http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:28:29 GMT vBulletin 3 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/images/misc_blue/rss.jpg http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56704&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:16:42 GMT For a few weeks, 2K Games’... For a few weeks, 2K Games’ new title, Borderlands, was available to Australians at the same price on Steam that it was available in the UK and US. The game has been pulled from the Australian Steam site for the last week. Kotaku is now reporting that the game will reappear at a much higher price.

2K Games' Borderlands (image from Kotaku)

This probably doesn’t quite amount to resale price maintenance, which is the illegal practice of setting minimum prices so that retailers don’t undercut each other. It’s probable that the relationship between Steam and 2K is complicated enough that this isn’t technically an example of game prices being hiked up in order to lessen competition and protect Australian retailers, who have become used to selling games at a much higher price than their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Nevertheless, it is the sort of behaviour that’s likely to annoy consumers, and quite rightly.

The huge markup for electronic distribution seems to be a trend – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, for example, is available from Steam for Australian residents at USD$89.99, and US residents for USD$59.99.

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*sighs* ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56704 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56703&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:10:54 GMT The Senate Judiciary... The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Victoria Espinel’s nomination Thursday, paving the way for a full Senate vote to confirm the nation’s first copyright czar.

No Senate vote date was set immediately for a nominee who was applauded by both the “copyleft” and the “copyright.”

Espinel is expected to have a key role for the United States as it and several other countries secretly negotiate an intellectual property treaty, known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. That treaty could fundamentally alter copyright law to require ISPs to adopt “graduated response” policies to terminate internet service of repeat, copyright offenders.

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Yup, won't be long before the US has a brand new shiney 3 Strikes Law now. ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56703 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56702&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:08:24 GMT A health insurer lost 1.5... A health insurer lost 1.5 million patient records last May but waited six months to disclose the incident.

The data, which was stored on a portable disk drive that disappeared from the insurer’s office, was unencrypted and included patient Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and health data, according to the Hartford Courant. The disk also contained personal information on at least 5,000 physicians.

Health Net discovered the loss in May but never informed patients, law enforcement or government entities, despite data breach laws in some states that require data spillers to notify victims and state officials when residents are affected by a breach. The insurer finally sent a letter to Connecticut’s attorney general and the state’s Department of Insurance this week.

Health Net claimed it took six months to determine what data was on the missing disk. It said that data on the disk was compressed and stored in an image format that required special software to view, which was available only to HealthNet.

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Fail! ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56702 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56701&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:00:05 GMT If you don’t back a copyright... If you don’t back a copyright treaty being negotiated in secret, you must want to destroy Hollywood, its blockbuster movies and all the jobs they create.

At least that’s the message from the Motion Picture Association of America.

It’s spelled out in a Thursday memo to the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging lawmakers to support the Obama administration’s efforts toward negotiating an intellectual property agreement with more than a dozen countries.

Dan Glickman, the MPAA’s chairman, informs lawmakers that millions of film-related jobs are in peril because of internet piracy. Simply put, those who don’t back the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting and Trade Agreement don’t support intellectual property rights, he wrote.

“Opponents of ACTA are either indifferent to this situation, or actively hostile toward efforts to improve copyright enforcement worldwide,” Glickman wrote.

That’s an insultingly black-and-white viewpoint. It’s also not an accurate description of the treaty’s critics.

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I have to admit, a statement like that, he may as well have said that anyone who supports human rights are terrorists and child rapists. Still, I think they are slipping in their competition for saying the dumbest things. They peaked when they called anyone who don't fully support their view points are "enemies of copyright" though at least this was pretty close in terms of stupid comments made by the MPAA - third being that even making one DVD is copyright infringement (well, recently that is) ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56701 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56700&goto=newpost Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:54:27 GMT The OECD has released new... The OECD has released new data on its global counterfeiting estimates, concluding that the share of counterfeit and pirated goods in world trade is estimated to have increased from 1.85% in 2000 to 1.95% in 2007. That represents an increase to $250 billion worldwide. That is obviously a big number, but notably far lower than the claims from ACTA supporters. Copyright lobby groups have long claimed - without empirical support - that counterfeiting and piracy represents 5 - 7% of global trade. The OECD data indicates those claims are wildly exaggerated.

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Once again, proving the obvious proves useful once again. ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56700 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56699&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:20:45 GMT When ever I see some images... When ever I see some images certain people come to mind and when I saw the gif below all I could think about was our good man pooter and how much he would enjoy such a thing. Its a work of art, ingenuous in fact. I HOPE he comes around to appreciate it some day. Pooter, you old grumpy douche nozzle, you are much missed...


]]> The Lounge Mels_Smileys45 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56699 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56698&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:03:26 GMT I did not know it but... I did not know it but Internet Movie Database [ IMDB ] offers up streaming TV shows for FREE! Not sure when this happened but I just watched an episode of "The Twilight Zone" after I followed a link from a Director I was doing some research reading on. Click on the link above to watch the show. I am not sure how this works because I JUST found this out but it looks like IMDB offers up some streaming links to TV shows that are releated to the actors or Directors you may be reading about. Pretty FREAKIN' cool IMO!!!! Nice quality as well...


Here is the main link for the BETA VIDEO page.



EDIT:BTW, There will be a little dot in the movie progression bar, that little dot is to let you know where the COMMERCIAL will play. Yes, it does have a "TV" ad but its short and HEY, its free so there is no reason to complain about it. Its a very nice service provided by IMDB and is just one more reason why IMDB is one of the best sites ever invented on the net.

I looked at the Movie Spartacus, which is over 3 hours LONG, and it has 16 commercials in it. That is a little much but it is on par with how a TV network would do it. Twilight Zone only had ONE though. Pretty soon there may be no reason to have cable TV because of sites like IMDB.
]]> Movies Mels_Smileys45 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56698 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56697&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:34:52 GMT I know, I know. Some of yous... I know, I know. Some of yous HATE that place and stereotype it as a redneck dream but to Hell with all that BS! Their Deli is KICK BUTT! I have been eating there at least 3 times a week and its very cheap and VERY GOOD too!

About all they have is different kinds of chicken but I love their honey BBQ big chicken nuggets, their yummy backed beans and whipped potatoes! Its delicious and its $4!!! I ad a side of banana pudding for another dollar and its almost more than I can eat. Its also better for a person than eating at say, McDonald's. Perhaps no one here gives a POOP but there is not much else to talk about so THERE! Its good! and if you are on a budget or not its very affordable. I usually have enough chicken left over to have another small meal. I like to make a chicken sandwich with the leftovers.

What do you guys eat when your funds are low? I find there are ways to get buy with little funds if person uses their mind and a little bit of ingenuity...


:friday::ziplip::friday::damnit1::bigok: ]]> The Lounge Mels_Smileys45 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56697 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56695&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:08:18 GMT Patenting podcasting? You've got to be kidding. Yet a company called Volomedia just got the Patent Office to grant them such exclusive rights.

EFF and the law firm of Howrey, LLP aren’t willing to just sit by and watch. This patent could threaten the vibrant community of podcasters and millions of podcast listeners. We want to put a stop to it, but we need your help.

The Volomedia patent covers "a method for providing episodic media." It's a ridiculously broad patent, covering something that many folks have been doing for many years. Worse, it could create a whole new layer of ongoing costs for podcasters and their listeners. Right now, just about anyone can create their own on-demand talk radio program, earning an audience on the strength of their ideas. But more costs and hassle means that podcasting could go the way of mainstream radio -- with only the big guys able to afford an audience. And we'd have a bogus patent to blame.

In order to bust this patent, we are looking for additional "prior art" -- or evidence that the podcasting methods described in the patent were already in use before November 19, 2003. In particular, we're looking for written descriptions of methods that allow a user to download pre-programmed episodic media like audio files or video files from a remote publisher, with the download occurring after the user subscribes to the episodes, and with the user continuing to automatically receive new episodes. You can read the entire prior art request here, and if you have something that could help, please send it to podcasting_priorart@eff.org or fill out the form on our Volomedia page.

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I do believe looking up "the father of podcasting" would reveal prior art as well as something like shoutcasting or being a radio DJ on Winamp. I'm not sure, but those are the earliest iterations I can think of off hand. Things like TWiT and a few others started by X-TechTV employees all seem to come out at around 2005-2006 if memory serves me correctly. ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56695 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56694&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:20:31 GMT WASHINGTON -- Palin-Beck... WASHINGTON -- Palin-Beck 2012?
Sarah Palin has suggested Fox News firebrand Glenn Beck could be someone she'd consider as a running mate if she makes a bid for the White House in two years.

"I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I'm not there yet," Palin told the conservative news agency Newsmax as she promoted her memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life.

"But Glenn Beck I have great respect for. He's a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way. And he's so bold -- I have to respect that. He calls it like he sees it and he's very, very, very effective."


Read Article.


So should this actually happen, which I doubt it would, and under the unlikely scenario that they actually won, I truly believe this duo would be the end of America. Realistically tho, their fan base is not big enough to get them into power, and even if it was, the majority of America hates them, so they would flop in the polls. ]]> Politics and Debate mountain_rage http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56694 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56693&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:47:57 GMT The ACTA juggernaut continues... The ACTA juggernaut continues to roll ahead, despite public indignation about an agreement supposedly about counterfeiting that has turned into a regime for global Internet regulation. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has already announced that the next round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations will take place in January — with the aim of concluding the deal "as soon as possible in 2010."

For the rest of us, with access to only leaks and whispers of what ACTA is about, there are many troubling questions. How can such a radical proposal legally be kept so secret from the millions of Net users and companies whose rights and freedoms stand to be affected? Who decides what becomes the law of the land and by what influence? Where is the public oversight for an agreement that would set the legal rules for the knowledge economy? And what can be done to fix this runaway process?

We wrestle with these questions in an essay on “The Impact of ACTA on the Knowledge Economy”(PDF here) in the Yale Journal of International Law (November 2009 edition). We explain how ACTA got this far, in this form, and propose four mechanisms for USTR transparency reforms, that will give the public a voice in ACTA, if U.S. citizens — and their elected officials — speak loudly and quickly enough.

In brief, the ACTA process has been deliberately more secretive than customary practices in international decision-making bodies to evade the debates about intellectual property (IP) at established multilateral institutions. The Office of the USTR has chosen to negotiate ACTA as a sole executive agreement. Because of a loophole in democratic accountability on sole executive agreements, the Office of the USTR can sign off on an IP Enforcement agenda without any formal congressional involvement at all. But the negotiations do not have to be secret, and the sole executive agreement process does have mechanisms for oversight: they have not been used in ACTA, but can and should be.

More... ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56693 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56692&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:39:20 GMT In the face of widespread... In the face of widespread criticism of the lack of ACTA transparency, participating governments and music industry lobbyists have claimed that the transparency issue is much ado about nothing. As governments seek to keep relevant information secret, those same governments released a joint statement last week arguing that "it is accepted practice during trade negotiations among sovereign states to not share negotiating texts with the public at large, particularly at earlier stages of the negotiation."

It is important to emphatically state that this is simply not the case for many multilateral agreements and the activities of international organizations that typically serve as the forum for global agreement discussions. U.S. NGO groups have made a strong case for how ACTA's lack of transparency is out-of-step with many other global norm setting exercises. With regard to international fora, they note that the WTO, WIPO, WHO, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, UNCTAD, OECD, Hague Conference on Private International Law, and an assortment of other conventions have all been far more open than ACTA. For example, it notes that the WIPO Internet treaties, which offer the closest substantive parallel to the ACTA Internet provisions, were by comparison very transparent:

The two WIPO Internet Treaties (WCT and WPPT) were negotiated in a completely open meeting at the Geneva Convention Center. The public was allowed to attend without accreditation. The draft texts for the WCT and the WPPT were public, and the U.S. government requested comments on the draft texts, which were available, among other places, from the U.S. Copyright Office.

More... ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56692 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56691&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:35:43 GMT Website... Website

I love the fact that the government sends 6 nearly completely redacted pages about ACTA. May their printers forever remain low on toner! :censored: ]]> News DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56691 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56690&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:27:12 GMT Health-care spending in... Health-care spending in Canada is expected to reach $183.1 billion this year, up more than five per cent from last year, according to a report released on Thursday.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information's annual report on national health spending forecast an increase of $241 per person, raising total expenditures to an estimated $5,452 this year.

Health spending has risen since 2008 by more than five per cent, or an estimated $9.5 billion, before inflation.

The growth rate is in line with increases over the last seven years, said Chris Kuchciak, CIHI's manager of health expenditures in Ottawa.

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My favorite part of the article isn't in the article itself. It's the 3 or 4 links around it that direct readers to Swine Flu or H1N1 stories. Meanwhile, the article makes absolutely no mention of if the increase in spending has anything to do with the millions of doses the government is buying for swine flu. I can't imagine some 10 million vaccinations would be given free to the health care system. ]]> Politics and Debate DrewWilson http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56690 http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56689&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:54:56 GMT So what are your thoughts?... So what are your thoughts? Will you get the shot and why or why not? ]]> The Lounge RACKnRAIL http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=56689