Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:27am
15 minutes
a successful solution will lead to at least 15 minutes of press fame.
By coincidence, that's the same amount of time it will take for the scammers to route around the solution or find some other way to scam people.
As long as there are people who will fall for Rachel from Cardholer Services, or John from the Auto Warranty Center, or a prince from Nigeria, or popups saying your computer is infected and you must run this tool and pay $50, or buy things from spam emails, we'll never solve the problems.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:34am
Re: Re: Re:
The hammer is just an object that produces nothing without the user controlling it's every move and action.
That's all a 3D printer or the computer controlling it does.
Just because the instructions are much more complicated changes nothing. All a computer can do is follow instructions put into it by a user (whether that user has to call tech support for help plugging in their iPhone or some uber-geek who programs the Linux kernel).
Your fear mongering is overblown and the product of the lawyer culture that infects the country.
The maker of the original product is not liable if an end user replaces some part with their own printed one. The maker of the 3D printer is not liable for a user deciding to replace some part in another product with something from the printer.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Oct 2012 @ 12:18pm
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Prediction
Why pay $9 for that instead of $10 for spotify
Can't use Spotify without getting a Facebook profile (which I don't want to do on principle). Can't even pay for Spotify without a Facebook profile. Sure, I could create a fake one, but why bother?
Grooveshark isn't perfect, but it suits my needs for a streaming service with offline mode for my phone (can't hardly get a data signal from my desk at work). I can throw it on at home when I don't feel like sorting through my own (large) stored library.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Oct 2012 @ 11:43am
Re: Re: Re: Re: Prediction
Part of my entertainment budget is $9 a month going to Grooveshark. I switched to it from a yearly Pandora subscription about a year ago. I wasn't just talking about music.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Oct 2012 @ 11:19am
Re: Re: Re:
As a programmer, I have to disagree. Programming is not math, it's programming. Math doesn't deal well with the concept of state, which is fundamental to building programs.
When any program runs on a computer or other type of electronic device, it is doing a set of mathematical operations on a set of data that is represented by mathematical values. There may be levels of abstraction between what you're seeing and what is happening, but that's what happens at the machine code level.
Show a mathematician a statement like "x = x + 1", and he'll say that's absurd; there is no value X such that X is equal to X + 1. But a programmer recognizes that as a very simple and common operation: incrementing the value of a variable.
That's a snytax or abstraction issue. You might as well claim that either a British person or an American aren't speaking English because when they see 'boot' it means different things to each.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 17 Oct 2012 @ 10:28am
Re: Re: Prediction
It's possible that the pirates would buy even more if they weren't able to pirate.
Well, first, even as you have admitted, it's simply not possible to stop all piracy. It's also impossible to stop most (or easy) piracy without significantly impacting freedoms that western democracies were founded on.
More to the point, while it is possible that there are a few pirates that might buy more if piracy was impossible, it is much more likely that most people have a relatively fixed disposable budget for entertainment. I certainly fall into that category, and I'm a single guy with no dependents and a good paying job. After I pay rent, utilities, food, insurance, gas, from my take home pay (taxes, health, 401k, and auto-diverted savings and IRA contributions already taken out of my salary), I have a limited amount of cash to spend on entertainment and miscellaneous expenses. I need to be picky about what I pay money to, so I only pay for things that are worth the cost. If piracy was made impossible tomorrow, it wouldn't increase the amount I spent - and it would likely make me even pickier, since I would be unable to preview (aka download illegally 'try-before-I-buy') some of the things I do spend money on.
So, do you want to go off on some moral crusade and rant about how people are getting things without paying for them? Go for it, and I'll fire back in kind about the ethics of denying people culture, knowledge, and information when it costs nothing to let them have it (and doesn't impact your profits otherwise, either).
Or, would you like to get into a discussion about how companies can make more money by giving their customers what they want?
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 9 Oct 2012 @ 7:24am
Re:
the captcha for the use of DMCA takedown requests
How about a system that uses existing DMCA notices and asks for a common sense appraisal of whether the notice is legitimate when fair use and other defenses are considered.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 9 Oct 2012 @ 7:20am
Re: Re: Re: Re:
there are more than a few trolls that would gladly argue with you if you stated "The Sky is Blue"
The sky is not blue. It is mostly transparent. The blue (or reds and oranges at sunset) are caused by the diffraction of different wavelengths of light that hit the atmosphere.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 8 Oct 2012 @ 7:35am
Re: Re:
what we mean is that, legally speaking, the current controlling view is that the two are definitionally balanced (as opposed to ad hoc balanced) internally by the fair use doctrine and the idea-expression dichotomy.
If that is truly your position, then you would have to agree that weakening either or both the fair use doctrine and the idea-expression dichotomy would unbalance copyright.
I'm also pretty sure that TechDirt has been covering the regular weakening of both of those for about 15 years now.
Basic logic:
1) If A happens, then B.
2) A happens.
Therefore, B.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 5 Oct 2012 @ 2:15pm
Re:
This reminds me of the time average_joe tried to argue that the 1st amendment and copyright never comes into conflict. His argument as I understood it was that its not censorship if the state doesn't do it.
He states that argument, but he never defends it against any kind of criticism. As soon as anyone calls him on it, he runs away. Don't expect any response from him.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 4 Oct 2012 @ 7:51am
Re: Re:
Law enforcement breaking the law, and violating the human rights of anyone (even criminals), is no technicality.
And mistakes made in other countries certainly effect a case here. Mishandling and mismanagement of evidence calls into question the entire chain of evidence. Having private industry involved at such a level brings into question the impartiality of the investigators.
Keep on spinning AJ. Even you know this is nothing short of a debacle.
On the post: Why Hardware Patent Trolls May Be The Next Big Problem
Re: Peer review
It's not working.
On the post: FTC Offers $50,000 To Whoever Can Come Up With A Way To Stop 'Rachel From Cardholder Services'
15 minutes
By coincidence, that's the same amount of time it will take for the scammers to route around the solution or find some other way to scam people.
As long as there are people who will fall for Rachel from Cardholer Services, or John from the Auto Warranty Center, or a prince from Nigeria, or popups saying your computer is infected and you must run this tool and pay $50, or buy things from spam emails, we'll never solve the problems.
On the post: Free Software Foundation Certifies 3D Printer -- And Why That Matters
Re: Re: Re:
That's all a 3D printer or the computer controlling it does.
Just because the instructions are much more complicated changes nothing. All a computer can do is follow instructions put into it by a user (whether that user has to call tech support for help plugging in their iPhone or some uber-geek who programs the Linux kernel).
Your fear mongering is overblown and the product of the lawyer culture that infects the country.
The maker of the original product is not liable if an end user replaces some part with their own printed one. The maker of the 3D printer is not liable for a user deciding to replace some part in another product with something from the printer.
On the post: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Recycles His 'Cyber-Pearl Harbor' FUD... Third Time's The Charm?
Re: Re: ;-P
On the post: Yet Again, File Sharing Correlated To Biggest Buyers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Prediction
On the post: Yet Again, File Sharing Correlated To Biggest Buyers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Prediction
Can't use Spotify without getting a Facebook profile (which I don't want to do on principle). Can't even pay for Spotify without a Facebook profile. Sure, I could create a fake one, but why bother?
Grooveshark isn't perfect, but it suits my needs for a streaming service with offline mode for my phone (can't hardly get a data signal from my desk at work). I can throw it on at home when I don't feel like sorting through my own (large) stored library.
On the post: Yet Again, File Sharing Correlated To Biggest Buyers
Re: Re: Re: Re: Prediction
On the post: Nobel Prize Winning Economist Eric Maskin: In Highly Innovative Industries, It May Be Better To Scrap Patents
Re: Re: Re:
When any program runs on a computer or other type of electronic device, it is doing a set of mathematical operations on a set of data that is represented by mathematical values. There may be levels of abstraction between what you're seeing and what is happening, but that's what happens at the machine code level.
Show a mathematician a statement like "x = x + 1", and he'll say that's absurd; there is no value X such that X is equal to X + 1. But a programmer recognizes that as a very simple and common operation: incrementing the value of a variable.
That's a snytax or abstraction issue. You might as well claim that either a British person or an American aren't speaking English because when they see 'boot' it means different things to each.
On the post: Yet Again, File Sharing Correlated To Biggest Buyers
Re: Re: Prediction
Well, first, even as you have admitted, it's simply not possible to stop all piracy. It's also impossible to stop most (or easy) piracy without significantly impacting freedoms that western democracies were founded on.
More to the point, while it is possible that there are a few pirates that might buy more if piracy was impossible, it is much more likely that most people have a relatively fixed disposable budget for entertainment. I certainly fall into that category, and I'm a single guy with no dependents and a good paying job. After I pay rent, utilities, food, insurance, gas, from my take home pay (taxes, health, 401k, and auto-diverted savings and IRA contributions already taken out of my salary), I have a limited amount of cash to spend on entertainment and miscellaneous expenses. I need to be picky about what I pay money to, so I only pay for things that are worth the cost. If piracy was made impossible tomorrow, it wouldn't increase the amount I spent - and it would likely make me even pickier, since I would be unable to preview (aka download illegally 'try-before-I-buy') some of the things I do spend money on.
So, do you want to go off on some moral crusade and rant about how people are getting things without paying for them? Go for it, and I'll fire back in kind about the ethics of denying people culture, knowledge, and information when it costs nothing to let them have it (and doesn't impact your profits otherwise, either).
Or, would you like to get into a discussion about how companies can make more money by giving their customers what they want?
On the post: Reddit, Trolling, Doxxing, Free Speech & Anonymity: Whoo Boy, Is This Stuff Complicated
Re: Re: Re:
Some are, sure. But too many now are just the by-product of corrupt politicians and large campaign contributions.
On the post: New Jersey Transit's 'Text Against Terror' Program Exchanges $5.8 Million For ZERO Terrorists
Re:
/sarc
/not complaining about his data plan anymore
On the post: Greater Fair Use Helped The Singapore Economy
Re:
The study's authors provided a wealth of evidence to support their position.
Your turn. Provide evidence or get out.
On the post: Universal And Fox Sued Over Simpson's Theme Park Ride... By A Musicians' Union
Re: Re: Timeline issues
On the post: Human Rights Group Deploys An 'Empathy Test' Captcha System To Help Sites Fend Off Trolls
Re:
How about a system that uses existing DMCA notices and asks for a common sense appraisal of whether the notice is legitimate when fair use and other defenses are considered.
On the post: Human Rights Group Deploys An 'Empathy Test' Captcha System To Help Sites Fend Off Trolls
Re: Re: Re: Re:
The sky is not blue. It is mostly transparent. The blue (or reds and oranges at sunset) are caused by the diffraction of different wavelengths of light that hit the atmosphere.
On the post: Human Rights Group Deploys An 'Empathy Test' Captcha System To Help Sites Fend Off Trolls
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
This explains a lot.
On the post: Copyright As Censorship: Author Removes Blog Post After Being Threatened For Quoting 4 Sentences
Re: Re:
If that is truly your position, then you would have to agree that weakening either or both the fair use doctrine and the idea-expression dichotomy would unbalance copyright.
I'm also pretty sure that TechDirt has been covering the regular weakening of both of those for about 15 years now.
Basic logic:
1) If A happens, then B.
2) A happens.
Therefore, B.
On the post: Copyright As Censorship: Author Removes Blog Post After Being Threatened For Quoting 4 Sentences
Re:
He states that argument, but he never defends it against any kind of criticism. As soon as anyone calls him on it, he runs away. Don't expect any response from him.
On the post: Maine GOP Apparently Believes That Playing World Of Warcraft Makes You Unfit For Office
Maybe they're right
Seriously, I can't ever see myself voting for someone who plays WoW.
I'm a gamer. I play MMOs. I spend a lot of my time gaming.
But seriously, WoW? Don't want anything to do with that monstrosity of a poor excuse for a game.
/gamer snob
/sarcasm, in case you missed it
On the post: Justice Department Calls Megaupload Case A Success; Hands Out Cash To Cops To Do More Bogus Takedowns
Re: Re:
And mistakes made in other countries certainly effect a case here. Mishandling and mismanagement of evidence calls into question the entire chain of evidence. Having private industry involved at such a level brings into question the impartiality of the investigators.
Keep on spinning AJ. Even you know this is nothing short of a debacle.
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