ChrisB 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (644)

• On the post: Forbes Praises YouTube Censoring Steven Sotloff Beheading Video

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2014 @ 12:24pm

  Re:

  This argument made sense a decade or so ago. But the internet has made people free to share information without asking gatekeepers permission. Stop trying to create more gatekeepers.

• On the post: California Lawmaker Votes To Kill Uber… Then Caught Driving Drunk Just Hours Later

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2014 @ 11:03am

  Re: Re: Taxi monopoly

  My uncle drove a cab for decades. I sympathize. Which is why I think government officials should be held responsible for the state of affairs, not cab companies or driver.

• On the post: California Lawmaker Votes To Kill Uber… Then Caught Driving Drunk Just Hours Later

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2014 @ 05:56am

  Taxi monopoly

  The taxi monopoly kills people. Municipal governments that keep this protectionist crap in place while companies like Uber are available are contributing to drunk driving and its deaths. They need to be held accountable for it.

• On the post: The James Foley Beheading Video And How Americans Conceptualize Their Enemies

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 21 Aug, 2014 @ 07:07am

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  If the US has enemies, they are enemies the US created. You can't kill hundreds of thousands of civilians around the world, and not expect to create enemies. People whose family members are blown apart don't care if you were trying to be careful with your bombs.

• On the post: Turns Out When Police Act Cordial, Rather Than As An Oppressive Military Force, Things Work Out Better

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2014 @ 08:38am

  Re: Re: Yes... but...

  Calling someone racist because they are concerned that looters are exploiting this situation is unacceptable. Did he say "black" looters or "black" rioters?
  
  Calling people racist in this way is just a method to shut down the conversation. You should know better.

• On the post: True Detective Accused Of Plagiarizing Horror Author Because Characters Sounded Similiar

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2014 @ 01:53pm

  Re: No, you're wrong, Tim. This is a clear-cut case of plagiarism.

  Nonsense. I read the entire article, and there wasn't one case where more than a few words were similar. Saying snippets like "we are meat" or "human thresher" amounts to plagiarism is insane. This ownership society has to stop. Everything is a collage of everything before it.

• On the post: Internet Industry Hate Taken To Insane Levels: Ridiculous Proposals To 'Nationalize' Successful Internet Companies

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2014 @ 11:13am

  Re: missing the target

  There is a difference between government-made monopolies, like Comcasts, and consumer-made monopolies ("dominant firms"), like Google. Everyone uses Google because they want to, not because there is no competition.
  
  Breaking up the former is a good idea. Breaking up the latter is idiotic.

• On the post: Internet Industry Hate Taken To Insane Levels: Ridiculous Proposals To 'Nationalize' Successful Internet Companies

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2014 @ 11:09am

  Re: A Modest Proposal?

  Slate is usually pretty good, if a bit click-baity. Salon, however, is just nanny-state madness. Especially the comments.

• On the post: FTC Goes After Amazon For Kids' In App Purchases As Apple Begs FTC To Go After Google As Well

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2014 @ 06:52am

  Google is fine

  I have to enter my password in every single time I buy something on my phone with Google Wallet, including Play apps and in-app purchases. What is the issue here?

• On the post: Lyft Announces NYC Launch, Taxi Commission Declares It Illegal Hours Later

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2014 @ 07:31pm

  Re: Fix an information assymmetry for us

  We will always need some form of collective. Just not a highly regulated centralized government. Most people read consumer reports before they buy a car. If the government was gone, other groups would independently do safety testing.
  
  Look, Ebay functions perfectly fine without government. In fact, large companies are weaker without government. They can't bend regulators to stop startups. And consumers voting with their wallets is in fact much more democratic than political elections, where you change the head on a huge machine.

• On the post: DC Comics Refuses To Let Superman Logo Adorn The Headstone Of A Young Child Who Was Starved To Death [Updated]

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2014 @ 06:49am

  Why ask for permission

  I'm not sure why they can't just keep the tombstone and then just say DC is not affiliated or connected to it.
  
  There is a difference between Superman the product and Superman in culture. I own my history, my memories, my experiences, not some damn company. It was a real fact this kid would dress as Superman. If that fact is turned into art, too f*cking back for DC (or any other company for that matter).
  
  We can destroy this copyright dictatorship, one download at a time. When the big media companies collapse, perhaps the ones that replace them will be a bit more humble.

• On the post: Google Restores Some Links To Articles Removed In 'Right To Be Forgotten' Mess

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2014 @ 06:15am

  Re:

  Only a moron would be slagging Google. The problem in this situation is government. Plain and simple. Blaming Google is like blaming an assault victim.

• On the post: Awesome Stuff: One Last Chance To Join With Thousands Of Others To Help Limit The Influence Of Money In Politics

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 04 Jul, 2014 @ 10:23am

  Won't work

  At the root, this won't work. First, if tries to fix big government by making it bigger. Second, the root of the complaint is that the public doesn't donate to parties, only large donors do.
  
  If the problem is no one cares about politics, isn't the solution to make them care? If people understood the issues, snake oil salesmen would not be elected. The root of this campaign assumes people are idiots who are duped by advertisements. This is not exactly the most inspiring message. A better way to fight this is education. Show people that all those pork barrel projects are bankrupting government, and we'd all be better off with less government.
  
  Which is back to my first point. Large government isn't fixed by larger government, only smaller government. In Canada, we have something like this: we give parties money based on how many people vote for them. It was meant to do exactly what this campaign wants: take the burden of parties to fundraise and just use taxpayer money to fund political campaigns. So what happens? The people in power now get even more money, in addition to their fund raising.
  
  The solution is people need to wake up, and stop voting for people based on empty promises. There is no free lunch. If someone offers it to you, know that it was stolen from someone else.

• On the post: Awesome Stuff: Crowdfunding To Get Money Out Of Politics… Now With Steve Wozniak!

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2014 @ 05:55am

  Re: Re:

  The reason lobbyists shower politicians with money is the politicians can un-level the playing field. The solution is not to try and reduce the money flowing it, which is impossible, it is to reduce the power the politicians have. A smaller and less centralized government is a less corruptible government.

• On the post: Awesome Stuff: Crowdfunding To Get Money Out Of Politics… Now With Steve Wozniak!

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2014 @ 05:50am

  Re: Free Speech Rights

  Come on. Corporations can't vote.
  
  Who cares if they spend a lot of money. The real problem, as you allude to, is people are too stupid to see through the nonsense. That means education is the solution, not less money.

• On the post: USPTO Cancels Trademark Registration For Washington Redskins

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2014 @ 07:37am

  Re:

  I have literally never hear anyone use the term "redskin" as a derogatory slur. I grew up near native reserves and many native kids went to my schools. "Redskin" was never used.
  
  So no, it is not the same, at least not to me.

• On the post: Back To Normal: Nintendo's YouTube Plan Sounds Like A Big Bucket Of Terrible

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2014 @ 02:24pm

  Re:

  This is what happens when governments think they can "control" the free market. You get this lovely mess. Where the creator of a cure for cancer gets less protection than a guy who writes a song about it.

• On the post: Back To Normal: Nintendo's YouTube Plan Sounds Like A Big Bucket Of Terrible

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2014 @ 02:23pm

  Re: Blame Google

  It is ridiculous to blame google. Blame the ridiculous US government for killing innovation on the net, and its spies for bullying companies and removing all trust.

• On the post: Appeals Court Says Using Open WiFi May Be A Crime

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2014 @ 10:04am

  Re: To quote Wayne, Asshole say what?

  It is not comparable to an unlocked door. It is comparable to an open window with music coming out. If you don't want people to hear and use the music, close your window.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Math & The Mind

  

  ChrisB ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2014 @ 05:44am

  Re: Re: Deterministic non-determinism?

  People have a hard time understanding this. Predicting the orbit of one planet around one star is relatively simple and stable, but predicting three orbiting objects is chaotic can be intractable.
  
  There is more than enough unpredictability to make humans seem non-deterministic, when in fact we are totally deterministic.

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