any secrets

[vector40]

In America any creative thought you express in a concrete form (published writing, say) is de facto copyrighted. But there are any number of exceptions, including anything that's too public and common to be original and protected -- so no, "I like apples" is not yours alone. But a five-page treatise on the popular consumption of apple products would be.

[maty68]

If thats the case, then the author of the text must at least have to claim a copyright to that text with a properly worded script in plain view for all to see. Otherwise anyone can come along and put a claim on the text or at the very least reproduce it.

[Romstar]

If thats the case, then the author of the text must at least have to claim a copyright to that text with a properly worded script in plain view for all to see. Otherwise anyone can come along and put a claim on the text or at the very least reproduce it.

The copyright law specifies that a copyright exists at the time of creation, unless otherwise stated. You can absent yourself from your copyright, but if you don't its assumed that it is still in place.

Defending such a copyright requires something commonly refered to as prior art, or first inference. On occasion, that can be hard to prove, and has been overturned before.

The simple fact is this.

The copyright exists unless you see something that says the author or artist released the material into the public domain, or has allowed it to be used for non profit purposes.

Don't bother arguing this, just go read about it.

Romstar

[mcm757207]

maty68: 0
Everyone else: 1

[maty68]

That may very well be so, but remember we're talking about US law here. So how can that apply to posts or text on the internet, or does the US own the internet?
maty68:1
everyone else:1

[master in training]

my guess would be that the location of the site server may have an impact on the copyright laws used?

[Romstar]

That may very well be so, but remember we're talking about US law here. So how can that apply to posts or text on the internet, or does the US own the internet?
maty68:1
everyone else:1

Actually, Maty, you're still batting zero.

Here is one thing that I am entirely pissed off about, and that is the idiotic belief in the US that their copyright law covers everywhere, but nobody eles' matters.

Most countries are signatories of the Berne convention, and that does carry some weight. The recent Canadian ruling concerning music downloads has angered many US companies, but it was a calculated slap in the face to the RIAA that US copyright law is NOT the over riding policy.

However, US copyright law, and the Berne convention both recognize certain basic principles. One of those is original copyright, prior art and the legality of that issue.

So, please stop arguing about this, and go do some reading.

Thanks,
Romstar

[maty68]

Your computer is gonna be connected to the site server via routers etc. So if your computer is connected to to a US based server directly or indirectly then you could be subject to US law. Maybe?

[Romstar]

Your computer is gonna be connected to the site server via routers etc. So if your computer is connected to to a US based server directly or indirectly then you could be subject to US law. Maybe?

That's about the biggest joke I have ever heard.

The United States continues to claim that actions of foreign nationals that affect American citizens is indictable even if the action took place in a foreign country.

You can't imagine how many times the US state dept. has been in deep, deep hot water because they tried to enforce that idiocy.

So-called computer crime is a case in point. Some of the crimes that the computer fraud and abuse act cover are not recognized by other countries as criminal acts. This has resulted in charges being laid inabsentia against foreign nationals, and their subsequent arrest if they should enter the US. However, since the home country does NOT recognize the crime, it has opened the US up to several lawsuites over illegal detainment and a host of other problems.

What's hillarious is that the Patriot act basically told the world to go take a flying leap. The US will do as they see fit no matter where you are from. All under the guise of "domestic protection". The current lunacy over out sourcing overseas has many senators backing a bill that would make it illegal. Under the same lunacy, "domestic protection".

Sooner or later, they are going to try this idiocy on the wrong person, and the result will be catestrophic.

At this point in time, the United States has become the school yard bully, and either it will end at home, or the world will simply do somthing about it.

You may find this hard to believe, but the US is more dependent on foreign trade than any other country. The US needs overseas trading partners or their economy collapses. Why do you think the decades old annimosity with China has been pushed aside in the interest of economic development.

Romstar

[maty68]

All true Romstar. May i say for a Canadian your knowledge of US affairs seems extensive. The Chinese are rapidly emerging as a major competitor to the US in some industries so it may be tactful for the US to build some kind of relations with them at this point. China seems to be embracing the internet, although it has already started filtering content to its 'web citizens'. Goverment officials deem what is or is not appropriate for its citizens to be exposed to, anything political is strictly prohibited and is filtered out. How long before China becomes one of the school yard bullys?

[Romstar]

China has long been one of the school yard bullys. The real issues is just how much attention they get on the world stage, and how many non aligned countries they affect.

For all intents and purposes, China was a threat. A great terrible boogey man from the Communist states. Now, they are something different.

Since the "cultural" revolution, China has been building its industrial base all over again. The worst problem Mao Tse-tung created with the "revolution" was the huge loss of the best minds his country had to offer. It has taken decades to rebuild that loss, and to follow in the path of every other technologically advanced nation.

In so far as the censorship of the internet, that has always been a foregone conclusion, and there is a great big underground movement in China where they pass around ways to get by the filters.

If you go to Beijing, or Shanghai or several other major Chinese cities, you will find a city scape which appears for all intents to be the same as New York, or Los Angles. The difference is more subtle, hidden so to speak. Its the difference in culture, the difference in politics, and most of all, the unspoken, the unwritten knowledge that somewhere someone may hear you say the wrong thing.

Leave those cities, and you find a completely different country. A country dominated by numerous disadvantages, poverty and even in some cases a lack of industry. It goes so far, that in some places they almost seem not to even know about what goes on elsewhere. Life just goes on.

Once you find the industrial areas, the new locations of science, technology, industry and commerce you see another China again. A China that has frightened American policy makers like never before.

A threat not just of war, or theology, or philosophy but one of money, influence and power. A China that thirty years ago they said could never happen. Mao Tse-tung's dream never did come true, but it has turned into something even more frightening.

Romstar

[WhiteHat]

we aussies like china - they buy our raw materials that we produce - go the China/Aus FTA.

the largest non-english speaking population in Brisbane where i live is Cantonese. in hindsight I should perhaps have started learning cantonese or mandarin instead of Japanese, but there's still time.

the 2008 olympics should be loads of fun

I just hope that we don't end up fighting over taiwan.

[maty68]

Lets hope that China might one day re-structure its political thinking and maybe discard communist ideals. Communism has been proven not to work, the everyday citizen does not want it, but it is forced upon them by a goverment that feels it needs to control its people in order to govern thus creating fear and suspicion among its population of not only their goverment but their fellow citizens or numbers also. If China is adapting some western ways then why not democracy as one of them, as this would make democratic nations of the world feel more at ease with them rather than eye them up as another red giant.With a population of more than a billion no-one wants them as an enemy.Taiwan may prove how flexible the Chinese are.