This Week In Techdirt History: January 7th – 13th
from the such-as-it-was dept
Five Years Ago
This week in 2019, we looked at how Ajit Pai’s FCC often battled FOIA requests for no reason, while the Department of the Interior was trying to rewrite FOIA law to make it easier to reject requests. We saw fresh examples of copyright abuse as a means of silencing criticism of a movie, and a means of protecting hardware from modification. The state of Georgia, despite losing its copyright case, was still trying to prevent Carl Malamud from posting its laws, while the New York Times was seeking dismissal of a defamation lawsuit from Joe Arpaio. Also, the Appeals Court confirmed the ruling that government officials can’t ban members of the public from their Facebook pages.
Ten Years Ago
This week in 2014, the NSA more or less admitted to spying on Congress, which Rep. Peter King defended by saying members might be talking to Al Qaeda, and then ironically went on to call Senator Rand Paul a fearmonger. Obama was planning cosmetic changes and a pretend fight over surveillance, while Dianne Feinstein admitted that her “reform” bill was really about protecting existing NSA programs. Meanwhile, we looked at the detailed story of the RIAA and FBI prosecuting the leaker of a Guns ‘N Roses album, and Insane Clown Posse sued the FBI for calling the Juggalos a gang. Also, Congress introduced a bi-partisan bill to fast track trade agreements without oversight, and we looked at the lies the USTR was spreading to get that authority in place and push through the TPP.
Fifteen Years Ago
This week in 2009, we looked more examples of copyright being used to hinder culture, not enable it, including how the Copyright Royalty Board was making life difficult for webcasting and how Fox News as using the DMCA to take down videos used in commentary, while Veoh scored a DMCA win against Universal Music and MP3Tunes was defending itself against EMI. We also took a look at how the aggression from Hasbro and Mattel had killed interest in online Scrabble, and got confirmation that Apple was coaxing record labels away from DRM in iTunes by offering up variable pricing. And, in the continuing fallout of the global financial crisis, we asked why we ever put ratings agencies into the law.
Comments on “This Week In Techdirt History: January 7th – 13th”
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Is anyone else bothered by how much pro-Nazi commentary there is BtL on this site now?
I’m really concerned that that TechDirt I used to know and love now platforms such dangerous hate speech. These “techdirt history” recaps really drive home how deranged the readership is now.
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I haven’t seen this “pro-nazi” regime you’re talking about.
You’re not one of those “everything I don’t like is hitler” posters, are you?
Not everyone aligns to your crazy batshit, idiot.
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…hallucinated nobody mentally competent, ever.
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It’s because more edgy Trumplords have tried to usurp undeserved positions.
The only wait out is for men to stand up against their kind and apply for estrogen regimens.
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I just think there’s too much fascistic content in the comments, and direct action is required to combat it.
I’m not sure that men taking wrong-sex hormones would be the best step forward, however. I was imagining something less personally harmful, like banning Nazi words and codewords.
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Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, sweet cheeks. What are you, a homophobe?
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What did I just read? Hold on, let me see if I read that correctly…
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What do you mean “now”? I just witnessed a flame war over fucking Apple. At least Nazi shit gets flagged.
The Nazis will get tired eventually, just like TP doesn’t shit out hundreds of comments in a day anymore, or OOTB isn’t here anymore, or Richard Whatshisface (the guy who was shilling for Ajit Pai) doesn’t post anymore, or…well you get the point.
And if that’s not enough for you, well…I get it. I disagree, but I get it.
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The other thing I don’t really get is why TD now lionizes South Africa and condemns Jews, when they previously hated South Africa and loved Israel.
The editorial line here is very confusing.
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…hallucinates nobody mentally competent, ever.
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Yeah, exactly.
Anyone mentally competent should be reading the room to see what Stephen T Stone says before nodding sagely in agreement.