Anytime you do something for a bunch of days in a row (got to be close to eighty now), you get some pretty darn sore wrists, fingers, and so on. Just can't be helped. Actually had to put aside the Linux laptop momentarily, as using the lower keyboard was sending some pretty nasty pains up my arms. Yup, posting this from my only desktop, a Mac (higher keyboard seems to alleviate the pain a bit); if you want to pile on for the hypocrisy of using a Mac to post about Linux, then now's the time.
As such, probably won't be able to go into full rant mode for a couple of days, while I ice down the various ailing extremities. Nor will I be able to stay online for the multiple hours as has been customary. Will definitely check what's happening (if anything), but just have to take it a bit easier. My apologies in advance.
Some place to read if you are not familiar with the whole open source/Linux/*BSD/Solaris/etc. scene are here, here, and here.
As mentioned in yesterday's diary, the RIAA is being counter-sued for malicious prosecution; they withdrew their suit just as (likely) summary judgement was going to be granted against them, hoping that the client would just fade away. Unluckily for them, the defendant was an employeee of the DOJ, and felt wronged by the action brought against her. The RIAA and their investigator, MediaSentry, went so far as to try to depose her 10-year-old granddaughter, at one point pretending to be the child's grandparent when calling up her school to contact her directly. Pretty creepy. More details at Groklaw.
The University of Washington has agreed to help this same cartel in sending settlement notices to students accused of intellectual property infringement (aka Piracy!!!!); they say this is to shield the students from facing lawsuits without a chance of settlement when directly served with papers. I'm wondering in the future if schools such as this will have trouble attracting new students, especially when they appear to be acting as proxies for this cartel of the major music companies.
In a win for the good guys, the NY State legislature has decided to say no thanks to Microsoft's attempt to use their proprietary code in the State's voting machine's, at least for now. What won't these guys try?
If you are wondering what any of these stories have to do with open source software (particularly the RIAA), then consider this: the company suing IBM for patent infringement on its ownership of UNIX code, SCO, has openly stated that there are clear parallels between the two, and that Linux and open source users might face similar penalties if the courts upheld their contentions. Forget being targeted for downloading MP3s; how about being charged with using an illegal operating system, i.e., Linux, *BSD, and the like. That's what SCO, and Microsoft (we've got 235 patents!) are trying to establish as legal precedent. Then you will have no choice but to upgrade to Vista. Scary indeed.
With the business practices of such cartels as the RIAA and the MPAA, as well as the behaviour of the monopolies enjoyed by AT&T and Microsoft unchecked by the Department of 'Justice', they have truly turned predatory--not even a pretense anymore of wanting to act in consumers' best interests, just a slew of lawyers lining up targets.
And once they get a judge not familiar with technology (likely plenty of those around), coupled with a patent office asleep at the wheel, and it's a short ride to the internet being turned into a shopping only district, with the rights of bloggers restricted, those nasty Linux and open source distros curtailed with the severe limitations (or outright banning) of bit torrent and shoddy rulings that buy into the whole 'Linux is infringing our software patents', and 'the pirates are stealing hundreds of billions' thinking, and pretty soon there's really nowhere to get your information, choose what you want to do with your computer, your software, or your data--it's all locked down. Witness what they've done already to internet radio. Next up is streaming of video, and if Google doesn't step up, then AT&T, Hollywood and Microsoft are going to be making the choices for you.
Not that these rulings will wreck the internet for the entire world; the Chinese are already deploying a youtube clone that, while not as high definition, definitely gets the job done. Their soft power will sway those countries that are considering whether or not to sign on to the predatory, privacy invading tactics of the above mentioned cartels/monopolies; our adventures in the Middle East will cost far more than the tens of thousands of US casualties and the several million Iraqi casualties and displaced--it likely that many countries will turn away from the US-led WIPO intellectual property treaty and find a more balanced way in allowing fair use while protecting the rights of copyright holders.
And it'll be the same old story; huge corporations, their lobbyists and the 'lobbied' congressional representatives will benefit, while the average individual will find fewer and fewer places to vent, communicate with like-minded individuals, find free information, improve educational opportunities, and as a result turn the US into a tech and cultural backwater.
One example of regions turning against us (already!) is the news that the European Commission is considering taking action against the BBC for their unreal decision to use a DRM crippled Windows only version media player to view their huge back library of materials as well as new shows.
Strangely enough, Microsoft has been paying bloggers to 'recite MS slogans' and promote Vista; hmmm....unpopular entity paying off individuals to push talking points..seems familiar, where have I heard that before?
And not to be left out, NBC claims that those rotten copyright infringers, I mean intellectual property thieves, er, Pirates!!!!! are making poor farmers suffer, because not enough people are going to movie theaters and eating popcorn! You really couldn't make this up. All those years covering up and lying allows them to switch gears quickly and attack another target without pause. Knew that would come in handy for them.
If you are on dial-up (and nearly 1/3 of US internet users are), then this will really get your goat; the US' average dsl speed is nearly two megabits per second, while places like Japan enjoy thirty times that speed. Those dirty otaku! What are they doing with all that speed? Probably exchanging Microsoft-infringing Linux distros, and Pirating!!! anime and the like. Put them on a watch list, pronto!
This has to be my favorite tech related DailyKos link of all time; Yay! Linux! And from the boss, no less! Very nice.
No need for AT&T to filter content for the movie studios and Music industry; they can get the torrent sites to do it for them! How much longer before Microsoft starts pushing for similar rights? The strange thing is that at least one of those sites is hosted in Europe. I'm wondering how long before the RIAA/MPAA try pushing the Chinese to do the same; currently it's truly a free for all in allowing copyrighted content to be infringed upon on the Central Kingdom's servers. If they cannot be budged on the issue of Taiwan (and there's plenty of bad blood surrounding the island of late), it is hard to fathom how amenable they will be to this kind of intrusion on such an 'internal matter'.
It just doesn't make sense to infringe on copyrighted material, especially as there is so much free stuff out there; Jamendo is nearly a home page for me, and if you are using Ubuntu (or other major distros) then there are tons and tons of free games, tv shows, software and other odds and ends, all for download, all legal, and all absolutely free. Most of the stuff that is infringed upon is just junk; at the same time, the RIAA and the MPAA need to be reined in and stopped from spreading their disinformation on how they have lost 'billions and billions' from copyright infringement, thus entitling them to use any and all means necessary to go after people, often based on evidence that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny in the light of day.
Ahem. Back to my original point; one of the best things about Linux I've found of late is some of the really cool games; though some of them do require a decent video card, others are more old school, yet still a load of fun. Masters of Ur-Quan, Battle for Wesnoth, Tux Racer, Warzone 2100 and the list goes on.