Latest Techdirt Comments http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... Re: Wrong angle http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c907 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:56:10 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c907 the concern is effectively dealing with sexual assault

Fine, but just because their goal is reasonable does not mean their methods are.

Neither the DoJ nor the DoE is trying to curtail students' rights of free speech.


If that's the case, then write the rules in a way that doesn't allow these rights to be curtailed.]]> Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c443 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:55:28 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c443
Did she violate the law? This is a yes or no question. If the answer is "no", they have ZERO grounds to confiscate her property or arrest her.

If the police officers can't deal with some cranky woman, they don't deserve to be police officers. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

This woman is doing us a favor. She is highlighting the police officers who don't deserve the badge.]]> Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c420 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:54:35 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c420 Not that I support what the cops did, but it looks like they weren't paying any attention to her until she started being a bitch.

Sorry, but 'being a bitch' is covered by freedom of speech. John Adams was a total bitch, he was a mouthy bastard who was obnoxious and disliked even by his friends, but especially hated by the Loyalists and Tories who comprise TPTB. The mouthy bastards of the world are the best ones to make the world a better place because they are so angry at injustice that it kinda makes 'em crabby, so they do the work to make things better. This is an American tradition.

The cops are supposed to protect and serve even people who are bitches. They're supposed to know how to handle it, because they're professionals who have been trained in interfacing properly with the public, even members of the public who do not like the police (often for good reasons, such as being good citizens who keep getting targeted by racial profilers, which can be very frustrating.)

When the bitches are properly shut-the-fuck-up, the rest of us suffer.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c905 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:54:30 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c905
Really? I thought the military did that.

*BURN*]]> Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130505/14372422951/court-finds-fantasy-stories-obscene.shtml#c933 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:53:36 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130505/14372422951/court-finds-fantasy-stories-obscene.shtml#c933 "Any basic text on sexual urges will tell you that there is a big difference between pre and post pubescent desires."

I don't doubt it, but it's quite irrelevant. A book describing illegal sex with a minor is describing illegal conduct whether the minor is 6 or 16. One may be more disturbing than the other, but they're both works of fiction and no one is being hurt or forced to read the books.

Don't like it? Just close the book!]]> Re: Liability Slipery Slope http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/16464823123/swedish-prosecutor-claims-registrar-se-domains-being-accomplice-infringement-because-pirate-bay-domain.shtml#c895 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:52:37 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/16464823123/swedish-prosecutor-claims-registrar-se-domains-being-accomplice-infringement-because-pirate-bay-domain.shtml#c895
Somewhere, in Some Universe (not ours), in some possible space time continuum, You may have infringed on a Copyright (where in our universe the law has been expanded ever upward to cover all possible quantum possible uses, including differences in time, space, temporal mechanics, or other currently unknown quantum phenomenon).

Since you have been accused, by nature of quantum mechanics, therefor you are guilty, all your possessions are forfeit to the **AA, your children will be held as indentured servants to the **AA for 100 years past the current youngest child's death.. aka Death + 100 years, and all your IP will be assimilated by the **AA's.

Welcome to your future, now go get a job and start paying your debt to the **AA's (debt to society is a foreign concept, as we asked, but nobody from "society" bothered to respond... guess there weren't that many left).

This message brought to you by your friendly tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist...]]> Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c399 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:50:50 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c399 Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c393 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:50:07 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c393 NYPD's own Patrol Guide.
b. None of the following constitutes probable cause for arrest or detention of an onlooker unless the safety of officers or other persons is directly endangered or the officer reasonably believes they are endangered or the law is otherwise violated:

(1) Speech alone, even though crude and vulgar
(2) Requesting and making notes of shield numbers or names of officers
(3) Taking photographs, videotapes or tape recordings
(4) Remaining in the vicinity of the stop or arrest


You assert,]]> Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/01321523153/kitchen-nightmares-lawyers-threaten-infamous-samy-amy-if-they-talk-about-their-experience-show.shtml#c153 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:49:45 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/01321523153/kitchen-nightmares-lawyers-threaten-infamous-samy-amy-if-they-talk-about-their-experience-show.shtml#c153 Re: As a supporter of on line education... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c898 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:46:21 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c898
Sounds good to me!]]> Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c383 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:45:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c383 But the fault lies with those making the recordings.

No, the fault lies with the officers. It may not be wise to act like an asshole, but it's not illegal. The cops must be held to a higher standard and have a thick enough skin that they can ignore the assholes.]]> Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c877 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:45:08 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c877
This is why these things are so scary - you won't even have to offend an over-sensitive wanker.

You just have to be caught doing something that someone else thinks would offend an over-sensitive wanker.]]> Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130505/14372422951/court-finds-fantasy-stories-obscene.shtml#c916 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:44:22 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130505/14372422951/court-finds-fantasy-stories-obscene.shtml#c916 Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c903 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:44:01 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c903
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_control_in_Australia#Measuring_the_effects_of_firearms_laws_in_Australia]]> Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/01321523153/kitchen-nightmares-lawyers-threaten-infamous-samy-amy-if-they-talk-about-their-experience-show.shtml#c145 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:42:15 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130521/01321523153/kitchen-nightmares-lawyers-threaten-infamous-samy-amy-if-they-talk-about-their-experience-show.shtml#c145 Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c370 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:41:08 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c370 "I'm not able to view video at work"

She was fine at the start, but when she "paced" (walked along with) the male and then the female officer it was spooky behavior. Then she confronted them.

The cop asked her to stand "down there" rather than the 5 feet away she was when she was argumentatively questioning them. (Her first question was possibly legitimate, and she got a sufficient answer to it "Safety check". Her second question "who's safety is in danger" was subjectively argumentative. She refused to move and refused to give her ID.

I'm quite good here with the cops, again. I should have to recommend that a watcher stand at least 20 feet away (30 would be better), not pace around the cops, and not harass them with rhetorically questions, and lastly comply when the ask you to move away.

In this case, it might be sufficient to be concise. "She confronted the cops. She shouldn't have."]]> Re: Meanwhile, in DC.... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c365 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:37:19 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130519/19190923142/if-youre-going-to-illegally-seize-citizens-cell-phones-least-make-sure-youre-grabbing-right-ones.shtml#c365 Turning off electronics http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130510/13023123037/lots-people-dont-turn-off-their-devices-when-they-fly.shtml#c1553 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:36:58 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130510/13023123037/lots-people-dont-turn-off-their-devices-when-they-fly.shtml#c1553 Re: Re: Re: Duh... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c872 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:35:44 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/18345423136/doj-dept-education-to-colleges-start-restricting-free-speech-campus-kiss-your-federal-funding-goodbye.shtml#c872 Ummmm 9/11 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c889 Tue, 21 May 2013 10:35:28 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/13573923121/retired-lt-col-violent-media-has-bred-generation-killers.shtml#c889
It represents a massive outlier in the number killed, but to be fair about the data it really should be in there.]]>