I listened to most of this broadcast (streamed over the net), and thought it was really well done. Of course, as a holder of a software patent I'm not totally against them, but certainly I'm against most of them. Some are truly innovative and non-obvious, hence worthy of patenting. Unfortunately, this is not the case for most.
Why hasn't this ziphead been either censured or disbarred? Ditto Righthaven's attorneys... The egregious behavior of these people should result in their losing their licenses to practice law, and heavy fines plus restitution to their victims.
These people who want to stop the sharing of cultural artifacts obviously do not understand that old maxim, "There is no such thing as bad publicity." - attributed to Brendan Behan, Irish author & dramatist (1923 - 1964). This case is a good example of how that works... :-)
You speak for your cat? My late (and truly lamented) cat Harrison was fully capable of speaking for himself, and like my wife, would not appreciate me speaking for him... :-)
Giving all this copyright / image derivation cruft going on today, I wonder if Warhol would be able to practice his art today? It's time, IMHO, that this sort of cruft (claiming infringement against derivative artists) started getting shut down...
and borrow. I was just listening to a 1940 recording of Woodie Guthrie (Library of Congress Recordings) in my car, with him singing a song he had written just that morning, "Chain Around My Leg". The melody was identical to "Good Night Irene" written by Lead Belly in 1932. Should that little detail detract from Guthrie's work? I don't see where the LOC or Rounder Records (the publisher) makes any attribution to Lead Belly for that song on the album (disc 2 of Woodie Guthrie Library of Congress Recordings - Rounder Records - 1992). :rolleyes:
Has been the maxim for academics since, well a long, long time (forever?). However, I don't think that today an academic text, monograph, or whatever has to be in hard copy to be considered "published". That said, there are academic books that I have purchased in hard copy form at inflated prices, and would still pay for them today - Codd & Date, Knuth, Schneier, I even got paid the enormous sum of $500 by Wiley & Sons for a chapter to a text book I wrote about 10 years ago. I think the book retailed for $70-$80USD. In any case, the most expensive part of publishing academic texts these days, be they electronic or paper, has to be the editing of them. A LOT of work goes into that, and I think editors should be paid just as much as the authors.
So, all in all, there is time and $$ invested in writing, editing, and publishing academic tomes. Somehow, that investment needs to be recouped. The question is just what is fair given the ease of disseminating electronic volumes? I personally purchase a fair number of ebooks, but I refuse to pay more than $5-$6 for them. They should not be any more expensive than a paperback book was 30-40 years ago, IMHO. After all, there is no need to pay for printing, paper, ink, bindings, shipping, warehousing... The value is in the content, not in the covering (or lack thereof).
I have been a Democrat all my life (since the 1950's), but I think that I will be voting for "None of the Above" in the next elections... Shame on Reid!
Well, we elected them. We are getting what we deserve. If we want representatives who have our interests forefront in their minds and efforts, then we need to elect new ones that will do that! Caveat voter!
On the post: If Your Comment Section Is Awesome, It's Your Community's Fault
Amen
On the post: When Patents Attack: How Patents Are Destroying Innovation In Silicon Valley
Yeah...
On the post: Phoenix DA Decides Not To File Charges Against Woman Accused Of Groping TSA Agent
Just wait!
On the post: Copyright Troll John Steele Insists That 70-Year Old Is Responsible For Porn Downloads... Even If Someone Else Used WiFi
Disbarment?
On the post: WSJ's Defense Of News Of The World: Hey, It's Not Like They Published Wikileaks Secrets
Who can spell "conflict of interest"
FOX - owned by News International
NotW - owned by News International
.
.
.
Do we see a pattern of interests here?
On the post: Culture is Anti-Rivalrous
Awesome!
On the post: The Dark Side Wins: Lucasfilm Shuts Down Star Wars Fan Movie Marathon
The reason why...
On the post: Washed Up On The 'Jersey Shore': The 'Original DJ Paulie' Sues DJ Pauly D
With luck...
On the post: Author Of 'Go The F**k To Sleep' Says Piracy Helped Him... But He Doesn't Support It
The maxim of publicity
On the post: Apple Goes After Open Source Startup For Daring To Use The Term 'App Store'
New name
On the post: PrometheeFeu's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Typos notwithstanding
Happy caturday!
On the post: Another Appropriation Artist Loses Copyright Lawsuit; Are We Nearing The End Of Appropriation Art?
Where would Andy Warhol be today?
On the post: French Court Says Merely Having The Word 'Torrent' In Your Domain Means You Are Encouraging Infringement
Just how stupid?
On the post: Dylan: What's Yours Is Mine, And What's Mine Is Mine, Too
All musicians steal
On the post: Academic Publishers Attempting To Eliminate Fair Use At Universities [Updated]
Publish or Perish
So, all in all, there is time and $$ invested in writing, editing, and publishing academic tomes. Somehow, that investment needs to be recouped. The question is just what is fair given the ease of disseminating electronic volumes? I personally purchase a fair number of ebooks, but I refuse to pay more than $5-$6 for them. They should not be any more expensive than a paperback book was 30-40 years ago, IMHO. After all, there is no need to pay for printing, paper, ink, bindings, shipping, warehousing... The value is in the content, not in the covering (or lack thereof).
On the post: Harry Reid Routes Around Rand Paul; Says No Changes To Patriot Act Is 'An Excellent Compromise'
None of the Above!
On the post: Author Walter Jon Williams Asks For Fans To Help Him 'Pirate' His Own Works Better
At Last!
On the post: US Copyright Group Breaks Its Own Record; Sues 24,583 For Allegedly Sharing Hurt Locker
What's in a name?
On the post: UK Injunction Process Revised To Better Fit The Realities Of Internet Communication
ROFLMAO
On the post: The Only Eight Senators Who Think Extending The Patriot Act Deserves More Discussion
We get what we deserve
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