Andrew Singleton’s Techdirt Profile

lazaras

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  • Jan 15th, 2012 @ 1:01pm

    Re: Periodic Table of Idiocy

    It's somewhere after whatever the U238 Explosive Modulator is made out of, Before Unobtanium, and most likely right next to whatever they put in Steve Balmer's water.
  • Jan 15th, 2012 @ 12:31pm

    Re: Repeal the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (as Lazaras)

    It does not seem fine to me.

    Twenty years with additional extensions granted if the rights holder/company files for extensions. This leaves plenty of time for movies/music/etc to make money, leaves the creators/rights holders the option to extend, and if they don't renew then that takes care of the orphaned works problem.

    Plus Disney can hang on to their pet rat as long as they like.
  • Jan 15th, 2012 @ 10:59am

    Re: Re: Re: Positive development, but...

    Downloading is not Theft. It is Infringement.

    Theft: Taking some physical object that isn't yours. This means the rightful owner does not have that object.

    Infringement: Making a copy of something (meaning the original is still where it started out at) without paying for your use of those copy'd bits (either to listen/watch, or use in your own content (IE if I decided to slap a few Two Steps from Hell tracks into a movie I'm making without bothering to pay them for the privilege.) Still wrong, in that you're getting around the whole 'paying the person for services.' However you do not actively deny other people that same thing.

    The problem here is the RIAA/MPAA want to equate one with the other instead of try doing something like parlay the oftentimes questionable rip/recorded quality of the downloads/youtube videos/whatever into sales of a Superior product (IE a DVD/BLU-Ray with Bonus Tracks, Behind the Scenes footage, consistent quality. Not having to deal with poor cam footage. Etc)

    iTunes has shown that people are quite willing to pay for the same thing they could get for Free because Pay offers a better service.

    Netflix has streaming services for all kinds of stuff at a per month flat rate (which reminds me of how radio stations pay a flat license fee for their content rather than a 'x per song play' model. You can view the content on any box you're logged into (Pretty sure it only lets you stay logged in to one device at a time.) Plus if you want a physical copy Go right ahead, just mail it back when you're done.

    Ye Olden Services like WinMX, Napster, eMule, and the like have shown that there is a customer demand. Later legal services have shown that it's a viable business model (that doesn't involve selling time-slices of the zombie network you're creating by lacing the browsing software with malware... Kaazaa.)

    I would honestly pay good money if the labels, studios, and the like would embrace these technologies rather than bombard us with 'you wouldn't be a baby eating pirate' ads in media we've already bought, or try co-opting the legal system to be their bully boys so they won't have to keep up with new distribution methods.

    The player piano was called out as killing the industry.

    So were records.

    So was the radio.

    So were movies.

    So was BETAMAX/VHS.

    Yet time and again when the new reality was accepted. 'The Industry' saw profits they couldn't have imagined beforehand. Sure there's casualties with every advance, but then again just because we have HIGH DEFINITION movies with multi million dollar special effects doesn't mean the stage play is dead, and radio has survived the past century quite well thanks for asking.


    It isn't 'Adapt or Die'. It's 'Adapt to your new nich as the environment shifts.' Sure Tape isn't around anymore, and who knows. Maybe CDs will end up dying out, but there will always be a need for that physical object to house the bits in some theoretically permenent fashion (barring your little sister throwing the CD in the microwave.)

    Work with your customers. Don't treat us as Criminals lest we cast you aside in favor of going to the artists themselves.
  • Jan 15th, 2012 @ 10:17am

    Election Year (as Lazaras)

    Said it on BoingBoing I'll say it here.

    It's just an attempt at a Sith Mind Screw so we'll forget aal about the fact that Congress drug it's feet about important issues while only backing down now because they went and pissed the internet off.

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