Ima Fish 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (2337)

• On the post: WSJ Writer: All The Failings Of Print Journalism Are The Fault Of The Internet

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2014 @ 06:22am

  "the Rolling Stone University of Virginia rape story debacle, Newsweek getting the inventor of bitcoin wrong, and the traditional print media's complete failure to report on the known rape accusations against Bill Cosby, are the internet's fault too"
  
  My forehead is gonna hurt so much after reading this.

• On the post: Cop Accidentally Shoots Man, Ignores Emergency Responder, Other Cops In Order To Text Union Rep

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 10 Dec, 2014 @ 08:28am

  Re: Re:

  First, I'm responding to a very specific point raised by Tim, "If there's any entity that can keep cops from being held accountable for their actions, it's police unions." My argument is that it's not the union's fault, it's our fault for letting it happen.
  
  Second, there are such laws, but they're not enforced against cops as compared to the general population because politicians aren't willing to stand up against cops. No politician is willing to stand up against cops because s/he would likely not get elected unless s/he's strongly in support of law an order.
  
  Once again, this is not the union's fault or the lack of laws, it's our fault.

• On the post: Profiting Massively From Torture: Designers Of CIA Torture Program Raked In $81 Million (And Are Still Getting Money)

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 10 Dec, 2014 @ 12:43pm

  The sad thing is that my first thought was, "Well, as far as government graft goes, $81 million isn't really a lot of money."

• On the post: Cop Accidentally Shoots Man, Ignores Emergency Responder, Other Cops In Order To Text Union Rep

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 10 Dec, 2014 @ 05:37am

  It's easy to blame the unions, but the reason police unions have power is because we, through our politicians, give them power.
  
  Factory workers used to have strong unions, but not anymore. Teachers used to have strong unions, but not anymore. The police still have strong unions because politicians will bend over backwards to protect cops. Because they feel they have to be "law and order" in order to get elected.
  
  We could weaken police unions just like we did every other union, but no one is willing to take that first step.

• On the post: Actors Unions Come Out In Support Of Separate Actors Copyright To Support Innocence Of Muslims Actress

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2014 @ 12:05pm

  Re:

  You're over-thinking this. Right now there is no copyright protection on an actor's performance. There is a copyright on the recording of the performance, but the performance itself has no protection in the US.
  
  So there is no point talking about whether it was a work for hire, as that erroneously assumes there is copyright protection.

• On the post: Actors Unions Come Out In Support Of Separate Actors Copyright To Support Innocence Of Muslims Actress

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2014 @ 12:18pm

  "If an actor did not add sufficient originality to a performance, which actor a studio hired simply would not matter."
  
  But it appears that the opposite is true. In other words, if an actor did add sufficient originally to a performance, it would matter which actor a studio hired.
  
  My point is, does the actor hold a copyright on that sufficient originality? In other words, if an actor is replaced in a role, can that first actor collect a licensing fee from the replacement actor based upon his "originality"? Would each new actor be forced to act differently than the previous actors to avoid infringing the first actor's sufficient originality?
  
  Let's take it further, could Bruce Willis copyright his "cool under pressure/everyman" persona? Does Jason Statham violate Willis' copyright?

• On the post: Actors Unions Come Out In Support Of Separate Actors Copyright To Support Innocence Of Muslims Actress

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2014 @ 11:48am

  It's been said before, bad facts create bad law. I hate to say it, but I hope the studios fight strongly against this. To think that an actor should have a separate copyright in his or her performance is disturbing.

• On the post: French Publishers Think They Can Fix Online Advertising By Suing The Company Behind AdBlockPlus

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 09 Dec, 2014 @ 06:51am

  When are the major television networks finally going to sue toilet manufacturers for interfering with the viewing of commercials?

• On the post: Antitrust, DRM & Coffee: Is It Illegal For Keurig To Lock Down Its Brewers?

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 17 Oct, 2014 @ 06:58am

  Keurig should have the right to lock down it's products anyway it likes. Neither the government nor competitors should be able to tell it how to build its products (other than for safety reasons, of course.)
  
  However, the DMCA should not act as a shield to bar competitors from reverse engineering Keurig's designs.

• On the post: Domain Name Registration Triggers C&D From Instagram… Which Triggers A Weirdly Wonderful Backlash Filled With Duck Drawings`

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2014 @ 05:33am

  Now I'm going to have to file a C&D! My son and I created (i.e., thought about) an "adult swim" styled cartoon about a caveman and a time traveling duck and the wacky journeys they'd have.
  
  This unnamed redditor obviously took my idea and cleverly changed it so it would no longer violate my copyright. That bastard!

• On the post: City Of London Police Issue Vague, Idiotic Warning To Registrars That They're Engaged In Criminal Behavior Because It Says So

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 02 Sep, 2014 @ 09:38am

  "bizarre requests from the City of London Police"
  
  Bizarre indeed. Everyone knows the NYPD has exclusive jurisdiction in this matter.

• On the post: The Copyright Folly: Making A Living As A Creator Has Always Been Difficult, Stronger Copyright Doesn't Fix It

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2014 @ 10:07am

  I thought this was obvious, but copyright law is not intended to help content creators. It's to strengthen the middlemen. E.g., the publishers, the labels, the performance societies.
  
  The middlemen know there will always be content creators, regardless of copyright. They just want exclusive control over what is created.

• On the post: President Obama Says He's Against Fast Lanes On The Internet, But FCC Proposal Would Allow Them

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 06 Aug, 2014 @ 06:32am

  Can we stop buying into their arguments and stop calling them "fast lanes." Fast lanes sound awesome. Who wouldn't want a fast lane to the net?
  
  Let's call them what they really are: Throttled Lanes. Throttled for those sites that are not willing to pay twice.

• On the post: FIFA Pisses Away Free Advertising By Banning F1 Racer's Tribute Helmet To Germany's Futbol Team

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2014 @ 01:50pm

  What you call "free advertising" an IP maximalist calls an "untapped revenue stream."

• On the post: Documents Show 100 Officers From 28 Law Enforcement Agencies Accessed A Photographer's Records

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2014 @ 11:52am

  "however the manner in which he lures the officers in is concerning"
  
  Oh yeah, those poor innocent officers are like moths to his overwhelming flame.

• On the post: Max Mosley Continues His Quixotic And Misguided Quest: Sues Google For Still Finding Photos He Doesn't Like

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2014 @ 12:41pm

  Maybe this is subtle bragging. E.g., "I sure hope nobody finds out that I attended an awesome sex party!!!"
  
  Think about it, what guy does not want to be associated with sex parties?! He's not going to stop until everyone knows. Or until he gets invited to another one.

• On the post: Keith Alexander: I'm Worth $1 Million Per Month Because I'm Patenting A Way To Stop Hackers (Which I Didn't Tell The NSA)

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2014 @ 08:16am

  Technology companies tend to over-promise and under-deliver. You'll read complaints from customers concerning soft/hardware where certain promised features were never included. My answer to that problem is to only buy what's sold, not what is promised to be sold.
  
  And here's Keith proving my point. He wants to be paid a million a month, for a total of 18 million dollars for a product he promises to patent in 18 months.
  
  I don't think customers would be getting much value for their money. Can you imagine if Nvidia sold a graphics card with the promise of patented technology a year and a half from now? Good luck with that.

• On the post: Defending The Indefensible: Hilarious Talking Points On Ridiculous Copyright Terms

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2014 @ 09:02am

  Re:

  The problem with the "moral rights" argument is that it's used to defend real "artists", but unfortunately is applied to everything.
  
  For example, the RIAA claims that remixing an album for release on CD constitutes an entirely new copyright. Seriously, just messing with the bass, treble, and volume, and then putting it in a fixed state, is an entirely new copyright. Does that deserve a moral right to you? Do you feel the need for such a right every time you adjust the tone when you're listening to music?
  
  And if I set up a camera to randomly take pictures, where does the lifelong "moral" right come from? Randomness, for some bizarre reason, is given a copyright. But seriously, where is the morality?!
  
  And what about using software, or interns, to collect facts and push out newspaper articles? A collection of facts deserves copyright protection, unfortunately, but do you honestly think there's a moral component to that?
  
  The purpose of copyright in the US was not to enforce some standard of morality. It was originally to compensate artists and writers to incentivize the continued creation of such works. Nothing more.

• On the post: Defending The Indefensible: Hilarious Talking Points On Ridiculous Copyright Terms

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2014 @ 08:45am

  Tom Sydnor is also ignoring the fact that the 1790 Copyright Act did not cover or protect musical compositions.

• On the post: FedEx Indicted For Failing To Look Into Its Packages To See If Any Online Pharmacies Were Sending Drugs

  

  Ima Fish ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2014 @ 09:00pm

  Well, we've learned one thing. The pharmaceutical industry has more clout with the feds than the shipping Industry. FedEx might want to consider giving some cushy jobs to outgoing Washington insiders. Among other things.

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