Cerberus 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (145) comment rss

  • On the post: Bad Move: Google Removes AdBlock Plus From Google Play Store

    Cerberus ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2013 @ 12:08am

    Re:

    This is about the Play Store, not Chrome.

  • On the post: Bad Move: Google Removes AdBlock Plus From Google Play Store

    Cerberus ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2013 @ 12:06am

    Re:

    This is about the Play Store, not Chrome add-ons.

  • On the post: Bad Move: Google Removes AdBlock Plus From Google Play Store

    Cerberus ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2013 @ 12:03am

    Re: Re:

    Still, the advertisements themselves do not add any value to your experience: they are merely a means to an end that could also be accomplished otherwise, at least in theory, by donating money directly. That's why I block ads but am a huge fan of Flattr. I wish more sites had it.

  • On the post: Germany's Curious Income Divide On Infringement Remedies: High-Earners Support Content Blocking, Oppose Disconnection

    Cerberus ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2013 @ 07:52am

    Re:

    This sounds more accurate: lower income is correlated to lower education and having given the matter less thought.

  • On the post: Germany's Curious Income Divide On Infringement Remedies: High-Earners Support Content Blocking, Oppose Disconnection

    Cerberus ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2013 @ 07:51am

    Re: Re:

    Yeah, people with a low income can still afford a ?18/month broadband connection. It is rather that people with higher income are better educated and more liberal, I think.

  • On the post: FBI 'Stops' Yet Another Of Its Own Terrorist Threats

    Cerberus ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2013 @ 06:27pm

    FBI spreading terrorist ideas among Muslims?

    Not only may this hurt and anger Muslims, but they are also spreading terrorist ideas among those groups deemed most likely to include terrorist. Are they not breeding terrorists besides their specific targets this way? Unwise.

  • On the post: Colombia's SOPA Struck Down, But For Procedural Reasons

    Cerberus ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2013 @ 11:49pm

    Re:

    Lots of publicity might help...

  • On the post: Dear HuffPo: Feel Free To Send Techdirt Traffic

    Cerberus ( profile ), 23 Jan, 2013 @ 10:16pm

    Re: Who uses Twitter

    I have sent The Verge a complaint through their "tip us" button. I filed it under "something is broken" (one of their three categories", explaining to them how they are damaging their reputation.

  • On the post: European Court Of Human Rights Reinforces Right To Access Online Content

    Cerberus ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2012 @ 10:11pm

    Re:

    You're right, I think this ruling would probably force the British government to have each entry in their blocking list reviewed by a court of law, as it ought to be.

  • On the post: European Court Of Human Rights Reinforces Right To Access Online Content

    Cerberus ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2012 @ 10:08pm

    Re: Re:

    There is some concern as to whether it was necessary to block all magnet links offered on the Pirate Bay, including those referring to legal content and those whose status had not been proven to be illegal, or rather to block only those pages with illegal links on them. Because the latter can be done: you can just block pages per torrent rather than the entire website.

  • On the post: EU Recognizes Need To Modernize Copyright, Announces Plan To Consider Reforms

    Cerberus ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2012 @ 01:21pm

    Response to: in_to_the_blue on Dec 6th, 2012 @ 4:17pm

    Downloading is currently legal in the Netherlands, and non-commercial uploading is not prosecuted.

  • On the post: Some Thoughts On Fixing Problems In The Patent System

    Cerberus ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2012 @ 05:02am

    Re: Re: 8 suggestions to improve the American patent system

    I didn't say it was going to be easy! The idea is that each of these points may or may not contribute a little bit of sanity to the patent system, and together they may mitigate current problems enough to make the current system workable.

    Ad 4: you can license it out, but the shell company can't sue, so all you can license out is the permission to use the invention, not the monopoly, i.e. not the power to enforce it.

    Ad 5: By "inventor" I meant whoever applied for the patent in the first place. If that is your company, then they get the monopoly, but they cannot sell it to anyone else. Indeed, they could sell an exclusive license to a troll and try to enforce their monopoly to protect the troll; but that could only happen if they were somehow subverted by the troll while still making products using the patent themselves (or they would run afoul of 4). This would be a lot more complicated than simply selling the patent and the power to enforce it, and nearly impossible in conjunction with 4.

    Ad 7: what if panellists were screened case by case, and only the most egregious cases removed? The idea is that they decide together, and perhaps a qualified majority (2/3 in favour) should be required for each patent. If fewer patents are granted this way, then great.

  • On the post: Some Thoughts On Fixing Problems In The Patent System

    Cerberus ( profile ), 27 Nov, 2012 @ 07:53pm

    8 suggestions to improve the American patent system

    You have a point; I think big improvements could be made by changing the way litigation works.

    1. Grant reimbursement of all legal and other costs made by a defendant if they (mostly) win the case, to be paid by plaintiff. This should work just like anti-SLAPP to remove the worst extortion effect: defendants won't lose millions of dollars any more even if they win, as it is now. Perhaps even add a fine for an unreasonable losing plaintiff.

    2. Make *all* licensing compulsory (and fairly cheap), like FRAND. If you sue someone for patent infringement, you are required to get a quote for the licence first, from some committee. That way, if you are sued, you know what your options are, and licensing fees will be reasonable.

    Fees should be scaled to both the patent holder and the defendant: a small plaintiff should never get more than, say, 50 % of its profits in fees, because otherwise they would profit too much from the other company's other activities; similarly, a small defending company should not be made to pay more than, say, 10 % of its profits on each infringing product. Fees should never be based on perceived losses of the patent holder.

    3. Remove patent and trademark appeals from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and revert jurisdiction to the regular appellate courts. This mitigates regulatory capture; a court whose existence depends for a large part on a single kind of litigation, like patent lawsuits, tends to expand the scope of such litigation, thereby creating more jobs and a sense of importance for itself.

    4. Forbid non-practising entities from starting patent lawsuits. This should hinder trolls a lot, and the reselling aspect of patents is that for which there is the least evidence that it benefits society.

    5. Forbid the reselling of patents, see 4. Only the original "inventor" can sue. Like 4., there are ways to circumvent this, but it will be much harder.

    6. Never allow juries to decide on patent cases. Laymen tend to be unpredictable and less balanced.

    7. Have each new patent judged by a panel of experts in the field. That should mitigate the problem of the patent office's rubber-stamping. Of course they should be thoroughly screened for conflicts of interest.

    8. Institute as an official criterion that patents are only granted for inventions that it takes a considerable amount of time, effort, or money to come up with. The idea is that the incentive provided by a patent is only needed for inventions that would otherwise not be worth the trouble. If all it takes is a moment of genius, no incentive is needed, because there is no cost: the inventor will come up with and exploit his stroke of genius anyway, even without a patent. If you know you need to carry out field tests for years on thousands of patients, then you may *need* the incentive provided by a (potential) patent to make it worth your while to proceed.

    The panel of experts from 7. should be the judge of this. Rounded corners and bounce-back are obviously out of the game. License fees should also be based on the amount of effort that was involved in the invention.

  • On the post: A Reminder: Lower Prices Can Make You More Money

    Cerberus ( profile ), 10 Nov, 2012 @ 12:33pm

    Re:

    But what if selling your next string at $10 is a bad idea for you? If your total profits are much higher at $5, then being deluded into selling it at $10 would be bad. Then this "devaluation" caused by cutting the price of your first string is actually a good thing for you. Devaluation then only means "lowering the price" of your products.

    So you are never "able" to charge an arbitrary amount in that you will make the largest profit that way: you just do it, or you don't.

  • On the post: Twitter Makes The Case That Trolls Should Have To Pay Legal Fees For Bogus Lawsuits

    Cerberus ( profile ), 10 Oct, 2012 @ 07:59pm

    Re:

    I'm not sure I find that summary "fair". The author does raise the valid point that "losers pays all" should be relevant not only for patent cases; but then nobody said it shouldn't. The issue is just that changing this just for patents is less intrusive and more likely to get a majority.

    Why just pick patents?, the author asks: "In other words, the bill?s premise is that the protections and remedies under existing law ? which for years have protected against fraud, abuse and bad faith ? are now considered inadequate!" This is indeed just what the premise is, and it seems correct. Patent trolling is a big problem, where defendants are forced into settlements, because the costs of the lawsuit are too high (often millions).

    So this law is a surgical instrument to remedy a particularly egregious canker.

  • On the post: Twitter Makes The Case That Trolls Should Have To Pay Legal Fees For Bogus Lawsuits

    Cerberus ( profile ), 10 Oct, 2012 @ 07:43pm

    Re: Re:

    "...pass a law saying if you paid fees for a patent declared invalid you get your cash back."

    Very interesting suggestion. This could be a great way to beat some sense into the patent office!

  • On the post: European Commission Looks To Backdoor In ACTA By Pushing For Same Results Through 'Voluntarism'

    Cerberus ( profile ), 04 Sep, 2012 @ 09:17am

    Re: Name And Shame

    One name stands out above all others: Karel de Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade. He seems to be pushing this Hollywood agenda in Europe. Luckily, Neelie Kroes is EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, who favours freedom and progress more.

  • On the post: Rewind: Mexico Surprises Everyone, Signs ACTA

    Cerberus ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2012 @ 10:19am

    Re: Re:

    Are you referring to Palin?

  • On the post: Google Sued For Patent Infringement For Mobile Chrome

    Cerberus ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2012 @ 01:03am

    Re: Vagueness

    Ohh great idea, but, hey, you got there first. I have about 8,401,249 idea that I would like licensed; can I get a discount?

  • On the post: CETA Is Now Slightly Less Like ACTA (But Still Similar, And Still Secret)

    Cerberus ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2012 @ 06:05pm

    Re: Re:

    They have scribbled up darknets...and many other things will follow.

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