Every time I read a story about a company using ham-handed DRM to block out competition and lock their customers into their own little corporate eco-sphere, I think of the Princess Leia's line from Star Wars:
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
That quote seems incredibly appropriate given the content of the video.
About a year ago I had the idea that that what we needed was to establish a Kickstarter project to represent a particular view (say, the Comcast-TWC merger) to try to raise money to hire a powerful DC lobbying firm. Then maybe we could get our message across to Congress.
Then it occurred to me that that's what Congress is supposed to be doing anyway, and that's it's pretty damn sad that it's gotten to the point where we feel we need to hire somebody to represent us to people who are supposed to be representing us already.
Wow, if she got sent to the basement despite going thru proper channels, imagine what they'd done to Edward Snowden. He'd probably find himself living in Russia or something...
Hold on a sec. You mean to tell me that a bunch of technologically illiterate politicians passed a sweeping law affecting the entirety of the networked world, and didn't give a single thought to the ramifications and unintended consequences of such a law?
NO. FREAKING. WAY.
It's like thoughtful deliberation and civil debate have gone out the window with the governments of the world.
Just what is it going to take for people to recognize the corruption and take action?
Shutdown ComicCon. Shutdown the NFL. Shutdown Tesla Motors. in progress Cancel Game of Thrones Cancel Avengers 2: Age of Ultron Cancel Star Wars VII Cancel all pizza delivery service Cancel Mountain Dew Have George R R Martin killed Have Tupac killed check
Nowadays, being noted "hostile towards the government" will get you blowed up by a unmanned aerial drone. He should be thanking his lucky stars that they just want him off the case.
Either that, or in a few months we'll be reading a story about how Wright was arrested after some child porn was found on his computer. Coincidence, I'm sure.
And you never know what data you may need in the future. . .
That's when you get ANOTHER FUCKING WARRANT, you dipshit.
Jeez, I took a semester of Civics in 9th grade, taught by a football coach, at a redneck school where 90% of the arguments were about Skoal vs Copenhagen, and it appears I learned more in that class than most of these government morons.
I heard if you stand in front of your bathroom mirror, turn the lights out, and say "James Clapper" three times, he'll appear in the mirror and accuse you of supporting the enemies of America.
Greetings, citizen. The NSA is concerned that the latest Heartbleed vulnerability circulating around the Internet (aka, "the Web", "the Net", "Google") is exploiting the computers and mobile devices of the American populace. As such, the security experts at the NSA have come up with some best practices all Americans can apply to keep themselves from falling victim to any nefarious Al-Qeada, Russian, or alien schemes.
1. Turn off any firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention, and anti-virus programs. These applications are being actively exploited by this vulnerability and, if infected, can cause grave harm to your computer. There have even been reports of entire houses being burned to the ground when Heartbleed mixes with ZoneAlarm. Additionally, many of these programs are open-source, meaning that terrorists could easily modify the application code to accomplish their own anti-American goals, such as draining your bank account and turning your pets and/or children gay.
2. Change your DNS settings to point to boris.nsa.gov and natasha.nsa.gov. These are the NSA's highly secure DNS servers. Your privacy is of the utmost importance to the NSA. By default, all DNS queries will be logged on super-secret systems housed in concrete bunkers buried 200 meters below the Arizona desert. To opt-out of this and request that none of your queries be logged, send a postcard with your return address to "DNS OPT-OUT, Box 42, Langley, VA" (no quotes). An agent will personally contact you to make arrangements for an in-home visit. Please leave your door unlocked.
3. Contact your federal representatives and request that more funds be provided to the NSA in order to protect Americans and American interests both at home and abroad. What good are free school lunches, libraries, and homeless shelters if terrorists are raining hellfire and releasing locusts with herpes across the United States heartland? This additional funding will go towards capturing terrorists, seizing their assets, and shuttering their propaganda websites such as Fox News, The Guardian, and TechDirt.
These tips have been provided as a courtesy by the United Stated National Security Agency. Remember: Be Safe. Be Smart. Don't be afraid to report your fellow citizens to your local law enforcement agency if you see something suspicious, such as taking our the trash (they could be disposing of terrorists materials and/or correspondence) or leaving for work (building missiles, mixing anthrax, or visiting a mosque).
There is no reason at all that anyone ever needs cookies or javascript to read a PDF file.
How else are they going to track you when that public MPAA report shows up on torrent sites? This is the MPAA - even freely available pubic data must be subject to rigorous distribution controls. Just like everything else they put out, this report can ONLY be distributed through the MPAA's authorized sources.
Once you've gone control-freak to the magnitude that the MPAA has, you can't just do a 180 and start half-assing it.
“Some people think schools go too far and I get that,” Schmidt said. “But we want to make kids aware that their actions outside school can be detrimental.”
Parents need to make school officials aware that their actions inside the school can likewise be detrimental. I doubt it ever occurred to Schmidt that he was ignoring the very "lesson" he was trying to teach.
The very fact that Mike had to use an entire paragraph to explain why posting a picture of the inside of a public library is not copyright infringement makes me want to rage-punch the entire universe.
On the post: Anti-Net Neutrality Propaganda Reaches Insane Levels With Bad Actors And Porn Parody
I read Hustler for the political commentary.
Now, I watch porno for to educate myself on socio-technological issues.
But if I really want to watch people get f*cked, I have click over to C-SPAN.
On the post: Keurig's Controversial Java 'DRM' Defeated By A Single Piece Of Scotch Tape
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
That quote seems incredibly appropriate given the content of the video.
On the post: Redditors Propose Setting Up A 'Consumers' Union' To Fight Back Against Broadband Giants
Then it occurred to me that that's what Congress is supposed to be doing anyway, and that's it's pretty damn sad that it's gotten to the point where we feel we need to hire somebody to represent us to people who are supposed to be representing us already.
On the post: The Government Doesn't Punish Whistleblowers; It Just Shoves Them In Closets Or Sends Them To The Basement
On the post: Tektronix Uses DMCA Notice To Try To Stop Oscilloscope Hacking
On the post: Google Struggling To Deal With Right To Be Forgotten Requests -- Will Now Delete Wikipedia Page From Search Results
NO. FREAKING. WAY.
It's like thoughtful deliberation and civil debate have gone out the window with the governments of the world.
On the post: DOJ Claims Judge Who Trashed 'Made Up Plot' Should Be Removed For Being 'Hostile' To The Gov't
Re:
Shutdown ComicCon.
Shutdown the NFL.
Shutdown Tesla Motors. in progress
Cancel Game of Thrones
Cancel Avengers 2: Age of Ultron
Cancel Star Wars VII
Cancel all pizza delivery service
Cancel Mountain Dew
Have George R R Martin killed
Have Tupac killed check
On the post: DOJ Claims Judge Who Trashed 'Made Up Plot' Should Be Removed For Being 'Hostile' To The Gov't
he should consider himself lucky
Either that, or in a few months we'll be reading a story about how Wright was arrested after some child porn was found on his computer. Coincidence, I'm sure.
On the post: Court Says Feds Violated 4th Amendment By Holding Onto Suspect's Computer Data Too Long
That's when you get ANOTHER FUCKING WARRANT, you dipshit.
Jeez, I took a semester of Civics in 9th grade, taught by a football coach, at a redneck school where 90% of the arguments were about Skoal vs Copenhagen, and it appears I learned more in that class than most of these government morons.
On the post: Why Has Tom Cruise's Reputation Faltered? Pshh, Because Of The Internet, Of Course!
On the post: Everyone Go Crazy: Prepare To Blame The Internet For Murder-Inducing Ghost Stories
Re: Re:
On the post: Everyone Go Crazy: Prepare To Blame The Internet For Murder-Inducing Ghost Stories
Re: Re:
On the post: Everyone Go Crazy: Prepare To Blame The Internet For Murder-Inducing Ghost Stories
On the post: Would You Trust The NSA's Advice On How To Deal With Heartbleed?
1. Turn off any firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention, and anti-virus programs. These applications are being actively exploited by this vulnerability and, if infected, can cause grave harm to your computer. There have even been reports of entire houses being burned to the ground when Heartbleed mixes with ZoneAlarm. Additionally, many of these programs are open-source, meaning that terrorists could easily modify the application code to accomplish their own anti-American goals, such as draining your bank account and turning your pets and/or children gay.
2. Change your DNS settings to point to boris.nsa.gov and natasha.nsa.gov. These are the NSA's highly secure DNS servers. Your privacy is of the utmost importance to the NSA. By default, all DNS queries will be logged on super-secret systems housed in concrete bunkers buried 200 meters below the Arizona desert. To opt-out of this and request that none of your queries be logged, send a postcard with your return address to "DNS OPT-OUT, Box 42, Langley, VA" (no quotes). An agent will personally contact you to make arrangements for an in-home visit. Please leave your door unlocked.
3. Contact your federal representatives and request that more funds be provided to the NSA in order to protect Americans and American interests both at home and abroad. What good are free school lunches, libraries, and homeless shelters if terrorists are raining hellfire and releasing locusts with herpes across the United States heartland? This additional funding will go towards capturing terrorists, seizing their assets, and shuttering their propaganda websites such as Fox News, The Guardian, and TechDirt.
These tips have been provided as a courtesy by the United Stated National Security Agency. Remember: Be Safe. Be Smart. Don't be afraid to report your fellow citizens to your local law enforcement agency if you see something suspicious, such as taking our the trash (they could be disposing of terrorists materials and/or correspondence) or leaving for work (building missiles, mixing anthrax, or visiting a mosque).
On the post: Security Researchers Find RSA Even More Completely Compromised By The NSA Than Previously Thought
Then again, Judas had enough remorse to return the silver and hang himself. Your move, RSA.
On the post: Piracy Continues Killing The Movie Business To New Record Highs
How else are they going to track you when that public MPAA report shows up on torrent sites? This is the MPAA - even freely available pubic data must be subject to rigorous distribution controls. Just like everything else they put out, this report can ONLY be distributed through the MPAA's authorized sources.
Once you've gone control-freak to the magnitude that the MPAA has, you can't just do a 180 and start half-assing it.
On the post: School Coughs Up $70k In Damages For Invading 13 Year Old's Social Media Space
Parents need to make school officials aware that their actions inside the school can likewise be detrimental. I doubt it ever occurred to Schmidt that he was ignoring the very "lesson" he was trying to teach.
On the post: British Library Says It's Copyright Infringement To Take Photos Inside The Library; Demands Person Delete Tweet
On the post: Public Knowledge Deflates Another Dubious Software Patent By Reducing It To Seven Lines Of BASIC
add 2 lines
90 GOTO 80
On the post: Members Of Congress Ask Eric Holder To Try Again In His Explanation Of The Prosecution Of Aaron Swartz
Of course not. Why obey the law when you know that you can ignore it without consequence?
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