Machina improba

lawful evil

Sign an NDA for Windows refund?

Posted Thu, 08/28/2008 - 4:30pm by rernst

Article on slashdot: guy wants a refund for the bundled Windows license that came with his Lenovo laptop but in order to get the refund, they make him go through one additional hoop: sign an NDA that covered the negotiations process, and all the other hoops he had to go through.

Copyright-itis

Posted Thu, 06/12/2008 - 8:23pm by rernst

It looks like tomorrow is 'DMCA Day' in Canada.

All of this nonsense is making me physically ill. Let's go over the symptoms:

  • High levels of irony brought on by doublespeak[1]:

    Reports have also indicated that the two ministers will unveil the Copyright Act under the slogan "Made In Canada Copyright Reform" during a scheduled press conference.

Industry Canada working overtime to remove copyright act criticism from wikipedia

Posted Thu, 06/05/2008 - 7:43am by rernst

Michael Geist picked up a story about how Industry Canada staff are systematically trying to edit Wikipedia pages, deleting criticism of the new 'Canadian DMCA'. I say 'systematically' because certain text was deleted multiple times after being restored, and the edits come from the same IP range. And it's limited to a few specific points: criticism *of* the proposed act, and the fact that nobody in Canada wants it: only the US Big Media conglomerates.

It reminds me of a bad Capital One Commercial

Posted Fri, 08/03/2007 - 7:19pm by rernst

Sing along with me now: 'Hands in my picket/Hands in my pocket...'.

What was I rambling about? Oh yes: The Mafiaa wants you to pay every time you share or copy media on your local network.

Move that media file? Pay a fee.
Defragment your hard drive? Pay a fee.
Watch that video? Pay a fee.
Watch that video with a friend in the room? Pay another fee.

Where will it end?