http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130618/10230323518/nsa-claims-surveillance-programs-aided-stopping-50-attacks-details-lacking.shtml#c767 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:36:36 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130618/10230323518/nsa-claims-surveillance-programs-aided-stopping-50-attacks-details-lacking.shtml#c767 Even if that was the case, the only reason it (hypothetically) worked was because the terrorists, like the American public, were unaware that their every action was being recorded for future reference.
Given that PRISM is now publicly known, how can its continued existence be justified? "It stopped terrorist attacks in the past" is insufficient, because now terrorists know to avoid being monitored by it.

Offhand, I'd say the NSA is due for massive budget cuts. They're clearly overfunded and desperate to remain that way. The NSA's budget is classified (of course), but a bit of searching shows that it was around $8 billion in 2008, with a few pundits estimating it to currently be at least $10 billion. $5 billion would probably be more appropriate.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/12373623425/mpaas-chris-dodd-will-be-chair-free-speech-week.shtml#c1466 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:35:23 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/12373623425/mpaas-chris-dodd-will-be-chair-free-speech-week.shtml#c1466
Of course it is.

Free speech means that the government cannot define content as infringing as an excuse to punish us for accessing it.

Free speech has nothing to do with content creators trying to stop other people from plagarizing and unfairly redistributing their work. But that's apples and oranges.

50 psycho posts per day on TechDirt do not make your same old BS overreach one bit more legitimate. You will always be wrong, and people who agree with you will always be a bigger threat to content creators and users than "piracy."]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c227 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:33:36 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c227 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11212323508/how-knowing-government-is-spying-you-changes-how-you-act.shtml#c678 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:32:20 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11212323508/how-knowing-government-is-spying-you-changes-how-you-act.shtml#c678 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c363 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:31:25 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c363 is not the Department of Commerce.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130618/00483923515/nsas-lockbox-has-no-lock.shtml#c663 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:28:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130618/00483923515/nsas-lockbox-has-no-lock.shtml#c663 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c202 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:25:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c202 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11212323508/how-knowing-government-is-spying-you-changes-how-you-act.shtml#c658 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:24:02 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11212323508/how-knowing-government-is-spying-you-changes-how-you-act.shtml#c658 When you have no real downtime -- no time when you can be free from prying eyes, it messes with your brain in a really profound way.

Do you realize you've just made the case against Christianity?]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130616/20142123500/games-war-designer-cliff-bleszinski-used-games-must-be-killed-order-unsustainable-aaa-development-to-live.shtml#c1564 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:23:59 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130616/20142123500/games-war-designer-cliff-bleszinski-used-games-must-be-killed-order-unsustainable-aaa-development-to-live.shtml#c1564
So with nintendo having shit for online support people don't care and the codes weren't worth the cost in infrastructure and support to implement. As far as I know there aren't any games on the 360/wii(u)/ps3 that tried to restrict single player. Some added "free" access to DLC or one time codes for "online" but that is it. This is all that people will be able to do with Sony or nintendo. Unless either company tried to stop a 3rd party there isn't DRM on either system is all I was pointing out since neither will do this with their games. Sony said they'll let publishers do whatever they think might work, and at the moment there is almost no 3rd part on the Wii U so it remains to be seen what if anything will happen]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c340 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:23:33 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c340 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c337 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:23:16 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c337 Four times the population should -- if the simplistic measure that Mike makes is valid -- mean four times the production.No, Population size has very little to do with market size. Anyone that understands even the most basic of economic principles knows that production of goods in a market is tied the the ability of that market to consume it. Excessive overproduction leads to market crashes. I don't see anywhere in the article where Mike measured India's film industry against anything. He used the only valid measure in economics; India's film industry seems to be successful and profitable at its current production levels. He used a comparison of the numbers of films produced in India vs. the number made in the US to help illustrate that point.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050609/1751216.shtml#c3652 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:22:56 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050609/1751216.shtml#c3652 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c191 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:20:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c191
The other parts of the problem are the 16th and 17th Amendments passed by those early 20th century "Progressives"

16th concentrates massive amounts of money in one place, the Federal Government. Money leads to power and power leads to corruption.

17th allowed mob rule eliminating the ability of individual states to have a say in how the federal government is run.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c177 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:18:38 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c177 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c165 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:15:42 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c165 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c322 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:15:35 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130612/16480623431/us-chamber-commerce-bollywood-is-so-successful-without-strong-copyrights-that-it-will-fail-unless-india-strengthens-its.shtml#c322 every country should do what the US tells them, with two of those 'suggestions' being 'never compete with US interests', and 'never make US law look bad by providing counter-examples', something that Bollywood is currently doing quite well.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c149 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:12:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c149 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c129 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:11:20 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c129 So no law has been violated. I do agree that it is a first amm. violation to prosecute the publisher if he did not personally break a law in obtaining the information.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c123 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:10:24 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c123
why would anyone ever want to purposefully contravene the Constitution, when it is what your country is built on and what people hold most dear?

why would anyone ever want to bring in a law that makes contravening any part of the Constitution legal?

even more to the point, why is a person(s) who wants to bring in a law that contravenes the Constitution even allowed to try??

sounds a bit sus to me!]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c116 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:09:17 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/11500923509/its-come-to-this-commentators-arguing-that-press-commits-crime-exposing-nsa-surveillance.shtml#c116 2. Government classifies any data or evidence relating to said crime.
3. Government makes it illegal to leak or even talk about classified information.
4. Government finds itself in the position of being completely unaccountable for anything it does, as to expose their actions to public scrutiny and the possibility of justice one has to first break the law to do so, and even then evidence is forbidden from being presented, as it's 'classified', making any court case against the government impossible.

And the whistleblowers are supposed to be the enemies of the country?]]>