Josef Anvil 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Hours After Google Announces Google Fiber In Austin, AT&T Pretends It, Too, Will Build A 1 Gigabit Network There

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 10 Apr, 2013 @ 12:23pm

    Not in Kansas anymore

    After reading more about the story, you find the truth buried in it.

    AT&T says they will offer a comparable service, if only they have the same deal as Google.

    Well...

    Austin City spokesman Doug Matthews said there were no "special incentives" for Google. "The negotiated agreement we had with Google, by state law we're obligated to provide to anybody else who wants to offer the same service," Matthews said.

    Soooo, AT&T has had the same deal all along.

  • On the post: Apple Threatens To Kick Out Comic Book App Over 'Adult' Content, Forcing Publisher To Pull 40% Of Its 4,000 Titles

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 09 Apr, 2013 @ 12:41am

    Re:

    Actually Apple is moving down the same path as AOL and they should take note of what happened there.

  • On the post: Hilarious And Ridiculous: Networks Threaten To Pull Channels Off The Air If Aereo & Dish Win Lawsuits

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 09 Apr, 2013 @ 12:37am

    Dumbest threat ever

    If the networks consider moving to a cable or subscription service as a "business solution" then the execs who support that decision should be fired for incompetence.

    It's not even I'll take my ball and go home. It's more like "I'll deflate my ball and play with it in private and you will all want it more."

  • On the post: Organization That Plagiarized Guide On Making Science Posters Has Pricey Lawyer Threaten Original Creator With Copyright Claim

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2013 @ 11:16am

    Re:

    Your comment is exactly what I was thinking as I read this article.

    You STOLE my intellectual property!!!

    I will be contacting Arnold & Porter for representation.

  • On the post: Veoh Still Not Dead Enough For Universal Music; Asks Court To Rehear Case Yet Again

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2013 @ 07:57am

    What they need...

    The RIAA needs to make friends with the NSA and learn how to make super secret interpretations of the law.

  • On the post: Veoh Still Not Dead Enough For Universal Music; Asks Court To Rehear Case Yet Again

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2013 @ 07:55am

    Casino Night at the Courthouse

    UMG is just playing big, and it's actually not a bad strategy.

    They are throwing money into this case in hopes of setting a legal precedent. The odds are not in their favor, but they don't have to worry about the Veoh fighting back and if they were to get a win, you could bet that YouTube and every similar service would be in their sites next.

  • On the post: Here's The Vine Video Prince Abused The DMCA To Take Down

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 05 Apr, 2013 @ 01:26am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    "Techdirt?s helped me shape my own views on copyright over the years..."

    That is definitely part of the problem...IF you are on the side that is desperately trying to control the internet through legislation designed to protect legacy players in the industry.

  • On the post: If Your Kid's Playing M-Rated Games, You Can't Blame The Retailer

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2013 @ 07:42am

    Confusion

    Violent video games DEFINITELY desensitize the player/viewer to scenes of violence. I played GTA one time and I found it disturbing so I never played it again (love Halo and Call of Duty). I'm guessing my reaction to GTA was due to the setting.

    The point is, that being desensitized to violent scenes does not create violent behavior. It means, you don't find it disturbing or repulsive. There are many things that I don't find repulsive but will not do, because they are against the law.

  • On the post: Is Google Regretting Paying Off Belgian And French Newspapers Yet? Other Newspapers Demand Their Cut

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 28 Mar, 2013 @ 07:35am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Poor bob. You really don't get this whole interwebs thing. Let's assume that all this 'valuable' content is pulled from Google News. What will people do?

    Let's see. Will they hunt for the content that was removed or will they just move on to whatever is most convenient?

    Are there plenty of journalists offering the same 'valuable' content for free? Yup there sure are.

  • On the post: Dumb Policy: Store Charges $5 Just To Look At Goods, To Keep People From Looking And Then Buying Online

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 27 Mar, 2013 @ 06:15am

    WTF

    Ummmm. I was thinking of something to say about the policy itself, then it hit me.... wait for it....

    Who goes into a grocery store to window shop for a later purchase online??????

    Ok, I have done grocery shopping online in order to AVOID going to the grocery store, but I have never gone into a grocery store to see what deals I can find online. I would have to say that 99% of the times I have entered a grocery store, it was with intent to purchase.

    People need food to live. It's not the same as clothing or electronics. So I would have to say they are just using that example as a quick cash grab that will most likely lose more customers than it attracts.

  • On the post: Experts Scratching Their Heads At House Judiciary's Awful CFAA Reform Proposal

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 27 Mar, 2013 @ 04:22am

    Pass this

    As one of "We the People..." I'm throwing my suggestion in the basket.

    The Defense of Rationality, Enlightenment, and Morality Act. (Yes its the DREAM Act)

    Any Senator or Representative that has shown a well documented (print or video evidence reviewed by experts) lack of comprehension/ignorance of a particular topic, shall not be allowed to lobby/legislate for or against said topic until he/she shows marked improvement in the understanding of said topic as determined by expert review.

  • On the post: What's Wrong With This Picture?

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 27 Mar, 2013 @ 02:35am

    Prohibition and Piracy

    IP laws exist. Those laws are not going away any time soon. Human nature exists and predates IP law. When any laws directly conflict with human nature, the law rarely wins.

    When looking at the Prohibition of alcohol in the US vs content piracy there is one very striking difference. In both instances, the public showed a complete disregard for the law on a massive scale. The difference is that Congress acted rather swiftly to remedy the issue by repealing a very bad law.

  • On the post: Even USA Today Is Wondering Why Copyright Law Is So Broken That It Locks Up Mobile Phones

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2013 @ 05:47am

    Re: Telcos CAN'T logically let just ANY software run.

    Did you actually use the word logically in your post? Shame on you.

    Ok boys and girls, let's take this to basics. This is not a software or hardware or security issue. It has nothing to do with technology at all.

    It's called price fixing. Plain and simple. The telco wants the phone locked so that you are forced to use their service while they give you a huge "discount" on the hardware. This also artificially inflates the cost of the phone in the market as well. Using the DMCA to enforce this scheme is just fortuitous for some crafty lawyers.

    If you haven't figured it out by now, the telcos will come up with whatever excuse they can ( e.g. network congestion for data caps) to insist that there is a need for whatever makes them the most money. There is no logic involved, just profit.

  • On the post: One Step Closer To Sales Taxes On All Internet Purchases

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2013 @ 05:22am

    Re: Re: Re:

    This is just another example of how the interwebs are seen as different from reality.

    Dick Durbin is pictured in the article. So if you live in Illinois, you can look forward to a minimum of 15% federal income tax, then 10% sales tax on most of your purchases, and now what will probably be another 5-10% federal internet sales tax. So basically 30-40% of your income.

    The federal government has been trying to figure out how to make a national sales tax palatable for a long time. Seems like the web is so different from reality that it makes sense.

  • On the post: True Purpose Of DRM: To Let Copyright Holders Have A Veto Right On New Technologies

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2013 @ 10:29am

    Well it used to work

    None of this is really new news. It's pretty well documented that IP laws put up an expensive toll road for innovation and hold back the development of humanity so that some people can get rich. This holds true for most industries, not just technology.

    Because the rate of innovation was so slow for so long, this never really seemed to bother society. But now things advance at a much more rapid pace than ever before in human history AND our ability to communicate with one another across the globe has increased exponentially AND many of the old barriers into the market have disappeared.

    So now you have A LOT more people than ever before asking the question why?

  • On the post: HBO Admits That Perhaps Cable-Free Access Might Possibly Make Sense One Day, Maybe

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2013 @ 09:09am

    Disturbing

    The most disturbing part about this is the HBO perspective that ISPs are just like cable networks. They seem to be under the impression that they can just barter a deal where they can bundle their service with a broadband offering.

    Ummmm no. Just tack on an additional $10 - $15 per month for HBO content? Maybe just maybe they are overvaluing their content. Sooooo HBO thinks that their content alone is worth more than everything on Netflix and worth entering into a contract with a broadband provider.

    It's this overvaluing of content which is driving the cord cutting.

  • On the post: Rep. Gohmert's Record For Stunning Technological Ignorance Is Broken By… Rep. Gohmert

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2013 @ 06:17am

    Re: To put things in perspective :

    He is the voice of his constituents. 'Nuff said.

  • On the post: Prenda Law Update: How Do You Serve An Alan Cooper Who Might Not Exist?

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2013 @ 02:14am

    Re: It's all very clear now.

    This is what happens when you declare that corporations are people. WTF did they think would happen? Of course people want to be able to shift all blame and wrongdoing to a concept that can't show up in court.

  • On the post: Prenda Law Update: How Do You Serve An Alan Cooper Who Might Not Exist?

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2013 @ 02:12am

    It's all very clear now.

    None of these people actually exist.

    This is the ultimate in identity theft. The people are just interchangeable data sets.

    Only the corporation actually exists.

  • On the post: Rep. Gohmert's Record For Stunning Technological Ignorance Is Broken By… Rep. Gohmert

    Josef Anvil ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2013 @ 12:22pm

    Re: WTF????

    How exactly did you get that he appears to care about the public??? It's quite obvious what this is all about.

    He is a standard congresscritter. He was receiving or sending an email to his mistress/girlfriend and he happened to notice a Viagra or Cialis ad targeting him. He freaked out and just had to know who else was reading his email. He panicked and decided legislation needed to be enacted to keep the FBI off his ass.

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