I too am an American living in Asia.
Last time I pointed this out, I had an anonymous troll come along and inform me "it is your fault for living in Asia".
Eh, go figure why we have so many "pesky foreign pirates".
You dear sir are giving to much credit to our officials capacity to care about more than just the donation money from the **aas, which is why there is this problem in the first place.
Actually, it makes me think of "Soapbox" standing, because that is how they are trying to sell it, by selling to morality, instead of actually showing their true agenda (control).
The ironic part is that they post about how well it works in these other countries.
The fact is, they do not even seem to know what they are talking about.
In China, talk to anyone who uses the computer in a regular basis to find a way to get around the Great Firewall of China.
We use VPNs, proxies, DNS redirects, and other enhancements.
Try this link to see about how they block. It is China's most popular search engine, and it shows how China has blocked speech it doesn't like (In this example, it is a search for "Tankman", which is an illegal topic in China). Similar to the way the US government has attempted to block Wikileaks.
Now, try this link, which is a simple Google search on how to bypass the Great firewall of China. You will notice it is rather easy to do as you delve into it (But warning, if you get caught, you can get in trouble). Here is one of the better articles that goes to show the ultimate futility.
It just goes to show that all of this will ultimately fail. Lets face it, Castro is wrong. It does not work. Maybe our grandparents will not be able to get around it, but I guarantee your kids will.
It shows they in fact made money other ways than just advertising, and automatically saying "They had advertising, they made money, so A+B=???" is intellectually dishonest because you leave out the actual money generated by each factor. How do you know the advertising was not 1 Euro of the total monetary gain?
To bad we would not see it happen in reality, because you know if Google starts giving them a taste of their own medicine, the government would find a way to shut them down.
They already take enough issue over their "Bigness"... (Why can't I find that article where a concern about "How big they are getting" came about? Can someone help me with the link?)
Actually, while I agree with almost all of your post, I just wanted to let you know that the comment about China shows you have not lived in China, and know little about it.
While they do have a hypothetical Universal Health care, it in fact is purely academic, and does not in fact universally cover everyone. In fact, if you have no money to pay the medical bills, hospitals will turn you away.
This goes for almost all aspects in China.
Other then this, I agree with most of what you wrote. Just want to set the record straight.
PS. Please let me know if you want to argue, and I will post the information directly from Chinese citizens with links (But you will need to use a translate engine, since the sites are in Chinese. Feel free to visit here if you want to see a real life example of this.)
Yes, but you have to understand that unless you happen to be a US citizen living abroad, then your opinion will not matter to those who are writing and trying to pass this law.
In other words, blocking the world is useless because their voice will not be heard. On the other hand, blocking their constituents would have the potential to bring about more public backlash and cause them to rethink what they are doing, since they are going to be up for re-election at some point.
The good part is the minimum income I must earn before I pay US based taxes is $85,000. Since I do not make that yearly income level, I just file my taxes in the US, I do not actually have to pay anything.
Instead, I pay taxes in Taiwan, and let the US know I earned money and paid taxes already. This way I will not have to worry about the IRS knocking on my door when I come back to the states.
Taxes here are 6% anyways, much better than US level. If your self employed internationally, and married to a national in the country of location, my suggestions, put the business in her name, and have her pay you an income up to but not exceeding the tax exemption. Otherwise, you have to pay not only the taxes of the country you are located in, but also the taxes on the income earned above that level. Double taxation....yeah....
Just remember, the IRS took down Capone, and he was smarter than me.
To be honest, I am not completely sure why this is.
I do know the biggest bank here is a government owned bank: The Bank of Taiwan.
In fact, they even have a post office bank, so the government actually owns two different banks.
Credit cards however can be used internationally, unlike my visa logo ATM card, but they need a Taiwanese national to sign, and my wife's credit is not good.
I used to order a few international goods while I lived in the US. I think the price has a build in "fee" association, their way of making a positive profit. Plus, they have a currency exchange hedge in the mixture, so you normally pay a penalty on the exchange rate. On top of all this, you will find the "Willing to pay" rate, or what they are willing to pay for your currency, or willing to sell the other currency at, is not equal to the true market value.
Ultimately, you get hit by many fee style things when doing cross currency issues. Maybe we can get a banker in the comments to actually review why we get these fees? Me, I am not sure why they feel this need.
Phones are also different here, since it uses SIM technology, not the standard CDMA. So, we do not get "plans" like the US (Although there are two CDMA carriers, but they are not big here). What we do is pay a base rate no matter what, and get charged a given per second charge. So, bigger base rate, lower per second charge. I think mine works out to about 0.08 per second (Taiwan dollars). I believe part of the roaming fees is because the phone company has to pay for the used bandwidth, which they then pass off to you on the bills.
On the post: ICE Propaganda Film Pats Itself On The Back For Censoring The Web; Promises Much More To Come
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Of course, if I am wrong, the drugs did more damage then we thought, since DaJaz1 was returned with no charges filed.
On the post: ICE Propaganda Film Pats Itself On The Back For Censoring The Web; Promises Much More To Come
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: ICE Propaganda Film Pats Itself On The Back For Censoring The Web; Promises Much More To Come
Re: Re:
Will let you know when they reply.
On the post: Obama Working To 'Fix' His Relationship With Hollywood
Re: Obama. Time to go?
On the post: Why Does The Recording Industry Complain When It's Often Its Own Worst Enemy?
Re:
Last time I pointed this out, I had an anonymous troll come along and inform me "it is your fault for living in Asia".
Eh, go figure why we have so many "pesky foreign pirates".
On the post: China Ramps Up Online Censorship Efforts As US Congress Gives Them Perfect Cover
Re:
Dajaz1.com
You just lost the argument.
Need me to post more words to make you look foolish?
On the post: China Ramps Up Online Censorship Efforts As US Congress Gives Them Perfect Cover
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Wikipedia Considers Blackout To Protest SOPA
Re: Re: Re: Re: Woah, woah..
On the post: The List Of Internet Censoring Countries The MPAA Thinks Provide A Good Example For The US
Re: Re: Doesn't work well in China
You can claim the blocked material targets are different, but the methods for implementation are the same.
Want me to have our Chinese engineers explain it to you?
On the post: The List Of Internet Censoring Countries The MPAA Thinks Provide A Good Example For The US
Re:
It also makes me think of a soap party (or a blanket party as it is formally called).
On the post: The List Of Internet Censoring Countries The MPAA Thinks Provide A Good Example For The US
Doesn't work well in China
The fact is, they do not even seem to know what they are talking about.
In China, talk to anyone who uses the computer in a regular basis to find a way to get around the Great Firewall of China.
We use VPNs, proxies, DNS redirects, and other enhancements.
Try this link to see about how they block. It is China's most popular search engine, and it shows how China has blocked speech it doesn't like (In this example, it is a search for "Tankman", which is an illegal topic in China). Similar to the way the US government has attempted to block Wikileaks.
Now, try this link, which is a simple Google search on how to bypass the Great firewall of China. You will notice it is rather easy to do as you delve into it (But warning, if you get caught, you can get in trouble). Here is one of the better articles that goes to show the ultimate futility.
It just goes to show that all of this will ultimately fail. Lets face it, Castro is wrong. It does not work. Maybe our grandparents will not be able to get around it, but I guarantee your kids will.
On the post: CCIA Slams Congressional Representatives Who Unfairly Attack US Companies For Speaking Up Against SOPA
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
The rep also has a trench coat on and when he opened it, he had lots of fake rolex watches for me to purchase.
On the post: CCIA Slams Congressional Representatives Who Unfairly Attack US Companies For Speaking Up Against SOPA
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: CCIA Slams Congressional Representatives Who Unfairly Attack US Companies For Speaking Up Against SOPA
Re: Re: Re:
Like the "premium services offered on the hosting sites".
It shows they in fact made money other ways than just advertising, and automatically saying "They had advertising, they made money, so A+B=???" is intellectually dishonest because you leave out the actual money generated by each factor. How do you know the advertising was not 1 Euro of the total monetary gain?
Less FUD, more facts. 謝謝你。
On the post: CCIA Slams Congressional Representatives Who Unfairly Attack US Companies For Speaking Up Against SOPA
Re: Re: Re: Re: Collision
To bad we would not see it happen in reality, because you know if Google starts giving them a taste of their own medicine, the government would find a way to shut them down.
They already take enough issue over their "Bigness"... (Why can't I find that article where a concern about "How big they are getting" came about? Can someone help me with the link?)
On the post: CCIA Slams Congressional Representatives Who Unfairly Attack US Companies For Speaking Up Against SOPA
Re: Re: Re: Re:
While they do have a hypothetical Universal Health care, it in fact is purely academic, and does not in fact universally cover everyone. In fact, if you have no money to pay the medical bills, hospitals will turn you away.
This goes for almost all aspects in China.
Other then this, I agree with most of what you wrote. Just want to set the record straight.
PS. Please let me know if you want to argue, and I will post the information directly from Chinese citizens with links (But you will need to use a translate engine, since the sites are in Chinese. Feel free to visit here if you want to see a real life example of this.)
On the post: Wikipedia Considers Blackout To Protest SOPA
Re: Re: Woah, woah..
In other words, blocking the world is useless because their voice will not be heard. On the other hand, blocking their constituents would have the potential to bring about more public backlash and cause them to rethink what they are doing, since they are going to be up for re-election at some point.
On the post: Supporters Of SOPA/PIPA Make Arguments That Make No Sense
Re: I have a question?
I just bought a dvd, and as normal, I planned to rip it and put it on my NAS, so if something happens to the disk, I have a backup.
So I tried every program I have, and didn't work.
What did I do? I went to a torrent site and downloaded it.
On the post: Just John's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Re:
Instead, I pay taxes in Taiwan, and let the US know I earned money and paid taxes already. This way I will not have to worry about the IRS knocking on my door when I come back to the states.
Taxes here are 6% anyways, much better than US level. If your self employed internationally, and married to a national in the country of location, my suggestions, put the business in her name, and have her pay you an income up to but not exceeding the tax exemption. Otherwise, you have to pay not only the taxes of the country you are located in, but also the taxes on the income earned above that level. Double taxation....yeah....
Just remember, the IRS took down Capone, and he was smarter than me.
On the post: Just John's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Re:
I do know the biggest bank here is a government owned bank: The Bank of Taiwan.
In fact, they even have a post office bank, so the government actually owns two different banks.
Credit cards however can be used internationally, unlike my visa logo ATM card, but they need a Taiwanese national to sign, and my wife's credit is not good.
I used to order a few international goods while I lived in the US. I think the price has a build in "fee" association, their way of making a positive profit. Plus, they have a currency exchange hedge in the mixture, so you normally pay a penalty on the exchange rate. On top of all this, you will find the "Willing to pay" rate, or what they are willing to pay for your currency, or willing to sell the other currency at, is not equal to the true market value.
Ultimately, you get hit by many fee style things when doing cross currency issues. Maybe we can get a banker in the comments to actually review why we get these fees? Me, I am not sure why they feel this need.
Phones are also different here, since it uses SIM technology, not the standard CDMA. So, we do not get "plans" like the US (Although there are two CDMA carriers, but they are not big here). What we do is pay a base rate no matter what, and get charged a given per second charge. So, bigger base rate, lower per second charge. I think mine works out to about 0.08 per second (Taiwan dollars). I believe part of the roaming fees is because the phone company has to pay for the used bandwidth, which they then pass off to you on the bills.
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