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March 29, 2005
NPR's Tech Idiocy
If you are within smelling range of an NPR affiliate, hold your nose. They are blowing a lot of gassy wind today.
Stinker #1.
Their coverage of the Grokster case is mischaracterizing it as idiot collegian music thieves vs rationality & the music industry's protection of artists. The critical thing that's going on here is potential destruction of the Betamax Shield. Basically, this is a product liability case. Can software firms be held liable for the abuse of the tools they create? The burden seems to be put on the software manufacturers to prove that their product cannot be abused, and by abused they mean subverting what is, in effect, a distribution oligarchy.
The way to keep your head through all of this is to remember that software are tools. Professionals like me need these tools to be able to do anything at all and manufacturers of these tools need to have the confidence that they can build uncompromised industrial strength tools. If they can't, that industry will go overseas.
As I mentioned earlier Mark Cuban makes a strong case as a content provider for Grokster's case. He gets it. Such a person is almost inconceivable in the way NPR and others have framed it. Here is someone who makes movies and he wants P2P technology to flourish. When you understand the real issues it makes you want to smack NPR. I guess today is just a smacky day.
Brain Fart #2
In the EU's settlement with MSFT, the Windows Media Player has been removed from the OS. NPR trots out a complete idiot who says that the more stuff you stuff into the operating system the better. The real scoop is that the more stuff you stuff into the operating system, the more unstable & unsecure it becomes. If NPR even breathes the word 'Linux' it should have enough sense to know this.
Posted by mbowen at March 29, 2005 02:17 PM
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Comments
"If NPR even breathes the word 'Linux' it should have enough sense to know this."
But how would NPR .. or the people producing the story .. know that? To you or I a computer is a tool, a thing to be used. The guys 'n gals at NPR are journalists first and computer users second.
Posted by: brian at March 29, 2005 04:41 PM
I caught some of NPR's coverage of the case, and I was struck by how one-sided it was. I think someone at NPR was just being lazy and airing the stuff that was being fed to them by the recording industry. I'm somewhat neutral on the case, and even I thought the coverage was incredibly slanted. 90% of it involved putting forth the entertainment industry's arguements, and the other 10% seemed tacked on at the end.
Posted by: BTD Greg at March 30, 2005 12:01 PM
Hi Jan,
I did read the article...it was interesting. I've heard that perspective before. To be honest, if I had had the consciousness when I pledged Alpha Ph Alpha that I have now, I would have had more reservations. I do agree that the "Greek" thing is very Eurocentric. I do look at Alpha as more Afrikan, since we use the Sphinx, pyramid and other Egyptian symbols. The problem was that no one especially the preachers in the pulpits never emphasized that Egypt was in Africa. I wish that brother Cobb and others fraternity and sorority brothers and sisters with Cobb's consciousness would revamp and Afrikanize the "Greek" thing. I don't think this philosophy need to effect whether we have a Step Show or not. I don't have the most positive outlook on Hip Hop, but it's what has engulfed the younger generations and Hip Hop Shows and Step Shows are entertainment for those generations. I think we have to embrace our youth so they produce positive art and /or culture.
Brotha Karimu
Posted by: Karimu Shaw at April 5, 2005 03:24 PM
I'll bring out my thinking on this.
Posted by: Cobb at April 5, 2005 03:30 PM