Hasta la Vista

[socialxray]

I can't argue with a picture!!!

1. Socialxray - Saying "you can't stop all piracy, why try" is like saying "you can't stop all crime, why try" Because the people who own the content want their nickel, that's why! I agree with you, that in this day and age, there's no real way to stop pirating, and that by trying they are adding layer upon layer of crud to what was a very simple and elegant process, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a reasonable ideal/pursuit by the owners of the content. I don't want it anymore than anyone else...I just can see the business side of it too.
QUOTE]


It is true that crime must be prosecuted. But here is the difference: If I steal something I am punished. If I do not steal something I am not punished. BUT in DRM-land if I steal music (on a small scale) I am not punished. If I buy DRM-laced music I am punished because I cannot exercise my fair use rights however I please. An over-simplification but you get the point.

Another point is that DRM does not fight piracy. How could it when a "real" pirate can access unprotected content at will? It is a bad idea from the start. I do not think that is even its intention anymore. I the content providers are using it to squeeze every penny out of paying consumers and companies like Apple and Microsoft are using it to tie customers to their platforms. Maybe this is not their original intention but this is what is happening today.

The criminal gets a free lunch and the paying consumer gets penalized.

Of course you and I can make informed decisions regarding DRM but I do not know of anyone outside of this forum who understands the implications of DRM. When my wife purchased music off of iTunes she had no idea that those songs could not be transfered to my son's Creative Zen and was a little miffed about it. When my sister-in-law asked me if there was a way to put her DVDs on her iPod I told her yes there is a way but it is against the law. That didn't stop her so now a paying customer is criminalized. Sure this is trivial but it gives the RIAA and the MPAA justification to do just about anything because so many people are "pirating" their content.

 

[IWalker]

I agree with everything you say. The couple of exceptions I have are

1. Tying us to their platform. Any format is going to tie you to that format...unless you have the ability to convert it from that format. If you could convert between "protected" formats, would that make you happier??? The inherent compatibility issue is that by allowing you to convert to any format you want, even ones without protection, and therefore preventing any sort of "tying" to a platform...you then remove the entire purpose of the security. WMAs are widely supported by many different manufacturers. Before mp3s really hit the scene, you were tied to the Record, or tape, or CD "format." It wasn't an issue then.

Say you buy a copy of a cd, rip it to your hard drive. You play it on your stereo downstairs, and your wife/husband/kid is upstairs listening to the ripped copy of the same thing. You're effectively using two "licenses" of the music, no? Sure, it's a very benign example...but you've now created an example where the prior solution would have been buying 2 copies of the same CD. This means you're now getting double the use out of a single product. Maybe eventually, when EVERYTHING is wireless, music and video will operate on a licensing approach. If you have 1 license, and it's being used...you're out of luck. That seems to be the way most other intellectual property has been protected. The problem with a portable medium, is that there's no clear way to enforce licensing without an internet connection...and you don't really want to force all music players to be connected to the internet, right!?

Is it illegal to rip dvds? I'm pretty sure it isn't for CDs. Hadn't heard of that before. Figured it operated on the same basic idea. (ie if you own the original, you can rip it)

Also, fair use rights? Compare this to Microsoft Office/Windows. You have to buy a new copy for each computer you use, right? (at least with the newer versions, I believe) If the same is with digital copies of music...I see no reason that it is unreasonable in a theoretical sense. It's an unwelcome change, for sure...but not infringing on any rights I can think of. Just because we've gotten used to the ability to copy music willy nilly to any device we own doesn't make it our "right" to continue doing so. DRM isn't "punishing" anyone.

You're right...in this day and age, people will always be able to pirate content...even if it's from a direct post-processing data stream, and then reencoded into a digital file. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Anyway, like I said at the beginning...I agree in theory with most of what you said, but realistically what will happen is that the prices of music will drop to account for people buying multiple copies...or people will buy less music that they don't REALLY want...and that will cause the music industry to shift it's tactics. The consumer still rules the market...and if it doesn't like the direction things are going....those things will change, and generally pretty quickly.

 

[socialxray]

Hello IWalker,

Well I was going to go through all of your points but I thought is was coming off a bit rude and I don't want to anger people. So here are my points.

- There is a such thing as fair use rights. This right was enshrined by the Supreme Court when content providers sued Sony because VCRs could tape television shows.

- Fair use allows me to convert formats.

- While not an issue in the past, it is an issue now due to the advancement of technology.

- The Digital Millenium Copyright Act is a law passed by Congress. This law states that circumventing encryption even to exercise fair use is illegal without permission from the copyright holder. Thus copying DVDs for any purpose is illegal.

- Installing software forces you to accept an end user license agreement where you give up any fair use rights you may have had. The content industry is following suit.

Here is a quote from ArsTechnica.com that does a better job that I at getting to the heart of the issue:

Shapiro's statement reflects a growing awareness among many technology advocates, and a long-held position at Ars Technica, that digital rights management schemes can be abused to create new revenue models at the expense of fair use, and the truth. The latter comes in with regards to how inflated and misrepresentative piracy "studies" are used to justify ever-oppressive copyright regimes.

Shapiro and the Consumer Electronics Association are not enemies of DRM, however. While generally approving of its use, they are routinely critical of its effects on innovation. In April of this year, Shapiro complained that the RIAA's shifting demands were unjustly hurting the industry. "The game of crying wolf [over piracy] is not only tiresome; it's harmful to consumers and innovation," he said.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060810-7472.html

 

[lugano]

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act is a law passed by Congress.

The United States Congress, yes. But there are some advanced life forms outside the US borders, and boy, do they use computers and the internet...

 

[SugarMedia]

U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office 2007

March 05, 2007

U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office 2007

Microsoft (MSFT) has run into trouble with a major customer over Vista: The U.S. Department of Transportation has banned Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 2007, InformationWeek reports. The newly revealed policy forbidding installation of Microsoft's latest software has been in place since mid-January.

Finally, someone's taking my advice from last fall: Punish Microsoft for delivering a buggy, bloated operating system by simply not buying it. In the DOT's case, the ban was imposed because certain applications essential to the agency's function won't run on Vista. For these Microsoft customers, Vista doesn't just fail to deliver more value; it actively detracts from their jobs.

As a consequence, the DOT isn't just holding back on upgrading to Vista. It's actively considering Apple (AAPL) Macintosh computers, as well as PCs running Novell's (NOVL) SuSe Linux. I think it's unlikely that the DOT will switch, since moving to those platforms will require even more reprogramming work than making its apps Vista-compatible. The threat, however, should be a wakeup call to Microsoft: Less "wow," more "works."

 

[Charliemike]

The United States Congress, yes. But there are some advanced life forms outside the US borders, and boy, do they use computers and the internet...

Be gone with your tales of mischief and places outside the US!

 

[lugano]

March 05, 2007

U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office 2007

Go Sugar go !!!

In related news:

Gates dumps Microsoft stock

Monday, March 05, 2007 - 10:20 AM EST


"Bill Gates, chairperson and co-founder of Microsoft, sold 4 million shares of the software giant's stock over the last three days of February, bringing his total sales for the month to 20 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission," FIN24 reports.

"Gates still owns 917.5 million shares of Microsoft after the share sales, according to the filings. This represents about 9.2% of total diluted shares outstanding as of December 31," FIN24 reports.

FIN24 reports, "For the month of February, Gates had sold 20 million shares of Microsoft stock to raise about $580m, the filings say."


I bet he's buying AAPL :devil:

 

[SugarMedia]

I bet he's buying AAPL :devil:

Apple is the future... and I'm happy to help welcome it in.

In other news, Michael Dell is also avoiding investors questions after his recent earning report has plummented.

 

[lugano]

roflmao

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1358057&SiteID=17

 

[TheBobGoat]

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3667201

Quote:
Microsoft is frequently dinged for having insecure products, with security holes and vulnerabilities. But Symantec (Quote), no friend of Microsoft, said in its latest research report that when it comes to widely-used operating systems, Microsoft is doing better overall than its leading commercial competitors

Quote:
Then there's Mac OS X. Despite the latest TV ads ridiculing the security in Vista with a Matrix-like Agent playing the UAC in Vista, Apple (Quote) has nothing to brag about. Symantec found 43 vulnerabilities in Mac OS X and a 66 day turnaround on fixes. Fortunately, only one was high priority.


The fact that only one seems high priority at OSX sounds good to me, but I guess according to Symantec, they were below MSFT and Linux(RH)
Bottom line:
Mac aint perfect either - and the PC/Mac battle continues for all of time!

=)

 

[TheBobGoat]

March 05, 2007

U.S. Government Bans Vista, Office 2007

Microsoft (MSFT) has run into trouble with a major customer over Vista: The U.S. Department of Transportation has banned Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 2007, InformationWeek reports.

Kind of an inflammatory headline! Not really true either. I just picked up Office 2007 through work (which means we are getting it...think at least 100,000 computers. Over 2.5 million military members, plus another at least 1 million civilian support staff my estimate is low.) Word is that we will get Vista in the future as well.

 

[ScottG]

20 million copies of Vista sold (so far)... I guess it's doing ok

Headlines are meant to draw you to read the article... I've been using both for a while and I'm very happy w/ both products... Office 2007 is an amazing leap forward...

 

[lugano]

20 million copies of Vista sold (so far)... I guess it's doing ok

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/stacking_vista_licenses_too_high.html



Microsoft declined to break out the number of Vista copies sold at retail, though it has said in the past that 80 percent of Windows revenue comes from sales to PC makers...

 

[IWalker]

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/stacking_vista_licenses_too_high.html



Microsoft declined to break out the number of Vista copies sold at retail, though it has said in the past that 80 percent of Windows revenue comes from sales to PC makers...

What does that mean? That's how almost all OSes make most of their money...doesn't matter who makes it.

 

[TheBobGoat]

Also, they said that they were suprised by the number of copies of the highest level of Vista that were sold.

Whatever, I heard about another OS that is supposed to be a major departure from the norm due out in 2009.

I dont know much about using Vista, but like Scott said, Office 2007 is great. I have been using the Beta for well over a year now and loved it.

 

[lugano]

What does that mean? That's how almost all OSes make most of their money...doesn't matter who makes it.

That means that Microsoft sells, for example, 100'000 licenses to Dell. Dell will pack them with new computers; only if and when these computers will be bought by end users can we talk about a "real" sale and real 100'000 Vista users.

 

[IWalker]

That means that Microsoft sells, for example, 100'000 licenses to Dell. Dell will pack them with new computers; only if and when these computers will be bought by end users can we talk about a "real" sale and real 100'000 Vista users.

Do you somehow predict that all of these copies won't be sold at some point in the near future? (and then more purchased?) There might not be 20 million vista users yet, but there will be soon!

Again, this is how it works with all Operating Systems...it's like measuring a movie's success by it's opening weekend. It doesn't tell the whole story, but it's a strong indicator. If you compare copies sold from one to another, where they all follow the same general business model, it gives you a decent idea.

Realistically...most businesses wait a while to adopt new technology. Wait a year or two until SP2 is released...then you'll see a REAL boost in usage. Viva la Vista!

 

[SugarMedia]

Apple Leopard's Secret Ingredient: All 3D, All the Time

Wednesday March 28, 4:53 am ET

Carl Howe (Blackfriars Communications) submits: Ars Technica's Infinite Loop blog has, in my opinion, unraveled one of the top secret ingredients in Apple's (NasdaqGS: AAPL) upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 release, aka Leopard: complete 3D graphics and animations. Given what we know and have seen of Leopard features such as Time Machine and the new iChat and in existing apps like FrontRow, this would make perfect sense, especially if it were implemented in OpenGL. Applications get their own canvases in a 3D world, and the OS is responsible for keeping those canvases updated and visible in various orientations. One visual 3D imaging model for all apps that the OS manages and keeps sorted. Sweet.

Now to any Linux geek worth his salt, this sounds like no big deal: it's like Beryl (movie at the link), XGL/Compiz and a bunch of other compositing interfaces available today on Linux. But unlike Linux, Apple has no requirement to support every flavor of graphics card in the world, and that's a good thing in this case. Apple's attention to interface smoothness, consistency and detail will create a user experience anyone can use, and won't require users to gather eye of newt and sacrifice a goat to get the graphics drivers to work.

What this means for Apple users is that we can expect a new Finder in Leopard. I've written before that I believe that Leopard will also support Multi-touch gestures and new sensors to take the user interface the next step for users. From a competitive point of view, this 3D Finder will probably be the biggest shot across the bow for rival Microsoft. Why? Because the Aero 3D interface is the major differentiator today for Vista over Windows XP; most of the other features of Vista are significantly less visible to average users. But on Vista, these features are usable only on the highest end PCs, while I believe that Apple intends its 3D features to become a part of every device it builds. That means we'll see 3D features on iPods, iPhones, Apple TV boxes, and of course in Leopard. And since some of these features will be built into hardware devices, it will be straightforward for Apple to patent and protect these features as it has with the iPhone

The bottom line: I second the notion that a 3D finder is one of the secret ingredients of Leopard. That's a little bit like saying vanilla is the secret ingredient in both a vanilla ice cream and a great creme brulee. It can be just a flavor or it can be the base of a transporting dessert. It just depends on how the chef uses it.

 

[lugano]

While I'm 110% with you, Sugar, and you know it, I must confess I'm not into all this eye candy stuff. What matters to me is productivity. What matters to me when I click to close a window is to see it disappear instantly, not freakin' waving goodbye at me, not being sucked into a black hole, not spinning itself to becoming a pixel. Sex sells, says monkey boy Ballmer; ok, for home use, for impressing friends and neighbours, maybe, but for real life, for getting from point A to B it's the timing that counts. While I agree that acoustic/visual clues of things being done by the computer in response to our inputs are welcome and a very important aspect of the man-machine interface, I really think that we're overdoing it here with all this pixel waste. If we went from 12" screens to 19" and more, it was for less scrolling and more info available to the eye, not for filling half the screen real estate with fancy stuff. On my system all possible animations are turned off and I'm customizing the interface with ShapeShifter and AmunRaa Recording Studios theme, for maximum readablility and focus. (see http://interfacelift.com/themes-mac/details.php?id=169)

 

[SugarMedia]

And to be fair to all of you who love Vista. Here's some interesting facts:


Microsoft released its new operating system, Vista, on Jan. 30. Here are some of its features:

Microsoft Word's helpful paper-clip icon now blinks at rate of normal humans

Enhanced graphics on "System Is Not Responding" pop-up window

Five new card-back designs for Solitaire
Something that Apple would never, ever dream up in a billion years

4,391 security flaws to be patched over next 15 years

Promise of broad, open-minded future or some bullshit

Lists blocked wireless connections with greater speed and accuracy

New operating system, same old Microsoft Paint