They should at least get a dirty look from the judge for naming it "the Infringing Quote", and the film "the Infringing Film", when they haven't yet proved any such thing.
This kind of language may be common practice in law, for all I know, but it's deliberately confusing at best. If I were council for the defense I'd be seriously tempted to start with "Your Honor, the defendant (hereafter to be known as "the Innocent Defendant") in this suit ("the Frivolous Lawsuit") brought by the council ("the Incompetent Lawyers") for the plaintiff ("the Feckless Parasites")...
Yeah, I can see why I wouldn't get far as a lawyer.
Like others here, I love encryption but won't use (much less subscribe to) a service that asks me for so much trust.
In particular:
“We won’t be held hostage,” he says, without a quiver of hesitation. “All of us would rather shut Silent Circle down than ever allow a backdoor or be bullied into an ‘or else’ position.”
Shutting the company down is one thing; going to jail is something else. What if someone gets into legal trouble over taxes, or stands to lose child custody in a divorce, and a man from the Justice Department shows up and offers to help? Suppose the FBI spreads out some photos on the table and says "we're tracking a major [VILLAIN OF THE MONTH] and we can nail him if you help us". How many employees of this company have the ability to compromise Silent Circle? Which of them is the most naive? Which one loves money the most? Or just doesn't care much about flawless security protocols?
To put it another way: apart from embarrassment, what is the consequence of a leak for Janke & Friends? Is it nothing? I'll bet it's nothing.
And wasn't there something in The Thirteen Clocks about forbidden speech? Something like:
That man was one of the Duke's spies. The Duke has imposed a death penalty for saying the word "mittens", so you will die tomorrow for having using it your song. But the spy will die tonight, for he must say the word "mittens" in order to report your crime... And I had better flee the city today, for I have said the word "mittens" three times!
My solution: a toll barrier. A caller who wants my phone to ring must pay an amount set by me, say $1. That money goes to me, not the telco or anyone else, and I can remit it with the touch of a button.
I can adjust the barrier. I can make a whitelist of numbers that my sentry will let in without payment, or a blacklist of suspicious numbers that must pay a higher toll. I can put in a standing order to remit payment on any call I don't actually pick up. Anything else I can think of, that the open source community can code up.
If Rachel wants to beat this, she'll have to either get much better at the Turing test, or break every online finance system yet invented.
An acknowledgement that is compelled is not an acknowledgement, it's a recitation. The court could just as well have forced Apple to publicly admit that Samsung's products were better than Apple's, or that the iPad were just a knock-off of the Samsung tablet, or that 2+2 were 5.
"The Secret Diamond Club takes advantage of some economic tricks to try to match up rich men with attractive women. The real secret, though, is that it probably doesn't work at all -- and it preys on lonely people with money."
So... it acts like attractive women. Can we match it up with a venture capitalism organization, one that is willing to give lots of money to possess a company that looks good?
Since the article hunges on the difference between "A said X" and "A said B said X", it might be a good idea to avoid ambiguous constructions like:
...the article did report accurately that he has made certain accusations against Thieriot, that she filmed without a valid permit and that she fled the country with footage, despite being asked to stay.
John: "I can't imagine that the winner of the grey medal and the winner of the brown medal will be all that disappointed that they didn't get up for the yellow medal."
"Plaintiff has cried out for justice, and this Court shall oblige. Both sides will enter the arena, where I'm sure Plaintiff will be eager to display the courage and strength of which Plaintiff has boasted. Pity the poor Defendants, they're really in for it. But if on the other hand, Plaintiff turns out to be bluffing, as everyone says and all the evidence indicates, then the Defendants will be in a position to... oh, I don't know... maybe thrash Plaintiff to within an inch of his worthless life by means such as this, and this, and this, and maybe even some of THAT!... How's Tuesday?"
Maybe I'm becoming paranoid, but this looks like an umbrella he's offering to others in Congress. The American people have shown themselves to be amazingly susceptible to the We-Can't-Show-You-The-Evidence-Cause-It's-Classified argument over the last few years. If Rep. Rogers is taken seriously, he can push this legislation without fear of public outrage, and if he can be seen to be taken seriously then he can offer that immunity to others who may want to join him.
So he feeds meaningless statements to the public, in order to get an irrational public reaction, which he can take into back rooms to barter with, and none of it really has anything to do with the legislation he's pushing, which he doesn't actually care about, and which will cost the public dearly long after he retires.
Am I developing a mental illness, or insight into national politics?
It reminds me of that line from Neuromancer about a luxurious orbital resort:
`It's just a big tube and they pour things through it,' Molly said. `Tourists, hustlers, anything. And there's fine mesh money screens working every minute, make sure the money stays here when the people fall back down the well.'
"Cosmic rays are difficult to shield away from astronauts..."
This is very old news. And whoever thinks this is what will stop us from traveling to other star systems hasn't been reading enough science fiction. Here are a couple of devices that can solve the problem.
A vault containing thousands of frozen embryos, very heavily shielded. Women sterilized by radiation can still be surrogates, so the habitable part of the ship is lightly shielded (life expectancy about forty) and the crew is entirely female (with lots of sedatives in the water supply to prevent violent mayhem). There are only so many embryos, so if the trip takes longer than expected, the crew may have to stretch the time by reducing their own numbers or developing the technology to go to invent something else on the list...
The artificial womb, and robots good enough to raise a human child to sane adulthood. Add this to the embryo vault, and biological continuity is no longer needed, so the ship can get by with no living crew for long periods. Some smart-alecky robots might start to wonder why the meaties are necessary at all.
The digital race bank. If you can construct a DNA strand to order, and build a human egg from chemicals, you can conceive a child ex silico. Sequence a couple of million human genomes, and you'll have a lot of diversity to choose from (especially if they're African). Then you can protect the data from cosmic rays by means of redundant storage and cross-checking, error-correcting codes, and so on. No more embryo vault, no more time limit.
Radical genetic engineering. Why are we so vulnerable to radiation? Because we evolved without it. There's no physical reason why we couldn't be a lot better at repairing molecular damage, it's just that it's never been a priority. And even if blind evolution couldn't do it, we can be clever. (And it appears that animals with large bodies and long generation times, like elephants, are much better at it than we are, so significant improvements are easy.)
More shielding. Much more shielding. So NASA has had trouble with radiation? NASA has a tight budget, and has to lift everything into orbit, so hulls must be light. One centimeter of aluminum is extravagant. But if we start manufacturing things on the moon, or in the asteroid belt, or on the Jovian moons, the economics are different. How about a meter of rock? Or ten meters of ice? Crude but effective.
Those probes will have to go a long way to find minds more alien to me than the executive who wouldn't leap at such a once-in-a-thousand-lifetimes chance.
On the post: Taliban Spokesman Accidentally Copies Mailing List On Press Release Email
Allah Karre
On the post: Faulkner Estate Sues Sony Pictures Because Owen Wilson Quoted Nine Words (Incorrectly)
Re:
This kind of language may be common practice in law, for all I know, but it's deliberately confusing at best. If I were council for the defense I'd be seriously tempted to start with "Your Honor, the defendant (hereafter to be known as "the Innocent Defendant") in this suit ("the Frivolous Lawsuit") brought by the council ("the Incompetent Lawyers") for the plaintiff ("the Feckless Parasites")...
Yeah, I can see why I wouldn't get far as a lawyer.
On the post: Governments Using, Also Fretting, Encrypted Communications App
still waiting
In particular:
Shutting the company down is one thing; going to jail is something else. What if someone gets into legal trouble over taxes, or stands to lose child custody in a divorce, and a man from the Justice Department shows up and offers to help? Suppose the FBI spreads out some photos on the table and says "we're tracking a major [VILLAIN OF THE MONTH] and we can nail him if you help us". How many employees of this company have the ability to compromise Silent Circle? Which of them is the most naive? Which one loves money the most? Or just doesn't care much about flawless security protocols?
To put it another way: apart from embarrassment, what is the consequence of a leak for Janke & Friends? Is it nothing? I'll bet it's nothing.
On the post: Governments Using, Also Fretting, Encrypted Communications App
Re:
Cryptanalytic, or cryptographic?
On the post: Mr. Bean: We Must Be Allowed To Insult Each Other
they've gone back to metric without tellin' us
On the post: Mr. Bean: We Must Be Allowed To Insult Each Other
Re: Re:
And wasn't there something in The Thirteen Clocks about forbidden speech? Something like:
On the post: FTC Offers $50,000 To Whoever Can Come Up With A Way To Stop 'Rachel From Cardholder Services'
basic economics
I can adjust the barrier. I can make a whitelist of numbers that my sentry will let in without payment, or a blacklist of suspicious numbers that must pay a higher toll. I can put in a standing order to remit payment on any call I don't actually pick up. Anything else I can think of, that the open source community can code up.
If Rachel wants to beat this, she'll have to either get much better at the Turing test, or break every online finance system yet invented.
On the post: Yes, Apple, You Have To Tell The UK Public That Samsung Didn't Copy You
repeat after me
On the post: DailyDirt: Looking For Love In Some Of The Wrong Places
perfect match
So... it acts like attractive women. Can we match it up with a venture capitalism organization, one that is willing to give lots of money to possess a company that looks good?
On the post: SoundExchange, Once Again, Warns Artists That If They Don't Register, It Might Keep Their Royalties
it rhymes with "flembezzlement"
Also, I think three years of interest on what they owe him can more than cover the cost of sending a check by registered letter.
On the post: SoundExchange, Once Again, Warns Artists That If They Don't Register, It Might Keep Their Royalties
Re: Re: Re: Good
If Sound Exchange has money that rightfully belongs to Gene Simmons, why don't they just give it to him?
On the post: If You've Already Lost A SLAPP Suit, Perhaps Don't Threaten Someone For Writing About You Losing Your SLAPP Suit
legal languale
I'm just sayin'.
On the post: DailyDirt: Going For The Gold...
"The Games"
On the post: Judge Calls Copyright Troll's Bluff
blood on the sand
On the post: Man Defaces Rothko Painting; Defends Himself By Claiming He Improved It
Ce n'est pas un artiste.
On the post: CISPA Author Ramps Up The FUD: Claims He Can't Sleep At Night Due To 'Unusual Source' Threatening Us
a man who tells half-lies...
So he feeds meaningless statements to the public, in order to get an irrational public reaction, which he can take into back rooms to barter with, and none of it really has anything to do with the legislation he's pushing, which he doesn't actually care about, and which will cost the public dearly long after he retires.
Am I developing a mental illness, or insight into national politics?
On the post: DailyDirt: Love Will Find A Way...
Re: Re: imagination
On the post: DailyDirt: Love Will Find A Way...
imagination
This is very old news. And whoever thinks this is what will stop us from traveling to other star systems hasn't been reading enough science fiction. Here are a couple of devices that can solve the problem.
A vault containing thousands of frozen embryos, very heavily shielded. Women sterilized by radiation can still be surrogates, so the habitable part of the ship is lightly shielded (life expectancy about forty) and the crew is entirely female (with lots of sedatives in the water supply to prevent violent mayhem). There are only so many embryos, so if the trip takes longer than expected, the crew may have to stretch the time by reducing their own numbers or developing the technology to go to invent something else on the list...
The artificial womb, and robots good enough to raise a human child to sane adulthood. Add this to the embryo vault, and biological continuity is no longer needed, so the ship can get by with no living crew for long periods. Some smart-alecky robots might start to wonder why the meaties are necessary at all.
The digital race bank. If you can construct a DNA strand to order, and build a human egg from chemicals, you can conceive a child ex silico. Sequence a couple of million human genomes, and you'll have a lot of diversity to choose from (especially if they're African). Then you can protect the data from cosmic rays by means of redundant storage and cross-checking, error-correcting codes, and so on. No more embryo vault, no more time limit.
Radical genetic engineering. Why are we so vulnerable to radiation? Because we evolved without it. There's no physical reason why we couldn't be a lot better at repairing molecular damage, it's just that it's never been a priority. And even if blind evolution couldn't do it, we can be clever. (And it appears that animals with large bodies and long generation times, like elephants, are much better at it than we are, so significant improvements are easy.)
More shielding. Much more shielding. So NASA has had trouble with radiation? NASA has a tight budget, and has to lift everything into orbit, so hulls must be light. One centimeter of aluminum is extravagant. But if we start manufacturing things on the moon, or in the asteroid belt, or on the Jovian moons, the economics are different. How about a meter of rock? Or ten meters of ice? Crude but effective.
That's enough for a few good novels right there.
On the post: How Do You Know If A TSA Agent Stole An iPad? There's An App For That
Re:
On the post: EMI: Legitimately Afraid That Aliens Might Listen To The Beatles Without A License
not intelligence as we know it
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