SOPA

[Assertn]

It's not my boss doing the deducting it's the people in payroll. I work through a lot of my lunchtimes and I get no dinner until I get home. Call it stealing, I call it being cheap. :P Those 2 hours would = $90 on double time. So ya they will take shortcuts in pay if they can find it. :/

I was referring to animaniax(sp?).

It's not one system, it's in every system.

That's not objectively true. Case in point my company. The CEO already has enough money to retire. Has a huge house, drives a lambo, but he loves buiilding businesses. He also makes it his goal in the businesses he creates to share the wealth with all his employees.

Now where you're most likely to see budget cuts are in either cut-throat startups running on fumes or publicly traded companies that have to constantly worry about appeasing the board. I've worked in both situations, and both are annoying.

[Shadow Skill]

It is difficult to say and I made a brash statement based on previous and current employers and not the entire economic structure as a whole, as I have no worked in every sector of the economy.

My personal view is that a lot of any cuts anywhere has to do with greed and very few companies are about the employees and are all for the so-called "Almighty Dollar".

I look at the movie and music industry. They don't pay the actors a heck of a lot in some movies, especially if the movie makes $300,000,000 or an Albums sells 10 Million copies and they have $250,000,000 off one album. How much of that really goes back in to the movie or music industry?

The recording companies make that, not the actual performers. With them going after people around the world who view something that should not be, either a leaked preview that's 5 or 10 minutes long or a leaked song 2 weeks before the album release. My opinion is, someone may download it and listen to it, in the end, I can gaurentee if the person likes the song or the preview, They buy the movie on Blu-Ray or DVD or the entire album on release day.

I am not standing up for piracy. I do believe certain aspects of it, help drive the economy of certains areas. I can't fathom why the MPAA or RIAA refuse to accept that they are at fault for not making that extra 10 Million dollars.

They make Billions a year and if they don't reach their projected goal of 12 Billion dollars, they call it a loss. So they make 9 Billion dollars, but they projected 12 Billion. They will post a 3 Billion dollar loss and blame it on someone, rather than take responsibility for releasing craptastic movies or very very shitty (C)rap/pop music.

To me, that is greed in its finest form. Arrest people, charge them, sue them and tell the world, those people are at fault for them not making 3 Billion more than they should have. Yet all the heads of those companies are rich beyond any person wildest dreams. 9 Billion dollars? I wish I had a company that could make that.

The way I see it, they made 9 Billion dollars. A company should only claim what they had made, rather than claim a loss on projected figures. Those are non-existent numbers that did not exist and never will exist. Those numbers only exist in a persons mind and not in reality. That is where the problems stems from. You take projected figures and only focus on currect gains. A company will never have to post a loss. Especially a loss that is fictional, a fictional loss that the US congress and government take as true facts. That is mind boggling. A company can post a loss and blame it on the moon rising 3 degrees lowers the day before instead of 2 degrees higher. The US government will accept that as a fact. That is a story no different than blaming piracy for so-called billions of dollars in a fictional loss. They still made 9 Billion dollars. Where is the loss in that? It does not exist.

Ok, end rant lol.

[dragonrage]

I seldomly go to the movie theaters anymore because I like quite and chatter to a minimum, for some reason there is always one really inconsiderate person in the theater. Don't think it's worth the 13, 17 or 21 dollars (IMAX, 3D) if I don't enjoy it. If I like the movie, I buy the dvd. I say fuck'em otherwise.

If they implement a system where I can watch the move at home a week or two after it comes out in theaters a more hasty on-demand system I all for it. Or if they can get all the assholes out of the theaters i'll be in the theaters every Wednesday ( use to be my previous movie night for years).

Music it's somewhat mixed. Don't want to buy an entire album when only one song is good. I do buy music online to support the artist and do go to see them when they are in town once in a while.

That's not objectively true. Case in point my company. The CEO already has enough money to retire. Has a huge house, drives a lambo, but he loves buiilding businesses. He also makes it his goal in the businesses he creates to share the wealth with all his employees.

Now where you're most likely to see budget cuts are in either cut-throat startups running on fumes or publicly traded companies that have to constantly worry about appeasing the board. I've worked in both situations, and both are annoying.

Assertn, Some of what you said is true but the rest is total bullshit. CEO's care about there bottle line. If they didn't they wouldn't look for the lowest labor and production cost and charge high prices to boast profits. CEO's build and maintain companies so they can maintain their standard of living and GREED. If they really wanted to share the wealth they would invest in the same people that buy their products instead of outsourcing; give and take, not give a little and take a lot.

[rockmanj]

And now Fileserve is offline.

Not all CEOs are bad, you know. It is their primary job to ensure the overall health of the company and act as a representative. Some do actually invest in their workers and communities.

[dragonrage]

Didn't say they were bad. Just their primary concern is their bottle line. Most if not all those investment into communities are written off one way or the other. It's simply business, companies are there to make money.

You know what I think all this is about, a lot of internet based companies are making billions upon billions of dollars. Not much manual labor intensive work and these companies are pissed and jealous. Richman penis envy.

[rockmanj]

Well, there is a concept known as the "triple bottom line", which aims at not only driving the profit margin but also supporting the community and the environment. A number of businesses are beginning to embrace this, as it is good PR and also attracts young talent.

[Kraco]

If all your competitors cut costs brutally and you don't, you'll lose your business sooner or later. Even companies like Apple who have millions of loyal zombies are producing their stuff in the cheap labour countries and have been involved in scandals about horrible working conditions in those outsourced production plants.

[rockmanj]

You mean Foxconn? I actually had a short discussion about the fact that there are a lot of places (like factories) that people work at but can't afford the thing they are making and the irony behind that.

[Kraco]

I actually had a short discussion about the fact that there are a lot of places (like factories) that people work at but can't afford the thing they are making and the irony behind that.

I'm not sure I get your meaning. A worker not being able to afford what he's working on is as natural as a worker being able to afford it. It has also been like that throughout human civilization, not only from the 19th century and heavy industrialization. If you are meaning they can't afford a single phone, then yes, there's some irony in it. But let's not forget that if we move to luxury items, houses, cars, and such things, there are also people in Western countries who can only dream of affording what they are assembling.

[Assertn]

If all your competitors cut costs brutally and you don't, you'll lose your business sooner or later. Even companies like Apple who have millions of loyal zombies are producing their stuff in the cheap labour countries and have been involved in scandals about horrible working conditions in those outsourced production plants.

Obama raised the question about bringing factory jobs back to the US to Steve Jobs, and his response is that it will never come back. Not only is it cheaper to have the factories overseas, the employees at those factories tend to be much more efficient as well. One of the recent generation iPhones needed to have all their screens replaced 3 weeks before the public release, and the new screens were shipped to the factories, workers were brought in that night from the dormitories near the factories, and the whole system to implement the new screens were operational within a day or so.

There's a lot of crazy work ethic out there.

[Munsu]

Obama raised the question about bringing factory jobs back to the US to Steve Jobs, and his response is that it will never come back. Not only is it cheaper to have the factories overseas, the employees at those factories tend to be much more efficient as well. One of the recent generation iPhones needed to have all their screens replaced 3 weeks before the public release, and the new screens were shipped to the factories, workers were brought in that night from the dormitories near the factories, and the whole system to implement the new screens were operational within a day or so.

There's a lot of crazy work ethic out there.

Perfect example is how the Steel Workers Union forced Obama to put a 25-35% additional tax to tires imported from China and what that ended up doing is completely messed up the tire industry. American tire companies simply looked for factories in alternative countries, and raised their prices substantially now that they didn't have the cheap tires weighing them down instead of providing cheaper alternatives which was the idea behind the tax.

[rockmanj]

I'm not sure I get your meaning. A worker not being able to afford what he's working on is as natural as a worker being able to afford it. It has also been like that throughout human civilization, not only from the 19th century and heavy industrialization. If you are meaning they can't afford a single phone, then yes, there's some irony in it. But let's not forget that if we move to luxury items, houses, cars, and such things, there are also people in Western countries who can only dream of affording what they are assembling.

Well that, and I was talking to someone that I know that was assisting in building a facility where vegetables were to be grown on site. The vegetables were going to be sold at a very high cost, meaning that the people involved in planting and running the outfit would not be able to afford them. I think that has mostly been a trend in the Western world and modern civilization. There are still places where people share in what they make/create/build, but you still have to admit that it is kind of ironic.

And I am not saying we go full socialist or anything. And factory or manufacturing job in the US? I don't see a full revival happening, but I think if investors get more involved in the green economy, it could provide a bit of a boost.

But back on topic, more on the Megaupload case and the chilling effect it is having on file locker services.

And the NYT piece about Apple manufacturing in China http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/bu...pagewanted=all

[Assertn]

And the NYT piece about Apple manufacturing in ChinaL http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/bu...pagewanted=all

Yeah, that was the exact article I read.

[Animeniax]

Obama raised the question about bringing factory jobs back to the US to Steve Jobs, and his response is that it will never come back. Not only is it cheaper to have the factories overseas, the employees at those factories tend to be much more efficient as well. One of the recent generation iPhones needed to have all their screens replaced 3 weeks before the public release, and the new screens were shipped to the factories, workers were brought in that night from the dormitories near the factories, and the whole system to implement the new screens were operational within a day or so.

There's a lot of crazy work ethic out there.

It's not really work ethic... it's do or die. People aren't given the option to work late hours or come in at night for an emergency, they are forced to. Sooner or later, the drones will revolt, and manufacturing in southeast Asian countries will fall. It may never return to the US, but it won't be sustainable in any human population.

[Y]

Obama raised the question about bringing factory jobs back to the US to Steve Jobs, and his response is that it will never come back. Not only is it cheaper to have the factories overseas, the employees at those factories tend to be much more efficient as well. One of the recent generation iPhones needed to have all their screens replaced 3 weeks before the public release, and the new screens were shipped to the factories, workers were brought in that night from the dormitories near the factories, and the whole system to implement the new screens were operational within a day or so.

There's a lot of crazy work ethic out there.

They have "great work ethic" because these facilities are perhaps one step removed from a slave labor operation or a prison farm.

[rockmanj]

Not quite SOPA, but it could have a chilling effect: http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/26/twi...ntry-blocking/

And more about Foxconn

[Dark Dragon]

Key points from the 72 pages Megaupload indictment.

[Uchiha Barles]

That stuff is pretty damning. I appreciate the timing in going after them and making a public spectacle out of it.

[Carnage]

I dont understand why people dont just assume that any conversation over the internet can easily be found and used against them in court.

[Dark Dragon]

Or any conversation over any sort of technology that can be tracked period.

This is pretty huge in Europe right now, but not too sure how many in the states actually knows about ACTA. It could potentially be even more problematic than SOPA due to the scale and members involves.

Japan already signed it, so i feel like this could have a pretty huge effect on the future of the anime subbing community.