I realize that most of the time we look at these data retention policies in terms of what law enforcement gains access to, but there is much more the the issue than that. In addition to having to worry about the government tracking its citizens by requesting whatever data is being stored there is always the issue of hackers getting a hold of the same information.
We've already seen that many internet based services have issues protecting whatever data they are storing and I would not be surprised to hear ISPs and mobile service providers have similar problems. If these servers are forced to store more data it makes them a better target for data mining operations to be used for all kinds of scams, id theft, etc.
If the government forces service providers to store data so that they can track you down then the information is being stored such that anyone can track you down.
There is definitely better tasting digital music than mp3. Most people just can't tell the difference, but those that can are often willing to spend more.
The general public is fine with the audio quality presented to them, but those that can tell the difference often value lossless recordings over the lossy recordings of MP3 and AAC encoded files (the most widely distributed formats).
Without all these copyright issues many of us would not have to learn a whole slew of legal issues, the nuances of fair use as it's definition erodes to be nearly meaningless, what popular torrent sites to get unauthorized material from, and so on.
I'd say that copyright is doing a great job at spreading knowledge.
Why are you complaining about the lack of Actionscript support. Objective C supports importing code from C, C++, Python, Ruby, Java and probably a fair number of other languages.
Objective C is the language Apple has chosen to allow for the core of the program but you can easily wrap code from other languages into it.
Oh man! I can't instantly port everything by running an automated tool and have to program to make my program work. If it was that easy everyone would be a program. Just think real hard, click a button and it's done.
The customer who bought iPhone can do whatever they want with them. It's called jailbreaking. Of course doing that causes you to have to delay system updates on the phone till then next version is broken and you expose the phone to all sorts of security and stability vulnerabilities.
If Adobe really wants flash on the iPhone they ought to enable tools for the developers in the jailbroken iPhone community to do so. If they want to have flash in the standard iPhone ecosystem then by all means keep complaining.
The cult of mac is a red herring. People have been able to break all these rules since the earliest days of the iPhone and Adobe has not sought to take advantage of this. It isn't like it takes much technical knowledge to do this anymore. Just download and run an app while the phone is plugged in. Reading skills may be required.
While buying a book from a publisher at a discount rate is laughable for an individual, I believe the larger book stores such as B&N probably get some sort of discount for buying copies of a book in bulk.
If so then you could say the book stores do only pay for the essence of the book once and receive a discount for the rest.
Sp according to the IFPI the money fans spend on music, tickets and merchandise in no way counts as investing in artists? What about the time fans spend promoting the artists and introducing new people who will then go out and spend money? They don't count either?
And at that point I'd think RIAA/MPAA activities should be restricted by RICO laws for all the legal extortion and bad DMCA takedowns that ignore fair use.
Skype is a proprietary VoIP network, and just like all the telcos they wants to make a buck. Instead of complaining people need to look into maybe building some kind of P2P VoIP network.
What are the bright minds in the open source community doing to help bring this about? Are their projects like this already that we just haven't heard of.
Not everyone wants to or needs to embrace this openness allowed by the removal of these restrictions, but I'm sure we can find some intelligent people who can work something out.
The internet is a communications platform. You can't be addicted to communicating can you? This is on par with being addicted to talking.
I can't shut up and I don't understand why. When I don't talk for long periods of time I start to get antsy and just feel the need to start talking about anything. I need help.
I believe the way laws work in the USA is that you are legally allowed to do anything unless there is a law saying otherwise. That is the 9th and 10th amendment of the constitution.
Well if it makes you feel better I think that the comment boards are far more interesting with your dissenting opinions even if some of your comments are trollish.
It helps to keep this place from becoming an echo chamber and certainly makes some of these threads much more entertaining to read.
It does not matter if piracy is morally wrong or illegal. The napster generation was given incredibly poor service when it came to music and so they pirated what they wanted. By the time services like the iTunes store and Hulu and the like came around the mentality was already set. "Check the legal sources. If you can't find what you want easily check the illegal sources. If you still can't find it then too bad!"
Technologically speaking the pirates will always be ahead of those seeking to combat them. Laws and policies enacted to prevent piracy will be actively ignored and technology will be created to make it harder and harder to track down.
Piracy has become very easy and so long as it is easier to pirate than to find a legitimate source for the content, piracy will spread.
I don't think Apple will have any sort of problem with this at all. In fact I bet Steve Jobs is doing a little dance from hearing about this, going "I told you so"
When the iPhone was first released Apple insisted that people would create web based applications for the phone, which is exactly what Google has done. It was only after a year of people complaining that Apple made the concession to allow 3rd party apps on the device at all. Then they go and complain about the approval processes while forgetting that if they really want their application made they could just make a web based version.
"But then how would I get someone to pay 99 cents for my iFart application if it's just a website"
Yes and the obvious conclusion is that you are on shared bandwidth with other people in your area and the amount of internet activity dramatically increases when school is out and other people are getting home from work.
This isn't caused by bandwidth hogs. It's because you don't have dedicated bandwidth and have to share with more people for that time period.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Josh.
Fun times with basic logic
If you expand the audience for the media AND the market for the media is your audience THEN you have expanded your market.
If businesses can't figure out how to take advantage of this then they are doing it wrong. Simple as that.
This affects more than enforcement
I realize that most of the time we look at these data retention policies in terms of what law enforcement gains access to, but there is much more the the issue than that. In addition to having to worry about the government tracking its citizens by requesting whatever data is being stored there is always the issue of hackers getting a hold of the same information.
We've already seen that many internet based services have issues protecting whatever data they are storing and I would not be surprised to hear ISPs and mobile service providers have similar problems. If these servers are forced to store more data it makes them a better target for data mining operations to be used for all kinds of scams, id theft, etc.
If the government forces service providers to store data so that they can track you down then the information is being stored such that anyone can track you down.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
There is definitely better tasting digital music than mp3. Most people just can't tell the difference, but those that can are often willing to spend more.
The general public is fine with the audio quality presented to them, but those that can tell the difference often value lossless recordings over the lossy recordings of MP3 and AAC encoded files (the most widely distributed formats).
Copyright promotes knowledge
Without all these copyright issues many of us would not have to learn a whole slew of legal issues, the nuances of fair use as it's definition erodes to be nearly meaningless, what popular torrent sites to get unauthorized material from, and so on.
I'd say that copyright is doing a great job at spreading knowledge.
What? That isn't what you meant?
Re: Re: Re: Re: No different than other "platforms"
Why are you complaining about the lack of Actionscript support. Objective C supports importing code from C, C++, Python, Ruby, Java and probably a fair number of other languages.
Objective C is the language Apple has chosen to allow for the core of the program but you can easily wrap code from other languages into it.
Oh man! I can't instantly port everything by running an automated tool and have to program to make my program work. If it was that easy everyone would be a program. Just think real hard, click a button and it's done.
Re: Re: No different than other "platforms"
The customer who bought iPhone can do whatever they want with them. It's called jailbreaking. Of course doing that causes you to have to delay system updates on the phone till then next version is broken and you expose the phone to all sorts of security and stability vulnerabilities.
If Adobe really wants flash on the iPhone they ought to enable tools for the developers in the jailbroken iPhone community to do so. If they want to have flash in the standard iPhone ecosystem then by all means keep complaining.
The cult of mac is a red herring. People have been able to break all these rules since the earliest days of the iPhone and Adobe has not sought to take advantage of this. It isn't like it takes much technical knowledge to do this anymore. Just download and run an app while the phone is plugged in. Reading skills may be required.
Bulk Rates
While buying a book from a publisher at a discount rate is laughable for an individual, I believe the larger book stores such as B&N probably get some sort of discount for buying copies of a book in bulk.
If so then you could say the book stores do only pay for the essence of the book once and receive a discount for the rest.
Fans
Sp according to the IFPI the money fans spend on music, tickets and merchandise in no way counts as investing in artists? What about the time fans spend promoting the artists and introducing new people who will then go out and spend money? They don't count either?
What a load of crap.
Re:
And at that point I'd think RIAA/MPAA activities should be restricted by RICO laws for all the legal extortion and bad DMCA takedowns that ignore fair use.
Who cares about Skype?
Skype is a proprietary VoIP network, and just like all the telcos they wants to make a buck. Instead of complaining people need to look into maybe building some kind of P2P VoIP network.
What are the bright minds in the open source community doing to help bring this about? Are their projects like this already that we just haven't heard of.
Not everyone wants to or needs to embrace this openness allowed by the removal of these restrictions, but I'm sure we can find some intelligent people who can work something out.
Communication addict
The internet is a communications platform. You can't be addicted to communicating can you? This is on par with being addicted to talking.
I can't shut up and I don't understand why. When I don't talk for long periods of time I start to get antsy and just feel the need to start talking about anything. I need help.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I believe the way laws work in the USA is that you are legally allowed to do anything unless there is a law saying otherwise. That is the 9th and 10th amendment of the constitution.
Did you forget the basics of the system?
Re: Re:
Well if it makes you feel better I think that the comment boards are far more interesting with your dissenting opinions even if some of your comments are trollish.
It helps to keep this place from becoming an echo chamber and certainly makes some of these threads much more entertaining to read.
Piracy 101
It does not matter if piracy is morally wrong or illegal. The napster generation was given incredibly poor service when it came to music and so they pirated what they wanted. By the time services like the iTunes store and Hulu and the like came around the mentality was already set. "Check the legal sources. If you can't find what you want easily check the illegal sources. If you still can't find it then too bad!"
Technologically speaking the pirates will always be ahead of those seeking to combat them. Laws and policies enacted to prevent piracy will be actively ignored and technology will be created to make it harder and harder to track down.
Piracy has become very easy and so long as it is easier to pirate than to find a legitimate source for the content, piracy will spread.Re:
I don't think Apple will have any sort of problem with this at all. In fact I bet Steve Jobs is doing a little dance from hearing about this, going "I told you so"
When the iPhone was first released Apple insisted that people would create web based applications for the phone, which is exactly what Google has done. It was only after a year of people complaining that Apple made the concession to allow 3rd party apps on the device at all. Then they go and complain about the approval processes while forgetting that if they really want their application made they could just make a web based version.
"But then how would I get someone to pay 99 cents for my iFart application if it's just a website"
Re:
Yes and the obvious conclusion is that you are on shared bandwidth with other people in your area and the amount of internet activity dramatically increases when school is out and other people are getting home from work.
This isn't caused by bandwidth hogs. It's because you don't have dedicated bandwidth and have to share with more people for that time period.