grumpy 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: TV Companies Plan To Make Hulu Suck Even More Making It More Difficult To Sell Hulu

    grumpy ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2011 @ 05:35am

    Re: Please, let's not wait two years. Kill it now.

    Hollywood has some clout now. Not a lot if you think about it but some. I'm personally looking forward to the day that the customers of [*]ollywood have good enough connections to make it worthwhile for the entertainment manufacturers to start streaming. Then our Western monopolies are going to simply disappear in a puff of smoke. Don't tell me that [*]ollywood is not going to produce for our markets if there's a buck to be made...

  • On the post: Are You More Or Less Likely To Change Your Mind When The Majority Disagrees With You?

    grumpy ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2011 @ 01:14am

    So in order to change the collective minds of the MAFIAA we would have to only disagree a little with what they do. Tough proposition, that... But hey, if it saves the world I'll stick to only calling their business practices unethical. :-)

  • On the post: EA's Origin Service Wants To Exchange Games For Your Personal Data [Updated]

    grumpy ( profile ), 26 Aug, 2011 @ 08:45am

    Re: Re:

    The funny thing is, in the right jurisdiction (like here) a EULA is not binding if it is not presented to the buyer and accepted prior to the transaction. So if I buy a physical product the salesweasel must talk me through the EULA and have me sign it if it is to be valid. Guess how often this happens... I do love our bureaucrats once in a while. :-)

  • On the post: Dutch Communications Agency Cracks Down On Pirate Stations; Can Go From 'Warning' To 'Fine' In 30 Minutes

    grumpy ( profile ), 26 Aug, 2011 @ 08:38am

    Re: Re:

    I won't call this a "victimless crime". They're denying the rightful holders the use of their parts of the radio spectrum - a finite resource - so it's quite a lot like theft. If they're disrupting airline communication it could even turn into a violent crime under the wrong circumstances. So I'd say "go for it" to the authorities in this case. Just calling someone a pirate doesn't make them right, ya know... :-)

  • On the post: Australian Government Considering Three Strikes; Consumers Not Considered Stakeholders

    grumpy ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 03:07am

    DoS, anyone?

    Having a system based on accusations only is a fine old recipe for DoS'ing whoever put it in place. And how about swamping the complaint handlers with baseless accusations - wouldn't that DoS the entire system?

    To me a system like this looks like having a "Kick me!" sign on your back when groups like Anonymous go on rampages at the drop of a hat.

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

    grumpy ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 08:06am

    Re: An excuse...

    True. It's like saying "Math is hard, let's go shopping", only with data structures.

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

    grumpy ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 08:04am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    The point about an API is that it has functionality.

    No it doesn't. An API is really the statement "talk to me like this and I'll promise to respond like this" with a bit more details, nothing more. The functionality is in the code hiding behind the API and that is copyrightable. Copyrighting an API is like patenting a business model - insane. Not that that ever stopped anyone...

  • On the post: Modern Art: $5 Million Worth Of Unauthorized Downloads On A Hard Drive On Display

    grumpy ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 07:53am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Contents of the PDF file.

    And enriching the few is contrary to our "capitalistic" culture how...? Quotes as I don't consider our current corporatocracy capitalistic ("too big to fail" - that's NOT capitalism).

  • On the post: Wait, America-Hating Foreigners Will Be Influenced By How Many Twitter Followers A US Diplomat Has?

    grumpy ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2011 @ 07:43am

    Wut?

    US of A is using Twitter for determining their foreign policy clout? I, for one, welcome our new Chinese overlords...

  • On the post: Woman Kicked Out Of A Restaurant For Complaining About Bartender On Twitter

    grumpy ( profile ), 19 Aug, 2011 @ 04:16am

    Which approach seems better for business?

    I know, please sir, take me!

    The one that allows the business owner to feel superior and lets the staff continue behaving unprofessionally while alienating the paying customers.

    No? Bugger that, next you're gonna say that them {RI|MP}AA guys are wrong too I bet.

  • On the post: When Innovation Meets the Old Guard

    grumpy ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2011 @ 03:49am

    Re: Re: Oh noes!

    And the Roman empire, several Chinese empires, gubmint 'cracies (techno or bureau), large and small companies, charities, you name it... It's human nature to put ones own interests before others so vigilance and frequent overhauls are required to maintain efficiency/efficacy/effectivity in any given group. The occasional breakdown is to be expected. Our innovation system (education, invention/patents etc.) is right about where it can pull us all down. I just hope that the interregnum is not going to be 30000 years... :-)

  • On the post: When Innovation Meets the Old Guard

    grumpy ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2011 @ 03:57am

    Oh noes!

    A system subverted by its actors to serve their own interests! What has the world come to? Woe is me...

  • On the post: When Innovation Meets the Old Guard

    grumpy ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2011 @ 03:53am

    Re:

    Smart kids are social outcasts because the entire system is geared towards age groups, not scholarly or mental development groups. If teachers aren't able to handle kids sticking out from the group, regardless of reason, then they shouldn't be teachers. Really, teachers are living off of their accomplishments in the previous centuries. All the rest of us are required to improve our work methods and learn new ways, why aren't teachers?

    Yes, I have a few axes to grind with dim teachers unable to deal with a smart kid...

  • On the post: When Innovation Meets the Old Guard

    grumpy ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2011 @ 03:44am

    Re:

    > //Does integrals while he sleeps

    Go see a doctor. No matter what mathematicians tell you, this is not right. Never trust a mathematician when it comes to integrals.

  • On the post: Do You Have Property Rights Over Your DNA?

    grumpy ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2011 @ 11:49am

    Then there's...

    ...the opposite thing: people with superior genes. Imagine that I have a gene that makes me immune to lung cancer and other lung diseases - I can smoke whatever I want whenever I want to without ever having to fear any degradation of lung function. Would it be OK to let Joe Random Scientist patent this gene and market The Perfect Gene as therapy? No, I thought not. It would be a discovery, not an invention, but the patent system no longer recognizes that difference. The next best thing to do is to block out patents by saying "That's not yours to patent".

    It's still not a good remedy. There'll be massive problems in trying to secure rights to actually market a gene therapy if anyone can block it by saying "/me want monies too". If I had the World Dictatorship for even a single day, I think that fixing the IP system would be in the top 3 on my ToDo, if not number 1. Innovation is the only thing keeping us from becoming just another species in the food chain so we gotta keep it strong.

    But I can see where they're coming from in proposing this.

  • On the post: Looking At Security Theater Through The Lens Of The Utøya Massacre

    grumpy ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2011 @ 05:50am

    True

    I can't imagine the kind of security it would take to prevent this kind of tragedy - even a full-fledged police state would have a hard time preventing a truly determined nut from doing something bad. I'm pretty sure that any kind of society worth living in can't be made safe against a sick, demented criminal of this kind. And I don't think we should try...

    I've seen someone argue that if everyone on the island had had guns he would've been stopped pretty quick. Yeah, what a nice world that would be. Ten times the casualties annually just from gun accidents, and drunken gunfights in bars, with innocent bystanders being hit left and right, the norm for Friday nights. No thanks. I'll take the risk of encountering a single nutter once per century any day.

  • On the post: Man Made Famous Over 2006 Arrest For Videotaping Police… Arrested Again While Videotaping Police

    grumpy ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2011 @ 02:44am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Or give lip to a Polish policemen. Fifty-fifty that you survive the incident - not kidding. Being a foreigner will be of no help.

  • On the post: Man Made Famous Over 2006 Arrest For Videotaping Police… Arrested Again While Videotaping Police

    grumpy ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2011 @ 02:40am

    Re: Re: Re: WARNING: may contain added sarcasm

    I wasn't thinking about the specific way the votes are counted (hardly anywhere counts as a fundamentalist democracy - I can think of one place, a commune not far from here, but no states), more along the lines of rule-of-law, respect for human rights, respect for the people and all the other little things that makes a democracy. Then again, where in the Western world do we find that today...?

  • On the post: Man Made Famous Over 2006 Arrest For Videotaping Police… Arrested Again While Videotaping Police

    grumpy ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 02:43am

    Re: WARNING: may contain added sarcasm

    Yeah, calling the United States of America a democracy is causing more and more pain to my vocal cords each time I try. I wonder if there'll ever be an American spring...? Or is John Q. Public simply too overstimulated by teevee and overfed on junk food to bother?

  • On the post: When You're About To Fly, Who Do You Fear More: Al Qaeda… Or The TSA?

    grumpy ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2011 @ 01:45pm

    Re: Re:

    It's Security Administrations all the way down!

    (With apologies to Bertrand Russel...)

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