beltorak 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: The CIA Will Keep Killing Civilians With Drone Strikes Because The 'Rules' For Drone Strikes Aren't Actually Rules

    beltorak ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2015 @ 10:42am

    It's really easy to take responsibility for something when there are zero repercussions

    > Last week, Mr. Obama apologized for the killings and took personal responsibility for the mistake.

    Um, no. If he took *personal* responsibility, he would be on trial for some form of homicide. Or maybe he is offering to be put on trial, but he knows no one is going to take him up on that offer.

    An apology without remorse for your actions (*not* "remorse" for the outcome) is as smoke blown up our asses. May as well just say "We blew up some innocent folks" and leave it at that.

  • On the post: MPAA Pirated Clips From Google Commercials To Make Its Own MPAA Propaganda Videos

    beltorak ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2015 @ 02:08pm

    Re: Re: Re: Let's bring it up a little....

    They're not interested in us sharing culture with each other, they want us all to get our culture from them.

    This is exactly right. That's why they hate the public domain so much. If we are creating and sharing culture with each other, then (the theory goes) we won't partake of what they magnanimously deign to sell us.

  • On the post: MPAA Pirated Clips From Google Commercials To Make Its Own MPAA Propaganda Videos

    beltorak ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2015 @ 12:24am

    Let's bring it up a little....

    A lot of people are jumping on the MPAA-haters bandwagon here; wanting Google to sue, screaming about "one law for thee, another for me", laughing at the hypocrisy, "o the irony", etc etc. And while I agree with the sentiment behind many of these outcries and guffaws, focusing on that is missing the bigger picture. One which I wish the MPAA would understand.

    Sharing culture is a quintessentially human thing to do. Whether they want to make a point, or make someone smile, or just enlarge the circle of people for whom a reference is meaningful, sharing is natural. It happens all the time. It is perfectly right and good to spread ideas, culture, and experiences, with friends and with strangers. Trying to fight human nature is more futile than trying to fight the tide - which might be difficult, but there's little the ocean can do to you if you decide to get rid of the moon. Trying to excise (by punishment no less) a fundamentally human drive can only end in failure so long as one human remains alive.

  • On the post: No, Getting Your Music Played On The Radio Is Nothing Like Slavery

    beltorak ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2015 @ 09:32pm

    Re: Re: Next up ...

    That would be far too inefficient. They'll just create a Collections Department, and the theaters will only have to pay MPAA, and the MPAA will find the appropriate actors and disburse the money accordingly. Just like GEMA. It works really really well, I mean, GEMA is rolling in it!

  • On the post: White House Floats Idea Of Crypto Backdoor… If The Key Is Broken Into Multiple Pieces

    beltorak ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2015 @ 08:49am

    Re:

    As john said, it's impossible. Basically you are asking for DRM on the key. But it's literally logically impossible to hide something from someone after you've already shown it to them.

  • On the post: White House Floats Idea Of Crypto Backdoor… If The Key Is Broken Into Multiple Pieces

    beltorak ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2015 @ 08:43am

    Re: Re: The thing is...

    Stego is great for hiding from the casually curious; but a statistical sweep of all "noisy" files would reveal suspicious alterations unless you are willing to use only 1 bit in 8 for the data.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcDbKlz06no#t=1073

  • On the post: White House Floats Idea Of Crypto Backdoor… If The Key Is Broken Into Multiple Pieces

    beltorak ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2015 @ 08:30am

    Re:

    You got your stories wrong. It was the RSA company that defaulted DUAL_EC as the default random number generator in its BSafe product in exchange for 10 million dollars; DUAL_EC was created by the NSA and rammed through NIST's standardization practices over the objections of most of the other security professionals and cryptographers.

  • On the post: FBI Breaks Up Another Of Its Own 'ISIS' Plots, Where It Supplied Most Of The Planning

    beltorak ( profile ), 10 Apr, 2015 @ 04:45pm

    > CHS 1 ... asked Booker what he wanted to do. Booker answered, “Anything. Anything you think is good. I will follow you.”

    You know, at this point if there were any functional brain cells in the agent's head he would have just said "OK pal, game's over. I'm really with the FBI [flash badge], and you are really an idiot. Just keep in mind we're watching you now, and if you think you can get away with any of this jihad-y bullshit we'll be all over you like shit on rice." and cooly walk off into the sunset.

    There, crazy averted.

    OK, maybe this wouldn't be the best thing to happen, but it might make a great scene in some True Lies-esque movie.

  • On the post: Turns Out Feds Actually Tracked Most International Calls For Nearly A Decade Before 9/11 — Didn't Stop The Attack

    beltorak ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2015 @ 09:18am

    Re: Re: To be fair

    I don't think we can answer how effective it is in drug trafficking, since we all know the DEA has a vested interest in keeping that criminal enterprise alive, and even participates from time to time.

    I don't think I can reasonably argue that the NSA et al has a vested interest in keeping terrorists around to fly planes into our buildings. I'm not quite that jaded yet. I could be wrong of course....

  • On the post: Copyright Bots Kill App Over 'Potentially Infringing' Images, Follow This Up By Blocking App For Use Of CC/Public Domain Images

    beltorak ( profile ), 27 Mar, 2015 @ 09:47am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Unfortunately I agree with Chris. Google is doing the dev a favor, because that's how the deal is structured.

    > I think that once arbitrary decisions hurt somebody financially one can at least question the legality of such moves under anti-trust issues.

    This is in no way shape or form an anti-trust issue.

    The only fix I see* is to start turning this into a contractual relationship. If you are submitting an app to a store and the app generates revenue for you, then you should be entering into a contract with the store provider. Then you would have grounds to sue for breach of contract and possibly loss of revenue.

    'Scuse me while I go watch pigs fly and unicorns birth rainbows.

    * - and it's not a really good fix either; you would still have to have a lot of money to win the case and make it worthwhile to even file the paperwork.

  • On the post: Unimpressed, UK's Parliamentary Committee For Business Calls For 'Evidence-Based Approach' To TAFTA/TTIP

    beltorak ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2015 @ 12:31pm

    Re: Re: No, not really surprising at all

    why should there be a cost to operating in different legal regimes? why should there be a cost at all? let's just skip straight to the end goal here and allow corporations to sue any government they are under, foreign or domestic.

  • On the post: Unimpressed, UK's Parliamentary Committee For Business Calls For 'Evidence-Based Approach' To TAFTA/TTIP

    beltorak ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2015 @ 12:29pm

    call me a conspiracists

    but could it be that the UK had this BIS commission this finding to gain more leverage in something *they* want out of the deal?

    without knowing what the whole deal is, it's hard to say.

    (and like any good conspiracist, i haven't bothered to find out if the UK positions are public or available, i'm just throwin it out there)

  • On the post: FBI Quietly Removes Recommendation To Encrypt Your Phone… As FBI Director Warns How Encryption Will Lead To Tears

    beltorak ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2015 @ 12:19pm

    this is straight out of animal farm

    ... Clover, who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven Commandments which were inscribed there. Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.

    “Muriel,” she said, “read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?”

    With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.

    “It says, ‘No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,”’ she announced finally.

    Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so. And Squealer, who happened to be passing at this moment, attended by two or three dogs, was able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective.

    “You have heard then, comrades,” he said, “that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable beds they are too! But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays. You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades? You would not have us too tired to carry out our duties? Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?”


    - George Orwell, Animal Farm; http://www.george-orwell.org/Animal_Farm/5.html

  • On the post: Even If Congress Lets Section 215 Expire, The NSA May Be Able To Keep On Collecting Phone Metadata

    beltorak ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2015 @ 02:12pm

    Re: Re:

    I don't think so. Right now we know it's "legal" under section 215, but if that sunsets and they keep doing it, we still won't know it's on going, and we will be back in the dark about what authority they will be claiming it's legal under. Repeat claims of "we don't collect blah blah blah under this program".

    Does it show that I have abundance of distrust?

  • On the post: Important Judgment From Top EU Court Confirms Copyright Levies Are An Unworkable Mess

    beltorak ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2015 @ 02:59pm

    Re: Re:

    • No BitTorrent. With BitTorrent you're not just downloading; you're also forwarding what you've downloaded to other random users. In other words, publishing.

      Which is kinda weird if you look at it; it's not like you are making a zillion copies and spam-mailing it to otherwise non-active recipients; you are fulfilling a request by someone else obtaining their "generally acceptable" downloaded copy....

      But I suppose it makes sense if you take the color of the bits to matter; i.e.: it doesn't matter if the authorized publisher is handing out DVDs door to door, if you get it from the pirate bay, it's unauthorized. Or, more simply, it doesn't just matter what you got, it matters how you got it, even if you have every legal right to have it.

  • On the post: DRM; Or How To Make 30,000-Hour LED Bulbs 'Last' Only One Month

    beltorak ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2015 @ 02:46pm

    Re: Anti-circumvention laws apply?

    I don't think the DMCA anti-circumvention clause applies. I used to think so, but a quick DDG search turned up http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/12/what-is-drm-doing-in-my-garage/

    That's not to say you won't be charged/sued anyway of course. And the anti-circumvention clause is still awful because it rests on the possibility of infringement instead of actual infringement. But in this case I think you are clear because the technology does not protect access to any copyrighted work.

  • On the post: UMG Licenses Indie Artist's Track, Then Uses Content ID To Claim Ownership Of It

    beltorak ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2015 @ 02:20pm

    Re: What about use by others?

    unfortunately perjury requires proof they they knew they were lying; hanlon's defense neatly eviscerates this.

  • On the post: Why Are Some People So Intent On Making Netflix More Like Traditional TV?

    beltorak ( profile ), 17 Mar, 2015 @ 03:50pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Simple fix that Netflix could do...

    oh yeah, i don't doubt it. i used to be a navy nuc so i am aware of a lot of sources of radiation all around us.

    but in defense of the lead aprons, while today those machines don't put out a lot of xrays (http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/pdf/sfty_xray.pdf), i don't think the same thing was true decades ago when the laws that required them were made. Unfortunately I don't have any ready sources; and it wouldn't surprise me to know that am xray or two was even back then comfortably under background. we are talking about the same public/country that put a 30 year moratorium on new nuclear reactors after three mile island, even tho no appreciable effect of the leaked contamination or radiation has been measured. but, you know, "radiation", it's invisible, and it causes cancer, so it is scary.

  • On the post: Why Are Some People So Intent On Making Netflix More Like Traditional TV?

    beltorak ( profile ), 17 Mar, 2015 @ 12:34pm

    Re: Re: Re: Simple fix that Netflix could do...

    i thought modern TV sets just show the blue screen when they detect too much "static"? sad really, used to be a good way to illustrate how much radiation there is in everyday life.

    we should totally bring back '80s style television just for that reason!!1!

  • On the post: Why Are Some People So Intent On Making Netflix More Like Traditional TV?

    beltorak ( profile ), 17 Mar, 2015 @ 12:27pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    wait, are you trying to tell me that people just adapted to a new situation? there was no act of congress, no court order, no executive branch facilitation? what kind of crazy bullshit are you trying to pawn off on us here?

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