http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130510/13023123037/lots-people-dont-turn-off-their-devices-when-they-fly.shtml#c497 Fri, 17 May 2013 12:22:22 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130510/13023123037/lots-people-dont-turn-off-their-devices-when-they-fly.shtml#c497 http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/10/30]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/15583223111/congress-grandstanding-over-google-glass-privacy-concerns-next-up-privacy-concerns-over-your-eyes.shtml#c1780 Fri, 17 May 2013 12:07:29 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/15583223111/congress-grandstanding-over-google-glass-privacy-concerns-next-up-privacy-concerns-over-your-eyes.shtml#c1780
People in public places (should) have no expectation of privacy. What some people do have is an expectation of anonymity. This is because, even 10 years ago, it was not practical for an average person to identify a stranger, even given a photograph of him or her.

This is no longer true, and therefore older people's expectations are out of phase with reality. Unfortunately, (some) people believe this can be "fixed" via legislating a new reality.

I predict this will work just as well as legislating in order to fix broken business models.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/16505323067/us-uses-special-301-to-bully-ukraine-likely-violating-wto.shtml#c94 Fri, 17 May 2013 02:58:37 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/16505323067/us-uses-special-301-to-bully-ukraine-likely-violating-wto.shtml#c94
Laws? Probably. Enforcement? Unlikely.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/12483923107/nz-supreme-court-will-review-kim-dotcoms-extradition-case.shtml#c289 Fri, 17 May 2013 02:48:49 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130516/12483923107/nz-supreme-court-will-review-kim-dotcoms-extradition-case.shtml#c289 > Kim when it comes to facing the US courts.

Ah, so you admit that the US court system is so corrupt that the outcome is determined even before trial? How forthright of you!]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/01431623057/appeal-over-former-riaa-lobbyist-judge-allowing-prenda-to-get-info-over-1000-john-does-moves-forward.shtml#c515 Fri, 17 May 2013 02:37:51 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/01431623057/appeal-over-former-riaa-lobbyist-judge-allowing-prenda-to-get-info-over-1000-john-does-moves-forward.shtml#c515 Although the expressive aspect of the conduct alleged here]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/01431623057/appeal-over-former-riaa-lobbyist-judge-allowing-prenda-to-get-info-over-1000-john-does-moves-forward.shtml#c500 Fri, 17 May 2013 02:21:08 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/01431623057/appeal-over-former-riaa-lobbyist-judge-allowing-prenda-to-get-info-over-1000-john-does-moves-forward.shtml#c500
In this particular case, neither is significant, given the circus surrounding Prenda, and the preponderance of decisions against joinder.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/16431123099/aaron-swartzs-last-project-open-source-system-to-securely-anonymously-submit-documents-to-press.shtml#c270 Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:04 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/16431123099/aaron-swartzs-last-project-open-source-system-to-securely-anonymously-submit-documents-to-press.shtml#c270 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/16431123099/aaron-swartzs-last-project-open-source-system-to-securely-anonymously-submit-documents-to-press.shtml#c251 Thu, 16 May 2013 12:19:14 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/16431123099/aaron-swartzs-last-project-open-source-system-to-securely-anonymously-submit-documents-to-press.shtml#c251
BTW, the most important thing he did (which you missed --- perhaps because of a blind spot?) was probably this: he made a lot of friends (not necessarily close personal ones) and gained a lot of respect.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/16431123099/aaron-swartzs-last-project-open-source-system-to-securely-anonymously-submit-documents-to-press.shtml#c237 Thu, 16 May 2013 12:14:55 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/16431123099/aaron-swartzs-last-project-open-source-system-to-securely-anonymously-submit-documents-to-press.shtml#c237
Of course he thought it was real (as in, currently a legal reality), why do you think he was so careful not to infringe?

> and physical

Now you're letting your stupidity show.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130511/03220823047/mpaa-freaks-out-insists-that-having-to-consider-fair-use-before-filing-dmca-takedown-would-be-crazy.shtml#c1083 Mon, 13 May 2013 23:01:48 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130511/03220823047/mpaa-freaks-out-insists-that-having-to-consider-fair-use-before-filing-dmca-takedown-would-be-crazy.shtml#c1083 after they finish their terms in Congress.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c848 Sat, 11 May 2013 14:31:47 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c848
Its brief, as expected, is chock full of hypocrisy.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c841 Sat, 11 May 2013 13:00:53 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c841 isn't "too much work" for others (e.g., Google).]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c820 Sat, 11 May 2013 11:43:28 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c820 uninvited amicus briefs are hardly ever "impartial" in the colloquial sense of "disinterested" (I suppose Lord Justice Salmon meant the word in a different, legal sense, as in "not sharing a direct interest with either party of the case").]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c778 Sat, 11 May 2013 08:56:42 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130509/01272923016/key-legal-fight-shaping-up-over-legality-dmca-abuses.shtml#c778 permission to file that amicus brief on 10-May-2013. So you seem to be getting ahead of yourself.

I'm waiting patiently to see that brief (and hopefully be the first one to upload it to RECAP).]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/15220623007/appeals-court-google-book-scanning-case-clearly-leaning-towards-fair-use-ruling.shtml#c403 Thu, 9 May 2013 13:30:34 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130508/15220623007/appeals-court-google-book-scanning-case-clearly-leaning-towards-fair-use-ruling.shtml#c403
Calling it "Do no evil" totally misrepresents the elegance of the actual phrase...]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130428/06331122862/how-key-decisions-copyright-cases-can-impact-pace-technological-innovation.shtml#c428 Fri, 3 May 2013 12:51:20 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130428/06331122862/how-key-decisions-copyright-cases-can-impact-pace-technological-innovation.shtml#c428
I think you meant to say "that is stupid because it is the fruit of sheer corruption from the MAFIAA". Just because we all understand why it's stupid, doesn't make it less stupid.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130428/06331122862/how-key-decisions-copyright-cases-can-impact-pace-technological-innovation.shtml#c418 Fri, 3 May 2013 12:45:06 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20130428/06331122862/how-key-decisions-copyright-cases-can-impact-pace-technological-innovation.shtml#c418 That's not what the dissent in Aereo says, Mike. Judge Chin said that Aereo was different than Cablevision such that Aereo couldn't seek safe harbor in the Cablevision decision.

Unfortunately true. Chin makes the probably correct point that Congress, in its lobby-blinded cluelessness, went out of its way to define "transmit" to "include all conceivable forms and combinations of wires and wireless communications media, including but by no means limited to radio and television broadcasting as we know them".

> The fact that that makes no sense should tell you that it's wrong.

I agree with you there, probably because the things that we are thinking are wrong are totally different. You didn't mean "copyright law", by any chance?]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130429/16265322885/supreme-court-says-out-state-residents-have-no-constitutional-right-to-virginias-foia-law.shtml#c486 Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:28:40 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130429/16265322885/supreme-court-says-out-state-residents-have-no-constitutional-right-to-virginias-foia-law.shtml#c486
This judgment reminds me of this other recent one. Both of them are trivial to tracelessly workaround.

In the first-sale rights ruling, the judge ruled that it's perfectly OK to sell your digital download along with the storage media to which you originally saved. Unfortunately, it is trivial, when you decide to resell your content, to copy the file or files you want to sell to any sufficiently old flash drive or card, in such a way that the resulting media is indistinguishable from the result of having downloaded those files directly to the media.

Hey, suddenly all those old, relatively-tiny-capacity flash drives will become useful again!]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130425/08171522834/judge-says-giving-up-your-password-may-be-5th-amendment-violation.shtml#c229 Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:45:17 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130425/08171522834/judge-says-giving-up-your-password-may-be-5th-amendment-violation.shtml#c229
Unfortunately, just being accused of possessing child porn is more or less a social "game over". It's a shame that most people aren't technologically adept enough to understand that in this era of ubiquitous computing (and therefore, ubiquitous vulnerabilities), almost everyone could end up being (wrongly) accused. Personally, I'd back legislation that requires all investigations of such crimes to be "under seal", and which would severely limit the punishment for the crime if "somehow" this required secrecy was botched during the investigation (yes, I know that's not optimal, but I cannot think of any other way to motivate law enforcement properly).]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130425/11554022838/appeals-court-overturns-richard-prince-ruling-victory-fair-use-appropriation-art.shtml#c259 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:25:29 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130425/11554022838/appeals-court-overturns-richard-prince-ruling-victory-fair-use-appropriation-art.shtml#c259
Unfortunately, the more innovative the artist, the less likely that would work... so you do seem to have a stronger point there than I originally thought.]]>