Free speech does not include defamatory or vulgar speech, which is what was posted publicly. It was covered in the school handbook that the students could not impersonate school officials, and that was the legal grounds for the suspension.
The parents had an opportunity to appeal to the school board, but went straight to a lawsuit.
Sorry folks, not a violation of free speech, or any of the students rights, and I'd like to applaud the principal who could have sued, but instead took appropriate action to establish this was a violation of school policy.
This should set an example to the other children to NOT IMPERSONATE OR DEFAME SCHOOL OFFICIALS.
While I don't see anything revolutionary here, it is innovative, and more of the first thought, rather than Myspace's "afterthought" for bands.
This is a fine example of the web giving an opportunity for exposure to start up bands, as well as a review source (think Demo) for working bands.
Again, I think entirely too much has been made of the Recording Star business model... that is not something that most musicians can aspire to. Working bands on the other hand can use this in a business model that puts them forward and exposes them to increasingly larger crowds, as any good "Advertising tool" should do.
Lets drop the whole "Superstar" angle to music as a business model please. It was never designed to benefit Consumers nor artists, it was designed and tweaked over the years to support the industry.
This is also where the Idea (music) separates itself from a tangible good (property). It can be re consumed again and again for the cost of the energy to play it... like Jefferson's Candle lighting another. Music and other Ideas were never intended to be chained to profit only the conceiver of the work.
As soon as we are able to interpret the medium the idea is stored in (language, dat tape, .mp3) the idea should be freely shared, and the concept only returning dividend when the idea is exercised (i.e. used for profit). Ideas should not be constrained to pay for play.
Some of the problems being discussed here are about dumbed down game mechanics designed to be just that, non-complex for relaxed gaming.
To be certain there is always a group of power gamers on any given game working out formula and strategies, and those are the innovators that pave the way for many others to follow.
I think where we will have to go to shake the majority of the negative stereo types about gaming is to develop more complex virtual worlds that are not reduced to the lowest common denominator, and you will find that more often in the Emulator community than in the "Big Corporate" games.
It would be sexist to remove the phrase from political lingo because someone in the race is wearing lipstick. It is reverse sexism to fabricate offense at anything that might be misconstrued as anti-feminist.
It also says something about the Ms. Swift who has taken such vocal offense, that she feels like Mrs. Palin can't take a jibe or 10 and be able to lead the nation. Its hypocritical for McCain to endorse the ads after he said it about Clinton's plans, and she didn't cry foul.
Its also beyond fair use when you take something out of context... you are assigning a meaning to the material that was never intended.
Imagine if you would, the McCain-Palin Camp using a 4 second clip of AC/DC's Back in Black behind a smiling Obama. Would that not add up to an unfair use of the "legal" properties?
Prison reform is a completely different issue, as is pot legalization. Sometimes you folks go off in thread jacking rants that are hard to take seriously.
And the profanity is getting disturbing as well. I was always pleased to read the different viewpoints as long as they were striving to present an argument, but now they are turning into foul mouthed attempts to Uni-Brow the argument to cave man status (no offense intended to the actual cave men).
Prisons have budgets, and the converter boxes should be bought from that budget. Where did the T.V. come from?
Here's a novel concept (note the dripping sarcasm) why not have a sponsor buy a new Tv that will accept the new signals and hang an Ad off of it?
FBI was sent so they could seize his property and to make a loud, clear message from the RIAA... "We own the government thru lobbies."
GnR has had 12 years to decide how to release this material and seize its "premier" value. Its been on fileshare for 3 years, and now this fellow is made a scapegoat for streaming it.
Much like the Patent Hoarder's often talked about on this site, the best way for Axl to capitalize on this low quality product is to sue and claim its crap because it wasn't ready.
Another fine example of an artist with poor ability subsidized by an outdated industry, and crying foul because new technology has exposed their inability to innovate.
People, no one is saying EVERYTHING MUST BE FREE... we're just saying you can no longer charge me for printing a disc, wrapping it in plastic and shipping it halfway around the world. That is waste in the name of the way it used to be done.
Fine, sell me the software at a reasonable price, but don't try to charge me for shipping and handling when its not required for anything other than your antiquated business model.
Free doesn't mean money doesn't change hands... it just doesn't come from where it used to anymore. sell the Game to PC makers to release with their new Pc's, license graphics from the game in a new cell phone commercial, host player conventions where you "rent" machines to play on...
But stop suing the public you designed the game for... just because they have found a better distribution model than you have.
I think its time we stopped using the word pirate to describe the partisans in the field of todays market.
I've played WoW and its a grind. I've used third party programs made for use with wow, some legit, others didn't have the stamp of Blizzard's approval... but I used my own judgment as to what fit the spirit of the game. I played the game with the assistance of third party programs.
The same Arguments are readily available on the free Ultima Online shard I play which is really ludicrous. Theoretically we are all pirates playing an emulated server, but many players feel using a third party program is "cheating".
I have countered many times that the third party programs only automate tasks allowed by the server, and therefore should be allowed. I do not support tools that give you an advantage that other players do not have outside your own skills as a human being.
I've learned a great deal of programming and logical programming function using the tool, as well as have grown to be a helpful and knowledgeable member of the gaming community where I play.
So for Blizzard, or anyone else to tell me I do not have the right to operate my hardware or software in a manner consistent with allowed actions of other members of the community (i.e. click here, manipulate there) while logged into a service I paid for (i.e. attended or unattended) is wrong.
As the operators of their server system they have the tools to do anything they need to do in the game. They have no need or right to seek injunctions outside the game for actions taking place inside the game.
I probably am the type of person MLS is referring to, but I object to the implication I have no moral compass. I have a set of morals given to me by God, as all of us do. I know the difference between property and intellectual property, and there is where your confusion lies.
It is morally wrong to steal or devalue another's property, but it is NOT morally wrong to use an infinite resource such as an Idea. I do make a point not to PROFIT from the use of other people's idea's without proper credit or compensation. This satisfies my MORAL obligation.
Morality cannot be legislated, nor will any definition of morality hold true from one man to another, nor one generation to the next.
Not stupid... conditioned. They have been trained from birth by TV shows & the recording industry and Radio that success = recording contract.
Brittney is a fine example of what the recording industry has created... a child star who feels entitled to stardom, not a creative artist responding to fans and/or creative impulses.
Music must diverge from Stardom, that is where everyone thinks they must sign... so they can be a star!!
There have always been bands that fail, so your band barely squeaking by is nothing new. As for record sales... they haven't meant much for musicians for 20 years... other than more exposure to draw bigger crowds to live shows.
Its the biggest bunch of crap for musicians to feel like they are entitled to a free ride because they recorded a semi decent song. As a musician myself I spit on those who feel like they need their stardom recognized now.
further you were getting screwed somewhere down the pay scheme if someone told you your only getting paid $500 for a live show. I've played empty bars and got $400 regularly, and touring the eastern seaboard of the US recently netted us $1500 a night gross. Sure we had bills to pay outta that, but everyone does. If you can't make ends meet @ $200 per musician for a 4 hour gig... then you need to flip burgers.
Not come here and whine that your not getting rock star treatment.
Bahh, old misinformation from someone who has never released a cd.
They don't cost near what they charge anymore... so the "loss" isn't as great as they make out. Distribution costs drop daily, even for physical goods with improved and innovative means of shipping.
And as far as who foots the bill of the tour, the tours are what makes the money today. The music IS a promotional tool to get people to the show. the concept of the "Recording Star" is fading as fast as it was created... and soon we will be back to paying musicians for their performance, just like God intended!!
Lets review something Mike said in the article itself which I find very revealing:
"He's made something of a second career out of making totally ridiculous and outlandish statements and watching the reaction as people go nuts."
Ahh, so... if he learned anything from watching those reactions, and the reactions of the public when the Moguls took to the lawsuits, perhaps he is actually seeing something and gunning for a gut reaction to his outlandish comments.
He's known for years the money isn't in the actual music, but rather in the product recognition, and I'm willing to bet that this "tirade" is nothing more than a shrewd attempt to trick the "freshly scrubbed faces" to download his new album to spite him... which goes to prove that negative press is also press.
Or, he could be an idiot... which I find much harder to believe.
Digital format stretches the ancient concept of theft. Do I steal the fire off your cigarette when I use it to light mine? Digital copies are often as good as the original, and without proper protection will be copied.
The guy with the website had options... like banning the user. Sure he lost a "customer" and theoretically the content that was distributed was no longer under his control. But banning the user would complicate the further "theft" and deterred other customers from similar unethical action. Also the owner of the site needs to look into better methods of accessing his material. Maybe only allowing the download of lower quality samples, while providing access to the highest quality as a view only.
Again, this is a new frontier, this digital domain... any venture for cash is at risk of unknown pitfalls. But with the ever expanding base of users the internet has, and the ever increasing ability of the users and their computers... I'd say limiting the open end of the equation is like bailing the Titanic by hand.
You keep trying that, I'll look for other options. Mike is looking for those options and I appreciate his insight.
Free speech does not include defamatory or vulgar speech, which is what was posted publicly. It was covered in the school handbook that the students could not impersonate school officials, and that was the legal grounds for the suspension.
The parents had an opportunity to appeal to the school board, but went straight to a lawsuit.
Sorry folks, not a violation of free speech, or any of the students rights, and I'd like to applaud the principal who could have sued, but instead took appropriate action to establish this was a violation of school policy.
This should set an example to the other children to NOT IMPERSONATE OR DEFAME SCHOOL OFFICIALS.
While I don't see anything revolutionary here, it is innovative, and more of the first thought, rather than Myspace's "afterthought" for bands.
This is a fine example of the web giving an opportunity for exposure to start up bands, as well as a review source (think Demo) for working bands.
Again, I think entirely too much has been made of the Recording Star business model... that is not something that most musicians can aspire to. Working bands on the other hand can use this in a business model that puts them forward and exposes them to increasingly larger crowds, as any good "Advertising tool" should do.
Lets drop the whole "Superstar" angle to music as a business model please. It was never designed to benefit Consumers nor artists, it was designed and tweaked over the years to support the industry.
This is also where the Idea (music) separates itself from a tangible good (property). It can be re consumed again and again for the cost of the energy to play it... like Jefferson's Candle lighting another. Music and other Ideas were never intended to be chained to profit only the conceiver of the work.
As soon as we are able to interpret the medium the idea is stored in (language, dat tape, .mp3) the idea should be freely shared, and the concept only returning dividend when the idea is exercised (i.e. used for profit). Ideas should not be constrained to pay for play.
Some of the problems being discussed here are about dumbed down game mechanics designed to be just that, non-complex for relaxed gaming.
To be certain there is always a group of power gamers on any given game working out formula and strategies, and those are the innovators that pave the way for many others to follow.
I think where we will have to go to shake the majority of the negative stereo types about gaming is to develop more complex virtual worlds that are not reduced to the lowest common denominator, and you will find that more often in the Emulator community than in the "Big Corporate" games.
It would be sexist to remove the phrase from political lingo because someone in the race is wearing lipstick. It is reverse sexism to fabricate offense at anything that might be misconstrued as anti-feminist.
It also says something about the Ms. Swift who has taken such vocal offense, that she feels like Mrs. Palin can't take a jibe or 10 and be able to lead the nation. Its hypocritical for McCain to endorse the ads after he said it about Clinton's plans, and she didn't cry foul.
Its also beyond fair use when you take something out of context... you are assigning a meaning to the material that was never intended.
Imagine if you would, the McCain-Palin Camp using a 4 second clip of AC/DC's Back in Black behind a smiling Obama. Would that not add up to an unfair use of the "legal" properties?
Prison reform is a completely different issue, as is pot legalization. Sometimes you folks go off in thread jacking rants that are hard to take seriously.
And the profanity is getting disturbing as well. I was always pleased to read the different viewpoints as long as they were striving to present an argument, but now they are turning into foul mouthed attempts to Uni-Brow the argument to cave man status (no offense intended to the actual cave men).
Prisons have budgets, and the converter boxes should be bought from that budget. Where did the T.V. come from?
Here's a novel concept (note the dripping sarcasm) why not have a sponsor buy a new Tv that will accept the new signals and hang an Ad off of it?
Isn't that the American way?
Please stop letting people post anonymously... Those are by far the stupidest replies I have read here.
I enjoy the site, the authors, their insight, and the readers comments, when they are not hiding behind a tag of anonymity.
That just gives them some right to be rude.
How dare you accuse them of thinking... they have a team of lawyers to do that for them...
Since we are a society of Laws, then lawsuits, not common sense shall rule the end of the day.
Why aren't legislators who sponsor these bills held accountable when they are found to violate civil liberties?
FBI was sent so they could seize his property and to make a loud, clear message from the RIAA... "We own the government thru lobbies."
GnR has had 12 years to decide how to release this material and seize its "premier" value. Its been on fileshare for 3 years, and now this fellow is made a scapegoat for streaming it.
Much like the Patent Hoarder's often talked about on this site, the best way for Axl to capitalize on this low quality product is to sue and claim its crap because it wasn't ready.
Another fine example of an artist with poor ability subsidized by an outdated industry, and crying foul because new technology has exposed their inability to innovate.
People, no one is saying EVERYTHING MUST BE FREE... we're just saying you can no longer charge me for printing a disc, wrapping it in plastic and shipping it halfway around the world. That is waste in the name of the way it used to be done.
Fine, sell me the software at a reasonable price, but don't try to charge me for shipping and handling when its not required for anything other than your antiquated business model.
Free doesn't mean money doesn't change hands... it just doesn't come from where it used to anymore. sell the Game to PC makers to release with their new Pc's, license graphics from the game in a new cell phone commercial, host player conventions where you "rent" machines to play on...
But stop suing the public you designed the game for... just because they have found a better distribution model than you have.
I think its time we stopped using the word pirate to describe the partisans in the field of todays market.
Bots
I've played WoW and its a grind. I've used third party programs made for use with wow, some legit, others didn't have the stamp of Blizzard's approval... but I used my own judgment as to what fit the spirit of the game. I played the game with the assistance of third party programs.
The same Arguments are readily available on the free Ultima Online shard I play which is really ludicrous. Theoretically we are all pirates playing an emulated server, but many players feel using a third party program is "cheating".
I have countered many times that the third party programs only automate tasks allowed by the server, and therefore should be allowed. I do not support tools that give you an advantage that other players do not have outside your own skills as a human being.
I've learned a great deal of programming and logical programming function using the tool, as well as have grown to be a helpful and knowledgeable member of the gaming community where I play.
So for Blizzard, or anyone else to tell me I do not have the right to operate my hardware or software in a manner consistent with allowed actions of other members of the community (i.e. click here, manipulate there) while logged into a service I paid for (i.e. attended or unattended) is wrong.
As the operators of their server system they have the tools to do anything they need to do in the game. They have no need or right to seek injunctions outside the game for actions taking place inside the game.
moral compass?
I probably am the type of person MLS is referring to, but I object to the implication I have no moral compass. I have a set of morals given to me by God, as all of us do. I know the difference between property and intellectual property, and there is where your confusion lies.
It is morally wrong to steal or devalue another's property, but it is NOT morally wrong to use an infinite resource such as an Idea. I do make a point not to PROFIT from the use of other people's idea's without proper credit or compensation. This satisfies my MORAL obligation.
Morality cannot be legislated, nor will any definition of morality hold true from one man to another, nor one generation to the next.
hmmm
Or maybe if they invested some time and effort into training American students, then pay them a living wage we wouldn't need the Visa's at all.
Y'know, back when we lynched foreigners we didn't have these problems...
What? But... but... they had the market all to themselves for years, they have no Idea how to compete... Ohh my!!
They will surely perish!! Or, alternatively they could adapt. Glad to hear they choose to adapt.
Re:
Not stupid... conditioned. They have been trained from birth by TV shows & the recording industry and Radio that success = recording contract.
Brittney is a fine example of what the recording industry has created... a child star who feels entitled to stardom, not a creative artist responding to fans and/or creative impulses.
Music must diverge from Stardom, that is where everyone thinks they must sign... so they can be a star!!
Artist entitlement
There have always been bands that fail, so your band barely squeaking by is nothing new. As for record sales... they haven't meant much for musicians for 20 years... other than more exposure to draw bigger crowds to live shows.
Its the biggest bunch of crap for musicians to feel like they are entitled to a free ride because they recorded a semi decent song. As a musician myself I spit on those who feel like they need their stardom recognized now.
further you were getting screwed somewhere down the pay scheme if someone told you your only getting paid $500 for a live show. I've played empty bars and got $400 regularly, and touring the eastern seaboard of the US recently netted us $1500 a night gross. Sure we had bills to pay outta that, but everyone does. If you can't make ends meet @ $200 per musician for a 4 hour gig... then you need to flip burgers.
Not come here and whine that your not getting rock star treatment.
Bahh, old misinformation from someone who has never released a cd.
They don't cost near what they charge anymore... so the "loss" isn't as great as they make out. Distribution costs drop daily, even for physical goods with improved and innovative means of shipping.
And as far as who foots the bill of the tour, the tours are what makes the money today. The music IS a promotional tool to get people to the show. the concept of the "Recording Star" is fading as fast as it was created... and soon we will be back to paying musicians for their performance, just like God intended!!
Take one second plz...
Lets review something Mike said in the article itself which I find very revealing:
"He's made something of a second career out of making totally ridiculous and outlandish statements and watching the reaction as people go nuts."
Ahh, so... if he learned anything from watching those reactions, and the reactions of the public when the Moguls took to the lawsuits, perhaps he is actually seeing something and gunning for a gut reaction to his outlandish comments.
He's known for years the money isn't in the actual music, but rather in the product recognition, and I'm willing to bet that this "tirade" is nothing more than a shrewd attempt to trick the "freshly scrubbed faces" to download his new album to spite him... which goes to prove that negative press is also press.
Or, he could be an idiot... which I find much harder to believe.
Simulations and virtual environments have great potential for not only training, but also remote operation of vehicles in dangerous locations.
I say its only a matter of time before we're all telecommuting to a ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) in space and mining an asteroid.
Digital format stretches the ancient concept of theft. Do I steal the fire off your cigarette when I use it to light mine? Digital copies are often as good as the original, and without proper protection will be copied.
The guy with the website had options... like banning the user. Sure he lost a "customer" and theoretically the content that was distributed was no longer under his control. But banning the user would complicate the further "theft" and deterred other customers from similar unethical action. Also the owner of the site needs to look into better methods of accessing his material. Maybe only allowing the download of lower quality samples, while providing access to the highest quality as a view only.
Again, this is a new frontier, this digital domain... any venture for cash is at risk of unknown pitfalls. But with the ever expanding base of users the internet has, and the ever increasing ability of the users and their computers... I'd say limiting the open end of the equation is like bailing the Titanic by hand.
You keep trying that, I'll look for other options. Mike is looking for those options and I appreciate his insight.