That is one of the best op-eds I have read in a while. Short, simple and to the point. I love how he points out that Viacom's lawyers helped draft the DMCA and now they want to turn it on it's head. Awesome.
Old media wants absolute control, no matter how much it hurts current and future customers.
I checked their legal documents and there is no mention of the DMCA Safe Harbor provisions. The various legal opinions center around fair use provisions. Turnitin argues that the work is archived to create a digital fingerprint of a fragment of the original work. The archived work is not distributed, is not publicly accessible and so forth, so according to the lawyers they hired, everything is hunky dory.
No, but the RIAA, MPAA and now Diebold apparently have no problem suing potential customers. I'm fairly certain that is not the best way to attract new customers - or even keep your existing customers.
I would say that the ATMs are far more secure than their voting machines. You get a paper receipt. You can check your passbook, paper statement or online statement for activity. Can you do that with an electronic voting machine from Diebold?
There are plenty of rumors lately about Palm (which does not have deep pockets) being sold to a larger concern such as Motoral (which does have deep pockets). Could be a delaying tactic by the Judge to ensure that NTP is able to not only win the case but receive a payment. This way the judge can put on his resume that is has presided over a billion dollars worth of IP cases.
That is a fallacy. Music has always been about popularity. Every genre of music has had their popular musicians.
CD sales are slipping because competition for the almighty discretional dollar is at an all-time high. When I first started buying CDs as a teenager, there were no cellphones, there were no DVDs, video games were not as common as they are today, and so on. Today's consumer has a wide range of entertainment choices. And at $18 a pop, many consumers (and retailers) are walking away from CDs.
I grant you that industry is important for consumer welfare and societal progress
So explain again why the industry needs copyright protection for 70 years after the death of the creator or 120 years from the date of creation for works for hire? Exactly how is this supporting consumer welfare and promoting societal progress? Surely, most successful movies, albums, books, tv shows and so forth, earn the creator and all those involved some revenue within their lifetime?
Why was it okay for Disney to create new works based on materials in the public domain, but no one will be able to create a work based on Steamboat Willie until 2023? What was that about balancing between the interests of consumers and the interests of the industry?
But doesn't that point to irrelevance of the record companies? If you can sell and market directly via the internet, why sign with a major label? You could probably sell your music at a lower price and make more money per sale versus signing a contract with a record company.
If the software is not well designed and the information that that software uses is incorrect and not maintained, then training is meaningless.
I work for a municipal government and 3 years ago we migrated from a text-based GIS system to a graphic-based GIS system. Unfortunately, very little of the information from the text-based system was transferred to the new system.
You could not look up building/structure information, development application information and so on. You couldn't trust the zoning information because about 30% was incorrect - you had to refer to the paper zoning maps.
A co-worker spent about 16 months creating a digital version of the zoning maps that was geo-coded, meaning the maps could have been added as a layer to the new system. That was never done and as far as I know, his digital version was never updated.
Other municipalities have much more advanced systems and even make it publicly available. I still have to refer to paper copies of the Official Plan, Zoning By-law and Zoning District Maps.
Has anyone visited the actual website? I'm sure it will make the Top 10 Ugliest Website list that pops up every now and then at digg. Also, she was found guilty of practising law without a licence in the State of Colorado. This is an example of yet another advocate going over the edge.
Now what happens when people go out and buy PPV and send it out over the web for free to anyone with a internet connection?
Well, the company that owns the rights to the PPV broadcast could sue the person who is transmitting the information over the internet. All ab2TV is doing is letting people watch the content they have paid for on their computer - or in other words, letting people decide how and when they can use their legally paid for content.
It no longer amazes me or shocks me when companies, who purport to meet the needs of customers, do the exact opposite and make life more difficult for the customer. In addition to Directv and Slingbox, there are other corporate interests who would be opposed: local tv stations (they don't want to lose that all important ad revenue), hotels (they don't want to lose all that in-room movie revenue), the networks (who will argue that people will save the shows and then redistribute them), and so on.
Unfortunately, the government, instead of encouraging innovation and competition, is hell bent on making life difficult for the consumer, while protecting business models that are no longer valid in the internet age.
Who are you to say that it should be illegal? Who are you to decide what is best for me and my family? It is amusing to read people rant and rave about the lack of parental responsibility, yet, it seems that these same people are all for the government deciding how we should live our lives or parent our children, which has the affect of transferring responsibility from the parent and onto government and ultimately society.
Yawn. I recall these associations saying the same thing over 20 years ago, and despite all this 'rampant' piracy, the movie, music, video game and software industries still manage to make money, and lots of it. Seems to me the only people making out like bandits from piracy are the lawyers and the so-called analysts and experts.
Rather than compete by increasing the value of their product or simply giving up (yes, that is an option), old media wants to use the legal system (through more laws and through the courts) to enforce a business model that is no longer relevant. Why change, when the legal system can give you a few more years on life support?
On the post: Google: If Viacom Can't Figure Out Which Videos Are Infringing, How Can They Expect Us To Do So For Them?
Old media wants absolute control, no matter how much it hurts current and future customers.
On the post: Plagiarism Checker Sued For Copyright Infringement
I checked their legal documents and there is no mention of the DMCA Safe Harbor provisions. The various legal opinions center around fair use provisions. Turnitin argues that the work is archived to create a digital fingerprint of a fragment of the original work. The archived work is not distributed, is not publicly accessible and so forth, so according to the lawyers they hired, everything is hunky dory.
Yes, it should be an interesting case.
On the post: Diebold Insists Its E-Voting Machines Are So Good, It Must Be Illegal To Use Any Other Voting Machine
Re: Wow!
On the post: Diebold Insists Its E-Voting Machines Are So Good, It Must Be Illegal To Use Any Other Voting Machine
Re:
On the post: Diebold Insists Its E-Voting Machines Are So Good, It Must Be Illegal To Use Any Other Voting Machine
Re:
On the post: Judge Tells NTP To Hold Off On Lawsuit Until Patent Office Rules
Re: Pretty obvious...
On the post: The Shift From CDs To Downloads Is So Much More Than A Format Change
Re: CD Sales are slipping
CD sales are slipping because competition for the almighty discretional dollar is at an all-time high. When I first started buying CDs as a teenager, there were no cellphones, there were no DVDs, video games were not as common as they are today, and so on. Today's consumer has a wide range of entertainment choices. And at $18 a pop, many consumers (and retailers) are walking away from CDs.
On the post: The Shift From CDs To Downloads Is So Much More Than A Format Change
Re: Reply to Giggler
So explain again why the industry needs copyright protection for 70 years after the death of the creator or 120 years from the date of creation for works for hire? Exactly how is this supporting consumer welfare and promoting societal progress? Surely, most successful movies, albums, books, tv shows and so forth, earn the creator and all those involved some revenue within their lifetime?
Why was it okay for Disney to create new works based on materials in the public domain, but no one will be able to create a work based on Steamboat Willie until 2023? What was that about balancing between the interests of consumers and the interests of the industry?
On the post: The Shift From CDs To Downloads Is So Much More Than A Format Change
Re:
On the post: The Shift From CDs To Downloads Is So Much More Than A Format Change
Re: Read up on your topic
On the post: Law Firm's Blog Makes It Uninsurable
Re: Awwww..
On the post: Forget About March Madness Killing Productivity, Teach Your Employees How To Use Computers
Garbage In, Garbage Out
I work for a municipal government and 3 years ago we migrated from a text-based GIS system to a graphic-based GIS system. Unfortunately, very little of the information from the text-based system was transferred to the new system.
You could not look up building/structure information, development application information and so on. You couldn't trust the zoning information because about 30% was incorrect - you had to refer to the paper zoning maps.
A co-worker spent about 16 months creating a digital version of the zoning maps that was geo-coded, meaning the maps could have been added as a layer to the new system. That was never done and as far as I know, his digital version was never updated.
Other municipalities have much more advanced systems and even make it publicly available. I still have to refer to paper copies of the Official Plan, Zoning By-law and Zoning District Maps.
On the post: Can A Web Crawler Enter Into A Contract?
Crackpot
On the post: Is It Illegal To Help Someone Watch TV Over Their Computer?
Re:
Well, the company that owns the rights to the PPV broadcast could sue the person who is transmitting the information over the internet. All ab2TV is doing is letting people watch the content they have paid for on their computer - or in other words, letting people decide how and when they can use their legally paid for content.
On the post: Is It Illegal To Help Someone Watch TV Over Their Computer?
Re: Could it be?
Unfortunately, the government, instead of encouraging innovation and competition, is hell bent on making life difficult for the consumer, while protecting business models that are no longer valid in the internet age.
On the post: Friendster Continues To Build Friendlier Relations With The Patent Office
Re: Re: I can't wait to see the lawsuits.
On the post: Enjoy Changing Your Car Radio Station While You Still Can
Re: GREAT! Now if only they could enforce it.
On the post: Enjoy Changing Your Car Radio Station While You Still Can
Re: Re:
On the post: Video Game Execs Join BSA, RIAA, MPAA In The Bogus Piracy Stats Brigade
Sounding like a broken record
On the post: A Columnist's Modest Proposal To Save The Newspaper Industry
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