Apps can run in the background to some extent, but their lifecycle is controlled by the Android OS and they are subject to be killed at any time for any reason (you can even force kill an app in the settings).
Apps can also create/start 'services' which only run in the background. These are a bit different (and are shown in a separate section in the settings). Services have no UI, but are meant to run long term in the background. They can still be killed, but have different lifecycles.
You're installing an app that tells you it's going to use the mic. You have to make a judgment call, do I trust this app/company to use that mic access in an appropriate manner.
The app/company has it's reputation to consider. It's non-trivial, but certainly possible to figure out just what an app is doing and what information it's sending. Bad behavior by high visibility apps will come to light.
For the most part the use of these items is legit. Using the GPS is great, but it's not as accurate as most people think. It can often be off by quite a bit and it's not reliable.
For that reason some apps (such as color) need additional information to identify your location. In the case of color (which I'm not associated with and don't use, but have looked into) it basically hashes the ambient noise on a few specific levels to match people together. It's not recording your conversations so all the developers can sit around and listen in.
Let's be honest here, we're talking about apps that openly inform us that they are going to collect our location and use that as part of the app experience. If this was some phone flashlight app that did this that is a whole different story.
I agree it's important to know about these things (and I do like the idea about an alert app, although I'm not sure if you'd be able to identify the application using the resource) this is an area ripe for hyperbole that really just needs some care taken by users as to who you trust.
Scene: Larry in meeting with Universal Execs, Several layers from both sides in attendance.
Universal Exec: ... So if you turn to page 32 you'll see the reasoning for the fee... Where is that?
Universal Lawyer: There, two thirds down.
Universal Exec: Ah, yes, as I was saying the reason for the fee..
Larry (interrupting and under his breath): I could jut buy you.
Universal Exec: I'm sorry what was that.
Larry (louder): I said I could just buy you. And by that I don't me you personally, or this company, I mean I could buy the whole recording industry.
Universal Exec: Well, I, umm, I think maybe...
Larry (interrupting again): I don't even need Google money to do it.
Google Lawyer: Umm Sir, I don't think..
Larry: No, I sick of this. Hell with all these meetings and the crap we do bending over backwards for these guys I've probably lost more money than their worth.
Universal Exec: Now wait a minute without us
Larry: What! Without you What! I'm sick of this crap we're done. You know what I'm not even going to bother trying to buy you, your a bad investment. I'm just going to fund artists. Every artist you try to sign I'll offer them a deal worth twice as much that lets them keep the copyright. I'll just bleed you dry till there's nothing left and it'll cost me half as much as these stupid negotiations.
(Larry gets up and walks out slowly followed by a cadre of confused but amused lawyers)
Universal Exec: What the fuck... What the fuck!
(fade to black)
The 'mainstream media' hasn't really done much investigative reporting in years. Their generally to worried about losing access to people/places/organizations to step on anybodies toes to hard. They also get caught up in the competition for attention and place more value on sensationalism over actual facts and perspective.
Personally I'm not angry at hotz for settling, although the settlement terms seem very heavy handed against Hotz (basically he can't touch anything Sony ever again), and goes against what many believe to be our basic rights, He's a twenty-something guy against a massive multinational corporation that had shown itself to deal very underhandedly. This fight would have drug on for years and the fight alone would have irreparably set Hotz back in his career.
I am disappointed that we didn't get a clear ruling, or possibly challenge the very legality of things like the DMCA and the limits to TOS, but that may not have come anyway.
I don't think this is the only lens through which we can view copyright, but unless the conversation is limited in such a fashion we may as well go back to the basic philosophical grounds for government and build up from there (which we might be able to get started on in ~800 comments)
The point is that those discussions are fairly worthless when you're talking about how to shape copyright laws in the US (which does have some impact around the globe). So you have to start with the purpose of those laws and go on from there.
Really? I'm a software developer. Worked for a company for many years. Doing contract work now. And I'm fairly sure I make more than most teachers.
Software development is probably not considered part of the 'creative' industry, but it's so very similar.
Once I create something, it's done, created, reusable forever. I don't get paid over and over again from some program I wrote years ago even though that program continues to make thousands or millions of dollars for the company using it.
I'm more than happy to support various forms of entertainment, but it's not my fault if they aren't capable of finding consistent ways to make a living with their trade. It shouldn't be up to the government to put in place barriers against the rest of us so some large corporations (because you really can't argue this helps the little guy) make massive amounts of money doing basically nothing.
Sure it's obvious now, but waaaay back in 2005 when this was filed there's no way anybody could have come up with this on their own! Obviously all these companies saw this patent and thought they could fly under the radar.
It certainly must have taken quite a bit of effort to find out all these companies were stealing this technology, after all it took two years from the issue date to start suing.
I'm pretty sure copyright has always been a figment of our imagination, however some hold on to it very strongly, like the catholic church trying to come to terms with a round earth that wasn't the center of the universe.
With all the whining about how infringement is no different than theft (despite the fact it's not even close), this is an example of real theft.
Culture has been stolen from the people. It continues to happen and only gets worse as ridiculous laws continue to expand the depth and breadth of copyright.
Making a mix tape for a boy/girlfriend.
Turning up the radio so others in the dorm can hear a song you like.
Singing in the dorm showers in a manner that others can hear you.
Allowing your roommate to share in watching a movie you rented.
Using quotes from movies with friends in an attempt to appear funny or knowledgeable.
This of course assumes floating point representation of integrety (IEEE 754 is the floating point standard)
However in integer division by zero there is usually a failure, small explosion, fire, and then engineers running around like chickens with there heads cut off.
On the post: Wisconsin County That 'Found' Lost Votes Apparently Has Major Voting Irregularities For Years...
On the post: Smartphone Apps Quietly Using Phone Microphones And Cameras To Gather Data
Re:
Apps can also create/start 'services' which only run in the background. These are a bit different (and are shown in a separate section in the settings). Services have no UI, but are meant to run long term in the background. They can still be killed, but have different lifecycles.
On the post: Smartphone Apps Quietly Using Phone Microphones And Cameras To Gather Data
Re: Re: To be fair...
You're installing an app that tells you it's going to use the mic. You have to make a judgment call, do I trust this app/company to use that mic access in an appropriate manner.
The app/company has it's reputation to consider. It's non-trivial, but certainly possible to figure out just what an app is doing and what information it's sending. Bad behavior by high visibility apps will come to light.
On the post: Smartphone Apps Quietly Using Phone Microphones And Cameras To Gather Data
To be fair...
For that reason some apps (such as color) need additional information to identify your location. In the case of color (which I'm not associated with and don't use, but have looked into) it basically hashes the ambient noise on a few specific levels to match people together. It's not recording your conversations so all the developers can sit around and listen in.
Let's be honest here, we're talking about apps that openly inform us that they are going to collect our location and use that as part of the app experience. If this was some phone flashlight app that did this that is a whole different story.
I agree it's important to know about these things (and I do like the idea about an alert app, although I'm not sure if you'd be able to identify the application using the resource) this is an area ripe for hyperbole that really just needs some care taken by users as to who you trust.
On the post: Why Google Should Buy The Recording Industry
Scene: Larry in meeting with Universal Execs, Several layers from both sides in attendance.
Universal Exec: ... So if you turn to page 32 you'll see the reasoning for the fee... Where is that?
Universal Lawyer: There, two thirds down.
Universal Exec: Ah, yes, as I was saying the reason for the fee..
Larry (interrupting and under his breath): I could jut buy you.
Universal Exec: I'm sorry what was that.
Larry (louder): I said I could just buy you. And by that I don't me you personally, or this company, I mean I could buy the whole recording industry.
Universal Exec: Well, I, umm, I think maybe...
Larry (interrupting again): I don't even need Google money to do it.
Google Lawyer: Umm Sir, I don't think..
Larry: No, I sick of this. Hell with all these meetings and the crap we do bending over backwards for these guys I've probably lost more money than their worth.
Universal Exec: Now wait a minute without us
Larry: What! Without you What! I'm sick of this crap we're done. You know what I'm not even going to bother trying to buy you, your a bad investment. I'm just going to fund artists. Every artist you try to sign I'll offer them a deal worth twice as much that lets them keep the copyright. I'll just bleed you dry till there's nothing left and it'll cost me half as much as these stupid negotiations.
(Larry gets up and walks out slowly followed by a cadre of confused but amused lawyers)
Universal Exec: What the fuck... What the fuck!
(fade to black)
On the post: Hugh Grant: Investigative Reporter
On the post: Geohot Supporters Angry He Settled With Sony
Re: Settlement terms aren't completely known
http://psx-scene.com/forums/attachments/f6/26802-settlement-george-hotz-case-127-stipul ation.pdf
Personally I'm not angry at hotz for settling, although the settlement terms seem very heavy handed against Hotz (basically he can't touch anything Sony ever again), and goes against what many believe to be our basic rights, He's a twenty-something guy against a massive multinational corporation that had shown itself to deal very underhandedly. This fight would have drug on for years and the fight alone would have irreparably set Hotz back in his career.
I am disappointed that we didn't get a clear ruling, or possibly challenge the very legality of things like the DMCA and the limits to TOS, but that may not have come anyway.
On the post: Revisiting The Question Of Who Deserves Copyright
Re:
The point is that those discussions are fairly worthless when you're talking about how to shape copyright laws in the US (which does have some impact around the globe). So you have to start with the purpose of those laws and go on from there.
On the post: Denmark Reverses Position On Copyright Extension, May Impact All Of Europe
Re: Re:
On the post: Denmark Reverses Position On Copyright Extension, May Impact All Of Europe
Re: Re: The Cultural Harm of Extending Copyrights
Software development is probably not considered part of the 'creative' industry, but it's so very similar.
Once I create something, it's done, created, reusable forever. I don't get paid over and over again from some program I wrote years ago even though that program continues to make thousands or millions of dollars for the company using it.
I'm more than happy to support various forms of entertainment, but it's not my fault if they aren't capable of finding consistent ways to make a living with their trade. It shouldn't be up to the government to put in place barriers against the rest of us so some large corporations (because you really can't argue this helps the little guy) make massive amounts of money doing basically nothing.
On the post: House Hearing On File Sharing Turns Into 'But Why Can't Google Magically Stop All Bad Things Online' Hearing
Re: Re:
On the post: Phone That Can Search The Internet & Display Ads Patented; Everyone Sued
Re: Re:
On the post: Phone That Can Search The Internet & Display Ads Patented; Everyone Sued
It certainly must have taken quite a bit of effort to find out all these companies were stealing this technology, after all it took two years from the issue date to start suing.
On the post: Does Google Have A Patent Problem... Or Does The Patent System Have A Google Problem?
Re:
On the post: Will Amazon Cave In And Get Licenses For Its Streaming Player?
Re:
On the post: How Else Could The NY Times Have Spent $40 Million?
On the post: Obama Secretly Accepts Transparency Award...
My head hurts now.
On the post: Appeals Court Still Says 'Down Under' Infringes On Decades Old Folk Song
This is Theft.
Culture has been stolen from the people. It continues to happen and only gets worse as ridiculous laws continue to expand the depth and breadth of copyright.
On the post: Boston College Tells Students That Using A Wireless Router Is A Sign Of Copyright Infringement
The page got cut off a bit..
Making a mix tape for a boy/girlfriend.
Turning up the radio so others in the dorm can hear a song you like.
Singing in the dorm showers in a manner that others can hear you.
Allowing your roommate to share in watching a movie you rented.
Using quotes from movies with friends in an attempt to appear funny or knowledgeable.
On the post: Judge Who Said Lumping Together Unrelated Copyright Cases Is Fine... Is A Former RIAA Lobbyist
Re: Re: Re: Re:
However in integer division by zero there is usually a failure, small explosion, fire, and then engineers running around like chickens with there heads cut off.
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