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Should the WWW be locked down with DRM? Tim Berners-Lee needs to decide, and soon. "Give it away, give it away, give it away now"
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Yeah, Hollywood and musicians and developers are so afraid that people download their software... Meanwhile they're breaking record after record, most watched show, most bought game in the first hour, most visited cinema movie... They make millions, if not billions, but boohoo some people are still (illegally) downloading their products.
First of all, not every download is a missed sale, some people would never ever buy your product even if they could not download it for free.
Second, some downloads actually become sales! I've downloaded plenty of music back in the day (which was/is? legal in the Netherlands) that I later bought because I thought it was good. More people do this, we can't just go around and buy everything because there are hundreds of interesting releases each month!
Last, but certainly not least, imposing DRM upon honest folk only drives them to go and download illegal copies of your product. I've got a friggin' CD I cannot play anywhere else than in my stereo or computer. I wanted to listen to it in the car, but unfortunately my car couldn't play it because of some DRM protection. Had I known I never would've bought it! And what about those annoying commercials on DVD's and Blu-Rays, the ones you can't skip and pirated version don't have. Or the maximum number of installs or machines on a game!?
I've actually already ranted about these money hungry morons today[^] (two posts below), but this still pisses me off.
I hope everyone who thinks DRM (in most forms) is a good idea, and everyone representing copyright owners and coming to take your money (because that is all they're really after), step on a Lego
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Agreed all (except I'd suggest a shattered lego).
The whole idea of a black-box "We'll sue anyone who opens it!" DRM module is completely intolerable, not because DRM is a bad thing per se, but because the people who want to make it a black box have proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy (DVDs with rootkits, anyone?)
The only reason I can see for their denying security firms the right to "look into the box" is because they don't want the firms seeing what they want to do to consumers.
For instance, you can bet your bottom groat that the things will be filled to the brim with "telemetry*" routines, which will be pretty much undetectable, because their activities can be shrouded by the flow of data to and from the browser.
Forget privacy altogether, if this thing goes through. Hollywood, sony, etc. will own you far worse than MS would ever try to -- and MS behaves like saints, compared to those greedy {insert appropriate plural or collective noun here}
With people like that, their only reason for hiding stuff is that they've got something to hide.
The sony rootkit will be less than the tip of the iceberg.
* The latest euphemism for "spyware".
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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So, what's the best Israeli-made browser, these days?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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How do you avoid getting made obsolete by artificial intelligence in a time when resources and research are largely being funnelled toward improving that area of tech? By merging with the machines, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Turn on, jack in, space out
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I'd rather be obsolete in Elon's eyes than have an extra dependency that can fail. Merging would also mean adding some limitations on health-care - would you go into a giant magnetic scanner if your head contains a few chips?
An expert at selling the hype.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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And Mr. Musk's brain-computer interface is...?
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Somewhere south of his neckline, about where he pulled this idea.
TTFN - Kent
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I wish he'd just focus his energies on making my jetpack.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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A bill to reform copyright law and give consumers the right to control their own devices is pending in Congress. Here's why you need to support it. IANAL
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That's wrong... I own the hardware 100% and a copy of the software too (even if proprietary)...
The problem is not with the ownership, but with the lack of law that enforces the seller to take responsibility for the product they sell...
If you get a stinking block of butter you will be refunded, if you have a piece of malfunctioning software you can't get nowhere, mainly because of incompetent but greedy managers hiding behind lawyers lurking in the dark...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: I own the hardware 100% and a copy of the software too (even if proprietary)...
That's what it should be, but not always is.
In some countries you even pay a % as fee in hardware like CDs, USB Sticks or external drives just because you could use it to storage a piracy copy of whatever...
Copyright is a very controversial and often unfair theme.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Name and shame 'em: Italy!
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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I think copyright is a fair principle at its core.
However, buying a legit movie and having to sit through ten minutes of anti-piracy ads, or buying a game only to be limited by x account and/or y computers, or having to pay money for people who listen to their own music at work, and, indeed, having to pay tax on CDs and USBs because, heaven forbid, you may put a (digital) copy of your own bought music on it... That really pisses me off!
In the Netherlands and Belgium we have BUMA/STEMRA and BAF/BREIN who enforce these copyright laws and I hope they all die in a fire!
These money wolves are worse than politicians.
The original authors of the music, movies and software only get a fraction of the money and only if they have a membership (although they don't look at membership while persecuting individuals for using copyrighted material, because that would cost them money).
I recently posted a song from a bands official YouTube in the Lounge only to find out it was blocked in Germany by the very company that "protects" these bands!
Not a single good word will be wasted on these cretins
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Quote: I think copyright is a fair principle at its core. As it were many other things i.e. atomic energy
Sander Rossel wrote: In the Netherlands and Belgium we have BUMA/STEMRA and BAF/BREIN who enforce these copyright laws and I hope they all die in a fire! In Spain the SGAE, in Germany die GEMA...
Sander Rossel wrote: The original authors of the music, movies and software only get a fraction of the money a tiny one
Sander Rossel wrote: I recently posted a song from a bands official YouTube in the Lounge only to find out it was blocked in Germany by the very company that "protects" these bands! Not the first time, I often have problems to see your music tips.
But... I think we let it stay like this, if not we will have to move to the soapbox.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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YouTube tried to pull that crap on me once. ONCE.
My response was to build my own cloud server based on NextCloud. Now I host my videos on my own servers and I can post whatever I want.
YouTube is free to shove it where the Sun don't shine.
Oh, and for the record, my violation was a dash-cam video to show my relatives what my neighborhood looked like. And there was BARELY AUDIBLE radio playing in the background, which resulted in copyright infringement.
Me to YouTube: "Buh bye".
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That's correct. You are paying a fine for a crime that was never committed, or even prosecuted.
And by the way, 4K video is not about better resolution, it's all about new technology to further control people by embedding even more DRM into the video signal to prevent consumers from using the product the way they want to. For example, putting your movies onto a media server at home.
The best way you can respond to this kind of bullying is to completely reject and boycott every product that is infected with this stuff. I have, and I'm happy with my decision. It's been over 5 years since I threw my TV's in the garbage, for example. It was a shock for the first month, but then it's like waking up from a nightmare.
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Basildane wrote: It's been over 5 years since I threw my TV's in the garbage, for example. I have lived without TV for 10 years.
I have now bought a "new" one (the most basic I could find with a relative good quality but no HD, no 4k, no webcam...) just to have something to see films on my mother language with my daughter, so she can learn it watching old school cartoons (or some newer exceptions) that have something to teach to a kid.
But I have no cable, satellite receiver or something like that. Standard TV sucks very, very bad.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Yeah, they have "smart" tv's now, that are capable of forcing victims to watch commercials even when they are playing their own personal content on their own devices. I read that Roku is also building this into their players.
I am absolutely astounded that there are people who will willingly buy these things. That whole industry can't die fast enough for me.
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So you can say goodbye to companies unlawfully hacking your computer to install "enforced updates"!
It's about bloody time that software licensing was brought in line with the licensing of everything else.
If you buy a book, you can do whatever you want with your copy of the book, because you own it -- possession is nine-tenths of the law, and it's very clear what your, and the copyright holders', rights are.
As software "copyright" laws stand now, half of your home is "owned" (i.e. held to ransom) by companies (many of which are based in foreign countries) who don't give a damn about you, your rights, or your possessions.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Your "home" isn't owned by you either. Try not paying your property tax and see who owns it.
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So I've got nuffin!
Pass me a shopping cart.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Or worse getting into a disagreement with a member of your local Home Owners AssociationPetty Fascist League ; your local govt is at least required to obey the rule of law. Unless you have 6 figures for a lawyer or the PFL offends in one of a handful of ways that will cause a national news organization to organize an internet lynch mob against them; you're screwed with no recourse.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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The three languages are still tops in Tiobe's popularity index, albeit with sinking ratings. Best to quit before everyone switches to the next new thing
I told myself I would stop including these, but I can't help myself. It's like repeatedly smelling spoiled milk hoping it would change.
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Quote: I see a migration from C to C++ at our customer base Spot on.
Almost everywhere I've worked, over the last few years, has made that migration and that migration only.
Sharpen up your C++ skills, and there's no end of work available to you.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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