Maybe, but then sould know what they are renting. But a youtube link can be anything. Remember people are still getting rick rolled. - Grant Bierman
If this were a police state it would. Or if it were Iraq and you were renting Christian videos. There was a segment on 60 Minutes this week about how the 1 million Christians in Iraq were either killed or exiled. Almost all are gone. So yes, if we value our freedom, that kind of information must be protected. Try asking a librarian for that info, they'll say the same thing. - Dave Winer
I'm all for wanton outrage, but isn't the scope of the order to determine a very specific question: that Youtube is, in fact, benefitting in large part due to copyright infringing content? Viacom wants to prove to the court that most of what's watched on Youtube is copyright infringing content; to do that you need to see all the records of everything that's watched. I would imagine that in order for them to sue individual people, it would require a separate court order. - Mark Trapp
Mark, if that's all they wanted, they could make do with anonymized data. - Paul Buchheit
if viacom wanted name, addresses, rental history, credit card numbers and birthdays as well; would that be worrisome? what line of data being crossed is teh distinguisher for cause to worry? - Nathan Eckenrode
Actually, the judge would deny the request the same as it was denied for a similar request in the current ruling. - Dennis E. Hamilton
So what gives Viacom the right to this information? Does this mean if someone uploaded something I copyrighted to YouTube, I could also sue for all the information Google has? - Chris White
@DaveWiner interestingly enough, the best place in the middle east to be a Christian is Syria - Prolific Programmer
@Mark Trapp: It is not enought to say that Youtube is benefitting, whatever that means. There is a statutory protection against an intermediary being responsible, so Viacom wants to show that YouTube's algorithms promote the pirated content out of proportion to other content, so that they can show inducement. The judge ruled against them when they wanted some over-broad discoveries. - Dennis E. Hamilton
Dennis, right: so while I'm sure, yeah, Viacom would love to use the data they're going to receive to do other nefarious things, they can't. Or am I missing something? - Mark Trapp
Yet another way our civil liberties are being eroded in the name of capitalism and protecting big business. - Nick Dynice
I'm much more disappointed in a legal system that would grant Viacom access to the info. Why isn't the outrage pointed at the system, instead of something that takes advantage of the system? - Robert Seidman
Considering that Viacom owned Blockbuster up to a few years ago, it would probably not be a big deal. I doubt Blockbuster would have a problem parting with the information now. - Gabe Schaffer
I didn't know about the prior ownership, which makes it an odd example I guess. There are actually special privacy laws that apply to video rentals though: "The Act forbids a video rental or sales outlet from disclosing information concerning what tapes a person borrows and buys, or releasing other personally identifiable information without the informed, written consent of the customer." - http://www.privacilla.org/busi... - Paul Buchheit
@Mark Trapp - some data they are not allowed to have, whatever they say they want it for. In the case at hand (http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/...) , the Judge ruled on 8 motions and three were granted: (1) to see the schema for the video content database, (2) to see the information from the logging database for each time a YouTube video has been viewed from YouTube (via embedding or directly), and (3) to receive all videos that have been removed by YouTube. There's another which could be granted partially, concerning some non-content data about videos in private areas under YouTube. Information about the actual private content is protected by law, but Viacom will use what it might be able to get about non-content information to demonstrate that a particular area is not private in the sense that is protected. - Dennis E. Hamilton
Maybe the fault lies, in part, with YouTube for not anonymizing log files after a certain point? - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Is Viacom covertly networking with any intelligence agencies? What are the politics of the people at the top of Viacom? What are their social networks? - Sean McBride
Who says they don't already have this info? Certainly if they wanted it bad enough they could pay the going rate and get it anyway. - Brian Sullivan
What would the benefit be? So someone else does not buy them? I think they may be more productive and successful if they are independent. - Nick Dynice
Seems if Google makes it, it works brilliantly. If they buy it it sucks - YouTube being the exception. - Ciaoenrico
AP banked on syndication and subscribers for presentation. but where Reuters "got" free RSS, AP never did. http://is.gd/F4T - Andy Sternberg
Danny is wrong because he missed a fundamental point: the AP IS THE MEDIA. It's a collectively owned distribution platform who syndicates content among its members in the US and sells it offshore, as well as creating some of their own generic content as well. The don't need a news website, every single owner is their website. from the NYTimes down - Duncan Riley
AP isn't the media, though yes, it's owned by a good chunk of the media. Danny didn't miss that, in fact he acknowledged the issue of conflicts with member news organizations. Instead, he argues that AP hosting its own content could benefit the AP in spite of that. It would definitely benefit readers, bloggers, and aggregators like Digg and Techmeme. - Gabe Rivera
I was thinking the same thing as Danny. The AP's business model has decayed thanks to free syndication and aggregation provided by other news sites. Facts are a commodity. It is time to compete on the terms that this space has established. They are going to lose customers soon because with RSS, news consumers don't need the local paper to syndicate national and internation news. Local papers can and should be niche. - Nick Dynice
I'm skeptical and and on-the-fence with this issue and this video - bill giltner
For example, just because there is a photo or video of a car being flipped in the vicinity the WTC, does not imply that the exact scene is a result of damage during the event. Cleanup large machinery could have caused the exact nature of vehicle positioning. I'd welcome someone to give me reasons to let go of my skepticism. - bill giltner
The pictures of metal pieces at about 2:30 look the same as ones shown in videos of the Hutchinson Effect videos you can find in YouTube. Also, if the pic of WTC6 is real, it does look kind odd, but what do I know. - Nick Dynice
I was hoping this interview would say something to the effect the Russert might be a truther, but I think this sates the contrary. Either that, or he was somehow forced to end the call. - Nick Dynice
Nick. Thanks for commenting. I never believed that anything happened other than Russert baled. I have no way to know, however. - bill giltner
reading Jack Welch's Winning - straight forward and entertaining. Could use a little more detailing of exactly how to implement concepts, though. - Zach Landes via twhirl
I just finished "Here Comes Everyone" and am diving into "The World is Flat" - Jason Runyan
I got 1/3 of the way through The World is Flat and then stuffed it on the shelf. And yet everyone reads it! I don't understand. - Zach Landes via twhirl
Just finished Shirky's Here Comes Everybody; Provides food for thought certainly. - Jill O'Neill
“Gas prices can change several cents overnight. Hotel room rates change much less frequently. So why are gas station prices still posted manually, but many hotels show digital prices? Discuss.”
Only in America, I think. Most Canadian gas stations use digital signs, or at least signs that can be changed electronically. It's also unusual to have hotels advertising prices on their signs like they do in the states. - Trent Olson
Around New York, there are a a great many gas stations that post manually, but the larger chains like Mobil and Sunoco moved to digital starting a few years back. The problem is that there is a very slim margin on gasoline (it's meant to get you into the store where things have higher profit margins) and thus no impetus or money to upgrade the equipment to digital. - Mark Trapp
The difference in profit margins? Most service stations operate on a slim margin. I gather you are talking about the outside signs, Most of the hotel signs that I have seen are at an elevation where manually changing them would be difficult. - Edward Fein
hotels with prices posted aren't usually hotels I'd want to stay in - Jeff Quinton
Jeff, you're right, of course. Motel 6 will show the price. The Hilton wouldn't. - Louis Gray
In the 80s I suggested to a grocery chain that they should develop shelving with digital pricing instead of manually pricing items. An idea that's gone nowhere. - Jack Carlson
Is this really "social media" or is this "wow, there are some really bored-@ss people on a Sunday"? Discuss. ;-) - Robert Seidman
You got me thinking about ways to lower gas prices by using digital displays, I'll post my thoughts on the blog. - Julian Baldwin
Hey, I spent my obligatory 1.8 hours on the shore. Brutally hot out, what better way to unwind? - Mark Trapp
If you have to ask, you can't afford it. ;) - Cyndy
Thanks, I think, for the prop on my employer. Louis - Mathew A. Koeneker
But of course the difference between most Motel 6s & Hiltons is location: Motel 6s are on the side of the highway, when you're looking for somewhere to stay before getting up and continuing on the road the next morning. Motel 6s are actually more akin to gas stations/service stations than the Hiltons etc. - Trent Olson
Louis, I don't know how places like Motel 6 do their pricing, but my wife works at a limited-service hotel that's affiliated with a larger family of hotels, and she sets her prices as far out as a year for a particular night in many cases. A lot of forecasting too, and a very limited chance to change prices for a weekend if a new event pops up. - Jeff Quinton
Digital in the UK too....but then we pay a lot more. - Chris Nixon
I prefer prices disclosed to me in a book. That's classy. (Full disclosure: I have never had prices disclosed to me in a book) - Mark Trapp
Perhaps people trust signage more when it has to be changed manually. It takes some commitment to get the number plackards out, the pole used to place them up. It takes far less effort to punch in some numbers on a computer, and therefore it might be assumed that there is a greater chance of error or tampering. Then again, if it is easier to change, you could compete with the guy across the street in real time as Julian might be alluding to. - Nick Dynice
Price signs are mostly digital in the UK now due to Health and Safety laws introduced a few years ago....the forms needing to be filled out if you are sending someone more than 2 metres into the air on a ladder cost more in man hours over a two year period than changing over to digital.... - Gary
Only in the US... Guessing that hotels want a more modern image, whereas gas stations don't really mind. - Richard Bradshaw
Bertelsmann CEO Hartmut Ostrowski's version, via the NYT: “The good thing is, more people are listening to music than ever before,” he said. “The bad thing is, it is not easy to monetize it.” - Nick Dynice
sorry pinged on wrong comment (learning how to use FF) - CRM software & networking- interested, integrated CRM software on almost everything, LDAP included - anna
This was a what I wanted my management to develop at my last job. - Nick Dynice
