Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: "Rubbish" is putting it politely

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  • Gareth Ward,

    "Did Hitler use P?"

    I burst out laughing at what I thought was a very good Python-esque joke-title.
    Then realised that actually WAS the cover line.
    And laughed some more...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    Next week's cover story will be Adolf Hitler:" Mein Drug Hell"

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • Dan Slevin,

    Also recommended is the just released children’s illustrated book of the lyrics of Forever Young.

    On the subject of "Forever Young", the most emotional I have been in a cinema this year was watching the oldie choir in Young @ Heart singing that song for a group of prisoners. You had to mop me up afterwards. The film opens at Xmas - don't miss it.

    Wellington, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    How much was Stalin's house worth?

    Chairman Mao: his secrets to aging gracefully.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Thomas Watts,

    Auckland • Since Feb 2008 • 7 posts Report Reply

  • st ephen,

    That P story nearly lost me half a page in when he tried to illustrate "the pervasive nature of the drug in society":
    Exhibit 1: Millie Elder, rich party girl.
    Exhibit 2: Connor Morris, kickboxer, son of Head Hunter known as "One Eye".

    "South Auckland to the leafier, wealthier parts of town", sure. But isn't it the bit in the middle that's supposed to be the story?

    dunedin • Since Jul 2008 • 254 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    How much was Stalin's house worth?

    Chairman Mao: his secrets to aging gracefully.

    See Hitler's Mountain Home:

    "There is nothing pretentious about the Fuhrer's little estate ..."

    Except that was fo' real ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    What, no P lab?

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    Carter, also Minister of Education, is patron of the Gay Auckland Business Association (Gaba), which this week distributed flyers to secondary schools asking students to apply for a $2000 tertiary scholarship.

    Perhaps the Listener has legal experts looking at the wrong law.

    If GABA are not a registered third party and this flyer bearing the name of MP (& patron) Chris Carter is seen as an advertisment then it is quite possibly illegal for the GABA to be distributing it in an election year.

    Now that would be embarrassing to Helen Clark.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Hitler's Mountain Home

    Classic!

    Private Eye did a spoof Hello that contained an article "At Home With Saddam Hussein, Mrs Hussain And Their Nine Children, Pets and Torture Victims".

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    If GABA are not a registered third party and this flyer bearing the name of MP (& patron) Chris Carter is seen as an advertisment then it is quite possibly illegal for the GABA to be distributing it in an election year.

    No, because (even if merely mentioning the name of an MP was an election advertisement, which it isn't) they are very unlikely to be spending $12,000 on printing and distributing such flyers and are thus not required to register.

    How about we discuss the *real* EFA, rather than the spurious straw man one created by the <strike>National Party</strike> New Zealand media.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    How much was Stalin's house worth?

    $15 million - sea views, situated in a lively neighbourhood.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    $15 million - sea views, situated in a lively neighbourhood.

    Wouldn't have remained lively for long, surely.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    No, because (even if merely mentioning the name of an MP was an election advertisement, which it isn't) they are very unlikely to be spending $12,000 on printing and distributing such flyers and are thus not required to register.

    You are confused that is the limit of a campaign backing a party, for a single MP the limit is $1000.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Speaking of the debate, both parts are now up on TVNZ ondemand. But I'm still getting the "sorry this content is not available to view" message, even after updating Flash and turning off my pop-up blocker. Is anyone else having this problem? (The Windows Media versions are still available at debate.net.nz.)

    I got the same and watched the Windows media version (until it froze about 90 mins in but I got to see the ACTA stuff which was what I wanted to hear about).

    I noticed Cunliffe mentioned that the ACTA negotiations are happening through the auspices of the WTO. Nuh-uh. That;s the whole point, it's a run around the WTO because they can't force it through there. But I thought the answers from the panel were pretty good. I liked your question about why do we have copyright law, but you should have followed up with "what evidence do we have that it works?" ;-)

    As I told the Creative Commons list this morning, on Wednesday, at the NZ Open Source Awards in Wellington, Cunliffe opened the door a little wider (having been challenged by a few people on this and S92a of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment [re ISPs policing copyright on their network]) and invited the advocates to a meeting with him and Tizard sometime in the next 2 weeks. He seemed genuinely surprised at the depth of feeling about both matters, so there may be a chance to influence yet.

    Don Christie (NZOSS) and I had a meeting with Judith Tizard and her officials a few weeks ago, regarding my submission and related matters. It was mainly to wave the flag and to see if we could get any more information released (MED noted 91 documents relevant to my OIA request but released only 13 and most of them were redacted in some way). We were unsuccessful in that, but one point they did raise was that participation in the negotiations did not automatically mean that NZ would sign the final agreement, but that it was better to be inside the tent than out. Those of us still stuck on the outside would tend to agree :-)

    If you're still playing at home, the URL is here

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew E,

    MED noted 91 documents relevant to my OIA request but released only 13 and most of them were redacted in some way

    And did you lodge a complaint with the Ombudsmen about the documents and parts of documents that were withheld?

    One of the stated purposes of the OIA is to enable people to effectively participate "in the making and administration of laws and policies". The Ombudsmen might have a different different view on the level of disclosure required by MED to fulfil that purpose of the law than MED does.

    174.77 x 41.28 • Since Sep 2008 • 200 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Now that would be embarrassing to Helen Clark.

    In the pantheon of far-fetched interpretations of the EFA, that's right up there, Angus. The law is an ass, but not that much of an ass.

    Indeed, I cannot see a single reason that an invitation for people too young to vote to apply for a private scholarship could somehow be seen as an an attempt to persuade the public to vote for a party.

    Although in the unlikely event you're right, Eric Roy's in trouble, being patron of Young Farmers and all ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    What ever happened to the lighter stuff chucked about on a Friday...?

    How's this contribution. Approx 30% of Australia's top songs are by Crowded House (lead singers surely define where a band's from, not where they were formed, where the rest of the members were from, where they played most of their gigs, lived or even decided to call it quits... surely).

    But, it's not without contention. Kylie's Arse has some, ermm, backers too (if that's too rude for PAS, I'm sorry... but I couldn't stop laughing).

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Julie Fairey,

    I assumed Angus was making a funny? But perhaps not?

    Excuse me, baby trying to disconnect me from interweb by chewing through cable

    Puketapapa Mt Roskill, AK… • Since Dec 2007 • 234 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I liked your question about why do we have copyright law

    Which everyone flunked, even Cunliffe, who I thought might get it. But even he described copyright as a balance between the interests of the public and those of copyright owners.

    Copyright, as the MED discussion paper that led to the current copyright law so nicely observed, is all about the public interest: it serves that interest by granting limited exclusive rights to the copyright owner (to encourage him/her to create more creative works for us to enjoy).

    The nature and extent of those rights are calculated on what will maximise the public good. We do not want a society in which artists cannot prosper, and we don't want laws that inhibit the human conversation.

    I find that's quite a useful perspective from which to look at how copyright law should evolve.

    but you should have followed up with "what evidence do we have that it works?" ;-)

    It totally works. Just don't obsess about retail.

    If Heineken wants to license Chris Knox's 'It's Love' to accompany its Todd Haynes-directed TV commercial for Heineken Premium Light, it should have to pay Chris. And only Chris should be able to license that song for that purpose. Copyright protects those rights.

    Geeks could do with learning more about collecting societies, which I suspect hold some clues for workable future models. Locally, Apra's readiness to be realistic about the price for blanket performance right licences and such has been a good thing.

    Hmmm. Might have to write a post about this now.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    Except that not all collecting societies necessarily benefit the creator. Case in point: CCL collect on behalf of all NZ writers whether they hold an authorisation or not, because there is legislation that says they can. Do they then hand out to a writer her due royalties, based on the number of tmes their work has been copied? Do they, fuck! They pick a "representative selection" of writers on their list and divvy what's left after their expenses have been taken out. They declined to make known what their criteria for selection were.

    This is from a seminar they gave at least 3 years ago to government knowledge managers/librarians because CCL were trying to persuade them to rigorously pay up based on their photocopier stats. The CCl POC seemed to be that each agency would have one photocopier and it would be in the library and so easy to manage. They couldn't quite suss that in one small agency there might be 6 copiers per floor, and that the majority of material photocopied was stuff we had written internally in order to fulfill the requirements of politicians and for consultation (because photocopy toner is cheaper than laser toner - still, the laser didn't jam as often)

    The best method would be to not put any middleman between creator and consumer, but devise a method that recompenses the creator directly. How you do this is an exercise for the student ;-) although Cory Doctorow and Tor books seem to be having some success.

    The key issue for creators is visibility, not recompense. The Intarwebs give all creators an opportunity to do direct marketing and I think the solution lies in some modification of that.

    Ref your Chris Knox example, sure if he retained the copyright. If he sold or transferred it to the record label, then it's theirs to onsell. That's why it's so important to retain your own copyright.

    The current model of copyright does not work to the benefit of the creators but to that of the publisher. It has always been this way from the mid-1500s when the Stationer's Guild started keeping a register of which printers had permission from the Crown to publish what books. Authors were not part of the equation until the Statute of Anne in 1710.

    Hmmm. Might have to start a blog so I can write a post on this now. :-)

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    "the CCL POV" dammit

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis,

    I think everybody has missed the BIG question here.

    But it's one that did not escape practically all of my high school students when they heard about the scholarship last week.

    "How do they know that you are gay?"

    Several proposed telling whomever they apply to that they are gay and want the 2 grand. Others were willing to go and pash another member of the same sex to try to get the money.

    It's not quite the same as getting a beige colour chart from Taubmans and lining it up next to your skin to see if you qualify for that PI scholarship.

    Maybe they check how you dress?

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    Ha ! - As far as I can see the CCL is a legally endorsed racket. Their rep turned out give a seminar at <redacted> schhol at <redacted> Uni to support an audit. The session quickly turned into a debate which concluded with a very upset rep saying you have got to pay 'cos thats what the law says and storming off (which isn't strictly true as AFAIK).

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Do they then hand out to a writer her due royalties, based on the number of tmes their work has been copied? Do they, fuck! They pick a "representative selection" of writers on their list and divvy what's left after their expenses have been taken out. They declined to make known what their criteria for selection were.

    Good grief. Apra's system looks very good next to that.

    Hmmm. Might have to start a blog so I can write a post on this now. :-)

    No, dude. Write a killer guest post and I'll publish it here. Seriously.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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