And thus, our true colours reveal. Since Obama was the young newcomer, technically savvy, many of us were hoping that he might support patent and/or copyright reform. In case our story earlier on this subject didn't already tip you off, this certainly will: Obama has sided squarely with the RIAA/MPAA lobby, and backs ACTA. No copyright and/or patent reform for you, American citizens!
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Member since:2005-09-20
Most of this so-called piracy could be curtailed if the creators of the work would go to the extra effort of disabling key features of the software that would NOT be enabled until the user supplied the fee and the creator supplied a cryptographic key to enable it. More hassle, oh yeah, but anytime someone goes screaming to the Govt. for protection, we get more freedoms taken away than we all bargained for.
Could the User then take their completely functional software and copy/pirate it? Probably, but if the key also had information tying their copy of the software to important personal information, such as THEIR bank acct number(s), they would probably find themselves on the losing end of the piracy! There are solutions, just no one willing to go the extra mile (kilometer) to implement them!
Member since:2009-10-01
Member since:2005-07-07
Member since:2007-09-06
The current level of DRM is completely counterproductive let along the degree you are suggesting against copyright infringement ("piracy" has become a marketing term with no real meaning).
Ubisoft has imposed even stricter DRM than you suggest; a game must be connected to the internet at all times. If it looses it's direct connection to the companies authentication servers, you can't save and I believe the games actually pause and present a black screen until the connection is available again.
It took 24 hours for the game to be released without the DRM crippling.
Authentication servers have been taken down at least twice showing the clear idiocy of this DRM scheme. (DDoS'd an hour after they where DDoS'd)
Both these above points clarify one thing; it's only the honest customers who are limited and harmed by DRM. The people who are never going to pay for it in the first place or can't because of the insane pricing are not effected by limitations.
(With Ubisoft specifically, they seem to believe that an installed and verified game is suddenly going to become unlicensed; maybe through magic?)
Consider also that removing DRM from digital music and pricing the content more reasonably has done more to increase sales and reduce copyright infringement than any of the DRM schemes.
Adding more DRM only increases the problem. This is not something that can be solved by bringing a bigger stick to the fight.
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"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Member since:
2009-06-19
IANAL, but I see three major problems with ACTA and current laws.
1. Software is based on mathematical expressions and ideas, and shouldn't be any more "patentable" than 2+2.
2. As far as I know there is no distinction between personal non-commercial use and for-profit commercial use.
3. Copyright keeps being extended and extended, currently we can expect it to become infinite. Copyright should provide an exclusive monopoly for a *limited* amount of time to encourage innovation.
I guess that unfortunately to be a citizen of the US is also to be a criminal.
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Edited 2010-03-13 23:44 UTC