Western cinemas have just be gouging customers for years, cinema tickets just keep going up, food and drink (read popcorn and coke) are even more expensive than a meal at a mid-average restaurant yet the experience has barely changed, just louder sounds and odd gimmick like 3d (which they charge even more for) and seating that would not be out of place on a budget airline. I stopped going for ages because of this
Then started going regularly to Asia and there is a totally different experience, reasonable prices for tickets, cheap prices for food (in comparison to local earning) , well-spaced lazy boy seating that would not mind having at home (and couch’s for groups/couples), some that are quasi restaurant/lounge clubs. While over there I am constantly going to the cinema
Over there they have no problem filling up the cinema’s…wonder why….
"App store" is just a description of service provided, so having a trademark on that would be akin to being able to trademark "Food store" "bike shop" "bar" "restaurant"
Liberals? Think someone have been drinking to much of the tea party kool aid...unless you just messed up and actually were trying to play a version of "the odd man out"
Now if you wanted to lump government, wall street, conservatives it would be more valid but not the tea party as they would not belong in even that group as correct answer to 2+2 for them would be '54'
Re: I still don't understand how he can be charged with anything?
"I don't understand how the US can charge a non-US citizen with any crime for something they did outside of US soil. "
This has been going on for years and most major governments try this pretty regularly. The way they normally start is with the pedophiles and work up from there
Nothing like a good old "think of the children" argument to push laws that should not be allowed
"So what you are saying is that they should stop checking checked bags"
Most country's in the world were checking checked bags well before 9/11
"and carry on security should be limited to someone with a wand randonly running it over some parts of your body?"
Yes combined with metal detector gates
"We should be allowed to carry on anything to the plane (including hunting knives, etc) and it just shouldn't be an issue, right?"
No, but then again most country's would not let you carry weapons on a plane before 9/11 either
Notice the "most country's" in all the above, because before 9/11 USA did not do many of these things where rest of modern world did.
You see the one thing America does not want to admit, for years they put profits and convenience first and thought about safety and security...well never
Now to "make up" for it they have gone the other way, basically bolting,nailing and welding shut the barn door after the horse has fled
The only rules that really needed changing were
* Locked, reenforced cockpit doors (ffs forget the terrorist, worry about the wackos getting into the cockpit, it was much more likely)
* Banning of all weapons like gun's/knives from flights unless in cargo hold (and no nail clippers are not a weapon)
* Standard metal detector scan on people
* Standard scanning of all luggage, carry on or hold
Some people think pilots should also be armed, but to those i ask the follow, armed terrorists suddenly try to take over a plane
You have two choices,
a) Have a pilot, with a small amount of firearms/combat training, try to be hero at 30,000 by starting a gun fight in narrow pressurized cabin with you stuck between him and the "terrorists" (and remember, even if he only gets himself killed, he is the pilot of the plane you are currently on, hope you took flying lessons)
b) Have a pilot, safe behind a locked, reenforced door that he will not open under any circumstances, bring the plane to the nearest airport where the professional's can attempt to end the attack
"How would you feel if one of those criminals went free and killed your family?"
How would you feel if you were the innocent locked up for nothing?
How would you feel to be forced to live with rapists and murders (and possibly become their victim) while you watch from behind bars your family fall apart because you are not there, watch your kids go bad and become real criminals (because they have understandable hatred of society that took the father away for no good reason), responsible for the deaths/destruction of many many family’s, all because you are not there due to no fault of your own?
“WWII never happens and there is no turmoil in the Mideast today. Would you kill both babies?”
And if you kill both babies and because there is no Hitler, someone else raises to the leadership of the Nazi party (which was going to exist regardless of Hitler) but this other guy is a lot better leader/military commander than Hitler, so the Nazis end up winning WWII, Jews are exterminated worldwide, blacks are confined to Africa where they are slave labour for the west and a severely depopulated Asia is Japan’s fiefdom and WWIII between the Japanese and Aryan Empires is looming and it’s expected there will be no survivors
Do you go back and kill yourself before you have a chance to kill Hitler as a baby?
See how pointless these little exercises are? There is always another “what if?”
Much better to get the system of checks and balances right in the first place and if you cannot err on the side of caution
In theory, yes it would have a chance to make a defense, in practice, looking at recent history, no. At least not until after the after the domain was seized
We have had ton's of cases recently of domain's being seized by everyone from the DHS to local AG's with no actual prior notification, never mind an actual trial
Thing's like rights to your property, right to trial, innocent until proven guilty no longer seem to apply in the USA if it involves anything online, especially if it involves the entertainment industry and/or "think of the children" types
Google's primary usage isn't infringement. That Spanish site's was. Completely dedicated to facillitating infringement.
And that's always been a crap argument anyway, like saying, "he has a day job and only rapes and murders people on weekends, so that's OK, let him go"
Either something is legal or not, the whole primary usage 'defense' is one the entertainment industry invented to hide behind so they don't have to go after the likes of Google because that is target that would bite back
"Issues will not be resolved until Spain joins the rest of the world in not protecting pirates."
Could just as easily say
"Issues will not be resolved until USA joins the Islamic world in not protecting blasphemers."
You see that's the thing, in democratic country's, people vote their own politicians/lawmakers into positions to write/create laws for their own society (you know the whole "government of the people, by the people, for the people" thing), not, contrary to American thinking, to write whatever laws the Americans tell them to write
Don't think google is getting worse per say, more case that the SEO's have finally nailed down the algorithm's google is using, to game the system.
The tech crunch article is crap as that seems more it was written by someone who's "google-fu" is weak (and wants to an promote an alternative search engine..that after a quick test drive does not seem very good at relavancy at all)
The coding horror article though is a lot better and those of us that do look up lots of tech questions will know exactly what he is talking about, as it is something we will have noticed over the last 6-8 months or so (and it is that recent that things got bad). But don't see how google could fix it from their end without starting to censor the net, something i would hate to see.
But what i would like to see is an option from them where we, the users, could block the scraper sites mentioned in the article, something like an icon that says "never show me results from this site again" for those of us that are actually logged in to google.
They don't take the (international) domain names away in Iran/China, they just block them within their country. Pretty huge difference
This is the whole problem with the .com/.org/.gov/.org top level domains , they are viewed as "international" but in fact are controlled by the US.
This was fine while the US had a hands off approach to the whole thing but now that this is obviously changing it probably wise not to use them (nor a US based registrar for any other registration) if you think in anyway the US authorities (or entertainment industry as they seem one and the same these days) might dislike your use of the domain (note, i said "dislike" because as noted "actual US law" seems to have little to do with seizures)
It would be nice if ICANN just moved to a new country with a real hands off approach (Iceland?) but don't see that happening any time soon
True, they don't have much to lose if they were forced to drop torrent's, but do you honestly believe it would stop there? Not a chance
And after Google gave in time and time again, guess what would happen? New search engine starts up, based in some friendly country (Iceland?) that does censor it results and the internet has a new king, while Google is relegated to excite.com status
Google needs to remember that statement by Martin Niemöller
"blatantly infringing-centric site "
Has nothing to do with the issue.
Kind of like saying a dedicated drug dealer should go to jail while one who only deals on the side should not
Either you are breaking the law or you are not, it never is and never has been "well you are breaking the law, but it's only a small part of your income/business so that fine, continue as you are"
"So that people aren't able to buy $cool_movie cheaper in Taiwan than in some European country."
Except never seen a decent justification for said price difference (beyond taxes, which if imported legally should be the same) beyond "they are richer so lets charge them more for exact same product that was probably produced in same place"
All the post is saying what many people (including myself) have been saying for a while.
If the terrorists really wanted to cause true terror and "destroy our way of life" they would just start hitting malls, concerts, sports games, train/bus stations,public transport (not planes), hell even major rush hour traffic jams so forth.
A few of those and any western country would pretty much grind to halt and turn into a police state that would make Stalin proud. And even then they could not stop them because against that kind of campaign there is nothing you can do to "make the people safe"
But instead they keep focusing on planes and authorities keep trying to make planes and airports look secure ("look" because most of it is theater)
Terrorists are either all idiots with plane fetish's or in a game of one upmanship with authorities to prove who is better with no real intent to actually destroy their enemies
Funny thing is when i discuss this with people they are usually totally shocked because they never really thought about it
*would now go check under my car for a tracker...if i had one*
On the post: Fortune Decides To Let Everyone Else Get All The Traffic For Its Story On Secrets Of Apple Culture
Re: Re: Fortune and the WSJ
On the post: Studios Offering $30 Movie Rentals; Theater Owner Complains That He Can't Compete With That
Then started going regularly to Asia and there is a totally different experience, reasonable prices for tickets, cheap prices for food (in comparison to local earning) , well-spaced lazy boy seating that would not mind having at home (and couch’s for groups/couples), some that are quasi restaurant/lounge clubs. While over there I am constantly going to the cinema
Over there they have no problem filling up the cinema’s…wonder why….
On the post: Why Hasn't The Report Debunking Entire US Foreign IP Policy Received The Attention It Deserves?
It has no lobby groups behind it to give it to bought and paid for politicians with a cover letter containing their "talking points"
On the post: The Great Language Landgrab... A Result Of Misunderstanding Trademark Law
"App store" is just a description of service provided, so having a trademark on that would be akin to being able to trademark "Food store" "bike shop" "bar" "restaurant"
On the post: On NYT Paywall, Citigroup says 'Good Buy'; Techdirt says 'Hello!?!'
Re:
Now if you wanted to lump government, wall street, conservatives it would be more valid but not the tea party as they would not belong in even that group as correct answer to 2+2 for them would be '54'
On the post: Does President Bush Speaking Out Against Julian Assange Prejudice The Case Against Him?
Re: I still don't understand how he can be charged with anything?
This has been going on for years and most major governments try this pretty regularly. The way they normally start is with the pedophiles and work up from there
Nothing like a good old "think of the children" argument to push laws that should not be allowed
On the post: Lazy TSA Agents Let Thousands Of Bags Through Unscreened (But They Gotta See Us Naked)
Re: Re: Re:
Most country's in the world were checking checked bags well before 9/11
"and carry on security should be limited to someone with a wand randonly running it over some parts of your body?"
Yes combined with metal detector gates
"We should be allowed to carry on anything to the plane (including hunting knives, etc) and it just shouldn't be an issue, right?"
No, but then again most country's would not let you carry weapons on a plane before 9/11 either
Notice the "most country's" in all the above, because before 9/11 USA did not do many of these things where rest of modern world did.
You see the one thing America does not want to admit, for years they put profits and convenience first and thought about safety and security...well never
Now to "make up" for it they have gone the other way, basically bolting,nailing and welding shut the barn door after the horse has fled
The only rules that really needed changing were
* Locked, reenforced cockpit doors (ffs forget the terrorist, worry about the wackos getting into the cockpit, it was much more likely)
* Banning of all weapons like gun's/knives from flights unless in cargo hold (and no nail clippers are not a weapon)
* Standard metal detector scan on people
* Standard scanning of all luggage, carry on or hold
Some people think pilots should also be armed, but to those i ask the follow, armed terrorists suddenly try to take over a plane
You have two choices,
a) Have a pilot, with a small amount of firearms/combat training, try to be hero at 30,000 by starting a gun fight in narrow pressurized cabin with you stuck between him and the "terrorists" (and remember, even if he only gets himself killed, he is the pilot of the plane you are currently on, hope you took flying lessons)
b) Have a pilot, safe behind a locked, reenforced door that he will not open under any circumstances, bring the plane to the nearest airport where the professional's can attempt to end the attack
Which do you pick?
On the post: Guy Passing Out Pamphlets In Front Of Court Indicted For 'Jury Tampering'
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Dutch Anti-Piracy Group May Face Legal Charges For Stealing Servers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
""seized" is such a wonderful term. If the ISP willingly handed them over, who's fault is it?"
The ISP did not hand them over, the data center did.
Basically equivalent to me walking off the street to your bank and demanding the contents of your safety deposit box and bank handing them over
Could see two cases here, something akin to criminal theft by deception against BREIN and a civil suit against the data center
On the post: Falsely Putting Your Wife On The Terrorist Watch List May Hinder Your Chances For Promotion
Re: Re:
On the post: Falsely Putting Your Wife On The Terrorist Watch List May Hinder Your Chances For Promotion
Re:
How would you feel if you were the innocent locked up for nothing?
How would you feel to be forced to live with rapists and murders (and possibly become their victim) while you watch from behind bars your family fall apart because you are not there, watch your kids go bad and become real criminals (because they have understandable hatred of society that took the father away for no good reason), responsible for the deaths/destruction of many many family’s, all because you are not there due to no fault of your own?
“WWII never happens and there is no turmoil in the Mideast today. Would you kill both babies?”
And if you kill both babies and because there is no Hitler, someone else raises to the leadership of the Nazi party (which was going to exist regardless of Hitler) but this other guy is a lot better leader/military commander than Hitler, so the Nazis end up winning WWII, Jews are exterminated worldwide, blacks are confined to Africa where they are slave labour for the west and a severely depopulated Asia is Japan’s fiefdom and WWIII between the Japanese and Aryan Empires is looming and it’s expected there will be no survivors
Do you go back and kill yourself before you have a chance to kill Hitler as a baby?
See how pointless these little exercises are? There is always another “what if?”
Much better to get the system of checks and balances right in the first place and if you cannot err on the side of caution
On the post: How Would US Politicians Respond If Spain Seized Domains Of American Companies?
Re:
We have had ton's of cases recently of domain's being seized by everyone from the DHS to local AG's with no actual prior notification, never mind an actual trial
Thing's like rights to your property, right to trial, innocent until proven guilty no longer seem to apply in the USA if it involves anything online, especially if it involves the entertainment industry and/or "think of the children" types
On the post: How Would US Politicians Respond If Spain Seized Domains Of American Companies?
Re: Re: Re:
Google's primary usage isn't infringement. That Spanish site's was. Completely dedicated to facillitating infringement.
And that's always been a crap argument anyway, like saying, "he has a day job and only rapes and murders people on weekends, so that's OK, let him go"
Either something is legal or not, the whole primary usage 'defense' is one the entertainment industry invented to hide behind so they don't have to go after the likes of Google because that is target that would bite back
On the post: How Would US Politicians Respond If Spain Seized Domains Of American Companies?
Re:
Could just as easily say
"Issues will not be resolved until USA joins the Islamic world in not protecting blasphemers."You see that's the thing, in democratic country's, people vote their own politicians/lawmakers into positions to write/create laws for their own society (you know the whole "government of the people, by the people, for the people" thing), not, contrary to American thinking, to write whatever laws the Americans tell them to write
On the post: Google's Childish Response To Microsoft Using Google To Increase Bing Relevance
Re: Re:
The tech crunch article is crap as that seems more it was written by someone who's "google-fu" is weak (and wants to an promote an alternative search engine..that after a quick test drive does not seem very good at relavancy at all)
The coding horror article though is a lot better and those of us that do look up lots of tech questions will know exactly what he is talking about, as it is something we will have noticed over the last 6-8 months or so (and it is that recent that things got bad). But don't see how google could fix it from their end without starting to censor the net, something i would hate to see.
But what i would like to see is an option from them where we, the users, could block the scraper sites mentioned in the article, something like an icon that says "never show me results from this site again" for those of us that are actually logged in to google.
On the post: Homeland Security Seizes Spanish Domain Name That Had Already Been Declared Legal
Re: Re: Re:
This is the whole problem with the .com/.org/.gov/.org top level domains , they are viewed as "international" but in fact are controlled by the US.
This was fine while the US had a hands off approach to the whole thing but now that this is obviously changing it probably wise not to use them (nor a US based registrar for any other registration) if you think in anyway the US authorities (or entertainment industry as they seem one and the same these days) might dislike your use of the domain (note, i said "dislike" because as noted "actual US law" seems to have little to do with seizures)
It would be nice if ICANN just moved to a new country with a real hands off approach (Iceland?) but don't see that happening any time soon
On the post: As The Pirate Bay Guys Lose Their Appeal, When Does Google Regret Not Coming To Their Defense?
Re:
And after Google gave in time and time again, guess what would happen? New search engine starts up, based in some friendly country (Iceland?) that does censor it results and the internet has a new king, while Google is relegated to excite.com status
Google needs to remember that statement by Martin Niemöller
"They came first for the ..."
On the post: As The Pirate Bay Guys Lose Their Appeal, When Does Google Regret Not Coming To Their Defense?
Re:
Has nothing to do with the issue.
Kind of like saying a dedicated drug dealer should go to jail while one who only deals on the side should not
Either you are breaking the law or you are not, it never is and never has been "well you are breaking the law, but it's only a small part of your income/business so that fine, continue as you are"
On the post: UK Ebook Seller Refuses Foreign Customers' Money
Re: Re: Re:
Except never seen a decent justification for said price difference (beyond taxes, which if imported legally should be the same) beyond "they are richer so lets charge them more for exact same product that was probably produced in same place"
On the post: How Is It That A Random Comment On Reddit Leads To Your Friend Getting Tracked By The FBI?
If the terrorists really wanted to cause true terror and "destroy our way of life" they would just start hitting malls, concerts, sports games, train/bus stations,public transport (not planes), hell even major rush hour traffic jams so forth.
A few of those and any western country would pretty much grind to halt and turn into a police state that would make Stalin proud. And even then they could not stop them because against that kind of campaign there is nothing you can do to "make the people safe"
But instead they keep focusing on planes and authorities keep trying to make planes and airports look secure ("look" because most of it is theater)
Terrorists are either all idiots with plane fetish's or in a game of one upmanship with authorities to prove who is better with no real intent to actually destroy their enemies
Funny thing is when i discuss this with people they are usually totally shocked because they never really thought about it
*would now go check under my car for a tracker...if i had one*
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