>> Exactly which part of investing billions of dollars acquiring and developing a technology and giving it away for free, lowering the price of consumer devices, needs to be prevented?
The part where it ends up eliminating competition and results in a mono culture?
When Jobs claimed that Android was a stolen product and that he was willing to go nuclear on it, this is what he meant. And his claims have some merit. It is hard to blame Apple for using legal weapons to go after Google no matter how distasteful the use of such weapons might be.
Actually, when it comes to Microsoft Research, Microsoft does it the right way. Although it is considered a good thing for research projects to be incorporated into products, many projects are free to take a longer view and contribute to base knowledge that benefits all. Kind of the way Xerox Park worked in the days of old.
Why should everything be Unix based? Aren't alternatives and competing ideas a good thing? Adoption of open standards isn't enough. Just look at Google's tactics with Android as described in the recent Ars article or Apple's control over iOS. In many ways classic Windows (and MacOS) were/are more open than either of those systems. It's too bad that Microsoft is being forced (by the market)to follow that model. In the end companies will do what they feel is in their own interest limited only by government regulation. That's the capitalist way. Enlightened self interest will result in benefits for all that are worth the cost of creative destruction. No need to hate on any company. The market and the system will self correct.
It is better not to use advance sales funds to run the event. Fund pre event expenses from sponsors and/or a line of credit. Then if, for some reason, you have to refund the advanced sales, the money will still be there. Board of directors should insist on such a policy.
Locks don't prevent cars from being stolen or homes from being robbed. Determined attackers have the advantage. The real problem with DRM is the lack of convenience and user unfriendliness. I must say, however, that the DRM in Netflix is nearly invisible except for the plugins. It looks like this proposal effectively reduces the size of the plugins required.
The death of Aaron Swartz is a loss to his family, his friends, and to society. The focus on the prosecutors, however, makes me uneasy. I can support a review of the conduct of the prosecutors but I can't call for their firing. From what I have read, the conduct of the prosecutors was close to standard procedure. If it was wrong of the prosecutors to make an example out of Aaron, it is equally wrong to make an example of the prosecutors. This should not be about revenge although such feelings are understandable. However, it is the whole judicial system that needs review (and reform).
The focus on the prosecutors takes the focus away from other discussion we should be having such as the following.
Why should these cases linger for so long?
Why is our justice system so dependent on plea bargaining?
Why can't we create have a hacker legal defense fund that would keep cases like this from bankrupting defendants?
Why should expert legal advice be only available to those who can afford it?
What should we tell a friend who is planning to commit a crime on behalf of a cause?
Was Aaron's cause worth anyone's life? This should be a question for everyone, not just prosecutors.
Is any middle ground possible in the conflict between rights holders and advocates of free information?
By itself this statistic doesn't tell the complete story. For example, according to Wikipedia, the incarceration rate in India is 30 per 100000. By itself, the incarceration rate does not describe the level of justice in a country though it is suggestive. You would need to know the reported and unreported crime rates and the categories of crimes to understand the difference. A large factor in the US rate is the failed war on drugs.
The tools within Word that help with the task of document/story creation are underapreciated. Outline view, spell checking, comments, and synonym/dictionary are very useful for my kids and myself. Even the autocorrect feature that the author decries can be quite useful if you customize it.
My special needs son uses a program with Word called WordQ. The combination of the features above plus WordQ have made an enormous difference in his abiity to express himself through writing. Sure, he won't be writing a Web site with Word but he is writing his own stories.
Copyleft restricts individuals as well. What about plagiarism? Is it theft? Copyright is about the holder of the IP being able to control the use of the IP. Consumers can either accept those terms or not. I don't know what the penalties should be for copyright or copyleft violations but there should be some. I am also not sure about the best way to enforce it. SOPA or OPEN isn't the answer but there is a problem.
The part where it ends up eliminating competition and results in a mono culture?