This doesn't seem like blackmail to me. The US has a right to control who comes and goes through its borders, just like every other country does. If they EU citizens would have been required to fill out a visa anyway, what difference does it make to the ordinary traveler if the process is streamlined?
*puts on tin foil hat*
This is most likely due to many EU countries making biometric data required at border checks. It's making life harder for our spooks, who are used to coming and going under many different identities. If Europe is going to track our spies more closely, its only fair we acquire the data to track theirs back.
*removes tin foil hat*
Who decided $9.98 was the magic number? If it was Walmart, that isn't collusion. If it was its suppliers pushing Walmart around, it might be collusion. However, I highly doubt anyone is pushing Walmart around. It's more likely the other way around.
Are all DVDs all over town (and in every other town) $9.98? If not, than that is an indication of legal competition, not illegal collusion.
Are prices mysteriously rising despite dropping distribution costs? That is a very strong sign of illegal collusion.
In short, Walmart isn't the entire marketplace. Walmart is one player in the market.
No, that's a myth that business schools have been perpetuating.
Businesses always do the thing that makes them feel safe and profitable. Once they no longer feel safe and profitable, they take all their resources and use them to cry as loudly as possible to every politician and anyone else they can find until they get enough regulation to feel safe and profitable again.
Remember, they don't have to actually be more profitable, they just have to feel more profitable.
Anyone that makes a businesses feel less profitable is obviously a scary pirate, and therefore makes them feel less secure.
Math, technology, and evolving business models are for nerds.
Actually, those are some of the most efficient energy storage schemes available today. The only problem is that not many sites has suitable resources to handle a large volume of stored water and viable renewable energy sources close enough to each other.
The point is, in a competitive market place, if you don't undersell your competitors they will undersell you.
If the market is rigged then you can get away with raising prices as distribution costs shrink. The current market conditions are a clear indication of illegal, anti-competitive behavior.
I guess there is one possible mistake. It is always possible that they could retain their fat executive salaries because they are so out of touch with the economics that they are already losing money.
There is actually some evidence that may be the case already.
I am more of a engineering/technical person but...
I think the point is those costs don't matter to the consumer. The X consumers will buy your product for price Y. The goal is to maximize X*Y.
The sunk costs are completely irrelevant to the economics. The sunk costs were your risk when getting into the business.
MPAA/RIAA/IFPI/BRIEN and all these other trade groups would prefer not to compete on price. They want to compete on the size of their infrastructure. If they can fool everyone into thinking that bigger infrastructure and bigger advertising campaigns will always result in a better product, they will win.
If they are forced to compete on price, they will lose their fat executive salaries and the consumer will win better prices and more selection.
If anyone cares to critique the economics analysis of a simple electrical engineer, feel free.
Damnit, I was hoping they got the message last time. Well, even if this passes, it is most likely destined to fail in the courts, unless the gov never bring any evidence into court due to "national security" reasons.
(def: national security-we passed an illegal bill or started an illegal program on a flimsy constitutional premise and want to use this coverall to keep our asses out of court so we don't have to stop)
Unless the supreme court completely eviscerates our current understanding of due process, this too shall fail.
The damage was done under the Bush administration. Obama and Congress didn't fix it properly. If I get shot and the doctor patching me up nicks a nerve, I still put more blame on the one that shot me.
Bush was probably one of the worst presidents in our history. The fact is our economy shrank under Bush and is growing under Obama. The abusive programs that we complain about Obama continuing were largely started under Bush.
If the choice is between a big government republican that wants to erode our civil rights and turn entire US economy into a pump and dump scam to benefit a few very rich people or a big government democrat that just wants to erode our civil rights, I'll take the democrat every time. However, I'll be gnashing my teeth and begging for a better choice all the way to the ballot box.
The US is actually in a pretty good position right now. We definitely need to take steps, but it is more likely that the starvation/war will happen elsewhere first.
I don't think we're damaging the environment that badly overall.
The real problems is that in the not too distant future, fossil fuels will stop being economical due to a combination of supply and demand and the simple energy in/energy out physics of extracting them from the earth.
Unless there is a massive expansion of renewable technologies or a huge technological leap forward in our understanding of nuclear energy, there will be a large excess of population that we will no longer be able to feed.
That will lead to either starvation or war, depending on how the politics work out.
It's such a shame their wasn't a nuclear launch during the Cold War.
The ensuing war and thermonuclear ice age would have vindicated the arms race by showing the irradiated survivors how useful the nuclear arms were.
/sarc
On the post: US 'Blackmails' EU Into Agreeing To Hand Over Passenger Data
*puts on tin foil hat*
This is most likely due to many EU countries making biometric data required at border checks. It's making life harder for our spooks, who are used to coming and going under many different identities. If Europe is going to track our spies more closely, its only fair we acquire the data to track theirs back.
*removes tin foil hat*
On the post: Josh In CharlotteNC’s Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Re: Re: Re:
Are all DVDs all over town (and in every other town) $9.98? If not, than that is an indication of legal competition, not illegal collusion.
Are prices mysteriously rising despite dropping distribution costs? That is a very strong sign of illegal collusion.
In short, Walmart isn't the entire marketplace. Walmart is one player in the market.
On the post: Josh In CharlotteNC’s Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Josh In CharlotteNC’s Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Re:
Copyright monopolies are legal. Collusion among copyright holders to set prices is not.
On the post: Hollywood Still Trying To Kill The Golden Netflix Goose
Re:
Businesses always do the thing that makes them feel safe and profitable. Once they no longer feel safe and profitable, they take all their resources and use them to cry as loudly as possible to every politician and anyone else they can find until they get enough regulation to feel safe and profitable again.
Remember, they don't have to actually be more profitable, they just have to feel more profitable.
Anyone that makes a businesses feel less profitable is obviously a scary pirate, and therefore makes them feel less secure.
Math, technology, and evolving business models are for nerds.
On the post: DailyDirt: Storing Up Energy For A Rainy Day...
Re:
On the post: If Publishers Can't Cover Their Costs With $10 Ebooks, Then They Deserve To Go Out Of Business
Re:
If the market is rigged then you can get away with raising prices as distribution costs shrink. The current market conditions are a clear indication of illegal, anti-competitive behavior.
On the post: If Publishers Can't Cover Their Costs With $10 Ebooks, Then They Deserve To Go Out Of Business
Re: Re:
There is actually some evidence that may be the case already.
On the post: If Publishers Can't Cover Their Costs With $10 Ebooks, Then They Deserve To Go Out Of Business
Re:
I think the point is those costs don't matter to the consumer. The X consumers will buy your product for price Y. The goal is to maximize X*Y.
The sunk costs are completely irrelevant to the economics. The sunk costs were your risk when getting into the business.
MPAA/RIAA/IFPI/BRIEN and all these other trade groups would prefer not to compete on price. They want to compete on the size of their infrastructure. If they can fool everyone into thinking that bigger infrastructure and bigger advertising campaigns will always result in a better product, they will win.
If they are forced to compete on price, they will lose their fat executive salaries and the consumer will win better prices and more selection.
If anyone cares to critique the economics analysis of a simple electrical engineer, feel free.
On the post: CISPA Sponsor Mike Rogers Says Protests Are Mere 'Turbulence' On Landing
Uugghhh
(def: national security-we passed an illegal bill or started an illegal program on a flimsy constitutional premise and want to use this coverall to keep our asses out of court so we don't have to stop)
Unless the supreme court completely eviscerates our current understanding of due process, this too shall fail.
On the post: Feds Tried To Destroy All Evidence Of Memo Saying They Were Committing War Crimes With Torture
On the post: The Social Networking Patent Thicket Consists Of At Least 30,000 Patents
On the post: Once Again, The Administration Vindictively Charges A Whistleblower As Being A Spy
Re: Re: Re: Re:
If I'm offending hyper partisans, such as yourself, who cannot admit to themselves that neither president was great then I can sleep easily tonight.
On the post: Once Again, The Administration Vindictively Charges A Whistleblower As Being A Spy
Re: Re:
On the post: Just Because It's Now Cheaper And Easier To Spy On Everyone All The Time, Doesn't Mean Governments Should Do It
Re:
Fucking idiots...
On the post: Forced MPAA Filter On IsoHunt Means Legitimate Content Is Being Censored
Appeal
On the post: Once Again, The Administration Vindictively Charges A Whistleblower As Being A Spy
If the choice is between a big government republican that wants to erode our civil rights and turn entire US economy into a pump and dump scam to benefit a few very rich people or a big government democrat that just wants to erode our civil rights, I'll take the democrat every time. However, I'll be gnashing my teeth and begging for a better choice all the way to the ballot box.
On the post: How Disruption Works: Job Loss Isn't Really Job Loss
Re: Re: Re: Renewables
On the post: How Disruption Works: Job Loss Isn't Really Job Loss
Re: Renewables
The real problems is that in the not too distant future, fossil fuels will stop being economical due to a combination of supply and demand and the simple energy in/energy out physics of extracting them from the earth.
Unless there is a massive expansion of renewable technologies or a huge technological leap forward in our understanding of nuclear energy, there will be a large excess of population that we will no longer be able to feed.
That will lead to either starvation or war, depending on how the politics work out.
On the post: Nathan Myhrvold's Delusions: Patent Wars 'Vindicate' The Importance Of Patents
The Cold War and Arms Races
The ensuing war and thermonuclear ice age would have vindicated the arms race by showing the irradiated survivors how useful the nuclear arms were.
/sarc
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