Politicians do it; CEOs do it; Even educated MPAA officials do it; Let’s do it; Let’s spread the FUD!
Can you spot the oxymoron?
Anyhow - digg just pointed me at this highly amusing poster that is meant to teach kids not to upload copyrighted media.
Q: Why shouldn’t you upload copyrighted media?
A: Because you risk:
- breaking the law
- getting exposed to pornographic materials
- downloading a serious computer virus
- sharing your personal data, which can lead to identity theft
A “free” movie might actually cost you. It may be free, but it could be illicit material cna come with a virus as well.
Some Peer-2-Peer file-sharing services could put your family’s financial records on the screen - to be seen across the entire Internet.
Well I’m glad to know that I’m only risking breaking the law - not actually breaking the law.
And who in their right mind keeps financial records on a computer that’s linked to the Internet? Given that most people still use Windows and a lot of those still use Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, I’d be more worried about the spyware and viruses that this software combination exposes you to.
And just to be a little anal about this - why would uploading copyrighted material put you at the risk of downloading a serious computer virus? Which part of this upload process involves the download of another file. Unless they mean the peer-to-peer file sharing application, of course.
It’s a slow news day for me. Need another coffee.
This is a great idea. I think I might create some that fit on Australian pedestrian crossing button box things. Do they have a proper name?
Well, I had a blast. Ubermonkey joined me for a while, and I was even interviewed by the guys from Community Media Services as part of their programme 31 Degrees. They said the footage will be available from their site at some point, and I look forward to seeing how much I was shaking and how red my face was. As most people do, I feel quite nervous about talking to crowds, but being recorded means the potential for embarrassment can last a life time 
I spoke to about 30 people about the Open Source Developers’ Conference, Melbourne PHP Users Group and BarCampMelbourne. While most developers had heard of PHP, the rest were also familiar with it, mainly through web apps they were using.
Similarly with OSDC, most people who were interested were already planning to attend, and were excited and enthusiastic about BarCampMelbourne.
I was pleasantly surprised at the range of people who were aware and interested in F/OSS (free and open source software) and believe exciting times a not far away at all; the Open Source ‘movement’ seems to be heading for critical mass at a rapid rate.
Ah, the sound of 5 year olds arguing in the playground. It bring back such fond memories.
Alas, my hearties (I’m warming up for International Talk Like A Pirate Day), this is no child’s tantrum. The world’s “near monopolist” in software, Microsoft, has told the European Commissioner that unless it “make[s] their regulatory path clearer, more consistent and transparent”, they will not be shipping Vista to Europe.
Microsoft are seeking approval for Vista from the commission before it releases the software rather than after the fact. Jonathan Todd, the European Commission spokesman on competition, points out that “[t]he responsibility for ensuring that Vista complies fully with EU competition rules … lies not with the commission but with Microsoft.”
I have to say I’m not totally surprised that Microsoft will act this childishly, but it’s rather amusing nonetheless. Unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t follow through on similar threats to Korea, so it seems that Europe will be burdened with this operating system anyway.
From InternetNews via Digg.
