Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

Techdirt

from the things-were-said dept

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is Thad, responding to the tired line from apologists for Trump’s immigration atrocities that there would be no problem if immigrants followed the law:

The families the Trump Administration has separated have included asylum-seekers.

Trump’s Muslim ban targeted refugees.

Trump scuttled the bipartisan DACA deal partially on the grounds that it didn’t do enough to decrease legal immigration. You may remember his statement at the time that he wanted more immigrants from places like Norway, as opposed to “shithole countries” like African nations and Haiti.

Basically, anybody who claims the Trump Administration doesn’t have anything against legal immigration is lying, ignorant, or both.

In second place, we’ve got a response from Anonmylous to the pro-copyright-filter political party in France that got upset about its own content being filtered:

Ostriches are lousy politicians

Maybe…. maybe an allegory will work? Let me try.

*ahem* Dear politicians. Creating laws requiring internet companies to create algorithms that account for fair use is like passing laws requiring the Sun to burn less brightly in order to reduce global warming. It looks great on paper, but to anyone even slightly educated, you appear foolish.

We live in the Digital Age now. Stop clinging to your ignorance as if it were some badge of pride or honor. Learn about these things so you can make laws that actually help your constituents, and the world. Copyright does need reform, but not in the ways that the industry players want. they have a duty to make money for their shareholders, and nothing more. YOU have a duty to your citizens, and no one else. Its about time you remembered that.

For editor’s choice on the insightful side, we’ve got a pair of responses to Ajit Pai’s attempts to claim the net neutrality repeal had lots of support. First, it’s an anonymous comment commending NPR’s handling of his statements:

Props to NPR for calling him out on his bullshit to his face. We need more of this type of behavior.

Next, it’s a comment from Toom1275 responding to Pai’s claim that “my job is not to put a finger in the wind and decide which way the winds are blowing”:

…it’s to put a finger on the scales until I get the result I want.

Over on the funny side, our first place winner is an anonymous commenter responding to the (joke) idea that broadcasters should switch to the loot box model:

Spend $1 right now for a 5% chance to skip this commercial.

In second place, it’s a response from David to the inclusion of spyware in video games:

Look, this is for serving you better.

All of this paranoia is overblown since this is done in service of the customer.

It’s like a plumber who goes to the pain of installing a camera in your bathroom so that he can get a better picture of what may be causing repeated clogged drains and can install the best countermeasures. You don’t want every handyman to pester you with details and permissions for doing the best to make things go down the drain smoothly for you in particular.

For editor’s choice on the funny side, we’ve got a pair of comments on our post about the fired FBI official who is now experiencing the other side of the relationship between civilians and government agencies. UniKryn busted out a tiny violin joke:

Tries to build a violin out of Quarks, but those are still too large.

In response (and to be honest this is why I chose these comments — because I’m a huge Star Trek nerd) an anonymous commenter dropped a solid Deep Space Nine reference:

Don’t let Odo catch you doing that; as much as he dislikes the bartender, I think he’d frown at the murder that would probably be necessary to reassemble him into a violin.

That’s all for this week, folks!