Beech 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (125) comment rss

  • On the post: Healthcare, Journalism, And The Mad Dash For 'The Scoop'

    Beech ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2012 @ 06:03pm

    Personally, I don't care who breaks a story first. It's not like I'm switching between CNN and FOX back and forth all day, waiting to see where I get to see which story first. Where I work the TV in the break room is perma-tuned to CNN, so I get to see the schlock they try to pass off as news on my breaks every day. I mean, sure, it was nice to hear that the whole health care thing happened, but my break is at 11. So it matters not a whit to me if Fox broke the story 3 seconds earlier on another channel.

    I'd say the "new rewards" are already in place. I suffer through CNN at work, and gave up on the local paper ages ago. I get my news from sites like this. Niche sites that talk about things that I care about. So the "reward" of my eyeballs goes to the sites that have thought provoking commentary on stories I care about, not sites that blast the 24 hr news cycle crammed full of puff pieces. The payoff on the internet comes from talking about things that people want to hear about, not releasing a mostly "truthy" blurb about any given celebrity's personal life .0325 seconds before the other guy.

  • On the post: UK's 3-Strikes Plan Continues To Grind Through The System; Still Not In Force, Still Awful

    Beech ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2012 @ 03:00pm

    "The code will initially cover ISPs with more than 400,000 broadband-enabled fixed lines -- currently BT, Everything Everywhere, O2, Sky, TalkTalk Group and Virgin Media."

    Seems like a simple fix for the time being. Just have each ISP split itself into several splinter companies, each only having 399,999 lines. BT(1), BT(2), BT(3), etc!

  • On the post: USTR Rejects Rep. Issa's Request To Observe TPP Negotiations

    Beech ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2012 @ 02:57pm

    Congress should take a stand and pass a law making it legal to walk into Ron Kirk's house and beat him until he starts answering questions with actual answers. If Kirk doesn't like it, he can petition against it by sitting in a room with the bill and looking at it, with no pens, aides, ability to change it at all, etc.

    If ever there was a time for congress to be petty and bitter it would be now!

  • On the post: USTR Needs To Reread Both The Constitution & The Definition Of Transparency

    Beech ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2012 @ 02:47pm

    "Back to the Constitution and Article I, Section 8, where it clearly states that Congress is granted the power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations.""

    So you're saying that congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, but if someone decides to call it a "treaty" then suddenly the President has the power too? I would like to think the framers put a liiiitle more thought into it than that...

  • On the post: USTR Needs To Reread Both The Constitution & The Definition Of Transparency

    Beech ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2012 @ 02:38pm

    Strange

    Now, I know politicians aren't exactly well known for playing well with each other, but one would think that this would be an issue the entire congress could agree on.

    "Look guys, someone is spending money lobbying the USTR to buy their compliance. That is money that could have been spent padding our reelection funds to buy our compliance!"

    Really, you would think congress critters would realize that the existence of another entity worth bribing would mean they'd have to compete for their bribe money, then pass a joint resolution to cut all funding to the USTR or something...

  • On the post: Some Facts & Insights Into The Whole Discussion Of 'Ethics' And Music Business Models

    Beech ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2012 @ 02:06pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I would take this a step further into the hypothetical future - where the teleportation of any object over great distances, directly through walls is now possible at low cost. So now, it becomes technically possible to MAKE AN EXACT COPY OF physical properly quite easily and anonymously WITHOUT THE ORIGINAL BEING HARMED OR CHANGED IN ANY WAY.

    Fixed that analogy for ya.

  • On the post: David Lowery Wants A Pony

    Beech ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2012 @ 06:09pm

    New Prohibition

    The Great Piracy Debate reminds me a LOT of what i learned about Prohibition. Here's some wikipedia quotes about prohibition.

    "By using pressure politics on legislators, the Anti-Saloon League achieved the goal of nationwide prohibition during World War I"

    "The sale of alcohol was illegal, but alcoholic drinks were still widely available. People also kept private bars to serve their guests. Large quantities of alcohol were smuggled in from Canada, overland, by sea along both ocean coasts, and via the Great Lakes."

    "Congress passed the "Volstead Act" on October 28, 1919, but most large cities were uninterested in enforcing the legislation, leaving an understaffed federal service to go after bootleggers. Although alcohol consumption did decline, there was a dramatic rise in organized crime in the larger cities, which now had a cash crop that was in high demand.

    "The repeal movement was started by a wealthy Republican, Pauline Sabin, who said that prohibition should be repealed because it made the US a nation of hypocrites and undermined its respect for the rule of law."

    See the connection? A minor but vocal segment of the population pressures government into passing laws. Said laws cannot be enforced, and the common man has no respect for them. People circumvent the law in various ways. Eventually "organized crime" (for filesharing maybe think the 'Megaconspiracy'?)gets involved. It becomes clear that the laws are silly and undermine respect for the rule of law.

    Hey, any of that sound familiar? Maybe a little pertinent to the discussion at hand?

  • On the post: David Lowery Wants A Pony

    Beech ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2012 @ 04:26pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: boys will be boys

    Well, to sum up the piracy == theft situation in a catchy way...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeTybKL1pM4

  • On the post: David Lowery Wants A Pony

    Beech ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2012 @ 03:56pm

    Re: Re: Re: boys will be boys

    You obviously haven't been here long. If I had to boil down the editors' position it would be something like, "Piracy is very very bad naughty, however, it cannot be stopped, and therefore the marketplace must adjust in order to compensate for it and profit in spite of it."

    It's kind of like saying "hurricanes are morally and ethically unjustified and should not be allowed." You won't find many who disagree that hurricanes are great. But no matter how many laws you try to pass, come hurricane season there will be hurricanes regardless. So demonizing those who suggest you hurricane-proof your house to brace against the oncoming storm as being "Pro-hurricane" and talking about how nicely your house is decorated won't do much come the next storm.

    Also, arguing is awesome fun! That's why debate class is an elective in high school and not what happens in detention.

  • On the post: David Lowery Wants A Pony

    Beech ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2012 @ 03:51pm

    Re: boys will be boys

    You obviously haven't been here long. If I had to boil down the editors' position it would be something like, "Piracy is very very bad naughty, however, it cannot be stopped, and therefore the marketplace must adjust in order to compensate for it and profit in spite of it."

    It's kind of like saying "hurricanes are morally and ethically unjustified and should not be allowed." You won't find many who disagree that hurricanes are great. But no matter how many laws you try to pass, come hurricane season there will be hurricanes regardless. So demonizing those who suggest you hurricane-proof your house to brace against the oncoming storm as being "Pro-hurricane" and talking about how nicely your house is decorated won't do much come the next storm.

    Also, arguing is awesome fun! That's why debate class is an elective in high school and not what happens in detention.

  • On the post: David Lowery Wants A Pony

    Beech ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2012 @ 03:33pm

    Re: I wrote this but it got moderated (maybe it is nonsense?)

    Oh. I was wondering how there wasn't a single dissenting comment on his site. Guess that explains it. Censoring anyone who disagrees. THAT'S the way to have a discussion on a topic!

  • On the post: David Lowery Wants A Pony

    Beech ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2012 @ 02:38pm

    Re: According to Lowery

    "Perhaps Lowery should stop setting up ridiculous straw men for debate."

    That's not a strawman, a strawman is an easily refuted argument that you pretend someone on the other side of a debate holds. This snippet is just a false/hyperbolic "fact" used to justify a totally wrong conclusion.

  • On the post: Carreon's Full Filing Reveals He Donated To Oatmeal Campaign Himself, Plus Other Assorted Nuttiness

    Beech ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2012 @ 01:58pm

    Really? no one wants to point out how carreon is trying to say that Inman is trying to say that HE is a pterodactyl? Not to mention, the comic about the motherfucking pterodactyl has been up forever. The thing in the souce code has been up since ~2007 i think. And the music video embedded was up long before this spat came around as well. Is carreon trying to say that Inman has been staging this assault on him in the background of his website for YEARS before he ever sent him the threatening letter?

  • On the post: Fair Use/Fair Dealing Doesn't Require Payment Or Permission

    Beech ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2012 @ 01:50pm

    Accidental troll is accidental

    Looks like I accidentally trolled there a little bit in comment 1. Was meaning to point out how dumb it was to treat IP like acutal P, but it was very early and my brain wasn't on yet. good thing others picked up on how silly that toaster example was for me though!

  • On the post: Fair Use/Fair Dealing Doesn't Require Payment Or Permission

    Beech ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2012 @ 01:24am

    Part of the Plan

    Fair use doesn't really make sense in a world where every idea is OWNED by someone for an arbitrary time period. If i own a toaster (which i do) no one can walk into my house and "fair use" toast some bread whenever they want without permission. Erosion of fair use is the logical conclusion of the "ideas as personal property" mindset.

  • On the post: Canadian IP Lobby Calls For SOPA North, Complete With Website Blocking And Secondary Liability

    Beech ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2012 @ 05:35pm

    Hey, these guys are NOT idiots. They are a bunch of rich bastards who got where they are by having a lot of business sense, the problem is that the way business, and even the world, works is changing, making their traditional business acumen obsolete. Bills like this are the way things have worked for a long, long time. Step one, get a bill introduced which favors you to an insane degree. if it passes, great. if not, "compromise" to get what still amounts to a pretty sweet deal. If I were to ask the government for a billion dollars, but met with resistance and only ended up getting a few million, guess what? Its a few million more than i started with.

    Basically, this isnt about getting censorship in Canada, but its a nice side-effect. Dollars to doughnuts if/when this bill gets passed lobbyists will be right back at it in DC. "hey look, even those sissy maple-tree-hugging, flannel-wearing canuks are more strict on "cyber-crime" than the US. Mr Congress Critter, are you really going to let canada be more ANYTHING than the USA? Because the way I remember it, USA is number 1."

    Of course, if the bill doesn't pass in Canada it will just be reintroduced in another form a few months down the road. Over and over til it gets passed, then more bills asking for even more.

  • On the post: Holder In The Hot Seat, Still Can't Explain Why DOJ Censored Hip Hop Blog

    Beech ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2012 @ 01:18am

    "While I may have missed one or more, I have been unable to find any law blog that has referred to Dajaz1's seizure as comprising "censorship"."

    Ha, so? I haven't found any law blogs referring to quantum mechanics as a thing, nor the color of the sky, does that mean that wave-particle duality is bunk and the sky is neon brown?

  • On the post: Holder In The Hot Seat, Still Can't Explain Why DOJ Censored Hip Hop Blog

    Beech ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2012 @ 01:15am

    "Clearly, he was not prepared to answer."

    Disagree. He gave the perfect "slimeball lawyer" answer. Didn't really talk at all about the case in hand, but mentioned that IF something similar had HYPOTHETICALLY happened then it MAY BE CONSIDERED slightly bad by SOME. Furthermore, he met with no negative repercussions for it. He exercised the perfect amount of blow-off-ness to avoid a real answer at the same time as avoiding consequences. Clearly he didn't NEED to answer any better, why should he?

    And props to Longfren for asking the hard questions, but in the end, is it just paying lip service? I mean, a bunch of encrypted non-account-bound passwords are leaked to the internet you have a bunch of congress critters running around yipping about how we need to "DoooOOOoooo something!!1!!" Website shut down for a year? Let's give the person with responsibility a year to prepare his non-answer. How about a law making that shit illegal? How about impeaching the prick? Imagine the shit storm if the feds took CNN off the air for a year jus' b'cause. I see no reason why ANY form of censorship should be treated differently than any other.

  • On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

    Beech ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2012 @ 05:24pm

    Well, maybe its a "weekly" list in the sense that its a list of which comments got the most votes in a 7 day period, not which comment made in the past seven day-period on an article posted in the past 7 day-period. Or the comment was posted in the appropriate week on an article from a previous week.

    I mean, if I go to an article from last year, find a comment i really like, and persuade a million strangers to all vote for it, it would technically be one of the highest voted comments of the week, in terms of votes given that week, regardless of the datestamp on the article or comment.

  • On the post: TV Network Exec Argues That Anything That Causes Cable Subscribers To Cut The Cord Is Illegal

    Beech ( profile ), 31 May, 2012 @ 01:24pm

    How to stop global warming:

    1) Tell TV execs that global warming will make nice weather all year 'round
    2) More nice weather will mean that more people will spend time out side, and may cut their cables because they don't need TV since they're spending so much time outdoors
    3) TV companies will sue global warming because it "may or may not" possibly make at least one but maybe a billion people stop paying for cable.
    4) Global warming will be declared illegal. Problem solved.

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