Wayne Borean 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: How Much Did The Pointless OiNK Raid Cost UK Taxpayers?

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 18 Sep, 2010 @ 06:44pm

    Oink and the Cops

    I spent some time trying to get information out of the cops about this case. They seemed to be terrified of answering any questions on the phone, in fact I could hear two of the talking when one put the phone down, and they sounded so scared it was ridiculous. They also refused to supply me the information I wanted, and tried to pretend that some of it didn't exist.

    Oh, and they tried to refer me to the IFPI, and when I pointed out that the IFPI shouldn't know what was in the arrest warrant, they seemed to get more nervous.

    I don't think that the cops were at all happy with the IFPI, in fact I got the impression that the cops believe that the IFPI was lying to them. Curious, that.

    If you want to read what I wrote at the time I made the call click here.

  • On the post: Bob Marley's Work Declared 'Work For Hire,' Family Can't Get Rights Back

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2010 @ 08:03pm

    Changes to Copyright

    Mike,

    During the Canadian Copyright Consultation I filed a submission in which I advocated making copyrights non-transferable except by inheritance, i.e. the copyright would remain with the creator, or the creator's heirs. Anyone wanting to use the copyright would have to negotiate with the creator to lease the rights, with the rights being leased for a term of no more than six years, with no automatic renewals allowed.

    The point of course being to protect the creator. I was told privately that my suggestion horrified certain people, and that the same people are less than happy that I won't shut up about it.

    You could consider it 'consumer protection' legislation for artists from another point of view :)

    Wayne

  • On the post: Rupert Murdoch's Paywall Disaster: Readers, Advertisers, Journalists & Publicists All Hate It

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 07 Sep, 2010 @ 05:21pm

    Murdoch is old school

    And that is the problem. He grew up, and learned his business skills in a different time, with different rules, and he's not able to adapt to the new reality.

    I feel sorry for the people who work for him. He's not going to admit that he's the one at fault. He's going to blame someone else.

    The best thing his employees can do is to start job hunting. Actually they should have the second he mentioned his paywall idea.

  • On the post: Czech Proposal On Copyright Law Would Require Artists To Get Collection Society Approval To Use Creative Commons?

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2010 @ 02:11pm

    Re: Re: Re: How simple is this !!

    I just checked Chris's site, and the post is still up.

    http://www.musictechpolicy.com/2010/08/creative-commons-corporation-because-it.html

    It's also available in Google Cache, and I have a printed copy of it on file (I will be writing an article about it).

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:GfEcXRGLoCMJ:www.musictechpolicy.com/2010/08/creative-commons-corporation-because-it.html+chris+castle+hey+jude&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk

    Wayne

  • On the post: Czech Proposal On Copyright Law Would Require Artists To Get Collection Society Approval To Use Creative Commons?

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2010 @ 01:57pm

    I don't suppose you kept a copy

    Because if you did, I'd lover to see it.

    Wayne

  • On the post: Czech Proposal On Copyright Law Would Require Artists To Get Collection Society Approval To Use Creative Commons?

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2010 @ 10:37am

    Re: How simple is this !!

    Daryl,

    Rather interesting bit of trolling. You seem totally unable to understand what the real situation is, and totally unable to make any sort of coherent argument.

    Quite frankly it sounds like you've been using certain illicit substances for a very long time.

  • On the post: Czech Proposal On Copyright Law Would Require Artists To Get Collection Society Approval To Use Creative Commons?

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2010 @ 01:57pm

    Copyfraud in the Public Domain

    This is quite common. It appears that many businesses regard something that is free as being free to them, but pay for everyone else. This is why Microsoft is so upset with the people at Mozilla and Open Office. Or for that matter Android. Microsoft wants every handset maker to pay them for using Android, which Microsoft did not have a hand in developing, and which probably doesn't infringe on any valid Microsoft patents (by valid I mean capable of withstanding a post-Bilski evaluation).

  • On the post: Czech Proposal On Copyright Law Would Require Artists To Get Collection Society Approval To Use Creative Commons?

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2010 @ 09:52am

    I predicted this a long time ago

    And we are seeing it come to pass. Various groups are attacking the Creative Commons license (and Free Software licenses).

    Behind this are the RIAA & MPAA, and other similar groups. They are terrified of the new reality, that having a deal with a recording company is no longer worth pursuing, artists can make better profits by dealing directly with their fans. And artists are doing this in droves, which means that the packagers are loosing market share.

    So of course they are trying to fight back. That what they are trying to do to lock in the talent now, would have prevented them from becoming what they are if it had have been tried on them when they were young, is amusing, but sad.

  • On the post: Connecting With Fans… In The Porn Industry?

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2010 @ 07:49am

    Katie Michaels

    Katie Michaels is the porn star who advertised on Craigslist that she had tickets to a hockey game in Phoenix. Her website is Katie Michaels Dot Net.

    I think I'm the person who posted about her originally, because she seems to have come up with the CWF+RtB idea on her own, and while it's not what usually gets discussed here, it shows that there's a wide range of businesses that it can be applied to.

    Oh, and I also emailed her a link to the site. I wonder if she's been reading up on her options...

  • On the post: EU Legal Review Says ACTA Negotiators Broke The Law In Not Revealing Text To EU Parliament

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2010 @ 12:11pm

    I think you've missed a salient point

    The release occurred after the EU Parliament asked for a legal ruling. The ACTA negotiators probably read up on the legal rights of parliament and decided that releasing it before they were ordered to was the best option, and they no doubt will argue when parliament next wants an update that they've already released it, and that nothing substantive has changed so that parliament doesn't need an update.


    Simple but effective unless parliament is willing to fight.

  • On the post: Writer Splits From Murdoch's Times Of London To Avoid Being Hidden Behind The Paywall

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2010 @ 07:36am

    Paywalls

    Murdoch appears bent on driving his own newspapers into receivership. It's too bad that this will kill some famous names. But this is what happens when someone as unintelligent as Murdoch ends up controlling what used to be a national treasure (The Times).

  • On the post: House Increases Taxes On Venture Capital At A Time When More Investment In Innovation Is Needed

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 30 May, 2010 @ 08:07pm

    Vulture Capital

    I always warn entrepreneurs to avoid Venture Capital firms when they are doing fund raising. The costs are usually higher than the benefits in my opinion.

  • On the post: Times Online Says Competitors Will Go Out Of Business Without A Paywall

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 28 May, 2010 @ 09:02am

    Suicide

    The Time is headed for bankruptcy unless the board of directors kicks Murdoch out. Oh, wait, he owns the board of directors. Bye Bye Times!

  • On the post: Subway Claims Trademark On 'Footlong' Threatens Hotdog Seller Who's Been Selling Footlongs For Decades

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 14 May, 2010 @ 11:40am

    Uh Oh - I can see another lawsuit coming

    The next thing that will happen is that ex-porn star 'Long Dong Silver' will sue Subway, claiming that the 'footlong' trademark should belong to him.

  • On the post: Effort Underway For Defensive Patent Pool For Open Source Developers

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 11 May, 2010 @ 05:34am

    Let me get this straight

    The Patent Office is doing it's job by ignoring it's own rules? And this makes sense to you how?

    As to needing a patent to produce a product, ok, so I don't have a patent, and XYZ Company claims that they do. Now I have to defend myself in court, which could end up costing me millions of dollars eve if I win, and if I don't win I will end up paying them even more, and therefore I can't sell the product as cheaply as I would have. Now my customers are unhappy because I have raised the price. Tell me how this is good for the economy.

  • On the post: Effort Underway For Defensive Patent Pool For Open Source Developers

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 10 May, 2010 @ 04:50pm

    What about those who don't believe in patents at all?

    I've worked in manufacturing for a long time, on things like forklifts, construction equipment, lawn mowers, trucks, etc. In my last position I was responsible for evaluating technologies, and had to read a lot of patents. Guess what? Almost all of the patents that I read were invalid according to U.S. Patent Office rules.

    Seriously. The most common issue was obviousness, but there were also a lot of patents that were invalid because the description was so poor that no one could learn anything from it, or the item patented was scientifically impossible. There were a few that were quite workable, but patented natural phenomenon.

    The end result is that the patent system is a parasitic drag on the economy, and in the United States (the country which the Global Recession has hurt the worst) may cause a huge delay in recovery.

    Of course there are a lot of people who will disagree with me on this, and in many quarters my opinion will not be welcome.

  • On the post: Humble Indie Bundle Keeps Getting Better, Exceeding Expectations

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 10 May, 2010 @ 04:35pm

    Congratulations to Wolffire

    I think they've done a fantastic job, and I predict that they are going to do well in the future.

    FYI - I don't play games myself.

  • On the post: India Introduces Draft Copyright Amendments; Some Good, Some Bad

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2010 @ 01:26am

    Non-Transferable Rights

    Actually it's not strange, I argued for this in the Canadian Copyright Consultation, and I am still arguing for it. Needless to say, I'm not on the RIAA's Christmas Card list.

  • On the post: Canadian Entertainment Industry Begins New Media Campaign For Draconian Copyright Laws

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2010 @ 06:06pm

    This Ain't No Popularity Contest - It's Politics

    This Ain't No Popularity Contest - It's Politics - Follow up to my article on Disclosure

    My article on disclosure has served it's purpose. A few people were rather upset with me, but hey, this is politics.

    Wayne

  • On the post: Canadian Entertainment Industry Begins New Media Campaign For Draconian Copyright Laws

    Wayne Borean ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2010 @ 06:01pm

    Re: is owens canadian?

    Yes, Richard Owens is a Canadian lawyer. He actually has a fairly good reputation for ability, though his reputation is suffering in other ways.

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