Slashback: DRM, MPAA, ADSL 509
It's not evil, but just in case... gmr2048 writes "Sony seems to have heard the commotion. They have offered a "Service Pack" to uninstall the DRM Rootkit. From the announcement: 'This Service Pack removes the cloaking technology component that has been recently discussed in a number of articles published regarding the XCP Technology used on SONY BMG content protected CDs. This component is not malicious and does not compromise security. However to alleviate any concerns that users may have about the program posing potential security vulnerabilities, this update has been released to enable users to remove this component from their computers.'"
Obviously they have never heard the adage about deep pockets. Dieppe writes "The MPAA is at it again. This time they're suing a grandfather who didn't cave into the $4,000 blackmail offer for movie downloads his grandson downloaded from iMesh. Four movies in total, and they already owned 3 out of 4 with the grandson deleting them soon after download. This time the MPAA wants "as much as $600,000" in damages. The article also claims that "illegal downloading" costs the industry $5.4 billion per year. Not sure where the MPAA comes up with these figures."
Longer life and no charge time. It doesn't come easy writes "A press release from A123Systems announces another new lithium-ion battery technology that promises to deliver unprecedented performance (according to them). The technology is suppose to deliver 10 times the cycle life and 5 times the power over conventional lithium technology, and only require 5 minutes to recharge to 90% capacity. This is certainly not the first breakthrough for lithium based batteries that has been promised. I wonder if there is a patent lawsuit in the making?"
Fast net connection, but only if you live nearby. conJunk writes "The BBC is running an article about the ADSL2+ that touted a 24MB/s net connection. It seems that this number in fact only holds up if you live across the street from the service provider."
Always read the fine print. JeremyWall writes "The recent Netflix class action settlement has a catch. While it is nice that the average subscriber will be upgraded for one month for free, if you read the fine print in section 4.2 of the long form [PDF Warning] of the settlement you find that you will be automatically charged for the higher subscription going forward. If you don't opt back out when you get their email, you are gonna get charged from then on. If you opt in for the settlement - check your email box regularly!"
Know when to hold and know when to fold. psykocrime writes "According to a recent press release SGI stock has been delisted by the New York Stock Exchange, as a result of falling below the NYSE's minimum share price." SGI, the former darling of the high-tech world, has been in trouble for a while, perhaps this is really the end.
I know where the MPAA got that figure (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I know where the MPAA got that figure (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I know where the MPAA got that figure (Score:5, Informative)
$5.4 billion is how much they spend on lawyers (Score:3, Funny)
Average damage per user * number of users (Score:3, Funny)
It is obvious how they got their figures. 9000 people caught, sued for $600,000 in damages each, makes a total amount of damages to the industry of $5.4b.
Of course this means that all the other file downloaders are doing no damage at all.
I think I would be quicker and easier just to charge everyone on the planet $5 a year and let them download as much as they
Re:I know where the pirates got that argument. (Score:4, Interesting)
So, it stands to reason that if piracy is indeed hurting them, we'd see their money shrivel up and disappear.... making them destitute and on the street corner begging for change. After all, that's what their core argument is. The industry is "fighting for its very survival" to paraphrase the good ol' MPAA. So if they are making money, how can they claim lost revenue? It's a specious argument to begin with, and with their "calculated" damages, it's delusional. (After all, a lost sale is what $20 per DVD? $8.50 per ticket? $1 per song?)
So if piracy cannot be proven to cause harm.... why do we even need to prove it provides benefit? If it does nothing, then there is no need to bother. If it provides benefit, great. Either way, since it does no harm, THERE IS NO CASE.
All they want to do is "rent" their "content" to you. That way, they can make money forever on something that should've been in the public domain decades ago.
Re:I know where the pirates got that argument. (Score:4, Interesting)
If I punched you, and you didn't die, would it then stand to reason that you were not hurt by the punch because you remained alive?
And that we can't tell exactly how much the industry is hurt by piracy doesn't really matter. There are still statutory damages, and claiming that they were hurt at least some by the infringement seems reasonable.
It's not that I feel they are fully in the right or that suing one's customers is a good business model, but claiming that they are not hurt by piracy at all seems a bit extreem.
Re:I know where the pirates got that argument. (Score:4, Interesting)
If I punched you, and you didn't die, would it then stand to reason that you were not hurt by the punch because you remained alive?
More accurately, if you punched me in the gut and I claimed you tried to kill me, my failure to die (or even require medical treatment) would be evidence to the contrary. For you, it would be the difference between a life sentence for attempted murder vs. a few months for simple battery.
24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:2)
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:3, Informative)
still damned fast, and can go further distance than normal adsl
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:2)
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:5, Informative)
They may both be copper but the way this copper is arranged makes a huge difference.
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:2)
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)
A Verizon subcontractor has been laying fiber in front of my house this week. When it goes live, an install crew will bring fiber up to the side of my house and install an Optical Network Terminal (ONT). From that, I'll get a Cat5/100Mbit cable to a router inside.
I have a choice of packages:
5 Mbps/2 Mbps for $40/month
15 Mbps/2 Mbps for $50/month
30 Mbps/5 Mbps for $200/month
http://www22 [verizon.com]
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:4, Informative)
It's not the EXCHANGE that matters. (Score:3, Interesting)
When you combine it with fiber to the curb (FTTC) you get your 24 Mbps just fine all over the place, not just on the same block with the Central Office (CO).
The fiber carries the signal to the RT ("remote terminal" in telephone parlence: a line concentrator located outside the CO). That is located within a couple blocks of your house. The ADSL2+ carries it from there to your house over a copper pair.
Eve
Re:24mbit/sec?!?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm on iiNet's ADSL2+ plan (advertised at 12Mbit/sec) and I'm getting consistent speeds at the advertised rate when I download from their own servers (they mirror Linux distros and other useful stuff locally). Outside the iiNet zone though, it's rare to find a server which offers the same rates, so it appears other bottlenecks in the net are coming into play.
Extortion by any other name. (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's give the fuckers a name, and a face. No more of this MPAA, let people know who is behind it, which artists are in cahoots with this. Then we'll see how much we can really cost the industry.
Re:Extortion by any other name. (Score:2)
Re:Extortion by any other name. (Score:3, Informative)
It's called the court system. If you think the legal system needs reform, that's a separate issue.
How to really hurt them (Score:5, Insightful)
Spend more money on "independent" filmmakers and musicians. Listen to more live music. Tell people why they should do the same (they've given us tons of ammo). Spread the music and films via P2P when the creators allow it. If you are a musician or filmmaker, see if you can do it without the studio and use the net to find your audience.
Thinking about profits and money is short term thinking, which many Slashdotters accuse the MPAA and RIAA of. I don't think they are actually that stupid.
A good start (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's take a time out for a brief lesson on how the world works. People have some money. People give a little of this money to lawyers. Lawyers give some of the money that they get to politicians. Politicians pass laws requiring you to give more of your money to the people who gave a little of their money to the lawyers. A positive feedback loop. It continues to grow until (1) people kill the politicians, or (2) people kill the lawyers. This is how the world works.
The MPAA (or any group with money to pay for politicians) will continue to extort your money from you until you either (1) kill the lawyers yourself, or (2) pay someone to do it for you.
When the entertainment lawyers collectively realize that they personally will suffer as a direct result of their applying their professional expertise to the topic of randomly selecting someone who watches a movie or listens to a music recording and demanding thousands of dollars, then this shit will stop. Until then, it will continue.
Be real, this is America in the 21st century. The corporations own the three branches of government, the military, the media, the police, and damn near everything else. NONE of these avenues is open any more for a systematic redress of grievances.
What else is left?
I can not and will not in good faith condone murder in either a public or private forum. What I can say is that, from a historical perspective, violence is the fastest, cheapest, and most effective way to either institute social change ( for better or worse ) or to seek redress from injustice.
There are alternatives to violence. Reread the works of Dr. Martin Luther King or Gandhi for powerful accounts of effective alternatives. Nonviolent tactics did work against far more dangerous and evil enemies than the entertainment industry. Perhaps the newer communications tools such as the web can be used to organize effective boycotts and other tools of social change.
Nevertheless, you asked for a name and you now have it.
Do not blame lawyers (Score:5, Insightful)
If you want to obliquely suggest killing any group of people because you think this will solve the problem I suggest you review and include (in reverse order):
4. Artists who continue to participate in the corrupt entertainment industry
3. The MPAA for ruthlessly trying to protect its own profits and interests
2. Politicians for being so pathetically weak that they can be bought and sold like prostitutes
1. Yourself and everyone else who does not fall into 4, 3 or 2 but who (a) funds the MPAA and the artists by buying their crap, (b) funds the politicians with their taxes, and (c) allows the politicians to get away with it by being politically disengaged and reelecting them all the time.
Do not blame lawyers. In my experience most lawyers tend to be more sympathetic to the views of people like us who are unhappy with these stupid laws and stupid lawsuits than they are to the views of organisations like the MPAA. Most lawyers I know think that the DMCA and its international equivalents are idiotic and outrageously biased, for example. But lawyers are part of an adversarial system, and their duty is to represent the interests of those who retain them to the best of their abilities. So instead of attacking lawyers, why not pony up some cash for your beliefs and help the EFF or someone like that get their own kick ass legal team.
I am so sick of people who bitch about the corporations owning everything but ignore the fact that the corporations only have as much power as you, the consumer, gives them. And I am SO SICK of people bashing lawyers, who tend to be progressive, intelligent, and politically and socially engaged individuals (real lawyers, not ambulance chasers).
Re:Do not blame lawyers (Score:3, Insightful)
While technically true, this ignores reality. A corporation can spend a lot more time and money on the political process than can an individual. They also have certain advantages, such as most of the rights of a person with few of the disadvantages (death, for instance....) Sure they get a lot of power by getting people to give them mo
Re:Do not blame lawyers (Score:5, Insightful)
You have other choices. You can quit. You can find a new firm to work for. You can start your own firm.
Re:Do not blame lawyers (Score:5, Insightful)
If you do it, regardless of wether you get paid or not to do it you are morally responsible. And I personally have quit jobs (twice) because I found my employer actions/buisness objectionable and or morally aprehensible. In both cases I ended up with a job that was lower paying but in the end more satisfying. I didn't have to go home knowing that I spent the whole day working for someone who lives to take complete advantage of their customers.
I think the best argument I've heard for employee accountability has to be from Clerks: [imdb.com]
DANTE: My friend is trying to convince me that any contractors working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when the space station was destroyed by the rebels.
WORKER: Well, I'm a contractor myself. I'm a roofer... Dunn and Reddy Home Improvements. And speaking as a roofer, I can say that a roofer's personal politics come heavily into play when choosing jobs.
RANDAL: Like when?
WORKER: Three months ago I was offered a job up in the hills. A beautiful house with tons of property. It was a simple reshingling job, but I was told that if it was finished within a day, my price would be doubled. Then I realized whose house it was.
DANTE: Whose house was it?
WORKER: Dominick Bambino's.
RANDAL: "Babyface" Bambino? The gangster?
WORKER: The same. The money was right, but the risk was too big. I knew who he was, and based on that, I passed the job on to a friend of mine.
DANTE: Based on personal politics.
WORKER: Right. And that week, the Foresci family put a hit on Babyface's house. My friend was shot and killed. He wasn't even finished shingling.
RANDAL: No way!
WORKER: I'm alive because I knew there were risks involved taking on that particular client. My friend wasn't so lucky... You know, any contractor willing to work on that Death Star knew the risks. If they were killed, it was their own fault. A roofer listens to this...[taps his heart] not his wallet.
Re:Actually this is factually incorrect (Score:5, Informative)
But the cab rank rule doesn't apply in the United States.
In the United States and elsewhere, the general rule is that there is no duty for lawyers to accept work, except where the professional association or a court assigns them to the client. According to the International Code of Ethics of the International Bar Association, 'Lawyers shall at any time be free to refuse to handle a case, unless it is assigned by a competent body'.[62] While the cab rank rule does not apply in the United States, it has a strong foundation so far as barristers are concerned in England[63] and Australia.
http://www.law.qut.edu.au/about/ljj/editions/v3n2
We're talking about an organization made up of one of the richest industries in America suing its own customers for even more money. While I don't agree with the concept of people downloading full movies, you have to wonder if the lawyers who take these cases are thinking with wallets when their firm gets the call from the **AA.
Pot, meet kettle (Score:3, Insightful)
...
2. Politicians for being so pathetically weak that they can be bought and sold like prostitutes
Let me let you in a little secret. People here don't hate corporations per se. W
Ethical duties and illegal orders (Score:3, Insightful)
It occurs to me that this is much like the situation of a military grunt receiving an illegal order from his com
Re:Do not blame lawyers (Score:4, Insightful)
Sayihg "lawyers suck" is simply a less articulate way of saying "if you work for an immoral company willingly, you are also immoral" akin to perhaps PETA's view of factory farm workers or labratory technicians. Or maybe even some of the christian 'right' folks who blow abortion workers and security workers to smithereens because of what THEY do for women's health.
It's a part of our culture to partially blame the workers for the things the corporations do. After all, the corporations exist as a sum of the workers in the first place.
So, going picking or possibly bankrupting grandpa and grandson for downloading stuff they already own..._downloading_ not distributing will get backlash from the public.
So I give you a resounding FUCK YOU. Lawyers are evil when they participate in this stuff. They can quit or change firms any time. Sooner or later a pack of geeks will gleefully do the same stuff to these lawyers what they do to spammers and there's not a damn thing your misplaced righteousness bullshit can do to stop it.
Re:Do not blame lawyers (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe, you would argue that these are the bad apples--the ones that give the rest of the lawyers a bad name. Then for the love of all that is good, go and defend your occupation and your reputation, if you think it is worth your time and efforts defending. Fly yourself over there and give legal council to those people--for free. That's what decent people do. If they see something unjust happening to other people, and it is within their power to stop it, they do it. If someone intentionally releases a bad patch that introduces security holes into a popular open-source application, you'd better believe that there'd be a patch out to fix the problem and an immediate blacklisting of the person from the FOSS community the moment people find out about it. Yeah, you argue, but it doesn't cost much to release a software patch. To help these victims of corporate greed would require spending time and money, probably better spent putting food on the table and the kids through college. Besides, vacation time is limited. So I guess lawyers don't mind having their good name tarnished, so long as they still have work.
All in all, the behavior of your average, everyday lawyer is undefendable and any attempts to do so is just more excuses as to why it isn't pragmatic to be good, decent, humane, or noble--especially not to those who need the most help--on top of being intelligent.
I noticed you listed intelligent, progressive, and interesting as being a part of a lawyer's makeup. That's probably true, since it does take a certain amount of intelligence and education afterwards to get through law school. However, that says nothing about their morals. Hitler and Stalin were probably just as intelligent, interesting, and from their perspective, progressive, and perhaps even more so than the average lawyer. That doesn't mean they shouldn't've been opposed, violently or otherwise. And yes, lawyers haven't really doing anything attrocious as the two aforementioned personages. But to call draw the analogy between them and Nazi or Soviet Party members wouldn't be too far off. After all, what they did wasn't their fault; it's their superiors' (the clients in the case of the lawyers) orders and they're just following orders.
Oh, BTW, if you think that by my standards, a lot of people in this world are bad, then yes, I would agree. And there are people who are worse (the ones who are actually making the decisions to sue 12 year olds), but that still doesn't make the other people bad. I wouldn't necessarily agree with killing all of them, but I would do everything I can to not be like them.
Don't blame the taxpayers either. (Score:3, Insightful)
Agreed to a point. Unfortunately, the only way to make a living as a musician is to participate in the corrupt entertainment industry. Since popular musicians provide real value to society, it's hard to fault this group. They could work in another profession as a day job, but then they could not concentrate on their chosen profession, and the public would not benefit from their musical talent.
Roots - squared (Score:3, Insightful)
(Wasn't this an audio disk? That would be the RIAA.)
Given the RIAA's origin in organized crime (the jukebox syndicate) and ongoing business model (extortion), I strongly suspect that even going after them with tommyguns - and killing off a number of them - would affect their strategy. (In fact, some of them might find it a
Re:A good start (Score:3, Informative)
You can't outlaw a boycott. Ignoring the reasons above, you are talking about imposing a mandatory consumption law.
Ask the revolutionary era French how the Gabelle (salt tax) turned out. Oh that's right, it was one of the things that lead to the overth
"Service Pack" (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:"Service Pack" (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, and don't bother to use Firefox to try to download the "Service Pack": it's IE only. Typical.
Re:"Service Pack" (Score:2)
They've already demonstrated that they are extremely stupid.
Re:"Service Pack" (Score:2)
'Fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again' --
Would you trust Gator or Bonzai buddy creators if they came up with an anti-virus? I dont trust Sony anymore. Fuck them.
Re:"Service Pack" (Score:5, Interesting)
"...the antipiracy software itself will not be removed, only exposed to view. Consumers who want to remove the copy-protection software altogether from their machine can contact the company's customer support service for instructions, a Sony BMG representative said."
Yeah, good luck with that.
Re:"Service Pack" (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:"Service Pack" (Score:2)
Re:"Service Pack" (Score:2)
If you use Firefox or Opera, you cannot remove the rootkit from your Windows box. Sorry.
The site, BTW, requires IE because it installs an ActiveX component that checks for the rootkit before allowing you to download the uninstaller.
Re:"Service Pack" -contact Sony (Score:3, Insightful)
Here's where you can complain to Sony about DRM and Rootkits:
http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi [sonymusic.com]
Here's my letter, please modify it if you use it:
Dear Sony,
I'd like you to know how displeased I am that you've put DRM in your Compact Discs, and I'm shocked that "Van Zant's" CD is reported to have a "rootkit" virus that infects Windows so that certain file names remain hidden from even anti-virus scanners. Your
Sony - Bony (Score:5, Funny)
This is exactly the sort of thing that makes me channel Nancy Regan, and "Just Say NO!".
Re:Sony - Bony (Score:3, Interesting)
This is effectively what Sony are s
Silicon Graphics Saves the World (Score:3, Insightful)
This is sad that SGI cannot stay afloat. I put them akin to Next in that they both make(made) quality machines that not many people want to buy. Notice I did not say need to buy. SGI has been a perfect fit for many a project of mine, but for varied reasons no one wants to take them.
I guess this movie [imdb.com] just isn't going to be accurate. One line I chuckled at during watching it was when it says, "Silicon Graphics Saves the World." Of course, this may be somewhat off...
Industries in their death throes... (Score:4, Interesting)
...resort to desparate and morally reprehensible measures to slow their decline, be they the MPAA or the RIAA. They're behaving like frightened, cornered animals. I'd expect both of these industry cartels to resort to some really scary shit in the next decade or so to try to cut their losses (like the east fork stuff, http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/18 11/ [hardwareanalysis.com]), but they don't understand the difference between gliding along in a paracheut and flying. Ultimately, the industry megacorporations will tank (well, the music industry will, but movies are much harder to make than music), and our freedoms will be the real casualty.
Re:Industries in their death throes... (Score:2)
to keep aloft.
24Mbit already plentiful in Sweden (Score:4, Informative)
Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:2)
< Spelling Nazi mode > What's with "rediculous" -- has 50% of the /. population forgotton how to spell "ridiculous" -- or did they never learn the correct spelling?
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:2)
Considering that better than 50% of the
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:2)
He doesn't own the line. And he's not responsible for the bits that enter/leave on that line for example if they came from a worm.
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:4, Insightful)
There are indirect forms of copyright infringement, but they would still require that the grandchild be shown to be the direct infringer, and would require more of the grandfather than merely owning the telephone line. I'm afraid that your grasp of the law remains, as ever, poor.
Additionally, while I would like to see significant reform of copyright law, I don't think that we're at a point where it makes sense to abolish it.
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:3, Insightful)
Note that Napster would still have been shut down, since they were profiting (and promoting themselves as facilitators!) from the blatant distribution of copyrighted works. Making a mix tape for a high-school crush should not be illegal. Taping South Park and giving it to a friend should not be illegal. Playing someone's song on an Acura commercial? Yeah, that should not be legal.
Re:Not Sued For Downloading! (Score:4, Informative)
Snopes to the rescue [snopes.com]
Short answer: no, it's never happened.
Nice service pack site (Score:5, Interesting)
How about a full exchange of that CD for a new one without the DRM and the rootkit?
I hope someone sues them just to get such an exchange program going.
Sony DRM removal ... Hmmm (Score:3, Informative)
Sony site initially says, I have to use MS IE.
I set my Mozilla to lie and claim to be MS IE.
Now Sony demands that I enable Javascript, along with instructions for IE.
I turn on Javascript
Finally I get to the download option and what do I see!? It's not a download at all, it's an "ActiveX" component that they want you to "INSTALL".
SONY
Re:Sony DRM removal ... Hmmm (Score:4, Interesting)
Does the rootkit affect Linux? I naturally assumed this one of those "we only have to worry about Windows users" things.
fire hazard? (Score:4, Funny)
Mmmmmm.... sleazy! (Score:5, Interesting)
I probably clicked to indicate that I read the full version at some point, but it's a seven page document and I suspect most people rely on the summaries of long legal documents, we not being lawyers.
I'm gonna count on them to send me a nice, clear email at the end of the month. We'll see. Usually they've been pretty good, but I know some Netflix subscribers have been unhappy.
*sigh* This is exactly the sort of game that always seems to come out of class-action lawsuits, which is why I ignore most of the ones that come my way. This one seemed chintzy, but not evil. "What could it hurt?" I figured when I saw it.
Now I know. Thanks, Jeremy Wall.
Re:Mmmmmm.... sleazy! (Score:2)
After the benefit period ends, the new or upgraded level of service will continue automatically (following an email reminder) and you will be billed accordingly, unless you cancel or modify your subscription.
Right there in the bottom paragraph (the normal place for such exceptions, I think). Makes sense to me: you get a free month at a higher plan no charge, and you can stick with the higher plan if you choose to do so, at your own cost. Not really a "catch". Just some people not
Re:Mmmmmm.... sleazy! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Mmmmmm.... sleazy! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mmmmmm.... sleazy! (Score:4, Informative)
See, now you're completely wrong about this. It has nothing at all to do with how much time has gone by, and everything to do with how many movies you rented in the past month. This also affects the availability of the DVDs in your queue that they don't have enough copies of.
When you first sign-up, they do ship as fast as they possibly can, and will continue to do that if you rent a relatively small number of DVDs each month. If you rent a lot, the turnaround time is only slightly longer, as they add your DVDs to the queue below the less-frequent renters.
Personally, I find this to be a prefectly appropriate trade-off. My DVDs are slowed-down only slightly, so somebody that is helping subsidize Netflix is slightly happier. I'll admit I think it's very unfortunate they don't mention this fact anywhere on their site, but it is widely available info.
Sony's Rootkit!? How about Boycot Sony! (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm just a bit curious... Does the patch keep the rootkit permanently disabled and removed? It seems to me that if we put a deviant Sony CD back into our computer that the rootkit would just be reinstalled. Then do we have to run the patch again? This is rediculous. I've do not intend on purchasing any music that has the SONY lable on it. This to me is just plain stupid. What gives Sony the right to install deviant software on "MY" pc and then make it stealth so that I don't know it's there. As far as I'm concerned I think that's the lowest a company can go. That's stooping to the level of those bastard red headed step children Spammers/Spyware installer/Virus/worm pushing assholes.
I'm to the point now watching this rediculous attempt from Sony to attach it's controls on something that I purchase the rights to use/listen/backup and trying to enforce through deviant means. What is this rootkit supposed to do!? They just wanted to install it for the Hell Of It? Nope, it's supposed to reinforce their stupid DRM bullshit and keep me from listening to the music that I paid for. I'm to the end of my rope. I think that there needs to be a group or mutiple groups put together that should purposefully break what Sony is trying to do. I've been years out of the programming/Computer industry and thus lack the skills to do it, but I think that we should form Anti-DRM, anti-Sony groups to demolish the protection that they put on their stupid CD's. I will not from this day forward purchase anymore music from Sony until they drop their Bullshit practices. I call for a Boycot of Sony's Music. I'm not sure what one man can start, but I'll be damned if I'm going to stand around any longer and watch Sony impose itself on me! They want me to buy their shit, then they want to enforce by deviance their policy, and after all that they hijack my PC for WHo knows what! Ahhh! Time for a Revolution. I love my PS2, but am refusing to play it again until SONY stops all this Bullshit! No more video games purchased either. Damn you Sony! Leave me the Hell alone! Stay off of my Computer and my CD's! Damn you!
With that said, I feel somewhat better, but am still disturbed deep inside that they would have to stoop to that level to try and enforce their protection. Maybe they don't realize that as the sound comes out of the speakers it can be recorded with a MIC and pirated that way, or through LINE OUT. Damn them. Rant Over.ADSL2+ still only 1Mbps upload (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:ADSL2+ still only 1Mbps upload (Score:3, Insightful)
ADSL2+ will have 1MB+ upload from the start, so it's an improvement.
Also with ADSL2+ you can trade upload for download, so if you wanted a 2MB upload you'd have a slower download (don't know how much slower - it's not equal, and nobody offers it yet anyway).
MPAA figures (Score:5, Interesting)
Obviously they want the largest figure possible to get the politicians in a spin ("OMG! We're not getting the tax on $5.4b!"), so factoring in relative prices of the media in different markets is probably fudged, and a cant towards the more profitable of the three options is quite likely. The mere possibility of the fourth option, that someone will have downloaded the file just because it didn't cost them anything and wouldn't otherwise have seen it the film before it hit the TV screen, if at all, almost certainly isn't going to be a factor of course.
WHAT??? (Score:5, Insightful)
Say WHAT? ... I ... This.... WOW.
I cannot belive that they can say this. They released a rootkit, bloody damn general purpose rootkit, and it doesn't comprimise security? IT HIDES AN ENTIRE SUBSET OF FILE NAMES! With this rootkit installed, ANY file or folder starting with $sys$ is immmedately hidden from the Windows API. People are already using it to hide hacks for WoW. What happens if someone distributes a trojan, tells them to run Sony's rootkit to make sure they don't get caught by Warden, and the thing disappears and the user never knows the better.
Sony screwed up beyond reproach with this, and that comment just makes me scream.
Re:WHAT??? (Score:3)
Quite impressive.
Re:WHAT??? (Score:5, Funny)
So if I rename all my pirated MP3 files as $sys$, Sony won't know I've stolen them?
Sony Craptive-X required (Score:2)
"...does not compromise security"? (Score:3, Interesting)
The Sony CDs install a rootkit that virus-writers can take advantage of. How does making the job of virus-writers easier "not compromise security"?
Warm and Fuzzy! (Score:3, Insightful)
Allow popups from xcp-aurora.com? Always/Yes/Never
Purchase products from from Sony BMG? Never/No/Nada
a grandfather!? (Score:5, Funny)
And so... (Score:2)
Another architecture bites the dust. Looks like we're down to POWER on IBM workstations and servers, SPARC for high-end Sun workstations, and x86 or x86-64 for everything else. (And no, embedded machines don't count).
I wonder if there will ever be another non-x86 architecture? The x86 is like the Windows of the architecture world; it may not be technologically the best, but since everybody needs it for "compatability"....
They Aren't Bashful! (Score:2)
Their marketing people must have completely detatched themselves from reality.
They must be taking some wicked drugs.
MPAA must be out of puppies and babies... (Score:4, Funny)
Goodbye SGI (Score:4, Insightful)
Pretty sad, SGI pioneered some wonderful technology in its time. Too bad they never figured out business rule #1, ideas don't mean squat unless they make money.
Die, SGI, die die die! (Score:5, Interesting)
2x 8 processor Onyx2s
1x 8 processor Origin 300
1x 8 processor Origin 2200
1x 32 processor Origin 350
1x 4 processor Prism
3x 1 processor Octane2s
and I hate them all with a passion. I've been fighting with software installation on the older Origin 2200 (8 400MHz processors, 6GB of RAM). SGI's crap compiler can't bootstrap gcc 4.0.2, their versions of common Unix tools like grep, etc., suck (forcing you to upgrade to the GNU versions, if their stupid compiler can build them), and IRIX has been at release 6.5 since 1998 or something. Sure, they want you to move to their new Linux-based Prism machines, and I've got one of those, too. Yippee, Itanics! What a super swell processor! I have an 8 processor Origin 300 where the total power consumption of all 8 processors is less than the consumption of 1 of the Itanics! See also, the poor code produced by gcc for this processor.
So, anyway. Upgrading SGIs sucks, their hardware is immensely fragile, its very persnickety about its environment (god forbid the temperature in the room not be in the 60s), licensing all their tools is hellish, their debugger is ancient and decrepit, my tech is a retard who tried to cable together the Origin 300 incorrectly and I had to fix it for him, and get this -- 8GB of RAM for an Origin 300 cost $25,000. That's right: $25k. You know what it is: it's PC3200 with some goddamn proprietary bullshit thrown in so you have to order your parts from SGI.
I'm glad you're dying. You've made every misstep possible: lets sell Windows NT machines! You sell Fuels in regular ATX cases with rockin' 800MHz processors that start at something like $10k. Your video offerings, once your strong suit, suck -- all you offer is older ATI cards in crap configurations -- $40k for two cards since I needed a new node (didn't buy it, duh).
The only reason to buy an SGI in the last five years or so is because of the good realtime performance of IRIX: I can sustain 16us interrupt times pretty much forever. But that's it. I'm not paying $130k for another slow-ass computer without even a damn video card for a console. And I don't need to: Ingo Molnar's realtime patches are coming along, and my quad Opteron box wipes the floor with the Origin and cost, oh yeah: $19,992 including shipping, and $7k of that is pimpin' SCSI disks.
Yay for your death! Ding dong, bitches.
you forgot the worst thing SGI did. (Score:5, Informative)
Don't forget they stopped using the cool cube logo, too.
Managers and clients don't want to see an effete little "sgi," that hardly inspires confidence.
Where's the logo that booms, "Damn straight, I AM graphics?"
Re:Die, SGI, die die die! (Score:4, Funny)
lemme know where i can pick the hardware up from.
rediculous?! (Score:5, Funny)
I sure hope it is
The $600,000 figure (Score:5, Informative)
17 USC 504(c)(2) is where.
There are two types of damages available in a copyright infringement suit: actual and statutory. The plaintiff gets to pick which one he wants. The maximum possible statutory damages are $150,000 per work willfully infringed. In this case there are apparently four works. 4 times $150,000 is $600,000.
Of course, they would need to not only prove infringement, but that the infringement was willful. Furthermore, that only results in the court being able to award any amount it feels appropriate, within the range of $750 - $150,000 per work. The amount awarded may well be less than the amount sought.
XCP IE only? (Score:3, Informative)
XCP SUPPORT
ActiveX Unsupported
Sorry, your Internet Browser does not support ActiveX Controls.
Please use Microsoft Internet Explorer to continue.
Download Internet Explorer from the Microsoft website
More Lock in! Thank god I'm on Linux.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Interesting Questions About The Sony Service Pa (Score:3, Informative)
No, it doesn't. It just makes the files visible again, but leaves everything in place. It just removes the opportunity for virus writers to hide files by naming them $sys$foo. So you could consider that it removes the most dangerous part of the rootkit, but it still cripples your system (scanning active processes periodically) and cannot be uninstalled easily.
Put the slashdot effect to good use (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Put the slashdot effect to good use (Score:4, Interesting)
--
I'm not politically incorrect, I'm just differently articulate
Sony class action - sign up here (almost) (Score:4, Informative)
We would be interested in speaking to any California residents that have experienced this problem before the EULA was changed. We have looked at many DRM cases and Sony went too far with this particular scheme. You can contact us at gw@classcounsel.com or by visiting our web site at http://www.classcounsel.com./ [www.classcounsel.com]
Wow. Poor SGI. (Score:4, Interesting)
A few reverse splits ought to help fix their delisting problem, depending on the extra requirements they must meet to be relisted.
Re:Replacement discs? (Score:2)
Re:Netflix settlement is just plain BS (Score:3, Informative)
Nobody. Instead, the plaintiff got $2k, and the lawyers got $2.5 million.
There should be a modification to class action law that limits the lawyers' payment to at most 1/3rd of the cash value of the benefits actually claimed by the class members.
Re:MPAA numbers. (Score:3, Informative)
Unfortunately the statute does not discriminate between the head of a mass producing piracy ring making millions of dollars in illegal sales and an individual downloading three backup copies and one unpurchased movie for personal use.
Inflated figures you see when they seek to make a small-time CD duplication operation among friends seem like a major c