but it should still be worrisome to people in terms of the precedent it will set for the next group of people accused in this manner, who didn't act the same way Tenenbaum did.
I also, unfortunately, have little hope that the legal system will correct itself in this case. The new judge explicitly cited the issues Mike raises in her decision (Tenenbaum's bad behavior), as opposed to focusing on the more fundamental issue that the previous judge focussed on --- whether the damage award was reasonable.
On the other hand, my gut feeling is that, after all is said and done in the judicial arena, it very well might take Tenenbaum a not so very long time to just crowdfund the money. And if that happens, where exactly does all of the supposed "deterrent effect" which RIAA wanted to generate go? Right down the drain! Precedents can work both ways.
My guess is that very soon payment processor regulations will start to forbid them from working with entities who deal or organize trade in bitcoin (or possibly, who even honor it in parallel to normal payments).
That would have made sense, except for the fact that the parties most likely to challenge this in court are... competing T-shirt companies who want their (just as rightful) share of the pie (with no actual connection with Anonymous).
Software paid for by the government but developed by private contractors can be under copyright of the developing contractor. Perhaps the petition also meant to include limiting government-awarded contracts to having a clause which forces the contractor to license the software he produces to the public under an approved open-source license?
Which means (you did read the post, right?) that neither the patient, nor, it seems, the nation as a whole, could possibly afford using the drug anyway.
You did see that this applies to "public" doctors? The very rich of India will simply go to private doctors.
Hard for me to see how that could work in practice
Negligence under tort law is defined individually by each state, but presumably the unification of copyright law under Federal jurisdiction overrides the states' ability, here. And as far as I remember, the Federal copyright act does not define a "duty of care" standard.
If this ruling is flipped 180 degrees, I suppose that means that any media companies uploading fake "aXXo" (or rather, "aXXo-of-the-day") rips should be similarly liable for infringing on the "trademarks" of famous P2P "personalities".
I find it interesting that no one is yelling and screaming (yet) about the enforcement of "terms and conditions" being very, very reminiscent of EULAs attempting to prevent resale of software or other material under copyright.
The difference is obvious, in that tickets can be enjoyed only once, and only at a particular time --- not because of artificial restrictions like DRM.
It seems to me that free culture is rather a response to the disfunctional state of copyright law right now. I have the impression that many artists feel that copyright law impedes, rather than encourages, their ability to make art.
Of course, one can strongly argue that the state of copyright law is due to the ethical failings of the old model.
Even if they somehow manage to outlaw encryption, they cannot totally stop the flow of secret communication, because of the existence of steganography.
Outlawing encryption would, however, slow down things a bit, because the data rate (bits of information/bits sent) for steganography is rather low.
I'm still finding it hard to believe that Lowery isn't doing this trolling intentionally in order to regain the exposure he's lost with the rise of the newest generation of musicians.
A weird variant of Poe's Law means I'll never know...
My hope is that the court proceedings will uncover the brazenness of this behavior, which will enable, via some obscure quirk in NZ law, Megaupload to successfully sue one or both of the governments involved for damages.
Not holding my breath, however. It's practically impossible, nowadays, for a significant amount of seized digital data to not include at least some amount of infringing material. My understanding, in this case, that that's not a show-stopper, here, because the US gov't is claiming that MU had no significant non-infringing use (?!), but my guess is that such infringing material would poison any attempt to find the enforcement process itself wrongful enough to give a basis for suing for damages.
Re: Re: Re: Liability, "average-citizen downloaders", and pre-1972 recordings
Their concern was that the legal theory being promoted by her attorneys did not correspond to the law's requirements for "innocent" infringement (the issue dealt with copyright markings).
Could this, just possibly, be due to the fact that the law was formulated at a time when non-physical distribution was unimaginable? A pity, then, that the district judge's interpretation --- which actually attempted to reasonably deal with the realities of today --- was reversed to say that the requirement to declare that something is protected by copyright is fulfilled if a physical copy of it with such a notice is accessible to the public, "somewhere".
As far as I can see, we cannot lose (or at least, lose everything), no matter what the outcome.
If the scanning and snippet view is ruled as fair use, we get a good precedent. If the Authors Guild manages to shut down Google Books, then many, many more people will be exposed to another "infomercial" about how screwed up copyright law is nowadays. My guess is that it will give the Pirate Party oodles of new followers in Europe, for sure.
On the post: District Court: $675,000 For Non-commercially Sharing 30 Songs Is Perfectly Reasonable
Works both ways
On the other hand, my gut feeling is that, after all is said and done in the judicial arena, it very well might take Tenenbaum a not so very long time to just crowdfund the money. And if that happens, where exactly does all of the supposed "deterrent effect" which RIAA wanted to generate go? Right down the drain! Precedents can work both ways.
On the post: Amazon Stops Processing Payments For Crowdfunding Platform For Creative Commons Books
so now we can guess the next legislative target
My guess is that very soon payment processor regulations will start to forbid them from working with entities who deal or organize trade in bitcoin (or possibly, who even honor it in parallel to normal payments).
On the post: Google Doodles Obvious Nod To...Some Games...Or Something...
Re: Re: Just Curious
On the post: Google Doodles Obvious Nod To...Some Games...Or Something...
Re:
On second thought, maybe not. I have the impression that just thinking about "those games" makes a lot of people want to puke, nowadays.
On the post: Not Wise: French T-Shirt Company Tries To Trademark Anonymous Logo
Er, no
On the post: Should Software Created By The Federal Gov't Be Open Source Licensed... Or Public Domain?
Contractor-developed gov't SW
On the post: India Moves Even More Of Its Healthcare Away From Western Pharma
Re: Re: Re:
You did see that this applies to "public" doctors? The very rich of India will simply go to private doctors.
On the post: Court Says Negligence Claim For Allowing Downloading On Your WiFi Is 'Untenable'
Hard for me to see how that could work in practice
On the post: What Happens If File Sharing Can Also Be Prosecuted As Trademark Infringement?
And what would that mean for P2P "poisoning"?
On the post: Louis CK's Direct Tour Sales: Over $6 Million In 1 Week, Scalping Drops From 25% To Below 1%
Interesting exception to right of first sale
The difference is obvious, in that tickets can be enjoyed only once, and only at a particular time --- not because of artificial restrictions like DRM.
On the post: Free Culture Is The Response To The Ethical Failings Of The Old Entertainment Industry
A response to the functional failings, rather
Of course, one can strongly argue that the state of copyright law is due to the ethical failings of the old model.
On the post: EU Parlamentarian Gallo: ACTA Dissent 'A Soft Form Of Terrorism'
Isn't Gallo an Italian name?
(Maybe we're lucky she's a member of a different MafiAA than various other Gallos?)
On the post: EU Parlamentarian Gallo: ACTA Dissent 'A Soft Form Of Terrorism'
I guess there should be soft conspirators, also, then?
(Conspiracy to undermine democracy, for those who haven't figured it out already.)
On the post: Some Facts & Insights Into The Whole Discussion Of 'Ethics' And Music Business Models
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
> those ideas without permission.
Take your own advice, then --- since I'm sure someone has previously expressed the ideas in your posts.
P.S. There are no legal protections for ideas --- unless, of course, you mean the First Amendment.
On the post: Get Ready For The Political Fight Against Encryption
Steganography
Outlawing encryption would, however, slow down things a bit, because the data rate (bits of information/bits sent) for steganography is rather low.
One also has sneakernet and ad-hoc mesh.
On the post: David Lowery Wants A Pony
David Lowery invents: the "trollvertisment"
A weird variant of Poe's Law means I'll never know...
On the post: New Zealand's High Court Steps Into Extradition Fight Over Kim Dotcom
Re:
Not holding my breath, however. It's practically impossible, nowadays, for a significant amount of seized digital data to not include at least some amount of infringing material. My understanding, in this case, that that's not a show-stopper, here, because the US gov't is claiming that MU had no significant non-infringing use (?!), but my guess is that such infringing material would poison any attempt to find the enforcement process itself wrongful enough to give a basis for suing for damages.
On the post: Australian Gov't Chooses 'Consumer Advocate' For Secret Anti-Piracy Meetings: The Chairman Of The Copyright Council
Example of AU copyright-related legislation backfiring
http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/06/06/with-friends-like-this-labor-policies-and-the-comme rcial-independent-visual-arts-sector/
On the post: Myths And Realities About Fair Use
Re: Re: Re: Liability, "average-citizen downloaders", and pre-1972 recordings
On the post: Court Says Authors Guild Has Standing To Sue Over Google Books, Despite It Not Representing Authors' Views
Can't lose, in the end
If the scanning and snippet view is ruled as fair use, we get a good precedent. If the Authors Guild manages to shut down Google Books, then many, many more people will be exposed to another "infomercial" about how screwed up copyright law is nowadays. My guess is that it will give the Pirate Party oodles of new followers in Europe, for sure.
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