Mike C. 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (402) comment rss

  • On the post: US Olympic Committee Sues Organization Trying To Build Sports Museum

    Mike C. ( profile ), 28 Jan, 2010 @ 08:54pm

    Losing their appeal quickly...

    Between overly aggressive trademark enforcement, rampant commercialization and lopsided competitions, I'm starting to realize why I haven't been interested in the Olympics for the last 10-15 years.

    I think I'll just go read a book or two instead this time around. Heck, I'll probably get more value out of it anyway... :-)

  • On the post: NY Times Takes Up The Case Of Sherlock Holmes And The Lost Public Domain… But Gets It Wrong

    Mike C. ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2010 @ 09:59am

    Re: Just.... wow.

    As has been said here on Techdirt before, there is obviously something wrong with copyright.

    While I can sort of understand all the twists and turns you present in your post, I think it's a shame that copyright has come so far from it's base intent that someone would have to go through all of that just to find out if it's okay to write a Sherlock Holmes story.

    In a wierd way, I almost hope things continue to spiral out of control like this so as to hasten the eventual collapse of the whole system so we can rebuild it from scratch.

  • On the post: As ISPs Look To Charge Per Byte… How Accurate Are Their Meters?

    Mike C. ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2010 @ 06:40am

    Re: Ridiculous

    Don't forget to consider all the things that you have limited control over as well:

    - Operating system updates & patches
    - Application updates & patches: Office, Firefox, Acrobat, Flash, Java
    - Anti-virus/Spyware definition updates
    - Automatic checks for available updates: Java, Quicktime, Quicken, A/V, Firefox
    - Game console updates: I know my Wii checks in periodically

    There's also the limited control stuff we all love to hate:
    - SPAM
    - Graphic intense web page ads
    - Video ads

    Yes, combined it's a relative drop in the bucket compared to streaming video, but once you're over the limit, every byte counts.

    If my ISP starts down this path, I think I'll be contacting my state rep as well as the Dept of Public Utilities about regulation and oversight.

  • On the post: Growth Of Music Digital Sales Is Slowing Down

    Mike C. ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2010 @ 07:25am

    Re: Or....

    Ok... I'll bite.

    Maybe Mike is trying to point out that market saturation has an impact on future growth.

    The "internet" can only "grow" so much before everybody has as much of a connection as they want. For example, I have 6Mb service but my provider offers speeds up to 3 times as fast. I don't feel that the higher speeds are worth the extra cost so I don't upgrade and thus provide zero growth.

    The same is true for digital music, but Mike was predicting it would happen at a much faster pace. Once the MP3 player became ubiquitous enough that most people have one (either standalone or part of another device like a cell phone), they would obviously be filling it with music. Once they have a sufficiently sized collection, there's no need to keep spending money on digital files unless there is a reason to buy - e.g. favorite artist creates new music or they find a new artist they like. Accordingly, growth will slow with that consumer. Once enough consumers have reached that saturation point, growth would have to slow across the industry.

    The only way I can currently see to keep digital music sales growing year after year would be:

    1) Allowing new technological hardware advances to come out that induce consumers to use more digital music. For example, imagine a video camera with the ability to load digital music so that a soundtrack could be applied more easily to a home video. (I know - totally infringing so it'll get sued into nonexistence if anyone even tries).

    2) Produce more QUALITY media that people want to buy instead of more "cookie-cutter" pop drivel that nobody remembers in a year's time.

    Eventually, though, everyone who uses digital music will have more music than they can listen to in a lifetime. At that point, what reason is there to buy any more?

  • On the post: Growth Of Music Digital Sales Is Slowing Down

    Mike C. ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2010 @ 05:23am

    Music libraries completed...

    I believe part of the decline is because people have finished rounding out their digital library.

    For example, when my family started using MP3's more than CD's, we ripped what we could from our physical CD's. We then filled in some gaps where we wanted particular songs but not the rest of the album that came with it. For the first 6 months or so, you could almost say we were on a spending spree. However, now that our collection of older music is as complete as we want it, we're not finding anything new that we want and thus are spending far less. I'd say our spending for the last year is less than a quater of what we spent in the first 2-3 months after making the decision to switch to digital.

    Ultimately, unless the music producers start to come out with more "good" music, there is no way digital sales can do anything BUT follow the same path as CD sales. Once people are satisfied with their digital libraries, they will slow down or stop buying music.

  • On the post: German High Court Says That TV Schedule Info Is Covered By Copyright; TV Listings Sites Have To Pay

    Mike C. ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2009 @ 06:16am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: perhaps...

    Just because they have a lousy business model doesn't automatically make it wrong.

    If tvtv.de is truly dependent on a single public source for their data, that single source actually has all the power. They can change their format or even explicitly block requests from specific requestors (IP's). Heck, you could probably even set up something to determine the requestor and send requestor specific content back to them.

    Yes, it means that VG Media (I think that's the source) will have to do a bit of extra work, but since when has a successful company ever been able to remain stagnant and profitable at the same time? The two just don't fit together because consumers are always looking for the next best thing (app, service, product, etc).

    /software developer

  • On the post: And Here We Go Again: Argentina Extends Copyright

    Mike C. ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2009 @ 05:41am

    Duh...

    So why do politicians keep extending copyright?

    I'm surprised you gave us such an easy question. I believe that if they didn't, they couldn't get all those luxury dinners and vacations courtesy of the MAFIAA.

  • On the post: Florida Says Judges Can't Even Be Facebook Friends With Lawyers

    Mike C. ( profile ), 11 Dec, 2009 @ 09:54am

    Forget parties and social functions. What about...

    ...trade related functions.

    Conferences, seminars, education and training of any kind, trade shows. I guess those should be off limits too since a judge and lawyer may run into each other.

    Oh wait, new thought...travel. Imagine the consequences if a judge and lawyer were booked on the same airplane and sat next to each other. The HORROR!

    /sarcasm

  • On the post: Woman Filming Parts Of Sister's Birthday Party At Theater, Charged With Felony Movie Copying

    Mike C. ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2009 @ 07:57am

    Re: Theater's interest

    My suspicion is that since the theater in question is a very small chain (10 locations), they may not have much of a choice.

    Would it be any surprise to anyone to find out the MAFIAA has come in and said "press charges every time or no movies for you"? It certainly wouldn't to me.

  • On the post: Sens. Feinstein And Durbin Specifically Try To Carve Citizen Journalists Out Of Shield Law

    Mike C. ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2009 @ 05:42am

    School newspapers?

    Reading the text of the proposed changes, wouldn't this ammendment exclude student journalists and school newspapers from the shield law?

    Scary stuff and it makes you wonder what lobbyist hit up Senators Feinstein and Durbin.

  • On the post: Rather Than Blaming Twitter, NY Police Using It To Track Gang Activity

    Mike C. ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2009 @ 06:19am

    Re: On the other hand...

    We complain about the misuse of social networks because the police are taking a single moment in time and using that to convict someone of a crime.

    Change the situation somewhat and see if you still agree. Rather than a student holding a beer while relaxing on a deck, how about the same student sitting on the drivers seat of a car (car door open, legs outside the car) with keys hanging on his belt and getting arrested for drunk driving?

    The problem is that the photo only represents a single point in time and can't give a complete frame of reference. The case here is that the police are using social media as a clue to what might be happening or where and following up with hands-on police work.

    To me, while the situations seem similar (police using social media for crime prevention), the devil is in the details.

  • On the post: If You Gain Unauthorized Access To A Character In A Virtual World, Is It Theft?

    Mike C. ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2009 @ 11:49am

    Helps to click through and...

    ... oh, I don't know... research a little?

    Buried about three links deep, you'll find this gem from the TimesOnline:

    Officers from Central Police e-Crime Unit arrested the man last Tuesday on suspicion of a number of computer misuse offences.
    (emphasis mine)

    I'm a regular player on Runescape and took an interest in the story. From what I read, the only place you'll find reference to "robbery" is the Slashdot post which is simply parroting the Sophos post, albeit badly.

    Did the guy "steal" the accounts? Yes. He gained the id's and passwords to the accounts which allowed him to assert control and remove access to the account from the original owner. However, as Mike points out, the next question to ask is do the accounts have any true value to warrant a theft or robbery charge.

    I believe the police are taking the correct approach and charging the young man with computer abuse. That is the charge that is most likely to "stick" and most closely fits the actual nature of the crime committed.

  • On the post: Murdoch's The Times Accused Of Blatant Copying, Just As It Tells The World You Should Pay For News

    Mike C. ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2009 @ 07:48am

    Well.... mostly copied.

    Epic fail.

    Of course, the linked article points out that they didn't even copy the article "as is", but felt they needed to edit. This further upset Mr. Wright as it removed what he felt were important parts of the article.

    Maybe someone needs to point this out to Mandelson so he can sick his copyright police force on the Times... :-)

  • On the post: There Are Lots Of Ways To Fund Journalism

    Mike C. ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2009 @ 05:53am

    Re:

    The problem I see is an issue of whether or not that "major league" is still any good? I have two boys that play Cal Ripken baseball and those games are FAR more exciting than any major league game I watched this year. Yes, I'm biased for the games my kids are in, but almost ALL of the games at all levels of play were fun to watch because the smaller league takes the time to balance the teams. This makes game play more even, less lopsided victories, etc. I was just as happy watching two unrelated teams while waiting for my kids games to start as I was watching their games.

    Additionally, if major league was gone, the exhorbitant amounts of money spent on it could help fund far more baseball at the lower levels. I understand the natural desire to be bigger, but bigger isn't always better.

  • On the post: More Important Saving Lives From Swine Flu Or Protecting Roche's Monopoly?

    Mike C. ( profile ), 10 Nov, 2009 @ 04:09pm

    Re: no

    I'm not sure what your opinion of "very few" is, but according to the CDC, 672 people died from laboratory confirmed influenza in the time period from August 30 to October 31, 2009. Of those, 73 were children. These figures were updated November 6th here if you'd care to check for yourself.

    In case you're having trouble with the math, that's about 11 people every week dying from the flu. To give you a point of comparison, New York City has managed to have less than 400 murders all year.

  • On the post: FCC Poised To Let Hollywood Break Your TV And DVR

    Mike C. ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2009 @ 04:35pm

    Re: The Big Deal?

    Do you honestly believe they'll stop with VOD? If they haven't been able to figure out what consumers want by now, what makes you think they'll stop with using SOC with VOD?

    (and why do I keep thinking of that scene with Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam where he asks a complete question in mostly initials?)

  • On the post: Why Do Canada And Europe Copyright Money?

    Mike C. ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2009 @ 07:38am

    Security through obscurity...

    While it's a bad one, the only theory I can come up with is that they planned to use infringement claims to keep images of the bills from being shared publicly, thus reducing the number of people who have clean images to counterfeit from.

    And wow - that's an even worse theory when I see it typed... :-)

  • On the post: Law Professor (?!?) Claims Copyright Infringement Because Blog Uses Faculty Photo In Blog Post [Update]

    Mike C. ( profile ), 04 Nov, 2009 @ 08:12am

    Shocked and amazed...

    What... no mention of the Streisand Effect? Or has that been hit with a copyright claim too... lol.

  • On the post: GateHouse Media Strikes Again: Claims Headlines, Ledes Are Covered By Copyright, Threatens Forum

    Mike C. ( profile ), 29 Oct, 2009 @ 08:39am

    Some assumptions being made...

    While I believe that Gatehouse is overreaching in their statements, they do have some just cause. I spent some time perusing some of the various other threads on the forum and quickly found a number of them where entire articles were pasted into the thread. I'm wondering if it's that behavior that initiated the contact from the legal department and the lawyers just went overboard?

  • On the post: Disney's Keychest: Is Giving Back Your Fair Use Rights With More DRM Really A Step Forward?

    Mike C. ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2009 @ 08:52am

    I'm surprised...

    ... you didn't mention the biggest drawback of all.

    What happens to your locked up content when Disney decides that Keychest is no longer a profitable venture and shuts it down?

    While I think the concept is a step in the right direction, the execution screams "EPIC FAIL".

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