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Comment Distribution Charges are not a violation (Score 1) 782

by Chaos1 (#28917867) Attached to: The Ethics of Selling GPLed Software For the iPhone

I'm sorry to hear that you have one developer raising a stink. The GPL doesn't have any restrictions against charging for distribution. Hell, even Stallman used to charge to distribute GNU utilities and it was more than just the cost of shipping (time + media + shipping).

Or yet another example, Wolfenstein 3D was ported to the iPhone by ID Software. Keep in mind that this piece of software has been available as GPL'd source code for a number of years. ID Software didn't go back to the virgin code either, they found an open source project which had done a number of modifications, re-hacked it and then sold it on the Apple store. The source code for the iPhone app is available for download at no cost.

You've obviously had to lay out some money for the developer license and spent a fair amount of time on the port, so I don't think charging a couple of dollars violates the letter or the spirit of the GPL.

Now if you'd kindly get to work on porting NetHack to the iPhone, it would be appreciated.
Privacy

Submission + - White House ordered to preserve all e-mail (cnn.com)

Submitted by Verunks
Verunks writes: A federal judge Monday ordered the White House to preserve copies of all its e-mails in response to two lawsuits that seek to determine whether e-mails have been destroyed in violation of federal law. The issue surfaced in the leak probe of administration officials who disclosed Valerie Plame's CIA identity
Robotics

Submission + - High-Tech Hobbies For Geeks 3

Submitted by MotorMachineMercenar
MotorMachineMercenar writes: I'm a thirty-something geek who works in finance, plays computer games and wastes time on the internet — ie. I spend pretty much all my time in front of a screen. Lately I've started looking for a hobby, something outside the slouching-in-front-of-the-computer realm, and hopefully something to do with my hands with concrete stuff. I'm not talking about the gym, martial arts, photography or books (do that already), but something novel, high-tech and creative. The potential to actually make new discoveries applicable in the real world would be a huge benefit. The most appealing choice I've found thus far is BEAM robotics, although I'm quite skeptical of the potential for new discoveries. So perhaps a robosoccer challenge would be a better option. Amateur rocketry sounds like fun, but I'd like to keep traveling without being subjected to a "routine" cavity search.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - How to reduce CPU temperature by 15% for just $20! (techarp.com)

Submitted by
crazyeyes
crazyeyes writes: "Reducing the CPU temperature has always involved newer, larger heatsinks with ever more powerful fans. All of that mean extra costs. But what if you could have better cooling without the extra cost?

For only $20 in sandpaper, you could reduce your CPU core temperature by 15%! So, join graysky as he shows you how to lap your CPU heatspreader and heatsink for a much better thermal contact and better cooling performance. Here's a quote from the guide :-

"Hardware enthusisasts have always looked for ways to keep the processor running cooler. Not only does it improve the processor's stability, it also increases its overclockability. Hence, the use of better thermal pastes, larger heatsinks and more powerful fans. However, there is only so much you can do with air cooling."
"
Portables

Submission + - Acer to Acquire Gateway

Submitted by cigarky
cigarky writes: Acer Inc. plans to acquire U.S. computer maker Gateway Inc. for $710 million in a deal that will push the Taiwanese company past China's Lenovo Group as the world's third largest vendor of personal computers.
Linux Business

Submission + - Becoming a Linux OEM: The Agony and the Ecstacy (earthweb.com)

Submitted by
jammag
jammag writes: "This article, Becoming a Linux OEM: A Roadmap, talks about the challenges (and rewards) of selling hardware with Linux pre-installed — most likely a growth market in the years ahead. The interesting part is the description of how some smaller Linux OEMs have made it. The bottom line: surviving as a Linux OEM requires far more than making it as a Windows OEM. In particular, you have to make the systems idiot-proof for users who don't care a whit about what OS they're using."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft's Digital Rights Management (Xbox 360)

Submitted by JayFNG
JayFNG writes: I'm a proud owner of a 60" 1080p high-def TV and an Xbox 360, however, my TV only accepts a 1080p signal via one of the 3 HDMI ports. When I learned that my Premium Xbox 360 would never see an adaptor that would allow for HDMI output I was ecstatic when I heard about the Xbox 360 Elite having one built-in; I was the first person in line to purchase an Elite on April 29th. On the 30th I printed and filled out the free Migration Kit form from Xbox.com and waited patiently for it to arrive from Microsoft. When it finally arrived, and all of my data was "migrated" from my previous Xbox 360's 20 GIG hard drive to the 120 GIG drive of my Elite, everything was working perfectly... That is, until my wife tried to play Jewel Quest.

(NOTE: I don't want my 9-year-old son using my profile due to Xbox Live, and my wife enjoys earning her own achievements and having her own friends list.)

When my wife and son used thier own profiles, they could no longer play any of the 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles that I had purchased; not even when the Elite was connected to Xbox Live! Personally, I had no problems playing games or content until recently. While playing the Live Arcade game Castlevania SOTN, during a fairly bad storm here in Florida, my internet connection was lost. The game instantly went into 'demo mode' and would no longer allow me to save my game progress. (An hour and a half of game play was lost!)

The following day I called 1-800-4-MY-XBOX and was told to download the content again and it would solve my problem. Since I had no way to connect to Xbox Live I took my Xbox 360 somewhere with an internet connection and downloaded all 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles as instructed. Upon returning home that evening, I learned that this did NOT solve the problem. (My wife, son, and I could not play any of the XBLA games.)

Later that evening I called Xbox support again and spoke with a different support team member. This time I was told since my original console profile IDs were tied to each game and that I'd have to purchase all 40 games a second time. First of all, the Xbox Live Marketplace doesn't allow you to purchase content twice. Second, why should I have to pay another $300+ for content I already purchased? The call was escalated, but even the supervisor explained to me that due to the digital rights management of content purchased through the Xbox Live Marketplace, I'd to purchase all 40 games with the profile of either my wife or my son.

I completely understand why Microsoft has this kind of security in place; however, I feel that this method is absolutely unacceptable. When purchase music through iTunes it's tied to my account and PC, however I'm able to authorize and deauthorize up to 5 more PC's; why can't something similar be done with my XBLA games and content?

I look at it this way; if I purchased a movie on DVD then decided to upgrade to a new 1080p upscaling DVD player with an HDMI output a few months later, that movie should play just fine for everyone in my household; regardless of whether or not I'm connected to the internet or the only person watching it. If I wanted to watch the same movie on another DVD in my house, I wouldn't have to purchase another DVD just to do so. This is EXACTLY what Microsoft is doing with downloadable content from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and nobody seems to be addressing the issue.

Is Microsoft working on a solution to this problem? Will everyone who upgraded to an Xbox 360 Elite or customers who received replacement consoles after the Red Ring of Death suffer the same fate? I feel that spending $399.99 on an Xbox 360, spending $300+ on content through the Live Marketplace (not-to-mention thousands of dollars worth of games), and then dropping an additional $479.99 for an HDMI enabled version should entitle the customer to a proper solution.... Solutions such as spending several hundred dollars more on content that were already paid for and disconnecting / reconnecting an old console just to use previously purcased content is absurd... Please help me find some answers.

I've contancted numerous news websites, Magazines, etc however, nobody seems to have any info or care to help... I suppose the next step is to contact the Better Business Bureau :(
 
United States

Submission + - Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb' (cbs5.com)

Submitted by
mikesd81
mikesd81 writes: "CBS has an article that states a Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

Apparently, Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb." Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."

The Air Force wanted 7.5 million dollars to develop this weapon, nicknamed The Gay Bomb. The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviewing the documents. "The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soldiers would become gay," explained Hammond. The DOD says the idea was quickly dismissed, however Hammond said the government records he obtained suggest the military gave the plan much stronger consideration than it has acknowledged. "In fact," he says, "the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider.""
Announcements

Submission + - SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years (lonestar.org)

Submitted by
Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones writes: "It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at
300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public
Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the
"Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest
and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.""
Censorship

Submission + - Flickr users revolt vs. filtering of "unsafe&# (laist.com)

Submitted by A concerned citizen
A concerned citizen writes: Following on from Flickr censoring one user, and China censoring Flickr, the Yahoo owned website have now begun forcefully filtering out photos deemed as "unsafe" for users in Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong and Korea. Judging by the number of protest photos showing up in their "interesting photos from the last 7 days" (about 1 in 5), this revolt could rival the recent AACS key debacle.
Oracle

Submission + - IBM refuses to certify Oracle Linux

Submitted by
Andrew
Andrew writes: "IBM has thrown a spanner in the Oracle Linux works by refusing to certify that IBM's software portfolio will run and be supported on Oracle Linux. If IBM applications turn out to be incompatible with Oracle Enterprise Linux then it will be up to Oracle to resolve any issues that arise.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?t ype=comktNews&storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20070 223:MTFH11324_2007-02-23_21-00-19_N23330134&pageNu mber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=HybArt-C1-Arti clePage2 This statement is unlikely to help Oracle sell Linux subscriptions to businesses who use any of IBM's large software portfolio."
Space

Submission + - SDI satellite for sale

Submitted by
One Mad Muppet
One Mad Muppet writes: "A genuine McDonnell Douglas "Star Wars" Regan-era SDI satellite is up for sale on eBay. This could be your ideal opportunity to stand side-by-side with the Chinese, and makes a perfect compliment to sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads as part of your Evil Genius arsenal."
The Internet

Submission + - Get arrested for using free wifi at the library

Submitted by
edmicman
edmicman writes: "Tech news outlets are reporting a story from Alaska where a man's laptop was confiscated after he was caught playing online games using the library's free WiFi connection:

Brian Tanner was sitting in his Acura Integra recently outside the Palmer Library playing online games when a Palmer police pulled up behind him. The officer asked him what he was doing. Tanner, 21, was using the library's wireless Internet connection. He was told that his activity constituted theft of services and was told to leave. The next day, Sunday, police spotted him there again.
"
Portables

Submission + - Sony PSP Firmware Battle vs Open Source Developers

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC is running an article entitled Three hacker teams unlock the PSP. The article summarizes the efforts of Open Source developers (including quick descriptions of the renowned Dark_Alex and Fanjita) to unlock the DRM'd Sony handheld. Thanks to their efforts, the Sony PSP homebrew community has become an excellent example of how much value can be added to a hardware product if developers are given the freedom to exercise their creativity. Some examples of interesting homebrew projects include PSPRadio: an "Online Streaming Music Client" supporting shoutcast stations, PSPoste: an SMTP/POP3 email client supporting SSL/TLS, Lua Player: allows users to write applications in the Lua scripting language. Many other homebrew examples can be found at PSP Hacks.

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