bowl Ads Without Permission

    Al Bert ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 08:50pm

    Re: Here's an idea...

    Oh i'm sorry, but "Free Speech TM" is a registered trademark of the US Constitution TM. Any political statements contrary to the will of the Establishment are in direct violation of our Intellectual Property.

  • On the post: The SOPA/PIPA Protest Shows Why There Needs To Be Complete Transparency With TPP

    Al Bert ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 08:38pm

    i ... ugh (facepalm)

    Remind the administration that the SOPA/PIPA ordeal indicates that dealings on TPP should be more transparent. Remind them that the Internet cares.

    I sure hope he was just writing to to everyone other than those involved, because they do this crap in secret because it allows them the luxury of acting without respecting the fact that the concerns of all other parties exist.

    This is like reminding a murderer "That bloody knife in your hand indicates that you shouldn't stab people because you might hurt them!"

  • On the post: Do Not Discuss The Movie You Just Saw

    Al Bert ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 08:09pm

    not a baseball fan

    Dang, you beat me to it.
    ...and yes, something similar to the OP comment is always what goes through my head when i hear that nonsense. Next, they'll forbid thinking about the game with disappointment.

  • On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures

    Al Bert ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 12:14am

    Re: Re:

    Fake signatures are still signatures; after all, this industry runs on fraud.

  • On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures

    Al Bert ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2012 @ 12:07am

    job growth

    Oh finally! I was waiting for the entertainment industry to come up with all that job growth they said they provide.

    On a side note, i wonder if they'll notice or care if all the petitions are filled out with random repeating garbage by people who just want the ghetto payout.

  • On the post: Hollywood Gets To Party With TPP Negotiators; Public Interest Groups Get Thrown Out Of Hotel

    Al Bert ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 11:07pm

    next?

    I would say that that's one of their current targets; however, with the weapons they use and their claims and tactics, it's anybody's guess if they have an actual strategy beyond "Use money to obtain rights to permanent infinite profit stream"

  • On the post: Hollywood Gets To Party With TPP Negotiators; Public Interest Groups Get Thrown Out Of Hotel

    Al Bert ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 11:01pm

    Re: Hotel

    For most of us, boycotting this hotel would be like me boycotting Miley Cyrus. There's no way i'd ever have been a customer anyway. The rest is just harassment, not so much a boycott.

  • On the post: Hollywood Gets To Party With TPP Negotiators; Public Interest Groups Get Thrown Out Of Hotel

    Al Bert ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 10:56pm

    sociopolitical thermodynamics

    The state just needs to keep up with implementing the further destruction of 4th and 5th amendment rights and install fear -- i mean respect into the general public to some greater degree.

    If they increase the pressure, they can afford to hold a population at higher temperatures without risking boiling.

  • On the post: Hollywood Gets To Party With TPP Negotiators; Public Interest Groups Get Thrown Out Of Hotel

    Al Bert ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 10:40pm

    commercial pirate, ell oh ell

    I don't even buy commercials any more. I'm not going to pay that much for a blu-ray if it only has 15 minutes of commercial previews on it and you can't even play them in a different order or put your favorite one on repeat. Being unable to stare vacantly into a loop of the trailer for 'Arthur', i turned to the internet and piracy. If the studios won't let me watch commercials when and how i want, i'll just go somewhere else.

  • On the post: Hollywood Gets To Party With TPP Negotiators; Public Interest Groups Get Thrown Out Of Hotel

    Al Bert ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 10:17pm

    like a ninja

    /me acts like a shady crook
    (to people watching): "don't mind me. i'm always like this."
    (to self): "SMOOOTH"

  • On the post: Hollywood Gets To Party With TPP Negotiators; Public Interest Groups Get Thrown Out Of Hotel

    Al Bert ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 10:06pm

    Re:

    you get extra points for the fact that it's one giant run-on sentence.

  • On the post: Pro-SOPA Folks Push Fact-Challenged Op-Eds

    Al Bert ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2012 @ 07:30pm

    everyone knows, but they're immune to reality.

    Oh, that rampant, industry-wide fraud... that was just an isolated incident, and we're conducting an internal investigation. We even might fire some non-union scapegoat because he was probably a pirate anyway. Now we need to set a more conciliatory tone. We're the real victims here.

  • On the post: Warner Bros. Just Keeps Pushing People To Piracy; New Deal Also Delays Queuing

    Al Bert ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2012 @ 07:15pm

    I like to think they are, yes.

    Abstinence? Boycott? Pirate? Purchase?
    Doesn't matter what you do, you're a pirate in the eyes of the media. If you didn't buy it, you're a lost sale due to piracy. If you did buy it, your shiny plastic disk has a nice message threatening you with jail time because you're obviously a pirate.

    I almost wish i gave a shit about movies so i could have reason to download some.

  • On the post: Warner Bros. Just Keeps Pushing People To Piracy; New Deal Also Delays Queuing

    Al Bert ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2012 @ 06:49pm

    Re:

    One begins to wonder, with the adversarial behavior of content owners, what exactly they want to happen with their IP. They want to bend netflix back and forth and for what? They're getting paid, but it almost seems like they wish netflix and streaming services would just go away.

  • On the post: Warner Bros. Just Keeps Pushing People To Piracy; New Deal Also Delays Queuing

    Al Bert ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2012 @ 06:36pm

    theirs is not an open market

    In several ways, i agree with you. I cannot rightfully support such a criminal franchise. I'm also petty and vengeful, but that's another story.

    The problem with a widely accepted boycott of big content is that it's difficult for people to kick their consumption habits. They're not all netizens, connected to a more open media market online. They're also not all creators like you or i. There needs to be some real alternative that people would be willing to substitute for their entertainment time.

    Let's assume that we're talking about a large population of creative individuals endowed with curiosity, broad tastes, and self control. Now we have millions of hypothetical users completely off the BC wagon; they're reading, writing, creating, interacting and maybe even building the framework for a stronger independent content community. Now the false problem that existed before without measure or proof is now conspicuous and undeniable. All corrupt measures taken to combat the bogeymen of their economic failure will be based as always on fabricated research.

    So really, i can't see any real good coming out of a boycott other than the first two things. I can't see BC dying or ever developing a grain of sense or respect for its customers. Even if all the studios went (actually) bankrupt, They'd just twist a deal out of the state. While i'm content never buying a damn thing from a major label or ever owning a television in the meantime, this industry needs to be extracted from the state and castrated before they can be actually threatened by an open market.

  • On the post: FIFA Orders Brazil To Overturn Ban On Selling Beer At World Cup Matches

    Al Bert ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2012 @ 10:54am

    on the other hand

    Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that's something we won't negotiate.
    So, to paraphrase: "My arrogant words are justified by my arrogance." It's a step away from being a LOLCAT circular definition.
    While yes, i think the demands over alcohol are ridiculous and typical of the entitled, the concessions made by the UK seem quite a bit shadier. That's just my first take anyway.

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