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Study: P2P thieves buy more music | The Open Road - CNET News: "As Ars Technica reports,
When it comes to P2P, it seems that those who wave the pirate flag are the most click-happy on services like the iTunes Store and Amazon MP3. BI said that those who said they download illegal music for 'free' bought 10 times as much legal music as those who never download music illegally."
The movie industry fought VHS because movies could be copied but who would argue that VHS was bad for the movie industry?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Innovation can breathe again: Patent filings decline | The Open Road - CNET News
Innovation can breathe again: Patent filings decline | The Open Road - CNET News: "While the PatentlyO blog suggests this is a 'crisis,' I'm with TechDirt: the only crisis is that it has taken so long for patent filings to decline:
Considering the large number of bad patents that got through over the years, and the resulting flood of applications from others hoping to strike it rich by gaining monopolies on obvious ideas, it should be seen as a good thing that applications are finally dropping.
If anything, we should be wondering why they're not dropping more. Patents were supposed to be given out in the rarest of circumstances, when other incentives weren't enough. Somewhere along the way, those who controlled the patent system seemed to forget this and lose their way."
Considering the large number of bad patents that got through over the years, and the resulting flood of applications from others hoping to strike it rich by gaining monopolies on obvious ideas, it should be seen as a good thing that applications are finally dropping.
If anything, we should be wondering why they're not dropping more. Patents were supposed to be given out in the rarest of circumstances, when other incentives weren't enough. Somewhere along the way, those who controlled the patent system seemed to forget this and lose their way."
Monday, April 20, 2009
A conservative
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
A conservative is a man who realizes that when the government takes a step forward it often forces man to take a step back.
Obama Repeats '90 Percent' Stat for U.S. Guns Recovered in Mexico - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com
Obama Repeats '90 Percent' Stat for U.S. Guns Recovered in Mexico - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com:
"Recovered" does not seem like the correct word to describe this. "recovered in Mexico" to me covers all guns that the Mexican government has found.
'This war is being waged with guns purchased not here, but in the United States. More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our shared border,' the president said on the subject in his joint press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday:
To some, it might sound as if Obama is saying 90 percent of all guns captured from the cartels originated in America. But that's not what the president means, senior National Security Council Spokesman Denis McDonough told FOX�News on Saturday.
"By recovered he means traceable, guns traced back to the United States," McDonough said. "These are ATF (Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) numbers. These are the guns submitted to the ATF for tracing. That's what we mean by recovered."
"Recovered" does not seem like the correct word to describe this. "recovered in Mexico" to me covers all guns that the Mexican government has found.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
"Do You Austrians Have a Better Idea?" - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute
"Do You Austrians Have a Better Idea?" - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute: "n one sense, the critics are right when they ask, 'Oh, so we should just sit back and do nothing and let the market fix itself?' Yes, that would be a perfectly good idea. The whole reason we are in a recession in the first place is that the capital structure of the economy had become unsustainable due to the Fed's massive credit expansion following the dot-com bust and 9/11 attacks. Resources — most notably, labor — are currently idle, because the economy needs to readjust. Overextended lines such as housing and finance need to shrink, while others need to expand. (And no, I don't know what those understaffed lines are; that's why we have a price system.) Because Americans lived beyond their means for so many years, they now need to live below their means, consuming less while they rebuild their checking accounts and portfolios."
Ten specific proposals are listed in the article.
Ten specific proposals are listed in the article.
Campaign For Liberty — File This Under...
Campaign For Liberty — File This Under...: "... 'You know you're in trouble when...'
The former head of the KGB warns you that you're embracing too much socialism:
Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin has said the US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise 'excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state's omnipotence'....
Sounding more like Barry Goldwater than the former head of the KGB, Putin said, 'Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.'..."
The former head of the KGB warns you that you're embracing too much socialism:
Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin has said the US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise 'excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state's omnipotence'....
Sounding more like Barry Goldwater than the former head of the KGB, Putin said, 'Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.'..."
Problems with the Iowa Supreme Court Decision on Homosexual marriage
Voddie Baucham Ministries: "Right off the bat the Iowa decision jumps on the “Gay is the New Black” bandwagon."
"They do not ‘prove’ that homosexuality is a Civil Rights issue; they assume it. There is no Constitutional Right to sodomy. Moreover, homosexuals are not deprived of their Civil Rights in marriage, because they have the same rights in that regard as every American. That’s right... HOMOSEXUALS HAVE THE RIGHT TO MARRY! What they don’t have the right to is same-sex marriage."
"The Supreme Court of Iowa is basing its opinion on what is “unappealing to a gay or lesbian person.” This is not jurisprudence; this is social engineering."
"In other words, a right that you cannot enjoy is no right at all. Imagine this phrase applied to other sexual deviants. “Thus, the right of a [pedophile] under the marriage statute to enter a civil marriage only with a person [of legal age] is no right at all.”"
"How do the Justices know that the plaintiffs’ relationships were committed and loving? How does a same-sex couple raise children “just like heterosexual couples” if they do not have the same male/female makeup? Can a mother function ‘exactly’ like a father? Can a father fulfill all the roles of a mother? Is the law in the business of defining love? What legal standard did the Justices use to define commitment? If one of these couples experienced adultery, separation, or divorce, would that have change the decision? If so, then the law is purely situational and there is no longer an objective standard. If not, then the statement is superfluous and has no place in a legal decision."
"They do not ‘prove’ that homosexuality is a Civil Rights issue; they assume it. There is no Constitutional Right to sodomy. Moreover, homosexuals are not deprived of their Civil Rights in marriage, because they have the same rights in that regard as every American. That’s right... HOMOSEXUALS HAVE THE RIGHT TO MARRY! What they don’t have the right to is same-sex marriage."
"The Supreme Court of Iowa is basing its opinion on what is “unappealing to a gay or lesbian person.” This is not jurisprudence; this is social engineering."
"In other words, a right that you cannot enjoy is no right at all. Imagine this phrase applied to other sexual deviants. “Thus, the right of a [pedophile] under the marriage statute to enter a civil marriage only with a person [of legal age] is no right at all.”"
"How do the Justices know that the plaintiffs’ relationships were committed and loving? How does a same-sex couple raise children “just like heterosexual couples” if they do not have the same male/female makeup? Can a mother function ‘exactly’ like a father? Can a father fulfill all the roles of a mother? Is the law in the business of defining love? What legal standard did the Justices use to define commitment? If one of these couples experienced adultery, separation, or divorce, would that have change the decision? If so, then the law is purely situational and there is no longer an objective standard. If not, then the statement is superfluous and has no place in a legal decision."
Freedom or Regimentation - Mark Scheel - Mises Institute
Freedom or Regimentation - Mark Scheel - Mises Institute: "He asks the questions, does societal inequality necessarily imply victims and villains, and why do we tend to divide ourselves into 'them-versus-us' dichotomies? Carabini then warns of the pitfalls inherent in a strict system of democracy and reintroduces the old concept of "the tragedy of the commons." A consideration is offered as to how wealth is not a static monopoly but rather begets more wealth for all. A clarification is made as to what really constitutes money and how money does not equate with "prosperity." Carabini then berates the news media today for misleading us with skewed reportage and deconstructs the phenomenon of so-called "earnings gaps," explaining why any quest for "economic equality" is not only futile but harmful to the whole of society. As clearly demonstrated, redistribution of earnings and wealth quickly becomes a bane to a healthy economy, and everyone suffers the worse for it."
New Ideas for Roads - Jeffrey A. Tucker - Mises Institute
New Ideas for Roads - Jeffrey A. Tucker - Mises Institute: "It should go without saying that roads were originally private in the United States and were only later taken over by government, before public ownership had become an accepted convention."
"President's Preschool Emphasis Is Misdirected" by Andrew J. Coulson (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"President's Preschool Emphasis Is Misdirected" by Andrew J. Coulson (Cato Institute: Commentary): "When it comes to our children's future,' writes president Obama in his first budget, 'we cannot waste dollars on methods, programs, and initiatives that are not effective and efficient.' He's right, but his budget fails to heed his own dictum."
"In 2007, Heckman identified three small preschool programs from the 1960s and 1970s that studies suggest have more than paid for themselves in lower subsequent welfare and criminal justice costs incurred by their participants. But Heckman cautioned that "a much more careful analysis of the effects of scaling up the model programs... has to be undertaken before these estimates can be considered definitive.""
"If the president really wants effective, efficient programs, he should look at Florida's scholarship donation tax credit. Under this program, businesses can contribute to non-profit scholarship organizations that subsidize private k-12 tuition for needy families. For each dollar they donate, the businesses owe one fewer dollar in taxes. Last December, Florida's own government accountability office found that this education tax credit saves $1.49 for every dollar it reduces tax revenue. That is three times the largest return on investment for the preschool programs cited by Heckman —and it comes from a policy that is already serving 23,000 students statewide.
Giving at-risk children access to private schooling has been repeatedly shown to improve their educational attainment. Economist Derek Neal has found that Catholic schools raise the graduation rate of urban African Americans by 26 percentage points, and more than double their chances of graduating from college – even after controlling for differences in student background between the sectors. Half a dozen other scientific studies echo Neal's findings. Researchers from the U.S. and abroad also point to higher test scores for students when they attend private rather than public schools, after controlling for student and family background, as I report in a forthcoming global literature review in the Journal of School Choice."
"In 2007, Heckman identified three small preschool programs from the 1960s and 1970s that studies suggest have more than paid for themselves in lower subsequent welfare and criminal justice costs incurred by their participants. But Heckman cautioned that "a much more careful analysis of the effects of scaling up the model programs... has to be undertaken before these estimates can be considered definitive.""
"If the president really wants effective, efficient programs, he should look at Florida's scholarship donation tax credit. Under this program, businesses can contribute to non-profit scholarship organizations that subsidize private k-12 tuition for needy families. For each dollar they donate, the businesses owe one fewer dollar in taxes. Last December, Florida's own government accountability office found that this education tax credit saves $1.49 for every dollar it reduces tax revenue. That is three times the largest return on investment for the preschool programs cited by Heckman —and it comes from a policy that is already serving 23,000 students statewide.
Giving at-risk children access to private schooling has been repeatedly shown to improve their educational attainment. Economist Derek Neal has found that Catholic schools raise the graduation rate of urban African Americans by 26 percentage points, and more than double their chances of graduating from college – even after controlling for differences in student background between the sectors. Half a dozen other scientific studies echo Neal's findings. Researchers from the U.S. and abroad also point to higher test scores for students when they attend private rather than public schools, after controlling for student and family background, as I report in a forthcoming global literature review in the Journal of School Choice."
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