A Guy 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Google's Fiber Makes MPAA Skittish. Why Does Hollywood See All Technology In Terms Of Piracy?

    A Guy ( profile ), 03 May, 2012 @ 09:31am

    Competition

    The entertainment industries made their financial bets thinking cable would be the best internet connection in town for the foreseeable future. If cable has to *gasp* compete, there business model looks less stable and they may have to *gasp* compete too.

    Their real fear is a competitive market place.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Doing Whatever A Spider Can…

    A Guy ( profile ), 02 May, 2012 @ 07:12pm

    Re:

    I think we already do. It's just not economical for many applications.

    I think (hope) carbon nanotubes will become economically viable before spider silk.

  • On the post: After Four Years Feds Finally Get Around To Prosecuting Ten Mod Chip Sellers

    A Guy ( profile ), 02 May, 2012 @ 10:31am

    Re: That word...

    I think you mean slapping a paperclip on someone elses suitcase, calling it a lock, and then suing them for removing it.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Fusion Without A Star

    A Guy ( profile ), 01 May, 2012 @ 06:28pm

    You always find really interesting stuff to post.

    Nice.

  • On the post: Google Sued Because Some People Wonder If Jon Hamm Is Jewish

    A Guy ( profile ), 01 May, 2012 @ 04:53pm

    Yep

    That's ridiculous. I hope Google crushes the group suing in court, and then makes a nice donation to a jewish charity with any fees they recover.

  • On the post: Grooveshark Tries To Force Digital Music News To Unveil Commenter, Ignoring First Amendment

    A Guy ( profile ), 01 May, 2012 @ 03:22pm

    Re:

    We have a right to anonymous speech. The post didn't seem to cross any lines that would make it unprotected to me.

    https://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity

  • On the post: Does It Makes Sense To Charge Kids & Their Parents With Libel For Online Bullying?

    A Guy ( profile ), 01 May, 2012 @ 12:23pm

    Did she reach out to the other parents first?

    If she did and the page wasn't taken down, it's absolutely appropriate.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Unobtainium Will Save Us!

    A Guy ( profile ), 01 May, 2012 @ 10:30am

    Re: Why Are Power Lines Not Made Of Silver?

    "The point is, we adapt to what?s available. If something gets scarce, its price goes up, and other alternatives become more economically attractive. The world will not suddenly run out of oil one day; its price will have pushed us onto alternatives long before then."

    No, the point is we can either plan for a smooth transition to alternate technologies, or have a very rough "adaptation period" where lots of people die.

  • On the post: Are Facebook 'Likes' Protected By The First Amendment?

    A Guy ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2012 @ 12:27pm

    Appeal

    This will get over turned on appeal, if they appeal. Political speech is the most protected speech under the first amendment.

  • On the post: Hulu Puts Gun To Own Head: May Require Users To Show Proof Of Pay TV Subscription

    A Guy ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2012 @ 12:08pm

    Re: Re:

    TV networks are not cable companies. There may be antitrust issues here too now that you mention it.

    I expect this cluster fuck to go away before the lawyers get through with it.

  • On the post: Hulu Puts Gun To Own Head: May Require Users To Show Proof Of Pay TV Subscription

    A Guy ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2012 @ 11:14am

    Hulu has been going this direction for years. I have cable, but I won't be going to the trouble of entering any information into hulu.

    I also wonder how this is even legally feasible. Do cable companies give information about all their subscribers info to Hulu? Is it even legal if they do? I seem to remember something about information sharing by cable companies being illegal under one of the cable acts.

    Well, if these studios want to put another nail in their own coffin, let them. There are plenty of other entertainment options out there.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2012 @ 10:08am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Here/s an interesting piece on value

    That's a little different. The companies service contract ended and they assumed they could renew it. They shouldn't have made investments to fulfill a contract they didn't have yet.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2012 @ 07:49pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Here/s an interesting piece on value

    Now that is socialization. It may have been wiser to use a sustainability mandate or adjust the tax structure so the companies have to pay for the environmental damage the non-sustainable sources cause.

    Incentivization is almost always superior to socialization.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2012 @ 06:00pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Here/s an interesting piece on value

    I don't think I'd call it socialization. The shareholders are the customers. It sounds like a good way to ensure that both the shareholders and the customers get a good value for their investment to me.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2012 @ 03:21pm

    Re: Re: Re: Here/s an interesting piece on value

    Ah

    I thought you were talking about comparisons between the valuation of different information brokers.

    It's naive to think large corporations are going anywhere. Large corporations may bring efficiencies that allow all of us to have a better quality of life. They may also bring massive inefficiencies that harm us. Bigness, by itself, is not inherently beneficial or harmful.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2012 @ 12:53pm

    Re: Here/s an interesting piece on value

    I don't see how Silicon Valley is any different than Hollywood in this regard. Neither are dealing in providing or distributing scarce resources. Information isn't a scarce resource because it is easily reproducible with any number of non scarce resources.

    Silicon Valley wants to give us an information buffet, because technology allows it. Hollywood, book publishers, and other traditional media corporations want to dole out little pieces of information to use for or against us at their whim.

    Given these choices, I'll value silicon valley more every time.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2012 @ 10:11pm

    Re: Re: Re: The new economic reality

    "At what point do you get to say, "Enough"?"'

    In about 20 years when we run out of natural gas fracking locations. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it's the realistic thing.

    There are 3 types of people in this.

    Type 1. People who don't want to do it, and won't. These are the minority.

    Type 2. People who are not worried about an unsustainable population bubble because they are short-sighted, greedy, stupid, or a combination of the three.

    Type 3. People that realize the type 2 people will fuck it all up anyway and so join in because the marginal benefits may as well go to them too.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2012 @ 09:24pm

    Re: The new economic reality

    It's nice to think there will be a massive down sizing of the consumption of the real scarce resources, but that's unlikely.

    Inequality IS the downsizing of consumption. Group A gets to consume more than group B, but overall consumption drops because less people are holding little pieces of paper with president's heads on them that gives them permission to consume.

    Anything that addresses inequality will increase the consumption of natural resources.

    What we really need is an expansion of sustainable energy so we can give more people little pieces of paper that give them permission to consume without inflating an unsustainable population bubble.

  • On the post: Sen. Harry Reid: The Postal Service Must Be Saved Because 'Seniors Love Junk Mail'

    A Guy ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2012 @ 04:41pm

    Re: Re: FUD

    You're assuming that when these pensions come due the funds will still be there. More likely, the funds will be spent on pork and the pension will be funded with IOUs.

  • On the post: When You Create Value It Doesn't Mean You Have To Capture Every Bit Of That Value

    A Guy ( profile ), 27 Apr, 2012 @ 07:06pm

    Re: Re: Here's an alternative model

    The problem with both systems is the same from a sustainability standpoint. It requires a certain amount of scarce natural resources to produce anything (energy, clean water, medicines, farmland ect).

    If you don't plan for your resources to stretch into the foreseeable future, it's not sustainable. If two or more different groups plan to use the same resource without massive collaboration (ie oil), it won't last as long as any group plans.

    I don't see why peer associations would be any better at not overusing the real scarce resources than anyone else.

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