It does have a lot of merit. The person claiming copyright should always have to prove that they have a valid copyright. The person suing should also have to prove the actual amount of damage being done.
This would tend to make suing for copyright much more expensive and less likely to succeed. It would still be worthwhile to sue if someone else was actually harming your profits by copying your work. On the other hand it would make it unprofitable to sue when it is true fair-use issue that isn't actually causing harm to the copyright holder.
This is another example of why copyfraud needs to be a crime. There should be treble damages if the person did not take reasonable steps to insure that they had a valid copyright on the work before filing a claim of copyright.
I am still dubious about whether cable providers are going to be willing to actually cut off customers. Each residential customer is worth from $800 to $1800 of revenue per year and business users with open wifi are worth considerably more. The marginal cost of supporting a subscriber are low. Every customer represents a significant profit point. How many cable companies are going to be eager to cut off profit points, especially in a market is essentially subscribed-out and has flat growth potential?
Some companies like AT&T actually seem eager to roll out 6 strikes, and that seems very odd. I wonder if they want to use 6 strikes to leverage in some type of "paid content" model that results in tiered internet services.
It is also possible that the movie industry has offered some sweetheart deals to cable companies that roll out six strikes. That would make the behavior of companies like Comcast and AT&T more understandable, but it would call into question the wisdom of the movie industry giving up revenue without any apparent way of actually increasing their own receipts. The cable companies may piss off their customers, but from the standpoint of the cable companies their subscribers are usually a captive audience with no other service options. The MPAA, on the other hand, is going to piss off their customers who do have a lot of other entertainment options.
It will be interesting to see how this whole thing works out in places like Kansas City where there is a viable option to subscribing to a 6-strike cable service.
Actually, the Death Star petition got a better response than most of the petitions have gotten.
I think the responses are mostly written by junior staffers who use the petitions as an opportunity to practice the vital political skill of responding to a question without actually saying or doing anything meaningful.
For once I have something in common with the MPAA and RIAA. I don't like what Google is doing, either. I don't like Google tweaking its optimal searches. I don't like Google putting pressure on payment processors to try to enforce nanny-state rules. I don't like it using Content-ID to remove items from YouTube that are not copyright violations.
Of course Google does have to enforce laws that have already passed. However, lately it seems intent on trying to enforce laws that the MPAA dreams about passing.
It is sad that the entertainment industry has so many politicians in its pocket that it can effectively use the threat of new laws and government witch hunts to force companies to do its bidding without the bother of going through the legal system.
It looks like Dotcom is branching Mega out into other things relating to a broad range of "privacy" services. That will at the same time give his service some legitimate cover and piss off every government in the world.
I would love to see some usenet, proxy, and vpn figures for France and Spain. I am guessing that HADOPI has created some fantastic business opportunities for services that are a lot harder to track and shut down than torrents.
Next up, France and Spain will probably try to go after payment processors for usenet and vpn providers. That would be a big win for Bitcoin and credit card systems based out of tiny Caribbean countries with dodgy banking laws.
There probably is a negative side in all of this. With all of these moles being whacked by the media syndicates, exterminators and lawn service companies are probably losing a lot of business.
It sounds like a scheme to promote Bitcoin. I'm sure that isn't Google's intent, neither is it the intent of the companies pushing Google to do this. But it is inevitable that traditional traditional funding sources become a nanny-state enforcement mechanism the payments will simply move to a more anonymous and difficult-to-track system.
I think there is something else going on here. In general, the pricing of the traditional version of Office 2013 is crazy. The strategy seems to be to provide the traditional desktop setup to people and businesses that absolutely demand the traditional setup and who are willing to pay absurdly high prices and put up with restrictive licensing (you highlighted the retail version, but I understand that business licenses are also unfavorable to the user).
Microsoft is pushing the '365 version of Office. It has an annual license fee that will include free upgrades to future versions of office (as long as you keep buying annual licenses). 365 also allows installations on up to 5 computers. Microsoft has made it pretty clear that traditional Office 2013 users will be stuck with what they get out of the box forever except for maintenance patches; no new features for 2013 users. Ever.
Annual licensing appeals to large businesses, but as a general rule small businesses and individuals hate it. Can you buy stock in BSA? (and I don't mean Boy Scouts of America) I have a feeling that piracy of Office 2013 will be rampant, so the BSA might have a great future.
The movie industry has one thing going for it that no other industry can match. Politicians LOVE to rub elbows with movie stars. It is hard for most politicians to resist invitations to a few star-studded parties and promises of visits to local shots, premiers, and private showings. Toss in some campaign contributions and Hollywood can write any bill they want.
This is the same line of thought that says that things like six strikes are actually about education.
In both cases the mentality of the insiders is that the public needs education about copyright and it is great that they are learning about IP law. Both instances demonstrate how blind the insiders are about the problems they are causing for the copyright system itself. The insiders can't see that the public is being taught to hate anything to do with copyright and they are actually being educated in methods of circumventing protections. The public is also being taught to avoid dealing with copyright holders if it can be avoided.
It isn't surprising that the copyright office has this perspective considering how interbred they are with RIAA/MPAA lobbyists and attorneys.
Be careful about what you dismiss as unhealthy. I am on the Ketogenic diet ("keto") and the 'Merica burger would be ok on this diet, with the exception of the dressing which probably has too many carbs. Yes, it really is a weight loss diet and it really works. I have lost 50 pounds in less than 3 months by eating no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. I just had a rather complete set of blood tests and they are much better than before I started the diet. I feel better than I have in years and have no trouble staying on a diet of mostly meat and fat. Be careful about what you denounce as unhealthy.
SEO is a poor metric in this case. If Huffington Post ranks above Verge, then people might go to the Huffington Post. But then they get linked back to The Verge. If the reader is really interested, they will click on through to the Verge. If they are not interested after reading the first snippet, then the Verge hasn't lost much because uninterested readers rarely stick around to click on ads. If anything, the preview saved the Verge a bit of bandwidth and server load which it otherwise would have spent on uninterested readers.
In some ways The Verge should be happy that the Huffington Post got a better SEO than they were able to get on their own. First, the Huffington Post linking to an article probably helps the SEO of The Verge. Second, apparently the HuffPo had something going for it that Verge did not. Whatever it was, the HuffPo managed to get the link higher in the ranking than Verge. Complaining about that is like a quarterback complaining that the running back gets the ball further down the field than he does himself. You have to remember that the objective is to get the ball down the field as far as possible, and you have to realize that it doesn't really matter whose name is associated with the run as long as points go on the scoreboard. In this case the objective of The Verge should be to get the link as high on the page as possible, and it doesn't really matter whose name it is under as long as the traffic comes back to Verge.
Right now might not be a good time in New Zealand for the big labels. That have already gotten a lot of bad publicity. An unpopular hearing outcome might give politicians an excuse to overturn the 3 styles program.
Things like Angie's List exist because there is a need for them. If all contractors were ethical and competent there would be no need for services like this, and they would not be so massively successful.
I suppose it is a natural reaction for other contractors and contractor organizations to support Dietz. However, competent and ethical contractors should avoid the knee-jerk reaction of supporting a fellow contractor. Professional organizations should also have caution. Things like Angie's List and Yelp are one way to reign in the scam artists, the incompetent, and the unethical. Yes, good contractors are occasionally going to get bad reviews. But on balance the truth is going to come through and the bad contractors are going to suffer from reviews much more than the good ones.
On the post: Prenda Law Issues Subpoena For IP Addresses Of Every Visitor To Critic Blogs For The Past Two Years
Re: Re: The more I jibe at Mike, the more obsessed with Prenda he gets.
AC is really Alan Cooper.
On the post: YouTube's ContentID Trolls: Claim Copyright On Lots Of Gameplay Videos, Hope No One Complains, Collect Free Money [Updated]
Re: Re:
This would tend to make suing for copyright much more expensive and less likely to succeed. It would still be worthwhile to sue if someone else was actually harming your profits by copying your work. On the other hand it would make it unprofitable to sue when it is true fair-use issue that isn't actually causing harm to the copyright holder.
On the post: YouTube's ContentID Trolls: Claim Copyright On Lots Of Gameplay Videos, Hope No One Complains, Collect Free Money [Updated]
On the post: Six Strikes Officially Begins On Monday
Some companies like AT&T actually seem eager to roll out 6 strikes, and that seems very odd. I wonder if they want to use 6 strikes to leverage in some type of "paid content" model that results in tiered internet services.
It is also possible that the movie industry has offered some sweetheart deals to cable companies that roll out six strikes. That would make the behavior of companies like Comcast and AT&T more understandable, but it would call into question the wisdom of the movie industry giving up revenue without any apparent way of actually increasing their own receipts. The cable companies may piss off their customers, but from the standpoint of the cable companies their subscribers are usually a captive audience with no other service options. The MPAA, on the other hand, is going to piss off their customers who do have a lot of other entertainment options.
It will be interesting to see how this whole thing works out in places like Kansas City where there is a viable option to subscribing to a 6-strike cable service.
On the post: White House Petition Concerning Legality Of Unlocking Phones Passes The Magic 100,000 Mark
Re:
I think the responses are mostly written by junior staffers who use the petitions as an opportunity to practice the vital political skill of responding to a question without actually saying or doing anything meaningful.
On the post: RIAA: Google Isn't Trying Hard Enough To Make Piracy Disappear From The Internet
Of course Google does have to enforce laws that have already passed. However, lately it seems intent on trying to enforce laws that the MPAA dreams about passing.
It is sad that the entertainment industry has so many politicians in its pocket that it can effectively use the threat of new laws and government witch hunts to force companies to do its bidding without the bother of going through the legal system.
On the post: HADOPI May Be Succeeding -- In Driving French Customers To Dotcom's Mega
Re:
On the post: HADOPI May Be Succeeding -- In Driving French Customers To Dotcom's Mega
Next up, France and Spain will probably try to go after payment processors for usenet and vpn providers. That would be a big win for Bitcoin and credit card systems based out of tiny Caribbean countries with dodgy banking laws.
There probably is a negative side in all of this. With all of these moles being whacked by the media syndicates, exterminators and lawn service companies are probably losing a lot of business.
On the post: Google Looks To Cut 'Funding' To 'Illegal' Sites It Doesn't Fund In The First Place
On the post: Iceland: Going From Protecting Free Speech Online... To Setting Up Their Own Great Firewall?
Re: call me Apollo
"Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself."
A. H. Weiler
(1909 - 2002)
Everyone who works in technology should have a sign like that posted in every conference room where you meet with non-tech people.
On the post: Microsoft Makes Retail Versions Of Office Single Install
Microsoft is pushing the '365 version of Office. It has an annual license fee that will include free upgrades to future versions of office (as long as you keep buying annual licenses). 365 also allows installations on up to 5 computers. Microsoft has made it pretty clear that traditional Office 2013 users will be stuck with what they get out of the box forever except for maintenance patches; no new features for 2013 users. Ever.
Annual licensing appeals to large businesses, but as a general rule small businesses and individuals hate it. Can you buy stock in BSA? (and I don't mean Boy Scouts of America) I have a feeling that piracy of Office 2013 will be rampant, so the BSA might have a great future.
On the post: Florida Lawmakers Try To Stop Subsidizing Videogames; Send That Money To Hollywood Instead
Re: Re:
On the post: Florida Lawmakers Try To Stop Subsidizing Videogames; Send That Money To Hollywood Instead
On the post: Copyright Boss: 'It's Great Mechanics Now Need To Know About Copyright'
In both cases the mentality of the insiders is that the public needs education about copyright and it is great that they are learning about IP law. Both instances demonstrate how blind the insiders are about the problems they are causing for the copyright system itself. The insiders can't see that the public is being taught to hate anything to do with copyright and they are actually being educated in methods of circumventing protections. The public is also being taught to avoid dealing with copyright holders if it can be avoided.
It isn't surprising that the copyright office has this perspective considering how interbred they are with RIAA/MPAA lobbyists and attorneys.
On the post: DailyDirt: Hamburgers Gone Wild
On the post: GEMA Takes Kim Dotcom's Mega Launch Party Video Down, Despite All Songs Being Cleared
Re:
On the post: Dear HuffPo: Feel Free To Send Techdirt Traffic
In some ways The Verge should be happy that the Huffington Post got a better SEO than they were able to get on their own. First, the Huffington Post linking to an article probably helps the SEO of The Verge. Second, apparently the HuffPo had something going for it that Verge did not. Whatever it was, the HuffPo managed to get the link higher in the ranking than Verge. Complaining about that is like a quarterback complaining that the running back gets the ball further down the field than he does himself. You have to remember that the objective is to get the ball down the field as far as possible, and you have to realize that it doesn't really matter whose name is associated with the run as long as points go on the scoreboard. In this case the objective of The Verge should be to get the link as high on the page as possible, and it doesn't really matter whose name it is under as long as the traffic comes back to Verge.
On the post: First Three Strikes Case In New Zealand Goes To Hearing
On the post: Contractors Lining Up Against Free Speech
I suppose it is a natural reaction for other contractors and contractor organizations to support Dietz. However, competent and ethical contractors should avoid the knee-jerk reaction of supporting a fellow contractor. Professional organizations should also have caution. Things like Angie's List and Yelp are one way to reign in the scam artists, the incompetent, and the unethical. Yes, good contractors are occasionally going to get bad reviews. But on balance the truth is going to come through and the bad contractors are going to suffer from reviews much more than the good ones.
On the post: To Boost Its New Crappy DRM, Hollywood Tries Giving Away Free Movies
Re:
This is illegal because ... ummm ... give me a minute...
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