bloblu - Slashdot User

Comment Re:It's not the first time (Score 1) 253

by bloblu on Friday January 27, 2012 @05:29AM (#38837369) Attached to: EU ACTA Chief Resigns

The Parliament, having a say in the matter, protests vehemently. What more can they do? This is a problem at the level of Member States, not EU institutions.

Comment Re:Blackout? (Score 1) 168

by bloblu on Friday January 20, 2012 @07:29AM (#38759530) Attached to: EU To Sign ACTA Later This Month

Picketing the EU Parliament won't work because most representatives don't show up anyway

Most actually means around 10% in this case: http://www.votewatch.eu/cx_epg_attendance.php Attendance rate in the EP is pretty high, sorry to ruin your stereotype.

Comment Re:This is why I voted against the constitution .. (Score 1) 514

by bloblu on Thursday July 17, 2008 @10:00AM (#24227443) Attached to: EU Proposes Retroactive Copyright Extension

Sorry, but have to hold you there. Having politicians nominated by other politicians you voted for does not make the commission in any way democratic, despite what their apologists claim. We all know that national elections are fought on the basis of whatever immediate national concerns are prevalent at that point - not about what commissioner is going to be chosen.

Well, on the other hand the Commission can be sacked by the Parliament at any time. So in this regard the situation is exactly the same as the one in most member states: the Commission needs the approval of the democratically elected Parliament to stand. (I fail to see how this is any less democratic than the situation in, say, Belgium where the unelected King appoints the Premier.)
By the way, my point was to say that the commissioners are politicians, not bureaucrats, as some people insist.

Microsoft Talks Daily With Your Computer 686

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 07, 2006 @09:20PM from the what-could-go-wrong dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Wednesday that it needs to better inform users that its tool for determining whether a computer is running a pirated copy of Windows also quietly checks in daily with the software maker. The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction." The EULA is suppose to disclose this daily call-in feature. Lauren Weinstein, who is co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility, was one of the first people to notice the daily communications to Microsoft. Report from Yahoo.com"

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