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+ - Slashdot BETA Discussion-> 60

Submitted by mugnyte
Link to Original Source

+ - Slashdot forces a beta site by default

Submitted by kelk1



+ - Can I buy the Classic interface? 3

Submitted by Max Hyre

Can we do the same for Classic?




Comment: Is it piracy when I pay the TV tax? (Score 4, Insightful) 447

by Brobock (#43325779) Attached to: HBO Says <em>Game of Thrones</em> Piracy Is "a Compliment"

Here in Sweden, I pay a TV tax. This tax goes to paying for state owned TV channels. They broadcast Game of Thrones without commercials. There are no advertisers being hurt, and my TV tax goes to paying HBO for the syndication rights. The issue is I do not like seeing the subtitles that are burned in. I also like my show at the highest resolution with surround sound.

So is it piracy when I download it rather than watching it directly from syndication?

+ - Anonymous Hacks Federal Sentencing Commission website -- Posts Video-> 2

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Comment: Re:You can't eliminate them (Score 3, Interesting) 825

by Brobock (#39074479) Attached to: Obama Pushes For Cheaper Pennies

In other countries this is solved by laws demanding that all prices advertised to individuals (as opposed to companies) or where the target customer is clearly an individual include sales tax. So prices including the sales tax are conveniently set to nice round numbers.

Sweden just had an issue where including the tax in the price caused recently reduced taxes to not get passed to the customer.

Restaurants had a tax reduction from 25% to 12.5%. Since the tax was already included in the price, none of the restaurants reduced the prices and just pocketed the profit. If the price shown was pre-tax and the tax added in tally, the customer would have received the tax break.

The only ones that actually reduced their prices was the large food chains. Most likely because watch dog groups were making sure of this.


ACTA To Be Signed This Weekend 277

Posted by Soulskill
from the yep-this-happened dept.
We've been following the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement for over three years, from its secretive beginnings, to the controversy and debate that followed, and to the document it eventually evolved into. Now, Japan has announced that the agreement will finally be signed on Saturday during a ceremony that follows an anti-piracy symposium on Friday. "The negotiation has been carried out among Australia, Canada, the European Union and its Member States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States, and reached a general agreement at the negotiation meeting held in Japan in October 2010, followed by the completion of technical and translation work in April 2011. ... The signing ceremony will be attended by the representatives of all the participants in the ACTA negotiations, and those that have completed relevant domestic processes will sign the agreement. The agreement is open for signature until May 1, 2013."

Comment: The Wii started offering Demos (Score 1) 379

by Brobock (#31877812) Attached to: Crytek Thinks Free Game Demos Will Soon Be Extinct

Surprisingly, the Nintendo Wii began offering demos of Wiiware titles, and to a limited extent short time demos of Virtual console titles (such as through Super Smash Bros Brawl). The only companies that have something to worry about are the ones releasing horrible games where the demo causes people to test and not purchase the full version.

The movie industry offers demos in the form of Previews. Although comparing the two are like apple and oranges.

Comment: Re:Dinosaurs (Score 1) 326

by Brobock (#29168625) Attached to: Apple, Google, AT&amp;T Respond To the FCC Over Google Voice



When I went to Sweden, I found the first news paper stand I could find, bought a SIM card for US$10 and got US$15 in credit. Yes, they gave me 5 dollars more in credit. And the best part, my pre-pay Swedish SIM card worked Internationally, I tested in Japan and the US. The refill process is simple as getting a code printed receipt from a number of places, you text the code and you get refill confirmation. All your minutes are valid for a year upon refilling, including your previous minutes, even with the cheapest refill amount. They even offer campaigns such as free internet days, 3000 international SMSes if you refill with $25, and etc.

US carriers such as T-Mobile, offer Prepay, but the damn SIM only works in the US, will not register internationally, require a purchase of the SIM at double what I paid in Europe without credit on it, and expires in mere months.

Remember, UNIX spelled backwards is XINU. -- Mt.