Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 26th Jan 2011 22:38 UTC, submitted by brewmastre
"President Barack Obama on Monday nominated former Recording Industry Association of America lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr. to serve as the nation's solicitor general. The solicitor general is charged with defending the government before the Supreme Court, and files friend-of-the court briefs in cases in which the government believes there is a significant legal issue. The office also determines which cases it would bring to the Supreme Court for review. Verrilli is best known for leading the recording industry's legal charge against music- and movie-sharing site Grokster. That 2003 case ultimately led to Grokster's demise when the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the RIAA's verdict." Cough.
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RE: What you people are overlooking...
by Thom_Holwerda on Thu 27th Jan 2011 08:58
in reply to "What you people are overlooking..."
Member since:2005-06-29
You people seem to think that the idea that copyright should be abolished and that people should be allowed to infringe copyrights on a massive scale, is something like a mainstream opinion.
It isn't.
It isn't.
Abolish copyright? Where did you get that idea? I don't think I have ever argued we should abolish copyright.
RE: What you people are overlooking...
by leech on Thu 27th Jan 2011 12:40
in reply to "What you people are overlooking..."
Member since:2006-01-10
It's not the abolishment of copyright, but simply a reform.
Personally I think in some ways copyright should be more like patents, in that they have an expiration date.
I mean these publishers who are still making money off of books of long dead authors are basically scum, if you think about it in the respect that they are making money off of dead people.
Copyright should last for 15-20 years, then after that it should be considered public domain.
I'm all for that.
RE[2]: What you people are overlooking...
by kaiwai on Thu 27th Jan 2011 17:39
in reply to "RE: What you people are overlooking..."
Member since:2005-07-06
Agreed; if one can't make a profit off an idea within 15-30 years then quite frankly the idea mustn't have been all that good to begin with. I can understand protecting artists whilst they're alive - they've got to eat and pay rent but why should the gravy train continue long after the artist has died? both sides (artist and company) have well and truly made their investment back so I fail to see the point of the current status quo.
RE[2]: What you people are overlooking...
by polaris20 on Thu 27th Jan 2011 18:33
in reply to "RE: What you people are overlooking..."
Member since:2005-07-06
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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Member since:
2007-01-08
You people seem to think that the idea that copyright should be abolished and that people should be allowed to infringe copyrights on a massive scale, is something like a mainstream opinion.
It isn't.
You people get on sites like that and basically all tell each other how insightful the opinions you share are, and you think that reflects the opinions of most real people in real life.
You are very wrong.
There is a reason why no politicians support copyright abolition: most people don't like it. If you look at the huge jury awards against file-sharers, you will get a better idea of what real people think, then you currently are getting in echo chambers like these.