A - Greed is Stupid!
B - Stupid is as Stupid does!
C - Disney has made millions from the 'PUBLIC' Domain, so it must be okay.
D - We don't even have to add any value, we will just claim, "We touched it. therfore we own it!"
E - Proof positive that Greed is Stupid.
Since 'DRM' is Sony's favorite of breaking things, I hope this was spill over of their stupidity. If not, I will stop shopping there. (Every Saturday for years on end, and nearly every Saturday was $25+)
Viral marketing, network effect, ponzi schemes - what happens when dreams meet math. The downfall is the limit of people to buy into the dream. "If each new member gets two more ...", is mathematically 2 to the nth (number of generations) cummulative. Two to the tenth is imaginable your 512 members need 1024 new members. The 16th layer your 32768 users need 65,536 new customers. It always breaks down. And if you use investments of the new members to pay profits of the older members - you will go to jail.
I work at a major research university and it proves daily the definition. A 'university' is what happens to a great college when the educators lose interest in their students. When the 'dollar' is more important than the job, then 'greed' is in charge. And this site reminds us quite frequently that 'Greed = stupid'.
By stealing your identity, the thief should forfeit their own. Until they make full restitution - no drivers license, no voter's id, no phone (except prepaid), no credit card. Escrow their social security account and review their tax returns yearly. Until the punishment deters the crime, the criminals keep doing it.
Bullying can be stopped, but only at an early age. Pain management works best. Directly applied to the posterior of the bully. Of course you then find they learned it at home. Most bullies have even worse parents.
It wasn't that they used a recompiled version, it was that they lied about it and got caught. They tried to sucker the judge and will never be forgiven.
Remember that Arthur C. Clarke had the idea for geosynchronous communication sattelites in the 1940s and could not get a patent, "because that cannot be done!" In the 1960s when it was first being done he was disallowed a patent be cause the idea was 'obvious'. NTP status as patent troll forgets the engineer who had an idea and got a patent. If it is disallowed as 'obvious' then a lot of software patents should vanish.
A Frenchman (c.1916) published a study showing there were only 37 dramatic plots (storylines). 300 years earlier Shakespeare had complained of only three dozen good stories, when critics ragged about his reuse of classic (historical) stories. It is NOT the storyline that is unique, it is the characterization. Nora Roberts has written dozens books with the same storyline. We read them for the characters and their interaction. People who try to exclude competition with patents and copyright wrongly applied, desrerve contempt and empty pockets.
Has anyone ever heard a Republican politician speak for the common good and against corporate greed. They truly believe that no matter how bad your business is (morally, ethically, legally), if it makes money and contributes to them 'God' approves.
The customer wants to get 'best of breed' services, partly on cost and partly on quality. And from whom they choose.
Telcos want to bundle increasing numbers of services to maximize revenue per account. And they hate choice.
Cable companies want you to think they are an alternative, BUT they also maximize revenue per account to the detriment of their customers.
Wireless provides the means to escape the last mile problem of how you connect to the internet and escape the two local monopolies.
It took twenty years and twenty billion dollars to break up Ma Bell. Now the two worst 'Highwaymen' in history want us all under their thumb. [They built parts of the 'internet highway' and think that gives them the right to extort money from the users. It would be like local cities putting toll booths on public roads to get money from UPS or FedEx.] Unfortunately the FCC has forgotten its responsibility to the public and will rubber stamp this fiasco.
Once upon a time all of north Florida was 904. When it split to make 352 the Capitol in Tallhassee chose to keep the 904 and we got FLA. A later split got a lot of small towns 386 (FUN). The next split gave the 904 to Jacksonville, a more populous area, and Tallhassee ended up as 850 TL0 (They lost out).
I may be wrong. It is my understanding that the deceased founder was in fact the engineer who worked out the process and patented his ideas and in proper american fashion waited for the 'good times'. Instead he died from 'stress' related problems. Now everybody talks about how 'obvious' it was. Ask Arthur C. Clarke about obvious patents. Even a good idea can't survive the process.
The President declares a secret war on american citizens by fiat. The Justice department has received 18 thousand plus wiretap warrants from the 'secret' court (only 4 refusals in 5 years). So who did he want to spy on with no paper trail? What is it with the republicans and the presumption of 'royal privilege'. Midnight deals in Congress to extend the 'Patriot Act' for six month in hope we will forget and they can make it permanent. Keep your eyes open, they would smother liberty to win that next election.
Somewhere I missed something. The patents were granted to an engineer who built a business around his intellectual property. The primary implementor of those ideas denied the patents and spent millions avoiding licensing. Now the 'Patent Office' is invalidating the patents under 'fast track duress'. (You don't believe the various departments influence each other's actions?) 1 - you cry 'bad patents' but they were not 'submarine' they were published and openly marketed. 2 - you cry 'bad law' against the courts for applying the existing law and valid patents with great restraint. You have no judicial activists here. 3 - Far too much of time the 'heat of the moment' opinions are worse than bad law or bad patents. They seek a quick fix that doesn't consider if the wall they want removed is carrying a load. Be very glad that government and 'the law' are slow to change. For tomorrow it may be your life or livelihood at risk.
The number one maker of ATM's doesn't want a paper trail on voting machines. How many banks would live with Diebold's "we don't need no stinkin' paper". And for how long?
Music copyrights started well over a hundred years ago and were all about the words and written music. The inserts in CD cases and albums all have the circle-c icon to establish copyright on the words. Teen agers buy the albums to learn' the words. So restricting access to the words is greed & stupity. Wierd AL had to stop doing parodies because of changes in the copyright law. Sampling is under fire for using snippets of recordings. The music industry in its efforts to swallow the world is consuming itself. If you want to watch the fur fly compare a hymnal from 30 to 50 years ago with the songs of todays Gospel singers. If there is more than 12% to 15% match then they own the performance but not the song. If asked the companies tend to lie first and threaten to sue second. Words are everything.
It would seem that this is the easiest to understand. 120 years ago Music was sheet music. And copyright was about publishing paper. Now it is about publishing copies (electronic and physical). 1 - Lyrics are copyrighted. Putting them on a website, in e-mail, on a blog, or typing copies for your friends WITHOUT autorization is illegal. 2 - To view the lyrics on your system requires copying to the local memory and screen. Also illegal. There fore ... 3 - Fair use for listeners to learn the words is the printed material that came with the album (CD or vinyl) or request a printed version form an authorized source.
Considering the efforts put forth in preventing us from copying songs from one media to another, is it any surprise they don't want you to know the words. Personal interpetation of music is still legal (as long as no one hears you.)
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by howard2nd.
Copyrighting the PUBLIC Domain
A - Greed is Stupid!
B - Stupid is as Stupid does!
C - Disney has made millions from the 'PUBLIC' Domain, so it must be okay.
D - We don't even have to add any value, we will just claim, "We touched it. therfore we own it!"
E - Proof positive that Greed is Stupid.
Since 'DRM' is Sony's favorite of breaking things, I hope this was spill over of their stupidity. If not, I will stop shopping there. (Every Saturday for years on end, and nearly every Saturday was $25+)
Amazing - now about the topic
Infinite growth isn't!
Viral marketing, network effect, ponzi schemes - what happens when dreams meet math. The downfall is the limit of people to buy into the dream. "If each new member gets two more ...", is mathematically 2 to the nth (number of generations) cummulative. Two to the tenth is imaginable your 512 members need 1024 new members. The 16th layer your 32768 users need 65,536 new customers. It always breaks down. And if you use investments of the new members to pay profits of the older members - you will go to jail.
Patents for States - wrong
I work at a major research university and it proves daily the definition. A 'university' is what happens to a great college when the educators lose interest in their students. When the 'dollar' is more important than the job, then 'greed' is in charge. And this site reminds us quite frequently that 'Greed = stupid'.
Identity Thieves - Crime = Punishment
By stealing your identity, the thief should forfeit their own. Until they make full restitution - no drivers license, no voter's id, no phone (except prepaid), no credit card. Escrow their social security account and review their tax returns yearly. Until the punishment deters the crime, the criminals keep doing it.
Bullies - Cyber or live - should suffer
Bullying can be stopped, but only at an early age. Pain management works best. Directly applied to the posterior of the bully. Of course you then find they learned it at home. Most bullies have even worse parents.
Re: When the facts and the law are against you
It wasn't that they used a recompiled version, it was that they lied about it and got caught. They tried to sucker the judge and will never be forgiven.
Remember that Arthur C. Clarke had the idea for geosynchronous communication sattelites in the 1940s and could not get a patent, "because that cannot be done!" In the 1960s when it was first being done he was disallowed a patent be cause the idea was 'obvious'. NTP status as patent troll forgets the engineer who had an idea and got a patent. If it is disallowed as 'obvious' then a lot of software patents should vanish.
Stupidity = Greed = Bad Business
A Frenchman (c.1916) published a study showing there were only 37 dramatic plots (storylines). 300 years earlier Shakespeare had complained of only three dozen good stories, when critics ragged about his reuse of classic (historical) stories. It is NOT the storyline that is unique, it is the characterization. Nora Roberts has written dozens books with the same storyline. We read them for the characters and their interaction. People who try to exclude competition with patents and copyright wrongly applied, desrerve contempt and empty pockets.
Political appointees are POLITICAL always
Has anyone ever heard a Republican politician speak for the common good and against corporate greed. They truly believe that no matter how bad your business is (morally, ethically, legally), if it makes money and contributes to them 'God' approves.
Telcos, wireless, squeeze the customer.
The customer wants to get 'best of breed' services, partly on cost and partly on quality. And from whom they choose.
Telcos want to bundle increasing numbers of services to maximize revenue per account. And they hate choice.
Cable companies want you to think they are an alternative, BUT they also maximize revenue per account to the detriment of their customers.
Wireless provides the means to escape the last mile problem of how you connect to the internet and escape the two local monopolies.
Scary news
It took twenty years and twenty billion dollars to break up Ma Bell. Now the two worst 'Highwaymen' in history want us all under their thumb. [They built parts of the 'internet highway' and think that gives them the right to extort money from the users. It would be like local cities putting toll booths on public roads to get money from UPS or FedEx.] Unfortunately the FCC has forgotten its responsibility to the public and will rubber stamp this fiasco.
Area codes and words
Once upon a time all of north Florida was 904. When it split to make 352 the Capitol in Tallhassee chose to keep the 904 and we got FLA. A later split got a lot of small towns 386 (FUN). The next split gave the 904 to Jacksonville, a more populous area, and Tallhassee ended up as 850 TL0 (They lost out).
NTP founder
I may be wrong. It is my understanding that the deceased founder was in fact the engineer who worked out the process and patented his ideas and in proper american fashion waited for the 'good times'. Instead he died from 'stress' related problems. Now everybody talks about how 'obvious' it was. Ask Arthur C. Clarke about obvious patents. Even a good idea can't survive the process.
Royal perogative
The President declares a secret war on american citizens by fiat. The Justice department has received 18 thousand plus wiretap warrants from the 'secret' court (only 4 refusals in 5 years). So who did he want to spy on with no paper trail?
What is it with the republicans and the presumption of 'royal privilege'. Midnight deals in Congress to extend the 'Patriot Act' for six month in hope we will forget and they can make it permanent. Keep your eyes open, they would smother liberty to win that next election.
Bad Patents, Bad Law, Bad opinions
Somewhere I missed something. The patents were granted to an engineer who built a business around his intellectual property. The primary implementor of those ideas denied the patents and spent millions avoiding licensing. Now the 'Patent Office' is invalidating the patents under 'fast track duress'. (You don't believe the various departments influence each other's actions?)
1 - you cry 'bad patents' but they were not 'submarine' they were published and openly marketed.
2 - you cry 'bad law' against the courts for applying the existing law and valid patents with great restraint. You have no judicial activists here.
3 - Far too much of time the 'heat of the moment' opinions are worse than bad law or bad patents. They seek a quick fix that doesn't consider if the wall they want removed is carrying a load.
Be very glad that government and 'the law' are slow to change. For tomorrow it may be your life or livelihood at risk.
Voting
The number one maker of ATM's doesn't want a paper trail on voting machines. How many banks would live with Diebold's "we don't need no stinkin' paper". And for how long?
Lyrics - copyrights - greed & stupidity
Music copyrights started well over a hundred years ago and were all about the words and written music. The inserts in CD cases and albums all have the circle-c icon to establish copyright on the words. Teen agers buy the albums to
learn' the words. So restricting access to the words is greed & stupity. Wierd AL had to stop doing parodies because of changes in the copyright law. Sampling is under fire for using snippets of recordings. The music industry in its efforts to swallow the world is consuming itself.
If you want to watch the fur fly compare a hymnal from 30 to 50 years ago with the songs of todays Gospel singers. If there is more than 12% to 15% match then they own the performance but not the song. If asked the companies tend to lie first and threaten to sue second. Words are everything.
Copyright of Lyrics
It would seem that this is the easiest to understand. 120 years ago Music was sheet music. And copyright was about publishing paper. Now it is about publishing copies (electronic and physical).
1 - Lyrics are copyrighted. Putting them on a website, in e-mail, on a blog, or typing copies for your friends WITHOUT autorization is illegal.
2 - To view the lyrics on your system requires copying to the local memory and screen. Also illegal. There fore ...
3 - Fair use for listeners to learn the words is the printed material that came with the album (CD or vinyl) or request a printed version form an authorized source.
Considering the efforts put forth in preventing us from copying songs from one media to another, is it any surprise they don't want you to know the words. Personal interpetation of music is still legal (as long as no one hears you.)