PaulT 's Techdirt Comments

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• On the post: Humans Still Needed: ‘Firmament’ Players Complain About Game’s Lore Content Written By AI

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2023 @ 03:19am

  "it was a horribly UN-creative “generic mad scientist seen it 1000 times” drivel that didn’t even consider specifics of the character involved" While I get your point - have you seen movies and TV? Human writers don't always create better output, and even then they're sometimes overridden by other aspects of the production (last minute changes due to shooting conditions, projects that go into production before the script is finalised, lack of shooting coverage without time/money for reshoots leading to plotholes, etc.). Then, of course, there's a bunch of productions where imitating what came for is the entire point (any number of direct-to-streaming low budget action/thriller/horror/sci-fi/etc., hell Hallmark have created an entire genre of Christmas-based movie where the audience seems to demand that the same plot is used every time). The same thing applies to anything from videogames to novels. Sure, there's some very original content out there, but following tired trends is very common, especially as the tools to create and distribute content means that pretty much anyone can do it if they want to, talent or no talent. Even with the big studios there can be some mindless repetition - Ubisoft, for example, is widely criticised for reusing the same tropes over and over, be that writing or game design. Given the choice, a human will always be better, but given the general state of these industries I don't think that "AI churns out generic, unimaginative dreck with no internal consistency" is the hill you want to die on here.

• On the post: Borked KOTOR 2 Switch Release Ends As It Began: A Shit Show

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2023 @ 09:31am

  I'm curious - what the hell does that have to do with this in your mind?

• On the post: Twitter Admits in Court Filing: Elon Musk Is Simply Wrong About Government Interference At Twitter

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2023 @ 09:28am

  "reason" Obviously, I mean "reason" here within the parameters of the conspiracy theory compared to the randomness of the facts, not that the theory is anything but unreasonable in terms of facts.

• On the post: Twitter Admits in Court Filing: Elon Musk Is Simply Wrong About Government Interference At Twitter

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2023 @ 09:26am

  This does indeed seem to be how conspiracy theories gain traction. The world is a confusing place, and often things happen for no real reason, the good die young, the people who provide real value to humanity die in poverty, an individual can work hard and do all the "right" things but still end up with nothing. But... there's actually a shadowy deep state secretly controlling everything and every major world event is due to their design? Suddenly, nothing's random, the bad things that happen to you are not your fault, the reason why great humanitarians died young yet the likes of Kissinger still live is because they're lizard people / vampires. All of a sudden things make sense. That's what's happened with all the COVID nonsense. It's hard to accept that there was a random mutation of a virus that led to half the world being locked down in order to avoid deaths on a level previously seen in the middle ages. But, if you believe that it's a secret bioweapon released to destroy western capitalism and inject people with mind controlling nanobots, there's order there. It's incredibly stupid and illogical, but it is a theory with reason and order behind it.

• On the post: Possible Reasons Why YouTube Has Given Up Trying To Police 2020 Election Misinfo

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2023 @ 09:04am

  "People saying false things is not inherently dangerous" May I refer you to the Jan 6th insurrection attempt that was directly inspired by lies? Maybe the disinformation spread during COVID that led to people taking risks or refusing basic mitigation behaviours that led to people dying from the disease? "Almost everything that anyone has ever said is either false or could reasonably be construed as false" Which, ironically, is false. There are some things which can be ambiguous or debatable. There are things which are not. You not liking the facts does not mean that your fictions should be treated as if they have equal weight.

• On the post: Possible Reasons Why YouTube Has Given Up Trying To Police 2020 Election Misinfo

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2023 @ 08:55am

  "You “believe” the official 2020 Election results, but have no method whatsoever to personally verify your “Belief”." I have plenty of evidence. The election was moderated by international bodies who saw no problems. Various recounts were triggered or otherwise carried out finding no major discrepancy (and some proved the Democrats won by a larger margin than originally reported). Even the "Cyber Ninjas" who had every reason to locate problems found nothing. There have been dozens of court cases and none revealed any evidence whatsoever of wrongdoing. There is, simply, no evidence that there was anything wrong except for the rantings of a sore loser, a crackhead pillow salesman who's been forced to pay millions to people who disproved his claims and associated lunatics who have not shown any reason to doubt the outcome. My position is clear and unchanged - if there was a problem with the election, present your evidence. If you have none, I have no reason to believe that this was not the true result, and I suggest you stop basing your beliefs on wild claims with zero evidence. I know it's hard for you to accept that your incompetent orange hero actually lost the election and that the popular vote always goes against the "red wave" you desperately hope for, but this fantasy of an invalid election is just that, according to all actual evidence presented in this universe.

• On the post: Borked KOTOR 2 Switch Release Ends As It Began: A Shit Show

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2023 @ 08:46am

  The criticism is that Nintendo is a notoriously hand-on company with games released on that platform, and the usual defence for that is that is that it's for quality control. So, what's the excuse here? Same thing when there's malware or bad apps on iOS - the tradeoff for the walled garden approach is meant to be protection from such things.

• On the post: Borked KOTOR 2 Switch Release Ends As It Began: A Shit Show

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Jun, 2023 @ 08:43am

  "ads show just fine, but dare disagree with the hive, and the comment gets marked" The spam is flagged as well as I'm seeing the thread., though I don't see a disagreement in this thread. Did you get flagged in other threads? If so, maybe think about what you said - it's rarely "disagreement" that get people reaching for the flag button. "a wise person would buy this game as a collectors item" Which is yet another reason to be concerned about games going digital-only and thus not have the first sale doctrine rights associated with physical items. A person who was ripped off by this at least has the ability to recoup some of what they wasted if they have the physical media. Although, even that's a big gamble - other notorious flops like Aliens: Colonial Marines aren't fetching big bucks right now, years later.

• On the post: Disney Gets A Nice Fat Tax Break For Making Its Streaming Catalog Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2023 @ 05:20pm

  "Assuming “disneytermsofuse.com” is an official site with terms that apply to Disney+" That's an interesting one, and might be regional. That URL seems to be owned by Disney, but I don't see reference to it on the Disney+ site. If I go to Disney+ and click on the subscriber agreement link it takes me here: https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/legal/subscriber-agreement But, there's no section 8 in what I'm looking at. Maybe it's a different agreement overall, maybe EU rules mean that they can't do what you mention. "Unless you’re stuck in a long-term contract or something, just cancel and move on with your life" That's probably the best defence for them. It's implicitly understood that streaming services don't always have the same content month to month. Even if someone argues that they expected something like Willow to be on Disney forever, nobody is locked in, you can cancel as soon as you find out it's not there, then pay a competitor for the content. I doubt it falls within any legal area where you could conceivably claim more than a month's subscription.

• On the post: Possible Reasons Why YouTube Has Given Up Trying To Police 2020 Election Misinfo

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2023 @ 04:04pm

  "One cannot measure what a large population actually thinks" The main issue at hand is the subject of the 2020 election. Trump lost, through both popular vote and the electoral college. That was the measurement of what a large population thinks. Despite dozens of attempts, his supporters failed to present a shred of evidence of any fraud or unfair election practices. Yet, lies about that election led directly to a violent attempt to overthrow the election. There might certainly be issues where there's some grey areas, doubt or actual controversy, but this is not one of them. YouTube are choosing to allow factually false propaganda regarding an issue that is not in question.

• On the post: Activision Appeals CMA Ruling On Its Activision Acquisition, Calling It ‘Irrational’

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2023 @ 02:46pm

  I'm in the same sort of place. I'd like to play the new God Of War, Uncharted, etc., but I'm not going to but another system for hundreds just to play a few titles when I already have a backlog I couldn't play to completion if I retired today and did nothing else. My main reasons for sticking with XBox are that I prefer the achievement system and like the meta games with Trueachievements, but the fact I can play so many games even without an XBox Series X/S nearby is also a big reason to go that way. Sure, the fact that the average CoD player might not get the most out of the setup I currently use is a valid complaint - but the idea that the sticking point here is that the company most known for refusing to offer games to people without their new hardware is scared that in a decade their users might not have the full experience is also nonsense. As a long term FOSS advocate and someone who used to have every console in a generation, it's uncomfortable to keep defending Microsoft in there threads, but in terms of how customers are treated it's insane to me that Sony's exclusives are being treated as if they're better for the public.

• On the post: Disney Gets A Nice Fat Tax Break For Making Its Streaming Catalog Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2023 @ 02:32pm

  "far more money that it costs to host Willow on a server" Here's the real problem, hidden within the larger issue. Once a movie or show is made, it's basically a digital file that can be accessed on any device or location it's made available. Audiences know that on some level, so they also understand that any restriction is artificial. But, they still want to support the artist in some way, usually. Whether this is due to subscriptions, watching ads or some other means, give them access and they'll usually choose that instead of piracy. Here, the pendulum has swung too far the other way. People are blocked from watching something because there's more money blocking them than allowing them full access? The high seas, it is. What this means for production, especially after the writer strike, I don't know. But, there needs to be some business model other than the fragmented mess streaming has become in recent years. The ideal model for consumers is a one stop shop for what they want to watch, without having to pay extra to subsidise the things they don't. There must be a middle ground between that and "you can only see that one show if you pay a premium to a platform you otherwise wouldn't go to".

• On the post: Disney Gets A Nice Fat Tax Break For Making Its Streaming Catalog Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2023 @ 02:23pm

  Watching movies or TV is always a tightrope walk. The artists need to be supported, but most of them need to go through the corporate system to make their art in the first place. There's no easy path that doesn't involve some objectionable supplier.

• On the post: Possible Reasons Why YouTube Has Given Up Trying To Police 2020 Election Misinfo

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2023 @ 02:19pm

  "The world has moved on. To me, this seems like the most likely actual reason. Most folks in the US have basically decided to believe what they believe." While true, that's still not an excuse. The idea that Trump won the previous election is still demonstrably false, and the only logical reason for removing the restrictions is to profit from it. I can't think of any other reason why they'd say "we will accept outright lies". It might not be "world ending" as some nutters continue to be radicalised by false claims, but it only takes one of them to be convinced by their feed that they have to take some action. That might not happen, but this is a specific lie that's already known to have had real world consequences. The facts are - Biden won the election by a significant number of popular votes, he won the electoral college, despite dozens of attempts no Trump supporter has presented a shred of credible evidence in court that refutes the process and millions of dollars have been spent fighting false claims. Introducing disinformation campaigns on this specific subject in the run up to the next election seems reckless at best. Folks have decided what they believe... the problem is the ones who believe in nonsense and are easily angered.

• On the post: Twitter Admits in Court Filing: Elon Musk Is Simply Wrong About Government Interference At Twitter

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2023 @ 02:06pm

  I mean, obviously. If someone's looking at the situation with the modern far right and Musk's attachment with them and they're trying to claim they're on the side of the Jews, they're deluded. They certainly didn't pay attention to the groups (gays, socialists, trade unions, etc.) that the old school Nazis attacked first if they think people are overreacting when they say "this seems familiar".

• On the post: Supreme Court Declines To Review Important 9th Circuit Section 230 Win

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2023 @ 11:35pm

  I wonder how much of it is due to that previous ruling. On the RvW issue, the right seems to have got themselves into the classic "dog finally catches up with car, doesn't know what to do with it" scenario. For decades, it's been a wedge issue that's used to galvanise a certain base into voting, even against their own interests in some cases so long as this issue was at the forefront. But, the reaction to its repeal has been just as galvanising to the left (and middle), with some unexpectedly red areas moving to protect abortion rights locally, an upturn in voting leading to a poor result for the right at the midterms (if not an overall defeat), and ammunition for future opposition as some of the more horrific and indefensible examples of the downside of banning abortion are coming to light. It strikes me that they're a little more wary of unintended consequences at the moment, especially with the scandals rocking the court at the moment. All but the most rabid fools understand on some level that a huge amount of the current online US economy depends on section 230, either directly or indirectly, and I doubt that almost nobody on the court truly understands the technology. They might not be ready to take another wild swing at the moment, as the consequences for making the wrong move could be very severe. That's not to say they won't in future, but I dare say that this is simply not the case or the time in which they'd want to touch another controversial ruling.

• On the post: Broadband Usage Caps Now Drive MORE Broadband Usage, Study Finds

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2023 @ 11:53am

  This sounds right. It's been a long time since I've encountered any kind of restriction on what I use, or any charges for using "too much". Where I live (Spain), the standard is typically unlimited for fibre (or previously with ADSL), but there's a "cap" on mobile. The cap just means that speed is reduced by about 75% with the option to get more at full speed, which could be a problem for people who only use mobile, but not a problem for most people. So, my usage is typically, I use data when I need to. I couldn't tell you what my typical usage is, because I've never needed to check. I wouldn't be surprised if it's lower than a cap would be in the US, except maybe in a month where there's a major Game Pass release (or game about to expire) that I've downloaded, or maybe in a month where I've had an unusually large number of meetings. I can imagine that if I had a hard cap, I'd be more concerned about getting the maximum usage out of it, but I don't even need to look the way things are where I am.

• On the post: Twitter Admits in Court Filing: Elon Musk Is Simply Wrong About Government Interference At Twitter

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2023 @ 11:45am

  There's one image for the cameras and one for the courts. If they don't match in the slightest, a person should be wondering why the one presented with no legal repercussions for lying is the only one you agree with.

• On the post: Twitter Admits in Court Filing: Elon Musk Is Simply Wrong About Government Interference At Twitter

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2023 @ 11:42am

  "Oh,ok. So a private company like Twitter can ban all jews then,right?" No, because there's other laws covering the refusal of service due to bigotry. Also, banning an individual for their own actions is not the same as banning a group of people for things they have not done as individuals. This really isn't hard, unless you're deliberately trying to make it so.

• On the post: UK Government Official Offers Up Nonsensical Defense Of Criminalizing End-To-End Encryption

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2023 @ 12:40am

  "My children love going to a playground near where we live. While they’re there it’s clear who’s responsible for their safety." I would hope...you? The local council might maintain the playground, but they can't stop kids doing dumb things while they're there. You might be able to pass of some responsibility to others, but unless there's some actual danger you wouldn't expect to be in the park, you are still the one ultimately responsible. "But what happens when they do go online? Who’s responsible for their safety?" Again, you. The internet isn't a playground. It's more of a city. You wouldn't let your kids roam freely through London in the middle of the night as you could reasonably expect some adult and unsavoury activities going on. Same with the internet, and the correct response is parental restrictions and supervision, not for you to expect London nightlife to be sanitised to the point where it's equivalent to a child's playground. "This is about the UK government’s antipathy towards Meta for daring to roll out end-to-end encryption." More specifically, the Tory tendency toward overreach based on "moral" and "law and order" claims. In the early 90s after the last moral panic over home video in the wake of the Jamie Bulger murder, one Tory tried passing a bill that would effectively outlaw any movie that wasn't rated as suitable for young children. Absolute nonsense, but Tories do tend to think that controlling behaviour is the route to calming society. This reminds me of that in a way, only with 21st century excuses and ramifications far outside of entertainment.

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