21st November 2004, 8:54 PM
Ryan, I think you forgot to read this.
They are saying you DON'T have the right to turn off the TV.
Before, we DID have the right to turn it off and read a book. Now, if we watch PART of it, we are now LEGALLY REQUIRED to watch ALL of it. We CAN'T turn it off.
Look, having requirements is fine, in the sense of "if you want the expansion pack, you must pay for it" or "if you want cable, pay for that too". This is clearly different. This is "hey, instead of the DVD being your property, now it's a contract, because the government says so, because we told them to, you can't own anything any more, now you are OURS, WATCH IT AND SMILE!".
Weltall, you can see the diff here right? This is clearly beyond the beyond.
Look at it this way. They beamed the television into our homes for free. We don't really have any right to tell them what content to put on the air. They are free to put whatever, commercials, you know whatever. However, they don't have the right to force us to watch JACK. You see, we not ONCE ever signed any contract. Not once did we enter into any agreement. By buying a monthly payed service for example you have an agreement and are bound to it, and you usually have to sign something to that effect.
They gave it to us for free, yes, but we never once actually signed any agreement. Not once did we say "okay, we will watch the commercials too, that's the agreement". We didn't even ASK for them to do it (most of us). As such, yes, they are free to decide what they broadcast as they own the station. That's just. However, in the reverse, they MUST understand that so long as they just send it out there free of charge, there are consequences, and one of them is that we are free to watch it in any fasion we so choose. They want to force us to watch the commercials, don't give it to us without making us sign a contract stating that that is the payment. That's all there is to it.
They are saying you DON'T have the right to turn off the TV.
Before, we DID have the right to turn it off and read a book. Now, if we watch PART of it, we are now LEGALLY REQUIRED to watch ALL of it. We CAN'T turn it off.
Look, having requirements is fine, in the sense of "if you want the expansion pack, you must pay for it" or "if you want cable, pay for that too". This is clearly different. This is "hey, instead of the DVD being your property, now it's a contract, because the government says so, because we told them to, you can't own anything any more, now you are OURS, WATCH IT AND SMILE!".
Weltall, you can see the diff here right? This is clearly beyond the beyond.
Look at it this way. They beamed the television into our homes for free. We don't really have any right to tell them what content to put on the air. They are free to put whatever, commercials, you know whatever. However, they don't have the right to force us to watch JACK. You see, we not ONCE ever signed any contract. Not once did we enter into any agreement. By buying a monthly payed service for example you have an agreement and are bound to it, and you usually have to sign something to that effect.
They gave it to us for free, yes, but we never once actually signed any agreement. Not once did we say "okay, we will watch the commercials too, that's the agreement". We didn't even ASK for them to do it (most of us). As such, yes, they are free to decide what they broadcast as they own the station. That's just. However, in the reverse, they MUST understand that so long as they just send it out there free of charge, there are consequences, and one of them is that we are free to watch it in any fasion we so choose. They want to force us to watch the commercials, don't give it to us without making us sign a contract stating that that is the payment. That's all there is to it.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)