Chris-Mouse 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (538)

• On the post: Germany Plans To Ban Computer Companies That Work With NSA From Sensitive Public Contracts

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 21 May, 2014 @ 11:40am

  What about companies like Cisco? The NSA intercepted routers after they left the factory and added spyware to them without the company being aware that it had happened.
  Given that sort of activity, no equipment manufactured in the USA can be considered safe. In fact, even equipment that was merely shipped through the United States should be considered suspect until proven otherwise.

• On the post: 'Notice And Staydown' The Latest Fad In Copyright Enforcement

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 15 May, 2014 @ 10:01am

  The question is: what will be the next bad idea governments adopt?
  
  No, the real question is: How much damage will governments do before they realize Hollywood is lost in its own fantasy world.

• On the post: New NSA Boss' Understatement Of The Year: NSA 'Has Lost A Measure Of Trust' From The Public

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 06 May, 2014 @ 11:31am

  Re:

  How about replace "the Nation" with "the World" and delete the phrase "a measure of"

• On the post: John Kerry Claims US Is On The 'Right Side Of History' When It Comes To Online Freedom And Transparency

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 05 May, 2014 @ 09:48am

  The USA is indeed on the right side of the issue. Waaay, waaay waaaay to the right of the political spectrum.

• On the post: Company Uses Bogus Polls And Gag Orders To Protect Image Of License Plate Scanning

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 02 May, 2014 @ 07:37pm

  I wonder how company executives would react to an automated camera photographing all cars entering and leaving the parking lot at their office.

• On the post: Censorious Parent Calls Cops On Teen Giving Away Books In A Local Park

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2014 @ 07:27am

  Re: Re:

  That would depend on how that line is handled in the story. Is it something said by the protagonist? Is it said by another character? If so, does the protagonist approve or disapprove of the remark?
  
  As it happens, I have the book, so I looked it up. The entire issue is dealt with in 145 words. That's about half a page in a 250 page book. It's not erotic, or even suggestive. Its dealt with as "This is a fact, live with it" and then the story line moves on.
  The protagonist is a starting high school student. By that point in their lives, pretty much every teenager has experimented with masturbation, and any parent that thinks they are keeping their kids from learning about it is living in a dream world. A dream world that has a very good chance of turning into a nightmare for the kids.

• On the post: NBC Insists Twitter Is Useless Because Not Enough People Tweeted During The Olympics… Which NBC Made Difficult To Watch Online

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2014 @ 02:00pm

  Twitter insists that NBC is useless, so I guess the feeling is mutual.

• On the post: UK Filters And The Slippery Slope Of Mass Censorship

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2014 @ 05:34am

  The best internet filter I've ever heard of.

  Is to place the computer in the living room, with the screen placed so it's clearly visible to anyone in the room.
  No blocklist required on that one.

• On the post: Time Warner Cable's Contractual Loophole Allows It To Tell Local Politicians It Has Received Zero Complaints

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 22 Apr, 2014 @ 07:30am

  Of course they haven't gotten any complaints

  People have known for a long time that complaining to Time Warner is a waste of time.

• On the post: Teen Arrested For Using Heartbleed To Get Canadian Taxpayer Info; Did Nothing To Hide Himself

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 18 Apr, 2014 @ 09:33am

  Here's a couple of other bits of information on this story.
  - The police raided his home, and seized computer equipment, but apparently did not arrest him at that time.
  - He was told to 'voluntarily' show up at the police station or else the police would very publicly humiliate him by arresting him in the middle of his exams.
  - When he did show up at the police station, his lawyer was not permitted to see his client for six hours.
  
  http://www.lfpress.com/2014/04/16/london-teen-charged-in-heartbleed-breach-of-taxpayer-data
  
  This case has enough irregularities that I would not trust anything the police say unless there is some supporting evidence. It sure looks to me like the authorities are getting desperate to convict a 'dangerous hacker' to distract attention from the fact that there was a major security flaw in the government's computer systems.

• On the post: Court Imposes Sanctions On Plaintiff After Bizarre Copyright Infringement/Defamation/Fraud/Privacy Invasion Lawsuit

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 01 Apr, 2014 @ 03:46pm

  This sort of entitlement mentality is one of the biggest arguments in favor of completely abolishing copyright.

• On the post: New Zealand Supreme Court Says DOJ Doesn't Have To Provide Its Evidence In Megaupload Extradition Case

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2014 @ 05:42pm

  If the DOJ is not required to give the evidence to the defence, does this also mean they won't be allowed to use the evidence during the trial?

• On the post: Hollywood's Piracy Fears Turn Potentially Useful Product Into A $4,000 Brick

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2014 @ 10:00am

  Re:

  They're working on bribing the government to get out of the way.

• On the post: FAA To Appeal Ruling About Its Lack Of Mandate Over Commercial Drones

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2014 @ 05:00am

  The FAA could also go with control based on aircraft take off weight. Aircraft large enough to do serious harm when they hit the ground would be under their control. Set the weight limit well below the weight of a person, and you've got all manned aircraft covered automatically. Then all you need to add are restrictions around airports, and maximum altitude limits for uncontrolled aircraft that are below the existing minimum altitude limits for controlled aircraft.

• On the post: Keurig Insists Coffee DRM Brings 'Interactive-Enabled Benefits' And Is For Your Own Safety

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 06 Mar, 2014 @ 01:10pm

  Step 1: Add DRM to coffeemaker
  Step 2: License DRM to major coffee suppliers
  Step 3: Change license terms to ban production of V1.0 K-Cups
  Step 4: Gain monopoly position in K-Cup market
  Step 5: Watch consumers abandon K-Cups for cheaper systems
  Step 6: Sue customers for failing to pay monopoly prices
  Step 7: ???
  Step 8: Profit?

• On the post: Nintendo Kills Online Functionality For Wii, DS Titles, Highlighting Need For Greater User Control Over Content They Supposedly Own

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 04 Mar, 2014 @ 06:25pm

  Re:

  What happens when Sony and/or Microsoft decide they can make more profit by redirecting the money for those servers to add additional servers for some newer game instead?

• On the post: Litigious Congressman Trying To Bury History Of His Arrest Through Lawsuits And Bogus Legal Threats

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 04 Mar, 2014 @ 03:37pm

  Re: Re: Why, for all that is decent ...

  The mugshot would have been created by government officials ( police officers) in the performance of their regular duties. There is no copyright on such works in the United States. I can see many reasons for Wikipedia not wanting to include mugshots in someone's bio, but copyright is not one of those reasons.

• On the post: Horrific Appeals Court Ruling Says Actress Has Copyright Interest In 'Innocence Of Muslims,' Orders YouTube To Delete Every Copy

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2014 @ 02:15pm

  Re: Re: Which fundamental principles would those be?

  I would think that that would be pretty obvious. In order for copyright to exist, the work must be fixed in a tangible medium. Unless there is a written agreement to the contrary, that copyright is held by the person doing the fixing. Thus, the photographer owns the copyright to the photograph, not the subject in the photograph. The same principle applies to film. The person operating the camera owns the copyright, not the the actor in front of the camera.

• On the post: Australian Copyright Reform Goes Into Reverse: 'Fair Use' Out, 'Three Strikes' In

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2014 @ 08:55am

  Here`s a thought...

  If third parties are going to be responsible for protecting copyright, they need some way to determine what is and is not protected under copyright.
  So, here`s a solution.
  Create a publicly accessible central database of works protected by copyright. All copyright holders must register their works in this database as a condition of getting third party protection. If a work is not registered, no third party has a responsibility for protecting it.
  The next problem is knowing if a work is duly licensed for distribution. In order to solve this, the database must also contain the full text of all copyright transfers and licenses so that any third party can make a determination over whether any given distribution is permitted or not.
  
  
  Somehow, I`d expect Hollywood to scream very loudly at even the suggestion that they might have to reveal how badly they are screwing artists.

• On the post: CCI Claims Six Strikes Working Great To Thwart Piracy, Offers Absolutely No Evidence To Support That Claim

  

  Chris-Mouse ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2014 @ 03:25pm

  "...more analysis will show that Internet providers sent out more first and second notices and fewer fifth and sixth notices, which would demonstrate that users stopped sharing infringing content."
  
  Of course that's going to happen. After the ISPs see that the first four notices change nothing, they will decide that the whole thing is a waste of money, and they, won't bother to send the last couple of notices.

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