PaulT 's Techdirt Comments

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• On the post: Pretty Much Every Expert Agrees That Elon Has Made Twitter’s Child Sexual Abuse Problem Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2023 @ 02:44am

  Oh, and reading that random blog post, it doesn't say that "a majority of the platform is CSAM" as you claimed, so even if it was actual news and not a random blog post by someone obviously reacting in defence of known problems with Twitter making headlines with random searches based no clear methodology, you're lying about its conclusions. Typical.

• On the post: Pretty Much Every Expert Agrees That Elon Has Made Twitter’s Child Sexual Abuse Problem Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2023 @ 02:35am

  "Made the news" OK, so instead of being an offensive idiot you could have just linked to where this was reported. Not everyone gets their news from the same places as you, and while it's suspicious that something this significant hasn't been widely reported, there's always exceptions. "link to random blog nobody's heard of" So, not widely reported by reliable sources then? Got it. When you have no facts, turn to insults and conspiracy theories about those asking WFT you're talking about... Gotcha.

• On the post: Dwarf Fortress: How Freeware Turned Into Millions

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2023 @ 01:15am

  Heh, the usual moron brigade are still using the same playbook from 20 years ago, they just seem to have forgotten what comes where. "It's impossible to make money from a free product" is the lie that should be pushed when the examples being given are new or innovative. When it's a proven success, they should be switching to "but, this is an exception, nobody else can do it" lie. They're so dumb and lazy, not only are they repeating claims that were debunked years ago, they're not even using their own talking points correctly.

• On the post: AMC’s ‘Fix’ For Declining Movie Theater Attendance? Charging You More Money To Sit In The Same Seats

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:56pm

  Depends on the movie. This is probably age talking (along with the fact that I live in a market that rarely gets things first), but it's been a long time since I've felt the urge to just on a hype train and immediately watch a movie. I'm quite happy waiting a few months and paying or watching something on a subscription I already own, I have plenty of stuff to watch while I'm waiting. Piracy is far from the only option if you get out of the habit of only watching whatever a major studio is trying to sell at a given moment.

• On the post: AMC’s ‘Fix’ For Declining Movie Theater Attendance? Charging You More Money To Sit In The Same Seats

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:53pm

  You mean... they gave customers what they wanted and increased the comfort of going to the cinema instead of trying to overcharge for the same inferior experience? Shocking how that might work better.

• On the post: AMC’s ‘Fix’ For Declining Movie Theater Attendance? Charging You More Money To Sit In The Same Seats

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:52pm

  Actually, the screenshot I saw of a layout in a test location indicates that there are blue seats - the ones at the rear that give you a $2 discount.

• On the post: AMC’s ‘Fix’ For Declining Movie Theater Attendance? Charging You More Money To Sit In The Same Seats

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:49pm

  So, you don't have to put up with morons talking and browsing through the movie, who might get violent if you tell them to STFU, and pay less for the opportunity? Cool. Even if you're too stupid to disconnect the smart TV from the internet and use a separate device to watch things if you're so afraid of the company you chose to buy your TV from, it's still an advantage.

• On the post: Current Classified Document Scandals Show The Government Is Still Classifying Way Too Many Documents

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:46pm

  "At least Trump has the defense that he could’ve declassified that stuff had he wanted to." Maybe he could have - but he didn't. No matter what he tells you, you can't declassify documents with the power of your mind, there's a procedure that leaves a record. Whatabout all you want, he's still guilty of what he did.

• On the post: Current Classified Document Scandals Show The Government Is Still Classifying Way Too Many Documents

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:45pm

  Also, to the best of my knowledge neither Biden nor Pence lost their clearance to access classified documents, and they are both long-term politicians. It's not a good look for them to have such documents in their homes, but it's not necessarily a surprise that something goes amiss while working with such documents daily over the course of decades. There's no indication that there was anything untoward in keeping the documents, and as long as procedures are being followed with their return, then there doesn't seem to be anything to be concerned about. It's the sort of thing that would be dealt with quietly, except that Trump's greater violations were so loud and public. Whereas, Trump after just a couple of years working with such documents had boxes and boxes of them in his private property, some of which were SCIF documents that should not have been removed from the room they were stored in, let alone carried across state lines. He constantly refused to return documents until the FBI were forced to raid his properties, which he fought against, he still is refusing to co-operate, and there's enough circumstantial suspicion over why he had the documents (Saudis are known to have visited Mar A Lago while docs were there, Jared mysteriously gets $2 billion from the Saudis around the same timeframe). There's nothing connecting the 3 cases other than the presence of documents, and typically Pence and Biden seem to be going through the adult, honest way of doing things, while Trump is throwing a tantrum and looking guilty as all hell of some serious crimes.

• On the post: Now Mesa Public Schools Are Also Declaring That They Have Failed In Educating Their Children By Suing Social Media

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:35pm

  "it posts a few cherry-picked studies claiming that social media is bad for kids" Lots of things are bad for kids, which is why they don't have rights to access everything and everything in life the same as adults do. We usually expect said adults to do something. I've often said, the internet is like any city. It can be full of wonder and knowledge, it can be full of dark desperation and evil. It all depends on where you go, and how you use the resources. If you're sending your kid out into it unsupervised and hoping everything will turn out OK, you're probably going to be disappointed with what they learn. Social media is not always kid-friendly, stop using it as a babysitter.

• On the post: Now Mesa Public Schools Are Also Declaring That They Have Failed In Educating Their Children By Suing Social Media

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:31pm

  It's possible to sue people for most things, that's why America is knows as a vastly litigious society. The question is whether courts humour this kind of thing or kick it out as soon as it faces a judge. Let's see where this goes...

• On the post: Biden State Of The Union Will (Again) Blame The Internet For Harm To Kids

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 11:26pm

  "How much of such scares are adults who have refused to engage with new things attacking the new for being new?" Usually a majority. When people are faced with "they were a good kid, how could they have done such a thing?" - be that assault, murder, rape, whatever, even just general delinquent behaviour rather than actual criminal activity - there's 2 options. One is to face the possibility of a failure of parenting and society, with very difficult questions about how red flags were missed, how society treats poverty, abuse, etc., how little support many parents get even as they work paycheck to paycheck, and so on. The other is to go "X didn't exist when I was a kid, so that must be to blame". Like most easy answers, it's wrong, but it's far easier to say "life would be better if X was banned" than deal with fundamentally difficult, generational factors that are behind the real problems.

• On the post: Pretty Much Every Expert Agrees That Elon Has Made Twitter’s Child Sexual Abuse Problem Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 07:54am

  Doubtful. Even if he hadn't failed as badly as he has overall, this is the sort of thing that gets a lot of attention and it makes no sense to do this rather than use whatever Epstein-like provider that he could afford to buy in secrecy. No, I think that we're getting what we're seeing in this case - an ego-driven moron who's spent too much time being shielded from the consequences of his actions finally bit off more than he could chew, and is finding out the hard way that the people he assumed did nothing are in fact doing everything of importance. His lack of understanding of how Twitter really operates, combined with his unwillingness to learn and eagerness to get rid of anyone who doesn't bow to his will are the problems here. No need to invent other conspiracies.

• On the post: Pretty Much Every Expert Agrees That Elon Has Made Twitter’s Child Sexual Abuse Problem Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 07:03am

  Lol. "You're not using facts! Also, here's something defamatory I just pulled from my ass!" You'¡re somehow getting even worse, and you started as a deluded, lying moron...

• On the post: Pretty Much Every Expert Agrees That Elon Has Made Twitter’s Child Sexual Abuse Problem Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 06:42am

  "Do you have evidence Musk actually believes in rational thinking?" I'm sure he believes in something that he believes is rational thinking. It's not been in evidence so far with Twitter, but he couldn't have been this consistently bad with his other companies. I think he's just so used to getting away with certain behaviour, he's falling apart when that behaviour isn't being corrected for by those around him. Being a blustery rich teen edgelord works when you're trying to fund startups that promise ambitious and world-changing ideas, as long as the engineers below you are able to temper expectations and deliver product. It doesn't work when you try running a mature company by firing said engineers as your first term of action at a company whose mission is far more trivial.

• On the post: Pretty Much Every Expert Agrees That Elon Has Made Twitter’s Child Sexual Abuse Problem Worse

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 05:42am

  This is horrendous news, but nothing that wasn't already suspected. Hopefully, this could actually lead to some legal pushback against Musk personally. I somehow doubt it, but there seems to be little question that Musk's personal decisions have led to increased criminal activity, and I'm not sure how "I fired the teams who were preventing CSAM, then stopped working with and paying the people on the outside who were helping" can be spun into him not deliberately taking down protections. If he took down protections deliberately, then surely it follows that increased trafficking in such things is on his shoulders. It would also be poetic justice for the man who bullied others with false claims of pedophilia to be brought down by actually aiding and abetting it. Although, none of that is really likely for various reasons. The main takeaway for me is that it takes away yet another angle from those still desperate enough to defend Musk.

• On the post: Court Gives Its Blessing To FBI’s J6 Geofence Warrant, Denies Motion To Suppress

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 02:47am

  "But what if someone is not in possession of a cell phone at the time and is simply wandering around unaccounted for?" There's enough video evidence by the mob gleefully recording their own crimes that such a person can likely be tracked by watching the footage, but interviewing people who were with them at the time of the attack, etc. For other people, it's easier to do it the other way. I get paranoia, but you are really stretching matters if you think this particular event is going to lead to any persecution of the innocent. In fact, I'd argue that the reason this is taking so long to prosecute everyone who committed crimes while broadcasting them to the world is because they're taking great pains not to involve innocent parties.

• On the post: Elon Musk Is Running Scared From Mastodon; Cuts Off The Best Tool For Finding Your Twitter Followers There

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2023 @ 02:23am

  Yes, someone else was providing a better experience for Twitter than the native app, which means that he was using the site and contributing to its monetisation. Which he's not contributing to at all now, because Musk decided to refuse that income stream. Oh, and if an app is "malicious" simply because it's using the public APIs, that's a problem with whoever built the APIs, not the application. The only malicious thing here is the incompetent billionaire who seems to be speed running the destruction of as many revenue streams as possible while ensuring everyone knows it's his choice to kill the service.

• On the post: It’s Time To Codify The ‘NY Times v. Sullivan’ Standard Into Law

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2023 @ 07:08am

  "It doesn’t require mind-reading to understand your motives, when your words convey it perfectly well." Or, indeed, actions. Koby seems to think that you have to only look at the words in question and psychically gather the intent. But, in the real world, people consider things like context and history. Which can include things not published, but available to read or otherwise determined through further investigation. If you show me a phrase written alone, I might have to be a mind-reader to determine its intent. If you give me a series of articles on the same subject which all have similar biases, combined with internal emails where the editor expresses doubts before publishing, or an author communicating with colleagues who point out the inaccuracies before publication, not so much.

• On the post: Elon Musk Is Running Scared From Mastodon; Cuts Off The Best Tool For Finding Your Twitter Followers There

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2023 @ 05:56am

  "Just because Twitter is going to die doesn’t mean it’s not worth the minimal effort of using on occasion." I occasionally use it for 2 purposes - to see if the people I'm interested in keeping up with have said anything about moving, and to laugh at the woefully uninformed and desperate attempts to spin Musk's latest dumb move as a good thing. Its days as an actually useful tool are over, but that doesn't mean it's not useful for other means.

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