Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Regional licensing agreements? (Score 5, Insightful) 255

I don't know if this applies to software, but I know that music and movies have been seriously hindered by archaic regional licensing agreements going back to the days when physical media was the only means of distribution. It's why a certain DVD may be available in a certain region at price x, while completely unavailable or at a different price in region y (with a different distributor or even with a completely different edition of the movie/song). This old system has become a HUGE annoyance in the modern streaming era, particularly if you're trying to watch Netflix outside the U.S. (since those movie licensing agreements are still such a goddamned mess, even in an era when streaming crosses every old national and regional border). It's also why I have to import my blu-ray of "More American Graffiti" from the UK instead of being able to buy it here in the U.S.

This may also explain why these weird prices apply specifically to the standard physical boxed sets of Adobe products, and not the newer cloud versions or student editions (as per the article). It may also explain why Adobe is so reticent to talk about it. If they have some long-standing regional licensing/distribution agreement in Australia, they may be reluctant to bad-mouth their local licensees/distributors (who have jacked up the retail prices for whatever reasons).

Comment Re:Hacking is the great equalizer (Score 1) 129

f the anti-Assad rebels are radical Islam and anti-western, why would the western powers be pursuing a defamation campaign against Assad?

Because the West is, by and large, oblivious to what's really going on. Western intelligence agencies still seem more geared towards the Cold War than towards really understanding the Middle East. They see Assad as an ally of Russia and somewhat anti-Israeli and label him an enemy, Then they see a rebellion against him and make the false assumption that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," ignoring the very strong radical Islamist bent of these (and other Arab Spring) rebels. They mistake a pro-traditionalist Islamic social/religious movement for a pro-democratic political movement. As in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies have no fucking clue what's really going on among these strange foreign people, and don't seem particularly motivated to try to understand (or capable of it).

And all that is exacerbated by a Western press who love a good "David vs. Goliath" freedom-fighter story, and seem to look at everything in terms of "good guys vs. bad guys." So the press in the West have cast the Arab Spring rebels as the "good guys" in their fictional narrative, instead of realizing what's going on in REALITY. That's why they and their governments are so caught off guard by events like the Libyan embassy attacks, or other attacks on Westerners in these "liberated" countries.

Comment Re:Hacking is the great equalizer (Score 4, Insightful) 129

Al-Jazeera is hardly the "Western Media"

No, but they are generally pretty pro-radical Islam, and most of the Arab Spring rebels to date (incl. those in Syria) seem to be way more interested in instituting Sharia and putting Muslim Brotherhood politicians in power than in establishing pro-Western democracies or giving people more freedom.

Slashdot Top Deals

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

Working...