Chosen Reject 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Do Pirate Sites Really Make That Much Money? Um… No

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2012 @ 12:12pm

    Re:

    Hello boys and girls, and welcome to another episode of "Spot the Logical Fallacy".

    Today's lesson is ad hominem. It's latin for "To the man". In this logical fallacy, we try to negate a claim by pointing out some negative aspect of the person making the claim. Let's look at a recent example.

    Downplaying the money the pirates make. You're the broken record, Mike. Your defense of piracy is really sad, my friend.
    As you can see, the speaker has employed the use of this logical fallacy by trying to associate the speaker with illegal activities. Note that whether the one making the claim is actually guilty of the ad hominem attack is irrelevant to the claims made. Let's analyze that.

    Mike said:
    All in all, it seems pretty clear that there just isn't that much money in running a "rogue site" -- contrary to what the supporters of these bills will tell you.
    Now, if Mike does not support piracy his claim stands. Suppose however, that Mike is a piracy apologist. Does that change the truth value of his claims? Not at all. Suppose that Mike is actually Kim DOTCOM in disguise. Does that change his claims? Again, it does not. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that Mike is actually the Hamburglar. Does that change the truth value of his claims? Again, no it does not.

    Ad hominem logical fallacies are often employed by people whose positions are weak or incorrect, or who are just plain stupid.

    I hope you had fun and learned a lot during this episode. Next time, we'll be learning about Red Herrings.

  • On the post: Do Pirate Sites Really Make That Much Money? Um… No

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2012 @ 11:41am

    Follow that money

    I say we do follow the money. If the MPAA estimates losses at over $58 Billion, then that $58 billion must have gone to some other industr[y|ies]. They claim it's gone to pirate sites, but this article shows that it did not. That leaves us to wonder, which industr[y|ies] does the MPAA want to reduce?

  • On the post: Polish Government's Plan To Sign ACTA Gets The SOPA Treatment

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 23 Jan, 2012 @ 05:08pm

    All laws reduce freedom in some way, from taxes to speeding laws, from narcotics laws to bureaucratic policies of what size paper building permit plans should use. Given that they reduce freedom, laws should be incredibly difficult to pass. Rather than a simple majority to pass a law, it ought to be higher (e.g., 75%).

    All bills should have an automatic sunset feature. Of course, by all, I really mean all. Even murder laws or pedophile laws. Every 5-10 years bills come back into the legislature. If they haven't been passed again at the end of that session then they automatically become revoked. This ensures that only the laws that the vast majority of people want get on the books and only the laws the vast majority of people want stay on the books. The sunset time can be based on the voting percentage.
    * 100% yea-vote, sunsets in 10 years
    * >95% yea-vote, sunsets in 9 years
    * >90% yea-vote, sunsets in 8 years
    * >85% yea-vote, sunsets in 7 years
    * >80% yea-vote, sunsets in 6 years
    * >75% yea-vote, sunsets in 5 years

    As far as voting goes, simple yeas and nays need to be expanded. Before voting, every legislator should document the lobbying they received for that particular bill; time, money, gifts, names of people, names of companies/groups/people that were represented, etc, as well as the position of that lobbying. This means everything from
    * Evil Rich Lobbyist paid $10,000 for flight and 3-day stay on exotic island, representing Insidious Industry and encouraged a yay vote to
    * Old man Jenkins spent $10.00 for lunch, represented only his self and encouraged a nay vote.
    Once that information is out in the open, it'll be more difficult for a lawmaker to say they voted yay because it was the best for the people when the record could show otherwise. To keep anonymity, all lobbying involves only communication (letter, email, phone call, tweet, etc), can be recorded as
    * 1,000 letters for
    * 500 letters against
    * 5,000 emails for
    * 300 emails against

    What are the problems with these changes?

  • On the post: Hollywood Unions: Now That You Lying Hacking Thieves Have Won, Can We Set A New Conciliatory Tone?

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 23 Jan, 2012 @ 01:36pm

    Re:

    I don't know about Mike, but I'd be happy to show up at your table and offer a solution. In fact, here it is:

    Abolish copyright laws.

    That would put an end to copyright infringement over night.

  • On the post: OK, So SOPA And PIPA Are Both On Hold: Where Do We Go From Here?

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2012 @ 12:06pm

    Re: It took millions to overcome a handful

    Thanks for pointing that out. Even the Founding Fathers recognized that. It's why Thomas Jefferson said "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

    He knew that keeping freedom was always going to be difficult, but was definitely worth the fight.

    God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

    --Thomas Jefferson

  • On the post: The Internet Wins: PIPA & SOPA Delayed

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2012 @ 09:23am

    Re: Trickery

    I'm in agreement here. Honestly I don't see any reason to rejoice until legislation that seriously reforms copyright law is passed and signed. Only then can we rest knowing it will at least be a couple of years before the ratcheting up comes back.

  • On the post: The Internet Wins: PIPA & SOPA Delayed

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 20 Jan, 2012 @ 09:20am

    Re: Re:

    I haven't seen the bill so I can't speak to that, but the fear is that either SOPA or SOPA-like amendments will be added to it and no one will want to be seen as not protecting the children, so they'll pass it.

  • On the post: Translating Chris Dodd's Sanctimonious Bluster On Internet Protests Into English

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 18 Jan, 2012 @ 10:55am

    Re:

    This is the line that bothers me the most. Listen to what he's really saying here:

    Only days after the White House ... called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are [asking their users to contact their representatives], rather than coming to the table to find solutions...
    Right after he admits that the White House called for all parties to work together, he then complains that the technology companies are asking the public to be a part of that. Instead he only wants companies to work together. It is really appalling that he's miffed that the public is being asked to be engaged, even though the White House asked for "all parties". It shows how he really feels about the public. We aren't a party to him. We aren't even to be considered. We're just cogs in the machine to him, wallets that need to be opened, bank accounts that need to be withdrawn from.

    Chris Dodd, screw you and go DIAF.

  • On the post: Google Goes Big With Its SOPA/PIPA Protests; Blacks Out Logo

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 17 Jan, 2012 @ 11:13pm

    Re:

    It is great that Congress and the entertainment industry are writing bills and lobbying to protest the recent murder of political activists in Iran! Oh wait. Maybe it was the killings of citizens in Syria. No. Or the recent legislation that would allow indefinite detention of US citizens. Hmmm.....oh that's right, they are writing legislation to try to stop the sharing of 1s and 0s. A bill that doesn't address any real problem and that attempts to stop what the majority don't think should even be a crime. That one.

  • On the post: Google Goes Big With Its SOPA/PIPA Protests; Blacks Out Logo

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 17 Jan, 2012 @ 11:09pm

    Re: Re:

    It's true. Also, white people were not allowed to protest with black people during the civil rights movement, only soldiers and Iraqis were allowed to protest the US war in Iraq, only the Vietnamese in Vietnam were allowed to protest the Vietnam Conflict (soldiers also, but not until they were drafted) and Warren Buffett was not really allowed to support the Occupy Wall St movement.

    It's one of the reasons why Alzheimer's research is so slow; the only people allowed to donate funds or do the research are Alzheimer's patients, and they keep forgetting what it is they're doing anyway.

  • On the post: Google Goes Big With Its SOPA/PIPA Protests; Blacks Out Logo

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 17 Jan, 2012 @ 11:03pm

    Re: hey

    People would only get in an uproar for two reasons:
    1) They don't care about the political posturing and just want their show, or
    2) They agree with whatever position is being posited and are outraged that congress would do such a thing.

    I suspect there will be lots of media industry shills outraged for reason number 1 above. I also suspect that the number of people outraged at Google for reason number 1 above is far below the number of people outraged at having to watch FBI warnings and save-the-gaffer anti-piracy rants at the beginning of DVDs and theater showings. Which means more people are outraged at the MPAA's posturing than will be outraged at Google's posturing.

  • On the post: Google Goes Big With Its SOPA/PIPA Protests; Blacks Out Logo

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 17 Jan, 2012 @ 10:58pm

    Re:

    Wikipedia tells you how to get around the block if you click on the "Learn More" link.

    The English Wikipedia will be accessible on mobile devices and smart phones. Because the protest message is powered by JavaScript, it's also possible to view Wikipedia by completely disabling JavaScript in your browser.

  • On the post: Lamar Smith & MPAA Brush Off Wikipedia Blackout As Just A Publicity Stunt

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 17 Jan, 2012 @ 04:16pm

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

    First they came for Napster, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a pirate.

    Then they came for Grokster and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a freetard.

    Then they came for the Pirate Bay but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a foreigner.

    Then they censored me but everyone who tried to speak up for me was already censored.

  • On the post: Lamar Smith & MPAA Brush Off Wikipedia Blackout As Just A Publicity Stunt

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 17 Jan, 2012 @ 02:20pm

    Re: TFTFY...

    It's like a trifecta. Hollywood gets to shut down any new competitors at a whim, the US government gets their foot in the door for censorship, and Hollywood/US government attempts to make all new content come from US companies doing harm to foreign economies thinking they'll help the US economy. There's nothing get about these bills.

  • On the post: Google To Use Home Page To Protest PIPA Tomorrow

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 17 Jan, 2012 @ 11:42am

    Re:

    If the media industry had balls, they wouldn't be cowering behind congress with stricter IP laws. Instead, they'd actually try new business models and be succeeding.

  • On the post: The Lies Of NBCUniversal's Rick Cotton About SOPA/PIPA

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 16 Jan, 2012 @ 11:35am

    Re: Please don't Torrent over Tor

    You don't need to torrent over Tor. The only part thepiratebay.org is involved in is giving you the .torrent file. Once you have that, it's up to you what to do with it and how. The court order to block thepiratebay.org won't stop any of the torrents or even slow them down a bit. It will only slightly impede the acquiring of .torrent files. So you can use Tor to get the .torrent file and then stop using Tor after that.

    Note that to my knowledge there is nothing illegal in downloading, sharing, having, or opening a .torrent file. There is nothing that is copyrighted in that file, though I am not a lawyer.

  • On the post: SOPA/PIPA Supporters Pretend White House Statement Means We Can Rush Through SOPA/PIPA

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 16 Jan, 2012 @ 09:46am

    Re: Re: Ratchet effect

    They would never ask for the Sun. Instead they would ask for all the stars in the galaxy and then insist that they aren't asking for the Sun despite widespread cries that the Sun is obviously a star in this galaxy.

  • On the post: Lamar Smith Follows Leahy's Steps With Plans To Delay DNS Implementation In SOPA

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2012 @ 03:52pm

    Re: The appropriate quote here comes from Ash...

    Indeed, it's a very common tactic, but not just politically.

  • On the post: US Can Extradite UK Student For Copyright Infringement, Despite Site Being Legal In The UK

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2012 @ 03:28pm

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

    I was actually referring to the public performance section. That had to be added to section 17.506(a)1(B).

  • On the post: Jimmy Wales In Favor Of Wikipedia Blackout: Community Must Decide

    Chosen Reject ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2012 @ 02:34pm

    Re: Re: Re: I don't get it

    Think of it like being Mohamed Bouazizi. He does himself a lot of harm, but in doing so raises awareness to a lot of people who then cause first the Tunisian Revolt, and then the Arab Spring. Sure, it could turn out to be just some angry guy setting himself on fire, but it could also make huge waves and cause a lot of change.

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