Tim Cushing 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Is There A Difference Between Inspiration And Copying?

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2011 @ 02:23am

    Wow. I hope Janine doesn't hold some sort of made-up claim to photos featuring bands and brick walls.

    http://www.rockandrollconfidential.com/hall/hall_detail.php?dd_keyid=89

  • On the post: Comcast Hijacks Mac Firefox Users' Homepage; Offers Blame Game And Faux Apology In Return

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2011 @ 04:49pm

    Re:

    Nicely done, Kaden. I was actually starting to squirm. ;)

  • On the post: Lodsys Strikes Again: Sues Rovio For Patent Infringement Over Angry Birds

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2011 @ 04:41pm

    The what?

    This "Angry Birds..." What is it? Some sort of British riot grrl movement?

  • On the post: Turntable.fm Showing How Sharing Music Is Communication

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 02:01pm

    Re: Sure to be popular with 14-year old girls.

    Hmm.

    Obviously, you've never used it. It's very popular with grown-ups.

    The only people it's not popular with are people who hate music, people who hate talking about music, people who hate sharing music, people who hate sharing communal experiences centering on a common interest, people with absolutely no friends, acquaintances or others who can put up with them for more than three minutes at a time, etc.

    It's also highly unpopular with repetitive contrarians who post knee-jerk responses to every single article at various websites.

  • On the post: Turntable.fm Showing How Sharing Music Is Communication

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 01:55pm

    Well, turntable.fm has signed licensing agreements with both ASCAP and BMI. I'm hoping that these two performance rights groups don't try to strangle it right out of existence with ever-increasing fees, but they both kind of have that track record.

    http://wecreatemusic.ascap.com/wecreatemusic/post/2011/07/20/Hot-New-Music-Site-Turntablefm-Is-Licensed-by-ASCAP.aspx

    http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/552168

  • On the post: Copyright Alliance Takes On The Aaron Swartz Case With A Post Full Of Bad Analogies

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 01:47pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    It certainly was game-changing money for Limewire. But it had next to no impact on all the artists who keep getting trotted out like starving third-world orphans every time the RIAA angles for another overreaching law or makes ridiculous damage claims. All of this is being done for them, and yet I don't hear much about artists receiving an unexpected royalty check in the mail. Certainly not one of any significant size.

  • On the post: Copyright Alliance Takes On The Aaron Swartz Case With A Post Full Of Bad Analogies

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 01:40pm

    Re: Re: Re: JSTOR is "selling scarcity": isn't that your advice?

    A little back-of-the-envelope math indicates that the entire holdings of JSTOR would fit on a single external 2T drive...which, these days, retails for under $100..

    Can you get a quote on what JSTOR's charging for that envelope?

  • On the post: Copyright Alliance Takes On The Aaron Swartz Case With A Post Full Of Bad Analogies

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 11:37am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    why do you apologists have your panties in a twist every time a site like Limewire is taken down?

    What? If there was any panty-twisting going on, it was because the RIAA first sought damages in the theoretical trillions.

    It finally cashed out at $105 million and then had to be publicly shamed into distributing the funds to its artists.

    Are you here to tell us that $105 million is "game-changing" money? Or is does this have something to do with another "one down, several thousand to go" anti-piracy success story?

  • On the post: Copyright Alliance Takes On The Aaron Swartz Case With A Post Full Of Bad Analogies

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 11:19am

    Re:

    Not to quibble, but wasn't it the case that the documents were unavailable to legitimate users for quite some time owing to Swartz's hijinks? I'd also take issue with your characterization of his sneaking into the closet trying to conceal his identity as 'walking through the front door'.

    According to the indictment documents, there was some downtime as JSTOR blocked off MIT's IP addresses in an attempt to block the downloading. And you can take issue with my characterization of his alleged acts as "walking through the front door," but the underlying aspect behind all these analogies (good or bad) is the fact that JSTOR isn't out anything and neither is MIT or any other university that accesses that system.

    The words "steal" and "theft" are getting thrown around an awful lot for something that doesn't actually involve "stealing" or "theft." JSTOR still has all their documents. Swartz may have downloaded millions of documents but nothing ever left JSTOR's collection, not even for a second.

    Even JSTOR's press release seems somewhat unclear on the concept:

    "We secured from Mr. Swartz the content that was taken..."

    http://about.jstor.org/news-events/news/jstor-statement-misuse-incident-and-criminal-case

    By this, I assume they mean they were handed the laptop, usb drives and whatever else was involved. It's not as though their hard drives were wiped clean and only by "securing" Swartz's equipment were they able to stay in business.

    You really weaken your own credibility when you make fantastic excuses and distort his obvious wrongdoing in your effort to advance your own anti-copyright agenda. And before you waste our time challenging me to prove you ever said that you are anti-copyright, I'll simply point out that time and again you oppose any and every reasonable action designed to slow infringing and never offer any alternatives of your own that reign in infringement and protect rightsholders. Your position is measured in deeds, not words (or lack of words).

    I'll deal with my personal credibility as I'm having a hard time determining whether this is directed at Mike or at the actual author of the article.

    You throw around "anti-copyright" likes it's some sort of dire insult that should frame me as little more than a thug with an internet connection. I won't waste your time asking you to prove that anything I've said (Tim Cushing, that is) has been "anti-copyright."

    I will tell you this, though: I am very definitely anti-copyright as the laws stand today. The length of the average copyright is excessive and too many industries are overly-reliant on them, which leads to them using copyright as a weapon rather than a tool.

    And of course I oppose any (and we'll definitely have to quibble about "reasonable") action designed to slow infringing. So far, the efforts have all been made by industries who are unwilling to change their business plans to better suit customer demands and instead have tied up legislators and judges with bad laws and bad lawsuits.

    If nothing else, "reasonable" actions to slow infringing are a waste of time, money and effort. What alternative would you propose, or rather, what alternative do you think I should propose considering I view the entirety of anti-piracy efforts to be a lot of noisy barking up several wrong trees.

    You seem to want me to shrink away after being called "anti-copyright" or get wildly defensive about my... well, I don't know what exactly.

    Feel free to point out my anti-copyright stance as often as you can. I don't mind having my consistency on display.

  • On the post: TSA Agrees To Take The Naked Out Of Naked Scanners

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 09:50am

    Re: Time to quit

    Well, you've still got the groping...

  • On the post: Celine Dion Shuts Down Blog Of Ridiculous Pictures

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 09:23am

    ripped off from somewhere...

    Celine finds out about the site and goes to talk to her lawyer. His first words when he sees her: "Why the long face, Celine?"

    The rest is history.

  • On the post: Once Again, Law Enforcement Protects Us From The America-Destroying Scourge Of Children With Lemonade Stands

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 20 Jul, 2011 @ 04:16pm

    That sucks...

    However, it did draw the heat away from my Free MP3 Stand.

  • On the post: Can Innovation Through Business 'Solve' Issues That Legal Repression Can't?

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 08:06pm

    The music industry has done a real good job of shooting themselves in the foot. I wonder if there is anything left of the armpits at this point, having finally replaced the foot as the lowest part.

    In this dramatic reenactment, the recording industry is portrayed by Dr. Cooper's dad (Kevin McDonald):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GLtH1fk5DI

  • On the post: After Watching This Video, Can Anyone Say That Remix Isn't An Act Of A Musician?

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 04:15pm

    Re: Re:

    I'm having a hard time picturing the type of person who would want your respect.

  • On the post: After Watching This Video, Can Anyone Say That Remix Isn't An Act Of A Musician?

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 01:09pm

    Remixing IS creativity.

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: remixing is art. I cannot fathom the thought processes of the commenters that show up just to deride works like this as "unimagnative" or point out the remixer's supposed "lack of creativity."

    If you can?t see past the obvious addition of the components and enjoy the whole as its own being, then I truly feel for you. You must have no joy in your life. Everything that could be appreciated as something of its own has been broken down and compartmentalized into nothing more than a parts list for product.

    If it is your belief that no talent lies in the remixer then why would you check out the culinary talents of various chefs? In the end, they?re just making small variations on meat and vegetables. They might be able to coax out flavors and textures you haven?t had before, but most of the work is still being done by the animal or vegetable itself.

  • On the post: Lawyer Trying To Trademark Bitcoin Threatens Techdirt With Bogus DMCA Takedown

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 12:02pm

    Copyright?

    This is the only thing I can find linked to Michael S. Pascazi:

    http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?SC=Author&SA=Pascazi%2C%20Michael%20Salvatore%2C%201960-&PID=JAoeuKW3J7MNolEfDWxmIpAjnI5p&BROWSE=1&HC=1&SID=6

    It's a market analyzer written in BASIC. From 1982.

    I can't find anything else under Pascazi Law or Magellan Capital Advisors. Magellan brings up the phone book and Pascazi Law draws a qualified blank.

  • On the post: Lawyer Trying To Trademark Bitcoin Threatens Techdirt With Bogus DMCA Takedown

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 11:51am

    Re: Re: Re: An image can be simultaneously protected by copyright and TM

    Well, for what it's worth, Magellan doesn't have any valid trademarks associated with it, or for that matter, any copyright claim either as far as this search shows:

    http://www.seravia.com/trademarks/world?r=1&q=o%3A%22magellan+capital+advisors+llc%22+magellan+capital+advisors+llc

    Here's more on the abandoned trademark (which has no ship in it):

    http://www.trademarkia.com/magellan-capital-77155490.html

  • On the post: The Copyright Alliance Blog Takes On Someone Who Wrote Something

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 10:26am

    Re: She IS trying to avoid naming source!

    Just as you're trying to avoid taking on her arguments, so instead write this diversion criticizing her "netiquette".


    I have no interest in taking on her arguments. If this was a post about rebutting her arguments, I would have framed the entire post differently.

    This post is about how this weakens her argument (right or wrong) by refusing to link to the article she has issues with or even name the person/website she's referring to.

    Her arguments are already being dismantled in the comment threads. And when I say that her arguments are of "fair quality," I'm saying that the piece wasn't some sort of overblown, shouty affair that should have been ignored completely.

    I don't "inflict" rules. This is the way the internet works. You provide links, especially when you're directly attacking someone else's arguments. I don't see how linking to an opposing viewpoint "promotes" her opponents. That's like saying that every politician who refers to their opponent while campaigning is "promoting" their opponent. And, as you said, she's "preaching to the choir", most of whom are not going to suddenly jump ships upon arriving at Kedrosky's article.

    And as for the oft-stated, "anyone can run their site however they want"? Yes. That's true. Just don't expect to be treated seriously if you do things like this.

    Especially when you use the open comment threads in the post you're quoting from (without attribution) to further your own argument:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Copyright_Alliance/blacklisting-entrepreneur_b_897102_97196754.html

  • On the post: Facebook Bans User's Ad Campaigns For Displaying Google+ Ad

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 10:00am

    Re: Facebook shill or DH hater?

    I'm just surprised you made it through a post without a poo or penis joke :b

    He was probably distracted by the nature documentary unfolding in the comment threads. (Yes, I realize that this timeline makes no sense as the comment thread didn't develop until after he posted his penis-joke-free post, but if you look at it from the view of a late-coming commenter [there's part of a penis joke], it all makes a sort of cosmic sense and also explains why some of my posts are heavily edited by others before they make it out into the wild.)

  • On the post: Facebook Bans User's Ad Campaigns For Displaying Google+ Ad

    Tim Cushing ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 09:55am

    Re: Re: This article is FUD.

    TECHDIRT: I don't care how popular Dark Helmet is. STOP POSTING FUD.

    Well, I care how popular Dark Helmet is. In fact, he's so popular that Hothmonster gave him the kickassic nickname "Penis Joke." Meanwhile, I got saddled with the easily mishandled and often-ignored nickname "CLiT." So, I care.

    (I'm sorry. I didn't catch the rest of your whatever.)

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