This Week In Techdirt History: March 1st - 7th
from the berned dept
Five Years Ago
There was a whole lot of conversation about ACTA this week in 2010. More leaks revealed the positions of more countries, Danish politicians began questioning the country's opposition to ACTA transparency, Sweden said it won't agree if any changes to the law are required, the EU apparently agreed that more transparency was needed, and the USTR admitted its desire for ACTA to cover patents too. Meanwhile, the UK was grappling with its own Digital Economy Bill — making it worse with a new web censorship aspect, trying to outlaw weblockers, and ensuring open WiFi would be a liability.
There was more copyright insanity, too. We learned that Metallica, still famous for bringing down Napster, made only a small fraction of its revenues from CD sales; Brazil sued Columbia Pictures for violating the copyright on its famous Jesus statue; Activision killed a fan game project that had been previously licensed; Spanish indie labels tried to sue the government for not stopping file sharing; and the RIAA claimed that file sharing was undermining human rights efforts in Haiti (right).
Ten Years Ago
Record labels misunderstanding the market was hardly new to 2010. It was happening this week in 2005, too. BPI proudly announced 23 pointless file sharing settlements. Sony was among the worst, demonstrating that it was completely out of touch (and also shutting down a tribute band website, but it wasn't alone. Meanwhile, many popular musicians were taking Grokster's side at the supreme court — only for the industry to try to convince them they'd been used.
Also in 2005: LinkedIn was trying out a business model while XM was monkeying with its own, the widely publicized hack of Paris Hilton's phone turned out to be good for T-Mobile, driving while talking on a cellphone was catching on, and so were alternate reality games (except, apparently not that much), and we could tell Firefox had really made it as an browser when spyware makers started to notice it.
Fifteen Years Ago
Mind-controlled computing is one of those things that seems to have been just around the corner for a very long time — since at least 2000, in fact. But hey, this was a time when CD sales were still rising, and other things still just around the corner included the wireless internet (which similarly seemed to be taking forever). Online gambling was big, B2B was (probably) bigger, and we just began to notice how big the databases of our personal information are (which was scary at a time when hacks could still significantly undermine general public confidence in the internet). Some still wondered if perhaps pen and paper was better for notes and tests — but maybe just keeping the web pages under 5K would be sufficiently old-fashioned.
Twenty-Six Years Ago
On March 1st, 1989, after a long period of resistance, the United States joined the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which continues to influence (though not really directly shape or control) copyright policy around the world. The US still exercises what some have called "minimal compliance" with the convention, and that's probably a good thing, or at least better than total compliance — US copyright law barely includes the prohibitive moral rights called for by Berne, and while a registration requirement and other formalities were (sadly) removed in general, Congress retained them as a prerequisite for statutory damages. Which is, y'know, something.
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off topic: Awesome Stuff
If there's room for a replacement series, how about one that deals with online fundraising 'scams'? Like the tens of thousands of (US) dollars the Pirate Bay raised to buy their own island, and then never bought one. Where did all that money go? There are countless other examples, as many of us have dropped a few dollars into the collection basket from time to time -- never to see any results.
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Re: off topic: Awesome Stuff
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Re: off topic: Awesome Stuff
No, it'll be back... we were just realizing we're a little too busy preparing for next week's Copia Summit, so it had to take a little break...
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After discovering Techdirt's "lite" mode I don't browse the regular site any more. The frontpage shows full stories. Content is no longer trapped in a narrow column. Text is larger. What's not to like about the "lite" mode?
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Correction: Mind controlled computing
Like various research areas that were giving interesting results and then disappeared, most seemed to have interesting military applications.
So how far has it really come?
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Re: Re: off topic: Awesome Stuff
I was just looking at that. 2.2 million dollars raised for roads made out of solar-panels. Wow. The name "P.T. Barnum" certainly springs to mind.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways
This is the sort of "change the world" idea that 1st-year college students might come up with, while sitting around totally drunk and stoned, brainstorming and trying to come up with some fanciful idea to change the world, by adding onto (and out-doing) the idea that the last guy came up with. But in most cases, they usually come to their senses as soon as the effects of the drugs wore off, and forget about the last night's modern Tower of Babel they planned to build that would fix all the world's problems. But not these people. They're not only planning on building their Tower of Babel, they've roped in plenty of gullible believers to open their wallets to this unworkable plan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNMFKKyFU60
Their video panders to the emotions of a class of people who apparently don't understand the basic concepts of either engineering or economics. Even without the crazy addons like heating panels to melt snow and built-in lights like an airport runway. Like most crowdfunding pitches, it's long on dreams but short on technical details.
While it's certainly possible to make a road out of solar panels using existing (or even half-century old) technology, or even the proposal to replace all the country's concrete and asphalt roads with this crazy thing, when you consider the price, engineering and logistical challenges, the cost vs benefit ratio would be mind-boggling. And perhaps worst of all, roads could be almost permanently impassible due to constant construction and repair (these things can and will break down) which would defeat the whole purpose of having roads in the first place. Perhaps the biggest factor that makes it "green" is that people would end up having to park their cars and walk everywhere because of it.
Sorry for the long rant. This has just been one of those head-shaking moments.
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lite mode
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Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
Regarding "mind power" and other fanciful ideas, the US military spent untold millions of dollars during the Cold War researching things like telekinesis, remote viewing, and other paranormal feats performed by cheap stage magicians claiming to be the real thing, such as Uri Geller.
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Re: Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
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Crowdfunded DVD's and LP's
Problem 1: How do I let people pay me for the crowd to actually fund me? I'd use the Kickstarter "model" of if I can't do a project, such as if I'm refused a license, I will refund the backer's money.
Problem 2: Finding the rights holders for many of the shows I wanted to license is actually next to impossible because they keep forming multi-studio groups named after the show, so the show is copyrighted to the name of the show or some variation thereof.
I'd really like to try this. And if you can think of a way to get it done where I can't, go for it. This idea is free for any and all to use, no strings attached. Not even attribution required.
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Re: Crowdfunded DVD's and LP's
Maybe find someone who licenses film clips and ask for advice.
I was just watching an interview with documentary film maker Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side, etc.) and he had said that in his latest film 'Going Clear' he tried to license film clips, as he always prefers to do, from the copyright owners. But since he was exposing a secretive organization with a legendary reputation for suing into the ground any critic or perceived enemy, no one would license any material to him for his documentary, perhaps out of fear of being dragged into a scorched-earth lawsuit (or maybe also to stay on friendly terms with Tom Cruise and John Travolta).
Not to be shut out, Alex Gibney just went ahead and used those film clips anyway -- as fair use.
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Re: Re: Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
Those experiments were all flawed. There were Russians such as Nina Kulagina who could move objects without touching them. And the US military, fearing that the Soviets had actually harnessed these supernatural powers, went all-out conducting their own research to learn these "secrets" -- which were in reality nothing but simple stage magic tricks (PhD scientists are just as easily fooled as anyone else). And quite naturally, sleight-of-hand artists came out of the woodwork to demonstrate these claimed powers.
But many people want so badly to believe that "psychics" and other paranormalist performers are in fact real (even when presented with contradictory evidence) they refuse to listen to reason --and their belief alone becomes their perceived reality.
TV shows have always played up the supernatural angle, even when the producers know very well that the stuff is fake (not surprising ... who would want to watch a show about a fake psychic?).
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https://www.techdirt.com/?_format=lite
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Re: Re: off topic: Awesome Stuff
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
Wel... Psych was actually pretty fun for a while, and scored major points for steadfastly refusing to entertain the idea that psychic abilities were anything but fake.
But other than that, yeah. And your point about scientists is well made -- folks interested in that should learn about James Randi, Banachek and Project Alpha, one of the most enjoyable stories of psychic researchers being made to look like fools.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
I never knew about that one, I always assumed "Psych" was just another "psychic demonstrates his godly powers"-type TV show, of the kind that litter cable TV these days (and presented as "reality" - not comedy). Though maybe things just seem worse today. Even Leonard Nimoy, after Star Trek, once did a supposedly "investigative" TV show about supernatural powers and other out-of-this-world stuff ... which oddly never called bullshit on anything (this was long before Penn & Teller).
"folks interested in that should learn about James Randi, Banachek and Project Alpha, one of the most enjoyable stories of psychic researchers being made to look like fools."
One thing I find remarkable was that although James Randi made a living exposing people who were pretending to be things they were not, it seems none of them ever exposed him back ... such as when it came to things like his longstanding fondness for "grooming" high-school-age boys (Project Alpha turned out to be one such "project").
So apparently Bill Cosby was not the only one in the entertainment business to get away with stuff that might have sunk his career if made public.
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First of all, about those infamous teen sex tapes floating around the internet that have dogged Randi for years -- here's what he had to say about that (reportedly) explicit phone-sex (while still in the closet):
http://web.archive.org/web/20090425045739/http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/525 -a-champion-grubbie-speaks-out.html
Perhaps it's a common thing, for middle-aged men to get unsolicited phone calls from homosexual teenage boys wanting to talk dirty. And in order to trace the call, it requires keeping them on the phone for a very long time. And in order to keep them on the phone, it requires engaging in homo-erotic talk. All at the encouragement and direction of the police. (Maybe I'm the only one who finds this story a little bit odd?)
Also, from an article in Time Magazine long ago:
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,149448,00.html
Reading between the lines, it seems that the Time writer might have been trying to say something without actually saying it. Jose Alvarez may have been Randi's last "foster child"/"apprentice" -- the two are still together. I don't know if any of the young "apprentices" have ever spoken out about what went on behind closed doors, but it's not hard *NOW* to imagine why Randi might have been so welcoming to having these youngsters living with him. But, hey, at least they were a few years older than Michael Jackson's preferred age in house guests -- even if some were under 18.
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Please check the "Comment Held for Moderation" queue, where this question was answered in detail.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
Please check the "Comment Held for Moderation" queue, where this question was answered in detail.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
It goes to show the ignorance of people, such as yourself, who didn't know of these experiments which were the forerunners of the technology available today. It also shows how easy it is for people, such as yourself, to get confused between science and non-science endeavours.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Correction: Mind controlled computing
http://www.happierabroad.com/JamesRandi.zip
Now decide for yourself if Randi was robbing the cradle.
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http://www.happierabroad.com/JamesRandi.zip
He admitted recording those "phone sex" tapes in that bizarre rant he posted a few years ago on Swift, "A Champion Grubbie Speaks Out" -- something that caught my attention because I never knew anything about it before then, and digging deeper, I learned that it was indeed old knowledge. I never bothered to actually listen to the tapes until yesterday, due to a certain skeptic here questioning the almost-certainly-true allegations about him.
Yes, Randi does indeed have enemies (both internal and external, it seems, as his organization is rapidly disintegrating, mainly due to the issue of sexual harassment). Randi only came out of the closet (at the age of 80) when tipped off that Sylvia Browne had hired a private investigator and was about to spill the beans on him (presumably about his homosexuality, not his history of pederasty).
I don't know if the TV show "To Catch a Predator" has ever set up celebrities to get busted, but it would have been funny (even if sad) to see someone like James Randi or Bill Cosby go to jail.
But of course, just like Bill Cosby and John Travolta, none of these suspicions against James Randi have ever been concretely proven, technically other than the things that he publicly admitted to (and which in Cosby's and Travolta's case is still zero)
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