If it passes by secret ballot now, perhaps when that fact is inevitably discovered, those who were involved will be exposed and, in an attempt to save face, will expose all secret documents and "funding parties" relating to the negotiations. Maybe the 'scandal effect' would wake up the world to the corruption being wrought globally by the MPAA/RIAA and lead to serious reform throughout.
I'd prefer things not have to go to that extreme but it seems pretty obvious that even if ACTA dies, there will be continuous attempts to get similar legislation passed until they succeed.
Apparently the concept of brand recognition isn't fully understood by Louis Vuitton. The 'hallmark quote' containing their mispronounced brand name deepens brand recognition as those repeating the phrase (and those who hear it) still associate it with the actual brand name. If anything, it actually increases their brand recognition.
'i know someone' that works for a newspaper and over the past few years, her stories about the paper's attempts to stay relevant and to stay profitable have been pretty entertaining. I always tell her that her company should be a case study for what NOT to do when revenues are declining rapidly. She's in sales and the company has reduced the primary incentive to sell (commissions) as well as eliminating any possibility of it being a 'real' job since they also took away her base salary. In a field where advertising sales are rapidly declining, they base her job performance on 'new clients that pay' instead of overall sales and refuse bonuses for reaching 140% of her quarterly sales goal b/c she didn't get 5 new customers (but got existing customers to spend more). Then the final blow came when they tried to make her sign a non-compete agreement that would prevent her from working in the 'media' industry for 2 years after leaving that employer (either involuntarily or by choice). They apparently thought that would keep their employees loyal..but since she didn't have to sign one during her first 14 years there, she left.
I have no sympathy for the current state of the print news industry as its clear that their big business mentality (in this case at least) has kept them separate from the reality in which their customers live. Sounds like some other industries commonly featured on this site...
If CISPA had already been passed, Carreon could've claimed this was a 'cyber-security' issue then contacted Inman's web host or ISP and had them block his site as a means of stopping cyber-terrorism.
i don't know who bob is but i think Mike should let a different AC write an article each week. it might be logistically impossible, but if there's a way, it would be worth it.
I thought that sequence of tweets from the image was hilarious. I imagined all of the angry response tweets coming in faster and faster as she kept trying to tweet a paragraph of questions but had to break it down to 140 characters each time. I started cracking up after the last one.
If i had seen all of her other tweets and obviously saw her as a troll, it wouldn't be as funny but out of context, pretty humorous. That also goes along with the offensive nature of the tweets. By themselves, those tweets are not offensive but once you know that she's a troll and doing it on purpose, you would take offense pretty quickly.
In a better world, he would have licensed his paintings to the university and received a portion of each sale of said mugs, shirts, etc that featured said paintings and avoided the legal mess completely.
Cable companies could make more money by offering internet plans with streaming cable channels available and charge a little more than their 'internet only' plan. I would totally pay a little extra for that (i'm talking maybe $10/month on top of my $50/month internet bill). All 'industry restrictions' aside, this would be a good move to transition into the TV/Internet market that would also preserve revenues from advertising and their 'traditional line-up'. This would also provide value user data that could help cable providers to structure how cable could best mesh with the internet to create/refine the next phase of their industry.
But whatever, 'screw your customers and hope for the best' might also work...
i have just submitted a patent that covers the never before patented area of 'A system by which technological and other intellectual property efforts gain protection from unlawful duplication.'
Since its obvious that any patent will be approved, why not patent that patent system? Then I'll sue the government and everyone holding a patent under their system for infringement.
I was hoping someone else pointed this out in the comments. I completely agree that all these additional customized domain parts will make it SO MUCH EASIER to scam people. "Your password has expired, please go to reset.chase.password to create a new one." Or an update on the misspelling thing "Your Google password has been changed, if you did not request this password change, visit secure.password.googl to confirm your account has not been breached."
so i get that these meetings are even happening b/c they ISP leaders believe gov't regulations will be put into place if they don't do it themselves. But what i don't get is why the Australian gov't gives a crap what Hollywood thinks.. Has Hollywood threatened to stop selling DVDs, CDs allowing their movies to be shown anywhere on the continent? I find it hard to believe that anyone would actually believe that threat but its the only 'legitimate' reason i can imagine the gov't would even implement any regulations.. someone plz enlighten me.
good catch on my wording. Though in this case "someone" has already lost since this guy is losing money by not being able to access his property, i'm just not sure who won yet..
Valve takes advantage of the 'Sale Mentality' which is 'buy it now while its cheaper than original price' and works b/c people believe either the product will no longer be available after the sale or that the price will return to 'normal' after a certain point. While it seems like the market is indicating that the sale price is the correct price point for this product (or type of product if applied to an entire industry like video games), the sale price only succeeded b/c of the initial mentality.
If the same product (or type of product, eg video games) had originally been priced at the sale price (as in video games have always been priced at $50 instead of $60), setting another sale price would produce similar results which would again indicate that the new sale price is the correct market price.
I'm not suggesting that the CEO of EA is correct but using the example of a sale price vs normal market sales doesn't make sense. New release games that come out on Valve are the same as Target's prices but even if they weren't, Valve's figures wouldn't indicate the proper price point b/c consumers would still be buying at a discounted rate. Valve uses discounts as their competitive advantage. If game makers did lower the price by $10 and games were now $50, Valve would just offer a discount on top of that to continue to draw customers in.
In the end the only thing that matters is that the game makers can charge whatever they want for their product and if they are happy with the amount of money they are making, they will not lower their prices. The only thing that will motivate them to lower prices is if they need more sales and they believe lowered prices will achieve that. If you're not happy with the price, don't buy it. You could always rent it or borrow it or resort to illegal means (assuming the first two options don't become illegal as well).
i'm upset about this ruling, but given the corruption in all other parts of our gov't, i'm not surprised. To me this just proves the the corruption has infiltrated every branch of the system. It seems to indicate our 'checks and balances' system doesn't work, at least not in relation to a singular topic backed by one group that has enough money to 'make it worthwhile' for everyone directly involved, regardless of their level/position.
On the post: ACTA Not Dead Yet: Supporters Make Final Push For EU Approval, May Seek Secret Ballot
I'd prefer things not have to go to that extreme but it seems pretty obvious that even if ACTA dies, there will be continuous attempts to get similar legislation passed until they succeed.
On the post: Louis Vuitton Loses Bogus Trademark Lawsuit: Using Fake Handbag In Hangover II Isn't Infringement
On the post: Zazzle & Warner Bros. Pretend All References To Wizard Of Oz Are Covered By WB Copyright
On the post: EA Believes That Making A Lot Of Money Is Less Important Than Keeping Games Expensive
On the post: Newspaper Puts Reporter On Leave For Posting Link To Article About His Employer On Facebook
I have no sympathy for the current state of the print news industry as its clear that their big business mentality (in this case at least) has kept them separate from the reality in which their customers live. Sounds like some other industries commonly featured on this site...
On the post: Funnyjunk's Lawyer, Charles Carreon, Continues To Lash Out: Accuses Matt Inman Of 'Instigating Security Attacks'
Re: Re:
On the post: Funnyjunk's Lawyer, Charles Carreon, Continues To Lash Out: Accuses Matt Inman Of 'Instigating Security Attacks'
On the post: How Sweden Handed Its Official Twitter Account Over To A Troll
Re:
On the post: How Sweden Handed Its Official Twitter Account Over To A Troll
If i had seen all of her other tweets and obviously saw her as a troll, it wouldn't be as funny but out of context, pretty humorous. That also goes along with the offensive nature of the tweets. By themselves, those tweets are not offensive but once you know that she's a troll and doing it on purpose, you would take offense pretty quickly.
On the post: Big Ruling Says Using Trademarks In Artistic Works Can Be Protected Under The First Amendment
On the post: DOJ Realizes That Comcast & Time Warner Are Trying To Prop Up Cable By Holding Back Hulu & Netflix
But whatever, 'screw your customers and hope for the best' might also work...
On the post: What Kind Of Professor Patents A Way To Make It More Expensive & More Difficult For Students To Learn?
Since its obvious that any patent will be approved, why not patent that patent system? Then I'll sue the government and everyone holding a patent under their system for infringement.
On the post: .Rip .Off: Highlights From The Top-Level Domain Scrum
Re: Hmpf
On the post: .Rip .Off: Highlights From The Top-Level Domain Scrum
Re:
This is frustrating.
On the post: The Oatmeal v. Funnyjunk: How The Court Of Public Opinion Beats The Court Of Baseless Legal Threats
On the post: Australian ISP: Negotiating With Hollywood Over Copyright Is Like Talking To A Brick Wall
On the post: The DOJ's Truly Disgusting Argument For Denying A Megaupload User Access To His Legal Content
Re: Re:
On the post: EA Believes That Making A Lot Of Money Is Less Important Than Keeping Games Expensive
If the same product (or type of product, eg video games) had originally been priced at the sale price (as in video games have always been priced at $50 instead of $60), setting another sale price would produce similar results which would again indicate that the new sale price is the correct market price.
I'm not suggesting that the CEO of EA is correct but using the example of a sale price vs normal market sales doesn't make sense. New release games that come out on Valve are the same as Target's prices but even if they weren't, Valve's figures wouldn't indicate the proper price point b/c consumers would still be buying at a discounted rate. Valve uses discounts as their competitive advantage. If game makers did lower the price by $10 and games were now $50, Valve would just offer a discount on top of that to continue to draw customers in.
In the end the only thing that matters is that the game makers can charge whatever they want for their product and if they are happy with the amount of money they are making, they will not lower their prices. The only thing that will motivate them to lower prices is if they need more sales and they believe lowered prices will achieve that. If you're not happy with the price, don't buy it. You could always rent it or borrow it or resort to illegal means (assuming the first two options don't become illegal as well).
On the post: The DOJ's Truly Disgusting Argument For Denying A Megaupload User Access To His Legal Content
On the post: Press Tries To Pin High Profile Killings On The Web & World Of Warcraft
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