Christopher 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (223) comment rss

  • On the post: Retroactive Immunity From The Gov't For Warrantless Wiretapping Deemed Constitutional

    Christopher ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2011 @ 08:53am

    I propose a new tag for these kinds of articles.

    Any article dealing with the government overriding or circumventing the spirit of the Constitution, shall be hereafter tagged "fourth box".

    -C

  • On the post: Should Doctors Who Put Their Names On Ghostwritten 'Journal' Articles For Big Pharma Be Sued For Fraud?

    Christopher ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2011 @ 09:26am

    Disagree.

    Nothing happened to the pharmas involved. Going after the doctors would be consistent if and only if the pharmas were punished, which they were not. In fact, I'd prefer to see the doctors used to prosecute the pharmas; I'd offer them full immunity if it helped punish the machines promulgating this fraud in the first place.

    -C

  • On the post: Anheuser-Busch Trying To Trademark Area Codes For Local Beers

    Christopher ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2011 @ 06:22am

    Umm, what?

    The Czech beer came after the AB beer; Budweiser is a made-up name.

  • On the post: You Don't Own What You Thought You Bought: Verizon Breaks Phones; Turns Off Feature

    Christopher ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2011 @ 10:47am

    Misunderstood

    I think it's either misunderstanding or an act of disingenuous misunderstanding, but no one should be confused about Google's "openess" with Android. Google makes it free to use/ simple to license, but it doesn't mean the OS remains unencumbered once implemented on hardware. People are either intentionally confusing this to dirty up Google, or don't understand how to read. There's no third choice in 2011 since Android has been around three years now.

    People are also forgetting that Verizon is an ILEC, and the most successful and vicious child of the AT&T breakup by far. Not too surprising since it was formed out of AT&T's old research region (NY/NJ); this is the company that rolled out CallerID, then anonymous calling,, *then* de-anonymizing CallerID. They created an arms race in their own ecosystem! This is the same company that gladly leases phones to its ratepayers. Who really thinks Verizon and VZW aren't in this *solely* for the money? People, they forgot more about nickel-and-diming than you will ever know.

    Hey, when they give back the Spanish-American war tax money, we'll talk again.

    -C

  • On the post: The Latest Attempt By The Obama Administration To Punish Whistleblowers

    Christopher ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2011 @ 07:05am

    Re: Seriously...

    What's more humane, saving your neighbors or saving anonymous Libyans? Which group is more likely to help you in time of need?

    Let's put this in perspective. Saudis have more disposable income than you. What are *they* doing for *their* neighbors?

    I'd rather have the US assassinating Mexican drug lords than Libyans. College kids will come out in droves at the polls for you, and maybe staying home will be a viable option for more than a few illegal immigrants.

    -C

  • On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

    Christopher ( profile ), 22 May, 2011 @ 01:59pm

    Lots of ire against police officers.

    I understand it, but it still rubs me the wrong way. The cop was clearly being baited; no one goes out armed, in public, and also happens to be recording the events unless that person expects trouble. Again, I understand, but provocation still doesn't make it feel any less shitty.

    -C

  • On the post: Why ACTA Requires Congressional Approval

    Christopher ( profile ), 12 May, 2011 @ 05:20am

    On the other hand....

    ... I kinda like trade barriers.

  • On the post: US Upset That New Zealand Government Has Too Much Respect For Free Speech

    Christopher ( profile ), 06 May, 2011 @ 11:11am

    So...

    ... is it time yet to lay some blame on the Obama administration for this, or are they still being held above this sort of thing, i.e "It's part of the established culture"?

    When can we expect this to stop, reasonably, with Super Obama in office? Conversely, when do we stop making excuses for him?

    -C

  • On the post: IFPI Convinces ISP To Just Hand Over Hard Drives Of Torrent Site

    Christopher ( profile ), 03 May, 2011 @ 05:17am

    Get out of jail free.

    Assuming the Swedes have a rational evidentiary system, nothing on the hard drives is admissible. The HDD owners have a good case for larceny, though. Props to the hijackers, though, it's bold.

    -C

  • On the post: US On What Makes A Good Canadian Heritage Minister: Willing To Disappoint Canadians To Please Big Business

    Christopher ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2011 @ 09:00am

    What do you think piracy is?

    Piracy is the only effective weapon available to corporate disobedience. That, and corporate short-term thinking that will, in the long run, destroy themselves by destroying the middle class.

    -C

  • On the post: Analyst: Motorola's Best Play Is To Become A Patent Troll & Destroy Android Ecosystem With Patent Lawsuits

    Christopher ( profile ), 26 Apr, 2011 @ 11:22am

    Dubious assertions.

    What is so disastrous about the Google App Store? And how does a no-code analyst have any meaningful insight into an unreleased version of Android? These questions, and more, on "Overpaid Analyst".

    -C

  • On the post: Analyst: Motorola's Best Play Is To Become A Patent Troll & Destroy Android Ecosystem With Patent Lawsuits

    Christopher ( profile ), 26 Apr, 2011 @ 11:21am

    Code smackdown

    My best C coder versus your best Android coder. Or, put another way, your SDK coder versus my NDK coder. Which code is faster? Quicker to deliver? Oh, wait, we have to define "winning" first?

    Thought so.

    -C

  • On the post: How Copyright Law Makes Sample-Based Music Impossibly Expensive… If You Want To Do It Legally

    Christopher ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2011 @ 06:31am

    Paul's Boutique Analysis

    I love the numbers on that. The Dust Brothers have never been able to create something as richly-textured as that since 1989, largely because sampling had been demonized. The analysis just makes it concrete. Once again, another reason to do harm to the music industry.

    -C

  • On the post: Newspaper Sued For Defaming Judge Over Defamation Ruling

    Christopher ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2011 @ 06:05am

    A true test of character...

    ... is how you treat people with no power to counter your own.

    -C

  • On the post: Hospitals Argue That More Transparency On Medical Errors Will Decrease Dialogue On Fixing Them

    Christopher ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2011 @ 07:03pm

    It's not really this complicated.

    No one likes to be embarrassed. Given a choice between public humiliation or status quo, it would take a great deal of integrity to choose humiliation. Character and integrity are not really prevalent.

    -C

  • On the post: Why Does The Entertainment Industry Seek To Kill Any Innovation That's Helping It Adapt?

    Christopher ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2011 @ 03:05pm

    Ironic song lyric of the day

    "We hate what we don't understand,
    River Bottom Nightmare Band!"

  • On the post: FBI Hijacks Botnet, With Court Order… Then Issues Kill Signal To Millions Of Computers

    Christopher ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2011 @ 08:42am

    Ummm, wow.

    We need to add voting buttons for "RTFA", "Offtopic", "Blundering dope".

    I'm happy the FBI hijacked -- in the truest definition of the word -- the botnets and killed the clients. Did it solve a minor issue? Yep. Is it an invasion? Nope. That conduit already existed. The FBI closed it. Thank them, for Pete's sake.

    Your fears are largely misplaced. Instead of blaming a system that allows shitbirds to run botnets with impunity, you blame a government entity for *possibly* inducing a side-effect to a largely beneficial act. that's like blaming vaccines for the plague.

    -C

  • On the post: Why Are Police Going After Mixtapes… And Why Are They Bringing Along RIAA Reps?

    Christopher ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2011 @ 11:55am

    Interesting deployment of police.

    Why was "Vice" performing an assault raid? Did they think the owners were going to flush the mixtapes down the toilet? What happened to knocking, walking in, executing a search warrant, then leaving?

    Seriously, if they need practice kicking down doors, Newark NJ could certainly use the help.

    -C

  • On the post: Who Owns The Copyright On A Tattoo?

    Christopher ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2011 @ 09:09am

    Ummm, no.

    You hire me to ink Batman in a sailor outfit on your bicep. At SXSW someone sees it and a month later, wander into my shop and says "Ink me some Sailor Batman". I do so.

    You hire me to write a sorting routine. I take mergesort and tailor it, and it works. I roll off contract and get hired at another place writing a sort routine. I take mergesort and tailor it, and it works.

    What's the difference here? Is there any? Should there be?

    -C

  • On the post: Crade's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week

    Christopher ( profile ), 10 Apr, 2011 @ 05:58am

    Outrage = corporate disobedience

    And as a result: break the laws, and keep finding ways to infringe, until this gets ratcheted down. Bad laws, even watered down, are still bad.

    -C

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