Keroberos 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 12:49pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    When people and organizations are caught behaving in a dishonest manner, most people tend to look a little closer at, and question the things they did and said in the past. Particularly when said people and organizations are known to be working very closely with other people and organizations who are well known for not being exactly truthful when it comes to matters such as copyright infringement.

  • On the post: The Return Of Dumb Ideas: A Broadband Tax To Save Failing Newspapers

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 12:22pm

    Re: US internet sucks

    And me, because I pay about that much for craptastic ADSL that would have been considered slow 10 years ago.

  • On the post: The Return Of Dumb Ideas: A Broadband Tax To Save Failing Newspapers

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 12:20pm

    Taxes for Everyone. Hooray!

    Yes, yes, this is a great idea, let's do this. And we can expand on it. We can tax cable TV to prop up broadcast TV--then tax satellite TV to prop up cable--then tax Netflix to prop up satellite. Of course skimming 10% off the top for administration fees. Oh, oh, and then we can tax audiobooks to prop up print books, and tax e-books to prop up audiobooks. Oh and vinyl, we can tax cds to prop up vinyl, and mp3s to prop up cds, and streaming services to prop up mp3s. And cars--can't forget about them, we can tax fuel efficient cars to prop up the gas guzzlers, and tax hybrids to prop up the fuel efficient ones, and the plug-in electrics to prop up the hybrids. We can have a never-ending cascade of taxes and fees flowing all around making the world a better place for... for... ah... I don't know... er... something... maybe... rainbows?... ponies?...

  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 10:59am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    With the Pirate Bay it's a lot--different. When your entire site can fit on a smallish flash drive, you can jump around to different service providers pretty easily and quickly, with little extra cost. Running a large file locker service is a whole different kettle of fish. You need lots of servers and lots of storage and lots of bandwidth. That gets real expensive real quick. The Pirate Bay needs none of these--it's just a website with magnet links--no major file storage (they don't use many .torrent files anymore), not even a torrent tracker. And who's going to pay to use a service if their files could disappear at any moment?

  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 10:46am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    That's only if he gets the site back up. Which--if what I've been reading is correct--he's working on.

  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 10:43am

    Re: Re: Re:

    What was he doing that was illegal? From the looks of it Megaupload was one of the better file lockers when it came to pulling down infringing content. Can you get it all? No, that's impossible. Did he profit from it? Sure he did--and so do many other perfectly legitimate sites and businesses. ISPs certainly profit from file sharing--do you need gigabit internet to play WOW and surf the web? No, but it makes file sharing so much faster. Did he knowingly and intentionally set up his company to profit from it? This is for the courts to decide--and from the looks of it, doing a pretty crappy job of it.

  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 10:06am

    Re: Re:

    It's only immoral when the rights being violated are his master's rights in Hollywood.

  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 09:56am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Yes, I am sure. This article is about LAW ENFORCMENT'S mishandling of this case. Where in this article is he saying anything about his belief in KIM DOTCOM'S guilt or innocence. He's saying it raises questions about the "evidence" used by LAW ENFORCMENT to get the indictment in the first place. Because if law enforcement mishandled the case after they got the indictment, how much of the "evidence" used to get that indictment was mishandled or illegally gathered (or just flat out lies)? This is why we have strict rules for evidence gathering, anything improper--no matter how small--can taint the entire case. Any prosecutor who had to take this case to trial would be f-ing pissed at law enforcement for pulling this kind of BS. it doesn't matter how much "evidence" you have--or if it proves your case, if it was mishandled or illegally gathered, it will be thrown out and possibly (probably--if it's your key evidence) result in you losing your case. Law enforcement isn't allowed to bend (or break) the law just because they believe someone is guilty. When they do (and in this case it appears they did it a lot), it starts to look like persecution--not prosecution--and if that is the case you start looking for the reasons why (perhaps the US government and the justice dept. is in Hollywood's pocket).

  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 08:44am

    Re: Re: Re:

    The problem is, it'll just be some poor sap who was just following orders that gets thrown under the bus, not the ones who ordered it. Plus, how much of the evidence that they currently have has been tainted like this? They're kinda making it easy for the defense by pulling this kind of BS.

    But, as I've said before--I don't think a conviction (or even taking this to court) was the ultimate goal. I think this has been more about shutting Megaupload down long enough to make it difficult or impossible for them to expand into legitimate media distribution.

  • On the post: NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Keroberos ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2012 @ 08:35am

    Re:

    Talk about spreading FUD. Nowhere in this article did Mike make any statement of his beliefs about Kim Dotcom's guilt or innocence (or make any statement about him at all). This article is about gross abuse of the system by law enforcement that makes any "evidence" in this case highly suspect.

    It's almost like you were just too busy being an RIAA/MPAA apologist or something to actually read the article. Nah. Couldn't be.

  • On the post: When Even Hilarious Web Comic Artists Are Mocking The Insanity Of The Patent System…

    Keroberos ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2012 @ 11:48am

    Re: more dissembling by Masnick

    "Masnick and his monkeys" have never argued against the idea behind patents and copyrights. They only speak against the abuses of the system that have been occurring with alarming frequency lately. The big ones being in your own post; "To promote the Progress"--seems to me could currently be read now as "To promote the profits of a few at the expense of society" and, "by securing for limited Times". In the tech industry the current terms for patents--20 years for utility patents and 14 for design patents--might as well be an eternity. Copyright already is for the most part eternal (they'll just keep extending the terms). Add in patents for the ridiculously obvious (rounded corners anyone?), and patents granted for things that have already been done with the only change being adding "on the internet", or "with a computer" to them. Coupled with all the non-practicing entities hoarding patents and charging the true innovators ridiculous licensing fees or, just outright suing them out of business (extortion?). I don't understand how anyone could think that there isn't a problem with patents and copyright that needs to be addressed here.

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Destroys/Saves Musicians; Chances Of 'Hitting It Big' As An Artist Remain Unchanged

    Keroberos ( profile ), 21 Sep, 2012 @ 10:56pm

    Re: unpaid work

    If the shop or factory owner was a small business person I knew and respected and was just trying to get their business off the ground, I would certainly volunteer to help stack the shelves for no more payment than "beer and hugs".

    It's a very sad world when people can only see money as a reason to do something.

  • On the post: Economist Combats 'Myths Of Piracy' With More Myths

    Keroberos ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2012 @ 12:25pm

    ...when NBC removed shows from on-demand site Hulu, piracy spiked not only for NBC shows but for other networks as well.
    Of course it did. People want convenience. Hulu was a one stop shop for most people. So when some of the content they were used to finding there disappeared, it became more convenient to switch to piracy for all of their content. Add the fact that piracy is more convenient--no need to wait (is it still 8 days for Hulu?) for the new stuff (it releases within minutes to hours on the pirate sites), and no limits on availibility.
    Meanwhile, no one went out and bought DVD?s as a substitute for the shows that were no longer available on Hulu.
    Um...did this idiot not do his research? The content that most people watch on Hulu is currently airing TV shows. How can anyone go out and buy DVD's of those? The only substitute for a particular episode of a show on Hulu, is that same episode available somewhere else (in this case, only the pirate sites).

  • On the post: Why Computer Companies Should Copy The Fashion Industry

    Keroberos ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2012 @ 07:12am

    Re: Re:

    This. A thousand times this. Do you really think that once they get some form of protectionist laws on the books, that they aren't going to keep coming back asking to expand them?

  • On the post: Why Computer Companies Should Copy The Fashion Industry

    Keroberos ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2012 @ 07:08am

    Re:

    The problem is that any protectionist laws you can come up with will always favor the big players in the industry who have the resources to keep any infringement litigation in court long enough to bankrupt the smaller players (just look at the Veoh case for an example).

  • On the post: US Government Ups Felony Count In JSTOR/Aaron Swartz Case From Four To Thirteen

    Keroberos ( profile ), 18 Sep, 2012 @ 10:15am

    Re: Punishment fits the crime?

    Yes, they save the these terrible punishments for the truly heinous people who piss them off for some reason.

  • On the post: Hachette Hits Libraries With 220% Price Increase On Its Ebooks

    Keroberos ( profile ), 17 Sep, 2012 @ 04:21pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Why this sympathy for libraries?

    Yes, because a literate. informed populace wont buy his corporate overlords line of hogwash so easily.

  • On the post: Hachette Hits Libraries With 220% Price Increase On Its Ebooks

    Keroberos ( profile ), 17 Sep, 2012 @ 09:16am

    Re: Why this sympathy for libraries?

    #1. Almost all libraries allow requests for book purchases--plus, I can check out any book from any library in my state, shipped to my local branch--free of charge--and from other states/countries for a nominal fee. Not much gatekeeping going on here.

    #2. All taxpayer funded programs operate this way. I wish I could earmark more of my tax dollars to fund things like libraries and schools, and less for wasteful military spending.

    #3. The same goes for any business with a physical location. But you don't have to leave your house to check out ebooks from your library.

    #4. I lend books I checked out from the library to family/close friends all the time.

    #5. This is necessary for the proper collection and allocation of funds and correct use of facilities. They don't allow anonymous driving for these reasons either.

    #6. If there was enough interest/use of the library facilities at off hours, I can guarantee they'd be open. The ebook side is already 24-7-365.

    No, you don't get to charge more to maintain your profits--you have to figure out how to sell more--economics 101.

    But since agency pricing came out, ebooks haven't been cheaper (sometimes they've been more expensive)

    As to spending tax dollars on books I might not like--our libraries are for everyone--not just me--I'm willing to spend a little money to share my love of reading.

    How do libraries not reward authors? I would think having my books read and enjoyed by the largest possible audience would be plenty rewarding. And if your looking for the monetary reward--almost all the authors whose books I purchase, I discovered them at--can you guess it?--the public library. Without the public library, I would be purchasing less than half of what I'm currently spending on books.

    Now how does hurting public libraries help the authors/publishers again? It makes more long term sense to give libraries discounts on books, or even--gasp, communism--give them books for free to increase readership and increase future sales (because people who love to read, love to buy books). But the publishers don't look like they want to increase future sales--It almost looks like their executives can see the writing on the wall, and are making as much profit as they can now to line their golden parachutes for when it all comes crashing down around their heads.

    How this ties into big search? I don't know, and I'm not willing to smoke whatever it is your smokin' to find out.

  • On the post: Hachette Hits Libraries With 220% Price Increase On Its Ebooks

    Keroberos ( profile ), 17 Sep, 2012 @ 08:08am

    Re:

    The publishers have hated libraries for a long time, they just couldn't do anything about it before the advent of ebooks; you know, that whole pesky first-sale doctrine and all. They couldn't control the sale and distribution of paper books to libraries, but they can with ebooks (I'm thinking it might be time for a lawsuit against the publishers for unfair sales practices).

  • On the post: Don't Quit Your Day Job: Creativity Is About Passion, Not Paychecks

    Keroberos ( profile ), 14 Sep, 2012 @ 10:12pm

    Re:

    I couldn't care less about "professionally produced" content/ All I care about is quality content. Just because something is "professionally produced" doesn't make it somehow better. And one could argue that some of the amateur produced content is better than the "professionally produced" content. Also, your argument makes no sense, all "professional" content creators were at one point amateurs.

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