Garry Trudeau is arguing that our news (information about our nations, our towns, our laws, our lives) should be locked up behind a gate. That competition in the news industry is to be tossed away. That we should allow for a single monopolistic collective to filter and disseminate what we read and learn. And lastly that we have to pay for that privilege.
Trudeau's plan would completely screw us over, we'd get less news, we'd get less diverse news, we'd get highly filtered news, and it would cost us more.
One question for Garry Trudeau: What the frick do we get out of this deal besides an ass reaming?!
Mike, I don't know how you do it, day after day, week after week, year after year. Rationally and clearing responding to this complete BS, only to have it never go away.
I'm just glad you're here beating your head against the wall, because someone has got to do it.
Wow, great news and a fantastic ruling. The judge really seems to get it, selling a used copy could not promote piracy anymore than selling a new copy would.
"when the Columbine Massacre happened, the newsroom refused to give any news to the web people"
Oh my god how fricken stupid were these people?! They had a huge story. But instead of getting it to the people immediately via the web, they printed it on paper and delivered it via trucks so that everyone could read it the next day. This "news" paper deserved to die.
Despite laws against acts such as murder, rape, kidnapping, etc, these crimes still occur. Do you think such laws should be rescinded because they're not working? Just asking.
The sports media has always been in bed with the sports franchises and leagues. When was the last time your local newspaper, any of the 24 hour a day sports channels, or any of the sports magazines covered how terrible the NFL treats its players?
The sports media in this country is nothing more than journalistic cheerleaders. Whether the reporter is paid directly by the franchise or indirectly through advertising dollars, the result is the same.
"If you're offering a phone service of this nature, you need to connect it with the phone calls customers are making."
I've went over this before. What law says VoIP services have to connect every call? Telcos must connect such calls because their bound by common-carrier laws. Such laws do not apply to VoIP services such as Google's. If you know of such a law, please provide it.
Thanks for the correction. However, Brian Edwards is still wrong about his chainsaw analysis.
What he's basically saying is that there is a consumption/use right associated with copyright. That he should be paid for every use of his copyrighted material.
Why should patent holders not have the same right?
When you buy a chainsaw you've paid your patent use right. If you let someone else use those patents, the patent holder should should be paid again for that additional use.
Basically, the guy borrowing the chainsaw is using someone else's patent without paying a dime. That's grand theft, right?
Referring to Franken as "a former comedian" implies that he stopped being funny. Which also implies that at one time he was funny. Which is a completely asinine proposition.
Still, it's nice seeing Franken doing the right thing.
McDowell (the blogger's attorney) emphasizes that other writers can still use the word "frugalista" in their stories—which may seem obvious, given the fact that it is a commonly used word—but that they cannot identify themselves as a "frugalista."
There's a couple things wrong here. First, what market is supposed to be protected by the use of the trademark "frugalista"? The trademark "Apple" protects the market of various consumer electronic devices. What is "frugalista" protecting?
Secondly, identifying myself as "frugalista" could never violate a trademark. A person is rarely a product in a market. For example, I can freely identify myself as a Apple lover or Apple-head to show my love of Apple's products. That could not be a trademark violation because no one could ever confuse me with an iPod or an operating system. Plus the simple fact that I'm not a product in commerce.
Lastly, trademarks cannot be merely descriptive. If "frugalista" means a person who practices a frugal lifestyle, there is simply no way someone could trademark the term to keep people from using it to describe a frugal lifestyle.
Think of it this way, Apple was able to use the term "apple" as a trademark, because it is not in the apple business. However, if I had an orchard I could not trademark the word "apple" and keep others from referring to apples as apples.
I'm assuming her lawyer knows nothing about trademark law.
I tried to read Helprin's Op Ed piece which started this whole thing, but it's complete BS. His entire premise is based on the erroneous belief that copyrights are property. Copyright is not a property right. It's a government granted monopoly.
Copyright is barely even analogous to property. Sure, you could say that "Someone stole my song when they downloaded it without paying." But that's about as asinine as saying, "Someone stole JFK's life when they murdered him."
I used to make fun of these people, but it happened to me. I was leaving Chicago back to Michigan. I got off the toll expressway to get some gas.
When I was done, the GPS had me get back on the expressway to go back to Chicago. I realized it was odd, but despite the evidence in front of me, I also assumed the GPS was correct. That I needed to back-track in some way to get back on the toll road. It was wrong and I was an idiot. Well, most people already know about the latter.
As I wrote, if a major artist really wanted to connect with all of his fans, the rich and the poor alike, I suggested he tour more. That'd certainly work. I did some figuring.
The artist could stick with the top 20 cites in the US and play ten times in each city each year in the largest arena available. That's only 200 days, leaving him 165 days to tour the rest of the world. Football stadium usually hold about 80,0000 people in concert situations, i.e., when the ground is used.
Playing such an area 10 times would be a whopping 800,000 tickets for each city.
I think it's pretty easy to guess that even Bruce Springsteen could not sell out 800,000 tickets in an area the size of Detroit, Chicago, LA, etc. Accordingly, plenty of those tickets would go unused. Thus, their market value would be zero. Thus, the very poor would be allowed to attend.
On the post: Public Enemy Trying To Get A Little Help From Its Friends
Does anyone remember how awful the Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black CD was? Heck, does anyone actually even remember that CD at all?!
On the post: Senegal President Wants Royalty On Tourist Trap He Built
Re:
On the post: Could Doonesbury Learn Anything From XKCD?
Trudeau's plan would completely screw us over, we'd get less news, we'd get less diverse news, we'd get highly filtered news, and it would cost us more.
One question for Garry Trudeau: What the frick do we get out of this deal besides an ass reaming?!
On the post: Same Economy, Different Bubble
Re:
On the post: Same Economy, Different Bubble
On the post: US Chamber Of Commerce Makes Up Things About Intellectual Property
I'm just glad you're here beating your head against the wall, because someone has got to do it.
On the post: Court Once Again Confirms Right Of First Sale For Software: You Own It, Not License It
On the post: Obama Administration: Shield Law Should Only Protect Journalists If We Don't Care About The Story
On the post: Post Mortem For A Dead Newspaper
Oh my god how fricken stupid were these people?! They had a huge story. But instead of getting it to the people immediately via the web, they printed it on paper and delivered it via trucks so that everyone could read it the next day. This "news" paper deserved to die.
On the post: Despite All Sorts Of Laws And Automated Ticketing Cameras... Car Injuries Increased In The UK
On the post: The Los Angeles Kings Hires A Reporter To Cover... Themselves
The sports media in this country is nothing more than journalistic cheerleaders. Whether the reporter is paid directly by the franchise or indirectly through advertising dollars, the result is the same.
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On the post: AT&T, Google Spat Over Google Voice Blocked Calls Is Important... But Totally Misses The Point
I've went over this before. What law says VoIP services have to connect every call? Telcos must connect such calls because their bound by common-carrier laws. Such laws do not apply to VoIP services such as Google's. If you know of such a law, please provide it.
What's really sad is that you've argued the opposite position previously. Remember back when you agreed that VoIP services were not analogous to Telcos? It was only last May.
On the post: New Zealand Author Claims Libraries Are Involved In Grand Theft By Loaning Books
Re: Re:
What he's basically saying is that there is a consumption/use right associated with copyright. That he should be paid for every use of his copyrighted material.
Why should patent holders not have the same right?
When you buy a chainsaw you've paid your patent use right. If you let someone else use those patents, the patent holder should should be paid again for that additional use.
Basically, the guy borrowing the chainsaw is using someone else's patent without paying a dime. That's grand theft, right?
On the post: New Zealand Author Claims Libraries Are Involved In Grand Theft By Loaning Books
Apparently he's ignorant about patents too.
On the post: Obama Administration: New State Secrets Rules = Really, You Can Trust Us
Still, it's nice seeing Franken doing the right thing.
On the post: Frugalista! Frugalista! Frugalista! Now... Where's My Cease And Desist?
There's a couple things wrong here. First, what market is supposed to be protected by the use of the trademark "frugalista"? The trademark "Apple" protects the market of various consumer electronic devices. What is "frugalista" protecting?
Secondly, identifying myself as "frugalista" could never violate a trademark. A person is rarely a product in a market. For example, I can freely identify myself as a Apple lover or Apple-head to show my love of Apple's products. That could not be a trademark violation because no one could ever confuse me with an iPod or an operating system. Plus the simple fact that I'm not a product in commerce.
Lastly, trademarks cannot be merely descriptive. If "frugalista" means a person who practices a frugal lifestyle, there is simply no way someone could trademark the term to keep people from using it to describe a frugal lifestyle.
Think of it this way, Apple was able to use the term "apple" as a trademark, because it is not in the apple business. However, if I had an orchard I could not trademark the word "apple" and keep others from referring to apples as apples.
I'm assuming her lawyer knows nothing about trademark law.
On the post: Mark Helprin: All The Reviews Of My Book Sucked Because Publishers Assigned The People I Insult To Review It
Copyright is barely even analogous to property. Sure, you could say that "Someone stole my song when they downloaded it without paying." But that's about as asinine as saying, "Someone stole JFK's life when they murdered him."
On the post: Following Your GPS Over A Cliff Is No Excuse For Bad Driving
When I was done, the GPS had me get back on the expressway to go back to Chicago. I realized it was odd, but despite the evidence in front of me, I also assumed the GPS was correct. That I needed to back-track in some way to get back on the toll road. It was wrong and I was an idiot. Well, most people already know about the latter.
On the post: Ticketmaster Trying To Cut Down On Scalpers... Or Increase Fee Collection For Itself?
Re: Re: Re:
As I wrote, if a major artist really wanted to connect with all of his fans, the rich and the poor alike, I suggested he tour more. That'd certainly work. I did some figuring.
The artist could stick with the top 20 cites in the US and play ten times in each city each year in the largest arena available. That's only 200 days, leaving him 165 days to tour the rest of the world. Football stadium usually hold about 80,0000 people in concert situations, i.e., when the ground is used.
Playing such an area 10 times would be a whopping 800,000 tickets for each city.
I think it's pretty easy to guess that even Bruce Springsteen could not sell out 800,000 tickets in an area the size of Detroit, Chicago, LA, etc. Accordingly, plenty of those tickets would go unused. Thus, their market value would be zero. Thus, the very poor would be allowed to attend.
Problem solved.
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