Chris Maresca 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: $100 Million Pledged To Indie Film On Kickstarter… And 8,000 Films Made

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2013 @ 10:38am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Piracy wins because it's easier to consume vs paid for content.

    Just look at the fight between XBMC & Hulu to understand what I mean - or try playing a DVD on out-of-the-box Linux sometime.

    In both of those scenarios, the content industries have made it so difficult to play content that I actually download ripped versions of DVDs I own as they are significantly easier to play across devices.

    As far as the music business goes, Apple saved your ass. Unfortunately for you, Apple also now owns your ass. That's what you get for killing off every other online music service.

    Maybe if you'd actually made it easy, convenient & cheap for people to buy digital music when they were screaming for it, you wouldn't be in the world of hurt you are today. Same goes for all other content.

  • On the post: $100 Million Pledged To Indie Film On Kickstarter… And 8,000 Films Made

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2013 @ 10:30am

    They wish....

    It would make democracy illegal, which is probably a wet dream for most politicians...

  • On the post: $100 Million Pledged To Indie Film On Kickstarter… And 8,000 Films Made

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2013 @ 10:28am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Don't think this is the end of Hollywood

    I think that the idea that shorts don't make money is just old-school thinking.

    There are a non-trivial number of people making a good living on YouTube producing content, enough so that there is at least one company built around providing services to those very people and that YouTube has just opened a large production studio in el Segundo. One music group that I kinda know lives off YouTube and employs seven people for production et. al work.

    Granted, a lot of YouTube content is not 'shorts', but it does prove that a distributor-less model + semi-popular content is profitable. If you add subsidized production costs (aka Kickstarter), how much do you need to make on YouTube to be 'profitable'? If you are a small group, $100k would be pretty good - an amount which would be a waste of time for most distributors.

    Never mind that with production costs going down all the time, tools & hardware getting easier/cheaper and a global stage ('profitable' bar is lower in a lot of low-cost places), 'success' is getting closer for a lot of people.

  • On the post: Apple's Blocks Popular Kickstarter Project [Updated]

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2012 @ 03:35pm

    Re: And we all know how POORLY Apple is doing with PROPRIETARY!

    5, 12, 65, 72, 4, 35,19

  • On the post: Apple's Blocks Popular Kickstarter Project [Updated]

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2012 @ 03:23pm

    Re: Stupid reason, cheap PR stunt for Kickstarter rival

    [Sorry for the poor grammar - written quickly on tablet]

  • On the post: Apple's Blocks Popular Kickstarter Project [Updated]

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2012 @ 03:18pm

    Stupid reason, cheap PR stunt for Kickstarter rival

    They could have just put a bunch of USB ports under the thing and let people bring their own cables. It would have made it future proof as well.

    My guess is that there is more this story than Apple refusing the use of the 30-pin. Like, for example, that Siminoff has started is Kickstarter rival that has as a competitive differentiator Kickstarter, what else, offering refunds on failed projects....

  • On the post: China Tries To Block Encrypted Traffic

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 17 Dec, 2012 @ 06:30pm

    Simple solution

    Use an https/SSL tunnel. Virtual impossible to distinguish from actual HTML pages and almost impossible to block.

    You can do this with openVPN by running over port 443 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVPN

    Setup your VPN service on AWS and you run it for peanuts (e.g. $20/month or less) and get an IP that's not likely to be blocked.

    Beyond that, there are new peer to peer VPN systems. N2N is one of them - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N2n

  • On the post: Who Signed The ITU WCIT Treaty… And Who Didn't

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 14 Dec, 2012 @ 06:18pm

    I don't know where the chart comes from but it's wrong

    I just heard both representatives from Egypt & Tunisia on the BBC World Service explain that the internet before their revolutions was controlled and it's now free and they would never support anything that attempted to control it, thus refused to sign...

    So someone is lying, my guess it's the ITU who is 'wishful thinking' a positive result.

  • On the post: VCs Successfully Fund Lawsuit Against Best Buy After It Completely Screws Over Startup

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2012 @ 05:10pm

    Happens a lot more than you think...

    Investors funding ongoing lawsuits happens a lot more than people think. Usually, there is some sort of fee agreement with lawyers to mitigate the downside, but it's also relatively cheap to do this compared with the $$$ invested (e.g. hundreds vs millions).

    The thing that usually puts a stop to lawsuits is bankruptcy, but a surprisingly large number of startups manage to avoid bankruptcy and either go dormant or dissolve.

    The big difference in this case is that they seem to be publicizing the result, which is not common.

  • On the post: More People Realize The Obvious: Telco Regulatory Capture Is Why We Have Crappy, Expensive Broadband

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 28 Sep, 2012 @ 01:27am

    Er, some of the facts about France are just plain wrong...

    My mom lives in France - rural France to be more vague.

    It's pretty much impossible to get regular (DSL or cable) internet, and even if she could, it's about 70 euros/month without phone or TV. And her phone, with a special international rate, is about 40 euros/month. Satellite or cable TV is another 30 euros/month and international calls are hugely expensive (roughly double what I pay). Theres a reason Skype is widely used in Europe and it's not because of the fantastic call quality. Oh, and these are not 'special rural rates', they are the same across France.

    When she did finally get internet, it was via satellite and it costs 50 euros/month for 10mb down (and 500ms latency), plus the install cost was well over 1000 euros.

    I was there for a month 1/2 last year trying to figure out how to reduce costs & make all this work better. No such luck, even 3G service is expensive & crappy and employees of various companies couldn't give a shit less about delivering ANY service. And it's not like I was some ugly American trying to get service - French is my native language.... It's basically the result of zero competition coupled with the difficulty of firing non-performing employees. And don't even try to cancel service, the only way is to call and the lines are always 'too busy', even at 3am (24h service supposedly...).

    Quite frankly, I was SOOOOO happy that I live in the US and deal with US, customer centric companies. Even the absolute worst US companies (Comcast, I'm looking at you) are 100x better than the best French companies.

    So, sorry, this story is a bunch of bunk. It's easy to grab some stats provided by the phone company, but the reality on the ground is much, much different. Nightmare would be a generous description.

  • On the post: TSA Declares Themselves Fashion & Funny Police

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2012 @ 09:11pm

    Re: Re:

    Hhmm, I've lived in 7 different countries and have two passports. There are a lot worse places to live than the US, many of them idolized by certain Americans as better alternatives to the US.

    Guess what, every country has it's share of bad practices (yes, even Denmark), racist tendencies & repressive laws (yes even the Netherlands), crazy right wing people (yes, even Norway) or secret laws (yes, even Sweden).

    So, I'm not sure where you're going to emigrate that's not going to have something to be worried/complain about. Bottom line is that, although the US has had some more annoying/frustrating practices, it's nothing like some other places (like CCTV, license plate cams & photo radar the UK) and is generally a whole lot better that most.

    Besides, part of the reason we are discussing this is that the Internet has made everyone a whole lot more aware of the amount of spying & extra-legal activities the government is engaged in. 30 years ago, there were similar abuses, but they almost never were widely known (cf J Edgar Hoover).

  • On the post: The Stupidity Of The 'Just Go Without' Argument

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2012 @ 09:50am

    I've actively tried to give money

    I've tried to pay for some of the content I download and was turned down because 'Not a European credit card'.

    I'm fine with paying for content if someone would actually accept the payment...

    But geographic segmentation, which worked OK when all media was delivered physically (DVD or wire), now just blocks cross-geography revenue for everyone, including those that believe they benefit from it...

  • On the post: Should Software Created By The Federal Gov't Be Open Source Licensed… Or Public Domain?

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2012 @ 01:24pm

    Most US gov't software doesn't fall under public domain clause...

    .. that's because contracts are not written as 'work for hire', so the developer typically retains all the rights.

    This isn't as stupid as it sounds since it makes the developer fully responsible for the software (in the same way off-the-shelf software is) and it allows for intra-agency re-use. Intra-agency re-use is really, really hard otherwise as Congress bans cross-agency resource usage in any way. Basically, sharing resources between agencies requires explicit Congressional approval (aka, a law). Never mind laws that prevent the US gov't from doing anything competitive with the private sector...

    Open source *might* be a solution, but the management of an open source project is even more a headache (see above re: resources), so that's not optimal...

    The only other 'easy' solution is to contractually require the developer to license their work under an OS license. Of couse, the developer would still retain copyright, so it would make zero difference in practice and if you wanted a community it would wind up costing more money...

    How do I know this? I advised four cabinet level US gov't agencies on open source strategies. Usage is easy, but creating/managing it is very, very hard. Politically, it's far easier to just keep it proprietary. Besides, the gov't often extracts other benefits by using Cooperative Research & Development Agreements (CREDA) to get free stuff in exchange for it's IP....

  • On the post: Who's Running A Big Counterfeit Ring For Hermes Bags? Apparently Hermes Employees

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2012 @ 10:00am

    Hermes manufacturing...

    ... all their bags are handmade in Paris. It's doubtful that you could make ones that 'went out the back door', particular since it takes days to make one.

    That said, nothing is stopping employees from making the same bags at home....

    http://searchingforstyle.com/archives/10965/
    http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/06-04-12-exclusive-photos-inside-the-hermes-factory-where-birkin-made/

  • On the post: A Floating Island Of Nerds… Or Just Evidence Of A Broken Immigration System?

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 10:06am

    Re:

    Come to Silicon Valley, we need people like you.

    Almost all companies pay benefits, give you good vacation and high salaries.

    As far as job security goes, good workers are always in demand here as long as you keep your skills up to date. It's such a job seeker's market that most events have a huge number of recruiters looking for talent.

    And if you can stomach contracting, you can make roughly 2-3x what you would in salary. Some of my friends do this part of the year and take 3-4 months a year off to travel.

  • On the post: A Floating Island Of Nerds… Or Just Evidence Of A Broken Immigration System?

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 09:59am

    Re: Re: Re: There's another agenda lurking behind this one....

    Hmmm,

    I work in SV, I've recruited people, I've worked alongside a lot of H1B workers. I've also lived in 7 other countries and started a business in a foreign country. On top of that, I'm married to a gov't official whose's job it is to approve business visas....

    This is what I know about H1Bs here in SV:

    1. All of the H1B tech workers I have ever worked with were paid in line with market rates, sometimes slightly better

    2. Tech salaries here in SV are 3x comparable salaries in other Western countries - even with the cost of living, you make WAY more here.

    3. Any H1B visa holder that's good will be recruited away, there are dozens of specialist law firms that will help with the H1B employer transfer

    4. I know several CEOs that recruit exclusively overseas due to the lack of local talent. It's not a cost issue, there simply is no one available to fill the positions.

    And, that's just the tip of the iceberg. There is a huge shortage of tech people and it's getting worse. Everyone knows it, and the gov't is doing zero to help.

  • On the post: A Floating Island Of Nerds… Or Just Evidence Of A Broken Immigration System?

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 09:46am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Follow the Money.

    I live in Silicon Valley. There is such a HUGE shortage here that salaries for tech people have been going through the roof.

    If you are a technologist and are unemployed, then there is something wrong. I know of at least 3 companies with more than 100 positions open, and every company I talk to is desperate for talent.

    I don't know where all these unemployed technologists are, but it's certainly not here.

    Besides, Blueseed is an INCUBATOR, not a body factory....

  • On the post: A Floating Island Of Nerds… Or Just Evidence Of A Broken Immigration System?

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 09:42am

    The description is WRONG - it's not to 'help SV startups"

    it's an incubator for people with overseas startups who would like to come to the US and can't get visas because the are not 'sponsored'.

    The idea is that, by being close to SV, they will eventually get funding and can then get the right visas....

    It is NOT a talent pool for existing SV startups. In fact, Blueseeds model relies on companies onboard having an exit at some point.

    See http://www.slideshare.net/Blueseed/blueseed-visafree-startup-incubator-on-a-ship-12-miles-from-silicon-valley

  • On the post: Trojan Author Includes Integrated Chat, Challenges Security Researchers Digging Through His Code

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2012 @ 08:23am

    Who "researches" malware w/an internet connected machine?

    Amateurs.

  • On the post: Fair Use/Fair Dealing Doesn't Require Payment Or Permission

    Chris Maresca ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2012 @ 01:17pm

    Re: Fair isn't the right word

    Or you could just point them to the actual law

    http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

    "Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."

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