I think the main issue Canonical has with Wayland and X is that they are Not Invented Here. Canonical has their own priorities and regardless of the technical merits vs. Wayland and others Canonical wants to be in control of the display server so they can lead it to their interests and not have to convince other parties to go their way.

A direct effect if copyright was reformed to reasonable terms would very likely be a golden age for our culture. All of a sudden those pent up reserves of story craft would be unleashed in a myriad of creative expression and experience. Movies, Music, Books, Interactive Entertainment, everything that copyright currently hoards. New ventures into existing universes is one thing but the ad-hoc communities that would form around the freed works would also spur a renaissance in our culture. Old computer games could be packaged up in whatever emulation needed to make them operate on modern machines, freely distributed. Legitimate torrent sites could specialize in genres and not only host the information but also a chorus of discussion that would not have existed when the works were locked away. If our culture was a tapestry then releasing the flood would weave into it vibrant colour and pattern that is currently dulled and frayed. The only reason this is all prevented right now is regulatory capture by vested interests who choose to keep their penny rather than let a dollar fall into a collective grasp.

The old saying "The Emperor has no clothes" applies here. Copyright law is a distorted abomination. The terms of copyright are outrageous, a work created today will not enter the public domain in my lifetime because the length of protection is so corrupted. Since I will die before Alien (1979) enters the public domain then that means copyright is effectively unlimited. "Expiry" is a lie. Sane copyright law would see works enter the public domain after a reasonable amount of time such as 14 (original term) to 20 years (what would be acceptable). Not only would those works then be able to be freely shared but also new works, with new sane protection terms, would be able to be created in those universes. A new Alien movie which does not need the blessing of the old creators. 20 years is long enough, long enough for Terminator 2 to now be public domain and Skynet to be a free literary construct. When it comes to copyright laws another saying applies "unjust laws serve to bring all laws into contempt." A primer on the subject can be found here as a freely downloadable PDF: The Public Domain.

Went to view the Hulu link and it tells me I'm not worthy because I'm not in the USA. That is just douche-baggery.

I never said either group was anything. I said the most qualified and motivated people get jobs in a perfect world. Affirmative action for its own sake, conversely, is discrimination against people who worked their butts off for a position and were passed over because they were the wrong gender or color.

I thought that competitive business was supposed to hire the most qualified and motivated candidates? Seriously, get out there, carve out your own space, and get hired! "Diversity" is just a politically correct buzzword and is not guaranteed to lead to an agile workforce..

No matter how much DRM you put on it it will always be removed. The best thing to do is concentrate on adding value for paying customers. Do an on-launch check against the serial number over the Internet. If no Internet is available up to X number of times then launch without it. This is similar to what DOOM 3 by id Software does. If the same serial number is showing up too often then ban it. Basically: you're a niche - put a little DRM on it, enough so that a normal user wouldn't notice it at all ideally but at the same time that just enough that it would need to be cracked for every version for illegitimate users.

Kickstarter is the new patronage , seriously: what was old is new again. I'd like to be a "patron of the games" please!

You totally stole my comment! I'm getting you shut down!

ACTA is coming into force, SOPA/PIPA will be coming back, and the upcoming Trans Pacific Partnership means that if you even think of dressing up like a copyrighted character then you'll be censored off the 'net.

Here's coverage on the TPP from a Canadian perspective: here, here, and here.

The point is that Hollywood and content holders in general have all the strings in their hands right now and for the foreseeable future. Like ACTA the TPP is being negotiated in secrecy. Which, when you think about it makes it undemocratic just by it's procedure.

I exactly agree with you. I'm not a kid anymore, I do have a disposable income unlike when I was younger. I have, let's see, 155 ONE HUNDRED and FIFTY FIVE games installed in Steam right now. I don't use a personal credit card on Steam, or the Internet in general but that's another matter, so what I do is go to a local store and buy one of those "disposable" ones. You gotta use 'em all up as best you can. Believe me: I have ton's of Indie game that I haven't even touched. I have big name games I haven't touched! Like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty Black Ops, MW, MW2, and World at War, Cryostasis, Dead Island, Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale, Hard Reset, Medal of Honor (the new one), Red Faction: Guerrilla, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, Singularity - and all of those are just the big names, because I buy those disposable credit cards I'm always filling in the last $5-$10 with Indie games. That's the reason I'm up to 155 games.

So, it's well established that while I might want to play Far Cry 3 I, in fact, have plenty to play that I haven't touched in place of it. My backlog is so shameful that I keep telling myself I'm not allowed to buy any more games until I play what I have. Then I OCD buy more games anyway. Ironic, when I was a kid I had all the time to play games but no money to buy them, now I have too much money, apparently, and not enough time to keep up playing-wise with my buying rate.

It's not a case of "damage to be routed around": unless the unthinkable happens and Ubisoft does a 180 I'm not buying it in any way, shape, or manner - or going to pirate it either. I have plenty else to play and I don't want to have anything to do it until they smarten-up.

Put it another way: the extreme Ubisoft is taking makes me feel dirty by having anything to do with it so I won't.

I really want to buy Far Cry 3. Chances are however I will not be. Because Ubisoft is no doubt going to put their "always on" DRM on it. This article is the exact reason that that is unacceptable to me. So, Ubisoft can go about all they want championing how they're "putting it to those evil pirates" (roll-eyes) but in the mean-time they are losing out on me, yes, the person who wants the game but isn't going to submit to their idiocy. So, I lose because: no executive with a testosterone problem is going to back-off and admit he has shit for brains. And the cycle continues.

And as Gabe Newell so succinctly put it: Piracy is a Service Problem. So what's Ubisoft doing? Creating more value in the pirated versions. Way to go guys, golf-clap.

"Bend Over"

"No"

"By refusing to bend over that is probable cause for not bending over. Here's a warrant, bend over"

Remember every time copyright industries thought they had finally shut down The Pirate Bay? Yeah, just popped up again. Them not serving time because they aren't in Sweden? Not a perfect analogy but close enough for me!

Anyone who has half-a-background in virology would have had this stroke of inspiration by now. So what has been accomplished with this ban? Well, lot's of attention has now been brought on the matter to alert the quarter-brained ones.