The further sadness is, that as a long time reader of Metafilter, I believe that if User Friendly had originally marketed the cartoons as "Illustrations of Metafilter Comments", or "Powered by Metafilter Madness" or some such, it would have been mostly greeted with delight by other "MeFites"
A close friend of mine is currently fighting TJ Maxx over the registration of "IT Bag".
She was given initial approval for the registration.
But then TJ Maxx applied for "The New IT Bag" a couple of weeks later.
When they were denied because of her pending registration, they hired a lawyer to (in compliance with USPTO rules) to protest the final approval of her mark.
This is a single woman, who designed and produced a fashionable and innovative IT bag. She doesn't have the money to hire a lawyer to fight TJ Maxx, and has spent a great deal of her time and money to fight them herself.
...realizing that the business model is not in trying to sell the pure music files anymore.
They could lower the price.
I'm the kind of person who prefers physical product to digital download.
If these guys would open up their back catalogues (Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Who, etc) and price them from $3.99 to $5.99, I would easily drop a couple thousand on replenishing my collection over the next couple of years.
I have to imagine there's at least a couple more million people who would do the same.
A while back, I wondered if Mike would get tired of repeating the same things, and then I realized that if he stopped, there would be one less (very powerful) voice exposing the lies and corruption the entertainment industry employs in its (seemingly) never-ending battle to subjugate OUR freedoms to THEIR control over OUR culture and technology.
Mike and crew, keep it up!
The battle won't be over until the corporations stop suing, lying and trying to make back-door deals with everyone from service providers to senators.
In normal life, most people I meet are not aware of the almost constant attacks on freedom and technology on the part of the entertainment industry in its fight to "make bits uncopyable" aka, "stop water from being wet".
This blog is a great resource for educating people, as Mike and his group continue to expose the ignorance, greed and panic exhibited by the proponents of a business model whose time has passed.
Or do the record labels, for some reason, deserve this special treatment?
Mike,
I don't know if you've noticed, but in the last 15 years or so, it's become increasingly difficult for the world's remaining media moguls to make obscene profits selling various types of discs and tapes at blood-letting prices.
So yes. Yes they do deserve special treatment and it would be refreshing if you were to start exhibiting a more sympathetic attitude towards their plight.
On the post: Social Pressure Can Solve The 'Copying' Problem Even Without Copyright
Also
On the post: Next, Microsoft Will Release An Even Worse Operating System To Jack Up The Prices On Vista...
The Past
On the post: Traditional Tribal Dance... Now Covered By Intellectual Property
Hakarena
On the post: How Nordstrom's And The USPTO Have Destroyed One Small Business
Close to Home
She was given initial approval for the registration.
But then TJ Maxx applied for "The New IT Bag" a couple of weeks later.
When they were denied because of her pending registration, they hired a lawyer to (in compliance with USPTO rules) to protest the final approval of her mark.
This is a single woman, who designed and produced a fashionable and innovative IT bag. She doesn't have the money to hire a lawyer to fight TJ Maxx, and has spent a great deal of her time and money to fight them herself.
It's pending...
Plug:
http://www.dreamitwear.com
On the post: Dear Recording Industry: Stop Focusing On Just Selling Music
Re: Re: There's Another Thing
by Rick - Feb 10th, 2009 @ 10:52am
Hey! Thanks for that. Very enlightening.
I guess I'll just pin my hopes on swap meets, yard sales and pawn shops then.
:)
On the post: Dear Recording Industry: Stop Focusing On Just Selling Music
There's Another Thing
They could lower the price.
I'm the kind of person who prefers physical product to digital download.
If these guys would open up their back catalogues (Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Who, etc) and price them from $3.99 to $5.99, I would easily drop a couple thousand on replenishing my collection over the next couple of years.
I have to imagine there's at least a couple more million people who would do the same.
On the post: Why Is It So Difficult To Opt-Out Of Copyright?
Re: You never came across...
Therein lies the problem. The fake site might gain momentary "fame" on pirated content, but it will evaporate almost immediately for two reasons:
1)The original content is already available for free on the original site.
2)When people figure out they're being "had" by a blatant plagiarist, they will never return (to the "fake" site).
On the post: Why Is It So Difficult To Opt-Out Of Copyright?
Crap!
I got lost in the wall of text.
On the post: Why Is It So Difficult To Opt-Out Of Copyright?
!SINEP
This might explain why 90% of the links in any given Techdirt article are links to other Techdirt articles.
:)
On the post: Why Is It So Difficult To Opt-Out Of Copyright?
!SINEP
This might explain why 90% of the links in any given Techdirt article are links to other Techdirt articles.
:)
On the post: The Wonder Years Unavailable On DVD Due To Music Licensing Rights
The Wonder Years unavailable...
This is not really a bad thing.
On the post: An Outsider Gets A Peek Behind The Scenes Of The Music Industry's Mindset: Optimism Into Denial
Any Students Left?
A while back, I wondered if Mike would get tired of repeating the same things, and then I realized that if he stopped, there would be one less (very powerful) voice exposing the lies and corruption the entertainment industry employs in its (seemingly) never-ending battle to subjugate OUR freedoms to THEIR control over OUR culture and technology.
Mike and crew, keep it up!
The battle won't be over until the corporations stop suing, lying and trying to make back-door deals with everyone from service providers to senators.
On the post: An Outsider Gets A Peek Behind The Scenes Of The Music Industry's Mindset: Optimism Into Denial
Thumbdrive
You lost me.
On the post: An Outsider Gets A Peek Behind The Scenes Of The Music Industry's Mindset: Optimism Into Denial
Lonnie
In normal life, most people I meet are not aware of the almost constant attacks on freedom and technology on the part of the entertainment industry in its fight to "make bits uncopyable" aka, "stop water from being wet".
This blog is a great resource for educating people, as Mike and his group continue to expose the ignorance, greed and panic exhibited by the proponents of a business model whose time has passed.
On the post: UK Government To Force ISPs To Become Copyright Cops
On the post: UK Government To Force ISPs To Become Copyright Cops
Mike,
I don't know if you've noticed, but in the last 15 years or so, it's become increasingly difficult for the world's remaining media moguls to make obscene profits selling various types of discs and tapes at blood-letting prices.
So yes. Yes they do deserve special treatment and it would be refreshing if you were to start exhibiting a more sympathetic attitude towards their plight.
On the post: IBM Patents Removing Leading/Trailing Blanks
Hey,ifthepatentsystemain'tbroke,don'tfixit!
Where's my money?
On the post: Lawyer Who Sues Yelp Admits He Had No Idea About Section 230 Safe Harbors
I could has a law practice?
On the post: IRS May Be Gearing Up To Send Tax Collectors Into Second Life
Three Words
On the post: Storage Isn't Much Of An Issue Anymore
Back to the Future
Where are we going to get that kind of memory, uh, power???
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