Whats with this protesting European Patenting Stuff?

[Doctor V]

Its not even about having so much power you can eliminate competition in a heartbeat anymore.  All a company needs is to own a patent for their own business model and the act of competeing with that company becomes illegal.  No exaggeration here, its that simple.  Lets say you wanted to set up an internet auction site, thinking you could do it and give users a better deal than ebay does, guess what, if your American, can can't, its illegal cause some guy owns online auctions.  And Ebay got sued for 35 million dollars cause of it.  Read more.  Maybe you want to sell things online and making it easy for users to use by storing their info in cookies...if your American and you did that you'd get your ass sued off.  Amazon owns doing that, youd have to ask their permission and probably pay them royalties if you wanted to sell things online and keep user info in cookies.  Read more.

Better start a business doing something else.  And you better do it quick too, cause considering how vague and far reaching many of these patents are, pretty soon there will be really nothing left thats not covered by someone's patent.  Sound crazy to you yet?  Some people get a crazy patent of a business model or two, never lift a finger in doing anything with it, and wait for someone else to get rich off it so they can sue them to hell.  Sick, no?

We all suffer from this, we have to pay Amazon prices when who knows, another company might have been able to compete with them and bring their prices down.  This is just a start, its going to get a whole lot worse from here.  Now if I was in Europe, I would be in flames trying to keep this shit from happening too.

Now there's alot alot alot more to be said about the issue.  I suggest you read up on it when your done reading about Adam Smith and capitalism, and them form a more educated opinion before bringing it back here.

  V  

[jasonlane]

quote:  Now if I was in Europe, I would be in flames trying to keep this shit from happening too.

We are   :mad:    :mad:    :mad:  

Fortunately nearly all of our politicians are also against it.

[Calum]

money talks though.

http://www.base.com/software-patents/kapor.html

i'll be posting regular updates on www.promote-opensource.org if and when updates re: the european software patents issue become available.

[hm_murdock]

The GTO and Charger were from a different era. 15 cents a gallon for gas, with 25 gallon tanks. You can drive across the country on less than $75 of gas.

As for pickups, I didn't say pickups. I'm talking about Suburbans and Tahoes and Ford Excretions. The wastes. Stuff the size of the S-Blazer/Trailblazer and smaller, shit, those things typically have rather efficient V4s and V6s that have enough pep while keeping city MPG in the high teens and highway driving in the mid 20s (remember, around here, highway MPG means something, because our cities don't cover hundreds of square miles and a "highway" moves at 70MPH, not 5 :-D

Splurging a little doh for pleasure is one thing, I don't see people who own late '60s muscle and show cars driving them all the time. However, I do see cheesy soccer moms with their 454 V8-powered 'Burban driving to the grocery store when a hatchback would do just fine.

But then, I guess all of us dudes here in the midwest that are tired of spending a day's worth of work at the pumps are just cheesy, backward old "hicks" or "rednecks" because we have quaint ideas like buying gas-electric, or electric automobiles, or driving motorcycles. Having a bicycle or moped for in-town driving or even... dare I say... WALKING?!!?

I guess I should return my 32MPG V6 Accord and go buy a big SUV and slam down a few barrels of oil like the were cans of Mountain Dew.



I bet you'll vote him in for another term, eh?

I'm not. I'm voting for Jean-Baptiste Immanuel Zorg in 04.

Remember, guys... write-in Zorg/Dallas in 04



[ September 05, 2003: Message edited by: Jimmy James is COOL ]

[Faust]

quote:saw the protest I didn't read about it, cus I don't care.

 

quote:do u think martin luther was never beaten by violent cops? Yet they still didn't get violent.

The protestors trampled by horses werent getting violent you fuck arse.  Bit hard when a horse just broke your ribs.  What I said was that horses will balk and throw their riders if they are being made to charge at a group of people who by the way WERE SITTING DOWN PEACEFULLY AT THE TIME.

 

quote:Why don't current protestors know this and know the solution?

They do you retard.  Unfortunately people like you get shown scenes of a few violent protestors over and over again and associate that with all protestors because you are too fucking apathetic and weak to go out and see the real world.

 

quote:if one company has so much power that they can eliminate another company in a heart beat... so be it

 

quote:If you have such a big problem with ur emplyers... quit. Stop working for them.

You mean unionize and say "either treat us fairly or we leave?"  Holy shit!  Never would of thought of that one!

 

quote:Unions also bother me, they are designed to give the worker more over time, for doing nothing more.

Man you have no fucking clue...

 

quote:Just remember that the rich people were poor at one time. and they did exactly wut u are doing now.

William Henry Gates the Third was poor at one time?  George Bush Junior was poor at one time?  Those at the top DO NOT WORK THEIR WAY TO THE TOP.  They start there and never leave.

 

quote:I am a very cynical person with very few morals and the belief that all people are evil.

I agree completely, except your not cynical - your a naive moron who doesn't know what the fuck your talking about and accepts whatever CNN shows him at face value.

 

quote:"the richest and most wasteful part of the richest and most wasteful country in the world"

and I'm proud of it. So, I'll continue to drive my SUV and look for a muscle to purchase

 

quote:You just can't expect me to be a humanitarian. I live to make money... then enjoy life.

So in other words me me me?  Let me tell you something - you will never be able to enjoy that life.  You just arent good enough to reach "the top" because for the average person to "work their way up" you need a level playing field of a lot of talent, and from what I see you have neither.

 

quote:you really are not familiar with the economics of wasting money (for pleasure).

Good corporate Ameican citizen.  Now go consume and be a patriot.  (patriot, noun - anyone who likes his country more than its people.)

Hopefully when you're older and actually have to see what the real world is like you'll start thinking then.

[Calum]

sadly faust is 100% dead right.
because he is right, people like jeffberg will continue to dismiss the truth because its easier than admitting to themselves that they're a bunch of deluded selfish fucktards.

 

quote:our old pal jeffberg:
It seemed to me only stupid people didn't get a vote. (do u have an article to back this one up?)

http://members.tripod.com/~musicmusic/stupid_white_men-amazon-sample-pages.html
http://www.mapcruzin.com/news/voting-fraud-050803f.htm

 

quote:mr blind justice himself:
and maybe if it applied to me I would have read further and decided how to continue

most if not all of the software you use right now would be nonexistent or in a severely crippled form if the law which "doesn't affect" you had been in place for the last twenty years.

idiot.

[Faust]

If you ever think something doesn't affect you then I hope you've considered that old story from Nazi germany:

"First they came for the trade unionists and I did nothing because I wasn't a trade unionist,
Then they came for the communists and I did nothing because I wasn't a communist,
Then they came for the jews and I did nothing because I wasn't a jew,
Now they are coming for me and there is no one left to help me."

(I tried to remember it as best I could, although I'm not sure about the historical accuracy of the trade unionist part.  You get the point anyway I hope.)

We are all affected by people like Microsoft and of course the Lawyer Scum at some point in our lives, and if you don't care about other peoples rights then they won't defend yours.

[Stryker]

quote:Originally posted by jeffberg: Mac Capitalist:

I can't condone taking money from the people who have it and getting hald of it lost in uselss beurocracy. Then giving the other half to people who should get their own. Unions also bother me, they are designed to give the worker more over time, for doing nothing more. Small business people don't get paid more over time for no reason. I don't see why those people should.

I dont really have much to say on the original topic of this thread, everything has already been said. but the above statement... fuck you. you're probably sitting in a fucking 5 bedroom house with your fucking computer lab full of fucking $4000 apples driving your porsh to your job where you sit on your ass in an office and make $70/hr. fuck you. my mom works her ass off for 9 and a half hours a day lifting 70lb boxes of crate and working under very unsatisfying conditions. she makes $8.50/hour and raises are against policy. she gets no insurance of any sort, no retirement plan. she's 40 and has no stability, no money, and in a few days we're getting evicted because rent is $500 more than we have. You'll probably say, "why doesn't she quit? why not get a better job?" she always quits, she gets a new job nearly every year and this is the best one she's had since i was born. You have any idea what it's like to work your ass 5-6 days a week and have nothing to show for it? having to worry about whether or not your can have dinner tomorrow or if power will be shut off next week? I dont think it's the best idea to take money from those who make more... not directly at least by taxing them. they should simply get a paycut and others should get a nice raise. but that wont happen any time soon, so yes... tax the bastards (no offense to anyone).

[flap]

quote:they should simply get a paycut and others should get a nice raise. but that wont happen any time soon, so yes... tax the bastards (no offense to anyone).

Exactly. So why the hell do you like Bush?

[ September 05, 2003: Message edited by: flap ]

[Stryker]

quote:Originally posted by flap:


Exactly. So why the hell do you like Bush?

What the fuck does bush have to do with how a greedy bastard runs his company? if you are meaning the minimum wage thing, that's just 1 part that i disagree with him on. minimum wage is fine where it is, some people actually do deserve to get paid little.

[ September 05, 2003: Message edited by: Stryker ]

[flap]

You seriously think Bush's repugnant conservative views are any different from the person who started this thread? What is someone in your position doing supporting republicans anyway?

[Stryker]

quote:Originally posted by flap:
You seriously think Bush's repugnant conservative views are any different from the person who started this thread?

yes.

 

quote:
What is someone in your position doing supporting republicans anyway?

umm... "supporting rebublicans" would be my answer to that. If you meant, "why?" then... i dont know. i'll post later, a little busy now.

[billy_gates]

quote:Land Rovers?

Yes... A 98 Discovery and a 2002 FreeLander

 

quote:Originally posted by Doctor V: Gentoo Lunatic:
Its not even about having so much power you can eliminate competition in a heartbeat anymore.  All a company needs is to own a patent for their own business model and the act of competeing with that company becomes illegal.  No exaggeration here, its that simple.  Lets say you wanted to set up an internet auction site, thinking you could do it and give users a better deal than ebay does, guess what, if your American, can can't, its illegal cause some guy owns online auctions.  And Ebay got sued for 35 million dollars cause of it.  Read more.  Maybe you want to sell things online and making it easy for users to use by storing their info in cookies...if your American and you did that you'd get your ass sued off.  Amazon owns doing that, youd have to ask their permission and probably pay them royalties if you wanted to sell things online and keep user info in cookies.  Read more.

Better start a business doing something else.  And you better do it quick too, cause considering how vague and far reaching many of these patents are, pretty soon there will be really nothing left thats not covered by someone's patent.  Sound crazy to you yet?  Some people get a crazy patent of a business model or two, never lift a finger in doing anything with it, and wait for someone else to get rich off it so they can sue them to hell.  Sick, no?

We all suffer from this, we have to pay Amazon prices when who knows, another company might have been able to compete with them and bring their prices down.  This is just a start, its going to get a whole lot worse from here.  Now if I was in Europe, I would be in flames trying to keep this shit from happening too.

Now there's alot alot alot more to be said about the issue.  I suggest you read up on it when your done reading about Adam Smith and capitalism, and them form a more educated opinion before bringing it back here.

      V      

I completely agree with you.  these patents are a bad thing.  But this post was not pro patent.  It was anti protesting.  I do not think protesting is the proper way to stop these patents.  (as I have explained before)

Faust... it was not necissary to make this personal

 

quote:The protestors trampled by horses werent getting violent you fuck arse. Bit hard when a horse just broke your ribs. What I said was that horses will balk and throw their riders if they are being made to charge at a group of people who by the way WERE SITTING DOWN PEACEFULLY AT THE TIME.

Ok then... the riders got wut they deserve... I don't see what your so pissed about?

 

quote:They do you retard. Unfortunately people like you get shown scenes of a few violent protestors over and over again and associate that with all protestors because you are too fucking apathetic and weak to go out and see the real world.

if u mean weak and apethetic means I have never participated in a protest then I guess I am weak and apathetic.  And your right... the only protests I have ever seen are on TV.  However they usually show the protest before it gets violent and after... not just after.  Even my friend, who is a complete outspoken liberal, was bragging when the an antiwar protest in SF took place and didn't get violent.  As if it was a rare thing.  Also, violence isn't my main reason for thinking that protesting doesn't get stuff done.  Its the fact that Companies are basically affected by only one thing... money.

 

quote:You mean unionize and say "either treat us fairly or we leave?" Holy shit! Never would of thought of that one!

no... not unionize... just quit (and if u wanna add some flare, don't give a 2 week notice)

 

quote:Unions also bother me, they are designed to give the worker more over time, for doing nothing more.

Man you have no fucking clue...

If they are not designed to give the woker either more money or more benefits then wut exactly do they do?

 

quote:Just remember that the rich people were poor at one time. and they did exactly wut u are doing now.

William Henry Gates the Third was poor at one time? George Bush Junior was poor at one time? Those at the top DO NOT WORK THEIR WAY TO THE TOP. They start there and never leave.

I should have said riches families were poor at one time... so, you really got my error on that one

 

quote:So in other words me me me? Let me tell you something - you will never be able to enjoy that life. You just arent good enough to reach "the top" because for the average person to "work their way up" you need a level playing field of a lot of talent, and from what I see you have neither.

you have no idea who I am.  I don't think it is proper for you to tell me what I can and can not do


Stryker:
 

quote: posted September 05, 2003 04:25 PM

[Stryker]

quote:
I don't understand exactly what you want me to say. "Oh I feel so bad for your family and all others like it. I will start fighting for the other side now"

that makes you look like a real dick. i know it's a personal attack that you dont want, but it really does.

 

quote:
I just said above that I am a cynical person who is completely self centered.

see above. i hope that something happens to you, temporarily perhaps, that puts you in my position.

 

quote:
I sympathy for you. I wish it were better for you.

no you dont.

 

quote:
But I'm not going to do anything about it.

you will if the public says you will, welcome to america. taxing you isn't illegal.

 

quote:
and flap is right. You are a liberal. Just because you are in such a bad position makes you a liberal... just about automatically.

perhaps, i'm not sure anymore. i'm not one of those ultra liberals that give them all a bad name, i dont really give myself a title. i believe what i believe. rarely people believe the same thing and i think it's stupid to classify people into political groups.

 

quote:
Why are you supporting Bush?

mainly, his ideas on the war i agree with. dont argue that though, i wont bother responding i've had too much arguement over it.

[billy_gates]

quote:
that makes you look like a real dick. i know it's a personal attack that you dont want, but it really does.

Well... what I said to you I would condone as personal.  So I apologize and I did deserve that.

 

quote:I sympathy for you. I wish it were better for you.

no you dont.

Actually I do.  I have a friend who is not exactly the most well of person in the world.  I feel bad for him too.  I don't like the fact that there are poor people.  But that is the way it is.  And there is nothing I can do about it.

 

quote:you will if the public says you will, welcome to america. taxing you isn't illegal

You are correct here, but I do vote for lower taxes.  Also America has some of the lowest income taxes in the world.  That is another reason I like the US

 

quote:and flap is right. You are a liberal. Just because you are in such a bad position makes you a liberal... just about automatically.

perhaps, i'm not sure anymore. i'm not one of those ultra liberals that give them all a bad name, i dont really give myself a title. i believe what i believe. rarely people believe the same thing and i think it's stupid to classify people into political groups.

I totally Agree with you here.  I don't think people can be 100% classified under one name or the other.  Every person is different.  Like even though I consider myself conservative.  I believe in the right to abortion and the right to being gay and the requirement of separation of church and state (I am also a mac user... which is on the liberal side of the computing world)

 

quote:Why are you supporting Bush?

mainly, his ideas on the war i agree with. dont argue that though, i wont bother responding i've had too much arguement over it.

That is the main reason I support him too.  The second being he lowers taxes


I think this has been a good post.  I actually had some things I could agree with on this one.