I failed REG CPA Exam, met Undertaker, got Diet Coke in my shoes, won the Tostitos Fiesta Belt, and had my Xbox 360 break all in one day

[20:40] AK47: when is gears

[19:06] *** Auto-response
PC: delayed 2 monthes
[19:07] PC: cpa
[19:07] CD: test didn't go well?
[19:08] PC: failed
[19:08] PC: taking again
[19:08] CD: ugh
[19:08] PC: gonna go eat
[19:08] PC: yea
[19:08] PC: ugh indeed
[19:08] PC: but I did fly back to Houston from Cleveland with the Undertaker
[19:08] PC: from WWE
[19:08] CD: haha
[19:08] PC: that was neat
*** Auto-response Ends

[20:40] AK47: Where to stephanie?
[20:41] AK47: In-Game Buddy List Added To MotorStorm - This Friday
[20:53] PC: haha
[20:53] PC: taker's wife was hot
[20:53] PC: had a huge rock on her finger
[20:53]AK47: did taker look like shit?
[20:53] PC: nah
[20:53] PC: he worked the night or two before
[20:53] AK47: he fly first class?
[20:53] PC: for sure
[20:53] PC: last row
[20:54] AK47: he has gotta be too tall for coach
[20:54] PC: yea
[20:55] AK47: the wholefoods opened today
[20:55] AK47: we bought some sushi
[20:55] AK47: it was real good
[20:55] AK47: expensive as shit though
[20:55] PC: good at a price
[20:55] AK47: and the soy sauce they gave with it was definitely not natural
[20:56] PC: still word
[20:56] AK47: and had corn syrup in it
[20:56] PC: I get fruits and veges from there
[20:56] PC: but groceries from kroger
[20:56] AK47: is everythign expensive as ballls there?
[20:57] PC: not really
[20:57] PC: it is mexico dude
[20:57] PC: no state income tax
[20:57] PC: so cost of living is actually kinda cheap
[20:57] PC: but the city is huge
[20:57] PC: so there are a lot of whole foods strategically placed
[20:58] PC: I feel like crap
[20:58] PC: woke up early
[20:58] PC: did shit all day
[20:58] PC: I won at frolf
[20:58] PC: was 2 behind with 3 holes to go
[20:58] PC: he double bogeyed
[20:58] PC: I parred
[20:58] PC: we are tied
[20:59] PC: next hole I almost bounced it in
[20:59] PC: it was windy
[20:59] PC: I birdied
[20:59] PC: it was word
[20:59] PC: I won the Tostitos Fiesta Belt
(which is what my disc golf friends call the title between us)
[21:00] PC: and it was the day I met Undertaker
[21:00] PC: I choked slammed him at the end

-=---

When is gears indeed, probably a few weeks from now, til then Nintendo Wii.

Technology Wars (an infinite series of reports)

Todays installment is about the 150 million dollars that kept Apple afloat.

You can see just how horrible Microsoft can be

Courtesy of InformationWeek.com

Microsoft Threatened To Kill Mac Office
To Gain Infamous 1997 Apple Deal, E-Mails Reveal

The coercion was revealed in court records as part of an Iowa antitrust case.

Weeks prior to bailing out a struggling Apple Computer by purchasing $150 million of its stock, Microsoft officials threatened to cut development of a key product for the Macintosh in order to coerce its rival to make the deal, according to an e-mail unearthed during a recent court hearing.

In an e-mail to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the head of the company's Macintosh development unit told his boss that threatening to kill off Microsoft Office for the Mac "is the strongest bargaining point we have." In the e-mail, Microsoft Mac unit head Ben Waldman further noted that "doing so will do a great deal of harm to Apple immediately." The e-mail was entered into court records as part of antitrust case in which plaintiffs in Iowa alleged that unfair business practices by Microsoft allow the company to overcharge for software. The case was settled last month and terms have yet to be disclosed.

Waldman's e-mail indicates that Microsoft didn't hesitate to put further pressure on Apple at a time when Apple was reeling from big financial losses and layoffs. Several weeks after Waldman wrote his e-mail in June 1997, Microsoft announced at the Macworld conference in Boston that it had acquired $150 million in Apple stock.

The deal was greeted by tears and shouts of rage by some Apple aficionados attending the conference as they watched Gates and Apple CEO Steve Jobs announce the deal via a live satellite link.

Microsoft ultimately released an updated version of Mac Office in 1998.

I am going to buy a Mac, but I am PC

The Dumbest Drug Dealer/Trafficker in the history of the United States

This is just too stupid for me to comment on.

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina (AP) -- It might have been one of the easiest drug busts in the history of the South Carolina Highway Patrol: A car with 43 pounds of marijuana crashed into a trooper's cruiser, authorities said.

The easy bust happened after two patrolmen parked their cars in each lane of northbound Interstate 95 near Santee early Sunday morning following a series of wrecks that had tied up traffic, Highway Patrol Capt. Chris Williamson said.

A Chevrolet Malibu going about 70 mph hit one of the cruisers, causing minor injuries to the trooper behind the wheel, Williamson said.

Officers found two large duffel bags in the trunk with 43 pounds of marijuana in plastic bags, worth more than $150,000, Orangeburg County deputy Warren Pendry said.

They also found a few marijuana cigarettes and cocaine, Pendry said.

The 54-year-old driver from Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, was charged with driving under the influence, possession of cocaine and trafficking marijuana, authorities said.

Lord knows a Productive Citizen would never let this happen.

What I sent to google help center today. RE: GOOG DOCs

Pick your topic :
Archiving/Deleting


Enter a brief, but descriptive subject : Goog "word" documents only have 512kb limit! Come on! Goog gives me 2.5 gigs yo, let me make a long enough file that can do justice to a CPA review sheet! grumble grumble armyoftechno.com

You can enter your question or more details on the next screen.

Name: productivecitizen.com
Operating System: Windows XP
Browser type: Firefox 2.0

Question/details:
I said it in the headline,
but I guess here it is again...
Google documents should have a larger file size upper limit.
I ran into this while compiling a review sheet for my
CPA exam(yes they test that much information).
I had to use MS Word,
ewww, and now I am worried I failed the exam.
Please make google documents better at servicing my review sheet compiling needs and the needs of so many students using your fine free service.

PS
I have a website too,
armyoftechno.com, please buy it.

:
	Please provide as much detail as possible to ensure we provide the highest quality service. For example, if you received an error message, please include the text of that message.

The Haternet (an infinite series of reports)

Today's story is about a guy who thinks that the next generation video game consoles are dissappointing, I don't disagree totally with his statement. But the sea of hate that spewed forth from the legion of videogamers/fanboys was intense. You tube this!



[14:54] jbizzlefoshizzle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtIcOanQIwM
[14:54] jbizzlefoshizzle: my directorial debut
[14:54] PC: I agree with the name of it (Top 10 Reasons New Video Game Consoles Suck)
[14:54] PC: I am very dissappointed with this gen (xbox 360, nintendo wii, and p$3)
[14:54] jbizzlefoshizzle: he posted this blog
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: got like 400 comments
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: everyone hating on him
[14:55] PC: word
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: a few agreeing
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: but he's right
[14:55] PC: PCs are better
[14:55] PC: when pimped
[14:55] PC: still but (xbox) live anywhere could be the end of that
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: we'll see
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: live
[14:55] jbizzlefoshizzle: need to get back on
[14:55] PC: you're a retard
[14:55] PC: ehehe
[14:56] PC: that is classic
[14:56] PC: 375 posts calling him a retard
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: i like how it ends
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: makes me laugh
[14:56] PC: being hated and loved is what is important
[14:56] PC: cuz people care
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: yeah
[14:56] jbizzlefoshizzle: as long as people care
[14:56] PC: if they don't feel strongly either way it is not worth doing
[14:57] jbizzlefoshizzle: exactly
[14:57] PC: I can check his writing?
[14:57] PC: hehehe
[14:57] PC: we are gonna edit it real nice
[14:57] PC: hehe
[14:58] PC: kicked in the face five times
[14:58] jbizzlefoshizzle: hehe
[14:58] jbizzlefoshizzle: man, i was trying not to laugh, that's why it's all shaky
[14:58] PC: noob
[14:58] PC: 32 two year old noob
[14:58] jbizzlefoshizzle: lol
[14:58] PC: hehehe
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: i liked that
[14:59] PC: dude that is classic
[14:59] PC: I hate being called a noob on gears
[14:59] PC: I am 26
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: yeah, wtf
[14:59] PC: I am blogging this
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: haha
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: thank you sir
[14:59] PC: random stupidity
[14:59] PC: gotta love it
[14:59] jbizzlefoshizzle: lol, it fits

Army of Techno taking casualties

In the last few years we at AOT have lost some soldiers, and today one more.
In response to our membership dues email:

"It's interesting that you put it like that, because I have been giving it a lot of thought, and I do want to opt out. I am a huge, huge army of techno fan, but I have come to the realization that the ship has sailed on me personally being a professional musician. I love it, but you can't balance a 12 hour per day job with actually being serious about music. I am firmly of the opinion that the label is loaded with talent and one or both of you could really become a major player in the music industry. I will gladly continue to help handing out CD's and things of that nature, but the last thing I want to do is drag down such an awesome thing as this label by not bringing the same enthusiasm to it that the other members do. I love you guys and I hope you don't hate me for this."

John Oden / Stomper / Melvin / Twink / DJ Draftdodger


The main problem I have with this resignation is

"but you can't balance a 12 hour per day job with actually being serious about music"

That statement is complete bullshit. Ask the 99% of musicians that play music every free second they get. Ask the jazz musicians from back in the day. Ask anyone who didn't grow in a Disney test tube, succeeding in music is sweet because of the struggle to succeed.

I saw pre amsterdam john (Melvin),
then post wedding john (Stomper),
and both sucked in my opinion.

He used us,
left us with nothing
and he didn't care to call either of us,
maybe he was scared.
All I know is that John Oden is a quitter
and he can fuck off for eternity in my book.
Closing the door on something open to you is foolish,
AOT didn't ask you to leave, you wanted to.

You can voice your displeasure to him at john.oden@gmail.com

Akira - another great import from Japan

This is the entire film!

PC

Check out Aries Spears do his Rap impressions

Randomly stupid indeed.

PC

Riki Oh: The Story of Ricky

This is one of the greatest films in the history of the world.

PC

Mike Vick's special water bottle!

MIAMI -- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick reluctantly surrendered a water bottle to security at Miami International Airport that smelled like marijuana and contained a substance in a hidden compartment.

Police said Thursday it could be weeks before a decision is made on whether to file charges.

"We'll do an analysis and see what it is. There's no sense of urgency to it," Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said Thursday.

The bottle was found to have a compartment that contained "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana," the police report said. The compartment was hidden by the bottle's label so that it appeared to be a full bottle of water when held upright, police said.

Vick entered an airport concourse Wednesday morning with the 20-ounce bottle. His initial reluctance to turn over the bottle aroused suspicion among airport security screeners, a police report said. He eventually handed it over and boarded his flight to Atlanta.

Police said the bottle was sent to the Miami-Dade County crime lab.

Vick did not immediately return a phone call early Thursday.

"We plan to look into the matter and discuss it with Michael Vick before having any further comment," Falcons spokesman Reggie Roberts said.

Under Florida law, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. First offenders rarely do any jail time.

Two Transportation Security Administration screeners recognized the 6-foot, 215-pound Vick.

Vick's younger brother, Marcus, is a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins. Michael Vick was the overall No. 1 draft pick in the 2001 NFL draft. In 2006, Michael Vick passed for more than 2,400 yards and also topped 1,000 yards rushing.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Gears of War Mad World Commercial Done Right

So I love Gears of War.
You can play me on Xbox Live.
My gamertag is ARMY OF TECHNO

Anyways a dude that played me on gears made this music video.
It is my remix of Mad World with Gears of War footage and parts of the commercial for the game. I think it is pretty tight. Check out his myspace, and continue to download new music from us!



Hey Microsoft, give me some ad revenue!

PC

The greatest wrestling match of all time

Mankind is by far the greatest of all time...

PC

Euros just love electronic music more enthusiastically

Xhibit a*:

*actually e,
Truly randomly stupid...
We love you Mr. T!

PC
AOT

A Wiitarded Wii Strap Accident

It wasn't me, but some overly excited texan broke the plastic ring that connects the wiimote to the fabric wrist strap. There is what is left, and my Walmart care plan, which covers remote controls, but only after the one year warranty of Nintendo's expires...
AND NINTENDO'S WARRANTY DOESN'T COVER THE DAMN WIISTRAP PEOPLE!
GRRRRR

Don't let a drunk person play Wii...

PC


PS

Texas sucks, goodnight Ohio

Madden freezes the Wii

This very thing happened to me today!
I blame EA, not Nintendo... for now...




PC

Check out my friend's movie about the Ohio Election malfunction

COMING SOON

Productive Citizen

Movie Pirate captured after running like hell...

Wall Street Journal reports -

LOS ANGELES -- A federal judge here sentenced Johnny Ray Gasca, a movie pirate caught red-handed several times, to seven years in prison, less time than he might have received under harsher laws he inspired.

Mr. Gasca, a New Yorker who was discovered filming movies with a handheld camera three times in 2002 and 2003, became the poster boy for movie piracy. His brazen conduct led in part to Congress's 2005 toughening of movie piracy laws to make illegal filming a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

Mr. Gasca often enlisted friends to sit beside and in front of him at movies, so no one would stand up and interrupt his filming. He often snuck into pre-release screenings. When caught taping "Anger Management" in 2003, he dumped his tape into his friend's popcorn and escaped, but was later caught. In early 2004, he told his lawyer he needed to buy cold medicine and then escaped from a drug store. It took federal agents more than a year to track him down in a Florida motel, where he was found with stacks of movies and copying equipment.

Judge Dean D. Pregerson sentenced Mr. Gasca to one year for each of the three piracy charges, the maximum penalty under the older law. Under the new law, he could have received up to three years for each incident. The remaining four years stem from other charges, including false use of a Social Security number, witness retaliation, and escape.

After his sentencing, Mr. Gasca stood up and said the case was a conspiracy by the government, according to prosecutor Elena Duarte. Mr. Gasca's attorney did not respond to a call for comment. In July, Mr. Gasca told CBS News that he was working on a novel version of his previously written screenplay, "The Prince of Piracy."

The movie industry pushed hard for the tighter laws for in-theater pirates because they are the first link in elaborate distribution chains that create the millions of illegal DVDs that are sold world-wide.

"West Fuckin Virginia" T shirt on ESPN 11:00 PM EST Today

This guy in the crowd on ESPN West Virginny U vs Rutgers was wearing a "west fucking virginia" shirt, pretty awesome cuz it was live and they showed it nationally, and the dude was all hell yea, and wasted, so good for him, and hopefully someone tivoed it.


Word,

check out AOTV 2
PC

ADDED THE PICTURE

Even-gelicals Are Corrrupt

Saw this on the news, had to mention it.

Since everyone else is still pooping their pants about

John "Giant Douche" Kerry's remarks.

Have a nice day, PC

Haggard Admits Buying Drugs, Getting Massage

David Zalubowski

Copies of books written by pastor Ted Haggard sit on a rack of the bookstore in the New Life Church. AP

All Things Considered, November 3, 2006 · Members of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs have reacted with shock to news that their senior pastor, Ted Haggard, has stepped down after allegations were aired that he had a sexual relationship with a male prostitute.

The evangelical leader has admitted that he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from the man. But Haggard, who has been an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, denied having sex with him.

Thursday, the man, Mike Jones, told the Associated Press that over the course of three years, he and Haggard had sex dozens of times.

The New Life Church's acting pastor told parishioners Thursday night that Haggard acknowledged that some of the charges were true. When Haggard spoke to local reporters Friday, he said he bought drugs from Jones, but that he did not have a sexual relationship with him.

Haggard has also resigned as President of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Inside the cavernous foyer of the church, the scene was very much business as usual Friday. Christian pop played from speakers in the ceiling, and banners advertising the upcoming Christmas show hung from the ceiling. In the church's bookstore, a sign advertising "Pastor Ted's" books was still prominent.

Friday morning, in a corner of the vast parking lot at the 14,000-member church, teenagers Joclyn Garcia and Terra Bear came to pray before school, something they say they do fairly often.

The young women said they were shocked to learn that Haggard had admitted that some of the allegations against him were true.

"I thought it was elections, with the timing," they said. "Thought it was a complete scam. Now that he's admitting to it, its just hard. It's just heartbreaking to comprehend."

Terry Collins, an outreach volunteer who comes to the church every day, said that in the face of their pastor straying, the congregation needed to unite.

"Pastor Haggard, he's made some mistakes," Collins said. "I'm going to try to be a positive example."

Eric Whitney of member station KPCC reports.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6430392

Silly Willie

Willie Nelson in drugs bust

From correspondents in New Orleans

September 19, 2006 08:23am

Article from: Reuters

COUNTRY singer-songwriter Willie Nelson and several fellow musicians were charged with misdemeanor drug possession by Louisiana police after a search of their tour bus today turned up marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

State police spokesman Willie Williams said the bus was stopped early this morning about 7 miles east of Lafayette, Louisiana, for a routine commercial inspection, and a state trooper smelled marijuana inside the bus.

State Police seized about 1½ pounds (0.7kg) of marijuana and two-tenths of a pound (91 grams) of mushrooms from the bus, Williams said.

Nelson and four other passengers on the bus were cited for possession and released, while the driver had his commercial driving privileges suspended in addition to being cited for possession. Nelson faces possible jail time of up to six months and an unspecified fine, police said.

"There was no trouble whatsoever," Williams said. "They were all cooperative."

A spokesman for Nelson said she had no information about the arrest.

Nelson, 73, has been an advocate for the legalisation of marijuana. He became famous in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement that included influences from rock, jazz and folk music.

-------

All I gotta say is leave that old man alone,

PC

The Best Spam Ever

My friend Tony received this:

"steven petrifaction fungible remitting jacobson. davies peacock despot arithmetic dominique isothermal. trapezium soliton duke hornblower beat cereal? wigwam guardhouse alleviate friable judson slur.shad tempera zebra statesman smooth bagpipe. seething blaine eerily, cole supra ancestor notate bookish condolence. berlin simper pm wapato archetype cpa, pigpen soot bangladesh. brennan courtesan cuisine aerate ely upside.foray shameface desolate, nightgown andean percept. ingrate wei cilia transferor."

This is the best nonsensical writing I have ever seen. There is not a single sentence in the whole paragraph, but I can't help but laugh when I read shit like "trapezium soliton duke hornblower beat cereal?" or "shad tempera zebra statesman smooth bagpipe." Spammers everywhere could learn something from this email.

The blog isn't called Random Stupidity for nothing!

PC

A football team buys a football team.

Group headed by Browns owner buys Aston Villa

Associated Press

They both call it "football"
	Aston Villa	Cleveland Browns
Playing since:	1874	1946
Recent finish	16th, Premier League	4th, AFC North
Glory Days	Early English soccer dynasty with 6 titles, 5 FA cups pre-WWI; beat Bayern Munich in '82 Euro final.	Paul Brown, Otto Graham and Jim Brown. Enough said.
Home city	Industrial hub with surprisingly hip downtown.	Industrial hub with surprisingly hip downtown.
Last won title:	1981	1964
Stadium	Villa Park, Birmingham.	"The Dawg Pound."
Fans	Sports Guy says: "By all accounts, they have the most miserable, self-loathing fan base in the [Premier League.]"	Loyal, passionate, given to tossing dog treats at opposition.
Bitter rivals	Birmingham City	Pittsburgh Steelers
Most painful moment(s)	Relegated to Third Division, 1969.	"The Drive" and "The Fumble."
Ozzy Is Everywhere	Birmingham: Home town of Ozzy, Black Sabbath.	Cleveland: Home of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

LONDON -- Another billionaire NFL owner is set to take over an English soccer club.

Cleveland Browns' owner Randy Lerner put in a $118.8 million bid Monday to buy Aston Villa, one of the oldest clubs in English soccer. Last year, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer took over Manchester United, one of the world's most popular soccer teams.

The Aston Villa board recommended the transaction to shareholders and said owners of 56.85 percent of the shares were committed to the deal. Lerner is expected to take over within months.

"The basis for acquiring Aston Villa is that it is a storied club dating from the 1870s with periods of treasured memories and glory," Lerner said. "The opportunity to be a part of strengthening Villa's business operations and facilities represents a broad set of challenges that I'm eager to take on."

Villa chairman Doug Ellis, who has run the Birmingham-based club for more than 30 years and owns 39 percent of the stock, put the team up for sale last year.

Lerner's takeover vehicle, Reform Acquisitions Ltd., offered $10.37 per share, the principals announced to the London Stock Exchange on Monday. That represents a premium of about 47 percent more than the closing price on Sept. 16, 2005, the last day before the offer period. Many English soccer teams are listed on the stock market to raise money from investors.

Lerner, the former chairman of credit card giant MBNA, took over as the Browns' principal owner following the death of his father in 2002. Through MBNA, he's had extensive business dealings in Britain.

As a young man, Lerner served as equipment manager for the Cleveland Cobras of the American Soccer League.

"I never picked up so many smelly uniforms, socks and towels in my life," Lerner said in 2004 when recalling his first venture into pro sports. "I liked sports and my dad knew the Cobras owner, so he figured this would be a good learning experience for me, to start at the basic level."

Lerner would be the fourth foreign owner of a Premier League club.

Chelsea has been revolutionized since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over the club two years ago and invested part of his fortune to buy a team of superstars. The Blues have won the last two league titles.

Last month, another Russian, Alexandre Gaydamak, took over at Portsmouth.

Villa, which opens the 2006-07 season at Arsenal on Saturday, posted a loss of $16.8 million in the last full financial year, and lost $2.2 million the year before.

"It's a club with a rich pedigree but in recent decades, it's been a bit thin on success," said Stephen Jones, a Birmingham-based investment manager with Brewin Dolphin Securities. "For a Premier League club, its finances are pretty solid."

Villa, established in 1874, is one of only four English teams to win the European Cup -- Europe's top club competition. The team has struggled recently and hasn't won the English Premier League title since 1981.

"It's inevitable they will have to go out and spend, given that they haven't won the league in more than 20 years and finished close to the relegation zone last season," said Henk Potts, an equity strategist with Barclays Capital.

The bottom three clubs in the 20-team English Premier League get demoted to a lower division each season.

Potts said Glazer and Lerner targeted English soccer clubs in a bid to boost the appeal of the sport and the league in the United States.

Targeting the U.S. market could "revolutionize the game of football and take it from being the English Premier League ... and turn it into the global club league," he said.

------------------------------------

So the Browns owner is going to buy a soccer team that has won since 1980, maybe that can transfer some karma to the city of Cleveland.

Not this year though,

PC

A Productive Imeem Endorsement

The Following in an Imeem instant message conversation I had with Mark Noble a Candidate for Lt. Governor of Ohio (Libertarian)

10:19 PM

Mark Noble
Hello.

Productive Citizen
hi

Mark Noble
Hello.
Did you buy V yet?

Productive Citizen
yep
special 2 disc
that movie rules

Mark Noble
Me too.
Widescreen.

Productive Citizen
I invite you to join our meem
Army of Techno

Mark Noble
Our meem?

Productive Citizen
me and my music label

Mark Noble
Hmm... See my Killbot Army meem...
I made that logo myself.

Productive Citizen
Army of Techno

Mark Noble
I like Orbital.
Too bad they are gone.

Productive Citizen
it's
ok
http://www.armyoftechno.com

Mark Noble
My friend Todd is a DJ in Portland.
http://www.mrballistic.com
And my friend Mark got sued by CBS and Dan Rather for his song "Rocked by Rape".
http://www.evolution-control.com

Productive Citizen
awesome

Mark Noble
Sheesh, you don't even have Columbus, OH on your poll...

Productive Citizen
cleveland yo!

Mark Noble

Productive Citizen
I am from Canton

Mark Noble
My running mate is in Cleveland.

Productive Citizen
it is closer to home for me


Productive Citizen Are you trying to save Ohio?
Mark Noble
I saw Orbital at Nautica stage with Low Fidelity All Stars and Crystal Method.
Well, I'm working on it.
You going to vote for me?

Productive Citizen
i respect that

Mark Noble

Productive Citizen
I live in texas sadly

Mark Noble I'm the only candidate that listens to Aphex Twin.

Productive Citizen
hehe
rock!

Mark Noble
I WANT YOUR SOUL!!!!!

Productive Citizen
well good luck with all of that
hehe

Mark Noble
Well, you have friends in Ohio, right?

Productive Citizen
yes

Mark Noble
Maybe you can vote for my friend Michael Badnarik.

Productive Citizen
and I can tell them

Mark Noble
Or one of the other Libertarians down there.
Tell them to come on imeem and talk to me.

Productive Citizen
I will
we need imeem to grow

Mark Noble
Bill Peirce is on here too. And our campaign is tearing it up on MySpace.
Indeed. That's why I'm bringing my campaign here.

Productive Citizen
awesome

Mark Noble
We chat in the Libertarian Ideals meem all the time.

Productive Citizen
I will be there if you need some ravers to show up for your victory rave

Mark Noble
Maybe you could help us set up a fundraver?
A tour...
Hit Canton, Columbus, and Cincy?
Maybe Toledo and such too?

END of convo

Isn't Imeem crazy?
So if you live out in Ohio, vote libertarian and we will throw a party to end all parties!
http://peirceforohio.com


I base this on the fact that he likes electronic music and is willing to let AOT play a lot of fun shows for a good reason!


PLUR kids!

PC

Want your firefox to go faster?

A firefox tweak that actually works. This will speed up your loading of webpages with firefox. Seriously.

1. Type about:config into the address bar
2. Right click > New Integer
3. Paste "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" without quotes
4. Integer value set to 0
5. Restart Firefox

Source
http://www.neogaf.com

Tiger does it with out his driver & PC's NEXTCD

I was able to take something away from Tiger's win that most people are either deconstructing too much, or completely avoiding. Tiger won only by shooting once with his driver and a couple of times with his 3 wood. This is on top of the fact that this was still a few months after his father's passing and missing the cut at the US Open (as I blogged about earlier.) He was able to not only show that you can persevere through hardships, but you can do it when your strong talents are missing. He has been criticized for driving the ball over hazards (the reason a lot of courses are longer than they ever have been.) This British Open in 2006, Tiger was been outdriven by most of his opponents, but on the first day, his 200 some odd yard shot for eagle was the unspoken message I had been waiting to see from him.
"I am the best even when you take the best part of my game out of my hands."
We can all learn a lot from this tenacity. His success can be applied to any facet of your life.

I know the Army of Techno will not give up even after a few members have been dropped, being shat on by party promoters, and the stagnant traffic of July. I have not been right, physically, since my car wreck and I am not giving up. In fact, I would like to announce right here that we are starting production on the next Productive Citizen CD project.

Kudos, Tiger. I strive to succeed the same way you have, but I suck at golf.

Tragedy in India

It seems as though terrorists are hurting the US in a different way since 9/11. Almost a year after the bombings in London, an equally internationally significant metropolis has been hit. The style of the attack very similar to London's. Are we US citizens any safer since 9/11? Possibly, but our allies and trade partners have been suffering. India has been the one stock market to grow immensely since the WTC attacks, but today's efforts by the terrorists are going to have an effect on the world economy as well. This happens a week after the dictator of North Korea fired multiple ICBMs into the sea of Japan. Yes, the USA has not been hit since that awful day, but the terrorists are hitting us elsewhere now, our wallets and portfolios. I can only hope that something ends this insanity before even more awful things happen..

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect

PC

I just keep going

This year has been extremely trying for me in my personal life.
Today, another negative thing happened to me.
I am not sure how many more things are going to go wrong this year,
but I take comfort in the success of our music websites: AOT and PC.

My subpage had its best month ever in June, and AOT had its third best month.
(May was our record month at AOT)

I want to thank all of the people out there for your support.
Your individual visits and downloads to and from our sites really keep me going.
I am going to be aggresively updating the site and modifying our interface to make it more pleasurable for the world to hear what we are doing.

My life is testing me right now, and even when I fail, I just keep going...
mainly because I know there is something about to happen.

PC

Being a US soccer fan is harder than being a fan of cleveland sports...

I was born and raised in northeast ohio. We love sports, including soccer there, but I gotta say that US soccer is hurting! How do we tie Italy, with 9 men, and then lose to Ghana. Congratulations to Ghana, they are having a great first world cup, but my team needs to take a good look in the mirror, starting with their coach.

I love this country, but I really think all of our exquisite athletes are fighting a different fight in Iraq without soccer balls...

Think on that Nugget o Wisdom...

PC

PS

There is a direct correlation between countries that like electronic music and those that excel at soccer... (Germany, England, Brazil, Argentina, and Holland to name a few...)

This leads me to think that Ghana may be a better place for my music than the US...

Definitely better than Texas (where Dempsey, the only US player to score a goal is from)

My opinion will change when the world super power we are finally wins the damn thing...

Andrew in Space tries to get his point across...

[19:22] Andrew in Space: supernovae plasma held at absolute zero, trust that the vibes will take me in the best direction
[19:22] *** Auto-response: Join an army that won't send you to die
www.armyoftechno.com

Even Tiger misses cuts

After watching the last two days of golf by Tiger Woods, I realized that sometimes your life can effect your goals... Time and extra effort may be the only way to recover from trying situations and succeed...

This isn't randomly stupid, but just a thought...

and i guess it was random...

Late

PC

An Optimistic Away Message

Since I am away.....you should do the following:
Run outside screaming.
You heard me, do it after you finish reading.
Run outside making outrageous claims about something that you will call............
'Pickle-Major'
Once you are outside....remain silent.
They will come out to look for you, and ....they will find nothing. Just when they think you are gone...........
BAMN! THERE YOU ARE!! YOU ARE ON THE ROOF
That is where I have supplied you a batman utility belt containing a 2 x4, a nightstick, and some onion rings.
Now........Time to get drunk............Get nutty with a bottle of whiskey in one hand. Yes, you can only use one hand. The other you will need for disbursing propaganda for
WWW.ARMYOFTECHNO.COM
join
(of course, the soundsystem will be awesome dont worry about the children attacking)

A post apocalyptic sandwich

A few monthes ago when I had not gone grocery shopping in awhile, I decided to make something out of nothing. The end result was a grilled cheese waffle sandwich. I propose that the factories and packaging of these products would survive a hypothetical apocalyptic event. If this is the case, I want to at least be credited for coming up with what will be the main source of sustenance in the future.

By the way, the sandwiches were great.

THE END

PC

Listen up E Tards and Depressed People!

before you melt your brain any further this weekend or just sit there,

read this..
(this is only important if you care about remembering stuff)

" There is converging evidence that brain serotonin and dopamine may selectively modulate learning and memory in humans. However, this has not been directly demonstrated. In the current study, we used the method of amino acid precursor depletion to explore the effects of low serotonin and catecholamine function on memory in healthy female volunteers. Participants completed three experimental sessions: (i) tryptophan depletion (TD to lower 5-HT); (ii) tyrosine and phenylalanine depletion (TPD to lower catecholamines); and (iii) a balanced control condition (Bal). All testing was conducted in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Cognitive and mood assessments were performed at baseline and 5 h after ingesting the amino acid mixture. Consistent with previous studies, TD impaired declarative memory consolidation on a structured word-learning task, while TPD, acting to lower brain dopamine availability, impaired spatial working memory. No secondary deficits were observed on measures of attention, short-term memory or subjective mood state. These findings suggest that low brain serotonin versus dopamine selectively impairs memory performance in humans. This may shed light on the role of these neurotransmitters in disorders that are characterized by significant memory impairment."

http://jop.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/1/32

His/Her AND (s)He

Hi Again,

So I have a proposal to the people that write textbooks and tests. Instead of wasting my time with this sexual equality shit, how about you switch gender every other example/question. For instance Sue CPA in question 1 and Bill CPA in question 2. Questions will flow better, it will save all of us a lot of time, and it will not take anything away from the sexual equality women have earned. I know it is separate but equal, but this integrated crap is wasting time and ink..

PC

I kicked someone out of my house for calling me a hippy

Don't people understand the difference between ravers, punks and hippies?
Hippies like peace and love.
Ravers like peace, love, unity, and respect.
And Punks, well they don't give a fuck.
I, as well as my music, fall somewhere in between raver and punk, so I guess I am part hippy by my definiton. The key difference is that a raver punk will fuck you up, while a hippy will let you talk shit about them (turning the other cheek.)

The person I kicked out of my house had a knife, for no good reason. He was playing with it, while on painkillers, and almost dropped in, sharpoint down, on my foot. I immediately went off on him for even bringing a knife in my house. He then said those fatal words, "what, are you some kind of hippy?" My answer, "Yea... I am a fucking hippy, get the fuck out of my house."

There are two morals of this story:

1 Carrying weapons always leads to problems.*
2 Be careful who you call a hippy, cuz they may be a punk ready to fuck your ass up.

Peace,

PC

* Texans have a serious problem with weapons. I have encountered more owners of handguns and rifles in the state of Texas than all people from the other 49 states that I know combined. Weapons are not toys and can accidently send people to the hospital or grave.

My favorite insulting word

Fucktard, it is a fucking retard...
good shit,
but why doesn't Toni Wilson do something with this website!

Contact Info for fucktard.com:

Toni Wilson
insomnia@pr0k.net

Demand a fucktard.com that humanity can be proud of.

Cavaliers end a winless playoff drought (1993-2006)

Led by the King of Cleveland, the Cavaliers are moving onto the second round versus the Detroit Pistons. Props to the Cavs but it doesn't stop here.

We are all witnesses.

Instant message regarding DEMF 2006

[18:51] Puck4fun: so you playin' movement?
[18:51] *** Auto-response sent to Puck4fun: I am bored... I think I will get myself addicted to nicorrete for fun... seems easier than smoking
[18:52] Puck4fun: oh wait it's Someone Else

A very stupid post

I just tried Eggo Cereal. It was better than I expected, and it may replace POPs as my favorite cereal to eat without milk...

I told you it was a dumb post!

PC

At 2:40 PM I almost died

Today I realized something about how the world works. If you are rich, or well-off, or have parents or a spouse that are, life comes very easy. The problem with the world is that not everyone is rich, in fact most people in this world are poor.

We have a large third world country on the southern border of the United States called Mexico. It is full of people that suffer under a corrupt government and satanism. It is only natural to think that these people need to better their lives, but is that really possible? Not in Mexico.

So a few guys come over the border to clean some houses and mow some lawns what is wrong with that? Well, our healthcare system, schools, police force, and neighborhoods suffer. It is a one-sided defense to say that all illegal immigrants are hard working and have an equal right to be here as any citizen of the States.

My father was a legal immigrant in the late 1960s, he worked his ass off to get a scholarship at an English medical school abroad and later was accepted to do residency in the States. He went through the natural process of achieving the pursuit of happiness.

Illegal immigrants are stealing their way into America. So many legal immigrants have had to go through the goverment processes yet our country continues to let the porous Mexican border exist. Not all of these immigrants are bad, and that needs to be emphasized here.

There are on the other hand many evil people coming across the border. Today, I was driving through the Milam and Elgin intersection when I was sideswiped by three men running a red light. They were going around 45 MPH and I tried to slow down, but I was probably going 30. My car was shot towards the corner of the intersection, luckily no one was there, and I got out of my car slowly, looked over at the other car, three mexicans, all running down the street leaving "their" car behind. if I didn't try to slow down, they would have plowed right into the driver's side door, and I would have been killed or fucked up. It is my opinion that these men would have run away from a dead me, faster than they did the live me.

The fact of the matter is that these men are criminals, and their race has something to do with it. Illegal Mexican immigrants should be treated as criminals and thrown into American jail. There is no reason to continue to let degenerates into our country, catch them and throw them out just so they can waltz back in. If these men get into another accident, the next victim most likely won't be as lucky as I.

I know that spelling or grammar may be wrong in this rant, but I had a minor concussion and I am pissed off at the world and life. It is cold, lonely, and when you die, that is when you are rewarded for the suffering endured.

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect does not equal Existential Anarchy


I still love everyone that cares about me, and I hope you are glad I am still alive.

Intellectual Property v. The Internet

Intellectual Property v. The Internet

Asif Ahmad Khan

Commercial Law

11/10/05

HOW WE GOT HERE

Technology has brought periods of discontinuity in various industries as far back as the industrial revolution. Farm work became far easier and as result, farms needed fewer workers. Manufacturing experienced a similar discontinuous change with the introduction of the assembly line. For the most part during the twentieth century, technology meant efficiency. This was until the advent of the single most important advancement in our country’s history, the internet. Initially the internet was an efficient way for the US military to transfer information regarding our defense. ARPA, Advanced Research Projects Agency, created a network connecting military defense systems across the United States. This technology was then passed onto US educational institutions, the main purpose being the sharing of information of various university libraries. This free sharing of information was later coined, “The Information Superhighway,” by Vice President Al Gore. The decade of the 1990s brought the most rapid technological change in the history of the US and global economies. Investors were buying up every last website startup they read about, because, “they were the next big thing.” Investors claimed the internet would cause the telecommunications industry to crumble, and in 1999 the first signs of this paranoid fear manifested itself.

Its name was Napster, and it had come to change how music was heard forever. College campuses became rampant with downloading of music. But how different was this behavior from teenagers and college students in the 1960’s becoming addicted to their favorite radio stations? Napster users were able to download a digital file of any artist that any online user had in their collection, with the same information that one would find as a track on a compact disc. It would seem that Napster was another “radio-like” means of hearing music for free with the proper technology, but its intention was to allow users to share files. “Musical compositions have been protected by copyright since 1831 (17 U.S.C. sec. 102(a)(2)) and sound recordings – the reproduction of sounds as opposed to musical notation – have been protected by copyright since 1972 (17 U.S.C sec 301(c)). Copying of sound recordings constitutes unfair competition” (A&M Records Inc. v. Heilman, 75 Cal. App. 3d 554, 560 n.6, 564 (1977)). It seems as though Napster was enabling users to knowingly download illegally reproduced songs for free. What is quite puzzling to the illegal downloaders of the world is the question of exactly who is the artist competing with, themselves? There is no reselling of the songs going on, Napster was a free service, and if anything, there is more exposure for the artist because before the invention of the mp3 format, the only ways to be heard were on the radio or on television. No one was busting down people’s doors when they were taping radio broadcasts and Napster-like programs could have been looked at in a similar light as radio, but instead of embracing the internet as a new medium to reach the masses, all industries in media looked at this movement as lost profits. A similar period of discontinuous change was Sony’s Betamax debacle.

In 1984, VCRs became considerably more affordable. In fact many people had two with which they were able to record anything from one VCR to the next. The parallels to Napster are that both companies offered a product that could be used for illegal activity, but neither product was designed or intended for that. The question presented in the Betamax case was whether the sale of copying equipment was in violation of the Copyright Act. Copyright protection “subsists… in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression” (17 U.S.C. B 102(a)(1982 ed.). This protection has never accorded the copyright owner complete control over all possible uses of his work. Rather, the Copyright Act grants the copyright holder “exclusive” rights to use and to authorize the use of his work in five qualified ways, including reproduction of copyrighted works in copies (Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417 (1984)). Ultimately Sony’s defense was that although their hardware was used for copyright infringement, there was a substantial amount of non-infringing users. “The Betamax is, therefore, capable of substantial non-infringing uses. Sony's sale of such equipment to the general public does not constitute contributory infringement of respondents' copyrights…” (Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417 (1984)) This sets an extremely important precedent which is readdressed in the MGM Studios v. Grokster case.

In 2005, the concept of secondary copyright liability was brought up again. This was because of a Napster-like program that enabled downloading of copyrighted files illegally, by now the internet’s bandwidth and the expansion of hard drive space on computers made it possible to even illegally download copies of movies, which is why MGM stepped in. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had ruled that Napster was guilty of infringement and must stop trading in copyrighted material. Four years later, the same problem had arisen, and the Betamax ruling was in play. Once again the Supreme Court had to make a decision regarding online peer to peer file sharing programs and their responsibility. Grokster, which developed software such as Kazaa, was under siege for enabling copyright infringement, and this time the decision was less difficult. MGM claimed that Grokster was aware of illegal activity and encouraged it within their advertising scheme. This program was free to users, but they would have advertisements at the bottom of the screen, this is how file-sharing software can generate revenue. In his opinion, Justice Souter claimed that “Sony did not displace other secondary liability theories… (Grokster’s actions are) a classic instance of inducement… by advertisement or solicitation that broadcasts a message designed to stimulate others to commit violations. MGM argues persuasively that such a message is shown here.” On November 8, 2005, Grokster settled with MGM. “Under the settlement, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Grokster agreed to pay $50 million to the Recording Industry Association of America, an industry group based in Washington, D.C., that represents music labels. It also agreed to a permanent injunction prohibiting infringement of the music companies' copyrighted works. It may no longer distribute Grokster software, and must cease running ads on its site or engaging in any type of profit-generating activity” (“For Grokster, It's the Day the Music Died,” 11/08/05, McBride, Wall Street Journal).

The damage from Grokster has already been done as millions of people continue to use the software. Many of the ongoing forms of online piracy are based in other countries where there is weak copyright enforcement. This would mean that someone could download a Napster-like program and proceed to share any digital files they please. The internet exists in every country in the modern world, and for there to truly be a way to hold infringers liable, there must be an overarching international statute regarding copyright, and strict enforcement of such a law.

WHERE WE ARE GOING

DMCA

One of the last pieces of legislation passed by President Clinton was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. This addition to the Copyright Act addressed the issue of international piracy. “The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) each require member countries to provide protection to certain works from other (WTO) member countries or created by nationals of other member countries. That protection must be no less favorable than that accorded to domestic works” (http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf). The problem is not in the law, but in the enforcement.

TIVO

A development in technology that seems to have gone under the radar is the explosion of digital video recorders. With a “DVR” one can copy any show that is available on your cable service. It would seem that people who “tivo” a show are behaving in a way similar to those who were illegally copying shows in the Betamax era. The Tivo/DVR concept is not addressed anywhere in the DMCA. “Interestingly, media giants like CBS and NBC are among TiVo's investors. Perhaps media companies have accepted the fact that technology must go forward and that they must adapt to viewers' changing habits. Furthermore, hackers have already made available software that allows DVR users to take compressed copies of TV shows and swap them on the Internet”

(http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?AD=1&ArticleID=2465). Perhaps technology is forcing some media corporations to realize that this is just another period of discontinuity and that there is a whole new market ready to be tapped into.

CHINESE PIRACY OF US TELEVISION

Where Tivo only gives the user a copy of the show, a more accessible form of watching copied shows is gaining popularity in China, part of the WTO. “This new twist turns an ordinary computer receiving the TV channel into a rebroadcaster of video streams, feeding the next computer, which feeds the next. The signal, which is taken live off TV systems mostly in China, is delayed by about a minute before it shows up on computer screens in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media or RealNetworks Inc.'s Real Player program” (“Newest Export from China,” 9/2/05, Fowler, Wall Street Journal). Now, a member nation of the World Trade Organization seems to be doing exactly what the DMCA claims it prohibits. In fact, infringers using this Chinese service are not just limited to the People’s Republic. A hacker in Europe was able to open the site for fellow Euros to watch a soccer match that would have otherwise been blacked out. Once again the problem is not with the statute regarding online piracy, but the lack of enforcement. “Cable channel HBO Asia, whose greater-China feed is featured on many of the services, says it, too, is aware of the systems and ‘very vigilant about shutting them down’ but it declined to give details” (Fowler, 9/2/05). Partners of HBO, and other US media companies have not commented on the ongoing investigation of this new form of online piracy.

TORRENTS
This concept of having users stream television shows to and from each other simultaneously is called torrents. This phenomenon reached the US in 2004 and is now the most common way to pirate anything, from software to full-length films. The torrent users are the only ones that are liable here, because they are the ones sharing the files. There is no company that media companies can hold accountable, and there are legal torrents being used to disseminate information without eating up supplier bandwidth. Oddly enough, the first conviction of someone using a torrent to illegally share a file occurred in Hong Kong. “This past January Chan Nai-ming was arrested in Hong Kong for distributing films over the Internet via BitTorrent, and today he was convicted of that charge in court… he is looking at four years in a Chinese prison for his conviction” (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051025-5478.html). It seems as though the People’s Republic needs to take a look in the mirror. This man is going to jail for 4 years while the rest of the country continues to watch shows that the government has pirated! If he is guilty, is not the rest of the country to be held liable for watching US shows that they have not paid for? This double standard is a prime example of how the enforcement of intellectual property rights on the international level is flawed and requires oversight.

GOOGLE’S PRINT LIBRARY PROJECT

Google has become quite a force in the realm of intellectual property. The search engine recently decided to index written works into a virtual library. Of course copyright law rears its ugly head again, even with regards to works that are out of print. “At its core, the two sides are scrapping over the online application of ‘fair use,’ a legal doctrine allowing the use of copyrighted material for certain purposes, including teaching, research and news reporting. Some lawyers believe at least one of the lawsuits against Google could make its way through the legal system to the higher courts, eventually setting a precedent for fair use in the Internet age” (“Google Will Return to Scanning

Copyrighted Library Books,” 11/1/05, Delaney, Wall Street Journal). Google’s main source of revenue is through advertising. Companies pay to be part of the featured advertisements on the right side of the search results. The parallel to the Grokster case is that Google will be providing copyrighted material to searchers for free, and in turn they will make money on the side. Exactly how fair is Google’s use of the material? The indexation process is being done in conjunction with the University of Michigan and Stanford University, both educational institutions protected by the “fair use” clause. Google is not an institution of learning by the conventional sense of the term, but many people when in an argument turn to Google to shed light on any subject. It would seem that such a resource is extremely similar to the concept of sharing library information between universities that was born at the beginning of the internet. The difference is that there is revenue being generated from the service. This puts Google in a situation similar to Grokster, and this time publishers are the plaintiffs. “Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, said his trade group doesn't intend to withdraw the suit it filed in September against Google in U.S. District Court in New York alleging that the search company is violating copyright” (Delaney, 11/1/05). This completes a powerful triad of industries terrified by the power of the internet.

SONY’S ROOT DIR (the conglomerates strike back)

Instead of adapting to changes in technology, Sony decided to attack DVD hackers in a more malicious way. They created a technology that installs a hidden directory (rootkit) with masked files onto your hard drive any time you insert a Sony DVD. “If you look at the Sony rootkit, it does several things: It strips you of your rights, potentially causes your computer harm, breaks your computer if you remove it, and eats your CPU time” (http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27426). What the rootkit does behind your back is quite stunning. Upon the unannounced installation, the rootkit renames your DVD ROM’s driver file, and hides it in the rootkit, while monitoring any attempts at piracy. If a computer user is savvy enough to locate the rootkit, upon removal, your DVD ROM ceases to function. This is not only a breach of our right to privacy, but it is by all definitions a virus. The ALCEI-EFI (Association for Freedom in Electronic Interactive Communications - Electronic Frontiers Italy) filed a complaint against Sony on November 8, 2005. “It claims that knowingly distributing code which damages computer systems is subject to penal law and an 'indictable offence'… It claims that Sony's actions to offer a patch and instructions on how to remove the software component, which installs itself without the express consent of the user, reveals the company's complicity in the 'crime'” (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/79650/sonys-rootkit-drm-comes-under-legal-attack.html).

This is a prime example of how far out of control the concept of internet piracy prevention has gotten. The “mal-ware” rootdir installs on all computers presented with a Sony DVD, this in effect hurts the non-infringing Sony viewers as well as the pirates. There is no sense in such actions and this is yet another case that will set a much needed precedent regarding the intellectual property laws of the internet.

WHERE SHOULD WE GO?

Betamax and the VCR revolution led to decreased sales of videos. At the same time the rental industry was booming, so the movie producers’ logic was that their demand for videos had shifted from the consumer to the renter. The production companies reacted by raising the prices of the videos. Rental companies had to buy the movies to rent, so increasing the cost of each tape was the best way that video producers could adapt to the discontinuous change brought by VCR dubbing. In doing this, the revenue stream shifted (producers now get a percentage of renter’s revenues), and most companies weathered the storm.

A similar procedure could have been adopted by the RIAA and the MPAA. The MPAA has introduced a few ideas. Recently movies have started being released on DVD the same day that they come out in theaters. This is to prevent those who post torrents of bootleg films shot by camera in the movie theater from detracting from ticket and movie sales. It is too early to see if it is working, but it is not too early to evaluate how far we have come since Napster.

There is more online piracy today than there has ever been. For every Napster or Grokster stopped, there is another different form of piracy born. Most of the time the enablers of infringement are in countries that don’t enforce the DMCA, and the people being arrested for infringement are the downloaders. Hobbes once said that the state of human nature was anarchy. This point has never been manifested anymore clearly than on the internet. The virtual nature of the internet allows people to feel that they are not part of any country, and in turn do not need to abide by any rules. For the internet to remain what it was initially intended to be there needs to be enforcement of some sort of rule. I believe that lowering the amount of damages awarded to the copyright holder would motivate some countries to enforce the laws of the WTO. “Mandatory statutory damages of as much as $150,000 per work infringed… a single iPod filled with infringing songs could give rise to more than half a billion dollars in damages” (http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/MGM_v_Grokster/grokster_one_pager.pdf). I believe that part of the reason that such a law isn’t enforced as stringently as it could be is that most of these infringers don’t even have $150,000 and if they did, they probably would have bought whatever it was they were infringing.

In my interview with Manuel Gomez, an attorney in Miami, we discussed the future of the internet and intellectual property. The main theme of our discussion was how the Supreme Court has dealt with technology. In each of the cases that have been described, the court attempted to rule on the most specific possible conflict. The fear, as Mr. Gomez put it, is that they don’t want to act too soon regarding a topic that may look completely different in the future. The laws need to catch up with technology in a sense. Regarding Google’s book project, Mr. Gomez felt that fair use is a stretchable doctrine, but the fact that Google would make revenue off the project eliminates the defense, although not completely. Google’s library project, if it goes to court, will address something new regarding the internet, parallels of such a case could be drawn to the Microsoft anti-trust suit.

The Department of Justice sued Microsoft before it grew out of control, but in doing so, it is a common belief that technological development has been thwarted. The technology is available to combine computers with televisions and phones, but obsolete industries screamed bloody murder. An innovative product that replaces multiple industries should not be viewed as a monopoly, but as change. Google’s library project is innovative in a different way. The biggest problem in this country is the divide between the haves and have-nots. The haves are able to get a good education, where the have-nots may not. This divide transfers to the digital world, but now even poor people can afford dialup internet. Google and other services that provide knowledge to people that could not find it otherwise are aiding in the closing of that divide.

The United States is losing its financial dominance to Asia, mainly China and India. The disparity in public education in the US is a main reason. Adding the constant thwarting of innovative ideas regarding the dissemination of information to an already weak educational base gives our newfound economic rivals even more of an advantage. China has made leaps and bounds in stem cell research, while the right wingers hold that up in the states. If we were to let Microsoft develop the products it truly could, we would have created a new dominant design for media by now. If we let Google finish their library project, it could be the greatest compilation of writings ever! It is important for the US to measure the benefits of innovation along with the costs.

Instead, I foresee more lawsuits. TiVo is setting itself up to be sued by not producers, but advertisers. When someone “DVRs” a show, they are able to skip through all the commercials. Eventually, data will be compiled showing that TiVo decreases the effectiveness of advertising and in turn, TiVo could be held liable for lost Nike sales, for example. This is an upsetting but very realistic way to look at the future of the internet. Already the MPAA and RIAA are working on a new sub-internet called Internet2, which claims to eliminate piracy. As I stated above, the problem of piracy goes beyond fixing one problem that lets people pirate, it requires seriously looking at the big picture.

We live in a world with countries that cannot get along. To think that the internet is free of these problems is foolish. If we are to eliminate piracy, or even enforce laws properly, we need every country to be on board. This is not the case, and if it ever is, that is a condition of world peace, a concept that is virtually impossible to accomplish. Perhaps achieving virtual harmony on the internet can lead to harmony in the world, but it is most likely necessary for that to happen the other way around.

A Sober Man in Paris

A Sober Man in Paris

Missa- A tried and true ninja warrior of the night.

Doco- A drunk ex-water polo player who had to quit the game because of an ear infection.

Yemi- A Nigerian track star that runs for the love of running.

Schiznat- Femine male stewardess. Who wears a sash and smokes Virginia Slims.

Missa: This is a lit mag of much honor and respect. The ancient elders would be very pleased. It is about appreciating the rich culture of my Asian heritage.

Doco: This gosh darn doodly dangling mag got too many poems about human emotions ain’t got nothing about me buddy JD! WHOO-HOO

Yemi: There is not enough love being shown in this mag. My people in Nigeria always show love.

Doco: You chronic nad-faddlin dingle dangin dan nag banger doodle dopper! There’s two things that matter in this here world. Thers’s J and then there’s D! I don’t give a gosh darn about some Chinamen talkin’ about diversity! Yee-Haa! (Spits a wad of his personal Skoal.)

Missa: EUI! (Missa smashes a brick over Doco’s face.) You have no respect for my culture or the Elders. This brick is you in two very separate but very distinct places. YOU ARE HERE YOU ARE HERE!

Doco: Well, your gosh dang Elders don’t know a damn thing. If you want to talk about elderly folk. Read thre gosh dang, “The Lonely Old Drunken Fool” That there poems about a good old boy. (Stutters) It aint about Eloride, that there poem’s about me!!! Dagnabit!

Yemi: Why don’t you show love? “For Pele’s Love” is about the consuming nature of love!

Missa: Love! You know not love. Love is supreme honor between me and Josephine. If you provoke me once more. I’ll have to kill you.

Yemi: There’s not enough love being shown in this lit mag. That is a major problem the Chutiemumba has with modernized writing. It comes off quite condescending and insincere. Modern writers featured in literary magazines like this fail to pay homage to the finer things in life – like papaya trees and fresh running water.

Doco: What?

Missa: (To Chutiemumba) Your words are worthless and weak. You failed in honor; You don’t understand “How I became a black man.”

Doco: Oh yeah. That reminds me of my mentor. Reading that story while incommunerino to the crapper, I learned a mighty interesting things – I think I’m black and Chinese. Cause there’s that there one line. “I wish I was a chinamen living free” and it reminded me – what? – GAWDAMNIT I AM FREE!!

Missa: You Fool! When I broke brick over face it had nothing to do with your emotional welfare. When I broke brick it was to document how your physical self has been relocated it had nothing to do with separate identity crisis. The purpose of the story is to understand your specific cultural role as an American. The author is a man of much pride. He knows the whole time that he is not black, but uses the black race as a catalyst to better understand his own culture.

Yemi: All culture and people are beautiful. Some people come to American from my native land and change their name to Matthew or Elizabeth – but I’m still Chutiemumba. I don’t need a catalyst.

Doco: (teary eyed) Aw hell. Reading this lidratoor makes me want to cry. Boo-hoo. I aint got no identity. Wait a minute. Gawdammit- I hate this hippy crappola I do have culture. Takes a swig of his mentor. Der’s M’ buddy… Yup.

Yemi: Jah! You seem to embody the old drunken fool. (Doco punches Chutiemumba in the face) AHHH!! No love? Bear with me. This poem picks apart mans problem with the bottle.

Doco: (Foaming at the mouth) You noodler doodler dodecahedrical nad faddler nipper dipper skipper. Give me thirty-nine good reasons why I shouldn’t split your melon right open.

Missa: Fuck. Our flight to France is leaving in twenty minutes.

(They arrive at the airport and board. Doco, still reeling from ridicule and his personal mentor keeps to himself; they give him a window seat because he is about to get motion sickness. Meanwhile, Missa and Yemi strike up a conversation.)

Missa: Supreme honor!!!!! “Tears on the verge, my mind wont merge, feelings want to hide, stomach getting wide, women with life long dreams.” Eui, just like Josephine and me participating in the bountiful pleasures of the flesh without protection.

Yemi: Bah! Missa you have to be careful or anne-soo will make little Missas.

Stewardess Schiznat: Uh. Ajizzaytabang. Dat poem was tight yo. It’s about the hizzo’s and booty, and all that crazyassmotherfuckingshit. You want some pizzi nuts or cold bizzeverage?

(Plane explodes everyone dies.)

THE END

CJ AK JM 1999