nelsoncruz 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: White House Finally Answers Snowden Pardon Petition: The Only Good Whistleblowing Is Punished Whistleblowing

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2015 @ 07:10pm

    Would the White House say to dissidents and whistleblowers from other countries that they should stay in their home countries and "accept the consequences" of their actions? Of course not. The US gives asylum to plenty of those. So that argument is bullshit.

  • On the post: Apparently All That Stuff About Needing SOPA To Go After Foreign Sites Was Bogus

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 27 Nov, 2012 @ 12:36pm

    Who cares?

    Copyright, trademarks... who cares? It's all "intellectual pooperty" like Nina Paley says.

  • On the post: Portuguese Man Convicted On Criminal Charges For Sharing Three Songs

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 27 Apr, 2012 @ 10:56pm

    Google+ post not public

    Sorry Mike, but that G+ post of mine wasn't public. My bad for not making it so, or warning you. Since that can't be changed (damn you google) I now re-shared it for your readers that may want to read it and check the links to the news stories:
    https://plus.google.com/u/0/111097426968446299927/posts/Ecca7k5F2E4

    I also since discovered some more tidbits in other news stories about this case. Two other people where acquitted by the court because it couldn't be proven they personally did the sharing. And this kid only got convicted for three songs because the prosecution had to present evidence he actually infringed (or "usurped" as our law says) the rights of every single song. Whatever was required to do that, apparently it was to hard or to much of a hassle to do. Even in six years.

    This brings a new perspective to the desire of AFP for an Hadopi-style three strikes law. It's not just that it takes years to convict someone, but those pesky criminal courts demand serious evidence! It's *so* much easier to just accuse someone three times, and have the state automatically fine them or cut their internet access. Afterwards they can appeal and prove their innocence if they want to. Much simpler.

    I don't even know why we bother to have traffic police and speed radars on the roads. We could all just report each others license plates and have the police issue fines. That would work, right?

  • On the post: Portuguese Artists Association Struggled To Get Even 100 Members On List In Favor Of Exorbitant New Private Copying Levies

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2012 @ 01:32am

    Re: Re: Re: slight exageration

    Also, about the part that effectively goes to authors... I did the math: http://www.pcmanias.com/ex-ministra-diz-que-nos-habituaremos-as-novas-taxas/

    It's a just a little over 21% (from the levees on hard drives, and other digital media).

  • On the post: Portuguese Artists Association Struggled To Get Even 100 Members On List In Favor Of Exorbitant New Private Copying Levies

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2012 @ 01:25am

    Re: Re: Re: slight exageration

    A 2TB external hard drive was 90? here in Portugal back in October. That was before the floods in Thailand that shutdown production. Prices went up afterwards. This proposal, as currently written, would add a levee of 55,35? (45?+IVA). That's over 50% of the October price.

    Plus, no changes to the "free uses" allowed by Private Copying provisions, and it would still be illegal to break DRM to copy what you buy. And those Torrents you mentioned? ACAPOR and friends will still be able to bring a criminal complaint against you, no problem. You only get the right to copy your CDs, or convert them to MP3, and that's pretty much it. Sounds fair, doesn't it? /sarcasm

    Also, the government is working on an "anti-piracy law", that will probably be a further tax on ISPs, site blocking, or 3 strikes (or all of the above).

  • On the post: ICE Mistakenly Deports Missing Teen To Colombia

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2012 @ 12:47am

    Re: Re: Good start

    I know, but they did get there first. And lived there for thousands of years before their land got stolen.

  • On the post: ICE Mistakenly Deports Missing Teen To Colombia

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 04 Jan, 2012 @ 04:33pm

    Good start

    This is actually a good start. Except for the red skinned "native americans", everyone in the US is either an illegal immigrant, an "anchor baby", or a descendant thereof.

    Shouldn't ICE be deporting them all?

  • On the post: Ex-RIAA Boss Ignores All Criticisim Of SOPA/PIPA, Claims Any Complaints Are Trying To Justify Stealing

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2011 @ 02:30am

    Logic

    By the same logic anyone who questions the death penalty is justifying murder.

  • On the post: Cocaine Ring Used Universal Music's Interscope Label To Ship Drugs & Cash

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2011 @ 07:48pm

    Wasn't "piracy" supposed to be funding the drug trade?

  • On the post: Seizing The Public Domain: Europe Trying To Extend Copyright Term Retroactively [Updated]

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 07 Sep, 2011 @ 11:19pm

    It's not Spain, it's the EU Council

    It's not Spain that's behind this, it's the EU Council (formed by the governments of every EU country). A few years ago the EU Commission proposed a directive to extend the rights on sound recordings from 50 to 90 years. The EU Parliament eventually approved it with reduction to 70 years. It stalled in the Council however. There was no majority to pass it there. Now the government of Denmark has reversed its position, and suddenly there are enough votes.

    Christian Ensgr?m of the Swedish Pirate Party made a petition to have it voted again in the Parliament, since it was approved before the last elections. It was rejected. Apparently it's against the rules. It should move to EU Council now. I'm not very hopeful any miracles will happen there unfortunately.

  • On the post: Oh No! What If More Than One Shoemaker Makes Shoes With Red Soles?

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2011 @ 01:28am

    Fashion designers don't know what they are asking for

    Doesn't this guy realize that his shoes stand on the design innovations of many others? Imagine if somebody had trademarked the high heels, or the 5" heels, or the platform heels, or stilleto heels, etc, etc, etc. Add to that the fact that trademarks last pretty much forever! It's not like a design patent or something like that.

    This guy had to copy others in order to add his own special (red) touch. And others will need to copy him in order to add their own special touches. Start adding intellectual property in fashion design elements and the whole industry will grind to a halt! Fashion designers should be happy that their field is relatively LFZ (Lawyer Free Zone). Just take a look at the tech industry!!!! Fashion designers should NOT be inviting the big sharks to play in their pool...

  • On the post: Record Label Says That Pulling Music From Spotify 'Protects Artists'

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2011 @ 03:20pm

    Re:

    And "protect" artists from the radio as well! People don't pay anything to listen to them on the radio!

  • On the post: Record Label Says That Pulling Music From Spotify 'Protects Artists'

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2011 @ 01:58pm

    Protect more!

    They should "protect" the artists even further by pulling their music from every service that charges less than 1 million dollars to ear them. See how well that works for them...

    And then when Century Media sees 1000 illegal downloads on the Pirate Bay, it can claim 1 billion dollars in losses! Wow! That will really make the politicians move on anti-piracy legislation!

    PS: This is what the labels have been doing for a LONG time. Price their product above what the market will bear, or place it on a market (physical CDs) that their costumers are abandoning, and then complain of unrealistic losses as people turn to more convenient sources.

  • On the post: Spanish Appeals Court: Linking Is Not Infringement

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2011 @ 04:35pm

    Re: Re: Re: How can any number be infringing?

    Correction: Brazilian or South-american Portuguese versus European Portuguese.

    Portugal (my country) has no Mediterranean coast, so it's not technically Mediterranean. Also Latin does not equal south-american. Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese are all latin languages and cultures. Latin was the (now dead) language of the Roman Empire which ruled over them all.

    Central and south-america is called latin-america because the people speak spanish and portuguese, not the other way around. :)

  • On the post: Spanish Appeals Court: Linking Is Not Infringement

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2011 @ 04:12pm

    Re: Re: Re: How can any number be infringing?

    I know a guy that frequently makes similar arguments about numbers. But I think judges would tend to rule that the problem is not the number itself, but how it is obtained. Numbers that (with a certain algorithm) output a copyrighted work are not randomly generated. Those numbers are created by applying a certain algorithm to the copyrighted work; ie it's derived from it. I think they would say that as long as one can "extract" a copyrighted work from a number, then it is infringing.

    Same as with vinyl records. It's not like there is a copyright on the indentations made on the plastic, but as long as music can be "read" back from them, them it is a reproduction/fixation of the work. In practice there isn't much difference between making a recording with a needle and plastic, or the MP3 algorithm and silicon (or magnetized disks or whatever can store 1s and 0s).

  • On the post: Spanish Appeals Court: Linking Is Not Infringement

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2011 @ 03:55pm

    Re: Anywhere In The World.

    There is a Firefox Extension that redirects seized domains. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/mafiaafire-redirector/

    There is also proposals for an alternative, de-centralized .p2p domain system.

  • On the post: Spanish Appeals Court: Linking Is Not Infringement

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2011 @ 10:06pm

    Re: But... but... but piracy!

    were babies*

  • On the post: Spanish Appeals Court: Linking Is Not Infringement

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2011 @ 10:05pm

    But... but... but piracy!

    Piracy happens and it's theft! It's so hard to stop it. It will be easier if we can blame intermediaries, linkers, advertisers, and who ever else we can think of. Maybe the mothers for breastfeeding the damn thieves when they where babies! They should have known their kids would infringe our holy copyrights, and they failed to educate them properly.

    And let "properly applying liability", due process, human rights and common sense be DAMNED. /sarcasm

  • On the post: TSA Confiscates Pregnant Woman's Insulin, Ice Packs

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2011 @ 06:22pm

    Re: Re: Re: Who is the bigger threat here?

    Yes, perhaps it was one of those "anchor babies" that where talked about sometime ago. xD

  • On the post: TSA Confiscates Pregnant Woman's Insulin, Ice Packs

    nelsoncruz ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2011 @ 09:12am

    Who is the bigger threat here?

    If the woman has type 1 diabetes, it's potentially life threatening to go without insulin for many hours! So who is the bigger threat here? The woman or TSA?

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