Ben 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Art Authenticator Sues The New Yorker, Claiming Profile Defamed Him

    Ben ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2011 @ 12:34pm

    watching someone read the story?

    I suggest watching both the movie and reading the story

    What would I get from watching someone read the story?

  • On the post: Access Copyright Claims Trademark On The Copyright Symbol

    Ben ( profile ), 19 May, 2011 @ 08:52am

    Re: They must have watched the Daily Show and got the idea

    On The Colbert Report last week he did a skit on the trademarking of "Seal Team Six" and then said he was going to trademark the TM (so the TM had a little TM subscripted). I don't browse Comedy Central (which has it's own copyright-looking symbol) to have a link to the right segment...

  • On the post: Being Successful With New Business Models Still Means Hard Work

    Ben ( profile ), 15 Apr, 2011 @ 04:29am

    Re: WOW!

    WOW! indeed. I could spend all day stepping through the video to see all the cute things they did. "One Take" however is somewhat questionable when it is pixilated (ala Wizard of Speed and Time). Still *great* though! Makes me wish I knew about them when they were playing Boston.

  • On the post: Dan Snyder Helps Us Demonstrate The Streisand Effect In Numbers

    Ben ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2011 @ 05:05pm

    Page hits?

    I can see how number of commentators is at least one viable metric, but wouldn't it be more reasonable to see what appened to the Pagehits/Views of the page? Maybe there is a straight correlation between number of commentators and number of vistors,but maybe it isn't? I'm interested in finding how much attention was driven to the story rather than the number of people who decided they had something to say about it.

  • On the post: A Lesson In Venn Diagrams… And Who Gets Paid To Touch Your Junk

    Ben ( profile ), 29 Dec, 2010 @ 12:25pm

    Pink circle for Blue Gloves?

    In the last Venn diagram, shouldn't the "People who wear blue latex gloves" be the blue circle? I mean really, Plotkin, get it right!

  • On the post: Whether Or Not The TSA Has Ever Caught A Terrorist Is Apparently A State Secret

    Ben ( profile ), 22 Nov, 2010 @ 12:16pm

    Security KeyStone Kops

    My first true understanding of how silly airport security was came on the first flights after 9/11/01, flying Boston to Pittsburgh. Specifically: no lighters allowed (before the 4 oz liquid low-milestone). No lighters allowed in the gate area (with national guardsmen with assault rifles to protect us -- they were never too specific about from what).

    When you land in Pittsburgh, you are in a mall/concourse -- safe from lighters! -- except for the ones they were selling at the newsstands right at the gate.

  • On the post: Turns Out Not Everyone Drives Worse While Talking On A Phone (But You Probably Do)

    Ben ( profile ), 01 Apr, 2010 @ 12:12pm

    Re: Re: Enforcement is the legislative impetus

    Pretty much exactly what I said. Had you not brought your cell phone bill I suspect you would have been found guilty.

    I live in Massachusetts. Yes, I suspect that *anywhere* one can be pulled over for driving poorly, but one is unlikely to be found (presumed) guilty unless there is something that would have made it obvious to the officer (the officer stating you were on a cell phone; to which your recourse is having to prove otherwise by bringing your bill). He said/she said without evidence usually goes to whichever one is the officer.

  • On the post: Turns Out Not Everyone Drives Worse While Talking On A Phone (But You Probably Do)

    Ben ( profile ), 01 Apr, 2010 @ 05:20am

    Enforcement is the legislative impetus

    The problem, as I see it, is that a police officer can't pull you over and ticket you for talking to someone else in the car. He can claim he saw you talking on a cell phone (driving one handed, other hand holding the phone to your ear) -- which is why they tend to exempt "hands free" calling (which is pretty close to the same level of distraction).

    I bet the courts would rule that being pulled over for "cell-phoning while driving" is automatically considered "proven guilty" if you happen to have a cell phone with you, even if you, in fact, were not using it (you'd probably have to get the cell phone records to prove you were not on _that_ phone at the time... keep extra phones handy!)

    Consider it revenue enhancement and not traffic safety.

  • On the post: Is A Moron In A Hurry Confused Between Plastic Building Blocks And A Youth Empowerment Charity?

    Ben ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2010 @ 09:11am

    LEGOS LEGO

    What I find amusing is that the LEGO Corporation pushes the fact that the plural of LEGO is LEGO and *not* LEGOs; (a fact my LEGO maniac sons remind me when I slip up).

    The Minneapolis organization should just spell it with the periods to indicate that it is an acronym (L.E.G.O.S.)

    Unfortunately for the earlier suggestion (Opportunity, Growth, Leadership, Empowerment, Sustainability), OGLE is probably trademarked by LEGO as well, since it is the name of the master villain in many of their product adventures...

  • On the post: Ubisoft's 'You Must Be Connected To This Server' Annoying DRM Servers Go Down

    Ben ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2010 @ 09:39am

    And what happens when UbiSoft is gone?

    When I hear about these DRM schemes, I have to wonder if they've made provisions for maintenance of the servers in case they go under. How many game companies have folded in the last couple of years? What if someone buys them out and decides they can't be bothered to maintain servers for a game that is a year or two old (or however long)?

    This is a brain dead idea for DRM, and I hope UbiSoft realizes that this is not the way to make people buy their games.

  • On the post: Amazon, Macmillan Fight Over Ebook Prices; After Amazon Removes Macmillan Titles, It Caves To Higher Prices

    Ben ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2010 @ 09:26am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Even old New York was once New Amsterdam ...

  • On the post: As AT&T Complains, People Notice That It Has Decreased Infrastructure Investments, But Wireless Revenue Is Way Up

    Ben ( profile ), 18 Dec, 2009 @ 08:08am

    ...and I wouldn't have known

    I, for one, wouldn't have known about the FSJ "call to arms" (or is the iPhone processor not an ARM?) without the reactions by AT&T/FCC resulting in this post.

    People, and companies especially, need to consider their responses quite carefully and very few seem to be learning that lesson. You'd think that by now they'd have heard of the "Streisand Effect"

  • On the post: Can You Copyright An SQL Query?

    Ben ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2009 @ 01:41pm

    work for hire?

    I'm sorry but it seems strange on a number of levels, but the one which hits me is that this guy was hired to create the query as a contractor (sorry, that may be an assumption, but it seems likely). Unless outlined in whatever contract he may have had to the contrary, his "creation" comes under "work for hire" and is owned by the employer; you can _SAY_ your work is copyrighted and use is restricted, but that doesn't actually make it so.

  • On the post: Live By The Patent, Get Sued By The Patent

    Ben ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2009 @ 04:57pm

    Live by the patent doesn't matter

    If Microsoft hadn't patented _anything_ they would still be getting sued by this person.

    I think the metaphor is more a case of "Sail in the sea of patents, don't be surprised when you get hit by one."

    I have been a professional programmer for 30+ years (and an amateur for a few more than that) and I have _never_ understood the justification for software patents. I also remember there was a supreme court case from the ;ate 1800's abo9ut a patent on what amounts to double-entry book keeping that they tossed because "business processes" are not patentable. What is any software other than "business processes" (depending on the definition of "business").

    I'm waiting for the Supremes to get a case where they can finally put a stake in this vampire that drains the life from the software industry.

  • On the post: If You Make A Mistake With A Paywall, It Can Linger For A Long Time

    Ben ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2009 @ 08:03am

    New York Times too

    I stay away from the new york times online for much the same reason I stopped reading Salon; I dislike paywalls. If they've changed it, great, but it is unlikely I'd follow a link to a nytimes page at this point, no matter how interested I am in the topic, unless someone specifically said "no subscription required" -- much like techdirt puts up "subscription required' on links where they are needed.

    Paywalls are stupid -- and the idjits who think they will save their publishing business are in the wrong business.

  • On the post: Steve Ballmer Declares 'Free Is Not A Business Model' — Apparently Unfamiliar With Microsoft's Free Products

    Ben ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2009 @ 02:22pm

    Re: Is it really free?

    You don't need to buy a license to use Bing. Or Mesh (Mesh.com), for that matter. I think Ballmer is just being clueless and talking without thinking.

  • On the post: Nina Paley Releases Some Data On 'Sita Sings The Blues': The More She Shared, The More She Made

    Ben ( profile ), 26 Aug, 2009 @ 01:41pm

    Re: Economy of this movie

    The point, I thought, was that she _couldn't_ release the movie commercially (the only way she could get the rights to the music that she got was to not sell the content). I am very interested to hear the numbers after the professional distributor's numbers are in. I suspect it will be huge compared to the existing numbers, and all at no additional cost/effort by her.

  • On the post: Movie Monsters, The Grateful Dead… And Fair Use Even In Commercial Use

    Ben ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2009 @ 07:28am

    a court gets it right

    ... note that it was by Summary Judgement, which means that there was no lengthy trial. I'd just like to see the judge slap them down for claiming trademark on something that is clearly a copyright issue -- but the result is certainly welcome; I just hope other judges agree with the argument without it having to go up the chain through the appeals process to have it apply (if not binding) on other courts.

  • On the post: Amanda Palmer Connects With Fans, Gives 'Em A Reason To Buy… And Makes $19k In 10 Hours

    Ben ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2009 @ 10:21am

    Re:

    Unreadable? No -- try an 11 _month_ old for unreadable. For real-time, unedited comments? Not bad actually considering how much she wrote.

    Note that the Friday Night Losers flash-mob really had nothing to do with her music; she had the tools, and talent, available to connect with "Friends" (vs fans) and collectively produced the T-shirt which gave them a reason to buy (rtb). I suspect as this model goes forward, Fans=Friends, and the "Masnick/Reznor equation" [not sure who wants the credit for it!] (cwF+rtb=$$$) will become ubiquitous as a business model.

  • On the post: Cher Lawsuit Highlights How Record Labels Screw Over Artists

    Ben ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2009 @ 01:13pm

    pits?

    There is something incomplete in the summary -- "[lawsuit] that pits Cher and the heirs of Sonny Bono, highlights some of the many ways that labels screw over musicians." The lawsuit pits Cher [& heirs] against who?

    Universal Music is mentioned later; if that who she's suing? Or is it the music industry in general, the RIAA, or someone else entirely?

    Considering the history of Sonny & Cher, I doubt that they had much in the way of leverage to insist on audits at the time they signed; I wonder if there is any legislation that provides for the insisting on an audit -- but that require auditing the entire business and not just the items associated with just one act, and I could understand the label's reluctance to agree to that...

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