Violent video games are to blame, right. What about violent movies?
Category: Just Stupid (page 8 of 12)
I’m sure this will be well managed. The track record of the federal government is great so far.
EFF good, RIAA bad. That’s a pretty simple and yet accurate way of looking at things.
If this Washington Post article is to be believed, then the RIAA is going after virtually every iPod user. A consumer in Arizona is being sued for making MP3s of music that he legally purchased. Not distributed to other people, just transfered to his PC. The reasoning seems to be making an “unauthorized copy” is an illegal act.
Anyone can use iTunes to rip CDs to your PC for your personal use and onto your iPod. According to the RIAA that is an unauthorized copy, so you are breaking the law. My favorite example of this is when the President’s iPod play list included a Beatles song that had to be ripped from a CD.
I wonder if the reverse of that applies? My car does not have an AUX port for playing my iPod. But it does have a CD player so I used iTunes to create a CD to play some songs. I purchased those songs, I’m the one listening to them. This is not an accident; I am using a feature in iTunes.
I don’t play the music on my PC, iPod, or CD player all at the same time and this is for my personal use only (who else likes my taste in music?). So I guess this is illegal if the RIAA is to be believed? And how about MP3s? If an MP3 of music exists how can someone guarantee that it is not and unauthorized copy potentially to be distributed?
Prove to me that you did not do something illegal. You could potentially do something illegal so you will be a worthy candidate to be sued.
Sigh. Groups like the RIAA succeed against truly dumb people so they feel emboldened to do this. All thanks to the DMCA and other really anti-consumer laws and advocates. Fair use sue indeed.
Looking on Amazon and searching for Steve Jobs and parody comes up with just one hit surprisingly. I don’t usually read parodies since I prefer science fiction but Apple’s lawyers sure tempt me.
Anyone who can’t figure out that FSJ blog is, well, fake probably subscribes to those supermarket tabloids. The one’s that say JFK, Marylin Monroe, and aliens are all bundled together. With Elvis involved somehow.
Apple settled with Think Secret which I guess was good for the Think Secret author. So now FSJ is fair game? That’s really silly and now that FSJ has a sponsor odds are he’ll continue to lampoon Apple’s lawyers. Time for a Fake Steve Jobs Lawyer site?
Apple makes oodles of cash from iPhone mania. Why not take that money and just use this link to find all the sites that say The Great Steve One’s name and sue them for infringement? That ought to keep them busy. In the meanwhile I’ll just continue to read FSJ blog.
After that dim bulb lost the case against the RIAA (gremlins used her computer not her) I was hoping that other opponents against oh say, the MPAA would have better results.
So naturally when TorrentSpy received a complaint they basically went back and modified forum postings and talked about it in a public forum. Arstechnica explains but geez.
It was bad enough when the judge rationalized that data in RAM is a record and needs to be preserved (note: when that happens, you a) kill the network link, and b) ask the judge for help with that, it’s really game over when the judge is that clueless). The judge made a bad call but for them to go back and modify what data they had… that’s just plain stupid.
The MPAA and RIAA continue to shake down people for cash. They intentionally abuse their customers and rationalize it as good for their market. But if you really do break the law (see the RIAA genius) or you are skating on shaky ground like TorrentSpy then don’t make it worse by actually tampering with evidence that is supposed to come out in discovery.
I think Senator Reid forgot what the word leader means. It does not mean roll over and play dead.
Seriously this is why the next president will be a republican. Likely Rudy, maybe Mitt. They’ll get all Jack Bauer and the Democrats will fall over themselves again.
I continue to not get it. I understand that the Democrats want to be “the grown ups” and not get all partisan with the administration. But what ever happened to just following the law?
The telcos and the administration may have broken laws in the warrentless wiretapping cases. In the administration’s case they always claim it’s a state secret, they did not break the law, and if they did break the law then it did not apply to them.
The telcos are not the administration and should not be able to pull off that nonsense. If the administration got them to break the law then that needs to come out in the lawsuits. Why not let people see what is really going on?
The immunity bill is not dead just delayed. During the Thanksgiving not recess, congress kept things going to prevent President Bush from pulling his usual fast ones. I hope at the end of the year someone is keeping an eye on Harry Reid.
I just saw this on Reddit: House vote on illegal images sweeps in Wi-Fi, Web sites. The vote was 409-2.
According to the article this bill would make it a crime to run an open Wi-Fi access point without being able to report illegal images including obscene cartoons or face fines up to $300,000. Read the link, it covers it well.
I work in network security for companies. Outside of web proxies using subscription based content filters, how can a coffee shop or library afford the technology to scan images for content?
Huh. I wonder if someone reports open Wi-Fi hot spots and a fine is levied, can that person put in for a reward? As a Dad I think the idea of protecting children is admirable. But can they stick to actual laws that work? This type of law pushes the crime away from the offender and onto other people: they can’t stop these monsters but the law can abuse people who make it possible for people to do bad things.
Why not just go after the electric companies? No electricity means no Internet. Why can’t the electric companies maintain the technology that lets them tell when people are committing crimes using electricity?
This is why President Bush’s administration can get away with anything at all. The Democrats are trying to out Republican the Republicans.
I bet Threat Level would have something on this if they were not covering Hans Reiser’s murder trial so closely.
PG-13 image lifted from Wikipedia entry.
Update: Seems like Arstechnica sheds the light of reason on the bill. I still dislike the pushing the penalty for the crime onto others (ISPs apparently) but Mom and Pop coffee shops may be off the hook.
I frequent some political blogs just to see what people are reacting to. I don’t think it really matters what the current administration does or what the Democrats do simply because both sides are incapable of a genuine compromise. The partisan bickering makes both sides pretty impotent.
One of the sites I check out is Michelle Malkin’s blog (as a counter to Crooks and Liars). Honestly, I occasionally I find that she has a good point. Today I took a look and she has an entry about how the CNN YouTube questioners were plants from the Democratic party.
No where in the blog entry does it address if the “plants” asked good questions. It did mention CNN’s incompetence and Democratic slant. This is why I think that political blogs are not really going to impact the next election. They’re just slightly better organized rants with a nicer presentation. Both the Republican and Democrat PR organs are better vehicles for slant and spin.
I don’t watch the debates because it’s just political pandering; pointless noise. It would never occur to me that the questions and the people participating were NOT planted and screened for effect.
I’ll continue to check out the blogs in my Red State folder as well as the ones in the Blue State folder but only for the entertainment value, as well as the Jack Cafferty clips.
Either this is a gag or let’s hear it for really stupid people.
Wow, so dangerous he shoots himself. This guy might want to consider a second career.
