Latest Techdirt Comments http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... Re: Oh, I doubt the mythical exculpatory evidence! http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/07515923527/leaseweb-deletes-megauploads-servers-without-warning-destroying-key-evidence.shtml#c992 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:20:49 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/07515923527/leaseweb-deletes-megauploads-servers-without-warning-destroying-key-evidence.shtml#c992 "In any case, you can't rely on "dog ate my homework"."

Actually, in court you can rely on that when the dog is the prosecutor and the homework is material evidence.

"If Dotcom is so darned eager to prove his innocence, he can hop on a plane for the US and get it over with."

I'm not sure if this statement is made out of ignorance, malice or both...

If you were accused of a crime in another country and set to be extradited, and you considered yourself to be innocent, would you willingly jump on a plane and present yourself to the authorities knowing that you'll spend the next year or two stuck in that country and having to put your entire life on hold? Do you leave your family? (Dotcom has a wife and five kids remember.) Or do you uproot them from their lives too? Do you just quit your job? (Probably no choice there.) Is that what you'd do Blue?

No, of course it's not. Since you believe you're innocent you'd fight every effort to you drag you into that hell. Even if you assume Dotcom would get a fair trial (far from guaranteed) and can win, it's still something no sane person would volunteer for.

The extradition process is not just to ensure criminals can be returned to the country where a crime was committed, but also to ensure people who are innocent or unlikely to be found guilty are not unduly punished before a verdict is even delivered.]]> I can't decide http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c538 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:19:42 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c538
Or are they still thinking they are path makers and industries will follow them?

Or are they so narcosistic they just want to hear themselves talk?

Or is there a combination of all of the above.]]> They listened? http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c516 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:19:19 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c516 blatantly said they wouldn't?

I guess they will listen to customers if some of their most loyal fans go out & buy a Nintendo product. lol

I wonder if this has anything to do w/ them ambushing the Nintendo E3 Demos at Best Buys, where they were caught taking notes (check the comments)?

A win for gamers, but a cautious one. Gamers will have to be vigilant.

I still won't get an Xbox One.]]> 3 4 3 OOTB http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/07515923527/leaseweb-deletes-megauploads-servers-without-warning-destroying-key-evidence.shtml#c982 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:10:33 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/07515923527/leaseweb-deletes-megauploads-servers-without-warning-destroying-key-evidence.shtml#c982

RightHaven will last forever........

Prenda would never upload their own movies......

The US DOJ has a slam dunk case against Kim Dotcom.......

(but these are just "Anomalies", right?)]]> Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c436 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:08:29 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c436 We did not have yearly mass-murders a hundred years ago

I'm not so sure this is very true, especially once you take population into account. Mass-murders have been around for as long as man has.

The main difference nowadays, I think, is that you hear incessantly about every such incident.

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety," was once the prevailing attitude


No, it was never the prevailing attitude, and was as radical a statement then as now. The prevailing attitude was what it pretty much is now: "if I'm not personally affected, I don't care". Remember, even the American Revolution was not supported by the majority of the colonists.]]> an artist http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120625/16014919472/want-to-be-signed-musician-any-all-records-will-take-you.shtml#c5692 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:03:54 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120625/16014919472/want-to-be-signed-musician-any-all-records-will-take-you.shtml#c5692 Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c430 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:01:20 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c430
But I am old and don't care, as long as the guy can pass information I don't care if he use the word ball to describe a sphere.

Ether was once used to describe the emptiness the big great void the nothingness the nada, is an archaic form that was at the time almost certainly mundane and today is only know to scholars because its time have passed.

So there is that, in those times people constructed sentences differently, it doesn't mean it was clear, we have only surviving texts from that age, we don't have all text ever written to base any kind of conclusion, have any common man texts survived by which we can compared how they expressed themselves compared to todays common people or you want to compare great writers of the time with everyday people and not with ours own great writers today?]]> Re: What's this? Mike FOR anti-trust? ... What about Google? http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/11215823532/supreme-court-says-pharmas-pay-delay-agreements-may-violate-antitrust-law.shtml#c37 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:59:18 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/11215823532/supreme-court-says-pharmas-pay-delay-agreements-may-violate-antitrust-law.shtml#c37
Google does maps better then Yahoo and Mapquest and Apple. Google does Email Better then Hotmail or Yahoo. Thats why google tops searches in other search engines.

So where is google being anti-competitive?]]> The Real Enemy http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/10213023529/fbi-admits-to-using-drones-to-spy-americans.shtml#c642 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:58:46 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/10213023529/fbi-admits-to-using-drones-to-spy-americans.shtml#c642 Crazy idea of the math http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130325/11085322454/crazy-idea-month-allowing-patents-mathematics.shtml#c894 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:56:21 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130325/11085322454/crazy-idea-month-allowing-patents-mathematics.shtml#c894 Listening to us? http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c494 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:53:28 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c494
If they had been straight about it from the get go, then maybe they could have garnered some acceptance. If they had tried to dip a toe in the water (perhaps starting with only the digital download games and the "sharing plan" for that), instead of diving headfirst into an icy lake of customer backlash, they might have seen some acceptance.

What pisses me off the most though, is there sheer, unadulterated ASSHOLENESS of the entire discussion of it. Absolutely no thought was given to conceding to the gaming community at large their concerns (the "Deal with it" tweet anyone?), it was presented as hey, we're going to do this, even though for the last 9 months everyone has been talking about how they don't want it, but we're doing it anyway and you're going to like it, we promise.

This shows a complete and total ineptitude and straight out disconnect from their customers. When you get your head shoved so far up your own ass you can't see this issue coming like a freight train, it's time to fire not only your PR department, you need to take a serious look at the fucking asshole that came up with idea, and the 10 or 12 morons that sat there and agreed with him that it was a great idea, and bash him over the head and leave him in a ditch.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/17584023513/new-orleans-cops-set-up-private-company-to-fill-pockets-with-red-light-camera-cash.shtml#c200 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:51:31 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130617/17584023513/new-orleans-cops-set-up-private-company-to-fill-pockets-with-red-light-camera-cash.shtml#c200 Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c409 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:49:58 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c409 Be careful what you ask for. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1454 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:48:27 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/01121423439/hollywood-studios-keep-saying-its-employees-must-get-paid-now-may-be-forced-to-pay-its-interns.shtml#c1454 Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/07515923527/leaseweb-deletes-megauploads-servers-without-warning-destroying-key-evidence.shtml#c980 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:48:01 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/07515923527/leaseweb-deletes-megauploads-servers-without-warning-destroying-key-evidence.shtml#c980 Well, if your car was seized by the government, then you stopped making payments and later the cops decided they din't need it- would you be crying about the repo guy picking it up?

Let's try it from the opposite point of view;

You're accused of a computer crime. Before the police can get a search warrant for your computer, you have your own "expert" go through it and collect evidence of your innocence. Then as soon as he's finished, you wipe the hard drive. How do you think the authorities would react?]]> Replace "customers" with... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c492 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:47:07 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c492 Re: Re: Re: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c475 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:46:56 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/13581923535/microsoft-capitulates-removes-online-drm-xbox-one.shtml#c475 Re: What's this? Mike FOR anti-trust? ... What about Google? http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/11215823532/supreme-court-says-pharmas-pay-delay-agreements-may-violate-antitrust-law.shtml#c30 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:46:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130619/11215823532/supreme-court-says-pharmas-pay-delay-agreements-may-violate-antitrust-law.shtml#c30
Do let us know when your balls drop though. As that is as about a relevant and on point as the silliness your mouth expels without your brains consent.

Nigel]]> Cryptogams and the NSA http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c408 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:45:58 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130619/10395523531/next-time-someone-says-twitter-is-killing-deep-thinking-with-short-quick-messages-show-them-this.shtml#c408 Finnegan's Wake summons the FBI.

Cryptogams and the NSA, by John Sifton

THE first thing I did after I heard about the highly classified NSA PRISM program two years ago was set up a proxy server in Peshawar to email me passages from Joyce
]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/18243923466/hollywoods-new-talking-point-gatekeepers-are-awesome.shtml#c583 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:45:54 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/18243923466/hollywoods-new-talking-point-gatekeepers-are-awesome.shtml#c583
Academics...admit it - you wouldn't want them working next to you in a real job now would you?]]>