Latest Techdirt Comments http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... Not to Nit-Pik http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c376 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:46:25 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c376
2002 - 14 incidents, 15 killed (note: the beltway sniper is counted as 11 separate incidents, which is stupid. This number should be 3 incidents total.)

I believe that should be 4 total - gotta count one of those 11 at least ;)]]> Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c227 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:38:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c227 Re: Re: Recording http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/18383623114/your-word-against-ours-how-fbis-no-electronic-recording-policy-rigs-game-destroys-its-credibility.shtml#c474 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:37:07 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/18383623114/your-word-against-ours-how-fbis-no-electronic-recording-policy-rigs-game-destroys-its-credibility.shtml#c474 Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11552823150/major-hollywood-studios-all-sent-bogus-dmca-takedowns-concerning-pirate-bay-documentary.shtml#c813 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:35:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11552823150/major-hollywood-studios-all-sent-bogus-dmca-takedowns-concerning-pirate-bay-documentary.shtml#c813 Re: Re: Re: HEY, TIMMY, don't forget the illegal WARS: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c375 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:34:06 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c375
If your point is our ouster of Saddam was done far too late, I agree. That doesn't negate the rightness of doing so in 2003.

"Then the people revolted and we did nothing to help them."

If your point is we didn't help our Kurdish allies in the north and rebels in the south when we first should have, I agree. That doesn't negate the rightness of doing so in 2003.

"Then we realised we didn't like the price of oil and invaded."

It's always fun to listen to the anti-war in Iraq crowd, since they negate their own arguments so much. Bush wanted to avenge his father, so he had plans to go into Iraq when he first came into office, but he also didn't do so until oil prices weren't what we wanted. The war was illegal, except it would have violated the international charter we signed NOT to go to remove Saddam for his genocidal actions. We can't go to war over oil, instead leaving one of the world's largest oil supplies in the hands of an international gangster crime family that treated its own citizens as its own personal property.

It's very easy and currently in vogue to decry the war in Iraq. Too bad doing so puts you on the side of a genocidal dictator. Too bad doing so ignore the fact that a confrontation with that country was GOING TO HAPPEN one way or the other, and it was better for us to choose the time and place for it. Too bad Saddam said after the Gulf War that his only mistake was invading Kuwait BEFORE getting the nuclear bomb he wanted so badly. Too bad he gassed the Kurds, killing thousands of people in his own country. Too bad we were spending untold amounts of money enforcing a never-ending no fly zone as the only means to ensure he didn't commit genocide AGAIN. Too bad Saddam did harbor terrorists and did financially support suicide bombers in Palestine/Israel. Too bad Saddam turned the oil for food program into his own personal palace-building slush fund.

Christ, are you even listening to yourself?]]> Re: Lop-sided http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/18383623114/your-word-against-ours-how-fbis-no-electronic-recording-policy-rigs-game-destroys-its-credibility.shtml#c459 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:33:50 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/18383623114/your-word-against-ours-how-fbis-no-electronic-recording-policy-rigs-game-destroys-its-credibility.shtml#c459 Re: Re: HEY, TIMMY, don't forget the illegal WARS: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c366 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:33:35 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c366
Did invade 2 other countries, the first of which they were both encouraged to do and supported in doing by the US.
The second of which the UN ruled against them on and the provisions of that resolution were what was followed to toss them out of Kuwait, albeit the US went far beyond the provisions of that resolution.

As far as genocide goes, that was awful but historic. It was neither happening nor possible by 1992 never mind 2003 and was not a reason nor justification nor could it be for the glaringly illegal invasion in March 2003, the consequences of which led to far more deaths, maimings and dislocation than even the worst excesses of the al-anfal campaign could be credited with. Apologists for the crimes of the US are nearly as bad as the murderous self enriching assholes at the heart of the US government who brought the US to the depths of ignominy and shame; which is their enduring and ongoing legacy going hand in hand with the full on dismantling of the rule of law within the US the full consequences of which still hang upon a few last remaining threads over the heads of it's citizens.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c363 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:32:00 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c363 Re: Re: Wrong target. Medicare is insurance http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c207 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:30:55 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c207
/boggle]]> Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c204 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:23:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c204 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c352 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:23:01 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c352 Re: Wow http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11200723149/war-journalists-doj-claimed-fox-news-reporter-was-aider-abettor-co-conspirator-with-leaker.shtml#c1124 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:22:53 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11200723149/war-journalists-doj-claimed-fox-news-reporter-was-aider-abettor-co-conspirator-with-leaker.shtml#c1124 Re: Re: Re: So, anyone who still believes that "1984" is fiction? http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11200723149/war-journalists-doj-claimed-fox-news-reporter-was-aider-abettor-co-conspirator-with-leaker.shtml#c1119 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:21:34 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11200723149/war-journalists-doj-claimed-fox-news-reporter-was-aider-abettor-co-conspirator-with-leaker.shtml#c1119 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c181 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:20:41 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c181 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c339 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:18:47 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c339
Something always has to be the scapegoat and it's video games turn now. Started with comics, then TV, then D&D, then on to video games. I'm sure something in the future will displace video games as the scapegoat.]]> Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/10360323060/criminal-nabbed-his-own-food-porn.shtml#c125 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:18:38 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/10360323060/criminal-nabbed-his-own-food-porn.shtml#c125 Re: Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/12190223151/prendas-paul-hansmeier-asks-appeals-court-to-delay-sanctions-appeals-court-says-no-try-again.shtml#c406 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:06:10 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/12190223151/prendas-paul-hansmeier-asks-appeals-court-to-delay-sanctions-appeals-court-says-no-try-again.shtml#c406
Essentially, it's great for the pirates who get to hide out and thumb their nose at the law, but bad for rights holders who are left facing legal stonewalling from ISPs.

Prenda makes it worse with all sort of stupid shit, they are total idiots. They are no better at this point that the Tenenbaums and Thomas on the piracy side, helping to set precedents that will be bad for the supporter of their side.

Prenda's case however does show however that there are serious issues regarding identifying people online, and that it creates both an obstruction of justice and sadly a hole where scammers (such as Prenda appear to be) can exploit for profit. It does neither side any good.

--

Well I don't buy that people can hid behind their ISP's and download or share copyrighted material with no worries. With all of the companies out there nowadays doing enforcement on behalf of copyright holders, I would say the inherent risks are tenfold from what they used to be.

With that being said I sure wouldn't believe my ISP or any other is going to be guarded about providing my info if a order is given to them for the information.

If anything I would disagree with you that ISP's protect the subscriber. Most ISP's are giving that info out if the court has directed it to do so, and they are also being paid a per subscriber fee to provide this information.

ISP's do put up a fight in certain cases and situations (for instance that RIAA Former Lobbyist Judge Beryll Howell) who gave Prenda Carte Blanche to get the ISP's to turn over subscriber information for people that weren't even in the district the case was filed in.

The only reason ISP's are fighting that order was that the scope of the ISP subscribers were scattered around the country, and did not fall in the jurisdiction of that court and its order.

There are cases around the country were courts have ordered the ISP's to turn over subscriber info because the information before the court has met the courts threshold of proof, and the ISP has complied.

There are always going to be those who will flaunt the laws and those who don't. That beings said though I am of the class of people who want the person brining a suit forward to make sure the facts they have said to get my information factual and most of all truthful.

There are a lot of sites that if you download a movie or a video clip that they include a hidden unique identifier for that member/subscriber that each time they download a clip or video and let say they share it on the web, they can go back and look at that subscriber/members info and say hey you shared are clip.

So there is a way to identify who may have shared that movie or video clip, and they can go from there to proceed with a lawsuit etc if they so choose.

Now am I saying that is fool proof with no issues, no, I still think there is great burden to prove there that the person who subscribed is the one who sent it.

There are always ways to get around things such as VPN's proxies, IP spoofing, using someone else's WiFi connection etc.

But the onus is on the person who is brining the case to the courts to make sure they have the facts right, the RIAA has done this in cases, so has the MPAA. But they have also goofed on some cases as well.

Prenda has done a shoddy job in my opinion on making sure the facts they represent have a semblance of truth to them. Their problem is they got so engrossed in the money they were making they totally forgot about the law and following it.

----

When Judges sanction you and scold you in various rulings and you still fail to follow the courts orders and directives, then you have brought the weight of the law and courts upon yourself, and deservedly so.

I agree. But the judge in this case went above and beyond, calling in people who were not directly party to the case, calling people in from outside of the district, and essentially putting them on trial without the benefits of time to build a defense. At that point, the judge is no better than those he judges harshly, he either abused his power or came incredibly close to the line, and he should count himself lucky not to find himself facing his own issues in the matter.
---

I have to disagree with you on this, Peter & Paul Hansmeier are involved 6881 Forensics. 6881 Forensics supposed monitoring program was used to detect who was downloading and sharing the movie that was involved in this case. It was also their declaration to the court that these peoples IP address's were the ones involved in the sharing and downloading of the torrent file.

So the Hansmeiers work for Prenda on behalf of AF Holdings.
AF Holdings is represented by Gibbs who was the original lawyer for Prenda Law. Gibbs was the main lawyer on this case till Duffy tried to withdrawl the case from the court.

Duffy is the supposed principal of Prenda Law, all affidavits and pleadings were filed on Prenda's behalf with representation from Gibbs.

Angela Van Demel was the Para-legal who was contacting the ISP's subscribers still after the court had put through an order telling Gibbs/Prenda that they were not allowed to contact the subscribers with information gleaned from the ISP's.

They continued despite that order. This one of the reasons which the first hearing was called for sanctions for disobeying the courts order and a sanction hearing was set.

Mark Lutz was supposedly the representative of AF Holdings and may have signed some of the documentation and affidavits in regard to the initial start of the lawsuit.

Steele and Hansmeier supposedly have no intrest in Prenda law but yet it was Steele Hansmeier's business that went to Prenda law.

So as much as you seem to say these folks should have never been called into appearing and explaining their involvement in the lawsuit and the Judge over reached, I have to disagree.

They are all so intertwined in these actions and in others around the country, that it is hard to not find they are all involved to some aspects. The Judge and defence too see this same thing.

If an appeals courts thinks Judge Wright over reached then I am sure they will remedy this, bit in my opinion I think Judge Wright included them in and rightly so based on all the connections in this case and others.]]> Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c167 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:03:02 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130502/07475922914/why-even-good-hospitals-doctors-are-obstacle-to-better-cheaper-healthcare.shtml#c167
I guess we should all be able to treat our own gun shot wounds, automatically know what it means and how to treat a disease when it involves coughing up blood (Tuberculosis for those who don't know), diagnose and self medicate.

The reason why humans need educated doctors to tell us what's going on is that it prevents bias and generally helps us treat ourselves on our own in general. We here in the US and UK usually visit a doctor when a cold or flu starts becoming painful, or when it lasts for 3 weeks. So I'm sorry that some of you from other countries don't understand the danger of self diagnosis.]]> Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/15490323152/intellectual-property-mess-holding-up-tpp.shtml#c207 Tue, 21 May 2013 06:58:53 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/15490323152/intellectual-property-mess-holding-up-tpp.shtml#c207
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it" - F.Bastiat
I'm honestly not sure what side of the debate you intended that quote to support.Only one side of the argument, the copyright maximalists, are the ones to engage in vulgar, obscene, and excessive overreach, greed, censorship and unconcerned collateral damage.

Only one side of the argument is attempting to buy the government and rewrite the laws.

Therefore the original quote would apply to the copyright maximalists. If you are complaining about pirary, it only exists because the public has lost any respect for copyright and government -- and this is also the fault of the copyright maximalists.

You cannot now suddenly complain that members of the public casually engage in the kind of behavior that the copyright maximalists have set such a fine reprehensible example of.

I hope that cleared things up for you.]]> Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11200723149/war-journalists-doj-claimed-fox-news-reporter-was-aider-abettor-co-conspirator-with-leaker.shtml#c1111 Tue, 21 May 2013 06:57:08 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130520/11200723149/war-journalists-doj-claimed-fox-news-reporter-was-aider-abettor-co-conspirator-with-leaker.shtml#c1111