drew 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (654)

• On the post: Institutional Failure: CBS Wimps Out, Pays Trump $16 Million Bribe To Settle Baseless Lawsuit

  

  drew ( profile ), 04 Jul, 2025 @ 02:30am

  And the really stupid bit this time is that they know that this will buy them absolutely zero protection in the long term. Trump has no loyalty and no concept of 'staying bought'. He'll turn on them again whenever he feels like there's the chance of a shakedown because he knows they'll fold. Stupid stupid stupid.

• On the post: TN Govt. Saves School Children From Smut Like Magic Tree House, Calvin & Hobbes, & A Light In The Attic

  

  drew ( profile ), 04 Jul, 2025 @ 02:18am

  It is the sheer fucking stupidity of it all that I find most depressing.

• On the post: TN Govt. Saves School Children From Smut Like Magic Tree House, Calvin & Hobbes, & A Light In The Attic

  

  drew ( profile ), 04 Jul, 2025 @ 02:16am

  This is brilliant! Thank you.

• On the post: Creativity & Technological Evolution 

  

  drew ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2025 @ 03:01am

  Ugh. I hate touch screens. That sentence was supposed to read: just look at the history of the music and movie industries for every lesson you could need about how to screw over the small players and keep the money at the top.

• On the post: Creativity & Technological Evolution 

  

  drew ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2025 @ 02:59am

  That's what happens in all industries. Ju

• On the post: Creativity & Technological Evolution 

  

  drew ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2025 @ 02:59am

  That's what the entire closing paragraph says.

• On the post: Two Judges, Same District, Opposite Conclusions: The Messy Reality Of AI Training Copyright Cases

  

  drew ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2025 @ 06:07am

  Feeling compromised

  I'm no fan of copyright (certainly in its current condition) and using a law designed to promote progress to try and reign in technological development seems like using a hammer to drive a screw... But... I do wonder if these cases are happening at the wrong level. In the same way that we say liability for online content lies with the creator not the platform, should we be saying something similar about use of AI in creative fields. So rather than having a go a ChatGPT at a corporate level, should we be having a go a the SUNO user who is flooding Spotify with hundreds of tracks in the style of [insert your favourite artist name here] and actually diluting the payment pool? I dunno, it just feels like the wrong arguments are being presented which is might be why we're getting conflicting steers. But I have not given this argument a lot of thought so I am open to be persuaded otherwise.

• On the post: We Have All Become Too Comfortable With Corruption

  

  drew ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2025 @ 05:58am

  "Gifts"

  In the UK politicians are allowed to accept "gifts" as long as they're declared. It's more of the same soft corruption. Why are corporations giving gifts to politicians? It's not because it's their birthday, and it's not because they're ardent supporters of democracy... It's because of the quid pro quo, direct or otherwise. And the worst bit is that everyone knows it. I work in financial services, I can't accept anything more than the price of cup of coffee without declaring it. And I can't accept anything over £25. And I have zero friggin' influence. But that's how it should be and how it is in most organisations. Instead we have politicians accepting freebies all over the place and we just nod along.

• On the post: ACIP Shitshow: Panel Member Exits Due To Conflict Of Interests, All Childhood Vaccines Up For Debate

  

  drew ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2025 @ 05:53am

  Surely not all republicans are anti-vax? I mean, there must be enough of the population who still have the cognitive function and care (at the very least) about their own kids? Are they not writing to their reps to get rid of him? Or is it that the GOP is now so thoroughly craven that they can't challenge anything at all from Trump?

• On the post: Surprise: Minnesota Killer Used Data Brokers To Target And Murder Politicians

  

  drew ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2025 @ 06:04am

  Elite level shit

  It's a pretty special kind of corruption you've achieved when your politicians won't even pass a law to protect THEMSELVES. That is absolutely grade A work from the lobbyists.

• On the post: Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing And Fining Students For Minor Infractions In School

  

  drew ( profile ), 04 Jun, 2025 @ 04:20am

  Just weird

  View from the other side of the Atlantic: the fact that you have police, armed police, in schools is really weird.

• On the post: Kids Don’t Have IDs And Age-Estimation Tech Is Frequently Very Wrong

  

  drew ( profile ), 23 May, 2025 @ 01:40pm

  Smoking is not a first-amendment protected activity you idiot.

• On the post: AI Is Making Many People Rethink Copyright

  

  drew ( profile ), 16 May, 2025 @ 01:33am

  Comfortable with our chains

  One thing that I've found, when trying to have conversations about copyright reform with artists / musicians / writers, is that most of them are still absolutely wedded to a system that does not serve them. They might agree that the legacy industries have too much gatekeeping, they might agree that those industries don't do enough to justify their cut, they might agree that the abundance of dodgy practices (hello Hollywood accounting) should be challenged, they might even agree (if you approach the subject correctly) that the whole concept of copyright in a world of digital abundance is ethically questionable. But try and get them to agree that there could be a better world without (or with a much reduced) copyright? Oh that's crazy talk! They will wrap the chains that bind them around themselves like a shield, protecting themselves (ironically) from any new or alternative ideas.

• On the post: Garmin CEO Hints More Paywalls And Enshittification Are Coming, Falsely Claims Users Love It

  

  drew ( profile ), 12 May, 2025 @ 06:34am

  CEO: how can we make this good thing and make it worse for our customers? Marketing: AI! Finance: And we'll charge them extra for it! CEO: Ka-ching! Trebles all round!

• On the post: Gavin Newsom Is Normalizing Trump’s Constitutional Violations

  

  drew ( profile ), 11 May, 2025 @ 12:48am

  That's a following rather than a driving indicato I reckon. If the supreme court had ruled the other way they'd be swinging back in support. The current cabinet doesn't really give a shit about trans people one way or the other.

• On the post: Gavin Newsom Is Normalizing Trump’s Constitutional Violations

  

  drew ( profile ), 10 May, 2025 @ 01:25am

  See also the Labour party in the UK. Polling consistently shows mass support for left-of-centre policies on pretty much every major topic bar immigration (where the media is drowning the public in RW propaganda). But Labour's response is to shift further right driven by a perceived threat on this one policy area, rather than making a principled stance on literally everything else.

• On the post: How The Government Is Quietly Repurposing Everyone’s Data For Surveillance

  

  drew ( profile ), 03 May, 2025 @ 02:11am

  There's a lot that's wrong with the GDPR but at least it gives us some protection against this kind of shit.

• On the post: Trump Executive Order Says It’s Time To ‘Unleash’ Cops, Turn America Into A Police State

  

  drew ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2025 @ 01:36pm

  Franklin: A republic, if you can... South Park Bank Guy: Aaaand it's gone.

• On the post: Google Kills Software Support For Many Nest Users, Eroding Trust In The Brand

  

  drew ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2025 @ 06:42am

  And in doing so they fail to realise that it makes them as disposable as their products.

• On the post: John Carmack: Calm Down About Video Game AI Tech Demos, Folks

  

  drew ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2025 @ 03:12am

  At some point we're going to have to come to terms with the fact that full employment for all is no longer a realistic strategy. Smart countries and economies are already looking at and testing alternative models but I fear the USA, because of its unique combination of 'work ethic' and innovation, is going to be very badly prepared to handle it.

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