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Yes, the race for the White House has hit new lows, even for this race.  It appears that we haven’t learned from the past two races and it’s starting to scare me.  Both in 2000 and 2004 one of the biggest reasons stated for George W Bush winning was that both Al Gore and John Kerry seemed too “elite” and “aloof”.  George Bush seemed a little more down to earth, someone you could invite to a BBQ.  Well look where that got us!!

The whole idea of a presidential candidate being too elite is the most ridiculous thing I have EVER heard.  It defies logic.  We Americans like to think of our country as the best country in the whole world.  So shouldn’t we have the best, smartest man (or woman) in the job?  I don’t want just anyone to be president!  It’s a special and unique post.  We need the best and the brightest guiding our foreign policy, setting the agenda for the country, and controlling the executive functions.

This is not a wholly new complaint of mine, but what set me off was this article.  In this article Clinton says:
Clinton … while dismissing economists who have said her plan to suspend gas taxes over the summer would do little good.
“I’m not going to put my lot in with economists,” Clinton said when asked to name an economist who backed her proposal.
“We’ve got to get out of this mind-set where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans,” said Clinton, a former first lady who would be the first woman president.
So she’s saying that she, who has no training in economics is a better person to decide what’s best for the country than someone who’s studied economics.  She doesn’t want to listen to their opinion because it’s too elite.  What kind of absurdity is that?  Look, econ is hard and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s SO HARD that even the economists barely know what they’re doing.  But I’d still trust them over someone with no training any day.
Let’s wrap this up with a great mind exercise.  When you are sick are you going to not go to a doctor because that’s too elitist?  Surely you should just ask a random coworker what you should do.  And why hire construction workers to build new buildings, that sounds pretty elitist to me!  Are you saying that he’s better qualified to determine how to build a building than the average joe?  And when my car breaks down, why take it to a mechanic when I could just pick some random person off the street and have them replace the engine block.  Do you now see how silly all this elitist talk is?
I just hope that this doesn’t become a huge trend because I see America going down the toilet if we keep this up.  It may just be the case that my children will have to be immigrants in some other country - one that hasn’t elected some yokel to office just because he looks like someone you can have a beer with.
  


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As you know, unless you’ve been living under a rock, the US Government (USG) wants to give us all rebate checks to... [more]

As you know, unless you’ve been living under a rock, the US Government (USG) wants to give us all rebate checks to spur the economy along.  All you have to do is file your taxes and you’ll get up to $600 if you’re single or $1200 if you’re married.  What hasn’t really been publicized in the mainstream media, however, is the drastic measures the USG is willing to go to make sure you spend your rebate and to help the economy.
Ever since the story broke that the USG wanted us to spend our money on material goods, there have been many people appearing on the news saying that their real problem was that they had too much debt and they were going to use their rebate check to pay down their debt.  Unfortunately, if everyone did that responsible thing, it would make the rebate checks pointless as a way to help the economy.  Therefore Uncle Sam decided to help you out.
Our wonderful government has put people’s social security numbers into a computer program to figure out who is most likely to use this money to pay down debt.  Do you owe a lot on your house or credit cards?  Are you a student?  If so, you may be a bit surprised when you file your taxes this year.  According to a story that aired on National Public Radio (NPR), via American Public Media’s Marketplace, if you’re likely to use your money to pay down debt, the government will buy something for you and send it to you.  To a family in Arizona they sent an air conditioner.  Never mind that they may already have one or may not want to use one.  That’s what the good ole government has determined you should get.  People in the north may find themselves getting snow blowers.
I find the whole thing disgusting.  What do they know about what I want or need?  If they truly want to make sure that we can’t use the money to pay down debts, they could just send us Visa Gift cards.  That way we’d have to use it to buy things, but we’d be able to buy whatever we pleased.  If I wanted to buy computer parts or a DVD, I’d be able to do so, rather than be stuck with what some computer in DC says I need.
Sometimes this administration just pisses me off.
  


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On Hardball on MSNBC they were talking about Barack Obama’s poor bowling performance during his campaigning in Pennsylvania. ... [more]

On Hardball on MSNBC they were talking about Barack Obama’s poor bowling performance during his campaigning in Pennsylvania.  One of their political commentators quipped, “Perhaps he should have stuck to shooting hoops.”  I absolutely couldn’t believe they would say something like that on the news.  And it wasn’t some random yahoo, it was someone that I’ve seen on MSNBC making political commentary in the past.  If it matters in how you think of this, this commentator was white.
Now, I have no idea about whether Barack is awesome at basketball; perhaps he is.  However, if I had been working on this piece for MSNBC I would have erred on the side of not appearing racist.  But then again, this entire political season has been one excuse after another to talk about all kinds of borderline racist stuff.  I remember when Barack was dancing on The Ellen Show and CNN had reporter Moost asking people if he was dancing as well as a black guy should.  What kind of a question is that?
  


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I’ve had this rhetorical question in my mind for quite some time now.  There was a time, not too long ago, when... [more]

I’ve had this rhetorical question in my mind for quite some time now.  There was a time, not too long ago, when the Iraq War dominated the news.  Not only that, but people were protesting.  Remember Cindy Sheehan who was camped outside Bush’s house in Texas and leading all these anti-war rallies.  About four months ago, it all disappeared.  Coincidentally, this is more or less the same time when Britney Spears had her breakdown and the Presidential Primaries started getting interesting. 
Of course, I’m not the only one who’s asking this question - on 14 February’s The Daily Show, Stewart had a segment called “Iraq?” where he asked, “Is this still going on?”  He went on to mention that Iraq is still f-ing around in Iraq and that the Parliament had approved a new flag.
So what has caused everyone to suddenly stop talking about the war and what has caused the protesters to stop protesting?  It would have been Richard Nixon’s dream come true with the Vietnam War.  I wonder if it’s because things are finally doing well enough that people think it’s going to come to an end anyway, so there’s point in protesting.  Or is it because, with a presidential race, perhaps the right president will win and get us out of there? 
The information about the war and the protests against it ended so suddenly, I just wonder what happened.  And I always find myself wondering….did the war end?
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Tags: Iraq, Iraq War, The Daily Show, Cindy Sheehan, war protest

  


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I’ve always been a bookworm and so around the age of 11 or 12 I asked all my male and female friends whether they would... [more]

I’ve always been a bookworm and so around the age of 11 or 12 I asked all my male and female friends whether they would vote for a black man or a white woman for president.  Everyone, male and female alike would always say black man.  I was surprised that the ladies didn’t stick up for one of their own.  I was so surprised, that I would ask my friends this question every couple of years.  We moved a little and I also changed who I hung out with so I wasn’t always asking the same people.  Yet, even though high school and college a majority would say they would rather go for a black man. 
When I would ask the women what was wrong with having a woman president, they would think for a bit and answer something like, “I just can’t see a woman as president,” or “I wouldn’t trust a woman president.”  It was rather a strange thing to hear.
Now, strangely, we find ourselves in the position that either one of those two will be selected as the Democratic nominee.  Right now they’re roughly neck and neck.  So I wonder if perhaps something about the people I always chose to hang around with biased them against liking a woman president or if it’s different just because now it’s real and not just a lunch-time hypothetical. 
I think the final result tells us a lot about what’s stronger in our country - racism or sexism.  After all, I’ve actually heard people call into NPR shows saying they won’t vote for Obama simply because he’s black.  That’s the kind of stuff I thought we were way over from in this country.  But no, we find ourselves still dealing with this as a nation.  On other shows I’ve heard people express all kinds of feelings about having a woman president which we’re supposed to also be over as a country.
Then it’s off the the national elections, but there I see it as much less about the race or gender of the person than the party the voters prefer.  I doubt more than a vocal minority will vote for the other party (or not vote, which is equivalent to voting for the other party) just because the Democrat is black or a woman.  Most people who will vote for McCain will be doing it because they like Republicans, not as a rejection of a race or sex they don’t like.
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Tags: Obama, Hillary, President, Presidential Campaign, 2008, sexim, racism

  


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Publishers often refer to prohibited copying as “piracy.” In this way, they imply that illegal copying is ethically equivalent... [more]

Publishers often refer to prohibited copying as “piracy.” In this way, they imply that illegal copying is ethically equivalent to attacking ships on the high seas, kidnapping and murdering the people on them.
If you don’t believe that illegal copying is just like kidnapping and murder, you might prefer not to use the word “piracy” to describe it. Neutral terms such as “prohibited copying” or “unauthorized copying” are available for use instead. Some of us might even prefer to use a positive term such as “sharing information with your neighbor.” - rms on Piracy in Some Confusing or Loaded Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding

Photo by redjar on flickr, used under a Creative Commons License



Copyright apologists often use words like “stolen” and “theft” to describe copyright infringement. At the same time, they ask us to treat the legal system as an authority on ethics: if copying is forbidden, it must be wrong.
So it is pertinent to mention that the legal system—at least in the US—rejects the idea that copyright infringement is “theft.” Copyright apologists are making an appeal to authority … and misrepresenting what authority says.
The idea that laws decide what is right or wrong is mistaken in general. Laws are, at their best, an attempt to achieve justice; to say that laws define justice or ethical conduct is turning things upside down. - rms on Theft in Some Confusing or Loaded Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding
Recently I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about copy protection and unauthorized downloading of video content. I saw unauthorized instead of illegal because I believe that, using common sense principals, it is easy to see that this should not be an illegal process in some circumstances. My arguments in this post hinge on ethical and logical assessments of the situation, not legal arguments in any way shape or form. IANAL (I am not a lawyer) so don’t use the opinions of this post to legally justify your actions. I do encourage you, however, to use them to try and persuade our leaders that the rules need to change.
Quickly, to comment on why I chose the above quotes by rms. I think, as he does, (and all politicians) that the words we use to describe things end up framing the debate. When downloading of videos is called “stealing” it’s easy to get behind Hollywood’s side. After all, who is for stealing? No one. I say that stealing requires the taking of some object and denying its use to others. This is a good definition, right? If I steal your bike, you can no longer use your bike for riding. If I steal your car, you cannot get around any more. If I steal your money, you may be unable to buy the things you need to sustain yourself. However, if I download video content, who is being denied the ability to watch it? In fact, with digital media, copying is the opposite of stealing. As objects are copied, they are seen by more and more people.
So, when should you be ethically in the clear when it comes to sharing video content? I feel that anything being shown on network Tv should be legal for me to download; it’s certainly ethical to do so. Why? Because any show I can watch on network Tv is available 100% free. If I have a Tv and an antenna I can get those channels. If I don’t have to pay for them in the first place, then how can it be stealing if I download it? That would be like saying that if I used a free public wireless access point with a PDA instead of a computer that I’m stealing the network. I find it impossible and an utter failure of logic to say that anything that’s FREE can be stolen. There should be no limitations on the way I obtain free things.
Now you might bring up one of the favorite arguments of the copyright owners, “Network television isn’t free! It’s paid for by commercials! And the Tv programs you download do not have commercials.” That would be a fine argument, if there were any way to actually force me to watch commercials. It could be an infringement upon my rights as an American to force me to watch commercials. Who says I can’t use commercial time to use the restroom or flip channels? Do they expect us to watch the commercials and then go to the bathroom during the content we are actually tuning in to watch? I have to admit that I rarely ever watch commercials, thanks to my wife. She hates commercials so much that she gets antsy if I don’t let her flip through the channels. It’s the same with newspapers, magazines and anything else subsidized by advertisements - I don’t look at them. (And no one can make me!) And if I could be forced to view them, no one can force me to pay attention. Because, if they can do that, then I’m getting the hell out of this country.
One more thing on the issue of commercials. I can always get a VHS tape or computer and do what I used to do as a kid - hit pause during commercials and start recording after the commercials. I never recorded commercials as a kid. And, since I can record Tv without commercials, what does it matter if someone else has done the recording for me?
So, while the companies might have a legal case against me in court, if we look at this like intelligent, rational engineers, we see that there should be no case against me when it comes to downloading network television. They were never making any money off of me in the first place, so they lose nothing if I don’t watch. The commercial sponsors have already paid for the content and GAMBLED that some portion of the viewing public would watch the commercials. There were absolutely no guarantees, just statistics. (Which we all know are BS numbers made up during sweeps week)
So now we move to cable television. When it comes to cable Tv, I argue that I have an even stronger case to be allowed to download the content - I’m actually paying for it. Not only am I paying for the programs I watch, but I’m also paying for thousands that I don’t. In fact, since I pretty much only watch Scrubs, The Office, and The Daily Show, I’m already paying for tons of shows I don’t even watch. Plus, all of these except for the premium channels are also paid for by advertising. They are already paid (sunk cost) and, as I said before, there’s no way to force me to watch commercials.
When it comes the the premium channels, I’m paying a premium to watch it, so I think I should have premium rights to download this content. The ethical parts comes in that I should only ethically download shows that play on channels which I am subscribed to. I would not see the content on the ones I’m not paying for, so I don’t have the right to watch them. This brings me to my next topic, what should I not ethically download.
I should not ethically download any movies still showing in the theaters and not yet showing on Tv. There is no way for me to watch this content other than going to a theater, so therefore, there is no logical or ethical reason that I should be allowed to download those movies. Once they show on Tv, I should be able to download them.
As I mentioned above, we’ve always had the right to use VCRs to time shift programs. What logical difference does it make if I’m using a VCR, TiVo, or downloaded content to the the time shifting? Think about it - there’s NO difference!
What it all comes down to is control. The video companies don’t like the idea of not being in control. They don’t like the fact that Europeans can download American shows while they’re still showing in America. Why that artificial system is still in place, I have no idea. They simply have not joined the technology era. People of my age group do not want to be inconvenienced by bull crap. If there’s a real, logical reason why something can’t be done, then we accept it. But, given today’s digital world, there’s no reason why I can’t watch all the stuff they produce in Britain, Spain, or any other country whose language I can understand.
If they truly need the advertising money, then just move to a James Bond model for all video content. Have companies subsidize the cost of the show by paying to have the characters wear/use their products. Then, it won’t matter if they view it on Tv or off of the internet, they’ll have to see the products being advertised. AND, here’s why I don’t logically understand why they don’t do this. Right now video producers have absolutely no idea how many people watch a Tv show. All they know is what Nielsen Families watch. And they are occasionally wrong. For example, shows like Family Guy that apparently tested negatively or they wouldn’t have canceled it. Then they suddenly realized that a ton of college students and other people loved it. If their products were watched on computers, it would be a trivial task for them to count up how many people were watching the show. So they’d be able to accurately charge advertisers based on how many people were seeing the products advertised.
Of course, there is one other issue. That is the fact that, at any time, a friend of mine could come over with a DVD or VHS tape of some Tv show and I can watch it with him. This cost me nothing and it may convert me to a fan. Thanks to my brother bringing over The Office for me to watch, I’m now watching it on NBC. Would it not, ethically and rationally, have been the same thing if I had downloaded the first few seasons and then liked it so much that I now watch it on NBC? I think if you answer honestly, you’ll see that I’m right. Yet, the Tv and movie producers are trying to make it more and more so that stuff you buy only plays in your house. I can tell you for a fact that if I would have had to go to my brother’s place to watch The Office I would not be a fan today. There was just too much inertia working against me going to his place.
I would like to address one final issue which I also feel exactly the same way about when it comes to music. For those who cry of the apocalypse whenever someone talks of downloadable content (meaning that if everyone downloaded then the Tv and movie studios would go out of business), I have this to say to you. First of all, that’s false for the reason I outlined above - just adapt and build the commercial into the video content. But even if it did implode, I could not care less. Look at the FOSS software movement. While it is true that today a small to medium portion of developers are paid by companies to do the work, a lot of the key work for the first 20 years of the movement was done by volunteers. And look at the amazing things they created - the Apache web server which runs approximately half of the internet, the Linux kernel, countless programs which run on Linux and other platforms, Firefox - the list goes on and on. Similarly, I’ve seen a lot of amazing videos and Tv shows on the internet. Sure, there’s a lot of crap out there - monumental amounts. But I also believe there’s a lot of crap on Tv (otherwise I’d watch more than 4-5 shows). There are a fair degree of people out there with talent who simply do video work in their spare time. For some great examples, check out this work by ReMyyyx. It might not be your cup of tea, but there’s more out there like this, this, and this.
I hope I’ve helped you see past the MAFIAA rhetoric and helped you see things through the logical and ethical point of view.
Please share this with as many people as possible and even send it to your elected representatives to see if we can knock some sense into them. Leave comments, I’d love to hear what others think. They are moderated, so it may take a while to appear.
  


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As you know, a student was tasered at UF a few days ago. I hadn’t written anything about it until now because I wanted... [more]

As you know, a student was tasered at UF a few days ago. I hadn’t written anything about it until now because I wanted to get some details from my brother who matriculates there. Before I get to his info, I just want to say that this incident has shown why video is important in news. Anyone who, like me, saw the video thought the kid deserved to be tasered. Why? The kid, who had the smirk of a self-entitled jerk as he stepped up to the podium, was clearly resisting arrest. When the police detained him, he pushed them away and broke free. He then pumped his hands in the air victoriously, although this was cut short by the police catching him again. He continued to push and shove the cops until they finally tasered him. You don’t want to listen to the cops, that’s what happens. But the people who only read about the tasering though that it was undeserved. Undoubtedly those written bits of news left out the way he was acting, the look on his face, and the shoves against the cops.
Now, here’s what my brother said, which gives further evidence that he was acting like a total jerk and needed a few volts pumped into him:

It was a stupid kid who comiendo mierda. He even has a website where there’s videos of him doin stupid stuff.
John Kerry came to our school to give a speech. So he gave his camera to his friend n said “Make sure to get this” and then he got up n asked a question. I don’t know what it was, but he kept on pushing, and trying to cause an uproar by everyone there, legally defined as “enticing a riot”. so the uf police asked him to leave, which just made him act stupider. So eventually after trying to get him to leave, they told him that he was under arrest and they tried to handcuff him, but he resisted, so now he was “resisting arrest”. Then they finally pinned him to the floor, and he tried to convince them that if they let him go he’ll leave, but at this time, they already said “you are under arrest” so it was too late. Then they still hand problems cuffing him, so they said “if you don’t stop resisting, we will have to taser you”. and then the kid starting screaming “don’t taser me” and still kept resisting, so they tasered him, cuffed him, and booked him. OH, and when they got him to the care, he was quoted saying “i’m not mad at you guys, u were just doin his job”.
SO all in all he was purposefully making a scene, and i think it became bigger than he anticipated it would. There were then protests on campus the following day, and people are selling shirts that say “don’t taser me”. so now it’s globally known, n uf even gets phone calls from london to tell they how they are disgusted with them. etc etc
btw, 2 of the cops were tiny women and definately could not out power the 6 foot tall andrew meyer

So you see, this guy likes to generally act like a jerk. On his website he’s shown at a Harry Potter event holding a sign that reads “Harry Dies”.
Also, I found out from my brother today that the UF police are totally handling this in the right way. There was a protest outside the police station and the cops gave them all complaint forms to fill out. After that, they didn’t see what they should do. Someone thought it would be funny to call in and say, “I love tasering college kids, where can I apply for a job?” Instead of hanging up the phone, the cop gave him the URL to the HR page for hiring. I hope the cops get cleared because this guy is definitely a jerk who wasn’t raised right. His parents are even suing - even though he provoked the whole event.
  


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Stanford University, a leader in trying to get Congress and the public to understand the importance of the Public Domain... [more]

Stanford University, a leader in trying to get Congress and the public to understand the importance of the Public Domain have done what I’ve been dreaming of doing for a few months now. They decided to test the doctrine of Fair Use in copyrights by creating the following video. Any Disney fan should be sure to watch. Don’t know what fair use is? Don’t worry, they’ll explain it below.



In the case that the above video should be removed from youtube, download it from their page. If that page should happen to be down, then you can download it from me here.
  


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Looks as though my method of figuring out which Congressmen are gay is correct. Just look to see who is working the hardest... [more]

Looks as though my method of figuring out which Congressmen are gay is correct. Just look to see who is working the hardest to restrict gay rights. For example, Senator Larry Craig. He pleaded guilty to basically trying to solicit sex in a men’s bathroom. He’s now claiming that he wasn’t guilty and he plead guilty to get people off his back.
Sorry buddy, but that’s pretty weak and it’s hardly a good defense. After all, if that’s true then you are admitting to perjury and that, in and of itself, is enough to end your career. That WAS the charge brought against President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
  


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Alberto Gonzalez has resigned as Attorney General. The guy who Bush said wasn’t going anywhere is leaving! I haven’t... [more]

Alberto Gonzalez has resigned as Attorney General. The guy who Bush said wasn’t going anywhere is leaving! I haven’t been able to to catch the news at all today as I was in training, but I saw a little headline on Tv in the lunchroom! I am so curious to find out what caused this to occur. I am even more curious about what he’s sitting on. What did he do that was worth pushing him out. Even more strangely, people seem to be abandoning ship like rats. You know that old saying, (paraphrasing) “you know the ship’s going down when the rats flee”.
Wow….
  


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I came across the follwing European Threat information the other day but have been unable to validate its status. Anyone... [more]

I came across the follwing European Threat information the other day but have been unable to validate its status. Anyone else seen these and can verify?
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved”. Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross”. Londoners have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to a “Bloody Nuisance”. The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was during the great fire of 1666.
Also, the French government announced yesterday it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide”. The only two higher levels in France are “Surrender” and “Collaborate”. The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.
It’s not only the English and French that are on a heightened level of alert.
Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing”. Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides”.
The Germans also increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs”. They have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbor” and “Lose”.
The Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.
The Italians are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Italian navy can get a really good look at the old Italian navy.
——-
Hope you enjoyed this playful ribbing at our friends across the pond. Came to me by way of my brother. Laugh! It’s all we have left nowadays.
  


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A male Florida Senator was recently arrested attempting to solicit sex from a male prostitute. His excuse, “I was... [more]

A male Florida Senator was recently arrested attempting to solicit sex from a male prostitute. His excuse, “I was in a bad neighborhood and I saw all these black guys and I got scared.” I don’t understand how that excuse works well. John Oliver from The Daily Show had a better excuse, “I’m bulimic and I have putting my finger down my throat.”
  


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This year I decided to mainly support technological causes.  I donated to the Free Software... [more]

This year I decided to mainly support technological causes.  I donated to the Free Software Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  I think that rms and the rest over at the FSF are really doing a lot of great work to preserve our freedoms.  I especially like the Defective by Design campaign they’ve been running.  So this year they get the lion’s share of my money. 
The EFF has been doing a lot of work with other things I care about such as opposing the broadcast flag and overall protecting our electronic and Internet freedoms.
Finally, I donated to NPR because I enjoy their programming every day and I thought it was time to help keep them afloat.  This was especially urgent as Congress has recently been reducing the mount of funding they give to public broadcasting, a real shame. 
I was going to donate to the Gnome foundation this year, but after their blunder with their support of OOXML and other moves that seem to legitimize Microsoft’s shady actions, I decided to withhold any funds from them this year.  There are only two ways to vote in the Free Software world, with programming talent and with money.  They get neither from me for 2008.
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Tags: FSF, Free Software Foundation, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Defective by Design, NPR, National Public Radio, donations, charitable contributions

  


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Time and again I’ve warned my readers of the perils... [more]

Time and again I’ve warned my readers of the perils of DRM.  (Specifically here and here).  That’s why I don’t buy music on iTunes and have given all of my digital music patronage to Amazon.com.  Even my wife, who’s not as into FOSS and all that as I am, has become disgusted as she’s understood what DRM means for her - regular Jane Consumer.
I’m not the only one who’s made these claims.  Yet others say, “you guys are just using that as an excuse to malign DRM.  It’s necessary for protecting content from piracy and you just want to pirate stuff.”  Oh yeah?  Well, are you prepared to give up your rights to expect your paid content to work when you come back to it in the future? 
Then I read this on Download Squad via a link on Digg:

…Major League Baseball has deactivated a DRM license server used to verify your worthiness to play back video of games you purchased online.  …MLB’s new content and old content are managed by different license authentication servers. After making the switch, MLB has arbitrarily decided it has no intention of honoring its earlier commitments to fans who purchased downloaded games under the old system, thereby rendering many fans shut-out.  …MLB is completely unapologetic to fans who’ve lost their purchased content to the horrors of DRM death.
“Shame on you Major League Baseball, this is fraud. We’ve warned Download Squad readers that buying DRM “protected” media is a crap-shoot, but when issuing those warnings we were mostly concerned about smaller media sales outlets going out-of-business in an ever evolving digital media landscape. This goes so far beyond those fears, with an active and profitable business making a clear and informed decision to yank the DRM rug out from under your purchased content.Is it any wonder non-drm downloads via P2P are so popular? …it’s …about “freedom”, the freedom to do what you wish with the content you’ve collected. If consumers aren’t given options which allow them to get their content free as in freedom, they’ll take that content free as in beer.
Fans shafted as Major League Baseball revokes DRM licenses - Download Squad

So, basically, these people paid money to download these baseball video clips and now they can no longer watch them.  Why should they get punished in the same way as people who did not pay for these clips?  Is this ethical?  I don’t think so!
I’ve had my own experience with content dying on me.  When I was in college I decided to buy some songs off of the new Napster.  Then my computer died.  When I tried to renegotiate the DRM a few months ago, it said that I can no longer listen to that music because they no longer have a contract with Napster.  What kind of BS is that?  This is not the kind of world I want to live in.  If you agree, you should join me in boycotting all content with DRM!  If you want digital music, buy CDs or buy it on Amazon.com.  (If you want more indie music there’s also DRM free music at Magnatunes)
Blogged with Flock

Tags: Baseball, MLB, DRM Revocation, Napster

  


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I’ve already spent around $11 on Amazon.com’s MP3... [more]

I’ve already spent around $11 on Amazon.com’s MP3 download store. Why? Because they are selling MP3s of my favorite artists without any digital restrictions management (DRM). This is what has been keeping both my wife and I away from iTunes. Oh yeah, and the songs are cheaper than iTunes! It appears that all of the day’s Top downloads are $0.89 and the rest are $0.99. On iTunes the DRM-free songs are $1.89 or something like that. Looks like Apple’s going to need to do a price drop or there’s going the be a mass exodus to Amazon.com.
Also, they are MP3s, not AACs, so I can use the music on any computer or portable device and not just the iPod!
Here’s the music freedom and the hope that the rest of the music companies will join in!
  


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Let’s pretend I’m Joe College-Grad Consumer and I’m trying to evaluate how I should obtain my video content.... [more]

Let’s pretend I’m Joe College-Grad Consumer and I’m trying to evaluate how I should obtain my video content. I’m interested in watching shows as they come out - not later when they’re on box sets. Let’s see, I could buy my content on iTunes, Amazon Unbox, or some other such service. If I buy my content on iTunes I can watch it via iTunes or via my iPod. So if I have Linux, Haiku OS, or some other uncommon operating system I can’t watch it. Amazon does them one better and not even Mac users can watch it. If I have some other video jukebox than an iPod, I can’t watch my videos on the go. If I buy it via Amazon, I can’t even put it on my iPod. Both are riddled with DRM so if they decided to stop providing the service, I’m stuck with videos I can’t convert over to some new device. If I want to burn it to DVD to watch on my DVD player, I can’t. Oh yeah, and for some stupid reason, if I don’t live in the USA I can’t watch it until months or even years later.
Now let’s take a look at unauthorized video sources such as bit torrent. I can watch this video on any operating system from Linux to Windows to Mac to Haiku OS and any other OS with the appropriate codecs. I can put the video on anything from a Creative Video player to an iPod video. I can burn it to DVD and watch it this way. I can watch it anywhere in the world. Yet, this is free! Oh yeah, and these videos can be used for Fair Use reasons because their lack of digital restrictions management allows me to embed them into reports, projects, etc
So where did economics breaks down? Isn’t capitalism supposed to work that the more money you pay for something, the more value you get? Shouldn’t the videos I pay money for have MORE freedoms than the ones I can download? Quality used to be a problem, but now that people have HD tuner cards, I don’t even get better quality when I pay for something.
Video content producers need to get their stuff into order if they don’t want to get the point where no one will be willing to pay for their content. For me, that means videos without DRM. Don’t worry, I won’t share it with anyone. I just want to be able to watch it whenever and however I want and one whatever OS or portable player I want.
  


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Ars Technica is reporting that Netflix... [more]

Ars Technica is reporting that Netflix is promising that they will be working very hard to get Macintoshes supported. Looks like they read my letter and now they have my brother covered. Now they need to work on Linux support. And drop the DRM because I guess they ignored my paragraph on how it’s BS and it’s broken. I’m waiting…
  


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I am not an unreasonable man and I full understand your need to focus on making your “watch now” feature debut... [more]

I am not an unreasonable man and I full understand your need to focus on making your “watch now” feature debut available exclusively to Windows users. After all, they do make up about 90% of computer users. However, I do have some problems with this as a long time plan.
First of all, it does require me to use Internet Explorer. This is extremely shortsighted. What about those of us who use Firefox? My wife was excited about “watch now” until she found out that IE was required and said, “f&ck that!” So you should open up this service to other browsers.
Second, I use Linux as my main computer and my brother uses a macintosh for his main laptop. This effectively cuts us off from using this service. Sure, Linux and Mac users make up a combined 6% or so of the total computer user population, but these are fast grow