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*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info
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AfterDawn Addict
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14. May 2007 @ 13:13 |
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48 days to go, cough, cough
p2pnet.net news:- Britain is scheduled to go smoke-free in 48 days. But almost 50% of the population apparently doesn't know it.
In a survey of 1,700 people, carried out for the Department of Health, found over 90% did know a ban was coming in, says the BBC, going on:
"The ban will bring England in line with the rest of the UK and ban smoking in all enclosed public places. The survey also found more than two thirds of people said the legislation would not affect how often they went to the pub, while 15% said they would go more often and only 7% less often."
The government has launched as multimillion-pound TV campaign to highlight the smoking ban that comes into force in on July 1, and there's even a web site called Smoke Free England dedicated to the event.
"Research commissioned by the Department of Health shows that 45% of people are unaware of the date the anti-smoking legislation comes into force, while many are unclear about the scope of the restrictions," says MediaGuardian.co.uk
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
BBC - 'Half' unaware of smoke ban date, May 12, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk - Smoking ban campaign launches, May 14, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/12212
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Senior Member
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14. May 2007 @ 17:13 |
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I just made it, yes I'm a smoker, going to the UK June 5th coming back June 28th, just beat it, hahahah!
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xhardc0re
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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15. May 2007 @ 01:22 |
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i'm replying to your thread a while back about used CD sales in FL. LOL i know in internets time this was like 20,000+ yrs ago. What the RIAA/MPAA is clearing trying to do is make people either unwilling to sell their used CDs/movies for fear of being a criminal. Or create a database so the people who do sell them risk being on the M.A.F.I.A. hitlist. They also make shops that accept used CDs pay a very high price to be in the business. The overall affect of the FL law? Discourage the sale & supply of all used CDs. So only new CDs will make sense; no shop will want to be selling used anymore. Along with their attack on file sharing in general, they have a good strategy.
My strategy is NOT to buy their god d**n garbage, and if I do share music it's among close friends on a closed tracker. In this age of RIAA/MPAA Nazi-ism, its best to protect your ass(ets). Don't buy their stuff in the first place.
if you're a college student, do NOT settle with the RIAA http://tinyurl.com/37oz2z
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lastest Nero Ultra 7 & Alcohol 120% ~ This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 15. May 2007 @ 01:25
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15. May 2007 @ 05:26 |
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May 15, 2007 2:00 AM PDT
Gonzales proposes new crime: "Attempted" copyright infringement
Posted by Declan McCullagh
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is pressing the U.S. Congress to enact a sweeping intellectual property bill that would increase criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy.
"To meet the global challenges of IP crime, our criminal laws must be kept updated," Gonzales said during a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Monday.
The Bush administration is throwing its support behind a proposal called the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007, which is likely to receive the enthusiastic support of the movie and music industries and would represent the most dramatic rewrite of copyright law since a 2005 measure dealing with pre-release piracy.
Here's our podcast on the topic.
The IPPA would, for instance:
* Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.")
* Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software. Anyone using counterfeit products who "recklessly causes or attempts to cause death" can be imprisoned for life. During a conference call, Justice Department officials gave the example of a hospital using pirated software instead of paying for it.
* Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations. Wiretaps would be authorized for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights.
* Allow computers to be seized more readily. Specifically, property such as a PC "intended to be used in any manner" to commit a copyright crime would be subject to forfeiture, including civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture has become popular among police agencies in drug cases as a way to gain additional revenue, and is problematic and controversial.
* Increase penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention regulations. Currently criminal violations are currently punished by jail times of up to 10 years and fines of up to $1 million. The IPPA would add forfeiture penalties too.
* Add penalties for "intended" copyright crimes. Currently certain copyright crimes require someone to commit the "distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of at least 10 copies" valued at over $2,500. The IPPA would insert a new prohibition: actions that were "intended to consist of" distribution.
* Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America. That would happen when compact discs with "unauthorized fixations of the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance" are attempted to be imported. Neither the Motion Picture Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any other copyright holder such as photographers, playwrights, or news organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special treatment.
A representative of the Motion Picture Association of America told us: "We appreciate the department's commitment to intellectual property protection and look forward to working with both the department and Congress as the process moves ahead."
What's still unclear is the kind of reception this legislation might encounter on Capitol Hill. Gonzales may not be terribly popular, but Democrats do tend to be more closely aligned with Hollywood and the recording industry than the GOP. (A few years ago, Republicans even savaged fellow conservatives for allying themselves too closely with copyright holders.)
A spokeswoman for Rep. Howard Berman, the California Democrat who heads the House Judiciary subcommittee that focuses on intellectual property, said the congressman is reviewing proposals from the attorney general and from others. The aide said the Hollywood politician plans to introduce his own intellectual property enforcement bill later this year but said his office is not prepared to discuss any details yet.
One key Republican was less guarded. "We are reviewing (the attorney general's) proposal. Any plan to stop IP theft will benefit the economy and the American worker," said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, who's the top Republican on the House Judiciary committee. "I applaud the attorney general for recognizing the need to protect intellectual property."
Still, it's too early to tell what might happen. A similar copyright bill that Smith, the RIAA, and the Software and Information Industry Association announced with fanfare last April never went anywhere.
News.com's Anne Broache contributed to this report
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9719339...g=2547-1_3-0-20
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AfterDawn Addict
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15. May 2007 @ 05:48 |
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Microsoft open-source royalty demands
p2pnet.net news view:- A few media outlets (Computerworld, Fortune) are reporting about Microsoft's latest claims from Microsoft that various FLOSS projects infringe their software patents, and that FLOSS distributors should be paying royalties. While likely the best summary of why this is a non-event is the article on GrokLaw, I wanted to post a few talking points for those who want to think about this.
* like the SCO alleged "copyright" case, Microsoft is not disclosing the patents that these FLOSS projects are allegedly infringing. (See: ShowUsTheCode.com)
* When someone is alleged to infringe a patent there are always three options: license the patents, innovate around the patent, or go to court to have the patent invalidated.
* Software being defined as FLOSS means you've all the rights granted in the license without additional permission or payment. It's not possible for the use of software to be royalty bearing and yet the software is FLOSS. Negotiating a Royalty-Free patent license (Offered by many companies, including IBM which is acknowledged to have the largest number of patents granted to any single company), innovating around the patent or invalidating a patent are the only options available to FLOSS projects.
* Depending on what study you trust, and whether you only include "novelty" tests (invalidating based on prior art), somewhere between 60% and 95% of software patents currently granted by the USPTO are poor quality. Poor quality patents are those that would be invalidated by a court for not passing adequate scrutiny under the useful, novel and unobvious tests. Many Microsoft patents have already been invalidated, once they've been disclosed to the alleged infringer. (See: Microsoft FAT Patent)
* Microsoft has yet to disclose what country these patents were allegedly granted in. We can assume the United States as they're commonly acknowledged as being the jurisdiction with the worst patent quality problem, and thus would have the most inflated number of alleged software patents. As the US Supreme Court also recently ruled, software vendors can't be held liable for infringements that may or may not happen outside the country, so would need to deal with the fact that most jurisdictions do not grants as many software patents as the USPTO does.
* The US Supreme Court recently made a ruling that clarified a new test for "unobviousness" which will likely cause an even higher number of software patents to be invalidated (See: Jim Rapoza on recent US Patent Rulings, A person of ordinary skill not an automaton)
* Given the massive number of low quality patents, it's likely that all software of any complexity infringes software patents. This means while it's likely that FLOSS projects infringe currently granted software patents held by Microsoft, it is equally likely that Microsoft infringes currently granted software patents held by FLOSS distributing companies. In fact, Microsoft has been found guilty in courts of software patent infringement more than any other company.
* Unlike copyright where infringement involves knowledge of the original, it's possible, and quite likely, for patents to be infringed by someone who has no prior knowledge of the patent at all. In fact, most software authors avoid reading patents to avoid being tainted by them.
* Software being patentable at all is highly controversial, with most software authors and economists believing they're harmful to software innovation (Wikipedia entry for "Software patent", Software Freedom Law Center Files Brief against software patents, Research on Innovation papers, US Federal Trade Commission 2003 patent report (PDF))
* Opposition to information/mental process patents (software patents, business model patents) isn't opposition to the patent system as a whole. Different subject matter exists in entirely different economic contexts, and most of the people who oppose software patents believe that patents for hardware or chemical compositions (drugs) are appropriate.
* Most parliaments have never debated the merits of the issue and decided that software should be patentable. In the United States it was a specialized patent court that allowed software patents, while in Canada is was CIPO in their Manual of Patent Office Practises (politically interpreting US court rulings and applying to the Canadian context). In Europe article 52 of the European Patent Convention denies patentability for "programs for computers", and yet special interests like the patent office and patent lawyers have been abusing loopholes to grant software patents.
See also: European FFII: Frequently Asked Questions about software patents, Public Patent Foundation
Russell McOrmond - p2pnet contributing editor
[McOrmond is an independent author (software and non-software) who uses modern business models and licensing (Free/Libre and Open Source Software, Creative Commons). He's also the CLUE policy coordinator.]
====================
Said a p2pnet reader in yesterday's post on the subject:
This whole idea of patenting software is totally insane. Thousands of software application routines were published in books long before Microsoft came onto the scene with MSDOS. In fact, before the Apple-II came around, many of us were developing software for the CP/M operating system (S100 ring a bell ?). When the Apple-II came around, a company called Microsoft developed the Z80 Softcard which allowed Apples to run the CP/M operating system.
A few years later, when IBM was looking for an operating system, Microsoft was picked after Bill Gates purchased an operating system from another company. MSDOS was so close to the likeness of CP/M that it made it easy to transition over to IBM. When multi-tasking applications were introduced, each task was considered to be operating within its own task "window". Interesting that Microsoft claims ownership to many software applications that were produced by other companies.
If Microsoft does indeed sue for software patent infringement, I believe many of their patents will be disqualified due to "prior art" or for "obviousness" reasons.
I also feel Microsoft let us down when it introduced the infamous "lock down" OS called Vista. Terminating the availability of XP simply put the "icing on the cake".
Goodbye Microsoft.
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
yesterday's - Microsoft versus GPLv3, May 14, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/12228
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AfterDawn Addict
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15. May 2007 @ 08:00 |
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Miami holds top spot on rude driver list
By SARAH LARIMER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 49 minutes ago
MIAMI - For the second straight year, rude Miami drivers have earned the city the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Miami motorists said they saw other drivers slam on their brakes, run red lights and talk on cell phones, according to AutoVantage, a Connecticut-based automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance.
Other cities near the top of the rude drivers list were New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
South Miami resident Erik Pinto told The Associated Press he's probably seen every bad driving habit on Miami's roads.
"You don't want to know what I've seen," Pinto said. "I've seen everything. I'm from L.A., and we don't see the crazy drivers that you see here."
Portland, Ore., drivers were the least likely of the cities to see other motorists tailgating on the roadways, and St. Louis motorists were the least likely to swear at another driver, the survey found.
Minneapolis-St. Paul was rated the most courteous city in 2006 but slipped to the middle of the list this year.
The most frequent cause of road rage cited in the survey was impatient motorists. Drivers also cited poor driving in fast lanes and driving while stressed, frustrated or angry.
"The best piece of advice is to take a deep breath. Slow down, be aware and be careful," AutoVantage spokesman Todd Smith said, adding the aim of the survey is to increase driver safety across the nation.
More than 2,500 drivers who regularly commute in 25 major metropolitan areas were asked to rate road rage and rude driving in telephone surveys between January and March. The survey was conducted by Prince Market Research has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
The list, ranked from those reporting the most incidents of road rage to the fewest:
1. Miami
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Los Angeles
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Phoenix
7. Chicago
8. Sacramento, Calif.
9. Philadelphia
10. San Francisco
11. Houston
12. Atlanta
13. Detroit
14. Minneapolis-St. Paul
15. Baltimore
16. Tampa, Fla.
17. San Diego
18. Cincinnati
19. Cleveland
20. Denver
21. Dallas-Ft. Worth
22. St. Louis
23. Seattle-Tacoma
24. Pittsburgh
25. Portland, Ore.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_re_us/road_rage
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AfterDawn Addict
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15. May 2007 @ 13:28 |
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Attempted copyright violation'
p2pnet.net news:- Self-described US Top Cop Alberto Gonzales is ramping up his efforts to work for, and on behalf of, the entertainment industry.
He's even calling for a brand new 'crime' - attempted copyright violation [read infringement].
"The Justice Department is pledging to get even tougher on copyright violators and other intellectual property thieves, saying it has already boosted convictions and lengthened prison sentences,' says Broadcasting & Cable.
Attorney general says the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 would, "hit criminals in their wallets" by boosting restitution and ensuring all ill-gotten gains are forfeited, as well as any property used to commit the crimes.
The RICO (Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organisation) Act does much the same.
No one would deny it's wrong to misappropriate intellectual property or to infringe on copyright. However, one could very well ask if either act deserves the kind of attention they're getting from the Bush administration which, with the music and movie cartels clearly visible in the wings, has raised copyright offences to the level of serious crime.
"TV and film piracy has been a big issue in the conversion to digital, with Justice pledging to boost the number of attorneys trained to prosecute intellectual property (IP) crimes and to encourage more international cooperation in investigations," says the story, which also has Universal chairman Bob Wright claiming the issue is critical to be global economy.
"These crimes, as we all know, also have a direct impact on our economy, costing victims millions of dollars and, if left unchecked, diminishing entrepreneurship," Gonzales said in announcing the bill.
According to Gonzales, some 230 specially trained federal prosecutors are presently handling IP cases.
CNET News says the new act would:
* Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright
* Create a new crime of life imprisonment for using pirated software
* Permit more wiretaps for piracy investigations
* Allow computers to be seized more readily
* Increase penalties for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anticircumvention regulations
* Require Homeland Security to alert the Recording Industry Association of America when, "CDs with "unauthorized fixations of the sounds, or sounds and images, of a live musical performance" are attempted to be imported.
Neither the Motion Picture Association of America nor the Business Software Alliance (nor any other copyright holder, such as photographers, playwrights or news organizations, for that matter) would qualify for this kind of special treatment, the story emphasises, adding:
"Still, it's too early to tell what might happen. A similar copyright bill that [Lamar] Smith, the RIAA and the Software and Information Industry Association announced with fanfare last April never went anywhere."
[Note: We borrowed the pic in the upper right from Buddy Stone's Flickr page.]
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
Broadcasting & Cable - Gonzales Pledges To Get Tougher On Content Pirates, May 14, 2007
CNET News - Gonzales proposes new crime: 'Attempted' copyright infringement, May 15, 2007
Attempted copyright violation'
http://p2pnet.net/story/12235
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 15. May 2007 @ 13:31
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AfterDawn Addict
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15. May 2007 @ 13:50 |
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Heavy multivitamin use may be linked to advanced prostate cancer
The embargo has been lifted at the request of the submitting PIO.
While regular multivitamin use is not linked with early or localized prostate cancer, taking too many multivitamins may be associated with an increased risk for advanced or fatal prostate cancers, according to a study in the May 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Millions of Americans take multivitamins because of a belief in their potential health benefits, even though there is limited scientific evidence that they prevent chronic disease. Researchers have wondered what impact multivitamin use might have on cancer risk.
Karla Lawson, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues followed 295,344 men enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study to determine the association between multivitamin use and prostate cancer risk. After five years of follow-up, 10,241 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, including 8,765 with localized cancers and 1,476 with advanced cancers.
The researchers found no association between multivitamin use and the risk of localized prostate cancer. But they did find an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer among men who used multivitamins more than seven times a week, compared with men who did not use multivitamins. The association was strongest in men with a family history of prostate cancer and men who also took selenium, beta-carotene, or zinc supplements.
?Because multivitamin supplements consist of a combination of several vitamins and men using high levels of multivitamins were also more likely to take a variety of individual supplements, we were unable to identify or quantify individual components responsible for the associations that we observed,? the authors write.
In an accompanying editorial, Goran Bjelakovic, M.D., of the University of Nis in Serbia, and Christian Gluud, M.D., of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, discuss the positive and negative health effects of antioxidant supplements. ?Lawson [and colleagues] add to the growing evidence that questions the beneficial value of antioxidant vitamin pills in generally well-nourished populations and underscore the possibility that antioxidant supplements could have unintended consequences for our health,? the authors write.
###
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/jotn-mu051007.php
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15. May 2007 @ 14:42 |
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Attorney General's copyright plan draws criticism
Posted by Anne Broache
Proposed expansions to criminal copyright law put forth by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday aren't exactly getting rave reviews from some inside-the-Beltway groups.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association on Tuesday blasted the sweeping proposal as "outlandish" and argued it would undermine the legitimacy of the nation's intellectual property laws.
"Will office workers be wiretapped for lingering too long near the photocopier?" CCIA president and CEO Ed Black asked in a statement. "Will music fans be sent to prison if they fail to secure their digital devices to the satisfaction of the record companies?"
The Bush administration proposal calls for elevating criminal penalties for copyright infringement, including "attempts" to commit piracy, in a number of ways. The draft legislation would also authorize wiretaps for investigations of Americans who are "attempting" to infringe copyrights, a tactic now reserved for probes of murder and other federal felonies.
Gigi Sohn, president of the Washington D.C.-based advocacy group Public Knowledge, called the proposal's penalties "out of touch with reality" and the overall approach "full of bad ideas."
The most vocal advocates for antipiracy policy, however, continued to keep their views under wraps. Representatives for the Recording Industry Association of America and the Business Software Association both said Tuesday that they was still reviewing the documents internally and could not comment.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9719591...g=2547-1_3-0-20
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xhardc0re
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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15. May 2007 @ 19:01 |
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this RIAA lawsuit crap: i still don't understand why kids want to d/L all this Hollywood-produced music. A few artists are good but most of them are just so-so. I guess they never heard of electronic/dance music? A majority of the electronica out there is by indie artists. You aren't going to be sued if you d/l their stuff. I wonder if Aguilera & Spice Girls know their fans are being sued for d/l music??
if you're a college student, do NOT settle with the RIAA http://tinyurl.com/37oz2z
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. May 2007 @ 13:09 |
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AfterDawn Addict
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16. May 2007 @ 13:20 |
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Critical Unicode Flaw Undercuts Firewalls, Scanners
Published 15:01:19 16.05.2007
US-CERT reports that 92 security products by different vendors, including Cisco, may have a serious security hole. Given these products' market share, most businesses could be affected. The U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team is reporting a network evasion technique that uses full-width and half-width unicode characters to allow malware to evade detection by an IPS or firewall. The vulnerability affects virtually every major firewall and intrusion prevention system available, including products from Cisco Systems. Given Cisco's major share of the market, at least for enterprise routers and VPN and firewall equipment?according to Gartner, Cisco was at the top of the heap with 66 percent of that market in 2006?that means most businesses will be affected. More info can be found at :
link
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,213...3129TX1K0000614
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AfterDawn Addict
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17. May 2007 @ 04:20 |
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Amazon downloads: DRM-free
p2pnet.net news:- Britain's EMI was the first of the Big 4 labels to make virtually its entire music catalog available without DRM (Digital Restrictions Management).
Offer higher priced downloads and without consumer control, but with slightly higher quality sound, and the punters will come running, is its sincere hope.
And where it goes, Warner Music (US), Vivendi Universal (France) and Sony BMG (Japan and Germany) are bound to follow, sooner or later. And the same goes for all corporate online stores offering digital downloads.
Amazon has decided to start selling DRM-free downloads supplied by EMI. This means buyers will be able to do more or less whatever they want with their digital music acquisitions, and as often as they want.
"Amazon already has millions of online shoppers and sophisticated software that recommends products based on customer tastes," says the Los Angeles Times, going on:
"Amazon's vow to sell music not limited by so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software deals a big blow to the major record labels. They have tried to keep electronic versions of songs in a format that's difficult to illegally share.
"Music industry insiders said privately that Amazon's clout might eventually force them to give up their effort to use technology to restrict what people do with the digital music they buy."
How much will Amazon be asking? It hasn't yet said. But $.99 is the going rate, having been established by the Big 4 without any kind of explanation as to how it was arrived at.
Certainly, few people who regularly use the Net to get their music are willing to pay that much, especially when the labels are using their various so-called trade associations such as the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to try to sue their customers around the world into buying product.
The high price charged by the Big 4 is the principal reason they've been unable to break into the real world of online music. Not many music lovers will pay a dollar, or even more, for their fixes, especially when they can already get whatever they want, whenever they want it, from the independent music sites run by entrepreneurs and musicians, and/or from the free p2p networks.
When will Amazon launch its new venture? It doesn't say.
Meanwhile, one of the more interesting question raised by this new development is: what will Apple do?
Disingenuously claiming DRM is down to Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, DRM maestro Steve Jobs will start selling DRM-free iTunes downloads this month. .
But of course, there's a price ---- $1.30 per download.
Will the Apple faithful, already paying far too much for far too little, be willing to pay even more to be able to play their music on devices of their choosing?
Stay tuned.
(Thursday 17th May 2007)
http://p2pnet.net/story/12247
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AfterDawn Addict
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17. May 2007 @ 04:23 |
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95 years for UK copyrights?
p2pnet.net news:- Elderly rockers including Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, U2, Barry Gibb andf Petula Clark last year signed a newspaper advertisement in the Financial Times calling for an extension in all sound recordings to almost a century.
Now the House of Commons select committee on culture, media and sport's fifth report endorses their demand, says the Open Rights Group, pointing out that Copyweb says this "slightly confuses rights in performances with rights in sound recordings".
This follows a report prepared by ex-financial Times editor Andrew Gowers (right).
The committee's logic looks simple, the Open Rights Group states:
Gowers' analysis was thorough and in economic terms may be correct. It gives the impression, however, of having been conducted entirely on economic grounds. We strongly believe that copyright represents a moral right of a creator to choose to retain ownership and control of their own intellectual property. We have not heard a convincing reason why a composer and his or her heirs should benefit from a term of copyright which extends for lifetime and beyond, but a performer should not.?
Gowers did couch his report in economic terms. His idea of balance matched the needs of creators against those of consumers and innovators.
But he didn't just do this because he was commissioned by the Treasury. He was reflecting the current position of UK law. Current UK law regards copyright as an economic incentive to create, or, as Gowers puts it 'a purely statutory right created for the utilitarian purpose of encouraging literary efforts'.
It seems the House of Commons Select Committee is not arguing for an extension to term, it is arguing for a fundamental change to the law, a law for which there are plenty of 'convincing reasons' which can all be couched in moral terms.
But it may just as likely be the case that the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture Media and Sport simply doesn't know its law properly.
Meanwhile, "the real beneficiaries of any copyright extension into the the 22nd century will, as usual, be Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG," said p2pnet when the news broke. "As the [Gowers] study observes, 'We accept the arguments that increasing copyright term increases revenues to the record industry'."
And as Chris Ovenden emphasised:
Not a lot has been said about the sting in the tail of his report: that files sharers are recommended to be lumped in with forgers and imprisoned for up to 10 years.
Does this man actually live in the same century as the rest of us? It's bad enough that people who want to share their delight in new music are criminalised under existing legislature, drawn up times when copying music cost money.
Now, if this old duffer has his way, practically everyone with a computer is heading straight to jail.
http://p2pnet.net/story/12249
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AfterDawn Addict
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17. May 2007 @ 09:53 |
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Charging Students A Reconnect Fee For DMCA Notices?
According to Stanford?s new Student DMCA Complaint Policy & Reconnection Fee PDF),
http://www.ilrweb.com/viewILRPDF.asp?filename=stanford%20policy
the university will now charge students a minimum of $100 for ?reconnection fees? if a DMCA complaint is filed against them.
The imposition of the reconnection fee is the only substantial modification to Stanford?s treatment of DMCA complaints against students. The imposition of reconnection fees will take effect on September 1, 2007. All students will start at the $100 reconnection fee level. So if a student had one DMCA complaint filed against her prior to September 1, 2007, then on receipt of a 2nd DMCA complaint, Stanford will refer the matter to the student?s Residence Dean and once the complaint has been addressed by the student, a $100 reconnection fee will be charged.
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Member
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17. May 2007 @ 10:42 |
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Adolf would be thrilled with all this nonsense
Chuck
"Men are slower to recognize blessings than misfortunes." Titus Livius (59BC-17AD)
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17. May 2007 @ 13:20 |
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eMule 0.48a build 2
=>Posted by: Edskes.
=>Wednesday, May 16 @ 22:40:40 CEST
Warp2Search News eMule connects to the eDonkey network and is one of the best P2P (peer-to-peer, point-to-point, person-to-person) filesharing programs available today. It provides sharing of all kinds of media (films, video, audio, music, albums, pictures, documents, books, etc.) and software (applications, games, etc.). eDonkey combines the strengths of Napster, Gnutella (LimeWire), Direct Connect, FastTrack (Kazaa Lite K++, Clean Grokster, iMesh Light), SoulSeek and BitTorrent while avoiding their problems. eMule doesn't rely on a central server, yet searches are quick and your client doesn't get bogged down with endless search requests. You have the ability to search all the files being shared anywhere on the network. It automatically resumes interrupted transfers from alternate sources. The client also incorporates a serverless network based on Kademlia.
Features:
- Clients use several networks to create one reliable network (eDonkey, Source Exchange, Kademlia)
- eMule's Queue and Credit system helps to ensure that everyone will get the file he wants by promoting those that upload back to the network
- eMule is completely free and Open Source under the restrictions of the GPL (General Public License)
- Each file checked for corruptions while downloading to ensure an error free file
- The eMule Intelligent Corruption Control helps to speed up the correction of corrupted parts
- Auto priorities and Source management allows you to start many downloads without having to monitor them
- The Preview function allows you to look at your Videos and Archives before they are completed
- The eMule features webservices and a webserver that allows you to have quick access to and from the Internet
- You can create categories for your download to organize them
- To find the file you want, eMule offers a wide range of search possibilities which include: Servers (Local and Global), webbased (FileDonkey) and Kademlia
- eMule also allows you to use very complex Boolean searches that make the searches much more flexible
- With the messaging and friend system, you can send messages to other Clients and add them as friends
- In your friend list, you can always see if a friend is online
- With the build in IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client, you can chat with other downloaders and chatters around the globe
- To avoid downloading fake files, there are lots of sites with verifieds (links to verified files)
- LinkCreator can be used to create ed2k links with or without hashset
- A big IP blocklist is included in the installer, this will prevent a lot of computers who monitor filesharing activity or spread fake files from making a connection
- Supports Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 98 SE (Second Edition), ME (Millennium Edition), NT (New Technology) 4.0 SP (Service Pack) 6, 2000, XP (eXPerience), 2003 and Vista (both 32-bit and 64-bit)
- eMule is distributed together with a huge FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) with answers to lots of possible questions
What's New in eMule 0.48a build 2:
- Updated LinkCreator to 0.7, LinkCreator can be used to create ed2k links with or without hashset
- Updated the IP blocklist, this will prevent a lot of computers who monitor filesharing activity or spread fake files from making a connection
- Updated the included links to sites with verified files
- Improved the default configuration
- Minor fixes and improvements
Download eMule 0.48a build 2 (5.58 MB, 5.860.355 bytes):
http://www.warp2search.net/modules.php?n...ticle&sid=31923
http://mirror.edskes.net/
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 07:12 |
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Shipwreck yields estimated $500M haul
By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
TAMPA, Fla. - Deep-sea explorers said Friday they have mined what could be the richest shipwreck treasure in history, bringing home 17 tons of colonial-era silver and gold coins from an undisclosed site in the Atlantic Ocean. Estimated value: $500 million.
A jet chartered by Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration landed in the United States recently with hundreds of plastic containers brimming with coins raised from the ocean floor, Odyssey co-chairman Greg Stemm said. The more than 500,000 pieces are expected to fetch an average of $1,000 each from collectors and investors.
"For this colonial era, I think (the find) is unprecedented," said rare coin expert Nick Bruyer, who examined a batch of coins from the wreck. "I don't know of anything equal or comparable to it."
Citing security concerns, the company declined to release any details about the ship or the wreck site Friday. Stemm said a formal announcement will come later, but court records indicate the coins might come from a 400-year-old ship found off England.
Because the shipwreck was found in a lane where many colonial-era vessels went down, there is still some uncertainty about its nationality, size and age, Stemm said, although evidence points to a specific known shipwreck. The site is beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country, he said.
"Rather than a shout of glee, it's more being able to exhale for the first time in a long time," Stemm said of the haul, by far the biggest in Odyssey's 13-year history.
He wouldn't say if the loot was taken from the same wreck site near the English Channel that Odyssey recently petitioned a federal court for permission to salvage.
In seeking exclusive rights to that site, an Odyssey attorney told a federal judge last fall that the company likely had found the remains of a 17th-century merchant vessel that sank with valuable cargo aboard, about 40 miles off the southwestern tip of England. A judge signed an order granting those rights last month.
In keeping with the secretive nature of the project dubbed "Black Swan," Odyssey also isn't talking yet about the types, denominations and country of origin of the coins.
Bruyer said he observed a wide range of varieties and dates of likely uncirculated currency in much better condition than artifacts yielded by most shipwrecks of a similar age.
The Black Swan coins ? mostly silver pieces ? likely will fetch several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars each, with some possibly commanding much more, he said. Value is determined by rarity, condition and the story behind them.
Controlled release of the coins into the market along with their expected high value to collectors likely will keep prices at a premium, he said.
The richest ever shipwreck haul was yielded by the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622. Treasure-hunting pioneer Mel Fisher found it in 1985, retrieving a reported $400 million in coins and other loot.
Odyssey likely will return to the same spot for more coins and artifacts.
"We have treated this site with kid gloves and the archaeological work done by our team out there is unsurpassed," Odyssey CEO John Morris said. "We are thoroughly documenting and recording the site, which we believe will have immense historical significance."
The news is timely for Odyssey, the only publicly traded company of its kind.
The company salvaged more than 50,000 coins and other artifacts from the wreck of the SS Republic off Savannah, Ga., in 2003, making millions. But Odyssey posted losses in 2005 and 2006 while using its expensive, state-of-the-art ships and deep-water robotic equipment to hunt for the next mother lode.
"The outside world now understands that what we do is a real business and is repeatable and not just a lucky one shot deal," Stemm said. "I don't know of anybody else who has hit more than one economically significant shipwreck."
In January, Odyssey won permission from the Spanish government to resume a suspended search for the wreck of the HMS Sussex, which was leading a British fleet into the Mediterranean Sea for a war against France in 1694 when it sank in a storm off Gibraltar.
Historians believe the 157-foot warship was carrying nine tons of gold coins to buy the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, a potential ally in southeastern France. Odyssey believes those coins could also fetch more than $500 million.
But under the terms of a historic agreement Odyssey will have to share any finds with the British government. The company will get 80 percent of the first $45 million and about 50 percent of the proceeds thereafter.
___
On the Net:
Odyssey Marine Exploration: http://www.shipwreck.net/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070518/ap_on_re_us/treasure_ship
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 07:32 |
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New HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc Copy Protection Defeated Before Release
Efforts that began in December 2006, and continued through February 2007, lead the way for the circumvention of the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc copy-protection scheme.
It started with the discovery of individual encryption keys for specific movies titles that would allow the decryption and backup of the protected media. Continued efforts eventually uncovered the Processing Key, essentially a silver bullet that is able to defeat the copy protection of all HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc media currently on the market.
Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administration (AACS LA) acknowledged the effectiveness of the hack, but promised that it would soon patch up the hole in future releases. ?AACS LA has confirmed that AACS Title Keys have appeared on public web sites without authorization,? read a statement from the AACS website. ?AACS LA employs both technical and legal measures to deal with attacks such as this one, and AACS LA is using all appropriate remedies at its disposal to address the attack.?
Beginning May 22, which is most notably the release date of the Matrix trilogy on HD DVD, all high-definition titles will shipping with Media Key Block (MKB) v3 ? a new encryption key version that would render the previously discovered Processing Key obsolete.
?If a set of device keys is compromised in a way that threatens the integrity of the system, an updated MKB can be provided by the AACS LA that will cause a product with the compromised set of device keys to calculate a different key than is computed by the remaining compliant products,? as found written in AACS documentation. ?In this way, the compromised device keys are 'revoked' by the new MKB.?
However, it appears that the AACS? updated copy protection measures have already been circumvented even before the new software?s official release. SlySoft, developers of a software used to defeat the copy protections of DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, have revealed that its latest version of AnyDVD HD is able to sidestep the new MKB from the AACS.
According to posts in SlySoft's forums, the new AnyDVD HD version was successfully able to decrypt an early-shipped release of the Matrix trilogy. Judging from how the protection system works, the newly discovered exploit will also work with all upcoming software until the AACS LA implements yet another patch.
The original Processing Key, found in February, recently caused quite the stir. Attempts to censor a string of letters and numbers stirred Internet users to overwhelm Digg.com in the first well-documented Internet Riot, leading it and other websites to change their legal position on censorship.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7327
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 07:58 |
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Meet the Copyright Alliance
p2pnet.net news:- Anyone who believes things are as bad as they can get with self-interest corporate groups undermining freedom of choice, freedom of expression and freedom of speech should prepare themselves.
There's a new anti-consumer gang in town, and it'll be more actively poisonous than anything you've ever seen before.
Collectively and individually, the huge music, movie and software industry groups claim the men, women and children upon whom they all depend so absolutely are nothing but potential criminals just waiting for an opportunity to rob them blind by "massively distributing" corporate product on- and offline.
Enter the Copyright Alliance meant to, "convince increasingly skeptical members of the general public and policymakers that copyrights are something special that deserve protection," says the Hollywood Reporter.
"Patrick Ross, executive director of the organization, said that the group helps fill a gap that was left when former MPAA chief Jack Valenti died," states the story. Valenti, "ran a similar group known as the Copyright Alliance that went into eclipse after his death last month" but, "That was a creature of Jack Valenti. With this, we hope to preserve that broad group."
Congress, "heralded the launch of the Copyright Alliance, which consists of 29 organizations in the U.S. ranging from entertainment and arts groups to technology and sports coalitions," says Variety. "The alliance estimates that the number individuals it represents totals 11 million.
Praising the new multi-level enforcement outfit are such infamous entertainment industry supporters as Hollywood Howard Berman, Howard Coble and John Conyers.
Observes InfoWorld, "Several copyright bills are likely to come before Congress this year, said Representative Howard Berman, a California Democrat and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property," going on:
Among the bills Berman expects in Congress is reform of the payment system for music royalties, particularly higher payments for artists whose music is sold online, he said.
Berman praised the Copyright Alliance for its focus. Congress and advocates need to 'protect against the constant assault on copyright law,' he said.
Copyright issues are likely to produce major debate in Congress this year. Two bills would nullify a March ruling from U.S. copyright royalty judges increasing the royalty fees Internet radio broadcasters must pay. In February, Representative Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, introduced a bill that would carve out customer rights for the so-called fair use of copyright works.
The Copyright Alliance also will work on efforts to educate consumers about copyright. Many young people today don't understand the value of copyright, said James Gibson, an intellectual property professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. "The problem is, in the popular culture, copyright gets a bad rap," he said.
At the launch, "the alliance sought to draw attention to the importance of copyright-dependent industries by showing a short video depicting photographers, animators and other artists deemed 'the face of copyright'," says ZDNet, continuing, "Grammy-winning Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier, guitarist and Booker T and the MGs member Steve Cropper, famed folk singer Tom Paxton and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Tim O'Brien also showed up to tout the importance of copyright to their livelihoods."
However, the story points out, pro-consumer group the Digital Freedom Campaign, whose members include the Consumer Electronics Association, advocacy group Public Knowledge, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, was launched recently.
"That group argues that big labels and studios are threatening to squelch new gadgets and consumer freedom by chipping away at the fair use rights written into copyright law," says ZDNet.
"They support proposals like the Fair Use Act, sponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and three of his House colleagues, which would amend the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act to allow consumers the legal right to pick digital locks on copyrighted works for certain home or educational purposes.
"RIAA President Cary Sherman, for his part, has denounced the group's stance as an 'extremist' interpretation of the law designed to frighten consumers and policymakers."
Cultural Enlightenment
The Copyright Alliance describes itself as a, "non-profit, non-partisan educational organization dedicated to the value of copyright as an agent for creativity, jobs and growth" whose members will lobby for heavier civil and criminal penalties for copyright infringements, which they call "violations".
And schools at all levels should expect a flood of industry created and supplied materials and 'instructors' because the music, movie and software cartels also promise to 'educate' and motivate your children, saying:
It's never too early to learn the value of copyright. In fact, every time a child takes crayon to paper, he or she has created a copyrighted work, but how many know the rights they've just earned?
Educators across the country recognize the value of incorporating an understanding of copyright into lesson plans, but the resources haven't always been readily available. The Copyright Alliance, as part of its educational mission, aims to identify valuable curriculum guides and other educational resources and make those resources available to educators.
Unbelievably, the group also claims it'll support freedom of expression, issuing a set of fulsome "policy principles" to "guide their educational outreach efforts".
CULTURAL ENRICHMENT
To enrich our culture through incentives to create and disseminate new and innovative creative works to citizens.
PROGRESS
To promote the progress of science and creativity, as enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, by upholding and strengthening copyright law and preventing its diminishment.
EDUCATION
To advance educational programs that teach the value of strong copyright and its vital role in fostering creative expression, driving economic growth, and enriching the lives of our citizens.
ENFORCEMENT
To protect the incentive to create by supporting effective civil and criminal enforcement of copyright laws domestically and internationally.
DISSEMINATION
To defend the rights of creators to control their property, understanding the necessary balance of those rights with the public good.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
To encourage the inclusion of copyright protections in bilateral, regional, and multilateral agreements to protect creators and foster global development.
FREE EXPRESSION
To protect the rights of creators to express themselves freely under the principles established in the First Amendment, with copyright as an "engine of free expression."
It's hard to imagine a more unsavoury, unscrupulous and unethical collection of parasites, and all in one place.
Members include: American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; American Society of Media Photographers; Association of American Publishers; Broadcast Music, Inc; Business Software Alliance; CBS Corporation; Directors Guild of America; Entertainment Software Association; Magazine Publishers of America; Major League Baseball; Microsoft; Motion Picture Association of America; National Association of Broadcasters; National Collegiate Athletic Association; National Music Publishers' Association; NBA Properties, Inc; NBC Universal; News Corporation; Newspaper Association of America; Professional Photographers of America; Recording Artists' Coalition; Recording Industry Association of America; Software & Information Industry Association; Sony Pictures Entertainment; Time Warner; Viacom; Vin Di Bona Productions; and The Walt Disney Company.
The alliance's academic board boasts James Gibson, University of Richmond; Michael Ryan, George Washington University; Micheal Einhorn, Rutgers University; Stan Liebowitz, University of Texas at Dallas; Ronald Mann, University of Texas; R Polk Wagner, University of Pennsylvania; and, Lee Hollaar, University of Utah.
Its financial, legal, political and media resources and limitless and anyone who thinks things are bad now should very definitely stay tuned.
Because in the words of Bachman Turner Overdrive, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet.
Jon Newton - p2pnet
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
Hollywood Reporter - New copyright alliance on Capitol Hill, May 17, 2007
Variety - Copyright Alliance launched, May 17, 2007
InfoWorld - Songwriters help launch new copyright group, May 17, 2007
ZDNet - Backers of stronger copyright laws form lobby group, May 17, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/12261
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 08:15 |
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Maka Kotto: same old same old
p2pnet.net news view:- A few people noticed the questions from Maka Kotto (right) during Question Period. Gordon Duggan of the Appropriation Art coalition wrote the following letter, and received a "familiar" response.
Dear Mr Kotto
It is with great disappointment that I learned of your reckless comments in the house yesterday. Your position appears to be based on statistics from a campaign by the American film industry to support their own interests. These statistics are highly questionable and are akin to using tobacco industry statistics on cancer. The rush by politicians to fall into line with the desires of American industry is shocking to say the least disappointing. A better solution would be to find independent statistics to confirm or denounce those put forth by the MPAA. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not feel that the MPAA statistics were reliable enough to upgrade Canada's rating why do the Bloc? Camcorder piracy is a crime but the problem is not a copyright issue but one of counterfeit . The danger is, as always, the collateral damage of new legislation, if it is illegal to record with camcorders in theatres it is a very small step to make it illegal to record with a camcorder everywhere or if it is illegal to record with a camcorder is it also illegal to record with an ipod or other device.
Even more perplexing is that you, in one sentence condemn Canadian copyright for being out of date and then call for the ratification of treaties signed before digital media was even an issue.
The protection of Canadian culture should be the primary concern of the government and when "Canada's New Government" fail to do so Canadians look to the Opposition Critics to step up in defense of Canadian culture. This is the second call in as many months for the rights of average citizens to be be suppressed to suit international corporations, bill C36 being the other. Canadian copyright will not benefit from simply doing what the Americans demand Canadian copyright reform might do better looking at what the UK are doing as a more sensible approach
Attached are some links and papers which you should look at.
Sincerely
Gordon Duggan
http://www.artsnews.ca/Essays/Essay-May07.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6592133.stm
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/ gowers_review_intellectual_property/gowersreview_index.cfm (space added to allow wrapping)
And the reply (Look familiar?)
Bonjour,
Prenez note que notre objectif n'est pas d'américaniser l'industrie, mais bien de découvrir où va ce gouvernement qui n'a pas peur de prendre des positions très en faveur des intérêts de notre voisin du Sud.
Marc Thivierge
Adjoint parlementaire
Russell McOrmond - p2pnet contributing editor
[McOrmond is an independent author (software and non-software) who uses modern business models and licensing (Free/Libre and Open Source Software, Creative Commons). He's also the CLUE policy coordinator.]
[Editor's note: Google's translation of Marc Thivierge's response makes about as much sense as the original French-Canadian version, to wit: "Take note which our objective is not américaniser industry, but to discover well where this government goes which is not afraid to very take positions in favour of the interests of our neighbor of the South."]
"I hope people in Québéc are reading this, and wondering why a party that wants sovereignty from Canada seems intent on encouraging the Conservatives to giving away cultural sovereignty to the US?" - adds McOrmond.
http://p2pnet.net/story/12264
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 08:39 |
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To run my programs you will need .Net Framework 2.0 installed on your system, you can download it here: .Net Framework 2.0
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 09:31 |
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DMCA forces Pandora to ban Canada
p2pnet.net news:- "We have a single mission," says Pandora Media. "To help you discover new music you'll love."
That's great. Or it or it was great. We say "was" because a major problem has cropped up. It's called the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and thanks to its constrictions, Pandora's audience has now become so limited as to be almost non-existent.
Now Canada has been added to the growing list of countries, Pandora can no longer reach.
"We've now created an interface to make this available to music lovers so they could use this musical 'connective-tissue' to discover new music based on songs or artists they already know," states the Pandora 'about' page, continuing:
For almost seven years now, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It's the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts have been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics ... and more - close to 400 attributes! We continue this work every day to keep up with the incredible flow of great new music coming from studios, stadiums and garages around the country.
We've now created an interface to make this available to music lovers so they could use this musical 'connective-tissue' to discover new music based on songs or artists they already know.
Pandora is the doorway to this vast trove of musical information. With Pandora you can explore to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.
You an create as many "stations" as you want. And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it more and it will get better for you.
The Music Genome Project was founded by musicians and music-lovers. We believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it. We like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum n bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Our mission is to help YOU connect with the music YOU like.
We hope you enjoy the experience!
But at the beginning of the month, "Tonight we began the heartbreaking process of blocking access to Pandora for listeners outside the US," said the site continuing, "While the DMCA provides us a blanket license in the US, there is no equivalent in other countries. After a year of work, only the UK and Canada have shown enough progress for us to feel comfortable allowing continued access."
But now, "Much to our chagrin, on the heels of our being forced to block virtually our entire international listening audience, we now have to add Canada to the list," says Pandora.
The Canada ban went into effect on May 16.
The post goes on, "after a tough week, and in the wake of the substantial attention the blocking has clearly brought to this issue, it's been made clear to us that we cannot continue streaming into Canada," and the founder, Tim, adds, "I'll reiterate our commitment to fighting as hard as we can to fix this absurd problem - we only hope that reform will come soon so that we can get back to the business of listening and discovery. My sincerest apologies.
Says a comment post:
Well... I don't know what to say... Real sad to see this happen... The fact that pandora made me start listening to legit music, and not pirated tracks...
Well i guess i will need to revert to the old ways i had, so really i dont know how this will help the record companies make more money, since the only CD's ive ever bought were because of pandora... Well you can be shure ill be here everyday until its back up for us canadians.
Says another:
I hate to say this, but you guys are getting ripped off by the government. If this is a matter of licensing and royalties in Canada we already pay a hidden tax on all media storage devices (cd's, mp3 players, hard drives, ect) that goes directly (supposedly) to recording artists. So in reality every Canadian that buys a hard drive, or cd (blank or not) already pays this royalty to those poor old starving artists. So keep our streaming going!
Says a third:
Bullshit...total bullshit...and the music industry wonders why people just end up downloading everything for free. The lack of flexibilty and vision among the mainstream music industry just astounds me. I loved Pandora while it lasted and even bought several CDs based on artists the service introduced me to. A Sad Day for sure.. Good luck getting it up and running again though I imagine a small American company will have the time or the financial incentive to enter the Canadian market if it is too difficult or onerous.
And says a fourth:
The recording industry is doing it's level best to make it harder and harder for the listenning [read buying] public to get at product we might like to add to our collections. They have cowed radio so badly as to reduce it to an unlistenable advertising medium that squeeze music only 15 year old would like and I'm starting to doubt even they like it. Pandora gave bands and artists a place to be heard, without having to sign some onerous recording deal or concern themselves with having to worry about charing air time with another cheese dick Beyonce tune. What is most appaling is the royalty collectng agencies are driven by and for artists. Having been around some hit makers from days gone by I can tell you from experience they are not interested in the health of music as an art form but are keenly interested in maintaining their market share and failing misearbly to recognize the new reality and exciting possiblty that is the internet. We have a chance here to disentangle music from it's corporate task masters and SOCAN, BMI and ASCAP are blowing it. Young bands know that CD sales are not the way to make a buck, downloads and live dates are where the money is now. This makes the band exciting and scares the crap out of the labels as they see their grip slipping. The labels, like the dinosaurs they are, will die out if they don't evolve. Instead of evolving they do things like this. They are killing the weeds by burning the lawn all together.
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
Maka Kotto - Media blitz on camcording, May 11, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/12265
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 09:37 |
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State-led Net censorship increasing
p2pnet.net news:- State-led censorship of the Net is increasing everywhere with America providing much of the filtering technology, says the Open Net Initiative.
"In the early days, countries used relatively crude blocking mechanisms at the national backbone level, or imposed restrictions upon ISPs that were applied in uneven ways," says Ronald Deibert, director of Canada's Citizen Lab, a member of the group. "Now we see first and foremost that many countries are using commercial filtering technologies, most of which are made by US companies. That's providing them with a finer-grain level of service."
The scale, scope and sophistication of state-based filtering have increased significantly, says a report just issued by the ONI, a partnership including the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, the Advanced Network Research Group at the Cambridge Security Programme at Cambridge University, and the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford.
The ONI chart on the right shows web sites which provide email, Net hosting, search, translation, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone service, and circumvention methods.
"No data" sections display in grey. "No data" doesn't necessarily mean absence of filtering practices.
"Over the course of five years, we've gone from just a few places doing state-based technical filtering, like China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, to more than two dozen," the MIT Technology Review has Berkman Center executive director John Palfrey staying. "As Internet censorship and surveillance grow, there's reason to worry about the implications of these trends for human rights, political activism, and economic development around the world."
China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia remain the top blockers, says the report.
According to the MIT post, each of these countries filters not only pornography, but also political, human-rights, religious, and cultural sites, "deemed subversive by those countries' governments".
Other countries are more selective in what they let citizens see or not see, it goes on, saying "Syria and Tunisia, for example, filter a great deal of political content, while Burma and Pakistan target websites that pertain to national-security issues".
"The South Koreans block several North Korean websites," says Nart Villeneuve, director of technical research at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto.
"They even tamper with the system so that when you try to access one of those North Korean sites, the URL resolves to a South Korean police page telling you, 'What you're trying to access is illegal, and we know your IP [Internet protocol] address.'" (An IP address could be used to locate the computer where the search is conducted, with the ultimate goal of identifying the individual involved.)
But, the MIT Technical Review has Deibert stating, the most pernicious for a filtering is "event-based" filtering.
By way of example, "Before the elections in March of 2006, Deibert notes, Belarus wasn't blocking Internet content by technical means. Instead, the country's strict laws regarding online content kept many Belarusians critical of the government in check.
"Then, at the time of key moments in the election, ONI realized that opposition websites were suddenly inaccessible inside the country. This led Deibert to believe that for just this brief period of time, laws designed to promote self-censorship weren't enough. The government had indeed started blocking content.
"This is a harbinger of what's to come worldwide," Deibert says. "You'll have filtering just during critical times, such as elections. Countries realize they risk becoming pariahs, and so they'll find more surreptitious ways of filtering."
Cambodia recently took this kind of censorship beyond the confines of the computer, when it ordered that cell-phone text-messaging services be cut off during elections, says the story adding the ONI is, "already thinking of ways to incorporate this kind of filtering into future studies".
p2pnet carries a link (in red text at the bottom of each page) to psiphon, a human rights software project developed by the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies. It allows people in uncensored countries to provide unfettered access to the Net through their home computers to friends and family members who live behind firewalls of states that censor.
Slashdot Slashdot it!
Also See:
MIT Technology Review - Internet Increasingly Censored, May 18, 2007
http://p2pnet.net/story/12266
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AfterDawn Addict
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18. May 2007 @ 09:44 |
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Fill your car up with aluminum?
By Julie Steenhuysen 2 hours, 59 minutes ago
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pellets made out of aluminum and gallium can produce pure hydrogen when water is poured on them, offering a possible alternative to gasoline-powered engines, U.S. scientists say.
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Hydrogen is seen as the ultimate in clean fuels, especially for powering cars, because it emits only water when burned. U.S.
President George W. Bush has proclaimed hydrogen to be the fuel of the future, but researchers have not decided what is the most efficient way to produce and store hydrogen.
In the experiment conducted at Purdue University in Indiana, "The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Jerry Woodall, an engineering professor at Purdue who invented the system.
Woodall said in a statement the hydrogen would not have to be stored or transported, taking care of two stumbling blocks to generating hydrogen.
For now, the Purdue scientists think the system could be used for smaller engines like lawn mowers and chain saws. But they think it would work for cars and trucks as well, either as a replacement for gasoline or as a means of powering hydrogen fuel cells.
"It is one of the more feasible ideas out there," Jay Gore, an engineering professor and interim director of the Energy Center at Purdue's Discovery Park, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. "It's a very simple idea but had not been done before."
On its own, aluminum will not react with water because it forms a protective skin when exposed to oxygen. Adding gallium keeps the film from forming, allowing the aluminum to react with oxygen in the water, releasing hydrogen and aluminum oxide, also known as alumina.
What is left over is aluminum oxide and gallium. In the engine, the byproduct of burning hydrogen is water.
"No toxic fumes are produced," Woodall said.
Based on current energy and raw materials prices, the cost of making the hydrogen fuel is about $3 a gallon, about the same as the average price for a gallon of gas in the United States.
Recycling the aluminum oxide byproduct and developing a lower grade of gallium could bring down costs, making the system more affordable, Woodall said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070518/us_nm/fuel_hydrogen_dc
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