Go ahead, Joe. If you take it far enough, the community will call you out, and soon your name will have the top Google slot for posts saying "This guy steals Techdirt posts" (and no, Mike will not initiate this). This is how things balance out. This will only bring more attention to the source of the posts, Techdirt.com where people can read original posts, subscribe, contribute comments, make Mike and the team more famous, and get new clients. So go ahead.
Here is an idea: eBay should hire Amazon to re-make their entire service from the ground up and include new Amazon-like features and an easier to use API, and then Amazon should buy eBay if/when the upgrade makes a difference. Win/win for both companies and customers. Then Amazon will integrate Skype into their web services somehow. As for Stumbleupon, I', not sure how it can be added to the strategy of either company.
I think this is the fault of T-Mobile for including as the possibly problems from their standard script which said "we have the right to block 3rd party content" to exactly the wrong people: early technology adopter zealots who blog (aka Twitter users). Blocking was not the case, and had they taken a minute to investigate and then let their customer service people know that this was not the issue, the net neutrality cries would not have happened. But maybe that is a good think so it stays fresh in people's minds.
Let's see them try to pass a law for making the telcos accountable for when someone uses a phone to commit a crime, and requires them to record the conversation. It is the same thing.
Another example to look at is countries that follow eachothers' IP laws vs. countries that do not. For example, China vs. U.S. or the developing U.S. of the 1700's vs. Britain.
China is innovating faster that the U.S. becuase China is ignoring IP laws that the U.S. obeys which impedes U.S. innovation. IP law (patnets, copyright, ect) is pretty much the same as noncompete agreements, and has the same innovation stifling effect.
With DVD to HD/DVD you need to buy a new player, and usually a new tv. But why should you get the HD-DVD for free just because you own the DVD?
Going from DRM to non-DRM is not a technological advancement as is the benefits of going from DVD to HD-DVD/BluRay. CDs set the standard for people believing that they could transfer content they purchased legally to any other format to suit any device they own. Hollywood can't change what people believe they are entitled to.
I think Job's strategy is to say: "hey, look, the Hollywood studios want you to pay more to do the same thing that you could do with CDs for years. They are making me charge you more to do this. Shame on them." This will force customers to backlash more against DRM.
I like to poke fun at Microsoft as much as the next guy but I think these guys should give them a break. Yes, there are the many flavors of Linux and then there is Mac OS. These all run on Intel chips. I can't see how Microsoft's lawyers cannot easily point this out.
Teachers are lazy. They only want to teach students to recite reliable facts. To ask them also to teach critical thinking so early? Well, that is just too much for the lazy teacher who also believe themselves to be underpaid.
I don't understand your argument. You admit that the conglomerates are making us serfs, but then you confuse scarce goods with non-scares goods.
Techdirt will let you have all their blog posts! Go ahead and take them. Post them on other blogs and pretend you are Techdirt (like many have already). Google any of the titles of recent posts and you will find wholesale copying. They do nothing about it because there is no reason to. Fighting is a lost cause. And *that* is how they put their money where their mouth is.
Bezo's play is straight out of 1997 with Audible.com. DRM, proprietary devices. But he does thinks he is being innovative (maybe this would be innovated in 1984) and with this PR stunt he thinks he is Steve Jobs.
I think the customers who would block ads would not be the same customers who would pay a premium. However, not seeing ads would be the minimum requirement for paying. I (think) would pay that much for delivery to a Tivo, AppleTV, or iPod and without DRM.
The one thing that YouTube has that the others don't is brand recognition. So it would be nice to see them leverage some of that while not changing the experience you can get right now: free but with ads.
Making and reading some of the faksters was very entertaining. When Friendster started to delete them, that is when everyone jumped to MySpace. Is MySpace plagued by fakes profiles an faux-freinding? Yes. That is because users were able to make such outrageous profiles out of themselves that no one felt the need to. MySpace really took of because of the freedom of expression. MySpace may be hideous, but it's value is much higher because this gets them more visitors. Johnathan Abrams was an idealist, and did cannot recognize opportunities when they come along.
This feature was presumably part of the open social standard. Before all of talk about open social or "open social graph" (which seems like more of a boon to developers who can now plug in to any an all social networking sites with their apps), there was talk of "portable social networks." Brian Oberkirck and Tantek Çelik were working on some standardizations before Brad Fitzpatrick's announcement around 9/21/07.
So, you are right, there are two distinct things going on:
-any app on any network (they are calling them "containers")
-friending across networks
Once a 3rd party app has enough users, (a great example is Slide.com's TopFreinds app), it could become it's own container.
On the post: It's Time To Wean Ourselves Off An Unhealthy Addiction To Copyright
Re: Well then...
On the post: Should eBay Merge With Amazon?
On the post: Anything Goes Wrong Online? Yell 'Net Neutrality' As Loud As Possible!
On the post: Why Would A DRM Company Buy TV Guide?
On the post: Bipartisan PRO IP Bill Turns White House Into Hollywood's Private Enforcement Agency
On the post: Congress Rushes Through Law To Protect The Children... And Make Open WiFi A Huge Liability
On the post: Noncompete Agreements Are The DRM Of Human Capital
Another example to look at is countries that follow eachothers' IP laws vs. countries that do not. For example, China vs. U.S. or the developing U.S. of the 1700's vs. Britain.
China is innovating faster that the U.S. becuase China is ignoring IP laws that the U.S. obeys which impedes U.S. innovation. IP law (patnets, copyright, ect) is pretty much the same as noncompete agreements, and has the same innovation stifling effect.
On the post: Apple Wants To Make DRM Extortion Explicit
Going from DRM to non-DRM is not a technological advancement as is the benefits of going from DVD to HD-DVD/BluRay. CDs set the standard for people believing that they could transfer content they purchased legally to any other format to suit any device they own. Hollywood can't change what people believe they are entitled to.
I think Job's strategy is to say: "hey, look, the Hollywood studios want you to pay more to do the same thing that you could do with CDs for years. They are making me charge you more to do this. Shame on them." This will force customers to backlash more against DRM.
On the post: If You Define the Market Narrowly Enough, Monopolies Are Everywhere
On the post: YouTube Suspends Egyptian Anti-Torture Activist's Account
On the post: Having A School Block Wikipedia Does Not Further The Cause Of Education
On the post: Presidential Candidates Asked If They've Stopped Beating Their Wives With Weak Copyright Laws
Re: why stop at intellectual property?
Go read Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig. You can get it for free!! Imagine that.
http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/
I don't understand your argument. You admit that the conglomerates are making us serfs, but then you confuse scarce goods with non-scares goods.
Techdirt will let you have all their blog posts! Go ahead and take them. Post them on other blogs and pretend you are Techdirt (like many have already). Google any of the titles of recent posts and you will find wholesale copying. They do nothing about it because there is no reason to. Fighting is a lost cause. And *that* is how they put their money where their mouth is.
On the post: Kindle's Overpriced Content
http://nsputnik.com/?p=164
On the post: Don't Take Economics Lessons From Gene Simmons
Trent is a fan of Kiss
On the post: The Chasm Between Saying You'd Pay For YouTube Content And Actually Paying For YouTube Content
Re: Anonymous Coward
On the post: The Chasm Between Saying You'd Pay For YouTube Content And Actually Paying For YouTube Content
The one thing that YouTube has that the others don't is brand recognition. So it would be nice to see them leverage some of that while not changing the experience you can get right now: free but with ads.
On the post: One More Time: The PDA Market Is Meaningless To Measure
On the post: Does No One Remember The Friendster Fakester Fiasco? Facebook Now Dealing With Fakebookers
On the post: Does No One Remember The Friendster Fakester Fiasco? Facebook Now Dealing With Fakebookers
On the post: Why OpenSocial Is Unlikely To Dethrone Facebook
So, you are right, there are two distinct things going on:
-any app on any network (they are calling them "containers")
-friending across networks
Once a 3rd party app has enough users, (a great example is Slide.com's TopFreinds app), it could become it's own container.
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