Fan fiction is actually remarkably popular. No one worries about it as long as it is not sold for profit. If you want to sell it, then you require permission of the living author. If the author is not living, then you have to ask the owners of the copyright. When the copyright runs out, you can do as you wish.
For the non-profit fan fiction the usual story is that: (A) It is severely frowned upon by fans because it is typically terrible. (B) Stepping on the territory of a living author's own work is outright condemned by fans. In this case the fan is smart to contact the author and consult with him about the territory of the fan story. In the case of "The Hunt for Gollum", apparently the owners of the copyright saw no conflict with any other known elaborations upon Tolkien's work.
Essentially, by law and by courtesy, the copyright holder has the last word. Satire, however, is the sole exception. Typically, countries have no laws against satire of copyrighted work.
There is no copyright infringement if a piece of work can be proven to be SATIRE. That was proven in the courts, at least in the USA, decades ago. The history of satire goes back millennia.
IPv6 is alive and well. It's been built into every computer for years. ISPs can take advantage of it any time they like, and many already do. If you get the bogus 'we're short on IP addresses!' line, laugh at them.
As soon as broadband ISPs like Time Warner conveniently used this propaganda as an excuse to jack up bandwidth prices, we got the clue: It's a SCAM.
The original version of the lie I heard a couple years back predicted that the Internet would be locked up as of last month. Oops. Yet another bogus end-of-the-world.
Could Time Warner have any WORSE marketing morons working for them? The abuse they are inflicting *on themselves* in this ongoing debacle has to be unprecedented. Why would any customer want to put up with their blatant LIES and PRICE GOUGING?
(It has been discovered that 1 GB of downloads costs Time Warner 10¢. This reveals that their price gouging 'tests' have perpetrated between 10x and over 17x price markups. Time Warner is your friend, NOT).
A 'How to fight back!' shortlist:
1) Write your local government and demand broadband ISP competition in your area.
2) Write to Time Warner and let them know their mask has been torn off.
3) Write to all the high bandwidth Internet sites you use and tell them Time Warner is preventing you from using their service via price gouging.
Cookies with credit card numbers? I don't think so.
Cookies NEVER have any credit card information. Instead the credit card data is stored in the user's account on the server of the website.
Cookies identify the user and store information about their use of the website. They're marketing tools.
Conclusion 1: A cookie will trigger a website to recognize a user. It does not supply credit card data.
Conclusion 2: Hey parents! Set up individual password protected USER ACCOUNTS on your computer! That's basic computing security. Then you don't have to worry about the kids. Oh, and don't forget to set up the kids' accounts so they have no permission to change their password. That way you won't get locked out and can keep track of their net behavior.
Hello, California? Who's the ignoramus that approv
Come on. We've known for a number of YEARS now that Diebold make GARBAGE voting machines and that they are INSISTENT upon doing so. Like DUH California! Hasn't the catastrophe in Maryland over Diebold machines taught you anything? Or is your state government just another club of bought and sold old boys who want to be able to throw an election with no paper trail to hinder their chicanery?! Hmm?!
It is time for Diebold to DIE. Any computer science graduate in America could make a working, successful voting machine system with a fool proof paper trail. It's that frickin' easy! Clearly the continued use of this Diebold CRAP is a total SCAM on the US voters. There is no other conclusion.
I want Palm stuff to survive on into the future...
Clearly Palm have had a multitude of problems. Their R&D got incredibly side-tracked and unimaginative. Their management has mostly been a mess. The market for PDAs never really took off, and what there was of it got extremely anemic. And what was with them selling off then re-buying their OS? Sheer insanity, and the OS is antiquated these days anyway. Apparently no one over there knows how to code it any more. Very sad.
Nonetheless I still lug around my trusty old Palm IIIc and still love it. It remains 'the other half of my brain' and I hope it lasts forever. Some day I would love to get something better, but I will want whatever it is to still run all my great little Palm programs. Really, if or when Palm drops dead I think the biggest waste of all will be the loss of the vast collection of great software written for their devices. I damned well want a Palm OS emulator running on whatever device replaces my IIIc. And I ALSO demand to be able to use Graffiti handwriting recognition on into the future as well. It is the only HWR that I consider worth using, and it works great for me. I'll take it over punching little buttons until my joints ache any old day.
Concept: Make Palm OS and Graffiti Open Source, I mean like do it right now, immediately! No way could the Open Source community bungle Palm OS any worse than Palm have themselves. And, it would provide Palm OS and Graffiti with a future.
This is so insanely stupid. As per usual the Neo-Con-Job scum currently ruling the executive branch, and therefore infecting the FCC with their nonsense, want to talk out of both sides of their mouth.
1) They want to dismantle the federal government such that it minimizes regulation (of corporations).
2) They want to pull the 'We Are Christians' baloney and regulate everything they can lay their hands on that will make the reactionary pseudo-Christians happy.
Result: Total hypocrisy.
What are we experiencing: Nothing remotely close to actual sincerity. It is pure, or should I say impure, politics. The REAL Christians are suckers. They get this token totalitarian approach to government while the Neo-Con-Jobs get to line each other's pockets by making the USA into a corporation run plutocracy/medieval throw back. The ruling gods here are most certainly NOT Yahweh. They are Greed and Mammon.
As ever, the ideal path is moderation in all things.
Corporations require being moderately regulated in order that they not to rape everyone and everything for the sake of profit.
TV requires moderate regulation for the sake of allowing children, and everyone else, to live a life without having violence and sex inflicted into it at every turn.
In this case, clearly the FCC has no jurisdiction and it should stay that way. If a parent is too dopey to block offensive cable channels, then that is /their/ responsibility. It has nothing-whatsoever to do with the federal government or any other humans on Earth. It's that simple.
If only we humans could evolve to the point where we take personal responsibility for our personal actions. Grow up humanity!
I totally agree. Apple's settlement baffles me unless indeed there is some hidden benefit. Creative did NOT invent the hierarchical menu system used on the iPod. Every single Macintosh user knows that. All we are looking at on the Zen is a ripoff of THE APPLE MENU which has been in place on Mac OS for decades. Apple: You disappoint me on this issue. Bad corporation! Go to bed. No dinner for you tonight!
A few points:
- Apparently because Elliot Spitzer is running for governor in my state, everything he does is scrutinized as a publicity stunt. That is a moronic, knee-jerk way of thinking. Obviously this has been a cause he has pursued for years. It is also one that has been, until your comments, well supported by New Yorkers.
- Knowing musicians and the hell they have to put up with just to practice their art, the fewer criminals in the business the better. Nail them Spitzer.
- Radio remains the primary source of measuring, or should I say 'dictating', what are the hits. The less crap on the radio the better. Therefore, the less payola kicking the crap to the top of the charts, the better.
- The FCC has been thoroughly emasculated under the Bush League. It has been a fumbling bumbling mess, not unlike the rest of the administration, very rarely acting in the best interest of the public.
- This is obvious to me, oblivious to many: One concept behind the current flavor of Repubican leadership is to deregulate to the maximum. I call it deregulation to the point of criminality, and this payola issue is a great example. As yet another crony run branch of the Executive Branch, of course all the FCC are going to do with payola criminals is slap their wrist. I'll take the efforts of Elliot Spitzer over this wimpified FCC any day.
- My fear is that if Spitzer becomes NYS Governor such issues will fall by the wayside with the next Attorney General.
On the post: Lord Of The Rings Fan Film To Debut... Raising Some Copyright Questions
Non-profit fan fiction = very common
For the non-profit fan fiction the usual story is that: (A) It is severely frowned upon by fans because it is typically terrible. (B) Stepping on the territory of a living author's own work is outright condemned by fans. In this case the fan is smart to contact the author and consult with him about the territory of the fan story. In the case of "The Hunt for Gollum", apparently the owners of the copyright saw no conflict with any other known elaborations upon Tolkien's work.
Essentially, by law and by courtesy, the copyright holder has the last word. Satire, however, is the sole exception. Typically, countries have no laws against satire of copyrighted work.
On the post: Lord Of The Rings Fan Film To Debut... Raising Some Copyright Questions
Where to see it on the net:
On the post: Lord Of The Rings Fan Film To Debut... Raising Some Copyright Questions
Satire ≠ Copyright Infringement
On the post: No, The Internet Isn't Running Out Of Bandwidth
Re: Re: Addresses Running Out
On the post: No, The Internet Isn't Running Out Of Bandwidth
Marketing Morons At Work...
The original version of the lie I heard a couple years back predicted that the Internet would be locked up as of last month. Oops. Yet another bogus end-of-the-world.
On the post: Time Warner: No Metered Broadband... But We'll Kick You Offline If We Think You Used Too Much
Time Warner Marketing Morons At Work
(It has been discovered that 1 GB of downloads costs Time Warner 10¢. This reveals that their price gouging 'tests' have perpetrated between 10x and over 17x price markups. Time Warner is your friend, NOT).
A 'How to fight back!' shortlist:
1) Write your local government and demand broadband ISP competition in your area.
2) Write to Time Warner and let them know their mask has been torn off.
3) Write to all the high bandwidth Internet sites you use and tell them Time Warner is preventing you from using their service via price gouging.
On the post: Study Says Lots Of Kids Are Making Sneaky Purchases Online With Parents' Cookied Credit Card Info
Cookies with credit card numbers? I don't think so.
Cookies identify the user and store information about their use of the website. They're marketing tools.
Conclusion 1: A cookie will trigger a website to recognize a user. It does not supply credit card data.
Conclusion 2: Hey parents! Set up individual password protected USER ACCOUNTS on your computer! That's basic computing security. Then you don't have to worry about the kids. Oh, and don't forget to set up the kids' accounts so they have no permission to change their password. That way you won't get locked out and can keep track of their net behavior.
On the post: Judge Voids Election Results Over E-Voting Results That Couldn't Be Audited
Hello, California? Who's the ignoramus that approv
It is time for Diebold to DIE. Any computer science graduate in America could make a working, successful voting machine system with a fool proof paper trail. It's that frickin' easy! Clearly the continued use of this Diebold CRAP is a total SCAM on the US voters. There is no other conclusion.
WAKE UP California!
On the post: Nobody Loves Palm (And Really, Why Should They?)
I want Palm stuff to survive on into the future...
Nonetheless I still lug around my trusty old Palm IIIc and still love it. It remains 'the other half of my brain' and I hope it lasts forever. Some day I would love to get something better, but I will want whatever it is to still run all my great little Palm programs. Really, if or when Palm drops dead I think the biggest waste of all will be the loss of the vast collection of great software written for their devices. I damned well want a Palm OS emulator running on whatever device replaces my IIIc. And I ALSO demand to be able to use Graffiti handwriting recognition on into the future as well. It is the only HWR that I consider worth using, and it works great for me. I'll take it over punching little buttons until my joints ache any old day.
Concept: Make Palm OS and Graffiti Open Source, I mean like do it right now, immediately! No way could the Open Source community bungle Palm OS any worse than Palm have themselves. And, it would provide Palm OS and Graffiti with a future.
On the post: FCC Wants To Decide What You Can Watch On Cable
HYPOCRISY from the Neo-Con-Jobs as per usual...
1) They want to dismantle the federal government such that it minimizes regulation (of corporations).
2) They want to pull the 'We Are Christians' baloney and regulate everything they can lay their hands on that will make the reactionary pseudo-Christians happy.
Result: Total hypocrisy.
What are we experiencing: Nothing remotely close to actual sincerity. It is pure, or should I say impure, politics. The REAL Christians are suckers. They get this token totalitarian approach to government while the Neo-Con-Jobs get to line each other's pockets by making the USA into a corporation run plutocracy/medieval throw back. The ruling gods here are most certainly NOT Yahweh. They are Greed and Mammon.
As ever, the ideal path is moderation in all things.
Corporations require being moderately regulated in order that they not to rape everyone and everything for the sake of profit.
TV requires moderate regulation for the sake of allowing children, and everyone else, to live a life without having violence and sex inflicted into it at every turn.
In this case, clearly the FCC has no jurisdiction and it should stay that way. If a parent is too dopey to block offensive cable channels, then that is /their/ responsibility. It has nothing-whatsoever to do with the federal government or any other humans on Earth. It's that simple.
If only we humans could evolve to the point where we take personal responsibility for our personal actions. Grow up humanity!
On the post: As Expected, Creative Uses Patent Success Against Apple To Go After Others
Re: Creative can suck my balls
On the post: Eliot Spitzer Upset That The FCC Is Deflating His Payola Publicity Stunt
Deregulation To The Point Of Criminality
- Apparently because Elliot Spitzer is running for governor in my state, everything he does is scrutinized as a publicity stunt. That is a moronic, knee-jerk way of thinking. Obviously this has been a cause he has pursued for years. It is also one that has been, until your comments, well supported by New Yorkers.
- Knowing musicians and the hell they have to put up with just to practice their art, the fewer criminals in the business the better. Nail them Spitzer.
- Radio remains the primary source of measuring, or should I say 'dictating', what are the hits. The less crap on the radio the better. Therefore, the less payola kicking the crap to the top of the charts, the better.
- The FCC has been thoroughly emasculated under the Bush League. It has been a fumbling bumbling mess, not unlike the rest of the administration, very rarely acting in the best interest of the public.
- This is obvious to me, oblivious to many: One concept behind the current flavor of Repubican leadership is to deregulate to the maximum. I call it deregulation to the point of criminality, and this payola issue is a great example. As yet another crony run branch of the Executive Branch, of course all the FCC are going to do with payola criminals is slap their wrist. I'll take the efforts of Elliot Spitzer over this wimpified FCC any day.
- My fear is that if Spitzer becomes NYS Governor such issues will fall by the wayside with the next Attorney General.
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