Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 30th Jun 2012 19:34 UTC
Yesterday, we were treated to another preliminary injunction on a product due to patent trolling. Over the past few years, some companies have resorted to patent trolling instead of competing on merit, using frivolous and obvious software and design patents to block competitors - even though this obviously shouldn't be legal. The fact that this is, in fact, legal, is baffling, and up until a few months ago, a regular topic here on OSNews. At some point - I stopped reporting on the matter. The reason for this is simple: I realised that intellectual property law exists outside of regular democratic processes and is, in fact, wholly and utterly totalitarian. What's the point in reporting on something we can't change via legal means?
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Member since:2005-07-24
pro-fair use laws or laws preventing software patents will not get you kicked out of the WTO. There are countries with no software patents (France) or even allowing sharing of copyrighted stuff via torrent (Canada) that are nembers of the WTO.
Can't vote you up because I already commented, but, this.
Member since:2005-07-06
People do not vote freely nowadays, because the mainstream media tells people that if you vote for certain "radical" parties, bad things will happen to the country [...]
Just look what happened in Greece with Syriza (i know because i live in Greece). When peopke expressed intent to vote for Syriza (a party with some pretty neat ideas), the mainstream media (local and foreign) bullied and threatened the people
Just look what happened in Greece with Syriza (i know because i live in Greece). When peopke expressed intent to vote for Syriza (a party with some pretty neat ideas), the mainstream media (local and foreign) bullied and threatened the people
Why do you use "" around the radical? The party calls itself the Coalition of the Radical Left FFS... (why did you left out the real name, instead using nothing-telling acronym, hm?)
...yeah, neat: the communists are here - Greece, you're saved!
Also, don't forget to mention that those involved around this party were very active with "bullied and threatened the people" - or did you not notice all the rioting?
Or that the Neo-Nazi party in Greece got 7% in the recent elections.
Long story short, if we want our democracy back, people should start voting with their hearts again
Voting with hearts (all directions), not minds, is what gets us into mess. Like the mess when gov gave too much of what its people wanted, just more "me! me! me!"
Humans are immature, short-sighted, generally unable to think long-term & to see and support long-term issues; it's in our nature to just want more "stuff" and to have fun in our short few prime decades of life. And that is simply reflected in many govs - if a gov would really go against such primitive impulses of its population, it's usually voted out.
Here you also voted just "against"...
There's a close precedent in Ancient Greece, in its deforestation and erosion - back then, those in positions of authority were also unable to raise public support and the necessary economic resources, trying to do so just destroyed your political status.
Hence, fast forward to today - and Greece will be officially a desert in a few years.
Also, for democracy to work, you need to have and educated society (one which genuinely values that) ...Greece seems to have plenty dysfunctions in that area.
BTW, quick site search on a website of another Greek gives...
http://eugenia.queru.com/2011/06/20/regarding-the-greek-situation/
http://eugenia.queru.com/2010/02/24/greece-in-shameful-protests/
http://eugenia.queru.com/2008/12/09/regarding-the-greek-riots/
http://eugenia.queru.com/2007/03/07/the-problem-with-the-greek-civi...
http://eugenia.queru.com/2006/09/27/teachers-on-strike/
Edited 2012-07-08 00:15 UTC
News
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
"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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
"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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
"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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:38 UTC
"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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:30 UTC, submitted by JRepin
"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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 22:06 UTC
"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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:45 UTC
"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.More News »
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Member since:
2011-04-11
I think you 've touched a deeper problem: People do not vote freely nowadays, because the mainstream media tells people that if you vote for certain "radical" parties, bad things will happen to the country. Econony will fall, there will be no gas at the pump, the four horsemen of the apocalypse will appear on the sky etc "You do not want to doom this country, dear listener? Right? Please vote for the two mainstream parties"
Just look what happened in Greece with Syriza (i know because i live in Greece). When peopke expressed intent to vote for Syriza (a party with some pretty neat ideas), the mainstream media (local and foreign) bullied and threatened the people, so, surprise, one of the two mainstream parties came first. The good news is that young people voted mostly for Syriza.
See, not everyone has access to the internet to be able to find out that the mainstream media are BSing him. Back on topic, people would vote for pirate parties and IP reform parties if they were able to find out that pro-fair use laws or laws preventing software patents will not get you kicked out of the WTO. There are countries with no software patents (France) or even allowing sharing of copyrighted stuff via torrent (Canada) that are nembers of the WTO. It's not as easy to get "kicked out" of the WTO (or any other organization) as the mainstream media wants you to think, because of the consequencies it will have on other countries.
Long story short, if we want our democracy back, people should start voting with their hearts again and not by "what will happen because of the X treaty/organization". But for this to happen, people must first find out the mainstream media are BSing them. Aka having access to other information sources.
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Edited 2012-07-01 12:20 UTC