Comment Thanks slashdot! (Score 4, Informative) 238
Looks like you slashdotted the EFF. Site is down.
Submission + - How can I keep the US government off of my domains?
grahamsaa writes: SOPA and PIPA are dead, or at least in hibernation now, but I'm very troubled by what happened to JotForm recently.
I'm a contract sysadmin, and I manage and develop for a number of small companies and domains. While it's unlikely that any of them will be taken down (I don't host any content that is illegal), it is incredibly troubling that registrars like GoDaddy seem willing to take down entire domains without a court order.
What can I do to keep the US government, or any government, corporation, or third party from taking my domains offline? Are some registrars better than others?
I'm a contract sysadmin, and I manage and develop for a number of small companies and domains. While it's unlikely that any of them will be taken down (I don't host any content that is illegal), it is incredibly troubling that registrars like GoDaddy seem willing to take down entire domains without a court order.
What can I do to keep the US government, or any government, corporation, or third party from taking my domains offline? Are some registrars better than others?
Comment Re:This is a TERRIBLE idea (Score 1) 107
I agree completely and would mod you up if I hadn't already posted here.
Comment Re:This is a TERRIBLE idea (Score 0) 107
Fair point, but it's more or less a non sequitur. The US is, or at least claims and appears to be a democratic society.
Comment This is a TERRIBLE idea (Score 5, Insightful) 107
Yes, shareholders should have a say in the policy of companies they own, but net neutrality should most certainly not be left to shareholders. If shareholders were allowed to set the minimum wage a company will pay, they have a financial interest in voting for $0.
In a democracy, the government should work to ensure that the interests of the people are served. Net neutrality should be enforced by legislation.
In a democracy, the government should work to ensure that the interests of the people are served. Net neutrality should be enforced by legislation.
Submission + - RIAA chief whines that SOPA opponents were "unfair" (nytimes.com)
shoutingloudly writes: "In a NY Times op-ed today, RIAA chief Cary H. Sherman accuses the opponents of SOPA of having engaged in shady rhetorical tactics. He (wrongly) accuses opponents such as Wikipedia and Google of having disseminated misinformation about the bills. He lashes out at the use of the term "censorship," which he calls a "loaded and inflammatory term." Most /. readers will get the many unintentional jokes in this inaccurate, hypocritical screed by one of the leaders of the misinformation-and-inflammatory-rhetoric-wielding content industry lobby."
Submission + - Former DHS official: no "property interest" in data (nytimes.com) 1
grahamsaa writes: Stewart A. Baker, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security is quoted in the New York Times today as saying “You can’t really have a property interest in data,” he argued. “It’s going to get cheaper to reproduce it. It’s going to get reproduced and stored. It’s going to get copied.”
Of course, he was talking about your personal data — in his opinion, personal data can be stored, aggregated, copied and used to track your activities online. But this raises an interesting point — if one can't have a property interest in data, why are people getting sued, fined and arrested for copyright infringement? It seems that you can't have it both ways. If data is going to get copied, and if there's no enforceable property interest, what's the problem with online piracy?
Of course, he was talking about your personal data — in his opinion, personal data can be stored, aggregated, copied and used to track your activities online. But this raises an interesting point — if one can't have a property interest in data, why are people getting sued, fined and arrested for copyright infringement? It seems that you can't have it both ways. If data is going to get copied, and if there's no enforceable property interest, what's the problem with online piracy?
Submission + - Google Pulls Support For CDMA Devices, Including Galaxy Nexus (thepowerbase.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Google has just made some interesting changes to their developer pages. As of today, all of the documentation, source code, and firmware images pertaining to CDMA Android devices (including the Verizon Galaxy Nexus) have been removed.
A statement from Google explains that the proprietary software required to make these devices fully functional got in the way of Android's open source nature, so CDMA devices are no longer supported as developer hardware.
What does this mean for the Galaxy Nexus, which is only available as CDMA in the US? Will CDMA carriers never see another "Nexus" device?
A statement from Google explains that the proprietary software required to make these devices fully functional got in the way of Android's open source nature, so CDMA devices are no longer supported as developer hardware.
What does this mean for the Galaxy Nexus, which is only available as CDMA in the US? Will CDMA carriers never see another "Nexus" device?
Submission + - New Hampshire passes "Open Source bill" (nhliberty.org)
Plugh writes: "In a victory for transparency & openness in government, and saving tax dollars, New Hampshire has passed HB418. State agencies are now required by law to consider open source software when acquiring software, and to promote the use of open data formats."
Comment Re:$100 (Score 5, Insightful) 128
This is an excellent example of why piracy is alive and well today. I occasionally get a call from my cable (internet) provider asking me if I'm interested in taking advantage of a special 'deal' to get cable TV access for around $65/month (for a limited time, of course). Each time I respond by saying "so, you've removed all the advertisements, then?"
The person on the other end of the phone usually sounds confused until I explain that I will happily pay for content, but not so long as they try to treat me as the customer and the product at the same time. I _might_ pay $10/month for a full cable package with ads, and $50/month might be reasonable for 100% ad-free content, but anything like what the standard providers are charging for ad supported content is completely unthinkable. Until then, services like Hulu are a much better deal.
And if content providers are too stupid to put their content up on those sites, I have no qualms pirating it. If I can't find a way to watch content cheaply or for free, I don't bother with that content at all. Big content -- adapt or die!
The person on the other end of the phone usually sounds confused until I explain that I will happily pay for content, but not so long as they try to treat me as the customer and the product at the same time. I _might_ pay $10/month for a full cable package with ads, and $50/month might be reasonable for 100% ad-free content, but anything like what the standard providers are charging for ad supported content is completely unthinkable. Until then, services like Hulu are a much better deal.
And if content providers are too stupid to put their content up on those sites, I have no qualms pirating it. If I can't find a way to watch content cheaply or for free, I don't bother with that content at all. Big content -- adapt or die!
Submission + - RIAA wants to scrap anti-piracy OPEN Act (arstechnica.com) 1
suraj.sun writes: The Recording Industry Association of America found itself in an unusual position this week: opposing an anti-piracy bill that's gaining momentum in Congress. "The OPEN Act does nothing" to stop online infringement and "may even make the problem worse," the industry group says in a statement it is circulating on Capitol Hill this week. "It does not establish a workable framework, standards, or remedies. It is not supported by those it purports to protect."
The basic approach of OPEN, which is sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), is to shift enforcement against rogue sites to the International Trade Commission, which has become a popular venue for international patent disputes. The ITC would investigate claims that a foreign site is dedicated to infringement. If the ITC found a site was dedicated to infringement, the site would be cut off from American advertising and payment networks.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/shoe-on-the-other-foot-riaa-calls-for-open-act-to-be-scrapped.ars
The basic approach of OPEN, which is sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), is to shift enforcement against rogue sites to the International Trade Commission, which has become a popular venue for international patent disputes. The ITC would investigate claims that a foreign site is dedicated to infringement. If the ITC found a site was dedicated to infringement, the site would be cut off from American advertising and payment networks.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/shoe-on-the-other-foot-riaa-calls-for-open-act-to-be-scrapped.ars
Submission + - Why National Internet IDs Won't Work (securityweek.com)
wiredmikey writes: Have you heard? All of our security problems will be solved. How? Each and every citizen will be issued with a unique, secure online identity, so that the originator of any and all transactions, connections and requests can be readily and easily identified. Really?
At least according to the newly proposed “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” and Obama’s Cyber Zsar, Howard Schmidt.
Sounds too good to be true, right? And like so many other simple ideas, that at first seem to make perfect sense, it really is too good to be true.
Sure, this tactic will hinder some hackers. Your Granny, your seven year-old, and your dog will find it next to impossible to bypass this. But then again, they aren’t really able to do much harm anyway. Whether any serious criminal or foreign entity will be negatively impacted is highly doubtful.... Why? Because hackers don’t play by the rules. They will use and abuse other peoples’ connections, devices and identities against their owners’ will, permission, and knowledge....
At least according to the newly proposed “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” and Obama’s Cyber Zsar, Howard Schmidt.
Sounds too good to be true, right? And like so many other simple ideas, that at first seem to make perfect sense, it really is too good to be true.
Sure, this tactic will hinder some hackers. Your Granny, your seven year-old, and your dog will find it next to impossible to bypass this. But then again, they aren’t really able to do much harm anyway. Whether any serious criminal or foreign entity will be negatively impacted is highly doubtful.... Why? Because hackers don’t play by the rules. They will use and abuse other peoples’ connections, devices and identities against their owners’ will, permission, and knowledge....
Submission + - Pirate Apple TV operation nabbed in Australia (itnews.com.au)
littlekorea writes: New South Wales Police have arrested a man selling USB keys bearing the Apple logo, which offered access to over a thousand Pay TV channels, another thousand movies on demand and several hundred adult films. A forensic analysis of the device revealed the content was hosted in China but streamed via US servers and domains.
Submission + - Mitt Romney, Robotics, and the Uncanny Valley
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Brian Fung writes in the Atlantic that one of Romney's electoral problems is that he occupies a kind of uncanny valley for politicians, inexplicably turning voters off despite looking like the textbook image of an American president. Just as people who interact with lifelike robots often develop a strange feeling due to something they can't quite name, something about Romney leaves voters unsettled and as with the robotic version of the uncanny valley, the closer Romney gets to becoming real to a voter, the more his likeability declines. "The effect is almost involuntary, considering the substantial advantages Romney enjoys from appearance alone," writes Fung. "But in person, his polished persona gives way to what appears a surprisingly forced and inauthentic character." Political commentator Dana Milbanks adds that although Romney is confident and competent, in casual moments his weirdness comes through — equal parts “Leave It to Beaver” corniness and social awkwardness. "Romney's task now is to work his way out of the uncanny valley toward a more compelling style of humanity," concludes Fung. "But every day he lingers in it, the hill grows steeper.""
Submission + - Twitter subpoenaed again by authorities for person (ibtimes.com)
casac8 writes: "Twitter has been subpoenaed again by authorities for personal records associated with a Twitter user and OWS protester who was arrested for protesting on the Brooklyn Bridge last October. Here's all the details on the subpoena and the ensuing hubbub, as well as quotes from the Twitter user. Good read.
Link:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/290560/20120131/twitter-subpoena-occupy-ows-malcolm-harris.htm"
Link:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/290560/20120131/twitter-subpoena-occupy-ows-malcolm-harris.htm"
