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Saturday, December 24, 2011
House Takes Senate's Bad Internet Censorship Bill, Tries Making It Worse
by Nate Anderson of arstechnica.com
Imagine a world in which any intellectual property holder can, without ever appearing before a judge or setting foot in a courtroom, shut down any website's online advertising programs and block access to credit card payments. The credit card processors and the advertising networks would be required to take quick action against the named website; only the filing of a “counter notification” by the website could get service restored.
It's the world envisioned by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) in today's introduction of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the US House of Representatives. This isn't some off-the-wall piece of legislation with no chance of passing, either; it's the House equivalent to the Senate's PROTECT IP Act, which would officially bring Internet censorship to the US as a matter of law.
Calling its plan a "market-based system to protect US customers and prevent US funding of sites dedicated to theft of US property," the new bill gives broad powers to private actors. Any holder of intellectual property rights could simply send a letter to ad network operators like Google and to payment processors like MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal, demanding these companies cut off access to any site the IP holder names as an infringer.
The scheme is much like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) "takedown notices," in which a copyright holder can demand some piece of content be removed from sites like YouTube with a letter. The content will be removed unless the person who posted the content objects; at that point, the copyright holder can decide if it wants to take the person to court over the issue.
Here, though, the stakes are higher. Continue to the rest of the article..
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Imagine a world in which any intellectual property holder can, without ever appearing before a judge or setting foot in a courtroom, shut down any website's online advertising programs and block access to credit card payments. The credit card processors and the advertising networks would be required to take quick action against the named website; only the filing of a “counter notification” by the website could get service restored.
It's the world envisioned by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) in today's introduction of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the US House of Representatives. This isn't some off-the-wall piece of legislation with no chance of passing, either; it's the House equivalent to the Senate's PROTECT IP Act, which would officially bring Internet censorship to the US as a matter of law.
Calling its plan a "market-based system to protect US customers and prevent US funding of sites dedicated to theft of US property," the new bill gives broad powers to private actors. Any holder of intellectual property rights could simply send a letter to ad network operators like Google and to payment processors like MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal, demanding these companies cut off access to any site the IP holder names as an infringer.
The scheme is much like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) "takedown notices," in which a copyright holder can demand some piece of content be removed from sites like YouTube with a letter. The content will be removed unless the person who posted the content objects; at that point, the copyright holder can decide if it wants to take the person to court over the issue.
Here, though, the stakes are higher. Continue to the rest of the article..
Via
Friday, December 23, 2011
Revolver's Jams of the Year!
Dave Mustaine joins Metallica at their 30th Anniversary Tour (Image Source)
If there’s one thing more exciting than seeing your favorite bands live, it’s seeing your favorite bands playing live together at the same time. Although the hard-rock and metal history books include more than a few eye-popping collaborations over the genres’ four-decade histories, 2011 boasts some of the most exciting. Below is a list of what got the Revolver editors’ jaws dropping this year.
The Big Four
Although Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax jammed together for the first time last year, it was in 2011 they made it their calling card. Beginning with their performance of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?” in April to their jams in Europe (which also featured members of Diamond Head, Exodus, and Sepultura), to their U.S. final performance of Motörhead’s “Overkill” in New York City, these bands have made history at each performance.
(This one, I've posted before)
Article also includes Metal Masters (which featured Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Frank Bello, and Charlie Benante, Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Mike Portnoy, and special guests Kerry King of Slayer and…Phil Anselmo of Pantera and Down), Temple of the Dog, The Revolver Golden Gods Awards, GnR, Motley Crue, Metallica's30th Anniversary Tour, Zakk Wilde, A7X, and more.
Here is Avenged Sevenfold featuring Pantera's, Damageplan's & Hellyeah's Vinnie Paul playing Pantera's "Mouth for War":
See the whole article here.. 21 videos!
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Former Mexico President Fox Blames US for Drug War
by Jason Whitely at wfaa.com
FORT WORTH — Former Mexican President Vicente Fox told News 8 that Americans addicted to drugs are at the root of the border violence in his country.
Image Source
"This country has to think about legalization of drugs or make the decision to stop drug consumption," Fox explained. "If you don't consume drugs, our problem is solved. We're doing our part. We're paying with 50,000 dead now."
Violence along the international border — especially in Mexican cities that border Texas like Juarez, Piedras Negras, and Nuevo Laredo — has increased in the the last 24-months with beheadings, kidnappings, and even car bombs detonated as drug cartels battle each other and the federal police who were sent in to solve the problem.
The former president spoke at The Vicente Fox Forum of World Leaders at Texas Christian University on Wednesday.
But in a one-on-one interview, Fox told News 8 the drug war along the U.S.-Mexico border isn't his country's fault, but rather the United States' problem.
"We don't deserve to be where we are. It's not even our problem," Fox said. "Mexico does not consume drugs — not at the level of the drug consumption in the United States." (Source)
Continue reading.. (Link includes video interview)
FORT WORTH — Former Mexican President Vicente Fox told News 8 that Americans addicted to drugs are at the root of the border violence in his country.
Image Source
"This country has to think about legalization of drugs or make the decision to stop drug consumption," Fox explained. "If you don't consume drugs, our problem is solved. We're doing our part. We're paying with 50,000 dead now."
Violence along the international border — especially in Mexican cities that border Texas like Juarez, Piedras Negras, and Nuevo Laredo — has increased in the the last 24-months with beheadings, kidnappings, and even car bombs detonated as drug cartels battle each other and the federal police who were sent in to solve the problem.
The former president spoke at The Vicente Fox Forum of World Leaders at Texas Christian University on Wednesday.
But in a one-on-one interview, Fox told News 8 the drug war along the U.S.-Mexico border isn't his country's fault, but rather the United States' problem.
"We don't deserve to be where we are. It's not even our problem," Fox said. "Mexico does not consume drugs — not at the level of the drug consumption in the United States." (Source)
Continue reading.. (Link includes video interview)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
I Love Watching This Guy Go Down
Don't get me wrong - I actually enjoyed watching The Broncos get ...And there's no team I HATE more than the Patriots!
Source
This site has the video if you'd like to watch the whole play.. and much bigger.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Runaway Cart Mishap
Forgive me, but for some reason this made me laugh like I haven't in about a week. Certainly not because of the accident itself, nor the people who were unfortunately injured. But keep your eye on the right of the screen just after the people are hit - there's a guy who trips over the 32 yard-line hash-mark.
And then.. The one guy in the blue shirt, who is the last one left on the cart, had to be like, "OMG OMG! OK, I'm just gonna bail.."
(Note: Video volume is rather low, so turn your speakers up a little bit.)
Here's the whole story.
Here's an UPDATE - Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.
And then.. The one guy in the blue shirt, who is the last one left on the cart, had to be like, "OMG OMG! OK, I'm just gonna bail.."
(Note: Video volume is rather low, so turn your speakers up a little bit.)
Here's the whole story.
Here's an UPDATE - Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.
