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Slashback: SCO, COPA, AllofMP3, Navier-Stokes, and More

Posted by kdawson on Thu Oct 26, 2006 06:59 PM
from the let's-all-go-to-court-and-listen-to-music dept.
Slashback Censorship Media (Apple) Music Linux Science
Slashback tonight brings some clarifications and updates to previous Slashdot stories, including: IBM speaks about the SCO suit, another angle on COPA, AllofMP3 followups, Navier-Stokes solution withdrawn, a librarian's guided tour of Wikipedia, and the iPod's 5th anniversary. Read on for details.

IBM speaks about the SCO suit.. MasterOfGoingFaster brings to our attention Groklaw's detailed analysis and complete transcript of IBM's 10-point response to SCO's claims that Unix code showed up in Linux. From the article: "We've listened to SCO for more than three years tell its side of the story, and the media printed its every word. IBM, when asked to comment, invariably said nothing. Now it tells the court in detail how truly wronged it has been by The SCO Group, and why the court should bring this wrong to an end by granting IBM's motion for summary judgment on SCO's contract claims."

Another angle on COPA. segphault writes to point out an Ars Technica article that discusses in depth the ACLU-vs.-DoD COPA case. The article includes an interview with plaintiff Aaron Peckham, a free speech advocate and the creator of the popular Urban Dictionary web site. Peckham says that if the Internet censorship law were to go into effect, Urban Dictionary might have to shut down or move overseas.

AllofMP3 followups. Two pieces of news after Visa shut off AllofMP3.com. ColinPL writes, "According to Ars Technica, the IFPI lobbied Visa to reject payments from AllofMP3.com. The plan worked, and an IFPI spokesperson said the plug was pulled in early September. AllofMP3.com has resumed its public relations blitz, claiming Visa and MasterCard's decision to discontinue its relationship has no legal justification." And bjoeg writes, "Today Tele2 (a large Danish telco and ISP) received judgment from civil court to block their customers' access to AllofMP3.com. Tele2 has appealed the verdict, and for now access to the site is still open."

Navier-Stokes solution withdrawn. nherm writes, "So I finally decided to take a look at the solution of the millennium problem on the Navier-Stokes equation (previously discussed on Slashdot) and found that the entry on arXiv.org says 'This paper is being withdrawn by the author due to a serious flaw.' So I suppose that the rest of us still have a chance on it? From the arXiv.org page I found this interesting weblog entry with some comments on the issue, pointing to another weblog entry: 'I would not be surprised to learn later that her work, even if flawed, has led the way to helping solve this long-standing problem.'"

A librarian's guided tour of Wikipedia. tiltowait writes, "With the potential rise of Citizendium and the continued media circus surrounding Wikipedia's foibles, it's a good time to review the current state of Wikimania and consider what these disruptive technologies mean for the future of 'authoritative' information sources. If you've ever wanted for a general overview of Wikipedia or needed something to point to when asked, 'Wikipedia? Isn't that just a bunch of lies?' then the 1-hour screencast titled 'Why Wiki?' is for you. The online video is my perspective on the pros and cons of Wikipedia and how it stacks up to traditional publication formats."

The iPod's 5th anniversary. This one should perhaps be filed under "SlashWAYback." buddhaunderthetree writes, "Five years ago today Slashdot was introduced to the iPod and the reviews were mixed to say the least. CmdrTaco set the tone when he opined, 'No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.' Many of the 1044 comments that followed weren't much more enthusiastic. If anyone had dared to predict that in 5 years the iPod would have 70% of the mp3 player market, they would have been derided as an Apple zombie. Here's the original thread: Apple Introduces iPod."

Related Stories

[+] Apple releases iPod 1075 comments
The BrownFury writes "At an invitation only event Apple has released their new MP3 player called the iPod. iPod is the size of a deck of cards. 2.4" wide by 4" tall by .78" thick 6.5 ounces. 5 GB HDD, 10 hr battery life, charged via FireWire. Works as a firewire drive as well. Works in conjunctions with iTunes 2. Here are Live updates". No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
[+] Science: Another Millenium Problem May Have Been Solved 134 comments
S3D writes "After recent verification of the proof of the Poincaré conjecture, another of the Clay Institute's Millenium Problems may have been solved. This new solution is for Navier-Stokes equations under physically reasonable conditions. Navier-Stocks equations describe the motion of fluid substances such as liquids and gases. Penny Smith has posted an Arxiv paper entitled 'Immortal Smooth Solution of the Three Space Dimensional Navier-Stokes System' which may prove the existence of such solutions."
[+] A Look Inside Citizendium 153 comments
Raindance writes "I've posted an in-depth look at Citizendium, Larry Sanger's new project and Wikipedia's new competitor. In a nutshell, Citizendium isn't just about building a better encyclopedia (though that is their goal) — it's also a pilot project for a new model of expert-guided radical collaboration with implications for things from open peer review to genome wikis. If you'd like to help out, they need both volunteers and donations."
[+] Your Rights Online: IBM's Counterclaim 10 Outlines 5 Ways SCO's Wrong 121 comments
ColonelZen writes "My article at IPW reads: But, however slowly, the wheels of justice do grind on. The discovery phase of SCO v. IBM is now complete, and as per the court's schedule the time to raise Summary Judgment issues is now. And IBM has indeed raised them ... such that it is very possible that all of SCO's claims against IBM could wind up dismissed piecemeal in those motions. ... Yesterday, IBM's redacted memo in support of CC10 hit Pacer. ... This is 102 pages detailing five independent but overlapping, direct and powerfully detailed reasons why SCO's claims of Linux infringement against its code are nonsense."
[+] Visa Cuts Off AllOfMp3.com 394 comments
denebian devil writes "On the heals of allofmp3.com's press conference trying to clean up its image, Visa has suspended its credit card service to allofmp3.com. From the article "[Allofmp3 is] no longer permitted to accept Visa cards," said Simon Barker, a Visa International spokesman. "The action we've taken is in line with legislation passed in Russia and international copyright law." Almost simultaneously, allofmp3.com has announced that it is shifting over to an ad-supported model. For those who don't want to (or can't) buy allofmp3's DRM-free music, they are providing DRM-laden music that can be played only within a restricted player provided by the website."
[+] Your Rights Online: Challenging the Child Online Protection Act 213 comments
narramissic writes, "Today in Philadelphia a federal trial got underway that will decide whether COPA is constitutional. The outcome will determine whether operators of Web sites can be held accountable for failing to block children's access to inappropriate materials. An article on ITworld outlines the arguments of the foes in the battle: the DOJ and the ACLU. If I were a betting woman, I'd put my money on the ACLU. Parents, schools, etc. have to take responsibility for the internet usage of children in their charge." Two courts have found COPA unconstitutional and the Supreme Court has upheld the ban on its enforcement, while asking a lower court to examine whether technological measures such as filtering could be as effective as the law in shielding children; thus this trial. The article does not mention that it was the DOJ's preparation for the trial that was behind its earlier request that search companies turn over their records — a request that only Google refused.
[+] Your Rights Online: RIAA Goes for the Max Against AllofMP3 777 comments
Spad writes "Zeropaid is reporting that as part of its ongoing lawsuit, the RIAA will be seeking the maximum of $150,000 per song for each of the 11 million MP3s downloaded from the Russian AllofMP3.com between June and October last year. This amounts to roughly $1.65 trillion, probably a tad more than AllofMP3 has made in its lifetime. A representative of AllofMP3 stated: 'AllofMP3 understands that several U.S. record label companies filed a lawsuit against Media Services in New York. This suit is unjustified as AllofMP3 does not operate in New York. Certainly the labels are free to file any suit they wish, despite knowing full well that AllofMP3 operates legally in Russia. In the mean time, AllofMP3 plans to continue to operate legally and comply with all Russian laws.'"
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  • Ipod article link wrong (Score:5, Informative)

    by RhadamanthosIsChaos (857646) on Thursday October 26 2006, @07:04PM (#16602966) Homepage
    Should be Here [slashdot.org]

  • It seems that (Score:5, Funny)

    by geekoid (135745) <dadinportland@yaho o . com> on Thursday October 26 2006, @07:06PM (#16602976) Homepage Journal
    slashdot has slashdotted itself.
    Can anyone get to that link?

  • TLA award (Score:2)

    by 56ker (566853)
    The most TLAs in one article goes to this one - IBM, SCO, DoD & MP3 makes 4.

  • You know what would be nice? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Control Group (105494) on Thursday October 26 2006, @07:24PM (#16603086) Homepage
    If some of the zealots/fanbois/doomsdayists/next-big-thingers would go back and read those comments. Then think about how melodramatic, self-righteous, and - most importantly - certain so many of the posters were, and how wrong and silly they look now.

    Then (and this is the hard part), they should THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A SECOND before they proclaim how their pet tech will take over the world, their hated enemy will crash and burn, everyone will be dead in ten years, etc.

    Seriously.

    Compare that discussion with pretty much any discussion these days on this site that runs more than 50 or so comments. Reads pretty much the same, doesn't it? Now, I suppose it's possible that this time, we're all much smarter, and our opinions really do dictate the way the world outside /. works... ...but odds are against it.

    (Never mind me, I'm old, I'm drinking, and I've been building blades via a RIB interface through an RDP connection all day)

    • Re:You know what would be nice? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by chrisb33 (964639) on Thursday October 26 2006, @09:25PM (#16604022) Homepage
      Some of my favorite comments:

      "Agree with the article poster - Lame. Not only is this a lackluster MP3 unit (which by virtue of being firewire will be limited to Apple Mac owners), but it has virtually no UI wizardry that might define it as an Apple product.
      A total waste of time."

      "Unfortunately, Apple's ultimate goal is to get people to buy more Apple hardware. So it's not likely that Apple will be developing a PC version of iTunes. They want to keep their so-called advantages to Mac-only. Maybe, in the future, they will get one program on Windows to definitely support the iPod and release an SDK for other Mac and Windows apps to optionally support it. Remember, Apple makes more money on hardware sales, than on FireWire licenses. "

      "The LCD display is too small, it remains to be seen what the power consumption or usability of the backlight is, the four buttons (five, actually, I suspect) are likely insufficient, and probably rather modal. I dare not imagine how badly they've ginnied up the volume control. Apple's support for ID3 is woefully insufficient on iTunes and on iPod."

      "But it certainly isn't "groundbreaking" in any real sense.
      Remember, due to the rumors people were expecting something more like an apple PDA/mp3 player.
      Besides these devices will soon be illegal anyway with the SSSCA (or its offspring), and cds won't be rippable either. And we all know that therefore there will be no mp3s. Just look at how the RIAA managed to kill file-sharing by taking out Napster ;)"
      [ Parent ]

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Cederic (9623)

            Personally I think it's ugly, underspecced and overpriced. Thus its success to me must be because of its marketing, and its excellent integration with iTunes.

            There are more elegant, more capable and cheaper devices on the market. They don't have the market

  • Selective memory... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by CODiNE (27417) on Thursday October 26 2006, @07:28PM (#16603128) Homepage
    Many of the 1044 comments that followed weren't much more enthusiastic.

    I just browsed through that original article (link was busted, had to google it since /. search is useless), and while floating around at 5 I saw 15 posts and most were actually positive about it. Sure there were plenty that dissed it, but the mods sure seemed to think it was a decent device that day. Unless you somehow imagine the Apple fanbois outnumbered the Apple-haters that day. Doubtful 5 years ago. Perhaps certain segments of the Slashdot community wagged their heads but I wouldn't say they were representative of the whole.

  • Re-mixed reviews? (Score:2, Funny)

    by lawpoop (604919)
    "buddhaunderthetree writes, 'Five years ago today Slashdot was introduced to the iPod and the reviews were mixed to say the least.'"

    So can we call this blurb 'Re-mixed Reviews?

  • AllofMP3 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NitroWolf (72977) on Thursday October 26 2006, @07:31PM (#16603150) Homepage
    The fact that AllofMP3 is so wildly popular with the masses (heck, even my father and mother use it) should be a clear indication to artists and, god forbid, the music industry that DRM free, affordable, portable music is what people want... and they will pay for it, even if they are offered it for free via P2P.

    I stopped downloading music via P2P when I found AllofMP3, and I now pay for it happily. Save me the bullshit about it still being "theft" ad nasuem. The fact is, I am willing to pay for music at a reasonable price in a format I want. I am not willing to pay for music any other way. As such, if I am not able to pay for my music in the format I want, I won't buy it. There is absolutely NO loss of sale either way. I won't buy it if I can't get it the way I want it, period. End of story. This is not a negotiable point. The sooner the RIAA and the rest of the music industry gets this through their heads, the sooner they'll be raking in cash again as people flock to "legitimate" quality online music distribution.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Llywelyn (531070)
      How much money doest the artist make per song sold via AllOfMp3.com?

      How much money does the label make per song sold?

      How many songs are actually sold? (Not just "wildly popular," what's an an actual estimate of the number)

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by QuantumG (50515)
        How much money doest the artist make per song sold via AllOfMp3.com?

        Who gives a shit? Seriously. Stop calling them "artists", they're not, they're musicians. Singing for a crust is not work. They have no divine right to be rich and famous. Jesus, this

        • Re:AllofMP3 (Score:5, Insightful)

          by snuf23 (182335) on Thursday October 26 2006, @08:59PM (#16603880)
          So if they are songwriters they aren't artists? They create creative works. Was J.S. Bach not an artist? Mozart?
          You're right they don't have a divine right to be rich and famous. Most of the artists I listen to are not rich or famous. If they are lucky they make enough to live off of selling records and touring but that's probably the minority. If I'm going to pay anything for a song I'd rather it went to feed the musician in hopes that they can continue to produce more music I like and don't end up leaving the industry.
          I certainly am not going to pay someone for just hosting a server full of mp3 files.

          [ Parent ]

          • Re:AllofMP3 (Score:5, Insightful)

            by QuantumG (50515) <qg@biodome.org> on Thursday October 26 2006, @10:40PM (#16604438) Homepage Journal
            Meh. Why not support local musicians? Ya know, people you can actually see and talk to. Copyright is just stupid, really really stupid. Imagine we could infinitely and cheaply copy food. We all had a kitchen in a box and we could download recipes from the Internet for it. No-one seems to mind that people copy recipes - they're not covered by copyright even. So now I'm imagining the chefs of the world getting mad that they're not getting a cut of people translating their recipes from books into Autocooker format. People used to buy their books cause they were really handy to have on a shelf in the kitchen, but now that a lot of people have got Autocookers they want digital recipes and once its digital people have a tendancy to share it more than they did when it was in dead tree format. The fact that now people with no cooking skills can sample some famous chef's food and will more than likely seek out that famous chef's restraunt and pay for a meal where before they wouldn't have, that's quietly ignored. The chefs form together into an alliance and lobby governments to extend copyright to cover recipes, just like the "recording artists" lobbied the government to extend copyright to cover audio recordings. Marketing takes over, and instead of what tastes good to you, everyone now wants to eat whatever their friends are eating. DRM protected recipes are sold by Apple. Techniques to circumvent DRM are outlawed. DRM is mandated. The price of Autocookers actually goes up when it should be going down. People all over the world continue to starve because, although Autocookers could solve world hunger they threaten the status quo.

            BTW, it's really annoying that I have to revert to science fiction to get across my point. Copyright on sound recordings is a relatively modern thing. Isn't it fair for society to be able to throw out something that we don't want anymore? It's not like you can claim that it's been this way for thousands of years. It was a nice experiment, the result is a restriction on speech, freedom and culture, let's move on!
            [ Parent ]

            • Re:AllofMP3 (Score:5, Insightful)

              by snuf23 (182335) on Thursday October 26 2006, @11:36PM (#16604954)
              "Why not support local musicians? Ya know, people you can actually see and talk to."

              Why? Why, if I don't like the music they make? What do I care about seeing them and talking to them? How are they more worthy of my money versus someone who lives somewhere else in the world who's music I actually enjoy? I fail to understand why proximity should influence who I want to support.
              I'm not supporting DRM or copyright restrictions, I am supporting paying for music I enjoy in hopes that more such music will be produced. Is that hard to understand? The point is that the songwriter as the source of future music I enjoy is not generic and replaceable.
              I am in favor of direct payment, cutting out middle men and payment being optional. I have no problem with musicians needing to tour to make money (this is really how it currently works in terms of profits). I see no difference in buying music directly from the musician as I do from placing money in the hat of a street musician.
              [ Parent ]

                  • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

                    by QuantumG (50515)
                    Calling singing/playing an instrument work is insulting to people who do real work for a living. You might as well claim that professional surfers work. Oh, it's so hard, have you ever tried it? Just because it takes effort, doesn't mean its work.

            • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

              by koreth (409849)

              No-one seems to mind that people copy recipes - they're not covered by copyright even.
              Oh really? [foodandwine.com]

      • English not your first language? You missed the entire point, which was:

        DRM free, affordable, portable music is what people want... and they will pay for it, even if they are offered it for free via P2P

    • Re:AllofMP3 (Score:4, Insightful)

      by quantaman (517394) on Thursday October 26 2006, @08:03PM (#16603420)
      I stopped downloading music via P2P when I found AllofMP3, and I now pay for it happily. Save me the bullshit about it still being "theft" ad nasuem. The fact is, I am willing to pay for music at a reasonable price in a format I want. I am not willing to pay for music any other way. As such, if I am not able to pay for my music in the format I want, I won't buy it. There is absolutely NO loss of sale either way. I won't buy it if I can't get it the way I want it, period. End of story. This is not a negotiable point. The sooner the RIAA and the rest of the music industry gets this through their heads, the sooner they'll be raking in cash again as people flock to "legitimate" quality online music distribution.

      Sorry, I don't have a problem with people getting music via p2p, it's clearly non-commercial and there is a strong ethical argument that permits filesharing, but AllofMP3 is creating nothing original, there are merely profiting off of these works and giving no compensation to the authors (at least those in the west). As far as I'm concerned AllofMP3 deserves everything is has comming to it.

      If you really want to buy DRM free music and support our culture via the creative commons than there are options http://magnatune.com/ [magnatune.com].
      [ Parent ]

      • Re:AllofMP3 (Score:5, Insightful)

        by TheRaven64 (641858) on Thursday October 26 2006, @09:05PM (#16603912) Homepage Journal
        The thing about AllOfMP3 that the recording industry hates is that it shows the what cost of distributing digital music is. Even if they don't pay anything to the artist, they do cover their own costs. I would happily pay 2-3 times the AllOfMP3 cost for DRM-free music, and now (because of AllOfMP3) I know that if the music industry wanted to they could do so and still make a profit.
        [ Parent ]

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Vadim Makarov (529622)
          Allofmp3's music used to be three times cheaper per MB two years ago. I guess it's their avoidance effort (offshore incorporation, lawyers, etc.) as well as some sort of financial insurance for such a relatively risky operation it has become, that make up

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by 1u3hr (530656)
        but AllofMP3 is creating nothing original, there are merely profiting off of these works and giving no compensation to the authors (at least those in the west). As far as I'm concerned AllofMP3 deserves everything is has comming to it.

        Weatern record comp

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by westlake (615356)
      The fact that AllofMP3 is so wildly popular with the masses (heck, even my father and mother use it)

      The population of the U.S. alone is 300 million. There are about 1 million unique Slashdot IDs.

      The Geek is rarely in a position to speak for the masses.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by garcia (6573)
      Please. 90%+ of allofmp3's users' motivation for using the service was the price. DRM is unknown to most people and the rest are too dense to care. People look at $9.99/album or $1.89 and pick the obvious choice.

    • Re:AllofMP3 - Access now closed (Score:4, Insightful)

      by terminal.dk (102718) on Friday October 27 2006, @01:29AM (#16605634) Homepage
      As the ISP said an effective block of allofmp3 would cost in excess of $15 mio, court actually listed a series of acceptable solutions to the problem.

      So Tele2 has now implemented one court suggestion, blocking www.allofmp3.com in DNS. They know, and IFPI knows, that it can easily be bypassed (hosts file, using DNS at another ISP, TOR etc).

      The judgement can have implications for all of EU, since the case has been run as en EU law case. So if the ISP loses the appeal, IFPI will use this to go to other countries to have ISPs shut down allofmp3.

      The most bad about all this is, that the content of allofmp3.com is not illegal in Russia where it is hosted, so you could say it is censorship.
      [ Parent ]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by LordLucless (582312)
        The problem is, your money isn't supporting the artists at all. It's just enriching some guys in Russia who run a server and have nothing to do with the music they distribute.

        And this is different to buying it normally how? Except that the rich guys are

      • Distributor tax is paid (Score:3, Interesting)

        by DrYak (748999)

        It's just enriching some guys in Russia who run a server and have nothing to do with the music they distribute.

        No, all the money doesn't stay in AllOfMp3's pocket.

        Like in some other "pre-DCMA" countries, in Russia, if you want to distribute music, you just

  • SCO, it's a race (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2006, @07:33PM (#16603160)
    Actually the IBM trial (not likely to be needed) has been put back so Novell can go first. When Novell started it was a slander of title case. Between Novell's counterclaims and SCO dragging Suse into it, the Novell case will decide who actually owns any copyrights that may actually exist. We also have the fact that Novell told SCO to drop their case against IBM, as the asset purchase agreement says they are entitled to do. The other thing is that Novell may get a freeze on all of the money that SCO has, immediately bankrupting SCO. So, a judgement in the Novell case is likely to moot most of the SCO v. IBM case.

    Bottom line: SCO v. IBM will never get to trial. My guess is that the bankruptcy trustee will give IBM and Novell everything they ask for. SCO is SO dead.
  • So long as there is even one image out there that is pornographic or offensive, there will be people who want to see it gone. And as long as there are people who want to see pornographic images gone, there will be polititians who promise to pass laws restr

    • How do you define what should be blocked or restricted in a way that everyone can aggree on
      When was the last time anyone needed a definition everyone can aggree [sic] on to pass a law? Problem A is a complete non-problem.

  • You can still use Visa (Score:5, Informative)

    by IamLarryboy (176442) on Thursday October 26 2006, @07:54PM (#16603328)
    Shortly after I Visa shut off service for Allofmp3.com I discovered you can still pay with Visa it is just a pain. You buy an XROST Prepaid iCard with your Visa and apply the card to your account. It isn't too bad. This is more of a barrier to new users who are just curious. Existing users who love the service can just put in a $50 payment every few months.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RLiegh (247921) *
      Isn't that how you always paid? I vaguely remember that you had to pay your monthly fee to a seperate pay-pal like agency who gave the funds over to allofmp3.

      On a related note; can you get around this and just use paypal?

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by bmantz65 (642864)
        Isn't that how you always paid? I vaguely remember that you had to pay your monthly fee to a seperate pay-pal like agency who gave the funds over to allofmp3. On a related note; can you get around this and just use paypal?


        Yeah, they used Chronopay I b

    • I found that 'loophole' as well.

      I was annoyed that visa was acting as a judge, jury and policeman. in matters that just aren't their business. their business it to take a piece of the action. whether they like it or not ;)

      so yes, I bought xrost tokens.

  • Probably right (Score:2, Insightful)

    by siwelwerd (869956)
    Even if the paper was withdrawn, I'd venture that it's likely it will still lead to a correct proof. Even Wiles' proof of Fermat was originally flawed and had to be corrected.
  • Good thing I submitted the story on monday and got rejected

  • Upcoming headline for the Zune (Score:3, Funny)

    by IntergalacticWalrus (720648) on Thursday October 26 2006, @11:23PM (#16604834)
    DRM-crippled wireless. Less space than an iPod. Lame.

  • The ACLU is suing the Department of Justice (Score:3, Funny)

    by KiahZero (610862) on Friday October 27 2006, @12:19AM (#16605246)
    The Department of Defense doesn't have anything to do with COPA. Reno and Gonzales were Secretaries of Justice.

    Of course, the way things are going, we'll be fighting The War Against Titillation (living up to the acronym far better than the current iteration) and attacking rogue states for hosting WMAs (weapons of mass arousal).

  • Denmark forbids internet. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by steelneck (683359) on Friday October 27 2006, @05:09AM (#16606624)

    A lttle more on AllofMP3.

    A court in Kopenhagen (Fogderetten) has now delivered its verdict (Oktober 25 2006) between IFPI and the Danish ISP Tele2, where IFPI wanted to force Tele2 to block AllofMP3.

    This court verdict (21 pages PDF in Danish [www.dr.dk]) is quite suprising, not that it forces Tele2 to block access to Allofmp3.com, but rather how the verdict does it. Among other things the court says (transladed to english below):

    The court finds .... that also the temporary fixation of the work in the form of electronic impulses, that goes on in the routers while transmitting the data packets over the internet, is covered by the 2 in copyright law.

    This means that the court ruling finds that Tele2 are unlawfully making copies while routing their customers communication. So they are not directly forced to block information from Allofmp3.com, they are found to be making "pirate copies" when doing their job of directing communication on the internet, that is what a router does, and internet cannot function without it. This basicly means that this court has forbidden the internet in denmark, since an ISP can be held responsible for its customers communication. This goes also for modern mobile communication too, since a mobile phone also can be used to unlawfully communicate otherwise allredy published and not stamped with secrecy information. It is a lot like if the old telephone company had been held responsible for what its customers said on the phone. Tele2 has appealed this ruling.

    • What's wrong with a bit of "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" every now and then?

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by ewhac (5844)
      music piracy is WRONG.

      That's true. "Unsanctioned music copying," is the correct term.

      Schwab

      • You claim that "music piracy" does not exist. On whose definitions do you base this? The American Heritage dictionary defines "piracy" [answers.com] to include what the statutes call infringement of a copyright or patent. Therefore, "music piracy" means infringement of

          • Re:Yes there is such a thing as music piracy (Score:5, Informative)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2006, @08:42PM (#16603720)
            It sounds like the modern definition (copyright infringement) was added because people used it in that sense. Webster does it sometimes (although some regard Webster to be of lower quality).

            I have read this opinion many times on Slashdot. But it is dead wrong. The word 'Pirate' has been associated with illicit copying for over four hundred years.

            Here are some examples, via the Oxford English Dictionary:

            "Banish these Word-pirates (you sacred mistresses of learning) into the gulfe of Barbarisme."
            Thomas Dekker, The Wonderfull yeare, 1603. [uoregon.edu]

            "The public curiosity was imperfectly satisfied by a pirated copy of the booksellers of Dublin."
            Edward Gibbon, Memoirs of My Life and Writings, 1790. [gutenberg.org]

            "Some dishonest Booksellers, called Land-Pirats, who make it their practise to steal Impressions of other mens Copies."
            J. Hancock, Brooks' String of Pearls, 1668.

            "Its being Printed again and again, by Pyrates."
            Daniel Defoe, A True Collection of the Writings of the Author of the True-Born Englishman, 1703.

            "If you publish the latter in a very cheap edition so as to baffle the pirates by a low price{em}you will find that it will do."
            Lord Byron, in a letter of 1822.
            [ Parent ]

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by ajs318 (655362)
        Yes there is.

        When a major record label hold the rights to a band's songs to ransom, demanding a number of solo albums by each member if the band split and ever want to perform their old songs again in their new guises, I'd call that piracy. When a major

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Goaway (82658)
        Yeah, it's certainly not that you underestimated the stupidity of YOURSELF or anything.

      • Re:music piracy is WRONG. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Grishnakh (216268) on Thursday October 26 2006, @08:32PM (#16603628) Homepage
        While Mencken's quote "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public" is probably more true today than ever, your examples leave a little bit to be desired. NVidia, while their refusal to GPL their Linux drivers is annoying, is most certainly a leader in 3D graphics technology. AMD is also most certainly a leader in CPU design, as their CPUs have been outperforming Intel's for some time now until the recent release of the Core 2 series. As for the iPod, it definitely has its faults, but it gave people what they wanted: a music player that worked the way they expected it to. Not many others have managed to please so many people with their user interfaces on portable units.
        [ Parent ]

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by 1729 (581437)
      Yeah, because a mathematician without a first-rate pedigree [wikipedia.org] couldn't possibly do important math. (As for Brooklyn Polytechnic, I know of at least three prominent mathematicians who earned their undergraduate degrees there.)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rostin (691447)
        I agree that pedigree isn't everything, but your examples aren't relevant. First, it isn't obvious that this person lacks a first-rate formal education because she didn't have the oppurtunity. Second, there's a world of difference between earning an unde

        • Re:comment on the mathematician (Score:4, Informative)

          by Darth Cider (320236) on Friday October 27 2006, @01:33AM (#16605658)
          Penny got her PhD when she was 21, has held a post at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, was offered a MacArthur grant the first year they came out (but turned it down), and is extremely well respected in her field. Virtually all of the top mathematicians in the U.S. know her or know her work in the field of partial differential equations. She's quite brilliant. Withdrawing a paper is no big deal.
          [ Parent ]

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by PhysicsPhil (880677)

      Looking at Lehigh University's Math department website, this woman got her PhD at, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, 1978.

      While she seems to have some interesting research, it just seems odd that a mathematician on the verge of solving one of the great

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