While I completely disagree with the premise, the prosecutor is implying that the grades were dependent on a finding of potential innocence. Assuming she actually believes that drivel, you might be able to understand the thought process behind the subpoena.
That being said, I find it a sad testament to blame avoidance that the prosecutors would rather attack the students than attempt to verify their "evidence" with witness interviews of their own.
While I agree with some of what you say, I can't help thinking there is one major flaw in your analysis - you're assuming that the developers MUST use best practices.
While it does make sense to have some functionality in the database for efficiency and speed, why does the database have to have any code at all? Why couldn't the database simply be a data repository and all the data manipulation / verification get done in the compiled executables?
Yes, it may not be the most efficient way to do things. In fact, it probably makes the development effort an order of magnitude more difficult. That being said, why should the developers be allowed to break the rules for the sake of convenience?
I think Sequoia needs to be taken to task for this and in a very public way. Just my $0.02.
Their business model is failing because people KNOW they can buy the 1-3 songs they like for $1 to $3 instead of having to shell out $12+ for a CD containing a bunch of stuff they DON'T want. People don't want to buy crap anymore and thanks to the MP3 format, we don't have to.
The other factor they absolutely refuse to consider is that consumers do not have an unlimited entertainment budget. I still spend about the same now as I have each year for the last couple decades. The problem for the RIAA is that in addition to music, I also spend some on online gaming, Wii games and am actually reading more, so there are more books being bought. I'm able to do this because I'm no longer spending an extra $9-$11 for songs I don't want.
The music industry MUST adjust to the current times. Their abject failure to do so is what is causing their failures - not piracy.
The point I think you've missed is that Mike isn't completely against middlemen. He IS against middlemen who no longer serve a viable purpose attempting to frame the argument so that their failing (or failed) business model can continue.
Using the music industry as an example, I think we can both agree that large scale production of cassette tapes is no longer needed. People rarely buy them anymore. If the cassette manufacturers were to come in complaining that piracy killed their business and they need a bailout, would you be more or less inclined to agree. Personally, I dropped cassette for CD's a long time ago.
Fast forward to current technology and the CD is being replaced by the MP3. The problem I face as a consumer is that the music industry does not seem willing to accept that. My friends and I no longer want to be forced to buy a complete album with 2-3 good songs and 8-12 moderate to crappy ones. I want to just buy the 2-3 good ones, but the RIAA is extremely reluctant to let me do that.
Don't get me wrong - I understand their reluctance. It's because their facing their shareholders who want a guaranteed return on investment. As a general investor, I understand that desire too. The problem is you can't guarantee music. You can have an artist create a dozen albums and none of them sell well, but write one hit movie theme song and everybody loves it.
Taste is a subjective thing and not prone to guarantees. I believe that the sooner they realize this, the sooner they can get over their fear of technology and start moving forward.
If major media hadn't insisted on extending the length of the copyright term so much, the music the artists are looking to recapture would have been in the public domain already. The only people the music industry can truly blame... are themselves.
Law was obviously written by a single/childless legislator
My household is a family of 4 - me, my wife, 2 kids ages 8 and 12. The 12 year old is 5'7" and takes adult medication at the low end of the recommended dose. With cold and flu season coming, we'd be screwed if we lived in Indiana.
Psuedophed makes a 12-hour dose that contains 120mg per pill. If my wife, my older son and myself were all sick needing a decongestant for a week, we'd use 42 pills (3 ppl x 2 pills per day x 7 days). That's 5.04 grams. Add in a children's dosage for my 8 year old, and heck... we might even hit 6 grams a week. Looks like it would be jail time for me... :-)
I guess according to Indiana law, they'd rather encourage the spread of illness by forcing multiple people to make multiple trips to the store to keep themselves snot free. What could possibly go wrong?
The site is back up and while the question from "James" is deserving of a better answer, I can't say I'm surprised by the one he got. That being said, I asked what I hope is a more pointed question and recommend that everyone ask questions to let them know people ARE following these negotiations and that there very would could be repercussions from bad decisions.
My question started by indicating that the list of committee members (found here) includes a number of people with a vested interest in increasing IP restrictions. I then asked what was being done to insure that consumer interests and public benefit were being properly balanced with any new restrictions being added.
Again, I doubt I'm going to get an answer that I like, but I feel better that the question has been asked and hope that others start posting questions too. What strikes me most is that it's sad to see myself have such a low expectation of getting an honest answer in return.
The interesting aspect of the healthcare reform debate has been the hilighting of two polar opposite interests: Big Pharma / Healthcare industry on one side, and the general public or patients on the other. What has become abundantly clear throughout this whole endeavor, regardless of what side of the debate you're on, is that Pharma and the healthcare industry don't want change, and if given the option, they'll choose the least amount of change possible.
This is a complete tangent, but do you realize you've basically descibed Newton's 1st law...
In the absence of a net external force, a body either is at rest or moves with constant velocity.
9 months of getting to school well before the children and staying at school for hours after they've left, dealing with whiny parents who believe their "precious child" can do no wrong and is the smartest one in the class, taking work home with them most nights and weekends, dealing with No Child Left Behind requirements, illegal immigrant children who can barely speak English (about 1000-3000 of them in my city of 85K) but are still held to the NCLB standards, budget cuts left and right.
My older son's middle school got a $0.00 increase this year. Because of union contracts mandating raises, that meant they had to let some teachers go to free up salary for the teachers that remained. Classes got cut and the students suffer.
My other son's elementary school teachers get $200.00 for the year for classroom supplies including pencils, crayons, paper, wipes, paper towels, tissues, etc. They are also not allowed to ask the parents to pitch in.
In the end, I think they deserve more credit than your jealousy wants to give them. They may get more vacation than you and have better benefits, but they pay for those in reduced salary, long hours and constant pressure.
The problem is that your analogy is all wrong. The way I read this is more like:
- being on trial for shoplifting a pencil and the prosecutor saying you're accused of "Grand Larceny"
- being on trial for aggravated assault and having a term like murderer used with the jury.
Juries do not tend to be well versed in the details of copyright law. As such, they will draw meaning from the words used during the trial.
If the plaintiffs were required to use terms like "copied without permission" and "gave copies to other people without authorization" instead of "pirated" and "stole", I think things would take a different course. Personally, I would love to see a defendants lawyer object to the terms as slander and see what happens.
Mike is NOT blowing smoke - he's just posing a valid question and inviting a discussion. Seems to have worked.
Nice to see the artist involved in the online discussion!
Thanks for the clarification of how your work was done. I think the point the earlier posters were trying to make, though, was to offset the AC's contention that Fairey's use of a computer meant his work was still infringing. The theory is that it didn't matter what tool was used (computer or hand), in the end the work is still transformative.
On a side note, I find it a rather sad testament to the state of copyright today that an artist now thinks of clearing whether or not his original art is infringing.
The other issue is what other people and Mike have already posted. Real was trying to work WITH the system... to create an application that limited the copying to just what was allowed under copyright. The response from Hollywood was that rather than try to help guide consumers to a limited copying solution and fight the UNlimited solutions, they ignore the unlimited applications and attack the one that is closest to being a valid product.
It reminds me of when the Guardian Angels in NYC got into trouble for helping to fight crime. Let's forget the true criminals and go after the easy targets trying to help. That's sure to work.... not!
My biggest problem is that they made the product uncopyable to begin with. If I have a choice between a DRM version and non-DRM version, I will almost always go for the non-DRM version even if it costs more. I have kids and kids aren't always as careful with stuff as I'd like them to be. As such, I like to make a copy and "use" my copy instead of the original. If something happens to it (e.g. gets scratched), I destroy it and make a new copy to use. I do this because it only takes a single small scratch to completely ruin a disc. Compar this to other forms of entertainment or even life in general where an imperfection does not ruin the whole work:
- page ripped in a book, you can still read around it and get an idea of what happened.
- a few bad pixels on a TV or computer screen, you can still see bulk of the image being displayed.
- a few bad sectors on a hard drive, you can still save data to other areas.
- a scratch in the side of your car, you can still drive it.
But when it comes to shiny plastic discs, if you get a scratch, Hollywood seems to want you to go buy a new replacement. The concept of backing up or archiving digital information is something everyone is told to do. If they won't allow us to back up the media and the chances of getting a disc-ruining scratch are higher than the average piece of merchandise, then how economically valuable are these discs in the first place? I really want to support the artists through buying their product, but not if it means re-purchasing the same product every year because of their flimsy design.
About a month ago, in an interesting twist, George Orwell's 1984 was summarily removed from everyone's Kindle. I believe Amazon offered refunds to everyone that purchased the ebook, though.
It's still disconcerting to hear that you can go through the motions of spending money for an item that you believe you "own" (e.g. at least have the right to keep a readable copy on your Kindle) only to find out that is completely untrue.
In essence, it appears that you only get to buy books at the whim of the publishers. If they change their minds, even far into the future, you will lose the item you've spent your money on. Something to consider before making that purchase.
The main reason you don't see the cases cover the fundamental points is because the MAFIAA* don't WANT you to. If you've followed Ray's blog and read the briefs he's been able to post, you'll see a general trend where the plaintiff's expend large amounts of energy (and digital paper) to confuse the issue.
In the cases that I've seen where their attempts at obfuscation has met with limited succes, I've seen dismissals and what I like to call "cut-and-run" tactics. It seems like they've done everything they can to prevent an actual "loss" that can become a reference point for future cases.
*MAFIAA: Not my term, but certainly reflects my personal opinions these days.
I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to believe child porn arrests coming as a result of this (assuming the plan is real and followed through). Even if the cameras are not installed in the bedrooms or bathrooms, all it takes is one young child parading in front of the cameras in the buff to cause a problem.
"So while I agree that in a world of free music, it would be easier for more people to have more songs on their ipods than in a world of paid music, it seems that the total number of songs people can listen to per day is more limited by time than by money."
The basic flaw with your thinking here is that you are assuming people will listen to the SAME songs every day. In this era of digital music, nothing could be further from the truth and I'll use myself as an example.
I'm a programmer and spend my work day on the computer. In between phone calls and meetings, I probably listen to 5-6 hours of music a day. If each song was 4 minutes, that's 75-90 songs. My collection, however, is thousands of songs and I take advantage of both (a) playlists when I'm in the mood for something specific (Rock, Classical, etc) and (b) the "random play" features available in just about every media player. It's very rare that I will hear the same song twice during the week. This is exactly how I want it - varied. Otherwise, it just gets boring... :-)
On the post: Prosecutors Subpoena Tons Of Info On Student Journalists Who Provided Information To Reopen Murder Case
Re: What difference do grades make?
That being said, I find it a sad testament to blame avoidance that the prosecutors would rather attack the students than attempt to verify their "evidence" with witness interviews of their own.
On the post: Sequoia Accidentally Reveals (Potentially Illegal?) E-Voting Code
Re: Tech bits
While it does make sense to have some functionality in the database for efficiency and speed, why does the database have to have any code at all? Why couldn't the database simply be a data repository and all the data manipulation / verification get done in the compiled executables?
Yes, it may not be the most efficient way to do things. In fact, it probably makes the development effort an order of magnitude more difficult. That being said, why should the developers be allowed to break the rules for the sake of convenience?
I think Sequoia needs to be taken to task for this and in a very public way. Just my $0.02.
On the post: Is Morality Even A Question In Copyright?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
The other factor they absolutely refuse to consider is that consumers do not have an unlimited entertainment budget. I still spend about the same now as I have each year for the last couple decades. The problem for the RIAA is that in addition to music, I also spend some on online gaming, Wii games and am actually reading more, so there are more books being bought. I'm able to do this because I'm no longer spending an extra $9-$11 for songs I don't want.
The music industry MUST adjust to the current times. Their abject failure to do so is what is causing their failures - not piracy.
On the post: Is Morality Even A Question In Copyright?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Using the music industry as an example, I think we can both agree that large scale production of cassette tapes is no longer needed. People rarely buy them anymore. If the cassette manufacturers were to come in complaining that piracy killed their business and they need a bailout, would you be more or less inclined to agree. Personally, I dropped cassette for CD's a long time ago.
Fast forward to current technology and the CD is being replaced by the MP3. The problem I face as a consumer is that the music industry does not seem willing to accept that. My friends and I no longer want to be forced to buy a complete album with 2-3 good songs and 8-12 moderate to crappy ones. I want to just buy the 2-3 good ones, but the RIAA is extremely reluctant to let me do that.
Don't get me wrong - I understand their reluctance. It's because their facing their shareholders who want a guaranteed return on investment. As a general investor, I understand that desire too. The problem is you can't guarantee music. You can have an artist create a dozen albums and none of them sell well, but write one hit movie theme song and everybody loves it.
Taste is a subjective thing and not prone to guarantees. I believe that the sooner they realize this, the sooner they can get over their fear of technology and start moving forward.
On the post: Musicians Starting To Assert Copyright Termination Rights Against Record Labels
But don't you see.....
/that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.
On the post: The Rule Of Law Over The Rule Of Reason
Law was obviously written by a single/childless legislator
Psuedophed makes a 12-hour dose that contains 120mg per pill. If my wife, my older son and myself were all sick needing a decongestant for a week, we'd use 42 pills (3 ppl x 2 pills per day x 7 days). That's 5.04 grams. Add in a children's dosage for my 8 year old, and heck... we might even hit 6 grams a week. Looks like it would be jail time for me... :-)
I guess according to Indiana law, they'd rather encourage the spread of illness by forcing multiple people to make multiple trips to the store to keep themselves snot free. What could possibly go wrong?
On the post: USTR: We Can't Be Open About ACTA Because We Promised We Wouldn't Be (*Lobbyists Not Included)
Submit your own question...
My question started by indicating that the list of committee members (found here) includes a number of people with a vested interest in increasing IP restrictions. I then asked what was being done to insure that consumer interests and public benefit were being properly balanced with any new restrictions being added.
Again, I doubt I'm going to get an answer that I like, but I feel better that the question has been asked and hope that others start posting questions too. What strikes me most is that it's sad to see myself have such a low expectation of getting an honest answer in return.
On the post: Paltalk Sues Pretty Much Every Multiplayer Gaming Company Over Patents
Re: These frakin' frakers are fraked!
/right there with you, btw
On the post: Want Healthcare Reform That Works? Get Rid Of Patents
Re: Thoughts
This is a complete tangent, but do you realize you've basically descibed Newton's 1st law...
In the absence of a net external force, a body either is at rest or moves with constant velocity.
On the post: The Propaganda The Copyright Industry Teaches Our Children
Re: Re: Re: Ummm...
My older son's middle school got a $0.00 increase this year. Because of union contracts mandating raises, that meant they had to let some teachers go to free up salary for the teachers that remained. Classes got cut and the students suffer.
My other son's elementary school teachers get $200.00 for the year for classroom supplies including pencils, crayons, paper, wipes, paper towels, tissues, etc. They are also not allowed to ask the parents to pitch in.
In the end, I think they deserve more credit than your jealousy wants to give them. They may get more vacation than you and have better benefits, but they pay for those in reduced salary, long hours and constant pressure.
On the post: Yet Another Study Shows File Sharers Buy More Media
Re:
:-)
On the post: Can There Be A Fair File Sharing Trial When The Language Is All Biased?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Calling BS on this one
- being on trial for shoplifting a pencil and the prosecutor saying you're accused of "Grand Larceny"
- being on trial for aggravated assault and having a term like murderer used with the jury.
Juries do not tend to be well versed in the details of copyright law. As such, they will draw meaning from the words used during the trial.
If the plaintiffs were required to use terms like "copied without permission" and "gave copies to other people without authorization" instead of "pirated" and "stole", I think things would take a different course. Personally, I would love to see a defendants lawyer object to the terms as slander and see what happens.
Mike is NOT blowing smoke - he's just posing a valid question and inviting a discussion. Seems to have worked.
On the post: Artist Paints Worldly Paintings Via Google Street View; Google Cheers Him On
Re: paintings
Thanks for the clarification of how your work was done. I think the point the earlier posters were trying to make, though, was to offset the AC's contention that Fairey's use of a computer meant his work was still infringing. The theory is that it didn't matter what tool was used (computer or hand), in the end the work is still transformative.
On a side note, I find it a rather sad testament to the state of copyright today that an artist now thinks of clearing whether or not his original art is infringing.
On the post: As Expected, Judge Still Bans Real From Selling RealDVD
Re: uncopyable issues
The other issue is what other people and Mike have already posted. Real was trying to work WITH the system... to create an application that limited the copying to just what was allowed under copyright. The response from Hollywood was that rather than try to help guide consumers to a limited copying solution and fight the UNlimited solutions, they ignore the unlimited applications and attack the one that is closest to being a valid product.
It reminds me of when the Guardian Angels in NYC got into trouble for helping to fight crime. Let's forget the true criminals and go after the easy targets trying to help. That's sure to work.... not!
On the post: As Expected, Judge Still Bans Real From Selling RealDVD
uncopyable issues
My biggest problem is that they made the product uncopyable to begin with. If I have a choice between a DRM version and non-DRM version, I will almost always go for the non-DRM version even if it costs more. I have kids and kids aren't always as careful with stuff as I'd like them to be. As such, I like to make a copy and "use" my copy instead of the original. If something happens to it (e.g. gets scratched), I destroy it and make a new copy to use. I do this because it only takes a single small scratch to completely ruin a disc. Compar this to other forms of entertainment or even life in general where an imperfection does not ruin the whole work:
- page ripped in a book, you can still read around it and get an idea of what happened.
- a few bad pixels on a TV or computer screen, you can still see bulk of the image being displayed.
- a few bad sectors on a hard drive, you can still save data to other areas.
- a scratch in the side of your car, you can still drive it.
But when it comes to shiny plastic discs, if you get a scratch, Hollywood seems to want you to go buy a new replacement. The concept of backing up or archiving digital information is something everyone is told to do. If they won't allow us to back up the media and the chances of getting a disc-ruining scratch are higher than the average piece of merchandise, then how economically valuable are these discs in the first place? I really want to support the artists through buying their product, but not if it means re-purchasing the same product every year because of their flimsy design.
On the post: Publishers Succeeding With Free eBooks Driving Sales For Other Books
Re: Free e-books
About a month ago, in an interesting twist, George Orwell's 1984 was summarily removed from everyone's Kindle. I believe Amazon offered refunds to everyone that purchased the ebook, though.
It's still disconcerting to hear that you can go through the motions of spending money for an item that you believe you "own" (e.g. at least have the right to keep a readable copy on your Kindle) only to find out that is completely untrue.
In essence, it appears that you only get to buy books at the whim of the publishers. If they change their minds, even far into the future, you will lose the item you've spent your money on. Something to consider before making that purchase.
On the post: Laptop Magazine Rescinds 'Best Of Show' Award For Zer01
Puh-lease... it's easy to see what's happening...
Duke Nukem!
/sorry - had to.
On the post: More On Deserving To Get Paid
Re: Ray Beckerman / salient points
In the cases that I've seen where their attempts at obfuscation has met with limited succes, I've seen dismissals and what I like to call "cut-and-run" tactics. It seems like they've done everything they can to prevent an actual "loss" that can become a reference point for future cases.
*MAFIAA: Not my term, but certainly reflects my personal opinions these days.
On the post: UK Wants Surveillance Cameras To Watch 20,000 Worst Families?
Unintended consequences...
On the post: Trent Reznor Explains What A Musician Needs To Do To Be Successful These Days
Re:
The basic flaw with your thinking here is that you are assuming people will listen to the SAME songs every day. In this era of digital music, nothing could be further from the truth and I'll use myself as an example.
I'm a programmer and spend my work day on the computer. In between phone calls and meetings, I probably listen to 5-6 hours of music a day. If each song was 4 minutes, that's 75-90 songs. My collection, however, is thousands of songs and I take advantage of both (a) playlists when I'm in the mood for something specific (Rock, Classical, etc) and (b) the "random play" features available in just about every media player. It's very rare that I will hear the same song twice during the week. This is exactly how I want it - varied. Otherwise, it just gets boring... :-)
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