Subj : Re: How much should I charge for fixed-price software contract? To : comp.programming From : Randy Howard Date : Mon Aug 22 2005 10:36 am Arthur J. O'Dwyer wrote (in article ): > > On Mon, 22 Aug 2005, Randy Howard wrote: >> Richard Heathfield wrote >>> It is appropriate to arrest someone in some circumstances, but not >>> all. To arrest someone on suspicion of violating the Digital >>> Millennium Copyright Act is overkill. >> >> I tend to agree. However, I have more worrying things to be >> concerned about, such as the so-called "PATRIOT Act", which is >> basically a government coup over the US Constitution. Copyright >> violations are oh so lesser in importance compared to the loss >> of all freedom in the country. > > Well, both laws are equally unconstitutional, and a determined > government employee (the kind we paranoiacs worry about ;) could use > either one to do some pretty bad stuff. I don't see degrees of 'unconstitionality'. Either it is or it isn't, so of course they are equal if in fact they both are festering violations of rights, which I suspect is the case. > As you pointed out to Richard, > it's not that the DMCA prevents copyright violation --- it's that the > DMCA is a tool to allow the punishment of /suspected copyright > violators/, for pretty much the most unreasonable definitions of > "suspected" you can imagine. You won't find many laws passed in our lifetimes that have any reasonable restraint in them at all. But, the sheeple seem to not mind, as long as the fast food, the malls and the televisions continue to operate as expected. Shut off the electricity for a few weeks, and they *might* start to care about things outside their own living room, but probably well over 90% of the US population would die in that time period without electricity. Almost none of them know how to survive without it. > Similarly, the USA PATRIOT Act doesn't prevent terrorism Of course not. Nothing does, and most certainly not a piece of paper filed somewhere, or a "homeland defense" department. > It is a tool for > the persecution of /suspected terrorists/, for whatever definitions > of "terrorist" you choose. It is a tool for the persecution of ANYONE they please, without a warrant, probably cause, right to an attorney, right to a trial, etc., etc., etc. It's basically Orwell's wet dream, he just missed it by 20 years. Not too shabby, and about 100X more accurate than Nostradamus ever hoped to be. >> They don't want to be >> arrested for using the former, but think it's okay to put people >> in the slammer for using the latter. That's bull, and so is >> dicing and slicing other laws to meet individual opinion. If the >> law itself is suspect (which the DMCA almost assuredly is) then >> work to have it reversed. > > I thought you were the one saying that Richard's opinion didn't matter > unless he was the Minister of Foreign Travel? :-/ That was in reference to the likelihood (or lack thereof) of him having a meaningful impact on the travel behavior of his fellow countrymen. If you think he is likely to put a dent in travel to the US through his efforts, I'd like to see the data to back it up. :-) > You can't have it both > ways --- you get to bash the guy either for being powerless, or for not > speaking up, but not both at once. I wasn't bashing him. I was making a point about the futility of bucking the system. History has shown hundreds of times that the ONLY way that governments ever stop their inexorable struggle to gain total control over their populations is through violent opposition. That isn't going to happen as long as people aren't starving to death. A casual glance at the dimensions of the patrons of any business in North America should make it immediately obvious that we are a long way from that point. > (And besides, in a perfect world, a > bunch of American citizens expressing discontent with their own laws in a > public forum /would/ be considered "working to have them reversed." > Congress may not read Usenet, but /somebody/ does --- it's the trickle-up > effect. :) That's true, but it takes millions of people being upset about something for months, not days or even weeks to accomplish it. Any time there is danger of that happening, the media dreams up (manufactures) some sensational news story to divert attention away to something asinine instead, along with a couple opinion polls, and a missing child somewhere in a national park, combined with an "amber alert." Bingo, problem solved, the sheep are grazing on their fritos and diet beer again. Phew. >>>> Governments get overthrown when they try to steal >>>> power (and usually money) too rapidly, but when they do it >>>> methodically, it usually continues unabated until the economy >>>> collapses. I suspect that is where the US, and perhaps the EU >>>> as well is currently headed. >>> >>> Alas, you are almost certainly correct. > > Me three. But my sci-fi-novel sources tell me that once everything goes > down the tubes, the President will declare a State of Emergency and > release the Library of Congress on CD-ROM. That keeps me going. ;) > > -Arthur, > also there will be flying cars I hope he at least puts it on dual-layer DVD. -- Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR) .