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Comment Re:No way... (Score 1) 361

Yeah, that's something I'd vote for, and am campaigning for...

I'd settle for some kind of sensible reform to bring "intellectual rights" back into some kind of sane bargain with society for a limited-term monopoly privilege, not a "property right" asserted to be both a natural entitlement and effectively perpetual. That's also, I believe, the normal kind of platform asserted by a typical "Pirate Party".

Given the current state of play, however, I've become an abolitionist outright, on the basis that would be preferable to what we have now. It makes me very angry that to all practical purposes almost the entire cultural heritage of the 20th century, new AND old, is locked away from use by me for creative purposes by effectively perpetual "intellectual property rights", where works produced before my birth will NEVER be out of copyright in my lifetime - it wasn't supposed to work like that, the next generation was SUPPOSED to be able to freely build on and develop from the creativity of the previous generation, and in their turn benefit from a LIMITED period of monopoly rights.

Copyright law isn't working, not for me, and not for many others. It's being overturned, de-facto, by the available technology and the widespread contempt for the unjust law; doubtful if it will be overturned de-jure as you describe, I'd have thought, though maybe in 50 years time this will all look bizarre to the society of that day, and people will be trying to imagine how anyone could ever think in terms of "intellectual property rights"...?

Linux Business

Submission + - Linux.com | Joe Barr rips proprietary software ven

Graabein writes: On a slow newsday like today, this article should be good for a laugh: Joe Barr rips proprietary software vendor a new one. Quote: It seems to be a trend among some proprietary software vendors: attacking open source with lies. The latest appears in this week's Network World's Face-off, which features a slop-bucket full of self-serving hogwash by Ipswitch's Roger Greene entitled "Don't trust your network to open source." If ignorance were a crime, Greene would be swinging from the gallows. His pathetically malinformed drivel is enough to make even hardened PR flacks cringe with embarrassment. Greene's marketing agenda is based on what he claims are three myths about open source. Just for the fun of it, let's take a look at his claims."
Linux Business

Submission + - Conservatives Urge Fair Play With Open Source

Scott Ainslie Sutton writes: "According to Conservative MP for Tatton, George Osborne, Open Source Software isn't being given a fair chance. He has pledged that the Conservative Party will help create a level playing field for Open Source and allow it to mature alongside proprietory solutions. He himself is a Mozilla Firefox user, and a recent convertee at that; "Ever since I visited the Headquarters of Mozilla in Palo Alto I have become a user of its Open Source Firefox Web Browser. I am not alone. Almost 20 per cent of Online Europeans use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer." He also stated that Open Source software was not a given choice in the Government's Catalyst database, a list of approved IT suppliers and that he thinks Open Source software 'could save UK taxpayers over £600m a year.' More at source."
Mandriva

Submission + - Mandriva Linux guide updated for One 2007

squidsuk writes: "Mandriva in the news

Mandriva Club member Wim Coulier has updated his excellent in-depth home user's guide to choosing, installing and using Mandriva Linux. This comprehensive article goes into great detail on whether to choose Mandriva Linux, trying it out, preparing to install it, and using it once it's installed. If you're new to Mandriva Linux, or you want to introduce it to a first-time user, this guide will be a great help.

Last discussed on Slashdot for the 2006 article, now in a newly updated and revised version for Mandriva Linux One 2007."

Mod Chippers Ordered to Pay $9 Million in Fines 94

GameDaily is reporting that that ESA is announcing a major victory against game software piracy in California. A judge has handed down over $9 Million in fines to Divineo Inc., some employees, and international subsidiaries. From the article: "The defendants had apparently violated the DMCA by trafficking mod chips and the HDLoader software application that enables users to copy whole video games to a console's hard drive ... Mod chips then can be used to allow a console to play illegally obtained/pirated games. Both the mod chips and HDLoader application therefore circumvent the copyright protection technology built into video game consoles and video game software and are in direct violation of the DMCA."

Pact Not to Use Image Constraint Token Until 2010? 285

Devlin C. writes "Ars Technica reports that many major movie studios and several consumer electronics companies have an unofficial pact not to use the controversial Image Constraint Token in movies until at least 2010, presumably in an effort to spur early adoption. As the article at Ars notes, this would explain why both the low-end PS3 and the Xbox360 lack HDMI. The companies think it's not necessary to have right now, and they would rather shave costs than sell future-proof hardware."

Microsoft Introduces Pay-as-You-Go Computing 328

An anonymous reader writes "Geekzone is reporting that Microsoft is introducing a new business model for 'pay-as-you-go computing.' From the article: 'The pay-as-you-go computing model enabled by Microsoft's FlexGo technology allows customers to have a fully featured PC at home by paying only for the time as they use it through the purchase of prepaid activation cards or tokens. Microsoft has been running trials of the program in Brazil for more than a year and will soon be expanding to select markets in India, Russia, China and Mexico.'" This makes me giggle, because it's basically the return of time-sharing; in the past it was for for mainframe systems, but I suppose the same concept behind the mainframe idea would be true in developing countries today with PC systems.

DOA Coming to the Theater Near You 171

pamri writes "DOA: Dead or Alive, the movie based on the Dead or Alive video game series is set to be released on August 25. The preview images and the trailer point to a more Charlies Angels 2 type fluff than a serious action movie. The girls are also seem friendlier with each other, in odds with the intense competition in the game." I tell people I bought a 360 for Oblivion. But I really bought it for the ladies of DOA.

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