Roy Wilson 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Court: Qualified Immunity Protects District Attorney Who Lied To State Legislators About A Wrongfully-Convicted Man

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2019 @ 02:46pm

    Re: Car equivalent

    Well, no. Qualified Immunity is how we shield Law Enforcement from personal retribution for actions during their "normal course of duties". That shield is the Town/County/State Government is responsible for those actions. (In Theory - I'm a realist). So if a cop runs over a pedestrian while he's on the clock, no matter what vehicle he's driving (there are some exceptions), you can't sue the cop personally for damages, you have to sue the State (or whatever level he's responsible to). If a cop OFF the clock runs over a pedestrian, he CAN be sued personally - but the police / town / etc can't be. Qualified Immunity is a great idea. But, like all great ideas, once humans get involved it becomes a way to make money and dodge responsibility.

  • On the post: Court: Qualified Immunity Protects District Attorney Who Lied To State Legislators About A Wrongfully-Convicted Man

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2019 @ 02:29pm

    Re: Re: The right to have rights

    It doesn't appear to even BE a tort (or any other law) claim from the article. He wasn't suing. The General Assembly proposed a Bill that would give him money. Is that a Georgia thing? I've never heard of a State Assembly doing anything like this. Generally, a Suit is filed for damages, recompense, restitution, etc., the State makes an out of court offer of settlement. It's either accepted or it goes to court and a jury decides. But the money lost by the State in a settlement of any sort is out of a General fund set aside for just such expenses. It's not voted on per case by the State Assembly.

  • On the post: US Newspapers Now Salivating Over Bringing A Google Snippet Tax Stateside

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2019 @ 11:40am

    Re: Aggregators?

    Extort, not Blackmail. Get your felonies right. :) There's a simple way to "prove" the newsclowns wrong. Have them put robots.txt on their servers. Voila! No more google traffic. As others have noticed, and I've been saying since the start of this nonsense, google is providing the "news sources" with a FREE SERVICE. They'd be quite within their rights to charge a clickthrough fee, just like any other advertiser does for redirects to their sites.

  • On the post: Stupid Patent Of The Month: IBM's Software Patent On Texting And Driving

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2019 @ 05:15am

    Re:

    30-40 years ago you had to submit a prototype, with some few exceptions. Apparently that's no longer a requirement.

  • On the post: Appeals Court Says A Person Driving A Registered Vehicle On A Public Road Is Not 'Reasonably Suspicious'

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2019 @ 05:11am

    Re: They appealed this?

    Why not? It doesn't cost them anything to appeal, unlike a defendant. Unlimited resources. If I had to guess, the DA is running for office and wants his conviction rate higher. So he'll make the people of the State keep paying until the courts "get it right".

  • On the post: Court: Qualified Immunity Protects District Attorney Who Lied To State Legislators About A Wrongfully-Convicted Man

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2019 @ 12:20pm

    There's something...

    ...off here.

    He's not suing for recompense, which is the usual process.

    The DA (foolishly) put in writing that he was still under indictment to the Assembly to spike a Bill they were to vote on to "grant" the former prisoner money in recompense.

    Like I said above, this isn't normal procedure.

    On the whole, this may actually help the former prisoner when he does file suit for recompense.

  • On the post: Canada's Bell Tried To Have VPNs Banned During NAFTA Negotiations

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2019 @ 06:38am

    The question...

    ...to Bell Canada should be "how much revenue do you assume you've lost because of Canadians using VPN's to watch Netflix"?

    They'll inflate it to trillions.

    ..."and how much would it cost you to add Netflix to your offerings"?

  • On the post: Wisconsin's Overhyped Foxconn Deal Keeps Getting Lamer By The Week

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2019 @ 10:14am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I use an accountant for my taxes. The laws change yearly, and I don't want to end up either in a cell or owing ten years income to the IRS. That said, back under Mr Peanut, the 50 v 49.9 WAS true. There were income tables in the tax paperwork that gave total taxable income = tax due. I worked in electronics back then, and went into a higher bracket by less than ten dollars. That said the entire concept of a "fair" tax is nonsense. Taxation is legalized extortion - pay or go to jail. There's no way to make that "fair", except to apply it "equally" to everyone. And then you have to define "equal". The ONLY reason income taxes passed into law without politicians hanging from every lamppost was the "promise" that it would only apply to the richest 1% or so, and would NEVER be laid upon the common working man. So, looking at that realistically, it passed out of jealousy and envy. And a short time later, came 'round to bite everyone who voted for it in the gluteus.

  • On the post: Wisconsin's Overhyped Foxconn Deal Keeps Getting Lamer By The Week

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2019 @ 09:07am

    Re: Re:

    Look at the other side of a "progressive" tax - it's a penalty for success. The higher your income, the fewer government services you use, yet the more you pay into their coffers. I guess it all depends on your definition of "fair". In a pure mathematical scenario, "fair" would be a flat amount per person. In a statistical scenario, it would be a set percentage applied equally to each person. In pure reality, every time you try to "soak the rich", they pay it - while having new laws, deductions, and loopholes passed to get it back. So the (rapidly dwindling due to this) middle class ends up paying it.

  • On the post: South Carolina Cops Love Asset Forfeiture So Much They Take Cash From Crime Victims

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2019 @ 12:29pm

    You reach a point...

    ...on hearing of this type of thing where you just shake your head and wonder "WTF?"

    But it's worse than what the article details, or even what the Greenville News has brought to light.

    Consider this:

    "culled from asset forfeiture cases run through the state's court system"

    They're only talking about the seizures of cash that went to court. You're not going to get a lawyer to appear to petition for less than about a thousand dollars. So all those people the cops "seized" $500 or less aren't going to file in court.

    And they probably outnumber those who did file by an order of magnitude.

  • On the post: Deep Fakes: Let's Not Go Off The Deep End

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2019 @ 02:14pm

    Re: I Disagree Wholly, Deep Fakes Are A Terrifying Medium For Li

    I'm not so sure about that. Video has been faked for a long time now, the tech has just gotten better. Anyone else remember the video of the flame-throwing tank at Waco? Hillary crossing the tarmac under mortar fire? In the Waco vid, when the "real" footage was released, it was lower quality than the "faked" vid, which had a lot of people wondering WHICH of them was the fake. We're at a point now in video editing capability that I can easily see that cynicism becoming the new norm.

  • On the post: Some Small But Important Techdirt Updates

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2019 @ 02:09pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    The "AutoFlag Out_of_the_blue" box is still unchecked by default... /s

  • On the post: Federal Judge Says Boycotts Aren't Protected Speech

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2019 @ 10:28am

    Re: Trying to have it both ways

    Replace "Israel" with "Blacks" and the decision makes more sense.

    The LAW is terrible, but the interpretation is correct.

  • On the post: NY Governor Offers Journalists A Gift No Journalist Would Be Interested In Receiving

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2019 @ 07:23am

    Re: Re: Press, how we like it, as we like it, oh, and here's a c

    The Constitution is a list of what the government must do, the Bill of Rights is a list of what the government must not do.

  • On the post: NY Governor Offers Journalists A Gift No Journalist Would Be Interested In Receiving

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2019 @ 08:55am

    Re: Re: illegality

    Exactly. Assignation of Protected Status is discrimination against everyone NOT of the Protected group.

    But... the children! ...racism! ...terrorism!...

    "Hate crime" laws and "Sentencing Enhancements" are discriminatory and should be abolished.

  • On the post: NY Governor Offers Journalists A Gift No Journalist Would Be Interested In Receiving

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2019 @ 08:13am

    Re: Re: Equality under the Law

    If you dig back through history, you'll find that NYC Mayors, NY Governors and Attorneys General, you'll discover that they have a penchant for enacting "new" laws that are exactly the same as existing laws, but with a catchy name.

    It's safe grandstanding of them doing something "good".

    I can see this one backfiring fast though - it'll become known as "The Paparazzi Protection Act" the first time someone famous is prosecuted under it for punching out a stalking "journalist".

  • On the post: Supreme Court Has The Chance To Extend Fourth Amendment Protections To Apartment Residents

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2019 @ 11:57am

    Re: Re: Re: 4th

    It'll protect you in court if the laws aren't followed.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Has The Chance To Extend Fourth Amendment Protections To Apartment Residents

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2019 @ 11:53am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Cities are different in that you're more likely to find a building with 200 apartments in it than one with four apartments.

    I'm in a rural-to-suburban area of NY. I have two properties that do NOT have street-level security and several that do - key entry to the building, video/buzzer lock so tenants can let people in. There isn't enough demand for Gated drives (or the money to pay for them) in this particular area to bother with.

    So, yes, there are a lot of "open access" apartment buildings.

    In a city, you've also got City-level laws, codes, and regulations that apply. I'm not sure how much authority a Doorman has when it comes to police, but I doubt the cities haven't codified it.

    But even outside of a city, if you think the laws, codes, and regulations for cops, mail, and girl scouts are a snarl, you should take a look at what they require for the landlord to enter any part of the property, the drive, the hallways, and the apartments.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Has The Chance To Extend Fourth Amendment Protections To Apartment Residents

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2019 @ 10:08am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I said "valid reason", NOT "special legal access".

    Even, gasp, COPS! can enter Private Property, be it driveway or communal hallway, for quite a few valid reasons - from asking that the music be turned down to a Death Notification.

    "The police don't have special access either, but there's the problem that there may be hundreds of people with the authority to let them access the hallways."

    Sigh. Yup. Fred the Drunk in 206 can hold the door open for the police. But Fred doesn't have the "authority" to let them bring in a K-9 unit to sniff at your door if the building requires a key/code to enter.

    Why the struggle to find special exceptions? The various lines of demarcation have been codified for decades, if not centuries.

    Personally, I agree with the "reliability" of drug dogs - ALL dogs will follow cues from their handler - they're trained and conditioned to do so.

    But in a non-secured building, the apartment door IS the "end of the driveway". (Caveat - in NY. I don't own rental properties in any other states.)

  • On the post: Supreme Court Has The Chance To Extend Fourth Amendment Protections To Apartment Residents

    Roy Wilson ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2019 @ 09:33am

    Re: 4th

    It has nothing to do with renters - it has to do with Jurisdiction.

    If you want "end of driveway" to apply, you either need to own the building or rent an apartment with a gated drive.

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