Happy Last Year

If every rational person, and every superstitious person came to the conclusion that the Mayans were correct, and that we will all go extinct this year (2012), how would your New Year's Resolutions be different?

You probably wouldn't pay your mortgage. Right? You might not bother to start dieting/exercising/stop smoking. There would be no point occupying Virgin Galactic or NASA, because they are unable to follow Stephen Hawking's advice and get a lucky few with pepper spray to that new, Earth-like planet that's been discovered.

In 2010, Stephen Hawking warned:

"I see great dangers for the human race ......

And

"....we are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history. Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth, are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill."

He may have been thinking about radiation, global warming, and sustainability, rather than geo-political tensions and a level of social unrest that reminds me of the French Revolution... and apparently I am not alone, given that Governor Mitt Romney is quoted as comparing President Obama to the tragic queen of France, Marie Antoinette.

Governor Romney appears to be focusing on extravagance, and his unfair populist quote is historically suspect. No Historian, Mitt. Marie Antoinette got the short end of a very dirty stick from her contemporaries and from History.

However...

"....Marie Antoinette remained convinced of the divine right of kings. In coded letters from captivity, she describes the democratic ideal as a "tissue of absurdities"."

Apparently, the Commune Of Paris (think of a successful OWC) refused to allow Marie Antoinette a pair of nail scissors to trim her fingernails. (Think TSA).

Beaming back to Stephen Hawking.....
Is it possible that that Earth-like planet is already inhabited by intelligent beings? What if they are more intelligent than we are?

Hawking stated in an interview with The Times (of London, presumably), quoted here

"To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational”....The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like."

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans," he allegedly told the AFP.

(Think "Independence Day". Or "An Ant's Life". )

"We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet," Hawking has suggested. "I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach."

Ironically, this is exactly what Hawking appears to suggest that we ought to do.

And then, there is the Internet, which is becoming increasingly lawless.... which is why I think of the French Revolution when confronting online advocates for the abolition of copyright (through mass uncivil disobedience/ignorance of the law, of what is in the Terms Of Service of the OSPs and ISPs contracts they signed).

I sometimes wonder why Internet Service Providers and Online Service Providers publish "Terms Of Service" and those lengthy Agreements that everyone scrolls through to click the "I Agree" box.

Does anyone know?

Since SocialGo, for example, has no duty to monitor the content of its users, does it post this for Brownie Points?

1. You will violate the Service Terms if you or any Users do any of the following:
1. Copy, reproduce, duplicate, upload, post, host, display or perform (publicly or otherwise), market, advertise, promote, distribute, transmit, or otherwise disseminate any content or materials (including, without limitation, any related data or information):
1. that are illegal or otherwise promote or encourage any illegal activity (including, without limitation, hacking, cracking, or the distribution of counterfeit software, or any products or services derived from any such activities); or
2. that you do not own or have permission to freely distribute; or
3. that violates any laws or regulations worldwide.

And, when users DO violate the Service Terms, and this is pointed out to Social Go, why does Social Go turn a blind eye? Because they can? (And even SOPA or IP Protect would allow them to continue to do so.)

Here is an example of what I'm talking about.

It's a cynical promotional gambit by a shameless alleged copyright infringer who sells (for a lifetime subscription of $9.95 paid via PayPal) thousands links to illegally uploaded Fiction e-books, audio books, music albums, For Dummies educational works (Wiley sues downloaders, folks!) first run movies including (allegedly) the new "Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows", Real Steel,copyrighted games, software programs, and music albums.... including the new Disney compilation "Now That's What I Call Disney" six days before it officially went on sale on Amazon.

He is also paid (one assumes) by foreign site Filesonic.com, which pays commissions up to $17 per sale to resellers of Filesonic subscriptions (which make it possible to download a large file containing, for instance 380 For Dummies e-books), and which advertises "Make Money Sharing Links."

By the way, here's the joke of the century,

"Please note that FileSonic maintains a strict intellectual property policy. By using the service, you represent and warrant that you are the author and copyright owner and/or proper licensee with respect to any content and you further represent and warrant that no content violates the intellectual property rights of any third party."

Alas, Filesonic had a December promotion paying uploaders $35 for every 1,000 downloads. Do they think that Big Six bestselling authors really have the rights to undercut their publishers, and sell 1000 digital copies of their books for $35?

Via his groups on googlegroups and yahoogroups, the Freetard Bastard writes: (Approximately.... I have changed a few key words to protect the innocent.)

Celebrate the new year; grab vip membership for nothing!

Dear Members

Freetardbastard now offers standard digital parasites the opportunity to grab their 'lifetime' VIP membership to their club for nothing, to those that help spread the word!

All you have to do is simply invite 12 people (family, friends or work colleagues) to view their website... it's as easy as that, and you save $9.95

Full instructions can be found on the following page:

http://www.thefreetardgroup.com/images/vipfree.html

This is a nice bonus aimed at standard copyright infringers who are happy to promote the service and for those that can't afford to pay the VIP membership fee, but who would still like the extra benefits!

I wish you all a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

Regards

Max

FREETARD Club Admin

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This message is being sent to you because you or the author are a member of ClubFreetard, a network created using SocialGO. If you are interested in creating your own network, please click here.

Disclaimer: Groups such as this change their name about as often as pirates change their underwear. To the best of my knowledge, none is to date called Freetard (prefer definition 2) so the links should go to a 404.

If no one can stop this sort of thing, and Google is allegedly spending a fortune to make sure no one can stop it, 2012 may not be the last year for the planet, but it could be the last year that American copyright law has any relevance. The Sans Culottes are occupying the Internet.

Happy New Year!