illuminaut 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Tell Paypal To Stop Playing Morality Cop With Booksellers

    illuminaut ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2012 @ 04:01pm

    Re:

    Pretty close. It's the credit card companies, but they don't typically refuse payments. They just charge a lot more because of the added risk of chargebacks. Paypal doesn't want to take on the extra cost so they just refuse any content that might be deemed risky.

  • On the post: MPAA's Argument Against Hotfile Assumes Any Popular Content Online Must Be Infringing

    illuminaut ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2012 @ 03:18pm

    Re:

    Well yes, they are middlemen. I don't think he's ever made the point that nobody should be able to profit from distribution. If file lockers ever pull the shit that MPAA/RIAA and their ilk are getting away with we'll be bitching about them as well.

  • On the post: File Sharing Moves En Masse To The Darknet; Good Luck Shutting That Down

    illuminaut ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2012 @ 07:02pm

    Re: Re:

    At some point, the options to pirate become just so hard, just so complicated, and just so unreliable and full of risk that many people will just stop doing it.

    marked funny because this is exactly the opposite of what is actually going on in reality. don't let that pendulum hit you on its way back

  • On the post: Paypal Pressured To Play Morality Cop And Forces Smashwords To Censor Authors

    illuminaut ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2012 @ 10:15am

    Re: Re: This story seems to be missing something

    You're right, that was a simple explanation. Not the right one, but at least simple.

  • On the post: Time To Go: Why EU Commissioner De Gucht Has Disqualified Himself From Handling ACTA

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 03:26pm

    Re: Re:

    If that were true open source would not exist, right?
    But still open source which says you are free to copy, modify, distribute and sell is a growing ecosystem, vibrant full of people creating and being paid to do so, how do you dismiss reality?

    I agree with most of your points but I really wish people would stop citing open source as the alternative model that's somehow overlooked in the entertainment industry. There already exists something like that in the world of creative works and it's called Creative Commons. Many artists use it, but it doesn't mean it makes sense for everybody. Just like there are reasons why Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and Adobe don't just open-source their cash cows.

  • On the post: Mobile Carriers Don't Want To Give Up SMS Without A Fight

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 01:43pm

    Re: Not quite free

    Insightful, but I don't think the wireless market is as free a market as you make it sound and not all the rules of the free market apply.

  • On the post: Mobile Carriers Don't Want To Give Up SMS Without A Fight

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 01:24pm

    Re: not exactly new

    Yes, but do they increase the prices for mobile data because of market forces or because they can get away with it?

    I think it may be a mixture of both, but I suspect a lot of it is just the latter.

  • On the post: Mobile Carriers Don't Want To Give Up SMS Without A Fight

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 01:19pm

    Re: Re: Re: The Telecoms' Fear In One Sentence

    I understand, and I'm saying if the railroads had a monopoly on transportation they may not have gone the way of the dodo, or at least not as quickly. That's the part where the analogy doesn't fit. There is no urgent need to innovate when you have a monopoly.

  • On the post: EMI Sneakily Trying To Pretend Many Of Its Artists Can't Reclaim Their Copyrights

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 01:07pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    You're giving the labels way too much credit. The labels aren't providing anything new; it's third party startups that license content and provide the viable alternatives. The music labels hated all of these new things and were fighting iTunes, Amazon, youtube and everybody else who was innovating. It took a long time for them to agree to sell licenses on reasonable terms, so the credit surely shouldn't go to the labels.

  • On the post: Mobile Carriers Don't Want To Give Up SMS Without A Fight

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 01:01pm

    Re: Re:

    The carriers aren't sticking their neck out because they're not really competing - they're colluding.

  • On the post: Mobile Carriers Don't Want To Give Up SMS Without A Fight

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 12:57pm

    Re: The Telecoms' Fear In One Sentence

    Except railroads never had a monopoly on transportation. If anything, it was car makers who created a quasi monopoly by buying up and dismantling tracks. Not really a fair comparison if free markets is the argument. As far as ignoring trends goes, yes the shoe may fit, but the thing to remember is that they're currently protected from the Great Cluebat of the Market and will be granted time to adapt. So we're probably talking about quite a long run.

  • On the post: Mobile Carriers Don't Want To Give Up SMS Without A Fight

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 12:46pm

    But Stipher is absolutely right that bandwidth is becoming a generic utility, and that's something the telecoms have to accept.

    I'm sure they can see the trend, but that doesn't mean they can't try to exploit the status quo for as long as they can get away with. To be fair, the telecoms currently rely on the money they make from treating data differently based on what it's used for, and it will take time to build a sustainable business model around a new approach, so it makes sense that they're not ready to just give up their cash cow.

    None of this would be an issue for the consumer at all if true competition were allowed to exist.

  • On the post: EMI Sneakily Trying To Pretend Many Of Its Artists Can't Reclaim Their Copyrights

    illuminaut ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2012 @ 11:52am

    As if 35 years isn't already a ridiculously long period of time to profit off an artist's work. I bet most artists wouldn't even care to reclaim their rights if they had a fair arrangement with the label. The problem only arises when artists realize that they got a rotten deal - and it takes them 35 years to get out. So by actively seeking to prevent artists from ever being able to reclaim their rights the labels basically admit that a deal with them is a deal with a shyster.

  • On the post: Yahoo Going Patent Troll: Threatens Facebook Over Patent Infringement

    illuminaut ( profile ), 29 Feb, 2012 @ 03:01pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: blame patents, not yahoo

    You misunderstood. I was saying that you can't keep guns away from criminals but you can keep patents away from corporations since they actually have to follow the law.

  • On the post: Company That Issued Bogus Takedown Says It Was All A Mistake, Apologizes

    illuminaut ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2012 @ 04:23pm

    Re: Re:

    I'm actually quite disappointed that you accepted the apology at all instead of going after them. This seems like a good opportunity to see just how much one can punish people for bogus takedowns. You've been making the point repeatedly how offenders get away without consequences. Unless you think having to issue an apology is a dire consequence I'd say this would have been the perfect opportunity to do some actual journalism. Sue them for whatever you can think of and see what sticks. If nothing sticks you proved your point, and if it does you've set a valuable precedent that may make similar companies take notice and be more careful. Just letting it go does nothing to further your cause.

  • On the post: Yahoo Going Patent Troll: Threatens Facebook Over Patent Infringement

    illuminaut ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2012 @ 04:07pm

    Re: Re: blame patents, not yahoo

    That analogy doesn't quite hold up since patents are weapons that are used lawfully. So by changing the laws you can actually take away the weapons. Try that with guns.

  • On the post: Yahoo Going Patent Troll: Threatens Facebook Over Patent Infringement

    illuminaut ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2012 @ 03:58pm

    Re:

    Their development resources including the YUI library used to be cutting edge. That's pretty much it already, tho.

  • On the post: Artist Sues Sony Music Because Her Artwork Appears In The Background Of A Music Video

    illuminaut ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2012 @ 01:36pm

    Re:

    I don't know if she's trolling to make a point, but I know she's going to cash in on this. This has to be one of the safest bets for getting a settlement ever. No way is Sony going to court over this. They'll pay up to avoid setting any kind of precedent that might hurt them in one of their own law suits. Pretty smart move by the artist.

  • On the post: Reductio Ad Absurdum: Eternal Copyright Is Crazy… But What About Today's Copyright Term?

    illuminaut ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2012 @ 06:06am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Yes it's doomed to failure and they know it. That doesn't mean it's not the most effective short term measure to starve off the inevitable. If your interest was to maximize the profits of conglomerate rights holders, what would you do different?

  • On the post: Reductio Ad Absurdum: Eternal Copyright Is Crazy… But What About Today's Copyright Term?

    illuminaut ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 09:35pm

    Re:

    Calling it ridiculous isn't the same as calling the people in favor of such things crazy. I don't think these people are crazy at all - it's a well thought out strategy to get what they want. I have heard their arguments and they make perfect sense - if what you're after is maximizing the profit of certain rights holders. Since I'm much more concerned with what's good for society in general, and as an extension for me personally, I can say today's copyright terms are ridiculous without a hint of arrogance.

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