I was talking to an IP lawyer a few months ago and he said to me, "Ya'know, most artists and creators are very nice people happy to get any recognition. It's their children that are dicks."
Most of the other work decent artists do is protected by copyright, and you don't need to apply for that. Trademark is a very specific concept meant to prevent confusion among consumers.
For example, you wouldn't want two companies marketing shoes under the name "Nike", but consumers wouldn't be able to tell which is which.
In this case however, the Dick estate does not sell cell phones or anything named "Nexus *bla*" -- hence, no confusion and no trademark claim.
As to whether there's a copyright violation -- well, it's a stretch to say the combination of two words is somehow a sufficiently unique and creative as to be worthy of protection.
What if I sold a red and black t-shirt that said "I Hate the University of Cincinnati (and their cats)"? It's not trademark abuse, because no moron in a hurry would ever assume that the University of Cincinnati endorsed such a shirt. As for copyright, adverse criticism is protected under fair use.
I foresee a future in which local peddlers of team gear start catering to visitors rooting for the opposing team.
What if the ATM (the ones you can deposit cash in) eats your money? It might be nice to escalate that to a person.
Person-to-person contact does not automatically mean good support, but all else equal, I think it's a plus. Until we get really some good AI, automation only helps us deal with foreseeable problems. A big chunk of customer support is about what happens with the unforeseeable (e.g. bugs) and for that you need people.
Plus there's a tremendous psychological benefit for the user to having the actual name of someone you can hold responsible for your problem.
IMHO, the problem is that you have small teams of developers creating products that get millions of users overnight. This allows scenarios where a single engineer can push a change that benefits 99% and screws over the remaining 1% in all sorts of strange ways.
Because that 1% consists of edge cases and outliers, you'll probably have to sort through their issues on an individual basis. Yet because you have millions of users, that 1% is really quite large. Rather than spend his time helping out the 1% he screwed, the engineer's time is better spent working on another iteration of the product designed to help out some other 99% of its users.
That's not much comfort if you're in the 1% though.
It's actually an interesting question -- how do you build a scalable user support and feedback service? Code, memory, CPU time, and bandwidth are all relatively cheap compared to manpower but actual person-to-person contact is the hallmark of a good customer support system.
I think that'd be something you'd want to toss to the Insight Community Mike.
If you're citing precedent, I'd like to see cases please =). You can easily link to them off Google Scholar if you have the reporter number.
Also, could you argue that the image link (the "" in the HTML) is itself a derivative work? Seems like dangerous territory, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone's made that argument in the past.
But as with any new OS, there's a learning curve. Ironically, I think the more experienced you are with Windows, the harder the curve is -- e.g. the average user wouldn't spend any time looking for the Task Manager in Linux, but a Windows power-user might.
Also keep in mind that there's a slightly higher chance that things just won't work when installing Linux onto your 3 year old Compaq. When your Compaq was sold to you, you didn't just get an out-of-the-box version of Windows, you got one slightly modified, packaged with drivers, and all pre-installed so it would just work when you turned it on. With Linux, you're installing something from scratch. It's a similar situation as if you were to install a new version of Windows from scratch without any of the drivers.
One other caveat: When something doesn't work on Windows, the recommended solution from Compaq or whoever is usually "download this file, double click, and follow the instructions." With Linux, there's a higher chance the community will tell you to open a command line and edit what suspiciously looks like code. It's not too hard to do, but the command line is intimidating to a lot of people.
Well, there is the scenario where the terrorist smuggles a timer-detonated bomb onto an unsuspecting person. Unsuspecting person carries bomb onto plane. 30 minutes later once plane is in the air, timer goes off -- boom.
Maybe if you prove damages, you might be able to get some cash -- e.g. it cost $1000 to hire a developer willing to add said code. Or there's the harder to make claim of how the "infringement" resulted in a "lost visitor" to your site who didn't click on one of your ads.
May or may not be a copyright infringement, but has anyone tried a fraud or unfair competition claim? Obviously, these depend more on context, but there might be something there.
Depending on how it's displayed, hotlinking gives the impression that you, the blog owner, are in fact the owner / creator of the picture in question. This might be particularly problematic if you have a Creative Commons license somewhere on the site, thereby giving the impression that the picture itself is under Creative Commons.
There might also be something along the lines of unfair competition. I'm not sure INS v. AP is still good law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_News_Service_v._Associated_Press), but hotlinking all of your competitor's images for use on your own product seems to be more egregious than what happened in INS v. AP.
Microsoft is relatively open ("developers! developers! developers!"), which helped build the initial Windows monopoly.
I think the better argument is that openness helps. It's a feature, but every feature has a cost -- e.g. all else equal, the laptop with a faster processor wins, unless it also costs 3x as much.
The trick is to use "behavioral profiling" (you act funny) vs. "racial profiling" (you look funny). Not sure how if the average TSA screener could distinguish the two though -- maybe we could do a buddy system between TSA and volunteer ACLU members.
I'm pretty sure Vimeo isn't going to sue anyone who has a third-party ad on their site -- it's not very different from posting the video on Facebook or some other ad-supported site.
IMHO, someone like Google / AdSense would probably have a bigger problem with this because MySpace's ads are now directly competing with Google's ads on the same page.
My hunch is that Beijing is actually quite successful at censoring certain types of content and less so with others. The key factor is how much "the average netizen" cooperates -- e.g. marginalized minority groups probably have a harder time than groups focused on more populist issues because they're more likely to be marked as spam and less likely to be forwarded.
On the flip side, I'd bet that gaming and porn, two the of the justifications Beijing uses to build up public support for censorship, are actually the least effectively censored because of substantial "public support".
Would love to see some research on this, but I'm guessing it's hard because when something is successfully censored, no one knows about it. You could do a counter-factual saying the level of discussion on Issue X would be Y if the government had not censored it, but that's dangerous territory for a researcher.
I think that's the wrong question. It's not WHO is a journalist but WHAT is journalism -- i.e. the Internet allows anyone to be engaged in a journalism, but not everything that "journalists" do counts as journalism.
As a general rule, I think that publishing information that better informs the public about what the government should count as protected journalism -- and then we haggle over the exceptions from there.
The Freedom of Information Act, which deals with the reverse scenario of when the government has to disclose, is set up in this way, and while it doesn't fit perfectly, it's a starting point.
On the post: Philip K. Dick Estate Sends Google Cease And Desist Over Nexus One Name
Re: Obvious
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_robots_and_androids
On the post: Philip K. Dick Estate Sends Google Cease And Desist Over Nexus One Name
Children
On the post: Philip K. Dick Estate Sends Google Cease And Desist Over Nexus One Name
Re: Re:Re: WTF?
For example, you wouldn't want two companies marketing shoes under the name "Nike", but consumers wouldn't be able to tell which is which.
In this case however, the Dick estate does not sell cell phones or anything named "Nexus *bla*" -- hence, no confusion and no trademark claim.
As to whether there's a copyright violation -- well, it's a stretch to say the combination of two words is somehow a sufficiently unique and creative as to be worthy of protection.
On the post: You Can't Be A Fan Of University Of Cincinnati's Sports Teams Unless You've Paid The Proper License
I Hate Cats
I foresee a future in which local peddlers of team gear start catering to visitors rooting for the opposing team.
On the post: Google's Communication Problems Continue: Blogger Can't Get His Blog Turned Back On After Six Months
Re: Re: Paying Customers
Person-to-person contact does not automatically mean good support, but all else equal, I think it's a plus. Until we get really some good AI, automation only helps us deal with foreseeable problems. A big chunk of customer support is about what happens with the unforeseeable (e.g. bugs) and for that you need people.
Plus there's a tremendous psychological benefit for the user to having the actual name of someone you can hold responsible for your problem.
IMHO, the problem is that you have small teams of developers creating products that get millions of users overnight. This allows scenarios where a single engineer can push a change that benefits 99% and screws over the remaining 1% in all sorts of strange ways.
Because that 1% consists of edge cases and outliers, you'll probably have to sort through their issues on an individual basis. Yet because you have millions of users, that 1% is really quite large. Rather than spend his time helping out the 1% he screwed, the engineer's time is better spent working on another iteration of the product designed to help out some other 99% of its users.
That's not much comfort if you're in the 1% though.
On the post: Google's Communication Problems Continue: Blogger Can't Get His Blog Turned Back On After Six Months
Paying Customers
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/features.html
It's actually an interesting question -- how do you build a scalable user support and feedback service? Code, memory, CPU time, and bandwidth are all relatively cheap compared to manpower but actual person-to-person contact is the hallmark of a good customer support system.
I think that'd be something you'd want to toss to the Insight Community Mike.
On the post: Google's Communication Problems Continue: Blogger Can't Get His Blog Turned Back On After Six Months
Re:
Alternatively, treat him as a "content supplier." Most good companies listen to their suppliers.
On the post: Is Inline Linking To An Image Copyright Infringement?
Re: Re: Re: Truth of the matter
Also, could you argue that the image link (the "" in the HTML) is itself a derivative work? Seems like dangerous territory, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone's made that argument in the past.
On the post: Why Does Microsoft Limit Netbooks?
Re: Just wanted you to know...
On the post: Why Does Microsoft Limit Netbooks?
Re: Re:
But as with any new OS, there's a learning curve. Ironically, I think the more experienced you are with Windows, the harder the curve is -- e.g. the average user wouldn't spend any time looking for the Task Manager in Linux, but a Windows power-user might.
Also keep in mind that there's a slightly higher chance that things just won't work when installing Linux onto your 3 year old Compaq. When your Compaq was sold to you, you didn't just get an out-of-the-box version of Windows, you got one slightly modified, packaged with drivers, and all pre-installed so it would just work when you turned it on. With Linux, you're installing something from scratch. It's a similar situation as if you were to install a new version of Windows from scratch without any of the drivers.
One other caveat: When something doesn't work on Windows, the recommended solution from Compaq or whoever is usually "download this file, double click, and follow the instructions." With Linux, there's a higher chance the community will tell you to open a command line and edit what suspiciously looks like code. It's not too hard to do, but the command line is intimidating to a lot of people.
On the post: Slovakian Law Enforcement Secretly Planted Explosives On Travelers
Re: How is this even a worthwhile test
On the post: Is Inline Linking To An Image Copyright Infringement?
Re: Technical problem, technical solution.
On the post: Is Inline Linking To An Image Copyright Infringement?
Fraud or tort claim?
Depending on how it's displayed, hotlinking gives the impression that you, the blog owner, are in fact the owner / creator of the picture in question. This might be particularly problematic if you have a Creative Commons license somewhere on the site, thereby giving the impression that the picture itself is under Creative Commons.
There might also be something along the lines of unfair competition. I'm not sure INS v. AP is still good law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_News_Service_v._Associated_Press), but hotlinking all of your competitor's images for use on your own product seems to be more egregious than what happened in INS v. AP.
On the post: Google Isn't Targeting iPhone Users; It's Targeting Everyone Else (Maybe)
Re: Open does not always win
I think the better argument is that openness helps. It's a feature, but every feature has a cost -- e.g. all else equal, the laptop with a faster processor wins, unless it also costs 3x as much.
On the post: Google Isn't Targeting iPhone Users; It's Targeting Everyone Else (Maybe)
Re:
On the post: MySpace Replaces All iMeem Playlists With Ads -- Doesn't Ask Permission
Re: Re: I smell a class action lawsuit
On the post: Time For 'Israelification' Of U.S. Airports?
Re: Re:
On the post: MySpace Replaces All iMeem Playlists With Ads -- Doesn't Ask Permission
"Gone Commercial"
IMHO, someone like Google / AdSense would probably have a bigger problem with this because MySpace's ads are now directly competing with Google's ads on the same page.
On the post: How China's Attempts To Censor The Internet Are Failing
Majoritarianism
On the flip side, I'd bet that gaming and porn, two the of the justifications Beijing uses to build up public support for censorship, are actually the least effectively censored because of substantial "public support".
Would love to see some research on this, but I'm guessing it's hard because when something is successfully censored, no one knows about it. You could do a counter-factual saying the level of discussion on Issue X would be Y if the government had not censored it, but that's dangerous territory for a researcher.
On the post: Senate's Latest Shield Law Brings Back Protection For Participatory Journalists
Re:
As a general rule, I think that publishing information that better informs the public about what the government should count as protected journalism -- and then we haggle over the exceptions from there.
The Freedom of Information Act, which deals with the reverse scenario of when the government has to disclose, is set up in this way, and while it doesn't fit perfectly, it's a starting point.
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