We feel it necessary and beneficial to huff, and furthermore to puff.
Countermeasures to lupine demolition rights represent the search for a balance between the need to respect the rights of wolves to free access and that of allowing the existence of little pigs within a defined lifespan for, uh, liberty and justice.
This balance seems challenged today. Indeed, the development of new technologies, leading to new architectural modes, (bricks, mortar, steel deadlock bolts...) and blurring the line between sty and butcher block, calls into question a law developed in part for a completely different context, and insufficiently adapted to these new measures.
This challenge is twofold. First, from a legal viewpoint, the current building codes do not take into account these new fortifications in a fully satisfactory manner. This results in an increasing reliance on methods other than blowing houses down, in particular impersonation of elderly relatives, in order to circumvent imperfections (would you like to come out and try these tasty slops?). Secondly, in terms of construction, the ease with which a brick wall may be erected seems to render meaningless the concept of masonry and raises the question of its suitability for the current context.
It therefore seemed useful to BBW L.L.C to undertake this project to take stock of the issues and, where appropriate, make recommendations to address shortcomings of the present system and attempt to define a more satisfactory balance representing a new consensus. This new balance would not be limited to amending and supplementing permission to build with bricks, it could aim to establish a "right to another day" or a "right to get a little fatter", including the development of an independent legal doctrine, enforceable before judges and on a par with slaughterhouse tradition.
It's reverse electro-magnetism! And it involves magnetic (reverse magnetic?) fields that must be in the, what, Megatesla? (Reverse Megatesla?) And it works on non-ferrous debris. Why, that's no problem at all, I'll bet Tony Stark could build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!
Drones are getting smaller, cheaper and smarter. In time they'll become enough of a nuisance that anti-drone measures will become commonplace (and an ineffectual tracery of law may form around them, too).
Near-earth orbit is an even more pollutible region than urban airspace. Orbital debris is already an enormous pain; a paint flake or a machine screw travelling at orbital velocity can do serious damage to a delicate instrument (like say, a satellite), debris can stay up for a long time, and collisions just create more debris. A long-term solution will be tricky, but suffice to say a hacker group that tried to inject thousands of microsatellites into orbit without permission would make itself seriously unpopular.
I like the idea of a covert network riding legitimate hardware. Most the smartphones in a city working together could form a pretty nice one. And it could be made deniable too: a smartphone worm could create such a network, so any particular person with a file-sharing phone could plausibly be completely innocent and unaware of what was going on-- and this would be true even if no such worm had ever actually made the rounds.
"You can't hand them the data even if it's encrypted. They have no right to the files that are not infringement."
Is that a legal statement? Assuming Megaupload knows how to keep keys secure (a big assumption, I admit), MPAA's possession of the ciphertext wouldn't do the MPAA any good or the owners any harm. Then the sifting could begin: the MPAA passes a small block of data to Megaupload, which decrypts it and passes it to the judge, who looks over it and decides whether it should be made public, returned to a user, or destroyed. Then the MPAA passes another small block. This could continue for quite a while...
Which reminds me, I should read Bleak House again.
A simple solution: Megaupload will hand the data over to the MPAA -- strongly encrypted. Megaupload will retain the keys until the courts decide whether the files are legal evidence or not. And woe betide the MPAA if the files get lost or damaged in the meantime.
"I'll admit I'm a bit disappointed that Megabloks didn't make the cut... Zoob and Zome [are] technically still under patent protection. To deal with those two, the kit actually does not include connectors to either of those toys. Instead, both have a pending date, to be released on the day those patents expire."
I don't know how big the 3D printing community is, but I have to wonder how long it will take for these connectors to appear "in the wild".
Heck, how long until plans for replicas of Lego bricks appear, or the entirety of Duplo is pulled in. Imagine not having to buy a 500-piece set to get the three rare pieces that constitute the entire creative novelty of the latest kit. How long until actual hybrids appear, not just adaptors. An online ecology of evolving toy construction sets.
Fun's fun, but I think this is specious and silly. Money isn't just information. It's an abstract entity that actually can be degraded by duplication. An obvious counterfeit is worthless (unlike a mediocre copy of a musical recording), and a convincing copy reduces the value of the original (again, unlike a perfect copy of a musical recording). Either way, "paying" these agencies with counterfeits doesn't prove our point, it gives the appearance of bolstering theirs.
This doesn't look like the work of a single individual trying to think up a good marketing campaign. This looks like
1) Upper management comes up with a list of Forbidden Things, like digital versions of films delivered by wire, or promotional "content" put online where any grubby teen can link to it without paying.
2) The corporate culture quietly assumes the false economy of waste (i.e. we payed millions for this steam engine, so we must use it instead of a diesel engine or else we'd have to count that money as a dead loss).
3) A mandate comes down from on high: "think of a new way to sell things to the unrich; use what we already have, avoid Forbidden Things."
4) Someone comes up with a combination of mall space, QR codes, physical signage, controlled apps, web site, online purchase, DVDs, Blu-ray, shipping.
5) Several levels of management consider the idea, see that it can be pitched to the next level up. Final decision made by Senior Manager who hasn't set foot in a mall since 1983.
6) Press release, launch, managers distance themselves from project (cleverest first). Scapegoats already selected but don't know it.
'Another [tech industry] lobbyist said it’s “nearly impossible” to get the tech community to engage on policy issues, especially complicated measures that are highly technical, such as cybersecurity...'
Yes, it's nearly impossible to get the tech community to engage on cybersecurity policy issues. They're such smartasses about security. We develop body scanners for airport security, and the online community points out that they're totally worthless. We try to give the government new powers to invade citizens' privacy and strip them of their civil rights in order to prevent massive cyberattack, and they go and point out that the scenarios are wildly unrealistic and can be prevented by simple and cheap security measures. We sell the military magic security wands, and the online community makes fun of us. We try to sell the government secure electronic voting systems, and they go and break them in a day. We try to sell the government New And Improved Super-Secure electronic voting systems, and they break them in a day. We try to advance new innovations in DRM, and the hackers break them in a day. We try to make it illegal to expose the security holes, which would make all of these problems go away, and they piss and moan.
Why can't they just let us be the security experts?
To be fair, it's a transaction across the border of a game, using real money to buy something that exists only within the frame of the game. It's somewhat novel (unless you count illegal game-fixing as prior art).
Does getting mentioned in fiction count as prior art? I read Greg Bear's science-fiction novel Eon in the '80's, and a character mentioned that he was being paid for his services in "advantages" over long-standing opponents in a computer-based conflict he described as something like "lethal chess".
He was in fact a computer program fighting for his life against similar entities, so our MMOG was his Real Life, but still.
"Hopefully this means that Congress is actually going to get serious about challenging the administration on its claimed authority to sign and ratify ACTA without Congress' approval."
Why should they? Traditionally this would be considered a point too subtle to be safe; a member of Congress who fought this wouldn't win much favor with the voters, but would lose a lot with the backers, and one who kept silent would lose nothing and quietly gain a lot. And both parties seem to like to expand the power of the president. Just look at the president's power to wage war; we haven't actually declared a war since 1942. Congress doesn't mind letting that power slide into the hands of the president, because it lets them tailor speeches to the mood of the day without actually committing to anything.
If we can remember this until the next election, and vote for those who speak up over those who don't, that might just start to change.
1) A deniable computer that they can't find on you. Maybe integrated circuits worked into commonplace objects, like soda bottles; they're all over the place, but if you tap your private code into one it becomes a terminal...
2) A honeypot computer. It looks like a Raspberry Pi, but it has a hardware hack that feeds straight to the Ministry of Information. (Now there's a counterfeiting issue we can feel strongly about!)
Oh please, radical terrorists are so 2011. Cyberterrorists are the thing now, the new 2012 Anti-Democracy Hacktivists are just coming out, and of course child pornography never goes out of style.
That's what gets me. I think open source is essential for a system like this, but it's clearly not sufficient. This trial was, in a sense, part of the open source process (and it turned out to be vital), but I'm wondering how such a leaky design made it this far.
I was all set to praise the BOEE for allowing a public black hat trial of their system -- it's the right thing to do in so many ways -- until I got to this part:
'The attack was apparently brought to officials’ attention by an email on a mailing list they monitored that curiously asked, “does anyone know what tune they play for successful voters?” Shortly after another mailing list participant recognized the music as “The Victors,” officials abruptly suspended the public examination period, halting the tests five days sooner than scheduled, citing “usability issues.”'
I would have had a hell of a lot more respect for them if they had cited "massive breach". They were happy to hold a trial they were sure of winning, and as soon as they were beaten they went right into whitewash mode.
On the post: TSA Freaks Out, Gets Longtime Critic Bruce Schneier Kicked Off Of Oversight Hearing
If only...
On the post: Should There Be A Right To Copyright Exceptions?
We feel it necessary and beneficial to huff, and furthermore to puff.
This balance seems challenged today. Indeed, the development of new technologies, leading to new architectural modes, (bricks, mortar, steel deadlock bolts...) and blurring the line between sty and butcher block, calls into question a law developed in part for a completely different context, and insufficiently adapted to these new measures.
This challenge is twofold. First, from a legal viewpoint, the current building codes do not take into account these new fortifications in a fully satisfactory manner. This results in an increasing reliance on methods other than blowing houses down, in particular impersonation of elderly relatives, in order to circumvent imperfections (would you like to come out and try these tasty slops?). Secondly, in terms of construction, the ease with which a brick wall may be erected seems to render meaningless the concept of masonry and raises the question of its suitability for the current context.
It therefore seemed useful to BBW L.L.C to undertake this project to take stock of the issues and, where appropriate, make recommendations to address shortcomings of the present system and attempt to define a more satisfactory balance representing a new consensus. This new balance would not be limited to amending and supplementing permission to build with bricks, it could aim to establish a "right to another day" or a "right to get a little fatter", including the development of an independent legal doctrine, enforceable before judges and on a par with slaughterhouse tradition.
On the post: File Sharing Drones Proof Of Concept Already Built
Re: Re: Re: Re: foreseeable consequences
I also like your idea of "a thick layer of soft foam". Are you perchance thinking of six inches of foam rubber? People have actually been working on this problem for a while.
On the post: File Sharing Drones Proof Of Concept Already Built
Re: Re: foreseeable consequences
On the post: File Sharing Drones Proof Of Concept Already Built
foreseeable consequences
Near-earth orbit is an even more pollutible region than urban airspace. Orbital debris is already an enormous pain; a paint flake or a machine screw travelling at orbital velocity can do serious damage to a delicate instrument (like say, a satellite), debris can stay up for a long time, and collisions just create more debris. A long-term solution will be tricky, but suffice to say a hacker group that tried to inject thousands of microsatellites into orbit without permission would make itself seriously unpopular.
I like the idea of a covert network riding legitimate hardware. Most the smartphones in a city working together could form a pretty nice one. And it could be made deniable too: a smartphone worm could create such a network, so any particular person with a file-sharing phone could plausibly be completely innocent and unaware of what was going on-- and this would be true even if no such worm had ever actually made the rounds.
On the post: MPAA Asks For Megaupload Data To Be Retained So It Can Sue Users... Then Insists It Didn't Really Mean That
Re: Re: win-win-win
Is that a legal statement? Assuming Megaupload knows how to keep keys secure (a big assumption, I admit), MPAA's possession of the ciphertext wouldn't do the MPAA any good or the owners any harm. Then the sifting could begin: the MPAA passes a small block of data to Megaupload, which decrypts it and passes it to the judge, who looks over it and decides whether it should be made public, returned to a user, or destroyed. Then the MPAA passes another small block. This could continue for quite a while...
Which reminds me, I should read Bleak House again.
On the post: MPAA Asks For Megaupload Data To Be Retained So It Can Sue Users... Then Insists It Didn't Really Mean That
win-win-win
On the post: Free 3D-Printable Kit To Connect Different Toy Construction Sets Released -- But Partially Blocked Due To Patents
extruded plastic Singularity
I don't know how big the 3D printing community is, but I have to wonder how long it will take for these connectors to appear "in the wild".
Heck, how long until plans for replicas of Lego bricks appear, or the entirety of Duplo is pulled in. Imagine not having to buy a 500-piece set to get the three rare pieces that constitute the entire creative novelty of the latest kit. How long until actual hybrids appear, not just adaptors. An online ecology of evolving toy construction sets.
I gotta go lie down.
On the post: Since The RIAA & MPAA Say That A Copy Is Just As Valuable As The Original, Send Them A Copy Of Money
On the post: Does Anyone Who Develops New Products In Hollywood Ask 'Would I Ever Actually Use This?'
by their works ye shall know them
1) Upper management comes up with a list of Forbidden Things, like digital versions of films delivered by wire, or promotional "content" put online where any grubby teen can link to it without paying.
2) The corporate culture quietly assumes the false economy of waste (i.e. we payed millions for this steam engine, so we must use it instead of a diesel engine or else we'd have to count that money as a dead loss).
3) A mandate comes down from on high: "think of a new way to sell things to the unrich; use what we already have, avoid Forbidden Things."
4) Someone comes up with a combination of mall space, QR codes, physical signage, controlled apps, web site, online purchase, DVDs, Blu-ray, shipping.
5) Several levels of management consider the idea, see that it can be pitched to the next level up. Final decision made by Senior Manager who hasn't set foot in a mall since 1983.
6) Press release, launch, managers distance themselves from project (cleverest first). Scapegoats already selected but don't know it.
7) quiet death (begins at launch + 3 days)
On the post: 'Don't Get SOPA'd' Is The New Mantra On Capitol Hill
nearly impossible
Yes, it's nearly impossible to get the tech community to engage on cybersecurity policy issues. They're such smartasses about security. We develop body scanners for airport security, and the online community points out that they're totally worthless. We try to give the government new powers to invade citizens' privacy and strip them of their civil rights in order to prevent massive cyberattack, and they go and point out that the scenarios are wildly unrealistic and can be prevented by simple and cheap security measures. We sell the military magic security wands, and the online community makes fun of us. We try to sell the government secure electronic voting systems, and they go and break them in a day. We try to sell the government New And Improved Super-Secure electronic voting systems, and they break them in a day. We try to advance new innovations in DRM, and the hackers break them in a day. We try to make it illegal to expose the security holes, which would make all of these problems go away, and they piss and moan.
Why can't they just let us be the security experts?
On the post: Social Gaming Patent Troll Goes After Facebook, Zynga For In-Game Purchases
Re:
On the post: Social Gaming Patent Troll Goes After Facebook, Zynga For In-Game Purchases
prior art? from the future?
He was in fact a computer program fighting for his life against similar entities, so our MMOG was his Real Life, but still.
On the post: Darrell Issa Posts Text Of 'Unconstitutional' ACTA For Open Feedback; Something USTR Never Did
Why should they? Traditionally this would be considered a point too subtle to be safe; a member of Congress who fought this wouldn't win much favor with the voters, but would lose a lot with the backers, and one who kept silent would lose nothing and quietly gain a lot. And both parties seem to like to expand the power of the president. Just look at the president's power to wage war; we haven't actually declared a war since 1942. Congress doesn't mind letting that power slide into the hands of the president, because it lets them tailor speeches to the mood of the day without actually committing to anything.
If we can remember this until the next election, and vote for those who speak up over those who don't, that might just start to change.
On the post: Only Hollywood Would Think That This 'Disc To Digital' Program Makes Sense
Re: allowing consumers to convert their libraries “easily, safely and at reasonable prices.”
On the post: How The Runaway Success Of A Tiny $25 Computer Could Become A Big Problem For Oppressive Regimes
Re:
On the post: How The Runaway Success Of A Tiny $25 Computer Could Become A Big Problem For Oppressive Regimes
Computer? What computer?
1) A deniable computer that they can't find on you. Maybe integrated circuits worked into commonplace objects, like soda bottles; they're all over the place, but if you tap your private code into one it becomes a terminal...
2) A honeypot computer. It looks like a Raspberry Pi, but it has a hardware hack that feeds straight to the Ministry of Information. (Now there's a counterfeiting issue we can feel strongly about!)
On the post: How The Runaway Success Of A Tiny $25 Computer Could Become A Big Problem For Oppressive Regimes
Re:
On the post: The Details On How To Elect Futurama's Bender To Whatever Election Is Using Online Voting
Re: Open Source the Design and Test Test Test
That's what gets me. I think open source is essential for a system like this, but it's clearly not sufficient. This trial was, in a sense, part of the open source process (and it turned out to be vital), but I'm wondering how such a leaky design made it this far.
On the post: The Details On How To Elect Futurama's Bender To Whatever Election Is Using Online Voting
playing fair-- until they lose
'The attack was apparently brought to officials’ attention by an email on a mailing list they monitored that curiously asked, “does anyone know what tune they play for successful voters?” Shortly after another mailing list participant recognized the music as “The Victors,” officials abruptly suspended the public examination period, halting the tests five days sooner than scheduled, citing “usability issues.”'
I would have had a hell of a lot more respect for them if they had cited "massive breach". They were happy to hold a trial they were sure of winning, and as soon as they were beaten they went right into whitewash mode.
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