This has already been used in the US for 10 years.
My boyfriend, who is European but a permanent resident (getting citizenship soon), went to the Iraq war protests in DC way back in 2001. Pretty much the only 'activism' he's ever been involved in. As he said to me "I remember the cameras on the tops of the buildings..." They were relentlessly taking pictures every day, all day while the protests went on.
Soon after that, he clearly was on a "list" because he was flagged for "random" screenings before every. single. flight. He takes dozens per year, and every single time he checks luggage it has a friendly slip from the TSA in it. When he flies overseas, the luggage usually gets "lost". We've learned to pack really light.
This year, finally, it seems to have subsided. After ten years of looking through clothes, toiletries, and science books, I guess they got tired of not finding anything.
This won't really work, because the two parties are very similar (in actions, ignore the words).
What needs to happen is SERIOUS campaign reform, and I mean publicly funded elections. You get your allotted money and TV time and that's it. No more fundraising.
Vote 3rd party. Hell I vote for the communists/greens whenever possible. I won't be forced into voting for the faschists, even if it is "throwing my vote away". Only like 20% of the damned population votes, if the 10% honest enough to care would vote third party we COULD have change.
All of this goes to show that the government/corporate ruling class have zeroed in on a time-tested strategy for control of the populace: fear. Whether the bogeyman is "terrorism" or "drugs" or "pedophiles" or "pirates"... it's all just an excuse to get laws passed which further the real agenda: making it easier for the oligarchy we have to stay in place, to get richer, and to suppress dissent or anyone trying to challenge the system.
If people were smart, this would backfire. It's clear they already are capable, within existing laws, of finding taking care of the "counterfeit goods" problem... so why do we need a new law again?
Because you are so WILLFULLY STUPID and blind, I will help you out, AC.
Imagine you run a blog. It criticizes the government and supports peaceful protests and civil disobedience. This irritates certain people in power, and suddenly you are accused of being an "infringing website". You aren't, of course, but your ISP can't afford to waste time trying to find out and your blog is shut down. Maybe some idiot commenter put an "infringing link" in a comment somewhere, maybe not. It hardly matters. You're now faced with legal battle to get your blog back. Except, you're neither an attorny nor rich. So you just give up. Free speech effectively neutralized.
Wiley are douchebags, and I hate it when I have to buy a book from them. If I ever write an academic book (I plan to) it will be with a CC license because the idea that I would make money on an obscure tract on astrophysics is looney anyway. I would do it to contribute some knowledge to the world.
Also, more people should publish in open source journals, but that will have to wait for tenure...
I'm late to reply, but just to be clear, I don't want to censor disagreement.
I want to opt out of reading crap like:
"Techdirt definition of troll: Anyone that disagrees with Mike Masnick's pirate propaganda fantasies."
This really has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Maybe on a lazy Sunday I won't mind wasting the time to read it, but most days I don't really care to, frankly.
I know what I suggest might be controversial, but can we get a "TROLL" button?
I have limited time in the morning and I'd actually like to see a meaningful discussion (as much fun as troll-smacking can be sometimes). This place used to be great, now about 50% of posts seem to be trolls or responding to them.
The idea would be to have some setting you can toggle on or off depending on your stomach for poorly reasoned arguments and ad hominem attacks.
Re: Re: WOW! Now I know about marking up / renting sheet music!
I totally agree, this was probably the longest article here that I read all the way to the bottom. Very interesting, very well presented, and something I knew little about before. I am a huge supporter of classical music, so I will be watching with interest!!
Which is why I think when we finally get a re-do on this whole thing, there should be an ironclad "vow of poverty" rule for going into elected government. You are allowed assets equal to the average American and a similar income/year, the rest gets donated to charity. While lots of people would still be perpetual "guests" of the moneyed interests, it would be a lot more obvious who's paying for them.
I regularly search out reviews of hotels on trip advisor. I am often on the lookout for "bad reviews by hysterical/crazy people" -- you can often tell because they don't fit well with other (good) reviews, and HAVE RESPONSES by the hotel which explain the problems, etc. Not saying all bad reviews are from people detached from reality, but it does seem to happen.
Now if in this case I saw the hotel respond with links to reports from pest companies, etc. I would be very impressed with their thoroughness. If instead I find a second review a few lines down that mentions they SUED THEIR CUSTOMERS I would never, ever go there.
On the post: Network TV Execs Discover What Pirates Always Knew: Making Stuff Available Online Is Good Marketing
Re: Re: Re: Re: What I'd do
On the post: Argentina Building Huge Biometric Database For Use With Police's Face Recognition Technology
My boyfriend, who is European but a permanent resident (getting citizenship soon), went to the Iraq war protests in DC way back in 2001. Pretty much the only 'activism' he's ever been involved in. As he said to me "I remember the cameras on the tops of the buildings..." They were relentlessly taking pictures every day, all day while the protests went on.
Soon after that, he clearly was on a "list" because he was flagged for "random" screenings before every. single. flight. He takes dozens per year, and every single time he checks luggage it has a friendly slip from the TSA in it. When he flies overseas, the luggage usually gets "lost". We've learned to pack really light.
This year, finally, it seems to have subsided. After ten years of looking through clothes, toiletries, and science books, I guess they got tired of not finding anything.
On the post: Local Bookstores Call For Boycott Of Amazon For Advertising Their Prices
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On the post: Lessig On The Daily Show: The Corruption And Extortion Of Congress
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What needs to happen is SERIOUS campaign reform, and I mean publicly funded elections. You get your allotted money and TV time and that's it. No more fundraising.
On the post: Breaking News: Feds Falsely Censor Popular Blog For Over A Year, Deny All Due Process, Hide All Details...
Re: Re:
Vote 3rd party. Hell I vote for the communists/greens whenever possible. I won't be forced into voting for the faschists, even if it is "throwing my vote away". Only like 20% of the damned population votes, if the 10% honest enough to care would vote third party we COULD have change.
On the post: How Much Does File Sharing Really Cost Hollywood?
Sad for a nation founded with such principles.
On the post: ICE Seizes Another 150 Domains As SOPA/PIPA Debate Heats Up
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On the post: New Study Shows Majority Of Americans Against SOPA; Believe Extreme Copyright Enforcement Is Unreasonable
Re: Re: just me
On the post: Mainstream Press Realizing That E-PARASITE/SOPA Is Ridiculously Broad
Re: Re: Re: Re: Rules for ACs
Imagine you run a blog. It criticizes the government and supports peaceful protests and civil disobedience. This irritates certain people in power, and suddenly you are accused of being an "infringing website". You aren't, of course, but your ISP can't afford to waste time trying to find out and your blog is shut down. Maybe some idiot commenter put an "infringing link" in a comment somewhere, maybe not. It hardly matters. You're now faced with legal battle to get your blog back. Except, you're neither an attorny nor rich. So you just give up. Free speech effectively neutralized.
On the post: Copyright Trolling For Dummies; Publisher John Wiley Sues 27 For Sharing 'For Dummies' Books
Re:
Also, more people should publish in open source journals, but that will have to wait for tenure...
On the post: YouTube Now Helping Artists Sell The Scarce
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I want to opt out of reading crap like:
"Techdirt definition of troll: Anyone that disagrees with Mike Masnick's pirate propaganda fantasies."
This really has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Maybe on a lazy Sunday I won't mind wasting the time to read it, but most days I don't really care to, frankly.
On the post: YouTube Now Helping Artists Sell The Scarce
I have limited time in the morning and I'd actually like to see a meaningful discussion (as much fun as troll-smacking can be sometimes). This place used to be great, now about 50% of posts seem to be trolls or responding to them.
The idea would be to have some setting you can toggle on or off depending on your stomach for poorly reasoned arguments and ad hominem attacks.
On the post: Lawrence Golan Speaks About Golan V. Holder And His Fight To Protect The Public Domain
Re: Re: WOW! Now I know about marking up / renting sheet music!
On the post: More Canadian Universities Opt Out Of Access Copyright's Skyrocketing Tariffs
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On the post: More Canadian Universities Opt Out Of Access Copyright's Skyrocketing Tariffs
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On the post: Mexican Senate Calls On President To Reject ACTA
Re: Re: Re: Say wha?
On the post: Homeland Security Finally Admits To Latest Domain Seizures; Arrests Guy For Selling Unauthorized 'Sons Of Anarchy' T-Shirts
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On the post: Intelligence Chief To Wyden: It Would Be Difficult To Reveal What You Want Us To Reveal Because We Don't Want To Reveal It
Re: If you'd please pay attention
Yet, here we are.
On the post: Is Filing A Defamation Lawsuit Really The Best Way To Respond To A Potentially False Hotel Review?
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I regularly search out reviews of hotels on trip advisor. I am often on the lookout for "bad reviews by hysterical/crazy people" -- you can often tell because they don't fit well with other (good) reviews, and HAVE RESPONSES by the hotel which explain the problems, etc. Not saying all bad reviews are from people detached from reality, but it does seem to happen.
Now if in this case I saw the hotel respond with links to reports from pest companies, etc. I would be very impressed with their thoroughness. If instead I find a second review a few lines down that mentions they SUED THEIR CUSTOMERS I would never, ever go there.
Clear enough for you?
On the post: Aaron Swartz Indictment Leading People To... Upload JSTOR Research To File Sharing Sites
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