Almost Anonymous 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Why Wikipedia Is Worried About Global 'Right To Be Forgotten' Delistings

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2016 @ 09:37am

    Playing chicken

    In all seriousness, Google is going to have to just stand up and say "No." And when they are threatened with fines and garbage, they should just pull out of that country. Yes, it will cause Google to lose a bit of revenue, but I bet not much as the people clamor to get Google back, and the countries like France wise up and figure out that they need Google more than Google needs them. This "right to be forgotten" BS has gone way too far already.

  • On the post: FBI Tests The Waters On Another Attempt To Force Apple To Unlock An iPhone

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2016 @ 01:54pm

    Re:

    Yeah, my first thought as well. The FBI must be bored as hell if this is what they want to waste time and money on. What do they really think they are going to find on a dead knife-wielder's phone?

  • On the post: ACLU Launching Campaign To Have President Obama Pardon Snowden

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2016 @ 01:23pm

    Re: Let's all be honest here

    Snowden broke the law.

    I realize that's an unpopular thing to say. As an ardent supporter of the guy and of what he did, I hate to say that. But it's true. What Snowden did was, in fact, illegal.
    Well, it's an unpopular thing to say because it is not as clear cut as that. Maybe you have the wisdom and foresight to distinguish it clearly, but the rest of us have questions. Is it illegal to blow the whistle on illegal surveillance programs? Is it illegal for the president and the rest of the intelligence community to pretend that we don't have laws in place to protect whistleblowers? Was it illegal for Snowden's supervisor(s) to stonewall him when he attempted to use "normal" channels regarding his concerns about illegal surveillance programs?

    Also, in America we have this thing called "presumed innocent". So kindly refrain from calling him a criminal or making determination of criminality until such time as a trial does occur. And if it never does, as it looks like will be the case, well then that's just tough.

  • On the post: ACLU Launching Campaign To Have President Obama Pardon Snowden

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2016 @ 01:13pm

    Re: Pardon

    Everything I've seen and read indicates he's a very smart man. He knows that he will never be able to come back to US again, and he willingly made that sacrifice for the good of his country. This is what used to be called "heroism".

  • On the post: T-Mobile, Sprint Tap Dance Over, Under, And Around Net Neutrality

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2016 @ 01:27pm

    Re: Re:

    Agreed and agreed, but what about "gaming"? Wtf qualifies as "gaming"? Running WoW? Overwatch? And they are going to throttle "gaming" data to 2mbps? (Not that I imagine many games use nearly that amount, but still, you could have a PC + XBox + mobile game going on in the normal household quite easily...)

    I agree that typically music and video will be easily identifiable, but I have huge (YUGE) questions about the "gaming" cap.

  • On the post: Australia's Census Fail Goes Into Overdrive — A Complete And Utter Debacle

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2016 @ 10:31am

    Australia's new Prime Minister via online voting

    Please congratulate Australia's new Prime Minister! Let's welcome "mARBLE CAKE ALSO THE GAME" to the podium!

  • On the post: Clinton Friend Admits What Everyone Knows Is True: Clinton Still Supports TPP & Will Back It

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2016 @ 05:47am

    Re: Re: "if enough people pretended, our shared hallucination could be a reality."

    "Oh wait, Trump is the message to the powers that be, the result of years of "Better Kang than Kodos." If President Trump is the only way to break this vicious cycle, bring him on."

    Do you like nuclear holocaust? Because that's how you get nuclear holocaust.

  • On the post: Not Just In The US: TPP Meeting More Resistance In Australia And Japan, Too

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2016 @ 05:38am

    Well, of course

    Malaysia seems to be the furthest along in the ratification process, and Peru is also moving forward.
    Since strings were pulled to get people to forget about Malaysia's human rights abuses and "upgrade" Malaysia's status on human trafficking, it only makes sense that Malaysia would charge forward. If they don't, I bet that upgrade would mysteriously disappear...

  • On the post: Nick Denton Bucks The Trend Du Jour, Thinks News Comments Are Worth Saving

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2016 @ 01:26pm

    A list

    I've started keeping a list of news sites with no comments sections, and I just avoid them. If I see a link with info I'm interested in that points to one, I'll try and find the same info elsewhere. To me, it's like the whole PS3 OtherOS debacle: how do you think you can offer some cool functionality and then retroactively take it away and not be affected?

  • On the post: China Decrees That All News On Websites Must Funnel Through Government Approval

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2016 @ 08:54am

    Different strategies

    It's funny, really. China's strategy is to control what gets "out" in the first place. USA's strategy is to just lie.

    Which is worse?

  • On the post: As UK Piracy Falls To Record Lows, Government Still Wants To Put Pirates In Jail For 10 Years

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2016 @ 09:04am

    Punative

    Mike, it's not about what works or improves the situation, it's about punishment. These are the people that constantly conflate infringement and theft. Since they will always see it as "theft", there must be punishment.

  • On the post: TSA Scores Another PR Win With Assault Of Nineteen Year Old Brain Tumor Patient On Her Way To Treatment

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2016 @ 11:29am

    Re: Re: Re:

    u wot m8?

  • On the post: Appeals Court Rejects Revenge Pornster's Appeal; Another Bad Section 230 Ruling

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2016 @ 02:00pm

    Rare disagreement

    Mike, I tend to agree with your posts, and I'm all about Section 230, normally. But I'm not sure I agree with your assessment this time. It sounds to me that the gist of the state's argument is that the site solicits illegal content, and thus is not eligible for safe harbors when the hammer comes down. This kind of goes along with "clean hands". You can't look for help from the courts when you were performing illegal activity.

    Now it may be another question whether or not "revenge porn" *should* be illegal, but in California, at least, it apparently is, and so in that light, I can see why the site would not qualify for safe harbors. Having said that, it would need to be extraordinarily obvious that the (or a) site was soliciting illegal material for this to be the case. In my mind, Megaupload would not fall under this, as there was no obvious solicitation of illegal content.

  • On the post: This Will Backfire: Google/Facebook Using Copyright Tools To Remove 'Extremist' Content

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2016 @ 10:46am

    I can answer that

    But I'm curious what anyone thinks this is actually doing.
    The answer is, "something". I know it is not a good answer, but it is the correct one.

  • On the post: Air Force, Lockheed Martin Combine Forces To 'Lose' 100,000 Inspector General Investigations

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2016 @ 11:33am

    wtf

    Not to derail, but why the hell is "allegations or reprisal against whistleblowers" even a thing???

  • On the post: You're Entitled To Your Own Opinions, But Not Your Own Facts About Copyright, NY Times Edition

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 23 May, 2016 @ 02:06pm

    Re:

    What is even worse in my mind is the mindset that "poor starving artists" somehow deserve to get rich for writing/singing a few popular songs. This is total bullshit and is contrary to all but the most recent handful of decades. In truth, musicians/singers (also called bards) sometimes did starve: they sang for their supper, and if they didn't sing well, or often enough, they didn't get pelted with money to afford their next meal. Painters/sculptists were usually not recognized until after death, and did not see any of the wealth that would later be amassed for their works. This every-stream-or-picture-or-whatever must be paid for mindset is quite new in the long scheme of things, and inevitably benefits the middlemen more than anybody, which is why they keep whining.

    I paid for Metallica's Black album on cassette; I bought it again on CD; I'll be damned if I ever pay for it again.

  • On the post: Photojournalist Being Sued For Publishing Image Of Aftermath Of Paris Attacks

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 08:59am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Money or dignity?

    Let's flip that around. What offense do you perceive being given to the family?

    Yes, their family member was killed, and that is tragic. But the picture didn't kill him, nor did the article.

    Yes, the article had a mistake (and a pretty bad one at that), but surely no one thinks that it was intentional? And if not intentional, then no offense could be intended.

    So, unless you come up with another reason to be offended, all we have left is a money grubbing lawsuit that is not only not intended to "protect" the dead man's dignity, but instead essentially robs him of whatever dignity he may have had.

  • On the post: Nerd Harder: The T-Shirt

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 01:07pm

    Editorial suggestion

    Consider dropping the period?

  • On the post: IBM Wants To Patent A Printer That Won't Let You Output Unauthorized Copies

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 18 May, 2016 @ 02:38pm

    Re: uhm, how?

    I don't know if it is patented (can't imagine it isn't though), but copiers already incorporate very similar sounding "technology". They are programmed to not copy money, at least U.S. money, don't know about other countries' currency.

  • On the post: A Dozen Bad Ideas That Were Raised At The Copyright Office's DMCA Roundtables

    Almost Anonymous ( profile ), 18 May, 2016 @ 10:56am

    Re: Eventually...

    Wow, guess I should have scrolled to the bottom before posting. Great minds think alike.

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