Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 1 Feb 2012 @ 2:20pm
Re: Publishing is global, viewing is local?
So you can publish whatever you want, but the reader may not be able to see it depending on where they are.
Possibly, but it may be easy to get around.
Say something is censored in Australia, so when you get directed to whatever.blogspot.com.au you can't read it. Is there anything stopping you from then manually going to whatever.blogspot.com.uk and seeing the content (assuming it also isn't censored in the UK)?
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 1 Feb 2012 @ 2:04pm
Re: Buying signatures
It only sounds bad if you didn't know that's the way it's done.
I'll argue that it still sounds (and is) bad even if you know that's how it's regularly done. No matter which side is doing it.
Copyright is not a typical liberal/conservative issue, as the SOPA protests demonstrated. Many issues aren't, either, but still end up covered that way, unfortunately.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 1 Feb 2012 @ 12:43pm
Re: Re: Re:
This is true, if a company does not protect it's IP the law clearly provides a case for abandonment. TechDirt really has never discussed this subject.
We talk about this all the time. Look up any story involving Monster Cable. Or the Kellogg's toucan story. Or any story about a companysucks.com website. Most cases Techdirt covers involves a company overreaching far beyond what trademark law covers into situations where there is absolutely no consumer confusion. Monster Cable is not going to lose its trademark to abandonment if they fail to sue Monster Mini-Golf because there is no consumer confusion that the companies are related.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 1 Feb 2012 @ 8:14am
Re: Re: Re:
You can change any law you like, technically. However, you cannot change a law to satisfy your desires if the harm to the greater good is bigger than the benefit in general.
My mind boggles at how you can say this and still support the the continual ratcheting of copyright law against the public good for the benefit of a few tiny companies.
Even you cannot possibly be that short sighted. Really, what are your motives here?
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 1 Feb 2012 @ 8:07am
Re:
The issue of corruption is that the small minded children that populate corporate boards and legislatures can't control themselves. They are unable to restrict themselves just to passing good laws, they insist on passing ridiculously bad laws and spreading them around the world.
Your rights are restricted by those who abuse the political process. Fix the abuse, and the system can be saved. But the public knows what happens when you hand out a free pass on bribery, you just have to go to Washington to see. So sorry, until you can stop the children from doing so much damage, we need to dissolve these political bonds.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 31 Jan 2012 @ 9:13pm
Re:
If people really, really want the movie now,
Your definition of "now" is considerably different than mine.
I went and saw a movie in a theater a few hours ago. If I want a copy of that movie now, I cannot get it legally - only illegally. It would be technologically easy for the studio to release a digital download of that movie at the same time it is in theaters.
What about a DVD just released that isn't on Netflix. It's midnight here, so very few stores that sell new release DVDs are open. Well, again, I could choose to get it now, illegally (but convenient) without leaving my computer chair, and have it in a few minutes. I could order it from Amazon and have it in a few days (which is not "now"). Or I could wait 10 hours til some shop opens, which again is not the definition of "now".
One way the studio would get money, the other ways they get zero. Why does the studio choose to get nothing instead of something? And why aren't their shareholders up in arms over the horrendously bad business decisions being made?
It's 2012. Data travels around the world in a second. If you're waiting 2 months and expecting your data to still be valuable, you might as well be writing on clay tablets and baking them in the noonday sun.
While I'll admit that some of the current standards are hopelessly insufficient, we don't need a law. A law like that becomes the standard, and will not be easy to change when technology or the market changes. A law saying something to the effect of "credit card information must be deleted 90 days after final payment" virtually guarantees that it will be kept for 90 days even in a decade when it may be much better to delete it 15 days later.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 28 Jan 2012 @ 1:30pm
Thank you!
Thank you for all of your efforts on these issues, Senator. It really means a lot to me.
I made a decision months ago, but never thought I'd have the opportunity to tell you in a way you might read it. I'm writing your name in for president on my ballot in 2012. I cannot think of anyone else I would rather vote for.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 27 Jan 2012 @ 1:42pm
Re:
But remember, they did get the DMCA passed, with nearly everything they wanted in it. They just had to negotiate and have the immunity provision added, something that they've been trying for a decade to weaken in the courts.
Why do you think they suddenly became willing to negotiate with Google and tech companies? All they see is a temporary setback in their long term strategy.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 26 Jan 2012 @ 3:02pm
Re:
says that the earlier comments about the government "not submitting to blackmail" are not being well-received by the public
Go figure. Who could possibly have thought that calling it "blackmail" when the public tries to participate in the political process and voice their concerns would be well received?
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 26 Jan 2012 @ 10:09am
Re: Worldviews & Magical Thinking
They've been in a corporate-run world for so long, it may not even occur to them that anything of political importance could possible come from any source other than corporate.
This. What we had here was the first real grassroots (or "bitroots" as Larry Downes put it) movement in this country in possibly a generation with a very clear goal - killing SOPA/PIPA.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 25 Jan 2012 @ 6:57am
Re:
The other one causes the computer to melt.
I'm going to assume you mean "wipe out the data on the drive" as opposed to the computer bursting into flames (typical movie nonsense). Those that wipe data when incorrect passwords are entered already exist, however you'll need to think about using it as that could get you a destruction of evidence charge. Also, it probably wouldn't be much use anyway, as any competent forensic computer tech wouldn't be using the real drive, but would have cloned it multiple times and be working on a copy (perhaps even in a virtual environment with the ability to restore back should something like that happen).
A better option would be TrueCrypt with hidden partitions in which one password unlocks the operating system and nonsensitive files, and another unlocks the stuff you really want to be secret. If set up properly, it is virtually impossible to tell whether (or how many) hidden partitions exist.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 24 Jan 2012 @ 7:46pm
Re:
Why are there never any US studies on this?
Lack of quality streaming services available in the US make it difficult to get those kind of statistics here.
Look, I had a Pandora subscription for awhile. And while it found me some good music on occasion, getting a station set up to meet my varying tastes was time consuming (a lot of having to pay attention and thumbing up or down tracks). There were some artists and tracks that it never had, and others that even when specifically searched for and added as a seed to a station it still would never pay.
I'm using Grooveshark now. Again, its got some good features, but I still need to spend a lot of time to search for and select specific tracks to add them to playlists.
If Spotify ever drops the mandatory Facebook integration, I might try it to see if its any better, but until they stop requiring Facebook info to even set up a paid subscription, I'll never know if its an improvement.
So give me and all the other potential customers out there better services and then after some time we'll see if there's a corresponding drop in piracy.
On the post: Congress Trying To Regulate Certain Wireless Spectrum Issues... In A Payroll Tax Bill?
Re:
The only way to limit the powers of Congress is with a Constitutional amendment.
On the post: The End Of The Global Internet? Google's Blogger Starts Using Country-Specific Domains To Permit Local Censorship
Re: Publishing is global, viewing is local?
Possibly, but it may be easy to get around.
Say something is censored in Australia, so when you get directed to whatever.blogspot.com.au you can't read it. Is there anything stopping you from then manually going to whatever.blogspot.com.uk and seeing the content (assuming it also isn't censored in the UK)?
On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures
Re: Buying signatures
I'll argue that it still sounds (and is) bad even if you know that's how it's regularly done. No matter which side is doing it.
Copyright is not a typical liberal/conservative issue, as the SOPA protests demonstrated. Many issues aren't, either, but still end up covered that way, unfortunately.
On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures
Re: Re: Something about hammers...
On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures
Re: Re: Sign Me Up
On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures
Something about hammers...
On the post: Angry Birds CEO Explains How The Company Embraces Piracy
Re: Re: Re:
We talk about this all the time. Look up any story involving Monster Cable. Or the Kellogg's toucan story. Or any story about a companysucks.com website. Most cases Techdirt covers involves a company overreaching far beyond what trademark law covers into situations where there is absolutely no consumer confusion. Monster Cable is not going to lose its trademark to abandonment if they fail to sue Monster Mini-Golf because there is no consumer confusion that the companies are related.
On the post: Channeling That Anti-SOPA Energy Into Getting Important DMCA Exemptions
Re: Re: Re:
My mind boggles at how you can say this and still support the the continual ratcheting of copyright law against the public good for the benefit of a few tiny companies.
Even you cannot possibly be that short sighted. Really, what are your motives here?
On the post: Channeling That Anti-SOPA Energy Into Getting Important DMCA Exemptions
Re:
Your rights are restricted by those who abuse the political process. Fix the abuse, and the system can be saved. But the public knows what happens when you hand out a free pass on bribery, you just have to go to Washington to see. So sorry, until you can stop the children from doing so much damage, we need to dissolve these political bonds.
On the post: Warner Bros. Just Keeps Pushing People To Piracy; New Deal Also Delays Queuing
Re:
Your definition of "now" is considerably different than mine.
I went and saw a movie in a theater a few hours ago. If I want a copy of that movie now, I cannot get it legally - only illegally. It would be technologically easy for the studio to release a digital download of that movie at the same time it is in theaters.
What about a DVD just released that isn't on Netflix. It's midnight here, so very few stores that sell new release DVDs are open. Well, again, I could choose to get it now, illegally (but convenient) without leaving my computer chair, and have it in a few minutes. I could order it from Amazon and have it in a few days (which is not "now"). Or I could wait 10 hours til some shop opens, which again is not the definition of "now".
One way the studio would get money, the other ways they get zero. Why does the studio choose to get nothing instead of something? And why aren't their shareholders up in arms over the horrendously bad business decisions being made?
It's 2012. Data travels around the world in a second. If you're waiting 2 months and expecting your data to still be valuable, you might as well be writing on clay tablets and baking them in the noonday sun.
On the post: Why Can't Europe Just Forget The Ridiculous Idea Of A 'Right To Be Forgotten'
Re: Re:
You don't need a law for that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Card_Industry_Data_Security_Standard
While I'll admit that some of the current standards are hopelessly insufficient, we don't need a law. A law like that becomes the standard, and will not be easy to change when technology or the market changes. A law saying something to the effect of "credit card information must be deleted 90 days after final payment" virtually guarantees that it will be kept for 90 days even in a decade when it may be much better to delete it 15 days later.
On the post: Misguided Twitter Protests... And Why Twitter Could Have Explained Itself Better
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Its not a game.
These are our lives. Our freedoms. This is our country.
So fuck you and lobbyist you rode in on.
Also, you're wrong. The blackouts and protests were not paid for or organized by lobbyists, and they are what carried the day.
On the post: Senator Ron Wyden's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Thank you!
I made a decision months ago, but never thought I'd have the opportunity to tell you in a way you might read it. I'm writing your name in for president on my ballot in 2012. I cannot think of anyone else I would rather vote for.
On the post: MPAA Exec Admits: 'We're Not Comfortable With The Internet'
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120120/14472117492/mpaa-directly-publicly-threatens-politi cians-who-arent-corrupt-enough-to-stay-bought.shtml#c512
http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/112 -s-968/954311/total-contributions.table?party[D]=D&party[R]=R&party[I]=I&state=&cust om_from=07%2F01%2F2005&custom_to=06%2F30%2F2011&all_pols=1&uid=3073&interests-suppor t=C2200-C2100-C2000-C2400-C2600-C2300&interests-oppose=C5140&from=07-01-2005&to=06-30-20 11&source=pacs-nonpacs&campaign=congressional
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/6 8448_Page4.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/284618/20120119/lamar-smith-sopa-lobbying-campaig n-finance-congress.htm
http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-anti-piracy-lobbying-targets-fbi-110622/
On the post: MPAA Exec Admits: 'We're Not Comfortable With The Internet'
Re:
Just as there can be independent labels that are not part of the RIAA, there can be independent studios that are not part of the MPAA.
On the post: MPAA Exec Admits: 'We're Not Comfortable With The Internet'
Re:
Why do you think they suddenly became willing to negotiate with Google and tech companies? All they see is a temporary setback in their long term strategy.
On the post: Polish Politicians Don Guy Fawkes/Anonymous Masks To Protest ACTA Signing
Re:
Go figure. Who could possibly have thought that calling it "blackmail" when the public tries to participate in the political process and voice their concerns would be well received?
On the post: Once More, With Feeling: It Wasn't Silicon Valley Or Google That Stopped SOPA/PIPA, It Was The Internet
Re: Worldviews & Magical Thinking
This. What we had here was the first real grassroots (or "bitroots" as Larry Downes put it) movement in this country in possibly a generation with a very clear goal - killing SOPA/PIPA.
On the post: Judge Says Americans Can Be Forced To Decrypt Laptops
Re:
I'm going to assume you mean "wipe out the data on the drive" as opposed to the computer bursting into flames (typical movie nonsense). Those that wipe data when incorrect passwords are entered already exist, however you'll need to think about using it as that could get you a destruction of evidence charge. Also, it probably wouldn't be much use anyway, as any competent forensic computer tech wouldn't be using the real drive, but would have cloned it multiple times and be working on a copy (perhaps even in a virtual environment with the ability to restore back should something like that happen).
A better option would be TrueCrypt with hidden partitions in which one password unlocks the operating system and nonsensitive files, and another unlocks the stuff you really want to be secret. If set up properly, it is virtually impossible to tell whether (or how many) hidden partitions exist.
On the post: New Market Research: Music Streaming Services Halve Illegal Downloads
Re:
Lack of quality streaming services available in the US make it difficult to get those kind of statistics here.
Look, I had a Pandora subscription for awhile. And while it found me some good music on occasion, getting a station set up to meet my varying tastes was time consuming (a lot of having to pay attention and thumbing up or down tracks). There were some artists and tracks that it never had, and others that even when specifically searched for and added as a seed to a station it still would never pay.
I'm using Grooveshark now. Again, its got some good features, but I still need to spend a lot of time to search for and select specific tracks to add them to playlists.
If Spotify ever drops the mandatory Facebook integration, I might try it to see if its any better, but until they stop requiring Facebook info to even set up a paid subscription, I'll never know if its an improvement.
So give me and all the other potential customers out there better services and then after some time we'll see if there's a corresponding drop in piracy.
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