By Alex Knapp
Forbes | Article Link
The folks at Singularity Hub pose the following question — if/when an artificial intelligence is created that matches the intellect of a human, should such intelligences be granted full civil rights?
"Whenever you think an artificial intelligence will match your own intellect, what should we do with it as it arrives? Are these things just machines that we can use however we want? If they do have civil rights, should they have the same rights as humans? Can they own stuff? Can they vote?"
I think this both poses some interesting questions but also illustrates some of the inherent absurdities of the very concept of general artificial intelligence that is sentient poses. The thing about an artificial intelligence, presuming that it’s computer-based, is that at some level, it’s inherently going to be programmed. In Isaac Asimov’s robot stories, every robot was equipped with the “Three Laws of Robots” — safeguards that, in theory, meant that intelligent robots wouldn’t harm humans and would obey them.
Monday, April 4, 2011
MPAA Files Copyright Suit Against Zediva
By Greg Sandoval
Media Maverick | Article Link
The trade group representing the six major Hollywood film studios filed a copyright suit in federal court against online video distributor Zediva today.
The suit has started the process that almost certainly will end with Zediva's demise.
"Zediva illegally streams movies to its customers without obtaining required licenses from the movie studios," the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said in a statement today. "Zediva claims it is like a brick-and-mortar DVD 'rental' store and therefore not obligated to pay licensing fees to copyright holders. But the DVD 'rental' label is a sham. In reality, Zediva is a video-on-demand service that transmits movies over the Internet using streaming technologies in violation of the studios' copyrights."
Media Maverick | Article Link
The suit has started the process that almost certainly will end with Zediva's demise.
"Zediva illegally streams movies to its customers without obtaining required licenses from the movie studios," the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said in a statement today. "Zediva claims it is like a brick-and-mortar DVD 'rental' store and therefore not obligated to pay licensing fees to copyright holders. But the DVD 'rental' label is a sham. In reality, Zediva is a video-on-demand service that transmits movies over the Internet using streaming technologies in violation of the studios' copyrights."
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Music Industry Will Force Licenses on Amazon Cloud Player — or Else
By Jacqui Cheng
Wired | Article Link
Amazon’s decision to launch its new Cloud Player without securing additional music licenses has been described as a “bold move” by many observers. It takes serious guts for Amazon to simply declare that it doesn’t need licenses — especially when even casual observers know the music industry thinks otherwise.
Still, this isn’t a one-dimensional issue, and the law has yet to deal much with services like Amazon’s. Record companies fantasize about huge revenues from streaming services, and they fear digital lockers like the plague.
Wired | Article Link
Amazon’s decision to launch its new Cloud Player without securing additional music licenses has been described as a “bold move” by many observers. It takes serious guts for Amazon to simply declare that it doesn’t need licenses — especially when even casual observers know the music industry thinks otherwise.
Still, this isn’t a one-dimensional issue, and the law has yet to deal much with services like Amazon’s. Record companies fantasize about huge revenues from streaming services, and they fear digital lockers like the plague.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Music, The Man and the P2P Rebellion: Are Copyrights the Vietnam of Today’s Youth?
By Moses Avalon
Moses Supposes | Article Link
Where once pop music was the soundtrack of the revolution, now it’s the revolution’s object. Clearly this is not your daddy’s sit-in. But today’s youth may be in for a rude awakening when they realize what they are really rebelling against– their own freedom.
Moses Avalon
I grew up in the aftermath of the “hippie” era; the one that made political protests into a social activity. You risked arrest to end the Vietnam War– and met girls. Music was the rallying point. It gave the movement momentum.
Today, it seems, music is at the center of a different kind of youth revolution, one whose values are far different from their parents. Where once pop music was the soundtrack of the revolution, now it’s more or less, the revolution’s object, manifesting as the “right” to free music. Or as the P2P culture would put it: the right to access information and liberate music from the shackles of “Big Content” who can not accept the death of copyrights.
Moses Supposes | Article Link
Where once pop music was the soundtrack of the revolution, now it’s the revolution’s object. Clearly this is not your daddy’s sit-in. But today’s youth may be in for a rude awakening when they realize what they are really rebelling against– their own freedom.
Moses Avalon
I grew up in the aftermath of the “hippie” era; the one that made political protests into a social activity. You risked arrest to end the Vietnam War– and met girls. Music was the rallying point. It gave the movement momentum.
Today, it seems, music is at the center of a different kind of youth revolution, one whose values are far different from their parents. Where once pop music was the soundtrack of the revolution, now it’s more or less, the revolution’s object, manifesting as the “right” to free music. Or as the P2P culture would put it: the right to access information and liberate music from the shackles of “Big Content” who can not accept the death of copyrights.
Studio Suing BitTorrent Pirates Does Not Own the Movie, Records Show
By David Kravets
Wired | Article Link
A film company suing 5,865 BitTorrent downloaders over the flick Nude Nuns with Big Guns doesn’t own the rights to the movie, according to court documents and interviews.
Incentive Capital of Utah took ownership last month of the B-rated flick about a sister who is “one Bad Mother.” Yet two weeks after Incentive Capital foreclosed and assumed Camelot Distribution Group’s titles because of an allegedly soured loan, Camelot filed a mass copyright lawsuit (.pdf) on behalf of Nude Nuns claiming it owned the rights.
Wired | Article Link
Incentive Capital of Utah took ownership last month of the B-rated flick about a sister who is “one Bad Mother.” Yet two weeks after Incentive Capital foreclosed and assumed Camelot Distribution Group’s titles because of an allegedly soured loan, Camelot filed a mass copyright lawsuit (.pdf) on behalf of Nude Nuns claiming it owned the rights.
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