PaulT 's Techdirt Comments

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• On the post: Belly Buttons And Napolean Poses: Google Play Flags Android Game For Inappropriate Content

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2022 @ 12:55pm

  If you're going to reject any picture that someone might have a weird fetish about, you're probably going to find yourself with very few pictures.

• On the post: Belly Buttons And Napolean Poses: Google Play Flags Android Game For Inappropriate Content

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2022 @ 12:53pm

  You have the position to decide whether or not a person can do something, while being employed in a position with zero actual power, most likely in an environment where you have zero power over anything other than hitting artificial targets about how quickly you "resolve" tickets and calls. It's not a long-term career plan, but I can confirm from prior experience that some people are very happy to tell people what they can do. Chances are, whoever this person was considered themselves very powerful before they were handed a pink slip. Yet another reason to laugh at those who claim that all mass moderation problems can be solved by employing more human beings.

• On the post: The Great TikTok Moral Panic Continues As White House Fends Off Calls For A Ban. For Now.

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2022 @ 12:48pm

  As a child of the "video nasties" era in the UK, I can confirm that banning entertainment just makes it more attractive to kids who have a lot of time to work out how to bypass the blocks applied to it.

• On the post: The Great TikTok Moral Panic Continues As White House Fends Off Calls For A Ban. For Now.

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2022 @ 12:46pm

  Is that why your grammar is so bad, or is that something else? "Harm" is something that needs to be proven, and for that we'll need evidence more than the "I think it's bad" assertion made about... pretty much every new form of communication and entertainment since the written word was invented.

• On the post: Warner Brothers Discovery Merger Continues To Be A Shitshow For The Ages

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2022 @ 12:38pm

  "Any long time fan will look and tell you deadpool is prime NC-17 territory." They'll also tell you that Deadpool 2 was re-edited to a PG-13 movie and re-released to squeeze more box office out of it.

• On the post: Warner Brothers Discovery Merger Continues To Be A Shitshow For The Ages

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2022 @ 12:36pm

  "Show girls and last tango were hardly failures" Erm, what? Showgirls is widely considered a flop, bringing in just under its budget domestically (and the official budget doesn't include prints, distribution, etc.). Last Tango came at the end of a short period where "porno chic" allowed X rated movies (this was long before NC-17) to be successful in the mainstream, but after the collapse of the New Hollywood phase, it's unlikely to be repeated. In both cases, the problem is that once you had an X/NC-17 rating or released unrated, the options for wide distribution, advertising on TV/radio/newspapers became severely restricted. It was possible for some movies to break through, but you're kidding yourself about history if you think this was common. That's why so many DVDs had "unrated/too hot for cinemas" advertising - they cut film to R to be shown in cinemas then used the extra footage for marketing later. As for how much they made later, studios are notoriously cagey about releasing non-theatrical numbers, so even though something like Showgirls undoubtedly became profitable through DVD/cable and "ironic" bad movie screenings, the exact figures won't be known outside of studios famous for hiding profits. "But you don’t need the box office with streaming" No, but different market forces apply. Movies like The Night Comes For Us probably wouldn't be as watched if they depended on a mainstream US release, but the road of Netflix releases is littered with the corpses of great TV that was prematurely cancelled even as stuff like Squid Game shows that just offering unique content can pay dividends.

• On the post: Florida Officially Asks Supreme Court To Review Its Social Media Content Moderation Law

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 04:47pm

  That's part of my point. When people refer to "big tech", they usually just mean Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook. Apart from the fact that this doesn't include ISPs, mobile operators, etc. that all of these companies depend on to operate and hardware manufacturers, etc., but there's little they actually do that's unique. They're where they are due to user base and momentum. Some currently have a defacto monopoly due to current trends, but nothing actually stops others from coming in to replace them - yet, legislation intended to curb their activities often demands that nobody can. They could shut down tomorrow, and the underlying reasons why they dominate would remain, changing the names of who is in "charge". There's way more fundamental issues at hand, and trying to do things like set in stone how services can do things like moderation will do nothing to solve them, and might in fact make things worse.

• On the post: Florida Officially Asks Supreme Court To Review Its Social Media Content Moderation Law

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 04:11pm

  "Which is why Stephen King et al have no constitutional protections and Carrie was never published and made into two movies. /s" Two movies? There's been at least 3 official adaptations I'm aware of, a sequel and all sorts of unofficial imitations (Jennifer, for example) I know your point, but let's get the numbers right when refuting such nonsense ;)

• On the post: Florida Officially Asks Supreme Court To Review Its Social Media Content Moderation Law

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 04:07pm

  "Errr, not quite. What they want to change is that you, the citizen passing by, must stop and listen with full interest to any and all drivel coming from that soapbox." Yes, their aim is to get an audience that they haven't gained through other means. There's reasons why they haven't got that audience, and it's not because there's a conspiracy against them. They live by the lie of them being a "silent majority", but in reality they're a loud, depressingly active, minority. "How many GQPers do you think will be on the horn to their Congress critters to “Do Something!” in response to having their ill-thought-out demands acted upon?" Some, but they will have been pre-programmed to believe that any action is "big tech" trying to remove their "rights". The problem we face is that some of these people are not dealing with actual reality. There's still people claiming that Jan 6th was just a bunch of tourists and that the election was stolen... "I say to you, the rich bastards of Big Tech – do you really need any more money? No, you don’t" Neither do the people who supply them that conveniently get left out of that label (what, you think that Facebook, etc., can operate without larger corporations giving people access to the internet?). Killing the companies that currently sit at the top does nothing to solve the actual problems, and might actually make some worse (for example, killing Amazon doesn't fix the issues that allowed them to dominate, and doesn't kill Wal Mart). If you obsess over "big tech", you are missing some of the real issues. One is that this relatively new sector are not monopolies and can be replaced. Another is that they are not the root cause of most of the problems at hand. They do a lot of bad things, but their dominance is not something you can wipe away by breaking up or destroying a handful of companies.

• On the post: 5th Circuit Awards Immunity To Cop Who Decided A Suicidal Man Should Be Tased While He Had A Noose Around His Neck

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 03:54pm

  Indeed. Apparently, he felt safe enough to holster his main weapon, could see nothing but a rope in the hands of the victim, but still decided to deploy a "less lethal" weapon for non-compliance. "NOTHING here describes ANY of his training." On the other hand, this might perfectly describe his training - it's to view anyone he encounters as a threat and to deploy deadly force if he feels he's in danger. The training seems to be that the public are the enemy and as long as the officer comes out OK then anything else is justified. I'm fortunate enough to only have viewed US police activity from afar, but in comparison to police elsewhere (some of whom I have encountered first hand), the common theme seems to be that they're far quicker to escalate when not forced to.

• On the post: 5th Circuit Awards Immunity To Cop Who Decided A Suicidal Man Should Be Tased While He Had A Noose Around His Neck

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 03:24pm

  Just a reminder from the POV I generally see - this what "defunding the police" is meant to prevent. Instead of sending in people untrained in situations like this, you send in qualified experts who can deal with a situation with something other than assisting the person trying to kill themselves. That way, the police can deal with other situations while you perhaps avoid a dead body. "Concerned he could be walking into an “ambush,” Escajeda repeatedly ordered Daniel to show his hands to ensure he had no weapon... Daniel’s hands stayed around the rope. So, Escajeda holstered his gun, moved closer, and tased Daniel in the abdomen for five seconds." So, his hands were visible, but non-compliance was enough to attract use of a weapon? Then, he felt safe enough to put away one weapon, but had time to use another?

• On the post: Florida Officially Asks Supreme Court To Review Its Social Media Content Moderation Law

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 03:06pm

  "And if people could prove they’ve been kicked off Twitter for any reason other than violating the TOS, that might mean something" Realistically, they don't even need to do that. If I set up a platform, and Ben Shapiro signed up, I'd get rid of him immediately. I'd be within my rights to do that because I'm not discriminating against a class, I just wouldn't want him anywhere near my property. If I were in the US, I'd presume the right to free association would protect me in my decision.

• On the post: 5th Circuit Rewrites A Century Of 1st Amendment Law To Argue Internet Companies Have No Right To Moderate

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 02:11pm

  It's almost as if a well sourced argument that explains the subtle issues would be a good retort to what's already been said. I won't expect such a thing from the guy who doesn't understand the differences between a public house and public property and thought that you need to employ professional bouncers to legally tell someone to leave your private party, but if someone presented a well argued and sourced legal argument against what's been said I'm sure some would pay attention.

• On the post: Warner Brothers Discovery Merger Continues To Be A Shitshow For The Ages

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 01:59pm

  "The only way marvel bombs out completely is if they take some PC spin and change the property‘s history." Weird. Most of the complaints I've heard recently are from people who have zero understanding of the history. "As for star wars, you can’t “leave behind” skywalker in the future because the family is the core of universe" The Skywalker saga, not the universe. The reason it has been as successful as it has been is the rich universe that doesn't depend on that particular bloodline. Some of the best content has been the stuff that doesn't deal with them, IMHO. Time will tell how the future goes for the series, but I think at this point it's largely agreed that some of the best content in that universe has come from when they didn't stick to Skywalker's bloodline and the worst is when they slavishly tied it to them. Some of the best came from Skywalker as well of course, but when people complain it's usually not about quality. Same as with Marvel - the loudest whiners are from people who think Miles Morales or She Hulk are new inventions.

• On the post: Florida Officially Asks Supreme Court To Review Its Social Media Content Moderation Law

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 01:52pm

  Honestly, Werner Herzog presented a short film of himself eating a shoe when he lost a bet. If Koby did something as honest, insightful or real as Werner frigging Herzog, I'd want it preserved for the history books. He won't, but even an attempt at dealing with the real world after everything he's said here would be noteworthy.

• On the post: Florida Officially Asks Supreme Court To Review Its Social Media Content Moderation Law

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 01:49pm

  "we know that the first amendment isn’t a defense against discrimination, anymore than a restaurant can claim a first amendment right to not serve customers based on religion" Yes, and we know that "idiot" and "white supremacist" aren't in the list of protected classes that the rule applies to. "It is noteworthy that the majority of speech on the platform is user generated" ...meaning that the platform didn't create the speech and that time is better spent going after the person who said something rather than the nearest bystander. "On question two, we already require such explanations of existing companies such as banks" While it's telling that you think that speech and money are the same thing, different rules do apply and I suspect that shitbags like yourself will still be angry when you realise that a law applied equally would prevent you from censoring "leftists" as much as it prevents you from censoring them, even though right-wing sites are currently more likely to do that.

• On the post: Warner Brothers Discovery Merger Continues To Be A Shitshow For The Ages

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 01:33pm

  "The ability to bring franchises together and grow them. Disney buying Fox’s entertainment assets has provided some fantastic opportunities in art." But, it hasn't given you an accessible release of Song Of The South, has given you apparently censored versions of The Simpsons (at least with screen format), and AFAIK has left you with a higher subscription fee to access Disney+ and Hulu than I have in Europe with Disney+s with the Star add-on we get instead of Hulu. There's potentially more crossover opportunities, but I dare say that if you expect them to appear automatically without a merchandising opportunity, you're be disappointed. Rocketeer vs. Iron Man might be cool for them, but so will a new Kardashian or whatever series. (BTW, Prey was on Disney+ here. Was it for you, or did Disney decide it was better for them to get you to pay more?).

• On the post: 5th Circuit Rewrites A Century Of 1st Amendment Law To Argue Internet Companies Have No Right To Moderate

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 01:24pm

  "Because you choose to? There aren’t many platforms hosting him. It’s quite easy to not have to read his comments.!" It's also easy to read them if you chose to. What's not happening is people who don't wish to being exposed anyway. "Sony is censoring games that are uncensored on other platforms." How? If the answer is "because they choose to censor on their own platform", what's stopping you from moving to the platforms that don't censor? "Book store choose not to carry titles. Such as Amazon." As has happened since book stores existed. "Radio stations censor music every day." Radio stations have been set up explicitly to play the music others wouldn't play in the past. "Chain theatres rarely carry NC-17 films." Which they choose to do so, and doesn't carry legal weight unlike in some countries. "Cable companies cut content despite there being no legal reason to do so." Content on those channels is usually available uncut elsewhere, and even if not are you saying the people who created content should not have final cut? "Explain how any of those are government bodies censoring." They're not, but you're yet to explain how a private platform self-censoring is equal to government censorship. When Blockbuster decided not to carry certain uncut VHS tapes, despite their best efforts you could still legally access the uncut version.

• On the post: The Internet Is Not Disneyland; People Should Stop Demanding It Become Disneyland

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 01:05pm

  I've been to Disneyland a few times. But... I'm not good with heights and rollercoasters. So, I've spent time standing to the side while other people get on, and waiting for other family members - including kids - who want to do those things. So, if you're using that as the standard, none of you can go on anything as scary as Space Mountain. Sorry guys, both me and a kid in my family are too chicken to go on there, so it has to be demolished. Or... maybe the fact that we still had a good holiday and exercised personal responsibility and looked after the minors in our group means that the internet stays intact with some adult responsiblity.

• On the post: Study Shows That Copyright Filters Harm Creators Rather Than Help Them

  

  PaulT ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 12:59pm

  "I’d ask you for links, but I think we all know how that would turn out." People laughing at how obviously fake the things you posted were, and asking for evidence that would pass a kindergarten session?

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