Dumbshit Dept.
Stupid laws, stupid governments, stupid products
There is so much stupidity out there. The sampler for most stupid things seen this week includes:
- Computer graphics card manufacturers are not releasing drivers for Linux because they fear that releasing specifications will invite patent infringement lawsuits from the competition. The original motivation behind patents were that if you published your invention you would be granted a temporary monopoly on your invention. This would motivate inventors and benefit the public. But in a lawyer happy culture, patents texts are obscured and patents issued even though they don't really contain any real information about an invention. And then companies try to hide the technical details of their inventions as to not draw lawsuits from the competition. Sigh -- did I mention the patent system is horribly busted?
- An Italian court confirms Prodi as the victor of the recent election in Italy -- after Berlusconi contested the results of the election. Fortunately, Italian courts quickly dealt with the issue. The US claims to be exporting democracy to places like Iraq -- too bad Iraq is mired in a civil-war that was created by the US. And the only government tactics that the US is exporting are slimy post-election behaviours -- now other governments are copying the chicken-shit tactics of the Bush administration. That's undermining democratic systems all around the world. Thanks!
- Philips is going to be producing a TV that won't allow you to switch channels during advertising breaks. That's a feature? No one in their right mind is going to buy that TV -- and if they do, they will return it, since they'll think its broken. I'm not sure whose pockets are being lined by this feature, but its safe to say that Philips is no longer looking out for its customers. I used to respect Philips' products, but much like Sony, my trust in that brand if fading quickly.
Sad, pathetic and motived by greed -- these are the stupid awards for this week!
Technorati Tags: slime, stupid ideas
Posted by Mayhem at April 19, 2006 03:16 PM
