DISQUS

Will the Windows version support external devices (in my case, the iPod classic)? I'm almost salivating over on-the-fly format conversion.

According to the BBC, IE 7 also has RSS support (and adds some MSHTML-style 'additions' to the format)

But it also screws people who 'also use WP' but on a 'shared server' host- like me for example.

So basically the W3C should screw the CSS standard just so that IE can pretend that its standards-compliant?

And by blocking the likes of Haloscan you are excluding Blogger and most of the other tools for people who can't afford a massive webhosting account. Plus most people who host small-to-medium sized blogs will be on shared hosts, and if they can't trackback then they won't link to you either.

True- anyone who disagrees just take thepiratebay as an example. But I think you're giving Bu$h more credit that he deserves- he must have bribed the examiner to get above single figures :P

Mr. Lava Man. The whole difference between the two is that if someone copies your idea, and sells it for money, that means that you cannot sell it because your neighbour has already done so. However, if I download a music file, or a movie, or a piece of software, that act does not stop the record company, film studio, software publisher etc. from selling it, because I am not providing the same product (an Mp3 off BitTorrent, ed2k etc. contains less than 1/10 as much sound as a CD) and I am not making any money out of it.

Yes but downloading is not 'taking something that doesn't belong to you'. In fact, you're not actually taking anything as the person you get the download from still has the exact file on their computer. If someone gives me permission to copy X number of bytes of their hard drive, then that is not 'taking' anything from anyone. The fact that I have not paid money to a third party with no involvement in the file transfer does not mean that I have 'stolen' anything from them.The crime that occurs is copyright infringement, because they do not have a license to give me a copy of that file.

And as for calling you on 'piracy' being pedantic? Well in a recent court case (I believe it was the Grokster case in one of the lower courts) the judge ordered industry lawyers to stop using the term because it was a pejorative with no meaning related to the case. So I am just sticking to what the courts say.

(I would have added this to my comment but obv. you can't edit them)

As for your software company, even if people download it they will not get the full benefit. Why do people even buy software when they can get equal-functionality open source software for free? Because they value the technical support, help guides etc. that you can only get if you buy the software from a company.

Also, copyright infringement is not 'as wrong as stealing milk from a baby', because you do not actually steal anything. If I download a copy of a song, the company which produces that song still owns it. The stores that sell it still have the same number of copies in their posession. I have not taken anything away from anyone therefore it is not stealing. I have infringed the copyright of the song, not stolen it .

So your argument is that a lot of people who download don't go on to buy the music/film etc. Fine, I can accept that, but at least use the correct term. Since we are mainly talking about the USA, where most of the downloading (and extortion by the industry) occurs, the US Penal Code defines piracy as taking control of a ship from its rightful owner on the high seas. As far as I'm aware, even you aren't accusing any filesharers of doing that. The correct terms is copyright infringement.

Lava Man: Actually, if you had read my comment you would see that I DID buy the ones I liked, and I don't know about you but it seems pretty pointless to keep MP3 files that I don't like. So your pro-copywrong attitude sort of falls apart doesn't it?

I have a much simpler blogging policy: 'I will write whatever the hell I want and hope that people read it'

You are of course aware that your site (like any other that uses CSS) looks inferior on IE? And that the US Government advises people not to use IE? And that Firefox loads the same page twice as fast as IE? But then since you're a computer science major you're looking for a job in the Micro$oft Industry, so presenting the facts isn't as important as making yourself a M$-lover.

I downloaded an album from BitTorrent. But being MP3, it sounded garbage on anything other than an MP3 player, so I ended up buying it because it was a good album.

Whereas if I hadn't been able to download the album, I would not have thrown away my money buying the thing on the offchance that it might be good. So my downloading has not LOST the industry any money, it has GAINED it at least 2 or 3 sales this year.

Have you actually used the new beta? Maybe it would be better to do so before tearing it apart since it is supposed to be significantly different from 1.x versions