Anyway, I like this formulation a lot better than the simplistic "NPE" designation, because I think there are lots of "practicing entities" that do trollish behavior (Microsoft being a big one).
I think that the NPE designation can be maintained because the "practising" is in no way protected by the patents that they use for trolling. After all many burglars have a day job!
Whitacre's entitlement attitude in turned spawned the misleading argument that service and content companies (that already pay for bandwidth and own much of their own infrastructure) somehow get a "free ride," and therefore should start paying phone companies their "fair share."
Whilst certain content companies I could name contend that ISPs are getting a free ride off their content.
) If you want to advocate for unbiased journalism, it would probably be best NOT to do it under the same banner waved by bigots, misogynists and rapists.
That can be a difficult balancing act - especially when your opponents will try very hard to conflate your opinions with those of people who are easy targets for an ad hom.
Disclaimer; I'm talking in general terms here - and not specifically (in fact specifically NOT) about #GG - about which I only have "wikipedia" knowledge.
i just read where the results of the enquiry into the death of a soldier has found that had the isp that was being used by the murderers brought the emails to the attention of the authorities, the death may have been prevented. if ever there was a fabricated reason for any government to increase surveillance on everyone
Huh - I would have thought that that revelation was a reason NOT to increase surveillance - since the existing surveilance is clearly adequate (if not already excessive). What is lacking is the will or ability to actually DO anything about what it reveals in a timely way. (Except of course in those cases where what it reveals are nothing to do with the stated purpose of preventing terrorism.)
When you've got piles of 'hay', larger than any stadium to sort through, finding the individual needles becomes very difficult, especially finding them in time to actually do anything about them before it's too late. The spy agencies have become so enamored by the 'Collect it ALL' idea, that they've actually sabotaged their own capabilities with regards to finding, and responding to, actual threats.
Well demonstrated by the fact that the perpetrators of most recent attacks were already known to the authorities but they were too busy to do anything to stop them.
I always figured "worlds" lined up with how "rich" the general society was.
It's not as simple as that. Brunei and Saudi Arabia come near the top of the per capita GDP list but are definitely not havens of freedom. Now at first I thought that maybe it was the source of the wealth that matters - but then I remembered that Norway is also oil rich - so maybe there is something else in there. I wonder what it couild be?
How is this image in the public domain? I'm no fan of copyright, but the photographer created a situation which triggered the camera. It's his photo in any sane scheme.
The photographer has openly admitted that the whole thing happened by accident. He did not deliberately leave the camera around in the hope that a monkey would take a picture.
Thus there is no creative input from the photographer and hence the image is in the public domain.
You are right that the monkey cannot have a copyright - but wrong in your apparent belief that there has to be a copyright. There is no copyright and hence the image is in the public domain.
Ironic how the meanings of "Liberal" and "Conservative" have flipped over the years, FYI 120 years ago in th UK a "Conservative" would have supported "traditional" government regulation of just about everything (paternalistic rather than socialist) whereas a "Liberal" would have been in favour of free trade and deregulation. That is what "liberal" actually means. Funny how in the US it now means (a caricature of) the exact opposite.
I know that anything and everything the government touches turns to crap eventually.
I suggest you visit some places that don't HAVE a proper government (Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria spring to mind) and see how much more crap it can be without the government.
btw in my experience most large, old, private organisations are as bad as (or worse than) governments.
if both parties take the same stance on an issue, then it doesn't matter if the voters agree with that stance or not
The reality is even worse - usually what happens is that both parties take a stance that appears to align with the voters - but then when in power do the exact opposite.
For instance, why does MRI cost roughly the same high price as it did 25 or 30 years ago, even though the patents have long since expired? It's as if there is no incentive for manufacturers to make these machines cheaper, and/or no incentive for health care providers to buy the cheaper machines and pass along the savings to the customer. Or even if buying expensive MRI machines, to run them 24/7 to not only lower the cost, but to make scans more convenient for people's busy schedules. Yet this rarely seems to happen.
The need for liquid helium is one reason - and that is only going to get worse as supplies dwindle in future.
However outside the crazy US system the machines are in 24/7 use. This doesn't really help the patient as it means appointment times may be awkward. When I had a scan (in the UK) the following patient was a no-show - so they scanned a bit more of me instead, just to make sure that the equipment was being utilised to the full.
. If a hospital no longer has to keep their care affordable to its patients, because the patients aren't paying for it out of pocket, they end up not doing so.
If the patients have to pay out of their own pockets that will not help because they are in a uniquely bad negotiating position at the point of use. (Really this is the whole point of the article above).
In the UK funding through taxation controls costs better - because you are in a much stronger negotiating position as a healthy person paying taxes and hence UK healthcare costs half what US healthcare does.
when people don't pay for their own health care, they take their own health less seriously.
Let's analyse this shall we - it sounds plausible BUT..
Looking after your health has benefits beyond the financial one of saving money. Staying alive is the main one - with feeling fit and able to enjoy life being the next in line.
Are you seriously suggesting that someone who doesn't care enough about staying alive to eat sensibly and take some exercise will suddenly start doing it because it might cost them some money?
On the post: Secretive UK Court That Approves Of GCHQ Surveillance Says That GCHQ Surveillance Doesn't Violate Human Rights
Re:
They are easily captured because the same people turn up on one side of the fence again and again.
Just let an ordinary, general purpose, court decide.
On the post: Defining The Patent Troll
Microsoft
I think that the NPE designation can be maintained because the "practising" is in no way protected by the patents that they use for trolling. After all many burglars have a day job!
On the post: The EFF Takes The Contentious, Sometimes Bizarre Effort To Define Net Neutrality Global
Re: Re: And in reverse
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/12/01/someone-balls-sue-isp
On the post: The EFF Takes The Contentious, Sometimes Bizarre Effort To Define Net Neutrality Global
And in reverse
Whilst certain content companies I could name contend that ISPs are getting a free ride off their content.
On the post: Lessons On Censorship From Syria's Internet Filter Machines
Re: Re: Re: Re: The top allowed sites
That can be a difficult balancing act - especially when your opponents will try very hard to conflate your opinions with those of people who are easy targets for an ad hom.
Disclaimer; I'm talking in general terms here - and not specifically (in fact specifically NOT) about #GG - about which I only have "wikipedia" knowledge.
On the post: DC Comics Going After A Spanish Soccer Club With A Bat In Its Logo For Some Reason
Re:
Nah Gotham is Gotham
On the post: UK Government Brings In Yet More Counter-Terrorism Measures -- Including Internal Exile
Re:
Huh - I would have thought that that revelation was a reason NOT to increase surveillance - since the existing surveilance is clearly adequate (if not already excessive). What is lacking is the will or ability to actually DO anything about what it reveals in a timely way. (Except of course in those cases where what it reveals are nothing to do with the stated purpose of preventing terrorism.)
On the post: UK Government Brings In Yet More Counter-Terrorism Measures -- Including Internal Exile
Re: 'Be afraid, always afraid!'
Well demonstrated by the fact that the perpetrators of most recent attacks were already known to the authorities but they were too busy to do anything to stop them.
On the post: Indian Government And Telcos Explore How To Build Great Firewall Of India To Censor Porn And Other 'Undesirable' Content
Re:
Let me correct you
the US vassal state (GB) pretends to have such a filter.
On the post: Tennessee Drug Interdiction Officers Stomp All Over Traveling Couples' Rights En Route To Seizing Nothing At All
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Moral of the story:
It's not as simple as that. Brunei and Saudi Arabia come near the top of the per capita GDP list but are definitely not havens of freedom. Now at first I thought that maybe it was the source of the wealth that matters - but then I remembered that Norway is also oil rich - so maybe there is something else in there. I wonder what it couild be?
On the post: Ted Cruz Doubles Down On Misunderstanding The Internet & Net Neutrality, As Republican Engineers Call Him Out For Ignorance
Re: Re: Re: Conservative Here
Citation needed!
On the post: Public Domain Monkey Selfie Now In A Trademark Application, Using Photoshopped Gap Images [Updated!]
Re:
The photographer has openly admitted that the whole thing happened by accident. He did not deliberately leave the camera around in the hope that a monkey would take a picture.
Thus there is no creative input from the photographer and hence the image is in the public domain.
You are right that the monkey cannot have a copyright - but wrong in your apparent belief that there has to be a copyright. There is no copyright and hence the image is in the public domain.
On the post: Ted Cruz Doubles Down On Misunderstanding The Internet & Net Neutrality, As Republican Engineers Call Him Out For Ignorance
Re: Conservative Here
On the post: Ted Cruz Doubles Down On Misunderstanding The Internet & Net Neutrality, As Republican Engineers Call Him Out For Ignorance
Re: Conservative Here
I suggest you visit some places that don't HAVE a proper government (Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria spring to mind) and see how much more crap it can be without the government.
btw in my experience most large, old, private organisations are as bad as (or worse than) governments.
On the post: DailyDirt: Healthcare Nightmares
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
When the money in question is going to pay (in the future) for the consequences of not eating right and exercising then it is also a long term issue.
On the post: Republicans And Democrats Alike Overwhelmingly Support Net Neutrality; Why Don't GOP Officials In Congress Recognize This?
Re: Re: Republicans?
The reality is even worse - usually what happens is that both parties take a stance that appears to align with the voters - but then when in power do the exact opposite.
On the post: Republicans And Democrats Alike Overwhelmingly Support Net Neutrality; Why Don't GOP Officials In Congress Recognize This?
Republicans?
Should be a no-brainer for both parties...
On the post: DailyDirt: Healthcare Nightmares
Re: "Moore's law" and medicine
The need for liquid helium is one reason - and that is only going to get worse as supplies dwindle in future.
However outside the crazy US system the machines are in 24/7 use. This doesn't really help the patient as it means appointment times may be awkward. When I had a scan (in the UK) the following patient was a no-show - so they scanned a bit more of me instead, just to make sure that the equipment was being utilised to the full.
On the post: DailyDirt: Healthcare Nightmares
Re:
If the patients have to pay out of their own pockets that will not help because they are in a uniquely bad negotiating position at the point of use. (Really this is the whole point of the article above).
In the UK funding through taxation controls costs better - because you are in a much stronger negotiating position as a healthy person paying taxes and hence UK healthcare costs half what US healthcare does.
On the post: DailyDirt: Healthcare Nightmares
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Let's analyse this shall we - it sounds plausible BUT..
Looking after your health has benefits beyond the financial one of saving money. Staying alive is the main one - with feeling fit and able to enjoy life being the next in line.
Are you seriously suggesting that someone who doesn't care enough about staying alive to eat sensibly and take some exercise will suddenly start doing it because it might cost them some money?
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