CommonSense 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Don Henley Hatred Of YouTube Clouding His Vision On PROTECT IP

    CommonSense ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2011 @ 07:56am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Who???

    I have to apologize, I had assumed you meant limiting wealth for everyone... Limiting it for Government officials (the amount they can take in while in office) is a great idea now that I am thinking about it properly. More important than limiting it though, would be FULL and COMPLETE disclosure of elected officials finances, to the point where they can't drop a quarter into a bums coffee cup without reporting it to the public.

    To the other responders, I had said could, and never meant to imply that it always would.

  • On the post: Debate On Software Patents Fails To Convince Silicon Valley That Patents Increase Innovation

    CommonSense ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2011 @ 07:27am

    A better representation

    Would have been if you could have excluded patent lawyers from the vote altogether. Their livelihood depends on them, so of course they are going to vote in favor of patents in any and every way they can, regardless of the question. They are so biased it's not even funny, not to mention the fact that they think, because they went through law school and passed a test, that they are smarter than everyone else on the planet...

  • On the post: Don Henley Hatred Of YouTube Clouding His Vision On PROTECT IP

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 02:25pm

    Re: Re: Who???

    Limiting wealth could limit motivation, to do anything. I would stay away from that personally.

  • On the post: Author Says eBooks Will Hurt Authors Because Of Royalty Rates

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 02:21pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: math

    It would, it does, that is a great suggestion and there is a book or two that I have read that way. There isn't a Kindle App for Linux though, which is what I run at home...

    And, for the sake of full disclosure, when using my notebook it's easy for me to get distracted by the lure of the internet. Yes, that's a personal problem, but may be valuable for someone to consider... I can listen to an audiobook while surfing the web, washing dishes, or even vacuuming and dusting...

  • On the post: Changing How We Handle Advertising And Sponsorships

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 02:14pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    A day later, and one of your ads took over my browser completely today. It was one of the videos that takes over when you hover over it for a few seconds. I didn't pay attention to my cursor for 3 seconds, and then I suddenly had to wait for this javascript window to open up, load a video, and then present me with the 'close' button. It's only strike one, but 2 more and I'm turning my addon's back on.

  • On the post: Don Henley Hatred Of YouTube Clouding His Vision On PROTECT IP

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 01:31pm

    Who???

    Who is this relic, Don Henley??? Why should we care what he has to say? He'll probably be dead or in a nursing home before any new laws make any sorts of changes one way or another.

    Though I suppose, since all the politicians are as old or older, they might listen to him because he makes them remember their youth.... just another reason we need term limits.

  • On the post: Let's Up The Ante: We'll Pay John Sununu & Harold Ford Jr. $1,000 To Pay Netflix's Broadband Bill

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 01:22pm

    Re: I really don't get this proposal

    They're not asking Sununu to pay the additional costs he's trying to make Netflix pay, they're asking him to pay the current costs of Netflix's internet connection, which he claims is nothing (they're getting a 'free ride'). They are basically taunting Sununu, letting him know we all know he's lying through his teeth, and putting him in a lose-lose situation (lose-lose for him, but a win for everyone else). He loses if he admits he was lying, and he loses if he takes the bet, because he'll end up paying a lot more than $500 in just the last quarter of the year.

  • On the post: Newspaper Claims Satirical Blogger Mentioning Its Name Is Trademark Infringement

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 01:09pm

    Re: O'rly

    Concluded:

    "With a special thanks to the lawyers of a particular area newspaper that would not like me to use their name, for giving me the inspiration to write this post."

  • On the post: Fox Responds To 'Piracy Surge' By Answering A Different Question

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 12:48pm

    Re: Says " the 90+ million households who pay to watch".

    I am honestly growing tired of your intentional misrepresentations of everything.

    I don't subscribe to Fox, and I don't pirate Fox shows (mostly because they're not worth the hard drive space and hassle to get to my TV from my PC). I do, however, pay for Hulu+ (who then pays Fox for their programming) and I do watch the ads. When Mike refers to people who don't subscribe to cable, he's not talking only about the people who don't pay, he's still including those that pay in other ways, which you conveniently ignore because then your contradictory point wouldn't work (if it even does anyway, which I doubt and won't waste my time thinking about).

    Fox doesn't care about those who don't subscribe, including me, that is true. Why should they though?? Because I am NOT a pirate, I DO pay and therefore I'm NOT just getting the content for free, and because if Fox continues to strip value away from my means of watching the show, I will stop paying, and stop watching. Then Fox doesn't only lose income, but they lose someone who could have been involved in the free-for-Fox marketing campaign that is word of mouth.

    Lastly, that quote you have in your comment stands, you never even hinted at a valid counter-argument, though I suspect you think you did. Stripping benefits away from me and my viewing options did not change anything for cable subscribers. If you think they are currently getting maximum benefit, then they were still getting maximum benefit before, and the change had absolutely NOTHING to do with benefit for anyone except Fox. That, I believe, is Mike's point, and it stands.

  • On the post: Author Says eBooks Will Hurt Authors Because Of Royalty Rates

    CommonSense ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 09:13am

    Re: Re: math

    I've just gotten back into reading more myself, now that I've cut the cable cord, and I can offer some validation to that thought.

    I've purchased about 12 new books in the past 2 months, and unfortunately about half of them didn't offer an eBook option. I like having the physical copies to an extent, but I would much rather have them all in a digital format, all one one device, so I could have them all at my disposal when I wanted them. Ebooks aren't in ideal shape at this point either, since I'm not about to spend $150 on a device just to read books (still haven't spent $150 on BOOKS themselves yet...) and the apps for my phone are, well, on my tiny little phone (though I do use that).

    Audio books are the golden goose if you ask me. It's like reading a book without having to read it, can download instantly like an ebook, and can fit on a device (for which the phone is much better suited).

  • On the post: WSJ Latest To Note Ridiculous State Of The Patent System

    CommonSense ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 07:23pm

    Re: Re:

    I've never pictured patent paperwork to be happy, more in a neutral mood. Pretty and shiny sure, but always a little happy to help people get rich, and a little sad about screwing over innovation, so they'd balance out. Maybe it's getting a little play time with all the cash though...that'd make it happy...

  • On the post: Verizon Moneymaking Plans: Low Bandwidth Caps + New High Bandwidth Services = Profits?

    CommonSense ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 02:25pm

    Re: Verizon

    YET.

  • On the post: Changing How We Handle Advertising And Sponsorships

    CommonSense ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 02:15pm

    Re: Re:

    Dang Mike, you are a truly reasonable guy, and I, for one, am happy to support any such trials you would like to go through to find the most reasonable middle ground for host and visitor alike. I'll be disabling my ad-blocker for at least one week on all my computers for your site. If you're doing as good as I have come to expect from you, I'll likely never think to turn them back on...

    Thank you for "getting it".

  • On the post: Will John Sununu And Harold Ford Jr. Agree To Pay Netflix's Broadband Bill Next Month?

    CommonSense ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 02:03pm

    Re: I would not be buying FIOS if it was not for Netflix

    I second that!!!

    Though, in my case it's Comcast that should pay Netflix and Hulu, because I would have cut them out completely instead of holding on to their Internet offering....

  • On the post: Side Show In Oracle, Google Patent Fight: Are API's Covered By Copyright?

    CommonSense ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 05:12am

    An excuse...

    "API design is an art, not a science."

    That's just an excuse that geeks use when they can't figure something out right on the first time. What they should really say, is that there's more than one way, and there are varying degrees of correctness, but that would make them sound less smart or less valuable.

  • On the post: Is Copyright a Moral Imperative?

    CommonSense ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2011 @ 09:43am

    Re:

    It would make the over-promoted artists feel bad, or the under-performing ones?

    Haha, trick question...

  • On the post: Yet Another 'Rogue Site' List Proposed, This Time With YouTube Right On Top

    CommonSense ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2011 @ 12:27pm

    Charlie???

    Is this the same Charlie that bit that kid's finger?? The one where it really hurt???

  • On the post: Motorola Deal Showing Massive Loss To Innovation Caused By Patents

    CommonSense ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2011 @ 05:13am

    Re:

    You can't be serious...

    Google IS building smartphones to compete with apple, smartphones by a number of different companies so there's something for everyone...just like the way Microsoft beat out Apple in the PC market. They are already building set-top boxes, or at least putting their software on them, and some Blu-ray players even, without owning Motorola, and since they have already been doing all of that, why the hell would they need a chip foundry?? Please, tell me why a software company would really want a chip foundry??? Even apple outsources the hardware stuff to a third party.

    Mike's post points out that some people say the value of the patents was over half the deal, and the purchase price was 63% higher than their stock price would have dictated, so logically that puts the value of the patents at 63-ish% more valuable than the rest of the company, products and chip fabrication included.

    Care to rethink who here doesn't get it?? Or you want me to make it easy, and just let you know that it's those who don't think this was about the patents?

  • On the post: Restaurant Refuses To Serve TSA Agents

    CommonSense ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2011 @ 10:42am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: No way to affect the top

    The agents don't need to quit, they could strike, stage a walk-out, any number of things that show their discontent and don't involve quitting. Sure, they may sacrifice their paycheck temporarily, but maybe they should look for other jobs instead of just quitting and sitting around waiting for that benefactor you mention who will never come. The fact that you can't see the clear connection between this situation and the Nazi analogy, well, completely negates any credibility YOU may have had.

  • On the post: Panera's 'Pay What You Want' Restaurants Are Working

    CommonSense ( profile ), 17 Aug, 2011 @ 10:33am

    Re: Pity it's Panera being so successful with this

    You've obviously never tried the bacon turkey bravo sandwich.... The bread alone on that sandwich is delicious...

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