Instead Of Hiring New Patent Examiners, USPTO Producing Propaganda Films
from the this-is-how-they-spend-their-resources? dept
theodp writes "Introduced by USPTO chief Jon Dudas, a new antipiracy film targeting youngsters opens with an apparently troubled young boy whose demons - a tiny pirate on his shoulder - are driving him to download music, at least until hot young pop music star 'Margot' springs to life from a poster. Moved by Margot's tale of how she copyrighted a 9/11-inspired song she wrote for Afghan children as a 2nd-grader, the lad slaps away the pesky pirate, vowing to put an end to his family's evil downloading ways." This is what the USPTO is doing with its money, rather than, say, hiring more (and better qualified) patent examiners?Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
What do you expect?
It's amazing things haven't deteriorated further. Oh wait, they have.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
must be another Michael Brown in charge there
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
I sure miss the old TechDirt when it was about the news and not the continued bitches of Mike and Co. Why not just rename yourself to www.fuckedcompany2.com and get it over with?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
I, for one, enjoy the opinions on Techdirt. You may think they're bitching but they seem a lot more insightful than the press releases I see everywhere else.
Actually, the only bitching I see is in your post.
As far as I can remember Techdirt has always been like this. Thats why I liked it in the first place, and its why I come back. The fact that it hasn't really changed is something i like about it. Don't change it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Review
Anyway, what a fine film! Margot is definitely tha hot!!! Does Kevin Federline know about her? Hold onto your man, Britney!
And the little bit of kung fu at the end reminds us that this is not coming from a bunch of namby-pamby Demos.
I worry, though, about what happens to little Timmy when he tries to guilt-trip his big brother.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A viewpoint is implicit in the name...
I'm new to the site, but they if it is NOT an encyclopedic compendium of tech industry news then it will either have the viewpoint (reflecting its audience) of the typical slashdot/register geek or the MS-certified/military/corporate tech guys.
Hackers or whores if you will.
I am unsurprised a site called 'techdirt' would have the opinion of this vile waste of tax dollars that it does.
PS) I DO think it rather simple-minded to make the Patent Office freakshow a partisan matter. At least before Clinton they were realistic about their competence, falling many thousands of applications behind because they could not be reviewed. The worst abuses occurred after Clinton addressed the problem by decree...or so I've heard.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
But don't bother with this one, it's shot at about 3 frames per second. Looks like it was produced around 1994.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Good News
Also this clearly demonstrates, if it were needed, that the people in charge of patents see their job as protecting vested interests. This is something they normally deny vigorously.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wasted Money
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hiring Patent Examiners
Given that, even with the pretty decent benefits (13 vacation days + 13 sick days per year to start) most of the time people with the science degrees want to go and earn some real money in the private sector. Way I see it, only one who can get a bump in salary is someone who was a teacher before (I think, not sure on the teacher salaries, but they must be meager).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Why is the USPTO doing this?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
realplayer/quicktime/vlc
Solutions (google these):
Get RealAlternative
Get QuicktimeAlternative
Get XP Codec Pack
Get Winamp or MediaPlayerClassic
You'll have no problems and will be able to play every kind of media file on a reliable, quality player.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
I like TechDirt specifically because Mike and Co's cynical opinions are in near perfect alignment with mine 90% of the time. Subjects are looked at from a logical point of view and critiqued with intelligence.
If you don't like the opinions of the writers' site you are visiting, go to one of the other 294723947293487923798 sites out there until you find one written by someone equally as ignorant as you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: must be another Michael Brown in charge there
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Good News
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Hiring Patent Examiners
[ link to this | view in thread ]