I'll be honest: I totally agree that it's ironic that a federal entity is effectively supporting copyright infringement, but I don't think it's right that you're asking the Library of Congress to do something that's clearly not its job, and in doing so, I fear that you'll undermine your credibility among a few (very few, to be sure) outside observers. That's just my 2 cents.
The reason why this is a story is because as chronicled on TechDirt, slightly incompetent people write things like what was written on that college website, and overzealous law enforcement, egged on by the **AAs, punish fine, upstanding citizens disproportionately.
The issue is that Apple is even worse than Microsoft about patching security holes; they deny it for far too long. I know the Pwn2Own contests are debatable, but at least they are something: anyway, in every single Pwn2Own contest, Mac OS X is the first to get hacked, while Linux never gets hacked. That said, you are certainly right about recent malware that automatically gets root access; that's always bad.
But the issue at hand here is the intrusion caused by this software that supposedly protects computers from becoming "zombies", in which case I think my method still works fine.
Solution: use Linux, install Microsoft Windows in a virtual machine, install that "zombie protection" in the virtualized Microsoft Windows system, and never touch it again. You have correctly and successfully installed the software, yet it is totally impotent against you. (I suppose this works on Apple's Mac OS X as well.)
This'll be interesting, considering that a particular state is setting down a law applying to federal employees (even outside the state's borders/jurisdiction?). While I welcome laws that put an end to this, (1) this may be a little too extreme and (2) this reeks of South Carolina's nullification of a federal law in the early 19th century.
Am I right?
It's sort of like how many people assume that some food or health supplement being "natural" automatically means it's better, no matter what. [sarcasm]Poison ivy? I mean, that's natural too, right? So that can't be bad at all, right?[/sarcasm] Plus, getting back to the discussion on video games, with all the talk about how supposedly violent video games are somehow the cause of many-a-murderous-rampage just because serial killers happened to buy them, does anyone know about the fact that Ronald Reagan's would-be killer was carrying a copy of The Catcher in the Rye with him when he fired those bullets and that he said that he based many of his "ideals" on Holden's angst? Is anyone seriously going to call for the banning of books? (To be fair, that particular book has been frequently challenged and censored in schools and communities across the country.)
You forgot: there's another new story coming out about an author who has rewritten the Lord of the Rings stories from the perspective of Sauron and the "bad guys". Basically, according to Sauron, et al., Gandalf is just a ruthless old murderer (or something along those lines) who can't stand the progress and mechanization of the empire and believes it will "unfairly compete" (how ironic) with ancient magic, so he and the others go forth and wipe it out. It seems like this new book is also being vigorously challenged by the Tolkien estate as well.
It reminds me of how Ben Stein's movie "Expelled" was only screened for selected reviewers just to garner "praise" (which was all manufactured from the start). Once it got released to the public at large, it flopped both critically and financially. (I also strongly disagree with the stuff presented in that movie, but that's entirely another story.)
It's true that the service must be pretty bad if the owners are that concerned about poor reviews.
Except the problem is that they are then trying to sue the heck out of people who watch/download it. It's OK that they're putting the movies up; it's not OK that they are pretending that it's piracy.
Woah, that's awesome news. When I first heard about Bill Gates praising it, I was a little skeptical because I thought it might lead to Microsoft having a stake in it and releasing videos in proprietary Microsoft formats like they did with the previously-archived Feynman lectures in physics (in Silverlight). Now, however, I know that Bill Gates was praising it as a parent of school-age children and wasn't subtly implying a future Microsoft takeover of sorts having been the former chairman and CEO; I think it's great that the Khan Academy is embracing a technology that is too often wrongfully called illegal for various reasons. Given that the Khan Academy has gotten very good press, hopefully BitTorrent will gain a better reputation among the wider media types through this collaboration.
I've heard of Neil Gaiman before, so that means he must be a pretty popular figure in the world of books. That means that maybe once and for all the boogeyman of "alternative business models only working in very special cases/for small-time producers" can be put to rest. Maybe...?
If you read TechDirt regularly, you will see that (at least in terms of content creation and distribution) shame/other social mores are quite effective motivators.
I don't think any less of Star Wars for doing this. I'm glad they did and that the result was such a fantastic movie (and, arguably, series). I do, however, think less of George Lucas, not because this in itself is wrong but because he has spoken out against such remixing of Star Wars in the past, so now he just sounds like a hypocrite.
As someone from that general area, I know that Dan Snyder has a reputation for really thin skin and not being able to take jokes/satire. The reason why this is news is just because no one has seen him react quite like this (though his previous reactions have come close).
As a disabled student in a wheelchair, I find the suggestion somewhat offensive. So what if the people around me know that I have a valid reason to take the elevator up a single floor? I would hate to hear every day "You have pressed the button for a floor that is only one flight away. Please press the button again to confirm that you cannot use the stairs". NO %#$& I CAN'T TAKE THE STAIRS! (But of course the elevator will never know that.)
A similar thing happened to me last semester, whenever I had to enter the building of my math lecture; I would always enter through the handicap-accessible swinging door, which had a big sign plastered over it asking people to "Please use the revolving door and save the Earth". As someone who also generally wants to save energy, the environment, and all that, I felt a bit mad about the implication that my disability is doing the Earth a disservice.
On the post: Did The Library Of Congress Just Honor Copyright Infringement?
On the post: Saying That The NY Times Paywall Is Dumb Does Not Mean That We Don't Want The NY Times To Make Money
On the post: Boston College Tells Students That Using A Wireless Router Is A Sign Of Copyright Infringement
Re: Slightly Incompetent or a Little Confused
On the post: FDA Suddenly Bans Drugs That Have Been On The Market For Decades
On the post: South Korea Wants To Mandate Everyone Must Install 'Security' Software To Prevent 'Zombies'
Re: Re:
But the issue at hand here is the intrusion caused by this software that supposedly protects computers from becoming "zombies", in which case I think my method still works fine.
On the post: South Korea Wants To Mandate Everyone Must Install 'Security' Software To Prevent 'Zombies'
On the post: Copyrighting Pi: Composer Pretends Only He Can Write A Song Based On Pi
On the post: Another Attempt To Make TSA Searches Open To Sex Offender Charges
Am I right?
On the post: Some Discussion Around Children And Tablet Computing
On the post: Tolkien Estate In Legal Spat With Author Of Historical Fiction; Will Publicity Rights Kill Off Historical Fiction?
On the post: Online Appliance Shop Makes Customers Sign Agreement Threatening Criminal Libel Suits For Negative Reviews
It's true that the service must be pretty bad if the owners are that concerned about poor reviews.
On the post: Evidence Suggests Major Film Studios Uploading Movie Clips To YouTube... Pretending To Be Pirated
Re: one step further?
On the post: Evidence Suggests Major Film Studios Uploading Movie Clips To YouTube... Pretending To Be Pirated
Re:
On the post: Khan Academy Embraces BitTorrent
On the post: How Neil Gaiman Went From Fearing 'Piracy' To Believing It's 'An Incredibly Good Thing'
On the post: Japanese Government Study Shows Anime 'Piracy' Could Boosts Sales
On the post: Should Elevators Shame Us Into Taking The Stairs?
Re: Re: Shame
On the post: Star Wars Is A Remix
I don't think less of Star Wars
On the post: Redskins Owner Sues Local Paper Over Satirical Listing Of Grievances... Making Sure More People Read It
On the post: Should Elevators Shame Us Into Taking The Stairs?
A similar thing happened to me last semester, whenever I had to enter the building of my math lecture; I would always enter through the handicap-accessible swinging door, which had a big sign plastered over it asking people to "Please use the revolving door and save the Earth". As someone who also generally wants to save energy, the environment, and all that, I felt a bit mad about the implication that my disability is doing the Earth a disservice.
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