Albums - Hard to produce, impossible to copy, low profit margin.
Tapes - Easier to produce, easier to copy, higher profit margin.
CDs - Much easier to produce, much easier to copy, much higher profit margins.
Whoops. Now the music industry has realized that in their chase for higher profit margins, they have driven themselves out of business. But the future for musicians is about the same. 5% of $20 is the same as 100% of $1. But now the scarce good is not analog albums, but signed CD sleeves, T-shirts, concerts, etc.
This is coming to Hollywood. I predict the "blockbuster" has about 10 years left. After that, we'll be back to smaller movies. You could take 1% of the budget of GIJoe and make a movie 100x as good, if the movie was made by artists and not a corporation only thinking about profits.
> "that appears to be almost exactly like my screenplay."
This happens ALL THE TIME in Hollywood. But remember, "almost" isn't good enough. It must be exact. You can't copyright themes, only the manifestation of those themes.
I think there needs to be more "bias" in reporting. This fake impartiality results in reporters giving "equal time" to ridiculous positions (e.g., intelligent design) just to appear fair. Also, too much credibility is given to official government and corporate press releases (e.g., "It is our understanding that no civilians were hurt in the bombing, only armed terrorist.") in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary.
That is why blogs are so useful. They add context and opinion to the content.
> He was clear in his opinion that it would be illegal for
> anybody to scrape information off the realtor.ca site.
> Zoocasa and Rogers are not accused of doing that.
My understanding is Zoocasa is getting listings off the web, not a site like realtor.ca. It is like a search engine for home listings.
In any case, what can you "own" about a listing? It is a fact the house is for sale. It is a fact the house has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The only thing you could own is the copyright of the description of the house (fixer-upper! OCEAN-VIEW!)
When the controversy broke, the official line was the code was a mod, not included in the original game. It then came out that it was remnant code (perhaps an Easter egg that was never implemented) that only could be accessed by heavy modification. The PC version was the only one that could be access by someone without hardware modification, and even that required some know-how.
This game was already rated Mature, which is for 17 and older. The Hot Coffee mod did not show genitalia; it was similar to the sex scene in Team America. I remember there were idiot moms saying, "my child was exposed to sex!" First, your "child" shouldn't have been playing a Mature rated game anyway. Second, you should be impressed at his hacker skills.
This was the most retarded "controversy" I've ever seen in video games.
If they want to cut costs, just crowd-source the transcripts. Provide a template and allow users to upload their transcripts. I guarantee that they will be done timely and accurately. Heck, you may even have a business do it for free, just to have some free advertising: "This transcript provided by ..."
I think regardless of file-sharing or not, people have a budget for entertainment. Before Pirate Bay, people spent $X on movies, DVDs, video games, concerts, etc. and after PB, they spend about the same, it just goes to different places. They may spend the same amount, but now they buy a few new blu-ray discs rather than a bunch of used DVDs.
If they succeed in stopping all filesharing, people will just go back to spending the same on other things. Do media companies really expect that if they stop filesharing, their sales will shoot up. We're in a recession, dummies!
I has some idiot email me about a picture (closeup of blue xmas lights) I had up on Flickr. She asked where I got the picture. I said I took it. She said she'd had problems with people stealing her pictures and it looked a lot like one she took, but begrudgingly admitted they weren't the same.
Idiots everywhere think just because they thought of it or took a picture of it, they own it, and anything that looks/feels remotely like it.
Being from the oil and gas industry, I understand the need for patents on physical things and physical processes. Patenting non-physical things and things in nature (e.g., genes) should be curtained. Patenting code is silly; the only thing code should get is copyright.
Most people recover from traumatic events on their own, with the support of their families. If someone doesn't have a sympathetic ear, sure, go to a psychiatrist short term. If someone is depressed, or has other mood disorders, take drugs (which are shown to be more effective than talk "therapy" anyway).
But the idea that someone should spend YEARS going back and talking out all their childhood problems is bunk. No other medical profession has people coming back year after year. If fact, I think it is harmful to obsess about ones past, and psychiatry just enables people to stop moving forward with their lives.
Most times, people are unhappy because they have problems they don't deal with. So instead of dealing with the problem, they just go complain about it to someone who doesn't challenge them on it.
The US dollar is the global currency for one reason: oil. The largest supplier of oil in the world, Saudi Arabia, has agreed to only take US dollars for oil. Almost all trade in oil is done with US$, however there were some rumbling by Iran that they would start only taking Euros (or a basket of currencies).
No country uses the gold standard anymore, which was a truly global currency. Gold was used, not because it is _valuable_ but because production rates are relatively stable (i.e., inflation is low -- inflation being the general expansion of available money).
Countries all moved to fiat currency to basically not repay their IOUs. Fiat currency is backed by a governments word that it will pay you back. But because governments control the amount of money in circulation (paper, and digital through the central bank) they control inflation, which slowly makes their money worthless. So you buy a Japanese car with US$, and then 5 years later when they come back to buy a US car, whoops, their US$ don't buy as much.
A global currency (other than one based on a tangible object) will never work because who is going to back it? The US$ is kept alive by oil on one hand, and blind faith on the other. If OPEC decided to charge in Euros, the US would be so screwed its not even funny.
All the middle east wars should start to make sense now.
If you buy stolen property from someone, and the police discover it, you lose it. That's how it works in Canada. That's why pawn shops make you fill out a form and show ID before they buy your stuff.
> Actual damages should be (assuming $1) per song:
> $1 x the # of times it was shared ...
x the percent of people who would have bought the song otherwise x (1 / number of available copies of the song on the internet).
So if the person wouldn't have bought it, you can't count it. And if there are millions of other copies of the song available (so a potential infringer could just as easily get it somewhere else), you can't count it.
On the post: Paul Graham: Content Really Was Just A Way To Mark Up Paper
Re:
On the post: Revisiting The Replicator Analogy: How Infinite Goods Create More Jobs
History
Tapes - Easier to produce, easier to copy, higher profit margin.
CDs - Much easier to produce, much easier to copy, much higher profit margins.
Whoops. Now the music industry has realized that in their chase for higher profit margins, they have driven themselves out of business. But the future for musicians is about the same. 5% of $20 is the same as 100% of $1. But now the scarce good is not analog albums, but signed CD sleeves, T-shirts, concerts, etc.
This is coming to Hollywood. I predict the "blockbuster" has about 10 years left. After that, we'll be back to smaller movies. You could take 1% of the budget of GIJoe and make a movie 100x as good, if the movie was made by artists and not a corporation only thinking about profits.
On the post: Lord Kames Explains Why Copyright Is Not Property... In 1773
Re: Re:
This happens ALL THE TIME in Hollywood. But remember, "almost" isn't good enough. It must be exact. You can't copyright themes, only the manifestation of those themes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocked_Up#Alleged_copyright_infringement
On the post: Are Reporters Looking For Information... Or Ammunition?
More Bias
That is why blogs are so useful. They add context and opinion to the content.
On the post: Why Doesn't Century 21 Canada Want More People Viewing Its Real Estate Listings?
Re: Opt-Out Options
> anybody to scrape information off the realtor.ca site.
> Zoocasa and Rogers are not accused of doing that.
My understanding is Zoocasa is getting listings off the web, not a site like realtor.ca. It is like a search engine for home listings.
In any case, what can you "own" about a listing? It is a fact the house is for sale. It is a fact the house has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The only thing you could own is the copyright of the description of the house (fixer-upper! OCEAN-VIEW!)
On the post: The Placebo Effect: Things Pharma Prefers You Not Worry About
Unethical
On the post: Hot Coffee Finally History? Take-Two Pays $20 Million To Investors
Re: Going from memory
This game was already rated Mature, which is for 17 and older. The Hot Coffee mod did not show genitalia; it was similar to the sex scene in Team America. I remember there were idiot moms saying, "my child was exposed to sex!" First, your "child" shouldn't have been playing a Mature rated game anyway. Second, you should be impressed at his hacker skills.
This was the most retarded "controversy" I've ever seen in video games.
On the post: NPR Recognizes It Makes Business Sense To Give Up Content Cash Cow And Go Free
Crowd source
On the post: Court Dismisses Case Against Yahoo From Woman Upset How She Appeared In Results
Re: I thought you couldnt trademark your own name anyway
Maybe we should be impressed that people are starting to think of Google as _the_ internet.
On the post: Yet Another Study Shows File Sharers Buy More Media
Re:
If they succeed in stopping all filesharing, people will just go back to spending the same on other things. Do media companies really expect that if they stop filesharing, their sales will shoot up. We're in a recession, dummies!
On the post: Can You Plagiarize An Idea?
Hey, that looks like my picture ...
Idiots everywhere think just because they thought of it or took a picture of it, they own it, and anything that looks/feels remotely like it.
On the post: Why Just Copying Isn't Enough: Cargo Cult Science And Copycats
Re: Eli Whitney and Copyright
On the post: Time For IT Guys To Unshackle Corporate Computers
Re: Dammit
I think Mike just puts up these articles to expose the mindless sycophants.
On the post: Is Assisting With Assisting With Assisting With Potential Copyright Infringement Illegal?
Re: The ISP is partly to blame for the poor decision
... supposition, supposition, supposition ...
Conclusion: "decision is due to ... lame defense of the ISP."
= Logic FAIL
On the post: Doctor Who Uploaded Rorschach Images Now Being Investigated
Re: Re: Re: Re: Hoodoo Voodoo
But the idea that someone should spend YEARS going back and talking out all their childhood problems is bunk. No other medical profession has people coming back year after year. If fact, I think it is harmful to obsess about ones past, and psychiatry just enables people to stop moving forward with their lives.
Most times, people are unhappy because they have problems they don't deal with. So instead of dealing with the problem, they just go complain about it to someone who doesn't challenge them on it.
On the post: Give Away Free Food, Increase Revenue 300% -- And Also Build A Stronger Community
Re: Re: 15% of free
What is the point of going to a "free" night if you end of paying the same amount?
On the post: Nintendo Pays Innovation Tax To Patent Holder
Re:
If patents lengths are doubled, the investment into R&D may increase slightly, but certainly isn't going to double.
On the post: Moving To A Single Currency... Or Lots Of Local Currencies?
Re: Re: Currenency?
No country uses the gold standard anymore, which was a truly global currency. Gold was used, not because it is _valuable_ but because production rates are relatively stable (i.e., inflation is low -- inflation being the general expansion of available money).
Countries all moved to fiat currency to basically not repay their IOUs. Fiat currency is backed by a governments word that it will pay you back. But because governments control the amount of money in circulation (paper, and digital through the central bank) they control inflation, which slowly makes their money worthless. So you buy a Japanese car with US$, and then 5 years later when they come back to buy a US car, whoops, their US$ don't buy as much.
A global currency (other than one based on a tangible object) will never work because who is going to back it? The US$ is kept alive by oil on one hand, and blind faith on the other. If OPEC decided to charge in Euros, the US would be so screwed its not even funny.
All the middle east wars should start to make sense now.
On the post: If You Build A House Based On Copyright Infringing Plans That You Bought In Good Faith... Are You Infringing?
Re:
On the post: Finnish Courts: Man Who Shared 150 Albums Owes 3,000 Euros
Re: Re:
> $1 x the # of times it was shared ...
x the percent of people who would have bought the song otherwise x (1 / number of available copies of the song on the internet).
So if the person wouldn't have bought it, you can't count it. And if there are millions of other copies of the song available (so a potential infringer could just as easily get it somewhere else), you can't count it.
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