http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c1239 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:12:29 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c1239
Religions have nothing to do with good and evil acts. People who are associated with religions often have unexplained sudden compulsion to give some of their monies away or kill others for no reasons.

Charles Manson and other notorious murderers should be excused since we do not know what went thru their minds and are forbidden to speculate on the intangible influential factors that made possible their deeds.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/06034223155/quack-professor-releases-dumbest-violent-video-game-theory-ever.shtml#c48 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:11:33 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/06034223155/quack-professor-releases-dumbest-violent-video-game-theory-ever.shtml#c48
If that's true, then I've apparently got about six months to live...]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/06034223155/quack-professor-releases-dumbest-violent-video-game-theory-ever.shtml#c41 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:09:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/06034223155/quack-professor-releases-dumbest-violent-video-game-theory-ever.shtml#c41 '...how watching porn will cause unmarried men liver damage...'

So apparently getting married causes your liver to develop anti-porn agents or something, who knew?]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/11032823096/how-low-can-drones-go.shtml#c43 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:08:43 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/11032823096/how-low-can-drones-go.shtml#c43 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/14172323158/judge-not-impressed-prenda-alan-cooper-lawsuit.shtml#c647 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:08:26 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/14172323158/judge-not-impressed-prenda-alan-cooper-lawsuit.shtml#c647 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/06034223155/quack-professor-releases-dumbest-violent-video-game-theory-ever.shtml#c17 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:03:15 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/06034223155/quack-professor-releases-dumbest-violent-video-game-theory-ever.shtml#c17
Timothy Geigner just won the Noble Prize for the Internetz with that sentence.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/11032823096/how-low-can-drones-go.shtml#c24 Wed, 22 May 2013 04:01:32 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/11032823096/how-low-can-drones-go.shtml#c24
I'd suggest taking an interest in air rifles, water fights or just throwing rocks. After all his drone has no more right to be there than anything else and is quite a bit more fragile.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/15445423110/framework-copyright-reform.shtml#c1881 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:57:21 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/15445423110/framework-copyright-reform.shtml#c1881
It has a relation to totalitarianism, and with the soviet union being a totalitarian state, it was it's natural ally.

But of course, you can turn the argument upon its head, and claim that copyright is "anti-democracy", since it's "pro-totalitarian" ;)]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130521/12175523157/nyc-says-renting-out-your-place-via-airbnb-is-running-illegal-hotel.shtml#c455 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:56:48 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130521/12175523157/nyc-says-renting-out-your-place-via-airbnb-is-running-illegal-hotel.shtml#c455
It's actually a wildly different set of circumstances that bears almost no relevance here. "It's on the internet" is about the only similarity.

"Scale is a really big issue here."

What scale? I still have one apartment to rent out, whether I'm using it myself, letting friends stay there or letting people I don't know stay there. The actual activity is identical. That's why there's a fundamental difference between copying digital files and physical items, and why the idiotic "it's stealing" argument is idiotic.

"So if someone got injured during a short term rental, who would cover the costs?"

The homeowner, or another party agreed to before the rental. If insurance is a problem, make it a law that any website allowing people to rent in such ways has to have either insurance or an explicit opt-out between the two parties before a rental takes place. It still won't stop the same problems with the thousands or millions of the same circumstances happening without the internet involved, but since that's what seems to send people into paranoid delusions, do what's necessary.

The other stuff you're blathering on about is related to occupancy. If you're scared of people renting out an apartment to 6 people instead of 2, make sure the sites have a listed occupancy maximum and an agreement not to violate that (although again, this CANNOT be enforced normally as it is).

"When you rent a flat long term, you accept to cover your own liability and legally, the landlord is not liable for hazards that you create yourself, and only needs coverage for the building itself."

Which is covered in contracts. So change the law to make sure contracts include this.

Do you see what I'm getting at here? Fining people for not following laws they didn't know they had to follow and trying to stop people using interesting and useful services is idiotic. Everything you're complaining about can be taken away as an issue.

"It would only take a couple of people .."

So, where are the concrete examples of this happening? AirBnB has been running since 2008. Couchsurfing since 2003. Stop depending on bullshit "what if" scenarios and show where these things are actually a problem. People have been renting short term and subletting to strangers via newspapers since the classified ad was first invented. Where has this been happening enough to make it an issue that needs to be addressed?

Evidence first, then laws if required. Get it? Stop projecting fantasies, show me the reality.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c1236 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:54:12 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c1236 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1761 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:50:38 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1761 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c117 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:49:28 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c117 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/00554723091/more-details-emerge-key-legal-fight-over-dmca-abuse.shtml#c288 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:48:46 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/00554723091/more-details-emerge-key-legal-fight-over-dmca-abuse.shtml#c288 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c93 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:45:40 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c93 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130521/12175523157/nyc-says-renting-out-your-place-via-airbnb-is-running-illegal-hotel.shtml#c407 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:26:23 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130521/12175523157/nyc-says-renting-out-your-place-via-airbnb-is-running-illegal-hotel.shtml#c407 At their core, these services are merely allowing people to do things they always do with friends and acquaintances (giving lifts, letting them stay in your apartment) with strangers. Unless there's any actual proven damage, I can't see the problem.

Fundamentally, it's the same reason why few people (if any) would be prosecuted for banging out a copy of a CD for a friend, but like Tenenbaum and Thomas have shown, you can get in trouble for doing it for your "internet friends you don't know". Scale is a really big issue here.

Lending your sofa to a friend is pretty normal. Lending your sofa to a stranger is pretty odd, but not off the scale. Charging for it, and actively recruiting strangers to pay for the sofa takes it to a different level.

There is a pretty hard and fixed line in the legal sand regarding hotels versus rental units. There is the very basic question of fitness for use, zoning, and all that. A really key issue is liability insurance, a home owners policy might not extend to cover paid guests. Many people living in flats don't even have any of that type of insurance at all. So if someone got injured during a short term rental, who would cover the costs?

The split is key here. When you rent a flat long term, you accept to cover your own liability and legally, the landlord is not liable for hazards that you create yourself, and only needs coverage for the building itself.

It's pretty much a black letter law issue. It would only take a couple of people getting seriously hurt and suing or for that matter a couple of renters getting attacked by their "internet friends" to turn this business model sour, leaving the city and state perhaps having to pay the resolve the issue.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c80 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:24:49 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c80 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c68 Wed, 22 May 2013 03:02:48 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/15581423160/prenda-gets-some-tiny-bit-good-news-as-it-may-get-out-two-critical-cases.shtml#c68 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1740 Wed, 22 May 2013 02:53:25 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/10401723156/if-you-think-you-should-actually-own-products-you-bought-now-would-be-good-time-to-call-congress.shtml#c1740
Anyway, you're missing the point (big surprise) again (shocker, I know)

Those examples that you listed with the car, knife and gun...

Speeding puts people's lives in danger. Knifing someone takes away a person's life. Shooting a gun can kill or injure people, which interferes with their rights to live.

Now then...

How does unlocking my electronics take away a person's rights like those do?

All unlocking does is, instead of taking away rights, GIVES people the right to use their stuff as they see fit so long as what they're doing doesn't interfere with another person's rights.

Throwing bricks, stabbing someone, speeding, shooting, all of those endanger human lives.

Unlocking a phone or video game system doesn't hurt ANYBODY!!!

You seem to fail to grasp this basic concept, AJ.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/01450023148/makers-nutella-force-fan-who-created-world-nutella-day-to-shut-it-down-updated.shtml#c714 Wed, 22 May 2013 02:45:02 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/01450023148/makers-nutella-force-fan-who-created-world-nutella-day-to-shut-it-down-updated.shtml#c714
Enforcing a trademark is preventing others from labeling their chocolate hazelnut spread with a logo and/or name that looks like yours, so that an 'idiot in a hurry' would mistakenly buy their product thinking it was yours.

Enforcing a trademark is completely unrelated to harassing people who use your trademark to refer to YOUR product.

That's the key, this person was actually referring to Nutella. So, no trademark infringement, just common everyday IP bullying and lunacy.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c950 Wed, 22 May 2013 02:43:15 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c950
That's what these people promote too: Basic Income. www.basicincome.org/bien/aboutbasicincome.html

And if you're in Europe, please sign the petition: sign.basicincome2013.eu]]>