Ben 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (442)

• On the post: Whoops: Cable Giant Cable One Accidentally Sends Rival Email Saying Their Top Priority Is Killing Community-Funded Broadband

  

  Ben ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2022 @ 09:18am

  Customer power? Tech media power?

  Isn't it time for the consumers (I guess, where they have a choice) and tech media journalists to start getting involved and insist upon the replacement of 'up to' with 'at least'. Oh, and Washington needs to start understanding the damage than the lobbying industry has done to US democracy .. but I suppose that's a turkeys voting for Christmas issue. God damn, but your country is broken!

• On the post: Does Twitter Have Any Employees Left Who Remember That The Company Is Under A Strict Consent Decree With The FTC?

  

  Ben ( profile ), 11 Nov, 2022 @ 04:28am

  He doesn't need one at Tesla or SpaceX, so why does he need one at Twitter... afterall, he's his own Chief Twit! ("twit" does have the same pejorative meaning in SA and USA English as it does in British English, doesn't it?)

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

  

  Ben ( profile ), 06 Nov, 2022 @ 01:11pm

  To be slightly fair to Musk

  "Or is your argument that, because Musk has spent billions on aerospace, automobiles, and electricity, that somehow obviously means he knows the first thing about content moderation?" No, but he didn't know much about aerospace, automobiles or electricity when he started out, but he did know how to hire people who did. Just a shame he doesn't appear to be bringing this same strategy to social media moderation. Quite the opposite in fact.

• On the post: 5G Airplane Interference Worries Were Largely Overhyped

  

  Ben ( profile ), 17 Oct, 2022 @ 07:31am

  Who's missing the point?

  The article is not about whether interference exists, it's about the overreaction and scare-story leaks from the FAA before the testing was even done.

• On the post: 5G Airplane Interference Worries Were Largely Overhyped

  

  Ben ( profile ), 17 Oct, 2022 @ 07:04am

  Left hand, meet right hand!

  One branch of government doesn't understand what another branch does, misconstrues situation, leaks poison. News at 11.

• On the post: Klobuchar’s Link Tax Is Back… And Somehow Even Worse? Helps Trumpist Grifters Get Free Money & No Moderation From Google

  

  Ben ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 09:06am

  I suggest that you are seriously over-thinking this. Cartels of that nature would need a lot of organising and could not stay secret for long.

• On the post: Klobuchar’s Link Tax Is Back… And Somehow Even Worse? Helps Trumpist Grifters Get Free Money & No Moderation From Google

  

  Ben ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2022 @ 06:02am

  Just stop accessing "news" sites

  Let's all just stop accessing news sites altogether. How hard would it be? Google? Bing? Any other search engine? Just de-list anyone who's demanding payment for linking. It won't be long before they come crawling back for that sweet, sweet ad-supported revenue.

• On the post: UK Restaurant Threatens Other UK Restaurant Over Trademark On ‘Taqueria’

  

  Ben ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2022 @ 06:41am

  Taqueria? WTF is one of those?

  To all those who say that Taqueria is either generic or descriptive, it is not so in British English. It didn't even get added to the Oxford English Dictionary until 2003. It's not even the correct spelling; that would be 'tequeria'. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/taqueria I'd never come across the world in over 50 years of speaking English, until today.

• On the post: France Uses AI To Find Swimming Pools For Tax Purposes

  

  Ben ( profile ), 01 Sep, 2022 @ 05:44am

  Green paint

  I foresee a new fashion for green paint or green tiles sweeping across France.

• On the post: Federal Judge Places County Jail Into Receivership After County Fails To Comply With Consent Decree

  

  Ben ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2022 @ 05:07am

  Amazed

  Hopefully voters will ensure the sheriff and board members are no longer worthy of their trust, support, or government positions.

  I'm amazed at the posts that you people consider electable. Sheriffs? Prison boards? These should be professional people with experience and skills in criminal justice and managing prisons. Not just the loudest Billy-Bo Bought-the-Voters in town.

• On the post: UK’s Likely Next Prime Minister Wants A Pony: A Magic Internet Where No One Ever Says Any Bad Things

  

  Ben ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2022 @ 07:21am

  Laws

  I refer you to the earlier discussion on Grey's Law and Newbury's Law!

• On the post: Hackers Already Prepared To Screw Up BMW’s Subscription Heated Seat Model

  

  Ben ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2022 @ 06:41am

  Damage already done?

  The damage is already done. And I'd like to believe that a lot of people will now consider BMW as a tainted brand from now on. (It certainly is with me)

• On the post: BMW’s Push To Make Heated Seats A $18 Per Month Subscription Portends A Dumb And Costly Future

  

  Ben ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2022 @ 08:06am

  Second hand market?

  What does this do to the second hand market? Can the primary purchaser of the car actually sell it on to anyone in good faith? (maybe back to a BMW dealership?) And how long will it be before it's sixth gear, or windscreen wipers, or eco-mode that's a subscription service?

• On the post: Repeatedly Hacked T-Mobile Ramps Up The Sale Of User App Download And Behavior Data

  

  Ben ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2022 @ 07:00am

  legislation

  I wonder if any territory has established a useful and largely successful (with some bugs to be ironed out) legislative framework that gives the individual rights around their data, and protects, for example, extremely personal information such as sexual orientation. I know it's not fashionable to cite the GDPR around here, but there are some successes therein. It is forcing companies to take the principals seriously, even if you don't like the over-reach of the right-to-be-forgotten.

• On the post: Bungie Unmasks One Of The ‘Does’ It Sued For Fraudulent YouTube Takedowns

  

  Ben ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2022 @ 11:41am

  Make false filings have real consequences for the filer. Whoever they are or represent.

• On the post: Democrats Need To Get Their Head Out Of The Sand: The Only Reason GOP Is Supporting Their Antitrust Bills Is To Force Companies To Host Disinfo

  

  Ben ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2022 @ 01:01pm

  Why?

  Companies should not be compelled to host what they deem, as an organisation and as defined in their terms of service and published policies, to be unacceptable on their own service. If you compel them to host all speech, you're enabling the misinformation pedlers, spammers and toxic influences in society. Do you really want that? Every internet service that dares to have a comment section will descend in to 4chan/8chan land (or whatever they're called today) and we'll all be far worse off.

• On the post: Sony’s Foray Into First Party Titles Going To The PC Market To Massively Expand

  

  Ben ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2022 @ 04:27am

  Who'da thunk it

  Who'da thunk that making your product more widely available might make it more widely bought and played and profitable. And you're less in need of hardware sales ... that you're subsidising in the first place as a loss leader for getting people to buy the games!

• On the post: The Rich And Powerful Are Abusing ‘Privacy’ Laws To Silence Journalists And Authors

  

  Ben ( profile ), 16 May, 2022 @ 06:54am

  In science, we expect extraordinary claims to be backed up by extraordinary evidence. Why do journalists get a free ride?

• On the post: The Rich And Powerful Are Abusing ‘Privacy’ Laws To Silence Journalists And Authors

  

  Ben ( profile ), 16 May, 2022 @ 06:54am

  Then why aren't we talking about tackling the excessive cost of litigating?

• On the post: The Rich And Powerful Are Abusing ‘Privacy’ Laws To Silence Journalists And Authors

  

  Ben ( profile ), 14 May, 2022 @ 01:53am

  Belton case

  Hang on a second. Based on the text above, Belton was sued because her book was inaccurate? And the GDPR case ensured that she fixed those inaccuracies? Who gives a damn who it was inaccurate about. This is clearly a correct finding at law... even if you think GDPR is a four-letter word.

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