Mike Brown 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (91)

• On the post: Chicago Poke Chain Sends C&D To Hawaiian Poke Joint Demanding It Not Be Named 'Aloha Poke'

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2018 @ 08:07pm

  Next step?

  I was thinking of bringing this up to you, but you beat me to it. I'm in Hawaii, so I got wind of it through Coconut Wireless.
  
  There is a change.org petition to get Aloha Poke Co. to change THEIR name, but it seems to me that's the wrong approach. Businesses in Hawaii have been sharing the word "Aloha" in business without issues for all these years. That's probably why this case is particularly irksome. There was no need for them to do this. No one in Hawaii would have cared if Aloha Poke Co. of Chicago was using the word. It wasn't until the C&D's started rolling in that people got upset.
  
  It would seem the more appropriate thing to do would be to get that trademark invalidated. So many poke shops, in Hawaii and elsewhere, predate the Chicago company by a lot. I would think any of those business owners could take steps to get it invalidated, right?

• On the post: CBP Sued For Seizing $41,000 From Airline Passenger, Then Refusing To Give It Back Unless She Promised Not To Sue

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 11 May, 2018 @ 07:17pm

  Re:

  This happened at an airport, so it was inside that pesky "Constitution free zone"-- a 100 mile radius around any border or international airport.

• On the post: Government Lawyers Hoping To Keep Leaker's Lawyers From Talking About Leaked Documents

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2017 @ 12:38pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Mime format? Because silently acting out their defense in whiteface from within an invisible, slowly shrinking box doesn't count as "discussing" classified information?

• On the post: Judge Tosses Woman's Lawsuit Brought Against Google Because A Blogger Said Mean Things About Her

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2017 @ 05:28pm

  Re: You keep omitting that statute is "mere statute", not the whole of the law.

  And yet the judge granted the motion to dismiss. I think that pretty much sums up what your "common law" b.s. amounts to.

• On the post: Germany Officially Gives Up On Free Speech: Will Fine Internet Companies That Don't Delete 'Bad' Speech

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2017 @ 05:57pm

  Re: Re: Re: The tool argument

  Anyone working at your $40k a year censorship job would be totally ruined if they accidentally let a potentially offensive post through their screen. The law allows for a penalty of 5 million Euros ($5.7 million) to the individual responsible for failing to catch it. We all screw up at work on occasion, but that's just silly. You can take that job and shove it.

• On the post: Monkey Selfie Case Gets Even Weirder, As The Monkey's 'Next Friends' Are In A Criminal Dispute With Each Other

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2017 @ 07:48pm

  Re: macaques vs lawyers

  "Isn't it time for Naruto to file a class action against PETA?"
  
  Are you talking about the monkey, or the cast of the cartoon?

• On the post: RNC, Chamber Of Commerce Want Robocallers To Be Able To Spam Your Voicemail Without Your Phone Ringing

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 24 May, 2017 @ 01:24pm

  Re: Re: Re: How about no?

  Amen. It's a "Do Not Call" registry. Do Not Call. Those are three small words, and their meaning isn't particularly difficult for even small children to grasp. If we wanted a "Do Not RING" registry, we would have called it that. Do we have to create a "Do Not Contact, not-by-any-means-at-all-this-means-you" registry now?

• On the post: Stepdad Goes To Police With Stepdaughter's Sexts, Asks Them To Intervene, Is Prosecuted For Child Porn

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 18 Oct, 2016 @ 12:44pm

  Re:

  Exactly. It's called parenting. Your 15 year old stepdaughter is not entitled to her smartphone. Since she has obviously abused the privilege, take it away. If she must have a means of communication, believe it or not they still make cell phones with no camera, and they're cheaper than dirt. Since it takes two to tango, go talk to the boyfriend and his parents, to fully explain why you won't be allowing your stepdaughter to see him anymore. Horny teenagers will be horny teenagers. That's a problem for the parents, not the police.

• On the post: Does The FTC Get To Ignore Section 230 Of The CDA?

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 28 Sep, 2016 @ 03:05pm

  Not sure I'm with you on this one

  Just a layperson's $0.02 (IANAL). I can't help but compare this to the Kim Dotcom case. He had to know his users were uploading infringing files, just as LeadClick knew its affiliates were creating fake news sites. But knowing users are up to no good doesn't mean ALL of them are. It's not reasonable to expect a site operator to police millions of users, so section 230 protection would seem appropriate.
  
  Kim Dotcom is off the hook in my book, and I'd be firmly in your camp on LeadClick, if awareness of the bad actors was the extent of their involvement. The minute they started "suggesting substantive edits to fake news pages, and purchasing banner space for fake news sites on legitimate news sources" I think they crossed the line. 230 protects them from the actions of their users, not their own actions.

• On the post: University Of Texas Bullies Pastry Shop Over Donuts Shaped Like 'Hook 'Em Horns' Hands

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 02 Sep, 2016 @ 06:34pm

  Look out, Hawaii

  Here in Hawaii, this gesture is everywhere. It's about as common as waving hello/goodbye. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka_sign
  
  On a side-note, those doughnuts look awesome. If Texas proves to be too litigious, that bakery should come here.

• On the post: Fourth Amendment Update: 'Community Caretaking' Narrowly Defined; 'Inevitable' Discovery No Excuse For Illegal Discovery

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2015 @ 05:59pm

  Re: Consent

  What exactly is so dang difficult about getting a warrant? Seriously, is it really such an impossible hurdle?

• On the post: Law Professor: ISIS Is, Like, Totally Scary, So Let's Do Away With The First Amendment

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2015 @ 12:02pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Same could be said of Christianity.

• On the post: Senator Feinstein Brings Back Horrible Bill Forcing Internet Companies To Report On Your 'Suspicious' Behavior

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2015 @ 05:04pm

  Re:

  I know, right? If Telcos and tobacco companies can buy politicians, why can't Apple/Microsoft/Google, etc.?

• On the post: Senator Feinstein Brings Back Horrible Bill Forcing Internet Companies To Report On Your 'Suspicious' Behavior

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2015 @ 04:28pm

  Re:

  Oh, I'm sure she listens. She just doesn't comprehend, or doesn't even remember because she's OLD.

• On the post: WaPo's Excellent Explainer On Encryption Debunks WaPo's Stupid Editorial In Favor Of Encryption Backdoors

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2015 @ 04:13pm

  Re: golden key

  Well hello there Ms. Feinstein! I'm so glad to see you're reading Techdirt!
  
  Gold in this case is just a metaphor. It's really just another password, known only to the good guys. They will probably choose something like "password" for their "golden" key, because, you know, the bad guys would never think to try that.

• On the post: Comcast Keeps Scolding Me For Calling Its Top Lobbyist A Lobbyist

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 11 Nov, 2015 @ 01:08pm

  Re: Re: To be a lobbyist he HAS to be in DC?

  No silly! Lions are animals, and as such do not get a share. Thus the lion's share is zero. He does not spend the lion's share (0%) of his time lobbying, so therefore he's not a lobbyist.

• On the post: Monkey See, Monkey Sue… Defendants Ask Judge To Toss Out Ridiculous Monkey Copyright Lawsuit

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 09 Nov, 2015 @ 09:55pm

  Re: Re: (law of unintended consequences)

  This is pretty much the most disgusting comment I've ever read on Techdirt. What colossal ignorance! No one is advocating sex with animals. Gay marriage is a union between consenting adult HUMANS. Animals can't give consent. Humans can.
  
  The point of this whole monkey selfie debacle is that animals don't have the same rights as people. So how about you stick to that, rather than spout your homophobic bilge?

• On the post: Study Of Spain's 'Google Tax' On News Shows How Much Damage It Has Done

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2015 @ 02:43pm

  Re: Re: Not the law as such doing harm, it's Google refusing to pay the pittance.

  "Google is a for profit business. What you're advocating is that Google operate for free. That makes you a freetard."
  
  Hoisted by your own Freeetrd!" I love it!

• On the post: Judge Orders CIA To Pay $400,000 In Legal Fees To FOIA Requester It Jerked Around For More Than A Decade

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2015 @ 04:59pm

  On the bright side...

  Isn't it nice to see a government agency trying to save taxpayers money for a change?

• On the post: Monkey Selfie Back In The News: Photographer Threatens Copyright Experts With His Confused Understanding Of Copyright

  

  Mike Brown ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2014 @ 07:31pm

  Re: Re: Re: monkeys, camera traps, and other non-human shutter triggers

  No, but I bet you could patent the process.

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