Category: Life

Source: C|Net

I believe that this latest news pushes the tally up to 8,423 lawsuits by the RIAA unto its consumers. I’ve posted my thoughts on this issue before. But I will note that the RIAA’s focus has shifted from announcing fresh new music to simply suing people, as evidenced by the the chosen selection of ‘latest news’ on their main website. Maybe it reflects a new financial model?

By now I’m sure most of you have heard that the Chinese government [PRC] has banned 50 video game titles. What disturbed me wasn’t this fact, but rather that the article also stated that the same government “…will focus on combating illegal publications. This especially concerns pirated textbooks, electronic publications and illegal journals…”

This is simply a pretext to go ban textbooks, for anything that’s brought from outside of the PRC’s jurisdiction is considered pirated materials. What do journals/textbooks have in common? They educate. They inform. They tell of things outside the figurative box in which one lives. Even if some aren’t always correct, the possibility still remains. The statement quoted above is a silent reminder that China is still very much a Commmunist nation intent on keeping its people in a limited (read: oppressed) situation.

Tying with the above subject; today a Chinese double-gold medalist in Athens was kicked off the olympic team for being toopublicized. These tidbits are of the news this week. Now picture the situation being like so all year round.

I’m detailing this because I’ve seen an increasing number of articles praising the progress of the People’s Republic of China with regards to world ties. Though China has opened up more market ties in recent years, the nation is still very much authotarian, and that is a fact that should not be so soon forgotten (*cough*).

Well its fair to say that the patent system is fairly upside-down. As is:
1. Patents are getting to be general concepts, not actual designs.
2. Patents are being handed out to groups who didn’t invent the darned things.
3. Patents are issued, even though the idea already existed previously.

Again, due to ignorance of the North American government, this is only happening in the computer industry. Such disregard for the basis of what patents represent (ie. rewarding those who invent things) is really going to screw over future innovation. This is the equivalent of allowing someone to patent the idea of “using flour for food” in today’s modern age. It fits the criterias after all: its a general concept, encompassing many other innovations such as “bread” and “cake”. It is issued to someone/group which has nothign to do with inventing it, and it is being issued even though the idea existed previously.

Why do I bring this issue up? The US Patent Office just allowed McAfee to patent the underlying concepts of todays firewalls, as well as tracerouting. Both things McAfee did not originally invent. Both things that existed previously. And both things that areconcepts…. McAfee isn’t patenting code here, they’re patenting a general idea.

This also means that McAfee is free to sue Norton, ZoneAlarm, Kerio, Sygate and all the other corporate entities that have developped firewalls over the years. The European Union is still in the process of negiotiating the permittance of Software Patents. Thanks to Poland, the laws have yet to pass on this issue (this is a good thing).

I’m not against patenting software. Or at least patenting good sizeable chunks of code. What I am against is the current level of incredible abuse going on in the patent system. In its current North American form, such ignorant patent laws will only deter future innovation and screw us over as people in general.

Read Full Article Here

The EYNTO Show (aka. the everything you need to know show) is my new pet project. It is going to be a one time one hour computer show informing the audience on the basics of the more advanced stuff they may engage in. Topics will include safer Internet browsing (browsers, vulnerability basics), Firewalls, Anti-Spyware stuff, P2Ps: which clients to avoid, basic computer upgrades (RAM, Optical drive), etc. Target audience: young adults.

I have no clue when it will be completed. I aim for a target of 4 weeks.

Within the last 48 hours, I’ve had 2 instances of this blog being spammed via the comments section. What this entails is essentially ‘bots posting non-related material in the comments, with a URL that points to some kind of [insert sex/fetish/advertising/lowlife site here]. The first comment posted something out of the headlines, which made it look half-legit (someone not knowing how comments work) with one of the questionable URLs. The second comment was less subversive.

I praise Capitalism. It is the basis for the greatest elements of human history. That said, I wish advertising had never been invented. Scratch that. I wish that unethical bastards carrying out such lowlife advertising (including the SOBs that waste my inbox’ bandwidth) were consigned to [insert unpleasant activity here].