drew 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Tom Homan: If Democrats Don’t Stop Calling Us Murderers, We’re Just Going To Be Forced To Keep Murdering You

    drew ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2026 @ 10:15am

    Getting bored of asking this...

    ... But where are the journalists, interviewers and reporters calling this bullshit out? Who is actually challenging back on this?

  • On the post: ‘Anthem’ Shuts Down January 12th And, Poof!, There Goes All That Creative Culture

    drew ( profile ), 09 Jan, 2026 @ 01:33am

    "When an online game publisher sunsets an unsuccessful client-server game, they must publish protocol docs and open source the client and server code?" Yes, why not? The bargain of copyright is that the creator gets a government-backed monopoly for a fixed term and then the work enters the public domain. That second part is just as important as the first.

  • On the post: ‘Trump Phone’ Delayed Again, Lazy Grifters Falsely Blame Government Shutdown

    drew ( profile ), 08 Jan, 2026 @ 09:25am

    Should these devices ever actually exist, it occurs to me that they are unlikely to have had much focus on security. As a result they might be quite hackable... Apropos of nothing of course.

  • On the post: Use The Failures Of The Past As Inspiration For A Better Future

    drew ( profile ), 04 Jan, 2026 @ 02:43am

    To be clear I have tried it, can't remember what instance, but I doubt I'll be going back. There was nothing compelling to tempt any of my existing friends or contacts over from other services, there were still technical challenges if you only used a phone to access it and there was definitely a sense that if you weren't tech-savvy enough to figure these out then you shouldn't really be there anyway. It's also the only online place I've ever had a death threat for not being left-wing enough. So in general, not a winning combo for me.

  • On the post: Use The Failures Of The Past As Inspiration For A Better Future

    drew ( profile ), 01 Jan, 2026 @ 02:13am

    I wish I'd been able to get on with Mastodon but it was always a bit too complex for easy adoption and the purity culture (both tech and social) was aggressive and exhausting. I still miss MySpace...

  • On the post: Use The Failures Of The Past As Inspiration For A Better Future

    drew ( profile ), 01 Jan, 2026 @ 02:10am

    Happy new year Mike! Personally I'm not convinced new alternatives can scale fast enough before they're bought out or legislated into irrelevance. But I've been wrong before, many, many times...

  • On the post: How Generative AI Is Enabling More Connections With True Fans

    drew ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2025 @ 03:47am

    Connections or content?

    OK, cards on the table first. I'm a song-writer / producer and I am quite strongly against the use of generative AI. Not because of copyright infringement, I've long supported Techdirt's approach that copyright needs reform and winding back to something approaching its origins, but because of the water, pollution and energy costs of AI. No-one can confidently state what these are, so we're just collectively running up an environmental credit card bill that we have no idea how to pay, for a product that doesn't need to exist. I have some concerns around where fair use for training stops and creating a competing product starts as well but they're pretty secondary. Right, that's that bit out of the way... To me, sample size of 1, the creation of fan art is not 'connection'. Connection is a two-way thing, an interaction. Most fan art is a one-way thing, "Here is my interpretation of your creation." It may be anything from appallingly bad to brilliantly realised, it may horrifically subvert the original creator's intention or beautifully expand on their vision. But it's still one way. It's not really any different to following a creator on instagram and thinking you know them personally as a result. The Disney licensing gets close to a two-way model, the studio is providing a licence to use their content but that's really just legalising something that's already happening in the one-way world. Connection happens when the artists and creators get involved as well. If a band says, "Hey we're having a remix competition, here are the stems, knock yourselves out." Or an author says, "Show me your fanfics and I'll tell you my favourites." Or a film maker says, "What storyline would you like me to look at for the next series?" And they can choose whether to accept AI into that interaction fully, partially or not at all: - "Please no AI submissions, I want to see YOUR writing." - "Feel free to use AI tools to help, but let us know when you submit your mix." - "Want to use AI to flesh out your idea? Here's a couple of tools we'd recommend." That would be using AI to increase connection. I'm really not close enough to other fields, but on the music production side of things the only headline artist I can think of who's actually embraced that approach is Grimes - but that was strictly on a 50% licenced deal. Aside from that I'm not seeing any artists actually engaging with AI-generated fan art. And until they do it's not actually connection, it's just content. I reckon.

  • On the post: Techdirt Doesn’t Annoy You Into Paying, And That’s Worth Paying For

    drew ( profile ), 28 Dec, 2025 @ 05:51am

    No-one is censoring anything. What might happen is that the community decides you're a cunt and no-one values your opinion. But that's a different thing, buddy.

  • On the post: Larian Studios The Latest To Face Backlash Over Use of AI To Make Games

    drew ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2025 @ 04:56am

    I don't think Tim is necessarily right in his assumption (it could result in shorter working weeks for existing staff for example), but it is not remotely the same as the lost sales fallacy.

  • On the post: TikTok Deal Done And It’s Somehow The Shittiest Possible Outcome, Making Everything Worse

    drew ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2025 @ 07:07am

    On the positive side...

    There's a very real chance that Ellison et al. will do a Murdoch-buys-Myspace style butchering of the app and all the kids will have moved onto something else by the end of next year. There'll be nothing left but the faint sounds of brands echoing their corporate purpose into the void...

  • On the post: ICE Deports Man To Guatemala, Blowing Off Ruling That Said He Was Likely To Be Tortured There

    drew ( profile ), 11 Dec, 2025 @ 10:23am

    Nothing will change

    Until the courts charge some people with contempt and issue some prison time.

  • On the post: How ICE’s Plan To Monitor Social Media Threatens Not Just Privacy, But Civic Participation

    drew ( profile ), 10 Dec, 2025 @ 02:03am

    Where are they now?

    All those right wing freedom lovers who spent years whining about a police state whenever someone suggested maybe not selling a gun to every idiot-with-a-grievance without a background check? Surely they'll be up in arms about this? Right?

  • On the post: ACIP Decides More Newborns Do Need To Catch Hepatitis B

    drew ( profile ), 06 Dec, 2025 @ 02:53am

    I think RFK jr and Kegsbreath are having a competition on who can kill the most innocent people. RFK thinks he's playing the long game, Hegseth is pitching for all-out war.

  • On the post: A Surveillance Mandate Disguised As Child Safety: Why The GUARD Act Won’t Keep Us Safe

    drew ( profile ), 05 Dec, 2025 @ 01:20am

    The standard assumption...

    ...nowadays should be that it's NEVER about the children.

  • On the post: Sinclair Broadcasting Posts Huge Quarterly Loss After Jimmy Kimmel Censorship

    drew ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2025 @ 06:35am

    They are entirely consistent

    Regulation that's good for me is good for everyone. Regulation that is bad for me must therefore be bad for everyone...

  • On the post: Trump Threatens BBC With Billion-Dollar Lawsuit For Correctly Pointing Out He Supported A Violent Insurrection

    drew ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2025 @ 02:50pm

    Come off it, the Telegraph may be printed on wide paper but it's content hasn't been broadsheet standard for years. It's the daily mail in a dinner jacket.

  • On the post: Trump Threatens BBC With Billion-Dollar Lawsuit For Correctly Pointing Out He Supported A Violent Insurrection

    drew ( profile ), 12 Nov, 2025 @ 02:47pm

    Why the BBC is scared

    UK here, bit of local context. The BBC is a bit of a weird organisation. It's funded by a TV licence fee - an annual cost to watch any broadcast TV (or BBC streaming channels) in the UK and it's governed by a charter that is reviewed every few years. The next review is in about 12 months. The BBC has been under a sustained, strategic attack from right-wing media outlets (primary Murdoch ones but the others join in) for about the last 3 decades. There have been half-a-dozen scandals over the last few years, poor editorial judgement, failure to have adequate safeguarding, cover-up of abusive behaviour etc. Frankly Jim Davie (the Director General) should be going - he's failed to get a handle on any of this and has not managed to instil the necessary change of culture. But I doubt they'll cave to Trump - for one thing he's been waaaay too greedy. The BBC doesn't have that kind of cash, and for another he just won't have standing somewhere he can actually win the case. The BBC will grovel for political reasons, but they'll stand for legal ones. I reckon.

  • On the post: IRS Notifies States There Will Be No Direct File Program For 2026

    drew ( profile ), 07 Nov, 2025 @ 02:05am

    Extortionist is the word that comes to mind. Apparently that's a crime in some countries.

  • On the post: NC GOP Threatens ProPublica: Drop This Story Or We’ll Call Trump To Punish You

    drew ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2025 @ 01:12pm

    Much free. Very speech.

  • On the post: Samsung Officially Rolls Out Update To Annoy You With Ads On Smart Fridges

    drew ( profile ), 04 Nov, 2025 @ 11:42pm

    Gotta keep goosing those quarterly earnings!

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