Comment Re:Spaceba! (Score 1) 147
My first thought when seeing the headline was an anime/manga from a couple of years ago, called Planetes, which is based on a group of people who clean up the garbage in space.
"The Fair Labor Association found that Apple's plant where iPhones and iPads are far better than those at garment factories or other facilities elsewhere in the country. A quote: 'The lead investigator stated "The facilities are first-class; the physical conditions are way, way above average of the norm."' Which leaves the question, what is the acceptable norm?"
Translation: So the manacles are in better condition, they're punished with lifetime imprisonment versus death in other places, and the slaves are kept in slightly better conditions - but are still slaves given that one risks imprisonment or death if you speak out against Foxconn or the like.
So this organization is only a whitewash group for Apple.
Not so.
“We’re finding tons of issues,” van Heerden said en route to a meeting where FLA inspectors were scheduled to present preliminary findings to Foxconn management. “I believe we’re going to see some very significant announcements in the near future.”
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/foxconn-auditor-finds-tons-of-issues-.html
If don't understand the concept behind inconveniencing people to rally them to your cause. If you put a banner up, I might read it and support your cause, if you piss me off, I certainly won't.
If the point is to demonstrate the consequences of the law, well, I think I am quite capable of imagining what it means for a site to be shutdown. Or perhaps you are trying to emulate the stupid filmmaker who thought he had to demonstrate that eating to much will cause you to gain weight, as if this wasn't obvious.
You forget, you know technology. Joe Q. Public does not. The point of these blackouts is to show Joe Q. Public (who is known to be somewhat apathetic about politics) what the Internet will be like if these bills pass. The hope is to get them to get mad at their representatives for inconveniencing them for a day (or less than, depending on the site).
It's completely illegal and really ought to be the focus of an antitrust probe. You can't send a letter demanding payment for allegedly infringing upon a patent and be required to sign an NDA to see the patent. That's not a legitimate move and quite frankly, the MS execs that thought of that ought to be dragged out into the street and beaten severely with chairs.
Patents are public information for a reason, one should be able to look them up to figure out if one is or isn't violating one.
Have you paid attention to the B&N vs Microsoft lawsuit currently ongoing? The patents ARE revealed, at least in that case. B&N's trying to get an antitrust probe in play and are saying that MS is engaging in patent misuse. Its all over on Groklaw.
"And remember: Evil will always prevail, because Good is dumb." -- Spaceballs
