I cut cable a few years ago after subscribing to Netflix, trying it out for a few months, and coming to the decision that it was a viable replacement for video entertainment.
A few months ago, Comcast dropped off a cable box for the basic channels that I would now get free as part of my internet subscription. So now, I guess, I am part of their statistics of "not a cord cutter".
Of course, it took me a couple months before I even bothered to hook the cable box up; and, in the process of troubleshooting internet connection problems, we discovered the cable splitter installed back in 2001 was bad, so it's been removed and the cable goes straight into the cable modem, so the cable box is no longer connected. But if it makes them feel better to have one less "cord cutter" on the books....
Is there any guarantee that the information published by Wikileaks is legitimate? How do you really know that a document on Wikileaks isn't some manner of forgery? If the actual documents are declassified, then you have a way to prove (or disprove) the Wikileaks document's truthfulness. But if the original remains "classified", all you really have is a situation where some random, unverified document makes an accusation of the truth, which still needs "proof".
Maybe they're just trying to retain their "nuh-uh, prove it" defense to "he said you were doing this".
There's a "Report this as inappropriate" link at the bottom of the petition page. I wonder if it gets clicked enough, it prompts the system to send out an automated email to get a general opinion on the survey.
It could be that some number of people found it "wrong" and clicked the link. It could also be that the "number of people" in question happen to be affiliated with the MAFIAA and are attempting to silence this dissent to their favorable ruling -- but I can't possibly imagine they would stoop to something so petty and childish.
As a lawyer representing the troll group Angry Cowards Anonymous, I hereby notify the owners of the website techdirt.com to immediately remove this blatant violation of my clients' intellectual property. This so-called "parody" is a direct affront to my clients' extremely fragile sense of well-being, and attempting to mock their speech is a clear infringement on copyrights and patents (see patent #129,465,302: Method of Debasing Content Creators by Misattribution; #129,465,303: Method of Debasing Content Creators by Misattribution on the Internet; #129,465,307: Method of Disrupting Discussion by Non-Sequitur; and #129,465,308: Method of Disrupting Discussion by Non-Sequitur on the Internet) owned by my clients.
For purely selfish reasons, I hope Funnyjunk presses their attack. Not that I want Oatmeal to have to go through the hassle of the courts (he's had a couple offers of free help, so it would likely only cost him time and annoyance), but I find it quite entertaining seeing him draw new cartoons to publicly shame and trounce Funnyjunk.
They intend to make more money by raping those fewer customers for more dollars.
Seriously, what do you expect when the company opens their E3 press conference with "Welcome to Download 2012!" and the question, "Remember when the game you bought was the game you got?"
This model only works for someone whose fans are very poor. For the majority of musicians that have fans that actually have money to buy CDs, they need to have tough anti-piracy laws to protect their IP.
See, this is why they need to get some nerds -- or, in other words, subject matter experts -- to tell them what it is they're voting on, instead of just relying on well-paid (and well-paying) industry lobbyists making things up.
Reminds me of that bit from the John Stewart show, where he had clips showing various congressmen admitting they didn't know details as they said, "I'm not a nerd". Stewart's epic comment: "I believe the word you're looking for is experts." Perhaps if they had invited some of these experts to the debate, they might've had a clue much earlier.
Except, of course, these same experts were specifically excluded from every part of the debate.
It's not so much that they didn't know about the consequences, it's that they willfully excluded anyone who could've told them about the consequences.
Telephone service is a utility. Even though it's deregulated, companies that provide the service still have to maintain a level of service.
Something I learned as a Comcast subscriber -- if you want better service, subscribe to their phone service (which is VOIP and is carried by their internet service). Both I and my mother subscribe to Comcast service in our respective homes (which are separate dwellings, thank you). We each had internet and phone service through them. When we had a problem, all we had to do was remind the customer service tech that we had phone service, and it was fixed the same day.
I've since gone to a much cheaper VOIP provider (about a third of the price for about twenty times more features). We had an internet outage just last week, and we were down better than 30 hours until they got around to fixing it, because they didn't provide phone service and didn't have that obligation. (Funny how that distinction is made.)
As for those protections, last I checked, we were supposed to live in a capitalist free market economy, where even the most basic economics student learns that you don't "protect" industries, you let them compete. And if they fail, they fail.
Unless of course someone determines you're "too big to fail", and then apparently the government will give you lots of the public's money to protect you from failing.
This isn't a case of "banning", it's a case of creating a locked-in system on their tablet version of the OS. It's their answer to the iPad. (So, to answer the question in the title, it's "New Envy" more than "Old Habits".)
If they tried banning browsers in the standard desktop version of Windows 8, you'd have a story.
DRM is not required to distribute movies on DVD. You can burn a DVD without any DRM at all (region-free and CSS-free) and play it on any DVD player. I don't know enough about Blu-ray to know if players require DRM -- I don't own a Blu-ray burner or software. I would guess the same holds true, but that's just a guess.
Encoding movies in the existing codecs may require a license to use for distribution, but that's not the same thing as DRM. If the issue is that major distributors just won't produce movies without DRM, then coming up with a new video format isn't going to solve that.
On the post: Over 400,000 Homes Have Cut The Cord So Far This Year... But Cord Cutting Is Still A Myth?
Comcast has a novel way to fight it
A few months ago, Comcast dropped off a cable box for the basic channels that I would now get free as part of my internet subscription. So now, I guess, I am part of their statistics of "not a cord cutter".
Of course, it took me a couple months before I even bothered to hook the cable box up; and, in the process of troubleshooting internet connection problems, we discovered the cable splitter installed back in 2001 was bad, so it's been removed and the cable goes straight into the cable modem, so the cable box is no longer connected. But if it makes them feel better to have one less "cord cutter" on the books....
On the post: MTV Europe Has Things To Say About Piracy And/Or Loading Bars Being Bad For Musicians
Re: Ironic
On the post: Obama And Romney Each Have An Ad Disappear As The Olympics Gets Snippy About Anyone Referencing The Olympics
Re:
On the post: When Every Practical Economic Idea Is Political Suicide, Something's Wrong With Politics
Re: Re: Re: Hmmm
On the post: Court Says State Department Can Live In Fantasyland & Pretend Documents Leaked By Wikileaks Are Still Secret
Plausible deniability?
Maybe they're just trying to retain their "nuh-uh, prove it" defense to "he said you were doing this".
On the post: Is A Petition Calling For A Pardon Of The Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde 'Offensive'?
Is it automated?
It could be that some number of people found it "wrong" and clicked the link. It could also be that the "number of people" in question happen to be affiliated with the MAFIAA and are attempting to silence this dissent to their favorable ruling -- but I can't possibly imagine they would stoop to something so petty and childish.
On the post: Olympic Level Ridiculousness: You Can't Link To The Olympics Website If You Say Something Mean About Them
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Greenpeace Parody Site Censored Using Copyright Infringement Claim
Re:
On the post: The Oatmeal v. Funnyjunk: How The Court Of Public Opinion Beats The Court Of Baseless Legal Threats
Please let Funnyjunk pursue this
On the post: The DOJ's Truly Disgusting Argument For Denying A Megaupload User Access To His Legal Content
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.
On the post: EA Believes That Making A Lot Of Money Is Less Important Than Keeping Games Expensive
DLC! DLC!
Seriously, what do you expect when the company opens their E3 press conference with "Welcome to Download 2012!" and the question, "Remember when the game you bought was the game you got?"
On the post: This Is Reporting? Fox News Ties Flame Malware To Angry Birds Because Both Use Lua
It's absurd
Wait, bad example...
On the post: Regina Spektor: I'm Lucky That People Can Get All My Music For Free
She's just an edge case.
On the post: CEO Says SOPA & CISPA Are Needed Because A Disgruntled Customer Once Set Up A Parody Site To Mock Him
Get some nerds in Congress
On the post: Senator Coons Admits That SOPA 'Really Did Pose Some Risk To The Internet'
Where were the industry experts?
Except, of course, these same experts were specifically excluded from every part of the debate.
It's not so much that they didn't know about the consequences, it's that they willfully excluded anyone who could've told them about the consequences.
On the post: Broadband In Crisis: Does The US Need Regulation To Force Meaningful Competition?
It should be a utility by now
Something I learned as a Comcast subscriber -- if you want better service, subscribe to their phone service (which is VOIP and is carried by their internet service). Both I and my mother subscribe to Comcast service in our respective homes (which are separate dwellings, thank you). We each had internet and phone service through them. When we had a problem, all we had to do was remind the customer service tech that we had phone service, and it was fixed the same day.
I've since gone to a much cheaper VOIP provider (about a third of the price for about twenty times more features). We had an internet outage just last week, and we were down better than 30 hours until they got around to fixing it, because they didn't provide phone service and didn't have that obligation. (Funny how that distinction is made.)
On the post: Broadband In Crisis: Does The US Need Regulation To Force Meaningful Competition?
Did I miss something in Geography?
On the post: Why Hollywood Is Doomed: It Takes Sensible Advice Like 'Make Good Movies' And Turns It Into A Screed About Piracy
Current government policy argues otherwise
Unless of course someone determines you're "too big to fail", and then apparently the government will give you lots of the public's money to protect you from failing.
On the post: Old Habits Or New Envy? Microsoft Bans 3rd Party Browsers On Windows RT
Windows RT is their "tablet"
If they tried banning browsers in the standard desktop version of Windows 8, you'd have a story.
On the post: Indie Film Maker Is Creating A DRM-Free Open HD Video Format
Required on DVD??
Encoding movies in the existing codecs may require a license to use for distribution, but that's not the same thing as DRM. If the issue is that major distributors just won't produce movies without DRM, then coming up with a new video format isn't going to solve that.
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