Microsoft can track who clicks on it when found through their search engine ... something you may want to consider. Although they've never gone after end users before, who knows what the future holds.
In addendum, I'd just like to also say to all the children taught how special they are, and that they are the BEST in the universe at whatever ... NO. You are NOT. You are not a shining star, so special in and of yourself that you are the center of the universe. Religions teach humility because at the heart of most evil is vanity. This is perhaps where we, as a society, went wrong. In order to encourage and empower our young, we went a little too far.
Ok, this is getting absurd. Now, for the record, I *hate* software patents. In fact, I think most patents are absurd, and patents should only be issued in extraordinary cases, not handed out like candy to the highest bidder. So, that's where I stand. I'll never own a patent, *even if that means I'll never be rich*. Why? I have principles, something others would say is crazy. Wha!?? you wouldn't just take the money!?! LOL
Anyway, then we get the pro-patent people *always* coming to the immediate defense of patents on *every* article, or at least all I've bothered to look at. Are they monitoring you, making sure they get their 'side of the story' out, or is this a means to drive debates?
Here's the crux of patents: selfishness. It used to be maybe a man wanted to invent something to help mankind, and would give that invention away - and he'd surely have a job, or good income from his invention, if nothing other than his increased stature and reputation.
Now, its all about money, just like everything. Of course, this is nothing new. Our entire civilization throughout the last few thousand years has struggled with greed vs giving oneself to the world.
While it is easy to blame the world, and say that's the way things are, so I gotta play by those rules .. and it is easy to blame other people .. as they act immorally, so I have to in order to stay afloat.. its just not true.
The rebellion can start with you. The true shame is that our selfish society has done something truly evil ... Now having the capacity to feed, clothe, and give basic health care to every human on the planet, we DO NOT. Why? There's no money in it. The limited programs out there do the best they can, but they don't cover everyone. Why help those 'freeloaders'? Because they aren't all freeloaders for one, and secondly, providing for their basic human needs should be something anyone with a heart would do for anyone, regardless of how you feel about them. Also, nobody *wants* to live in poverty, on the charity of others.. they aren't living the 'good life' on welfare. Why do I say this is evil? Because of the disparity we see on the opposite side of the spectrum. Those who have more money than they would or could ever need, while others starve. Yet while they call the poor feeling entitled, it is them who feel entitled to living a superior life to the 'poor', which they assume are poor for reasons that are their own fault.
It is true that the intentions here do have merit, but we must always be very careful with the details. We could reduce crime to near zero if we just installed video cameras in everyone's homes and monitored them 24/7, a nice little police state. Oh, and of course we'd want to execute any criminal.
Breaking the law is wrong, but those who sacrifice liberty for security end up getting neither - as you've surely heard before in various incarnations ;p.
In the end, the piracy problem takes care of itself, as consumers eventually learn that it is not safe to download warez and other illegal content - not because it is breaking the law, but because of the potential for malware infestion. Also, legitimate sources of content have shown to be appealing and adopted by consumers when they offer higher quality, safe content.
Throw in increasing worldwide recognition of intellectual property laws, and eventually we'll get to decent intellectual property enforcement without having to resort to drastic measures.
How drastic is this bill? You know, I'm not going to say for sure since I haven't read it all. I'm only taking Mike's word for it. I do know it sounds a lot like other bills that reduce liberty all in one noble effort or another.
Patents are the worst form of capitalist greed. I used to believe I was just against software patents, but now I am growing increasingly concerned about most, if not all, patents. I mean, patents of business methods?!? patents on genes?!? patents on medical diagnosis?!?
Sadly, there is no hope for change. It seems almost all western governments are now controlled entirely by money. For a politician to do anything for the good of the people they represent, or society at large, is unheard of. Further, if a politician did do such, they'd be ousted because the media spins things in such a way as to convince people to vote against their own self interests. It is truly appalling.
I don't know what has to happen. But I don't see any possibility to incrementally fix anything. I gave up that dream when I saw Obama's failure to get much done. The few things he did get done are still attacked to this day, and threatened for repeal - and those actions were very reasonable (e.g. Obamacare, which was a great compromise, making it a less than stellar bill, but a step in the right direction... still, it is vilified).
Until the $$$$ are removed from our national politics in the USA, reforming the patent system, or anything else, seems near impossible. As long as money has the most influence, it will always fight to keep the status quo, when that status quo is beneficial to it.
Doing practical, logical, fair things like patent reform would require politicians act pragmatically in the best interests of society at large.. instead of in their own best interests in getting re-elected. Oh, it would also require them to understand the issues, and I fear few do. After all, voters (most of them) don't exactly vote for a person based on their understandings of the issues. They vote for whoever spouts off whatever ideological view matches their own pre-conceived notions, or more often for simple likability reasons.
Patents aren't the only thing that needs an overhaul. It should be obvious to *anyone* that our health care system needed an overhaul. Look what happened when Hillary tried when Clinton was president. It died. The most recent reform got so watered down by the time it was out of congress, it is only a band-aid -- all-be-it a highly needed one.
I have given up on expecting Washington, D.C. to do anything in in the interests of the *people*. Well, at least anyone besides the most wealthy. Throw in Faux News and other biased 'news' outlets.. and well... what a mess.
That would be nice indeed. The issue is, of course, that companies are fearful of lawsuits like this -- but at the same time, they are also doing what they can to make sure they can fleece their customers and get away with it.
To me, this whole country's has gotten way too laissez-faire with capitalism. For God sakes, we are treating corporations as if they are people now. If that isn't the most whack concept, I don't know what is. They aren't people - they have no souls. Sure, people work there, but that doesn't make them some 'super person'.
I don't know.. it is just all so sickening. Working hard to built wealth. That's considering being dumb. Schemeing, manipulating, stealing, lying, cheating ... that's all par for the course if you want to 'make it' in America.
Is it just me? Does nobody else feel things are way upside down? It is no wonder our economy is in shambles. You have to build from the GROUND -> UP. Trickle down crap doesn't work, we all know that. When the poor (or middle class as they are told they are) have finally been fleeced to the point where they have no more money to spend, then of course everything goes to crap.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by jcollake.
tracking
Microsoft can track who clicks on it when found through their search engine ... something you may want to consider. Although they've never gone after end users before, who knows what the future holds.
Re: Patents and TechDirt
In addendum, I'd just like to also say to all the children taught how special they are, and that they are the BEST in the universe at whatever ... NO. You are NOT. You are not a shining star, so special in and of yourself that you are the center of the universe. Religions teach humility because at the heart of most evil is vanity. This is perhaps where we, as a society, went wrong. In order to encourage and empower our young, we went a little too far.
Patents and TechDirt
Ok, this is getting absurd. Now, for the record, I *hate* software patents. In fact, I think most patents are absurd, and patents should only be issued in extraordinary cases, not handed out like candy to the highest bidder. So, that's where I stand. I'll never own a patent, *even if that means I'll never be rich*. Why? I have principles, something others would say is crazy. Wha!?? you wouldn't just take the money!?! LOL
Anyway, then we get the pro-patent people *always* coming to the immediate defense of patents on *every* article, or at least all I've bothered to look at. Are they monitoring you, making sure they get their 'side of the story' out, or is this a means to drive debates?
Here's the crux of patents: selfishness. It used to be maybe a man wanted to invent something to help mankind, and would give that invention away - and he'd surely have a job, or good income from his invention, if nothing other than his increased stature and reputation.
Now, its all about money, just like everything. Of course, this is nothing new. Our entire civilization throughout the last few thousand years has struggled with greed vs giving oneself to the world.
While it is easy to blame the world, and say that's the way things are, so I gotta play by those rules .. and it is easy to blame other people .. as they act immorally, so I have to in order to stay afloat.. its just not true.
The rebellion can start with you. The true shame is that our selfish society has done something truly evil ... Now having the capacity to feed, clothe, and give basic health care to every human on the planet, we DO NOT. Why? There's no money in it. The limited programs out there do the best they can, but they don't cover everyone. Why help those 'freeloaders'? Because they aren't all freeloaders for one, and secondly, providing for their basic human needs should be something anyone with a heart would do for anyone, regardless of how you feel about them. Also, nobody *wants* to live in poverty, on the charity of others.. they aren't living the 'good life' on welfare. Why do I say this is evil? Because of the disparity we see on the opposite side of the spectrum. Those who have more money than they would or could ever need, while others starve. Yet while they call the poor feeling entitled, it is them who feel entitled to living a superior life to the 'poor', which they assume are poor for reasons that are their own fault.
Call me crazy, I know some of you will ;)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
It is true that the intentions here do have merit, but we must always be very careful with the details. We could reduce crime to near zero if we just installed video cameras in everyone's homes and monitored them 24/7, a nice little police state. Oh, and of course we'd want to execute any criminal.
Breaking the law is wrong, but those who sacrifice liberty for security end up getting neither - as you've surely heard before in various incarnations ;p.
In the end, the piracy problem takes care of itself, as consumers eventually learn that it is not safe to download warez and other illegal content - not because it is breaking the law, but because of the potential for malware infestion. Also, legitimate sources of content have shown to be appealing and adopted by consumers when they offer higher quality, safe content.
Throw in increasing worldwide recognition of intellectual property laws, and eventually we'll get to decent intellectual property enforcement without having to resort to drastic measures.
How drastic is this bill? You know, I'm not going to say for sure since I haven't read it all. I'm only taking Mike's word for it. I do know it sounds a lot like other bills that reduce liberty all in one noble effort or another.
Sick of Patents
Patents are the worst form of capitalist greed. I used to believe I was just against software patents, but now I am growing increasingly concerned about most, if not all, patents. I mean, patents of business methods?!? patents on genes?!? patents on medical diagnosis?!?
Sadly, there is no hope for change. It seems almost all western governments are now controlled entirely by money. For a politician to do anything for the good of the people they represent, or society at large, is unheard of. Further, if a politician did do such, they'd be ousted because the media spins things in such a way as to convince people to vote against their own self interests. It is truly appalling.
I don't know what has to happen. But I don't see any possibility to incrementally fix anything. I gave up that dream when I saw Obama's failure to get much done. The few things he did get done are still attacked to this day, and threatened for repeal - and those actions were very reasonable (e.g. Obamacare, which was a great compromise, making it a less than stellar bill, but a step in the right direction... still, it is vilified).
I give up.
Can't fix the patent system until you fix DC
Until the $$$$ are removed from our national politics in the USA, reforming the patent system, or anything else, seems near impossible. As long as money has the most influence, it will always fight to keep the status quo, when that status quo is beneficial to it.
Doing practical, logical, fair things like patent reform would require politicians act pragmatically in the best interests of society at large.. instead of in their own best interests in getting re-elected. Oh, it would also require them to understand the issues, and I fear few do. After all, voters (most of them) don't exactly vote for a person based on their understandings of the issues. They vote for whoever spouts off whatever ideological view matches their own pre-conceived notions, or more often for simple likability reasons.
Patents aren't the only thing that needs an overhaul. It should be obvious to *anyone* that our health care system needed an overhaul. Look what happened when Hillary tried when Clinton was president. It died. The most recent reform got so watered down by the time it was out of congress, it is only a band-aid -- all-be-it a highly needed one.
I have given up on expecting Washington, D.C. to do anything in in the interests of the *people*. Well, at least anyone besides the most wealthy. Throw in Faux News and other biased 'news' outlets.. and well... what a mess.
Re: All the Terms in the world...
That would be nice indeed. The issue is, of course, that companies are fearful of lawsuits like this -- but at the same time, they are also doing what they can to make sure they can fleece their customers and get away with it.
To me, this whole country's has gotten way too laissez-faire with capitalism. For God sakes, we are treating corporations as if they are people now. If that isn't the most whack concept, I don't know what is. They aren't people - they have no souls. Sure, people work there, but that doesn't make them some 'super person'.
I don't know.. it is just all so sickening. Working hard to built wealth. That's considering being dumb. Schemeing, manipulating, stealing, lying, cheating ... that's all par for the course if you want to 'make it' in America.
Is it just me? Does nobody else feel things are way upside down? It is no wonder our economy is in shambles. You have to build from the GROUND -> UP. Trickle down crap doesn't work, we all know that. When the poor (or middle class as they are told they are) have finally been fleeced to the point where they have no more money to spend, then of course everything goes to crap.