Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

Techdirt

from the words-with-friends dept

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is That One Guy who uncovered and expanded on an idea for how to watch the EU’s world-without-copyright propaganda film:

Using your enemy’s weapons against them

(Should have checked the first link before posting, almost missed a gem.)

I read the film as an example of what you get when all IP is locked down and everything looks the same because nobody can create anything new without getting sued. The title for my version is “DisneyTopia.” -Kris Joseph @krisjoseph

That… is brilliant. As a pro-imaginary property film it’s absurd and grossly dishonest, as anyone with an even passing knowledge of history and/or awareness of the explosion of creativity these days(much of it in spite of copyright law, rather than because of it) knows just how unrealistic the premise of ‘there can be no creativity without IP law’ is.

On the other hand as an anti-imaginary property film it’s all too believable. Everything is the same and nothing new comes out because no-one dares create anything that might get them sued or otherwise face a penalty, something that is all too realistic, all the more so with the constant push to always ratchet the law up so it covers more things with harsher penalties.

In an attempt to create a propaganda piece to push the idea of ‘IP law = creativity’ they have instead, entirely by accident, created a work about how damaging the very laws and ideas they push can be to creativity.

In second place, we’ve got a widely-applicable anonymous comment that pretty much explains itself:

?Vagueness in legal threats is the hallmark of meritless thuggery.?

For editor’s choice on the insightful side, we start out with Jeremy Lyman and another reaction to the EU’s copyright film:

A world WITH copyright?

Oh, see I was confused. I thought there was only one song because someone wrote a song, copyrighted it, and now making any other songs would be copyright infringement. That seems more plausible than no one writing songs because there’s no way to get paid without preventing someone else from looking/touching/using your stuff.

Next, we’ve got Baron von Robber reiterating the simple distinction that undermines attempts to conflate political social media moderation with a bakery refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding:

One discriminates against a protected class..the other….doesn’t.

Over on the funny side, our first place winner is an anonymous commenter responding to one particular critic who bizarrely struggles with Markdown comment formatting:

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There are a few horizontal rules for you. You’re free to reproduce them, no license required!

See? I created without IP protection!

Next, we’ve got TFG sarcastically taking sides in another comment debate about Trump:

But Gary. Orange man good. Google bad. Masnick bad. Can rebut?

For editor’s choice on the funny side, we start out by heading back to last week’s comment post, where one commenter mused on possible reasons that 2019 seems to be moving faster than 2018. Pixelation had a theory of their own:

I’m not certain but I think Huawei is behind it.

Finally, we’ve got That Anonymous Coward with a dire warning for Facebook helping France to punish stupid people:

They should be very afraid, if they start punishing being stupid the government will collapse.

That’s all for this week, folks!