Hate to reply to my own comment, but after some Google searching it looks like the FBI is in charge of handling extortion cases like this one. So I guess if you receive any of these letters contact the FBI.
Are companies like these even legal? Can someone just complain about their actions to the DoJ or FTC or someone? The business models seem like extortion and abuse if not theft. Should concerned readers just start contacting their state attorney general offices and the FTC to complain?
I use either Google News or Google Reader to get all of my news and every link they show me says "all 1000 related" if this site stops crawlers my link will say "all 999 related" absolutely no difference to me, less potential traffic for them.
I think the lawyers are doing exactly what they should - separating an idiot and her money. Now that she has confirmed that she is in fact a milkaholic the lawyers should do her a favor by taking her milk money.
I use ad block plus and I have for a while thanks to seeing a few of those expanding ads or anything that makes any noise.
As a long time reader of Ars I did whitelist them. I've gone around and white listed other sites that I do like. I had never considered it before and it only seems fair. I'm upset that they took such an annoying tone in the article, but I understand their side of it and they deserve to make some money.
Their focus isn't on the hardware it's on the control and DRM that comes along with the platform. They think the web is evil because they can't control everything. I'm assuming they're embracing the iCrap because they think DRM will be their mystical savior and lead to new income.
If they gave away this layout on the web for free then why would anyone pay huge prices for the same crap on an iPad? It's not smart on their part, it just seems to be their direction.
My interpretation was that Google was just experimenting and opening up their results to anyone who wanted to see them. Hopefully other invested ISPs can take a look at Google's test results and try to improve their networks. I find it hard to believe any incumbent would make improvements without competition, but if they could make their networks more efficient and save some cash based on Google's findings then we'd all be a little better off.
Glad you posted on this, but I think if you expand on the details it sounds even worse (the ruling, not the song).
The original song was written by a school teacher in 1934, who died in 1988.
Land Down Under was written and released in 1979 and 1981.
Larrikin Music (aka Copyright troll) bought the rights in 1990.
Larrikin Music found out about the similarities in 2007 because of a game show on TV and decided to sue.
Larrikin Music (aka Copyright troll) has done absolutely no work in this situation. They had nothing to do with the creation of the original song. They didn't notice the similarities. The only effort they made was to wait for the originator to die, and now reap rewards that the originator obviously didn't feel entitled to. The originator was alive when the song was an international hit, and if she felt entitled she would have sued a long time ago.
The writer most likely knew that this is a non story so in order to get people to read it or talk about it he just blamed technology. If he just wrote "kids are failing a test" no one would read it or talk about it. But he threw in the "blame technology" flame bait and we all talk about it. That guy knows how to get readers.
Or maybe it's just a clueless writer who doesn't know how to txt or tweet and he's jealous of his 9 year old niece.
Who is buying a tablet? Call me ignorant but I do not see the appeal of a laptop that doesn't stand up on its own and doesn't have a keyboard. I'm sure Apple will make a very nice product, but I don't know who would buy one and why they would buy it. I can't think of a use for a tablet in my home or office.
Newspapers better not rest all their future hopes on this tablet thing because so far zero have been sold.
I agree with the need to stop patent trolls from being a drag on society, innovation, and progress. But I also think that it is incredibly difficult to prove that someone 'stole' your idea.
How can a little independent innovator/inventor prove that a large company did steal his/her idea (if that were to happen)? I can't imagine a rule of thumb that could cover this scenario unless you just get rid of software and business method patents all together.
Hopefully Facebook's changes will make people think twice before posting pictures, details, status, thoughts, and whatever else they're posting. I rarely use Facebook, and I looked at Twitter once. I don't know why the makers of Facebook are envious of Twitter, but they know more about the market than I do, I'm only a consumer who doesn't like either product.
They might not be dumb pipes at this year's CES, but they're definitely moving in that direction. If history has shown anything - when demand goes up people will get innovative and eventually prices will fall. The GSM/CDMA/802.11 radios will all fall in price drastically and hopefully we'll see some competition between carriers trying to pull customers from one company to the other.
Hopefully in the not-too-distant future we'll get phones that have a menu where you can choose your service provider and with a tap or two you can change carriers to the cheapest that month.
I'm a netflix user and I'm not as mad about it as I should be. The streaming content is so much more important to me that I think it's an ok compromise. My DVD queue has about 20 things in it and I won't get through those in the next four weeks, so I won't actually notice any of these delays.
More streaming content on Netflix is awesome, regardless of the idiotic deals they have to sign to get it.
I just received my new Home Theater PC today and I'm about to install Boxee (boxee.tv) on it and dump cable all together. There aren't many other companies that can raise rates every year and stay in business forever. Then again with monopolies in every location there isn't much that can be done traditionally, so I'm trying to get creative and hope this catches on.
This is great for AT&T they're probably praying this injunction begins right about the time their exclusive contract ends. Plus the less iphones there are the better AT&T's network will look.
This would really suck if they went after bars who do Rock Band nights. I've been to a few and they're a ton of fun. I'm definitely not there for the music, more for the embarrassment of all the "performers" who are as bad as I am.
No, newspapers are not anything like a DVR or iPod. I do not get to choose what gets printed in my newspaper. I choose what gets saved to my DVR or to my iPod. The "DVR" of news is an RSS feed.
Printing stories and advertisements that some faceless editor chose on dead trees is nothing like a DVR.
Yeah if there were just an easy to use meter that could determine how many miles the car has been driven... We could name it something fancy like from the greek word "hodos", meaning "path", and call it a odo-meter, oh wait I'll call my new invention an odometer!
No, that is too complicated, we should add an expensive GPS unit that tracks every place you've been, not just the miles you've traveled.
On the post: Are There More Copyright 'Pre-Settlement' Groups Setting Up Shop In The US?
Re:
On the post: Are There More Copyright 'Pre-Settlement' Groups Setting Up Shop In The US?
On the post: Rupert Murdoch Doesn't Recognize That There's Competition Online
I bet you also heard that the captain of the Titanic was the best captain on that ship and there's no way anything could go wrong...
On the post: UK's Times Online Starts Blocking Aggregators Hours After Aggregators Win Copyright Tribunal Ruling Against Newspapers
On the post: Lindsay Lohan Sues E*Trade For $100 Million; Says Baby Was Based On Her
Re: Wait, What?
On the post: Don't Blame Your Community: Ad Blocking Is Not Killing Any Sites
As a long time reader of Ars I did whitelist them. I've gone around and white listed other sites that I do like. I had never considered it before and it only seems fair. I'm upset that they took such an annoying tone in the article, but I understand their side of it and they deserve to make some money.
On the post: Why Can't All These Ideas For Content On The iPad/Tablets Also Work On The Web?
Focus on DRM/control not hardware
If they gave away this layout on the web for free then why would anyone pay huge prices for the same crap on an iPad? It's not smart on their part, it just seems to be their direction.
On the post: Or Will Broadband Competition Look Like.... Google?
On the post: Australian Court Says Men At Work's 'Down Under' Infringes On Folk Song; Only Took Decades To Notice
Some extra details
The original song was written by a school teacher in 1934, who died in 1988.
Land Down Under was written and released in 1979 and 1981.
Larrikin Music (aka Copyright troll) bought the rights in 1990.
Larrikin Music found out about the similarities in 2007 because of a game show on TV and decided to sue.
Larrikin Music (aka Copyright troll) has done absolutely no work in this situation. They had nothing to do with the creation of the original song. They didn't notice the similarities. The only effort they made was to wait for the originator to die, and now reap rewards that the originator obviously didn't feel entitled to. The originator was alive when the song was an international hit, and if she felt entitled she would have sued a long time ago.
On the post: Technology Blamed For Bad Grammar Despite Total Lack Of Causal Evidence
Who would read the truth?
Or maybe it's just a clueless writer who doesn't know how to txt or tweet and he's jealous of his 9 year old niece.
On the post: No, The Apple Tablet Won't Save Publishing Nor Will It End 'Free'
Who's buying tablets?
Newspapers better not rest all their future hopes on this tablet thing because so far zero have been sold.
On the post: Well Respected VC Firm Comes Out In Favor Of Independent Invention Defense Against Patent Infringement Lawsuits
How can the little guy prove it?
How can a little independent innovator/inventor prove that a large company did steal his/her idea (if that were to happen)? I can't imagine a rule of thumb that could cover this scenario unless you just get rid of software and business method patents all together.
On the post: Zuckerberg: People Are Comfortable Without Privacy, So We Threw Them All Over The Cliff
On the post: Embedded Wireless: A Step Towards Dumb Pipes?
Not dumb pipes yet...
Hopefully in the not-too-distant future we'll get phones that have a menu where you can choose your service provider and with a tap or two you can change carriers to the cheapest that month.
On the post: Warner Bros. Gets Netflix To Delay Movies; You Don't Save Your Business By Pissing Off Your Customers
Re:
More streaming content on Netflix is awesome, regardless of the idiotic deals they have to sign to get it.
On the post: The Next Big Battle: Cable TV vs. The Internet
My response to TWC
On the post: Nokia Launches Another Patent Attack On Apple, Uses ITC Loophole To Get Second Shot At Hurting Apple
Great news for AT&T
On the post: ASCAP Now Demanding License From Venues That Let People Play Guitar Hero
On the post: Are Newspapers The TiVo Of News?
Not even close
Printing stories and advertisements that some faceless editor chose on dead trees is nothing like a DVR.
On the post: Netherlands The Latest To Propose Mileage Tax That Requires GPS For Tracking Driving
Re:
No, that is too complicated, we should add an expensive GPS unit that tracks every place you've been, not just the miles you've traveled.
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