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Comment Re:Data ownership (Score 1) 183

by makohill (#40210431) Attached to: Why Facebook's Network Effects Are Overrated
The author of the article here.

The author of this article is basically saying that Facebook is vulnerable to failure because the mass of people might leave and join another service. The reason for that happening would be to join a free and open network, but as I stated before (without evidence) most users don't care about a company owning their data anyway - so it's not going to happen.

I am saying the first part. I am not saying that users will necessarily leave because they want to join a free network. If you read my post (or even the little bit quoted above) you will see that I suggest that folks might also leave for a sexier proprietary service.

I care deeply about free and open networks and I'm actively engaged in advocacy to encourage other people to care about this also. I think, to differing degrees, many people do care about these fundmental issues. But I also think the real political implications of using particular technologies are pretty opaque to many users.

This particular essay was just trying to argue that suggest that people are being unimaginative if they throw their hands at the idea of Facebook's network effects. I hope it's eventual replacement is more free and more fair. But I don't think it has to be. It might very well be worse.

Comment Re:Just wait for the GOTY. (Score 1) 261

by Rashan (#34195878) Attached to: When DLC Goes Wrong

This is the exact reason why I have not bought the DLC for FO3 or DragonAge: Origins.

Why not release all the DLC in a reduced price bundle when the GOTY edition is released? I'm not going to purchase the game twice, but I would be willing to shell out a reasonable amount for all the DLC at one go.
The Courts

Xbox Live Class Action Being Investigated 453

Posted by kdawson from the modders-unite dept.
eldavojohn writes "Were you negatively affected by the recent ban on Xbox Live for modifying hardware you own? Did you modify yours for homebrew or altering things you paid for and not to engage in piracy? Abington IP would like to hear from you and may be able to help. From that page: 'If you are an Xbox Live subscriber, had your modified Xbox console banned from Xbox Live, were not refunded a prorated sum for the time left on your subscription, or have experienced other problems as a result of being banned, and would like to participate in a class action against Microsoft, please submit your information below.' Someone is finally standing up for the legitimate hobbyists. Should Microsoft worry?"
Businesses

EA Shuts Down Pandemic Studios, Cuts 200 Jobs 161

Posted by Soulskill from the say-goodnight-folks dept.
lbalbalba writes "Electronic Arts is shutting down its Westwood-based game developer Pandemic Studios just two years after acquiring it, putting nearly 200 people out of work. 'The struggling video game publisher informed employees Tuesday morning that it was closing the studio as part of a recently announced plan to eliminate 1,500 jobs, or 16% of its global workforce. Pandemic has about 220 employees, but an EA spokesman said that a core team, estimated by two people close to the studio to be about 25, will be integrated into the publisher's other Los Angeles studio, in Playa Vista.' An ex-developer for Pandemic attributed the studio's struggles to poor decisions from the management."
The Courts

FTC Shuts Down Calif. ISP For Botnets, Child Porn 224

Posted by timothy from the child-porn-world-needs-more-suicides dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Federal Trade Commission has convinced a federal judge to pull the plug on a 3FN.net, a.k.a. 'Pricewert LLC,' a Northern California based hosting provider. The FTC alleges that 3FN/Pricewert was directly involved in setting up spam-spewing botnets, among other illegal activities, the Washington Post's Security Fix Blog writes. From the story: 'Pricewert hosts very little legitimate content and vast quantities of illegal, malicious, and harmful content, including child pornography, botnet command and control servers, spyware, viruses, trojans, phishing related sites, illegal online pharmacies, investment and other Web-based scams, and pornography featuring violence, bestiality, and incest.' The story quotes a former Justice Dept. expert saying the FTC action may be a smoke screen for a larger criminal investigation by the federal government in 3FN's activities."
Government

Slashdot Mentioned In Virginia Terrorism Report 779

Posted by kdawson from the true-americans dept.
megamerican alerted us to a leaked document (PDF) from a Virginia Fusion Center titled "2009 Virginia Terrorism Threat Assessment." The document is marked as "Law Enforcement Sensitive," not to be shown to public. Citizens for Legitimate Government has a write-up. Slashdot gets a mention on page 45 — not as a terrorist organization itself, but as one of the places that members of Anonymous may hang out: "A 'loose coalition of Internet denizens,' Anonymous consists largely of users from multiple internet sites such as 4chan, 711chan, 420chan, Something Awful, Fark, Encyclopedia Dramatica, Slashdot, IRC channels, and YouTube. Other social networking sites are also utilized to mobilize physical protests. ... Anonymous is of interest not only because of the sentiments expressed by affiliates and their potential for physical protest, but because they have innovated the use of e-protests and mobilization. Given the lack of a unifying creed, this movement has the potential to inspire lone wolf behavior in the cyber realms." According to the report, cell phones and digital music players have been used to transfer plans related to criminal activity, and therefore presumably could be grounds for suspicion. Podcasting is also suspicious.
GNU is Not Unix

Submission + - FSF Announces New Statement on Web Services (fsf.org)

Submitted by
mako
mako writes: "The FSF just announced the results of a meeting it held on software freedom and network services. They have announced the creation of a new group called Autonomo.us to follow up on these issues and the publication of the Franklin Street Statement on Freedom and Network Services" which lays out a set of recommendations and guidelines for protecting freedom for software as a service."
Censorship

New MySpace China Tells Users to Spy on Each Other 158

Posted by Zonk from the everyone-wants-to-be-friends dept.
Anonymous Chinese Coward writes "MySpace has launched in China, the world's most populous nation, but this definitely is NOT the MySpace you're used to. Members are told to click a button to report any 'misconduct' by other users. MySpace's definition of 'misconduct' includes actions such as 'endangering national security, leaking state secrets, subverting the government, undermining national unity, spreading rumors or disturbing the social order' — according to the site's terms and conditions. In China these are all crimes which carry a hefty prison sentence. Any attempt to post content containing phrases that the Chinese government doesn't like, such as 'Taiwanese independence', the banned 'FaLun' religious movement or the Dalai Lama, produces the following message. 'Sorry, the article you want to publish may contain inappropriate content. Please delete the unsuitable content, and then try reposting it. Thank you.'"
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - What is open source hardware?

Submitted by
ptorrone
ptorrone writes: "What is open source hardware? In this article MAKE magazine divides up electronic hardware into layers, each of which has different document types and licensing concerns: Hardware (mechanical) diagrams, schematics & circuit diagrams, layout diagrams, core/firmware, software/API — each layer has an example provided and links to many of the open source hardware projects currently being worked on."

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