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Slashback: cubans, crises, code-dependency 102

Posted by timothy from the historical-revisionism dept.
It's been a busy week inside the 40-story glass monolith that is Slashdot, as our cleverly disguised agents manipulate reality to conform with their own twisted idea of how things should be. Just the same, in an effort to defuse suspicion by appearing fallible, here is another thimbleful of spin in the form of Slashback: Episode IV.

Leveling mountains back to molehills ... Mitch writes "I have read further in the Borland license agreement. People need to be more careful before posting news. Twisting words or only giving half the facts can cause problems and does most of time. This, in my opinion, was an unfair thing to do to Borland. If anyone looked at the rest of the agreement, it says:

'Nothing in this license statement permits you to derive the source code of files that Borland has provided to you in executable form only, or to reproduce, modify, use, or distribute the source code of such files. You are not, of course, restricted from distributing source code that is entirely your own. Code which you generate with a Borland code generator, such as AppExpert, is considered by Borland to be your code.'" Michael Swindell from Borland wrote with much the same information. Thanks to both for the level-headed clarification.

deet-de-deet-deet deet HAVANA: Steve Arner writes "On May 18, 2000, the Associated Press ('The AP') declared that it would not pursue legal action against the creators of a widely-viewed parody combining images of the goverment?s recent seizure of Elián Gonzalez at gunpoint with sounds from Budweisers popular 'Whazzup?' advertising campaign."

Sneaky little devil. Nik would like you to read this Salon article about BSD. Trust him -- it's an interesting overview. It will make you want to spend more time poring through the BSD Section of Slashdot.

No towel-throwing just yet bork bork bork. Audent writes "There's a nice thank you note on the Dialectizer site saying he's still reviewing his options and to check back regularly". You can read his notice here, and since it's on the rinkworks site, you can even read it in psuedo-Swedish or redneck.

Don't line up for tickets yet ... they're still fixing the odds. emmons writes "Judge Kaplan has ordered that the trial concerning DeCSS' legality under the DMCA be moved from December 5th to July 17th. The order is posted on cryptome.org's website." By that time, the law could say that the moon in made of green cheese until proven otherwise, while forbidding lunar analysis.

Aren't you glad you use ... pine? pq writes "John Markoff at the NYT followed up on the Love bug with this story (no login needed). Apparently it simply faxed itself as text to fax numbers in your Outlook addressbook - an interesting article for the Neal Stephenson 'Life imitates Art' angle." Also nice to know that the NY Times writers are reading Neal Stephenson.
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Slashback: cubans, crises, More

Slashback: cubans, crises,

Comments Filter:
  • Hey that's all great and stuff.

    Um... is that your parody of AICN? Did you get Harry Knowles permission to use that graphic in the topleft?!?!?! You better have, or else you're a hipocrite!!
  • IANAL, but the AP didn't pursure for two reasons:

    1) The "Wazzup" piece was "original" enough in its presentation to qualify under Supreme Court rulings of the 1st Amendment as satire; if Saturday Night Live, the Fox Network, or the Onion had thrown up something similar, any argument by the AP could've been thrown out of court.

    2) The AP is receiving enough attention as it is in the wake of its recent changes; after (repeatedly) switching owners as a result of losing their finances the years, the last thing they need as a "trusted source of news" is to generate publicity from a lawsuit they couldn't afford to lose revenue on.
  • According to his web site, he already does opt out.

    Too late. ;>

  • Re:Notes on ILY. (Score:4)

    by kaphka ( 50736 ) <1nv7b001@sneakemail.com> on Saturday May 20, 2000 @09:15AM (#1059324)
    The other day, I sent out a few spam complaints to ISPs. I don't usually bother, but this spam was unusually obnoxious. ("Type remove if you wish to be removed")

    Of course, I forwarded a copy of the message (as inline text,) and Outlook added "FW:" to the subject line. At least one of the complaints has already bounced. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but is it possible that some clueless ISPs have started filtering out all mail with "FW:" in the subject? (To protect against the "new love bug"?)
  • God, I can't believe that anybody would not allow *any* attachments! I've got a quick and easy solution for everybody that is worried about ILoveYou and it's deritivies. Don't use Outlook! I used it alot up until the other day. Yes I still do my email in Windows because my Linux box is usually not working right, or I'm reinstalling it to try a diffrent distro or something. I just downloaded Kaufman's Mail Warrior the other night, great email program for windows. It's 668K! All the functionality of Outlook with none of the bloat!
  • I thought that parodies were protected by law...hence the reason Wierd Al isn't getting sued by everybody. I'm sure the author wouldn't mind you paying the fee though :P.

  • Yeah, but what they don't mention is the people who die from food poisoning due to undercooked meat...

    While my father in law died of cancer a little over a year ago, I find most of these studies to be pathetic. I mean come on, they just changed their mind about saccharine after all these years. It's bull shit.

    For the record, coffee contains something like 17 substances that cause cancer in rats.

  • I know one possible reason for why Borland says this:

    Nothing in this license statement permits you to derive the source code of files that Borland has provided to you in executable form only, or to reproduce, modify, use, or distribute the source code of such files.

    Because, back in 1987 or thereabouts, the Borland C library had a bug. I reverse-engineered their source (for all memory modules), fixed the bug, posted it to the net, and sent it to them. They sent me a demand letter demanding that I stop distributing their source code. Hehe. Not theirs, mine!! Still, they wanted to stop people from fixing bugs in their software, so they now have this in their license.
    -russ
  • I know I shouldn't reply to AC flamebait, but I'll try not to go insane. The bloat I am referring to is the pure size and memory usage of outlook. I see Outlook as a bloated, insecure peice of crap, just my opinion. I thought others who are stuck using windows for their emailing might feel the same way, and offered an alternative. Check it out, if you don't like, fine, go back to outlook and get yourself a virus.

  • Re:Those rools have changed (Score:4)

    by greenrd ( 47933 ) on Saturday May 20, 2000 @11:27AM (#1059330) Homepage
    His type of socialism breeds the worst kind of unnecessary, almost universal poverty.

    Oh, right, and the US embargo has nothing to do with it. Okay.

    Obviously starving people to death to get them to change their political system is perfectly ethically acceptable. After all, the US has been doing it for ten years to Iraq as well. Let's just heap all the blame on Castro and Hussein, because of course the US government has the most saintliest of intentions, doesn't it - just looking out for "democracy". The very idea that the US government could starve an entire nation to supress alternatives to capitalism is just laughable.

    [sarcasm]

  • Maybe I'm being paranoid, but is it possible that some clueless ISPs have started filtering out all mail with "FW:" in the subject?

    Yes, it is possible. The IS department at our office (a large "e-business solutions provider" company) has set up filters to do exactly that, for exactly that reason. I would think that a rigorous progrom of user re-education, or the removal of virus-propagating software from the company's network would be a better solution than blindly blocking all forwards with a particular prefix in the subject, but maybe that's just me.
  • Here is the short version [herald.com] at The Miami Herald.

    Someone posted this on a local discussion board (that would crumple under the ./ effect;) a couple of days after the Elian liberation. I don't know to whom or to which institution to give credit... I guess "Copyright © Alan Diaz, Associated Press" (eek!) since it is written in first-person. I could not find a link.

    How a photographer got 'the photo'

    As the government operation unfolded, Alan Diaz, 43-year-old freelance photographer on assignment for The Associated Press, was inside the house with his camera.

    AP shooter tells the story behind gripping image Elian Gonzalez, held by Donato Dalrymple, is taken from his Miami relatives early Saturday in a pre-dawn raid by federal agents.

    By Alan Diaz
    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    MIAMI, April 23 -- "They're here! They're here!" a cameraman shouted in the darkness. Then, suddenly, all was chaos.

    SOMEHOW, before a team of federal agents went in, I hopped a fence and ran inside the modest home where Elian Gonzalez had lived since he was rescued from the ocean on Thanksgiving Day.

    Inside, family members screamed. I heard the door slam shut behind me. "Go to the room -- go to the room," someone said, directing me to the bedroom Elian shared with his cousin Marisleysis. I rushed in and fumbled for a light switch. Elian wasn't there.

    I banged on the bedroom door of Elian's great-uncle Lazaro. Angela Gonzalez, his wife, opened the door. Elian was in a closet, cradled by Donato Dalrymple, one of the two fishermen who had rescued him. Dalrymple clutched Elian in his arms. The boy was crying, asking adults, "Que esta pasando" -- "What's happening?"

    "Nothing's happening, baby. Everything's going to be all right," I said. What else could I say to the child whose saga I had chronicled for almost five months?

    As a 43-year-old free-lance photographer of Cuban descent, I had developed an unusual relationship with the Gonzalez family and the 6-year-old child whose life I had been capturing on film for The Associated Press. Before Saturday, I had taken hundreds of photos of Elian: dragging his bookbag as he walked to school; playing in the yard; at the circus. Nothing compared to the intensity of the raid.

    When it began, I did what I always do: I started shooting photos. And I worried what the agents might do if they saw me, camera focused, ready to capture their every move.

    We waited. Angela watched the locked bedroom door. Thirty seconds passed. Agents banged on the door, then broke it down and burst into the room, guns raised.

    "What's happening?" Elian asked again, through tears.

    I was nearby. "Back off," the agents told me.

    A U.S. Border Patrol agent, wearing green riot gear and goggles and holding an automatic rifle, confronted Dalrymple, who was clutching the frightened boy. I stood, back against the wall, shooting photographs as agents grabbed the boy. As they left the room, I started to follow. "Back off!" an agent screamed. I stopped.

    In the living room, agents had pinned Lazaro on the couch. He was in a rage, crying, wanting to go after the child.

    A Spanish-speaking female agent picked up Elian and rushed from the house, placing him in a waiting white van. The doors slammed shut and the van sped down the street with Elian inside.

    Copyright MM © Alan Diaz, Associated Press, Dr. Dre, Mutallika, Chuck D, Tommy the hamster. All rights reserved. Don't sue me; I'm poor and pitiful.

  • Just what we need another flame war of BSD vs Linux.

    Don't forget Seven of Bill is out there lurking and waiting. A good BSD vs Linux flame war would make him happy. Division in the ranks...just what we need.

    Don't forget Microsoft loves you!

  • No, No

    God is root's password.

  • No. They are ambitious and desperate people looking for an escape from poverty. For such people simply living inside the USA is all it takes for them to acquire relatively huge amounts of wealth.

    They already have better education and a stronger work ethic than the typical american. The only reason Jamaicans don't go to the US in the same way is that 1. It's very hard to navigate around Cuba and find the US without proper sailing skills and/or equipment and 2. The US government will simply deport any Jamaican boat people it finds in Florida. Cubans on the other hand get to stay simply by asking for "political asylum".

    So those Cubans are by no means dumb. Quite the opposite they are seeking the best possible future for themselves and their families. If you are trained in Cuba and migrate to the US you will be able to buy your own home and save enough to open your own business in far less time than it would take to do the same in Cuba. For many, those simple dreams are simply not possible in a depressed economy.

    Now if only we ( Jamaica ) could figure out a way to make Uncle Sam treat us as political refuges.

    According to IRS statistics, Jamaican's living in the US earn more, save more and have more rapid growth in net worth than any other ethnic grope. The Jews are a close 2nd.
  • A link to the parody [geocities.com].
  • 3. Fair use is true. If you're using a logo, or something created by an organization to make fun of them, you're in the clear. (as done on my microsoft and aicn parodies) however, that movie wasn't making fun of the photo. It was making fun of the situation. If the material had been used to parody the photographer directly, or the AP directly, OK, bu that wasn't the ends of the means.

    So what allows The Capitol Steps [capsteps.com] to write "parodies" of popular songs that are clearly political commentaries and do not generally make fun of the original song?

    --

  • Since this has so many parody possibilities, is the code for the Dialectizer open source or something like that?

    or could SlashDot (or Andover.Net) license it as a module for the site with an aim toward political satire in various forms, on top of the usual mal-formations of the English language?

    I for one would be interesting in a Micro$peak module for the Dialectizer, making every thing sound like it was written by Micro$oft lawyer$.

    Or an Al Gore Module, or a GWBush Module.

    the possibilities are endless ...

    I'm sure that there would be plenty of volunteers who would love to add or write up an extra module.

    I can see it now ...

  • My question is, why be particular? Just create a SpinDoctor Module, where you can choose from some of the greatest spindoctors of all time, including legal council funded by the Corporation Who's Name Need Not Be Mentioned! Hey all you slashdotter's write in with suggestions of your favorite spindoctor to be included!
  • hmm..

    I would doubt it.

    Remember, Micro$oft isn't responsible for anything *else* its software does, anyway.

    t_t_b
    --

  • Calling a Christian .....a liar. Wow.

    So you don't lie? Hm. If you were hiding 4 jews in your basement and the SS came to your door and asked if you were harbouring jews...

  • Okay, let's actually look at some history, shall we? Shortly after the turn of the century (no, not 6 months ago, the other century...) The US controlled cuban government agreed to the provisions of the Platt Ammendment that stated that the US government had veto power over any political ruling made by the Cuban government that had to do with economics. This is sort of like Canada having to submit its national budget to Clinton for approval. By the Second World War over 70% of all the land in Cuba was owned by American citizens or companies. Since agriculture was the single biggest sector of the economy this was a big deal. The result: A country where the vast majority of the GDP is shipped away, local ownership of anything of worth is minimal, and every economic decision that may alleviate this situation is quashed through the "political process".

    So they had a revolution. A perfectly sensible idea given the circumstances (and one that shouldn't come as a surprise to the Americans who had their own revolution over the issue of colonial abuses...)

    The difference between the American and Cuban revolution, however, is that while the Americans managed to hold on to all the infrastructure when the Family Compact fled to Canada (My ancestors, BTW... hey Clinton, I want compensation for my lost inheritance, I'm sure messrs. Helms and Burton will support my cause...) When the Americans left Cuba they took or destroyed most of the infrastructure (much easier to do since Agriculture requires more mechanization now than the 18th century and transportation is much more efficient). The result: Cuba is stuck in the same situation as Manchuria in the late 50's. So the Cubans trade one "sugar daddy" (ha ha) for another: the Soviets.

    The Soviets have their own agenda, of course. Cuba is of hefty strategic importance, so the Russians finance it to the gills. However, instead of using the financing to develop and economy that is self-supporting and has the potential to run a positive trade balance, they spend the money on stupid things, like Cubas oil industry (the crude out of Cuba is so high in sulfur as to be almost unusable) instead of on smart things like nickle mining or functional agriculture.

    So the RSFSR goes belly up and Cuba is left with an inappropriate industrial base geared towards serving a market that doesn't exist anymore. Bad news. And you know what? despite that, Cuba has the highest literacy rate and life expectancy in the carribean (excluding Grand Cayman which is really nothing more than a rogue state for tax evaders... kinda like a rich man's Libya,but without the guns).

    Oh yeah, the comment about Cuba being able to trade with any country they wish... Maybe you should actually sit down and read the Helms Burton legislation. If I as a Canadian Citizen (which I am) am a ranking executive in a company that does business with Cuba such as Sherrit (which I'm not) then I can be refused entry to the US for no other reason than that and any property that I own in the United States can legally AND WITHOUT COMPENSATION BE SEIZED BY THE US GOVERNMENT! Oh yeah, Cuba's free to trade with any one they want to...

    Just the two cents of a "termainally gullible fool"

    I'll take the mod down if need be, but I will not post anonymously

  • As I understand it, the Communist Revolution in Cuba came about because of even deeper poverty. Low wages WITHOUT the benefit of food rations, clothing, the basic necessities.

    As for why Cuba is still poor, take a look at reality: The US, which is Cuba's closest neighbor, has decided to impose unilateral sanctions. WE're 90 miles from Cuba. If we were to open trande an tourism, I would expect a *HUGE* mutual economic boom to Cuba and Florida, which effect rippling thoughout the United States as well.

    Consider this: The American farmer has had to face lower prices then ever for their product. They can't seem to sell enough at a halfway decent price. The family farmer is going the way of the Dodo. Yet there is a market like Cuba that is closed to us. A potentially large market, that could give the US farming industry a much needed shot in the arm, as well as provide more food for Cubans.

    There's only one other type of entitiy that seeks to alter the way people think, act, and live using techniques of isolation and starvation: It's called a Cult.

  • if i was writing about the state of the world i would have lots more to say

    but i wasn't

    i was fed up with this guy being so hostile

    his other posts are all similar ranting on and abusing people

    no matter what the social fabric of a country I can't think of an occasion when I can dismiss a whole country as "gooks" any more then I could dismiss the population of Germany as "squareheads" during WW2. The only reason for demonising people in such a manner is to then subsequently hurt them somehow. One day I might be stuck in a country and spend my nights waiting for the bombs to rain fire on me. By trying to encourage people to be blind to borders we may engender more world peace than splitting people in geographicaly separate species.

    i was deliberately trying not to get sidetracked by the cuba ting and the guy's obvious problems.

    if it is someone pretending to be somebody else then that's pretty awful 'cos it's a form of stalking i suppose.

    but to respond to your post directly :
    You're right the social conditions for some people in Cuba is a bit grim. The US propaganda machine does make the country look like a consumerist paradise. Security is an attractor for humans and the grass often looks greener in other countries in the world. What I know about Cuba is gleraned from my friend who moved there from the UK two years ago. I'm sure her conditions are somewhat artificial not being indigenous.

    Africa is much bigger than diamonds. There has been some truly appaling behaviour as the peolpe left behind struggle to fill the power vacuums left by the European occupiers. This is not the whole story of the continent though. Food and marijuana production to export to Europe also takes wealth away from the indigenous people in favour of the land "owners". One of my saddest moments of clarity was when I learned that during the Ethiopian famine that sparked Live Aid the UK was still importing food from the very country we were sending charity monies to.
    .oO0Oo.
  • There's only one other type of entitiy that seeks to alter the way people think, act, and live using techniques of isolation and starvation: It's called a Cult.

    Careful with that word: cult. That's generally used by bigger religions to scare people away from smaller religions, but I get your point...
  • I'm not sure that, that is something you can prove but over-cooked beef has been known to cause cancer. This has been pointed out after a study done by the American Association of Cancer Research. This study was done in 1996 so you've had time to hear about it.

    Click here for a report [nih.gov]

  • Re:Those rools have changed (Score:3)

    by Lemmy Caution ( 8378 ) on Sunday May 21, 2000 @04:48AM (#1059347) Homepage
    It should also be noted that a political refugee to the United States gets $17,000 just for entering, in order to 'start a new life.'

    If we offered this to, say, people from Jamaica, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, or any other Latin country, we would be utterly inundated with immigrants from those countries.

  • through the link someone kindly provided in one of the replies to your message.

    I'm sorry, but that photo simply is not going to be devalued by anything like this parody. I've seen it before, and I'm going to see it again, and it's a very, very high-impact piece.

    Furthermore, if you really think the parody would devalue the photo, it seems odd that you could say that you could pay the AP $250 and all of a sudden everything would be cool. That doesn't make sense.

    As about a billion people have said, I don't doubt that the utilization of the photo was fair use. Certainly I don't think it will in any way impact the marketability of the photo, which is the traditional way of determining damages in copyright cases.

    I think the photo will get the Pulitzer that it deserves, irregardless of this little creation. It wasn't quite to my taste, but it was well done.

    D

    ----
  • Apart from your terrible spelling, you're plain wrong too.

    IANAM (I Am Not A Mormon), but I am familiar with their belief and they ARE true Christians. They believe in Jesus Christ.

    The only difference is that they think that Jesus was not the last "prophet", but that there are still "prophets" around. It's actually the leader of their Church, which called "Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints".
    1) Jesus Christ should give away that they are Christians.
    2) It's Latter-day, not Later day. Note the subtle difference in meaning here!

    Ivo.

    Bibliography: LDS Articles of Faith [lds.org]

  • I have the Flash/Shockwave version (.swf) but no way to get it to you due to absence of email address...

    Mark Duell

  • Notes on ILY. (Score:4)

    by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Saturday May 20, 2000 @08:18AM (#1059351)
    First, it seems that some folk are eager to throw out the baby so they can preserve the dirty water. I have already received one letter from a bureaucratic organization that I have to deal with, where their .sig file warns me not to send them any attachments, since they now automatically delete all attachments to protect themselves from viruses. I find it shameful that people are stupid enough to disable genuinely useful features in order to protect their dangerous inno-ware.

    Second, certain pundits seem to have their heads up the same loophole, as it were. I saw one the telly this morning suggesting that the problem would go away if we started using digital signatures. One wonders whether he has figured out yet that the viruses really are coming from who they say they're comming from. His second suggestion was that the US Postal Service could start delivering authenticated e-mail, which of course suffers from the same problem, as well as divers others.

    Truly, I think these viruses have been carrying the dreaded subliminal message, which in this case must be something to the effect of "Try any solution but the obvious one!"

    --

  • Re:AP nonsense. (Score:3)

    by echo ( 735 ) <echo.thebucket@org> on Saturday May 20, 2000 @09:26AM (#1059352) Homepage Journal
    I'd like to point out to you, that parody, satire and the like is protected under current copyright law. It's called "Fair use"
  • it came from the license change the other day that said programs could be distributed in binary form only.

    Of course this clause was a bit ambiguous and people got into their usual lather about it.
    .oO0Oo.
  • I don't see why the Dialectizer cannot remain in full function only blocking sites at their own request.

    What about Ask Jesus [askjesus.org]? If any site could make websites angry it would be that one, and they dont seem to have any problems (they even suggest slashdot on their main page as a site to be jesusified). Their service not only changes the dialect to that of biblical jargon, but it also changes images (not to mention the annoying background music).

    So, if someone like TheSpark [thespark.com] (creator of Ask Jesus [askjesus.org]) can run a site in such a manner, why not rinkworks?
  • Stupidity DOES cause cancer.

    I think it actually takes intelligence to eat right, in this day and age of genetically modified and processed foods.

    You know some people think Cancer is a natural mechanism for population control. It helps to prevent resources from being tied up by non-producers.

    But since we live in the world of man, and not the world itself- we may characterize it as yet another form of pestilence that we merely have to OVERCOME. Instead of leaving it the way it is for good reasons.

    You know the end result of solving cancer won't be alot of happy old people playing golf.

    It will be chinese giving birth to immortal sons, with legs powered by cardiac muscle, and brains amped by spider ganglia.

    Or some such cozy thing.

    -Sleen
  • Steve,

    you seem to be posting a lot of posts recently and none of the ones I've seen have been a positive contribution to humanity.

    If only your url as live I'd be ablt to attempt to ascertain how your negative attitude influences you games.

    I'm not sure if you've ever been to Cuba but my experience is that just like anywhere else in the world it is filled with people like you and me trying to get by.

    Your narrowmindedness and dismissiveness is a bit of a downer really.

    Cheer up mate. The world look a lot better if you got some happiness.
    .oO0Oo.

  • I know alot here [and techs in general] don't like/believe/care about God

    Except we techs generally call God something else: "root".

  • AP has referer protection. Try going to AP's home page, and pasting the link in.
  • As I understand it, usolicited faxes are against federal code. Could not Microsoft be asked to pay $500 per Section 227(b)(3)(C) for transmitting this fax? They certainly can't claim "it's not our fault: the software did it" since the software is also their responsability in this case. -matt
  • << I thought that parodies were protected by law...hence the reason Wierd Al isn't getting sued by everybody. I'm sure the author wouldn't mind you paying the fee though :P.>>

    Actually, Weird Al always gets permision from the original artist, so he doesn't need the protection provided for parodies.
    -----------

  • The 'bloat' being?? Features you dont use? How can you make decisions on what features other people use? How typical it is that people slam or become so vocal of what they don't use. It's cyber peer pressure.

    Of course, with open-source software, memory and/or CPU-expensive features that large groups of people might not be interested in can often be disabled via compile time options. Mozilla, for example, can be built without the mail and NNTP clients by passing the --disable-mailnews flag to ./configure.

    Or maybe you didn't know that because M$ forbids its covert-PR stooges from using open-source programs?

  • I thought he didn't have any sort of permission for Amish Paradise... I think whoever it was who made Gangsta's Paradise was very pissed off at him.

  • I still think it should be Backslash. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Bah, I still think it should be Backslash.
  • I am going to Cuba in about 6 weeks. We will be doing a 'mission' down there, spreading the word of the Bible [God/Jesus etc] and what a time it will be. btw, I am not LDS, just a true Christian, rocking for the Lord, I know alot here [and techs in general] don't like/believe/care about God. But, take your greatest imaginiation of God [Bible God], you cannot come up with anything more, our imagination is finite... also.
    The better man stands up, over the guy he is helping up.
  • SNL doesn't use Celebrity Jeopardy really to make fun of the show, but instead to parody the certain celebrities and their level of intelligence. Maybe that's a bad example, but the point is, (IANAL) does the fair use policy bring into discussion the target of the parody, or if the work is used for parody and not profit, that's ok... Also, interesting point, since Geocities (Yahoo) puts an ad on the page, is it considered for profit and thus not fair use?
  • But I have to say I'm disappointed the AP is not pursueing the guys who made that Elian parody. No matter how much it sucks, copyright law is a reality. I know it's a totaly face in the Microsoft case as we saw last week, but as a writer and photographer, I know I woulndn't want something I did to be illegally picked up and distributed 350,000 times without at least giving me a credit line.

    The AP got alot of bad press over that and they didn't deserve it. I deal with the AP every day. They're inexpensive, easy to deal with, and a hell of alot more friendly than Corbis, (owned by Bill G.) If the guys who made the parody would have just contacted the AP and paid the fee, none of this would have happened. I bet it would have cost less than $250.

    What's more is that pic was easily a pulitzer candidate, but now that it's been the but of every possible joke, there's no way the photographer will get it.

    tcd004

    Here are my

    Microsoft [lostbrain.com] and AICN [lostbrain.com] parodies, where are yours?

  • C'mon. That was like a no brainer. Any low life artless schmuck could have taken that picture on such an abused topic. By the way should Lostbrain sue your ass?

    As an artist myself I don't give a damn for the material hard copy unless I have a use for it. I'm not interested in the material value of the item but the practical value. Not what it's worth to some fool, but what I can do with it. If I have something important to get done I'm not going to waste my time followqing every useless brick in the wall so called breach.

    That photo deserves to be trashed every anniversity.
  • sure they can't chase down every copy, but they could prosecute the guys who did it for copyright infringement. The actuall outcome wouldn't be important, but it would send a message that what they did was wrong.

    tcd004

  • I think the McDonalds characters were designed to appeal to every kid in the family.
    Some kids were shy, some kids liked to share, and some kids like to steal.
    And some kids like to wear ketchup and call it makeup.

    I think you should worry more about the carcinogenic effects of their beef, than the psychological impact those caricatures have on your children's development.

    If your own neurosis is anything to work from, I would let your kids do absolutely anything their hearts desire- with as little intervention as possible. EVEN, if they want to know if Grimace bleeds purple.
  • Well the Borland thing seemed pretty self explanatory. I mean how are they going to prove that you made your source code from there program? And why in the world would they shoot themselves in the foot like that? No one would buy there stuff if they thought that they were going to be that restricted.

  • Teancom, he's a troll, and is saying that to be provocative. His was post #3 and it's a complete fabrication. He was just waiting for a story to troll.

    "When I'm singing a ballad and a pair of underwear lands on my head, I hate that. It really kills the mood."

  • The AP threatening a lawsuit reminded me of stupid knee-jerk reactions.

    I would think that the political commentary provided through the budwiser/elian spoof would be enough reason alone to enjoy what was done, copyright or not.

    Robert Russo


    "This is the way the world ends
    Not with a bang but a whimper."

  • Fair Use says anything that brings something new into existence is fair use. Do I have to pay the New York Times to demonstrate how to discipline a dog?

    Do I have to pay them to teach someone how to read? Or to videotape someone teaching someone to read using the New York Times?

    Do I have to pay Microsoft to create a Video Tutorial for Excel?

    Sorry I don't buy it.

  • DeCSS trial date (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "Judge Kaplan has ordered that the trial concerning DeCSS' legality under the DMCA be moved from December 5th to July 17th. The order is posted on cryptome.org's website." By that time, the law could say that the moon in made of green cheese until proven otherwise, while forbidding lunar analysis.

    1. This quote makes it seem the trial has been postponed. Instead, its been moved up.
    2. This new trial date immediately follows H2K, also in NYC. How that for timing!!!!!
  • More people have died in wars during this century than during any past century. This century is clearly the most un-religious in history.
  • It is the editors at Slashdot that are at fault for not sufficiently reviewing a story before posting it, especially when a lot of good, legitimate stories get passed over for other stories such as the Borland one, which are misconceived and incorrect.

    Chris Hagar
  • When a complier creates an executable, is there no digital signature left in it at all? I wonder.

    "When I'm singing a ballad and a pair of underwear lands on my head, I hate that. It really kills the mood."

  • Oh yeah, the comment about Cuba being able to trade with any country they wish... Maybe you should actually sit down and read the Helms Burton legislation. If I as a Canadian Citizen (which I ranking executive in a company that does business with Cuba such as Sherrit (which I'm not) then I can be refused entry to the US for no other reason than that and any property that I own in the United States can legally AND WITHOUT COMPENSATION BE SEIZED BY THE US GOVERNMENT! Oh yeah, Cuba's free to trade with any one they want to... Whoa! I would be really worried about the future of Coca-Cola and Pepsi then (I drank Pepsi and coke (the real stuff) in cuba), and 'the dish network' (the hotels I stayed in used there satalite stations), CNN, VH-1 and the discovery channel, and so on (I watched them on the satalite), and Sony America and Sega America, as one of the hotles had PlayStations and Mega Drives.
  • Why wouldn't he get the Pulitzer for it just because it's been made fun of? I don't see why not. If nothing else it made it even more wide spread. As for the AP fee, how in the world would the guy even know where to go to contact them? He probably just copied it off of Time, Salon or some other news website and went to work.

    You're right though. They should have at least credited the photographer. I know several and know they aren't really in it for the money (they'd be doing weddings and portraits otherwise) they are in it for the recognition. The work should at least get credited.

  • John Markoff, just thought some people may want to know, is the renowned defamist of Kevin Mitnick. He contributed to the prosecutors false allegations and wrote an incorrect book portraying Kevin Mitnick as a "Cyber-Criminal". read about him, and hopefully discredit him..
  • Okay, I hit the books: The confiscation component only applies to companies that"traffic"in property that is claimed by Cuban Ex-pats to be theirs and is in excess of $50,000 US (who makes said valuation is either not clear, or I just can't find it...) The HB permits Ex-pats to sue for compensation from said companies. Now since using or trading this property is considered "trafficking" it is subject to the same laws regarding material considered to be the revenues of drug trafficking, meaning that pending legal outcome, the material is "seized".

    So, that would explain Pepsi's presence....

    here's a fine article from a bunch of international trade lawyers.
    http://www.skralaw.com/Articles/cuba.htm

  • I was cruising Brunching Shuttlecocks [brunching.com] yesterday and they have a massive amount of filters just like the dialectizer. It's not like there's a lack of these things, by respectable sites. Anyone know Brunching's legal and financial info? Could they fight back?
  • .<------You The Point------>.
  • But I have to say I'm disappointed the AP is not pursueing the guys who made that Elian parody. No matter how much it sucks, copyright law is a reality

    Copyright law also protects the right to make parodys. So, whats your point?
  • Careful with that word: cult. That's generally used by bigger religions to scare people away from smaller religions, but I get your point... I've noticed. There's some demominations of churches that brand any denomination that isn't their own a cult.

    When I say cult, I mean the Jim Jones Kool-Aid self destruct kind of cult. Self serving leaders that don't care that they're leading themselves and everyone else into oblivion, as long as they get just what they want.

    Sounds like the current state of American politics to me. :/

    It's time to put the representative back in Representative Democracy.

  • Oh, that explains it. (Score:3)

    by Serf ( 11805 ) on Saturday May 20, 2000 @08:29AM (#1059386)
    inside the 40-story glass monolith that is Slashdot

    So that's where they keep all the trolls.
  • You could write you code in notepad, and then compile it with C++Builder. Anyway, I don't see why borland could ever put any restrictions on code you write yourself, no matter what program windows send the WM_CHAR messages to (or whatever in linux).

    I didn't read the artical, but I'm surprized that people thought that code they wrote could be owned by anyone else.

  • Heh (Score:3)

    by Darchmare ( 5387 ) on Saturday May 20, 2000 @08:30AM (#1059388)
    I have a somewhat unique perspective on this, as I'm the main Abuse handler for Dreamhost [dreamhost.com] - the web host for rinkworks.com [rinkworks.com]. I mostly handle spam and the odd copyright violation...

    The way I see it, what he COULD do is provide an opt-out list of some sort for sites that don't wish to be Dialectized. So, if SomeBigCorp.com doesn't like their site being munged, they can specifically request removal. You don't need to take the whole thing down, just make it fair to all involved. I personally think most people wouldn't mind at all.

    You could have a basic MySQL database with domains that have opted out, or a flat-file or something. If the URL being parsed is in the list, the person using the service gets a notice that due to complaint the process can't continue.

    SpamCop [spamcop.net] does something like this as well, for ISPs that don't want spam reports from their service (kind of lame, but...).

    I guess the big trick is making sure that the person opting out is legit, but that's mostly an implementation and policy detail.

    Anyhow, I hope Mr. Stoddard finds a way around this. It's a pretty nifty site, I think.

    <PLUG TYPE="shameless">
    Oddly enough, when I first saw the original story I skipped over it. As a web host [dreamhost.com], I think it's pretty cool that we were prone to the dreaded Slashdot Effect and didn't even notice. :>
    <PLUG>

    BTW: these comments are my own, not that of my employer. etc. etc...


    - Jeff A. Campbell
    - VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com [velocinews.com])
  • Those rools have changed and they changed a looong time ago. My brother went there with a teem of missionaries in around 1993. A few interesting things to know about Cuba that most Americans are seriously mistaken about;

    Cubans are allowed to leave the country. It's just hard to get a US visa. No visas are required for going to other Caribbean countries and the nearby University hospital has around 150 Cuban nurses and 30 Cuban doctors on staff. ( That's hardly enough to notice, really ).

    The tourism sector in Cuba is booming. Mostly from Americans who go there via Jamaica.

    Citizens get rations of basic foods and cloths in addition to whatever they may earn but salaries are low, like in most pore countries.

    Cuban prostitutes are on average the most beautiful anywhere west of the atlantic. Girls who look that good in other countries do not need to walk the streets.

    Cubana ( Cuban Airlines ) has daily flights to Jamaica.

  • Re:Recent *BSD articles tone (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Don't get upset. Salon is very objective. As the saying goes "don't kill the messenger". No history of BSD would be complete with out recognizing the bad karma that has surrounded the project for years. Even someone who likes BSD like myself must admit that BSD has more than its share of dysfunctional personalities.

    Overall, the industry does not see a very rosey future for BSD. Too many missed chances, too many divisive egos, too much water under the bridge have all taken their toll. If you look at the industry experts, such as IDC and Gartner Group, you will see that BSD continues to lose market share each year. Will BSD ever die completely? Probably not. There will always be a niche for it. But as Kurt McKusick views it, it doesn't really matter as long as Open Source wins. And that by most accounts has already happened.

  • haha I used to work at Rotten Ronnies and if you read the report it says beef that is "Medium" and "Medium well" are the ones that most likley cause cancer. And having worked there for 10 months while in High School I can tell you that everything is cooked Medium.
    Its really too bad I know about McDonalds ;)
  • Well, I can't speak for these ISPs, but I have my mail client automatically redirect all mail whose subject starts with FW: to a different folder. Since usually mails like this are lame joke-of-the-day forwards or other such junk, I can quickly scan over the subject lines in this other folder with my finger hovering over the D key, and then concentrate on my real messages.
  • Why must you convert the unsaved? Leave them alone.

    www.landoverbaptist.org
  • Your bot sucks.

    :wq!

  • http://elian.sucks.azagthoth-reborn.com
  • 1. Sure the ap got well over $250 worth of advertising from it, but that's pretty much worthless to them. Anyone interested in buying such a photo, is going to know of the ap.

    2. You can find the AP thorugh any major search engine. Here they are: http://photoarchive.ap.org

    3. Fair use is true. If you're using a logo, or something created by an organization to make fun of them, you're in the clear. (as done on my microsoft and aicn parodies) however, that movie wasn't making fun of the photo. It was making fun of the situation. If the material had been used to parody the photographer directly, or the AP directly, OK, bu that wasn't the ends of the means.

    The reason for the parody was to make fun of the Elian situation. Therefore they were using someone else's work to make fun of a 3rd party. They should have paid for the photo.

    Now one story I've heard said that the guys who did it never expected it to be so widely distributed. In that case, I don't blame them as much, but think they should have been more careful.

    This makes me just as irate as those thousands of sites who do nothing but scan and publish syndicated cartoons with out permission of the artist. What a load of crap.

    tcd004

  • I'm happy for you (really!) as any word of God is undoubtably a blessing. However, I have one nitpick, in your post you say "I am not LDS, just a true Christian". Are you implying that LDS members are not true Christians? Or was that a grammatical error, ie, it should have read: "By the way, I am not LDS. I am a true Christian rocking for the Lord,..." Just wondering if I should be offended or not ;-)

    Thanks for the clarification.
  • I'm convinced it's actually air that causes cancer, and it gives us a hell of a lot of false positives. It's the only way to explain the extremely weird range of things that cause it.

    :wq!

  • Is that all you've to say? People just trying to get by?

    Dude do you know why Africa is poor? Because instead of a stable gov't they have a bunch of fools warring over the diamond mine.

    That get by crap doesn't fly. There's a thing called an economy maybe you've heard of it. There's ways to go about getting into that kind of thing. Ever heard of libraries? What's happening in Cuba isn't isolated. Cuba is a country not a desert.

    There's a saying: Don't believe it's just case of others suffering. (Pink Floyd)

  • I gurantee SNL pays for any news photos they use.

    tcd004

  • Is this some AI trollbot learning to speak? it seems to be getting more lucid anyway... I was half way through this before I realised... probably just means I should be asleep though ho hum
  • Weird Al was under the impression that Coolio had said it was OK to do, so he went ahead and parodied it. Later, Coolio said he didn't agree and thought that the song was too serious to parody. Weird Al apologized, but Coolio never said anything in return.
  • The AP shouldn't be pursuing them. They got well over $250 worth of free advertising with that thing. People know who owns it. The guy was just having a little fun. Anybody have a link for how the guy got the shot?

    As for copyright law...

    By that time, the law could say that the moon in made of green cheese until proven otherwise, while forbidding lunar analysis.

    hehe.

    Slashback is almost as good as the Daily Show's version of it....
    --
  • Point taken. I really was not telling people not to use Outlook, per say. I was really only trying to point out something I think is a better alternative. Thought other people would like it too. I'm glad to know you can turn that crap off, I never looked into it. I'll have to let people know that. Yeah, it's not really a hack, not much of a virus either. I thought it was more of a distributed mail bomb.
  • why make him code? instead, teach him to pitch! if he could develop a nice curve ball no one would want him back in cuba. but then you may have to pay him...

  • Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 114 S. Ct. 1164 (1994) [findlaw.com]

    The use of the photograph was possibly fair use by this definition, despite including the entirety of the photo. Another case that would relate would be

    Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 137 F.3d 109, 113 (2d Cir. 1998) [findlaw.com]

  • My bad...not Medium and Medium well....here is a quote from the report:


    "Recent studies have further evaluated the relationship associated with methods of cooking meat and the development of specific types of cancer. One study conducted by researchers from NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics found a link between individuals with stomach cancer and the consumption of cooked meats. The researchers assessed the diets and cooking habits of 176 people diagnosed with stomach cancer and 503 people without cancer. The researchers found that those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or medium-rare. They also found that people who ate beef four or more times a week had more than twice the risk of stomach cancer than those consuming beef less frequently. Additional studies have shown that an increased risk of developing colorectal, pancreatic, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done, fried, or barbequed meats. "
  • So you're telling me that the ones that float here by leaky boat are generally the biggest morons coming from Cuba?
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I didn't see the whazzup-Elian spoof, but it sounds like typical stupid adolescent internet humor: "funny" because it's irreverent, but on closer inspection has little intrinsic humor.

    I did see a "drop the chulupa" spoof of the picture: that's funny. It has a number of parallels that make the picture fit into the context of the original ads. I don't imagine any connections in the whazzup example... am I missing something? as I said, I didn't see it.

  • If LDS means what I think ( chorch of jesos christ of Later Day Saints ) then no. They are not realy christians. They are Mormons.

    Having read the book of Mormon ( availeble at Barnsandnoble and Amazon ) I can safewly say that it's a whole other religeon with it's own uniqu belifes and practices.

    Onfortunatly the members tend to think otherwise.

  • Sorry, but telling people not to use Outlook is bad advice. You're teaching them nothing and the advice is likely to be out of date. People who use Outlook and know how attachments work should of been immune. If the thrill of being "loved" got to them, then that's not a computer hack, it's a social hack.

    Besides, security settings can be set for Outlook to disable scripting, activeX, et cetera.
  • In short, no. There are several computer-fax programs available (I think Windows might include such a program as standard in fact), which allows you to send faxes using a standard modem.

    If a spamer used one of these programs to send unsolicted fax's, would the writer of the fax program be repsonsible for it's use? No, he wouldn't. So, neither would Microsoft be responsible for unsolicted faxes being sent with it's software.
  • 1. I am dyslectic
    http://www.dislexia.org

    2. I was on a clumsy keyboard for that post.

    3. I graduated university.

  • No they don't. The masses are, and always will be fine. If there is only one path to heaven, I don't want to go there.

  • I hate to sound like the protector of corporate interests, but I guess I will have to.

    I am so sick of idiots who always hate to do something they tell you they hate to do, then they go and do it. If you hate it so much quit doing it and then complaining about how much you hate it. Anyway, if corporate interests have you as their protector they're in worse shape than I thought.

    Instead, they stole it. Simple. Plain.

    Yes, you are pretty simple. And it's plain to see you're an idiot. They infringed, possibly.

    The law is the law, in this case.

    How about in this [findlaw.com] case? Or maybe this one [findlaw.com]?

    The parody broke the law. Hence the lawsuit.

    Did you even READ the article? There IS no lawsuit!

    Theft is theft.

    And brain damage is brain damage. And fair use is fair use. Deal with it, fanboy.

  • (Re filtering all messages with "FW" in Subj)

    Yes, it is possible. The IS department at our office (a large "e-business solutions provider" company) has set up filters to do exactly that, for exactly that reason.

    What an idiotic "solution"! As if the NEXT virus is going to contain "FW" in the subject. Filtering ".vbs" is also similarly idiotic, as the NEXT virus could just as easily be javascript or an .exe or a .com or any other common executable format, or even some kind of malicious html--which Outlook is also capable of reading.

    I sigh at the "solutions" proffered by the pointy-haired imbeciles. I say they eradicate virii by pulling the Internet plug on all these companies and government agencies as they're obviously too fucking dumb to be on the net.

  • What about Ask Jesus? [askjesus.org]

    Now THIS [askjesus.org] would be a scary-ass lawsuit!

  • ... but this Elian-Wazzup sounds interesting - anybody have a link?

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