I think it has to do more with their general large corporations (and not necessarily with just Sony or Nintendo in particular). I've seen here that Japan and [South] Korea seem to be two countries that treat their corporations even more favorably than the US, and that's probably because of the historical relations between the respective governments and zaibatsus/chaebols.
And he's a physicist too! Rush Holt may now be the third member of the current Congress that I actually respect, along with Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Zoe Lofgren.
Well, to be fair, Jefferson did predict having to replace the Constitution every 19 years. That hasn't happened de jure, but it could be argued de facto.
Anyway, I realize that this article being on TechDirt would lead it to be interpreted as Americans disapproving of things like NSA spying, but given recent other polls showing the lack of widespread disapproval of that program and others that take away basic rights to speech, privacy, and such, does this poll really mean much in particular?
Is it just human genes that cannot be patented? If so, given the recent research into human gut biota, what will happen to every person on this planet once a biotechnology company patents the genomes of bacteria there?
...at convincing people who should know better that the lies they spew are the truth. Hmmm, maybe they should patent that too, and then perform more shakedowns!
I can personally attest to this. Last semester I was in a laboratory class where I had to make a presentation on shot noise and the derivation of the electron charge. The value I calculated was on the correct order of magnitude but was around 50% off. It wasn't until after the presentation (and before our papers were due) that my lab partner noticed that I had read off the wrong number from our linear fit as the electron charge (the right number was only about 10% off by contrast). If he hadn't seen what I had done, things could have turned out worse. If this had been the real world and I was publishing a paper confirming the electron charge, I would have been screwed. The problem in economics seems to be that there are too many vested interests (not necessarily professional economists) who will readily partake in confirmation bias instead of carefully scrutinizing data.
I think it's fine that Exxon is responding with rebuttals to each point made in the satire. They may not understand satirical humor, but that's fine. My issue is in them trying to block the video from spreading further. If they're going to do that, isn't that going to further perpetuate what's being said about Exxon like in the video?
Did you really expect anything else from a "unitary" plan? All it'll do is turn the current state of patents a little in one direction, but it won't ever reduce its extent.
(Quantum mechanics/linear algebra joke, nothing to see here, move along...)
Then they will charge $10 every time you walk past the store without going in (in addition to the $5 charge for not buying anything).
Then they will charge $20 for every person who reads an article about its impending bankruptcy without walking past the store (in addition to the above charges).
Then they will charge $40 for every person who reads an article about its bankruptcy and did not call them to provide some support against impending bankruptcy (in addition to the above charges).
Then they will charge $80 for every person who did not attend the going-out-of-business sale (in addition to the above charges).
Wow. Just...this is pretty incredible. But does this mean that the Copyright Office will do anything about lawsuits from the **AAs against ordinary people for amounts larger than content industry CEOs' salaries?
That aside, I've noticed that including but not limited to this article (and as I recall, TechDirt has responded negatively to other recent articles from him too), Bill Keller's articles have been getting so bad that I wonder if he has secretly been replaced by a poor robotic replica. I wonder if Bradley Manning would be OK with leaking that to the presses....
Given that Penn and Teller are libertarians, shouldn't they be advocating for a free-market-type solution to this dispute rather than advocating for government intervention through copyright lawsuits?
If aliens were to invade and play human copyrighted music as they started up their super-weapons, I bet every country would do everything they could to research and stop the threat...except Germany, where GEMA would say, "That music is copyrighted, so you can't look at the videos where flaws in their defenses become obvious."
I think the last two paragraphs need to be emphasized more. The article on the whole seems like a happy ending because Universal was smacked down for its hypocrisy and the people and Nintendo were able to get what they wanted, while in reality, Nintendo can now use the same tactics to get what it wants.
Being of Indian descent and having been there to visit a few times now, here is what I can add to this:
1. Air conditioning (AC) is expensive to have in the home, and it gets really hot there. Most movie theaters have AC. Therefore, people will go to the movie theater to watch movies but also to be able to escape the heat and stay for a while in an AC place; this is also why Bollywood movies are really long and elaborate, and why people go multiple times to watch the same movie in the theater much more so than in the US.
2. The police are easy to bribe. It's probably pretty easy to make sure that you don't get in trouble if you're caught possessing a pirated copy of a movie.
On the post: Just As US Finally Realizes Copyright Terms May Be Too Long, Japan Looks To Make Them Longer
Re: Re: Obvious?
On the post: NJ Congressman Rush Holt Is Attempting To Repeal The Patriot Act And FISA Amendments Act
Physicist
On the post: 71% Of Americans Believe The Founding Fathers Would Be Disappointed At The Way The Nation Has Turned Out
Re: Displeased?
Anyway, I realize that this article being on TechDirt would lead it to be interpreted as Americans disapproving of things like NSA spying, but given recent other polls showing the lack of widespread disapproval of that program and others that take away basic rights to speech, privacy, and such, does this poll really mean much in particular?
On the post: Gambia Passes Law That Gives Internet Activists 15 Year Jail Terms
Headline by "The Onion"
On the post: Supreme Court Strikes Down Gene Patents
Human or other genes
On the post: FL Schools Go Minority Report On Students, Give Parents Opt Out Choice Afterward
Opt out
On the post: Tech Press Falling For Intellectual Venture's New Spin
They are excellent innovators...
On the post: Performance Rights Organizations Accused Of 'Retitling' Songs To Collect Royalties Without Paying Artists
Patent evergreening
On the post: 'Intellectual Bulwark' Of Austerity Economics Collapses Because Of Three Major Errors
Shot noise
On the post: Exxon Hates Free Speech
Rebuttal without chilling
On the post: Has Spain Just Slammed On The Brakes For Europe's Unitary Patent Plans?
Unitary transformation
(Quantum mechanics/linear algebra joke, nothing to see here, move along...)
On the post: Dumb Policy: Store Charges $5 Just To Look At Goods, To Keep People From Looking And Then Buying Online
Bankruptcy articles
Then they will charge $20 for every person who reads an article about its impending bankruptcy without walking past the store (in addition to the above charges).
Then they will charge $40 for every person who reads an article about its bankruptcy and did not call them to provide some support against impending bankruptcy (in addition to the above charges).
Then they will charge $80 for every person who did not attend the going-out-of-business sale (in addition to the above charges).
On the post: Register Of Copyright Suggests That Personal Downloading Should Not Be Seen As 'Piracy'
From the Copyright Office
On the post: NYT Former Exec Editor Misrepresents Bradley Manning
Re: Re:
That aside, I've noticed that including but not limited to this article (and as I recall, TechDirt has responded negatively to other recent articles from him too), Bill Keller's articles have been getting so bad that I wonder if he has secretly been replaced by a poor robotic replica. I wonder if Bradley Manning would be OK with leaking that to the presses....
On the post: Project Launched To Fix The Anti-Circumvention Clause Of The DMCA
Directionality of anti-circumvention
On the post: The Magician Sued By Teller For Copyright Infringement Has Tried A Disappearing Act In Response
Penn & Teller: Libertarians
On the post: Copyright Dispute Means Germans Can't See All Those Russian Meteor Videos
If musical aliens invade
On the post: Historical Hypocrisy: Donkey Kong, King Kong, & The Public Domain
The real message about Nintendo
On the post: Bollywood No Longer Worrying About Piracy As Studios Keep Setting New Records At The Box Office
More theater perspective
1. Air conditioning (AC) is expensive to have in the home, and it gets really hot there. Most movie theaters have AC. Therefore, people will go to the movie theater to watch movies but also to be able to escape the heat and stay for a while in an AC place; this is also why Bollywood movies are really long and elaborate, and why people go multiple times to watch the same movie in the theater much more so than in the US.
2. The police are easy to bribe. It's probably pretty easy to make sure that you don't get in trouble if you're caught possessing a pirated copy of a movie.
On the post: It's Finally Over: 8 Years Of Mattel vs. Bratz And No One's Getting Paid But The Lawyers
Age of fan
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