The US is really ramping up its war on intellectual property infringement, a war which I'm sure will be just as successful, cheap and supported by the people as the wars on drugs and terrorism. The US has started seizing the domain names of various websites through ICANN - not because owners of these sites were convicted of anything, but merely because complaints have been filed against them. Anyone want to take a guess how long it will be before the US government blocks WikiLeaks? Update: The blocks function outside of the US too. In other words, the US is forcing its views upon the rest of the world once again.
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Member since:2010-09-30
There was a court order. They received a warrant from a district court and proceeded with executing that order.
Folks, when people steal other peoples stuff, it needs to be dealt with, or we have anarchy. How would you like to spend your whole life working on your talents, finally be able to produce stuff that people want and then not be able to charge for it. That's wrong, and what the torrent nerds are doing is wrong.
I'm happy to see some enforcement of the law, and am happy to see it being done the right way.
Now with that said, what does concern me are the vast number of agencies and the searches and seizures that occur without probable cause and without a warrant (TSA airport screening). This is very troublesome. It is as if the idea of a Representative Republic exists in name only. This TSA has no accountability to the law and the 4th amendment. This is a problem and a serious one. And this kind of power needs to be checked and challenged.
We need the law and the enforcement of the law. We cannot have anarchy, but we also cannot have a dictatorship either.
Member since:2005-06-29
But, the owner did not receive a notice of the warrant, which, as far as I understand it, is necessary.
Copyright infringement is not stealing. It's copyright infringement. If it were indeed stealing, we would not be seeing such ridiculous damages.
"There's much to be said for this view of "dealing with" piracy—which is why we have long argued that the judgments handed down in P2P lawsuits against twenty-something music fans have been ludicrous. $1.92 million? $675,000? No one walking out of a Walmart with a stack of Richard Marx discs under his arm would be subject to such penalties."
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/08/obama-administratio...
Member since:2010-11-27
I agree with you about the TSA. They have one... caveat, if you will... that allows them to circumvent what would normally be a clear cut privacy violations case. No airport within the US is obligated to use the TSA. You are, in essence, giving implied consent to be searched by utilizing an airport that choses to use TSA for security. There is nothing in the law that says that airports, which are not government owned, have to use TSA. In fact, some congressmen are calling for airports to drop TSA completely and go with private security... and some airports are considering it.
Member since:2009-08-11
I would recommend reading, or possibly re-reading, the definition of anarchy:
http://anarchism.pageabode.com/afaq/secA1.html#seca11
I would also like to point out that Copyright Infingement != Theft! See:
http://www.osnews.com/thread?451308
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues.""Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing."The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
"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.
Member since:
2005-06-29
Some sites were closed off WITHOUT even a notice or a court order. How would you like it if the police seized all your belongings, without notice, without a court order?
Apparently, you are a-okay with such actions. I suggest you move to China or North Korea, you'll feel right at home there.