David Muir 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Subject Of Unflattering News Story Gets Journalist Arrested For Criminal Harassment

    David Muir ( profile ), 27 Mar, 2018 @ 08:16am

    Re: "feelings" crimes, feminization of society, & its weaponization

    It's not surprising that Canada, without constitutional guarantees on free speech, has been easier than the US for far-left "social justice" activists to bend to their will. Have a gander at the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. We have a right called: Freedom of Expression. That is supposed to encompass more than speech alone. Having said that, SJW folks are a problem in both countries.

  • On the post: Monkey Selfie Photographer Says He's Now Going To Sue Wikipedia

    David Muir ( profile ), 15 Nov, 2017 @ 07:01am

    The whole thing started with Slater himself. He was the one that first explained how amazing it was that the monkey spontaneously picked up the camera and took the picture all on its own. Slater later tried to shift the description of the event as having been "orchestrated" by him. I view the whole legal kerfuffle as a strange "he said/he said" argument with himself. On the other hand, I haven't followed all the permutations of the details over the entire epic saga.

  • On the post: BlackBerry CEO Promises To Try To Break Customers' Encryption If The US Gov't Asks Him To

    David Muir ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2017 @ 07:32am

    I interpret Chen's comments differently. I don't believe he is irresponsibly offering to hack his company's encryption. It seems to me he is trying to say that he could be compelled by a court order and would still probably not be able to hack Blackberry's encryption.

    If we recall the way it played out with Apple: they refused, then the FBI said they had found a way to hack the encryption anyway.

    Not sure if my interpretation is correct. But if it is, which company's encryption seems more secure?

  • On the post: Twitter Temporarily Blocks Campaign Ad… Getting It Much More Attention

    David Muir ( profile ), 11 Oct, 2017 @ 02:36pm

    Extra word?

    she's terrible on basically every issue we care about her

    Do you need a semi-colon between "issue" and "we" to show sympathy for Blackburn? Or remove "her" to show distaste? I suspect the latter. Hehehe.

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

    David Muir ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2017 @ 12:27pm

    I keep calling him Sean Spencer too, which made me notice the name in the first sentence of the post.

  • On the post: Jury Says Robin Thicke And Pharrell Infringed… Even If They Didn't Mean To: Told To Pay $7.3 Million

    David Muir ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2015 @ 07:12am

    As the copyright regime approaches the infinite, artistic output will approach zero.

    Only the very brave or the very committed will contribute to culture.

  • On the post: Rogers Exec Pouts About VPNs, Publicly Dreams Of Canadian Ban

    David Muir ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2015 @ 01:01pm

    I hope it is not TechDirt readers who are attacking the Twitter users quoted in this article. They were merely livetweeting the conference and reporting what the speaker was saying. They are trying to emphasize now that they DON'T agree with Purdy's stance.

  • On the post: The MPAA Isn't About Helping Hollywood. It's About Preserving Its Own Need To Exist.

    David Muir ( profile ), 22 Jan, 2015 @ 08:52am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Mike's utopian vision?

    It is clear that revenue generation once you embrace digital distribution and the age of the Internet requires a multi-pronged approach and further experimentation.

    They key thing you always seem to miss is that simply fighting against the rising tide is a losing strategy. You criticize Mike as if he actually advocates throwing out all rules and letting chaos reign. He has never said that and your continued obtuseness is so very frustrating. Most of the solutions I have seen proposed on Techdirt are nuanced with the unique parameters associated with the particular situation.

  • On the post: Maryland Council Member Kirby Delauter Admits He Was Wrong To Threaten To Sue Newspaper For Using His Name

    David Muir ( profile ), 08 Jan, 2015 @ 07:22am

    Re: Re: Why is this idiot still in his position?

    It is also because trust is built (or re-built) when people admit they were wrong.

    As you say, there are limits, but I really like to see people, especially politicians, able to admit mistakes, truly learn from them, and not repeat them.

  • On the post: All Of These Works Should Be In The Public Domain, But Aren't

    David Muir ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2015 @ 06:30am

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

    Yes. Yes, they will.

    But truly, which side is greedier? The working people who get money for work done in their lifetimes and infringe copyright along the way? Or the corporations who appropriate work from the public domain or a starving artist and then sit back and gather an ever-growing pool of income for an ever-longer period of time?

    To paraphrase a recent political wag: In the current IP maximalist regime, the rising tide raises only a few boats, and all of those boats are yachts.

  • On the post: In Another Meaningless Gesture, Administration Smacks North Korea With Sanctions Over Sony Hack

    David Muir ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2015 @ 05:44am

    "It's a finger in a coat pocket -- something that only looks slightly dangerous/damning when hidden, but completely ridiculous when out in the open."

    I must say, if I found a finger in my coat pocket, I would find that extremely scary. I would probably lash out in anger at the very first despot who crossed my path.

  • On the post: Yet Another Horrible Comcast Customer Service Experience Goes Viral

    David Muir ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2015 @ 08:47am

    Re: Re: Re: Lawa laws laws

    After all, the phrase they use is in the passive voice, as in "may be recorded" as opposed to "we may record". That grammatical construction leaves ambiguity as to who is performing the action.

  • On the post: Yet Another Horrible Comcast Customer Service Experience Goes Viral

    David Muir ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2015 @ 08:43am

    Re: Re: Re:

    I am not a lawyer but wouldn't all parties consent be achieved if you go past the "this call may be recorded for training and quality control purposes"... you've agreed and they've said they may be recording it. If you ALSO record it, shouldn't that be cool?

  • On the post: T-Mobile Still Doesn't Understand (Or Simply Doesn't Care) That Their 'Music Freedom' Plan Tramples Net Neutrality

    David Muir ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2014 @ 02:33pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    That's business-ism!

    LOL. True.

    Net neutrality is a form of anti-discrimination policy. But the theory is that the transport of data should be separate from the production and consumption of data.

    The average person's bandwidth use will presumably shift on T-Mobile, given the lifting of this restriction. They have just "opened the floodgate" for music streaming. Granted, if it is a tiny percentage and it doubles or triples, there may be no issue. But the overriding point is that I assume people who stream music will now do so to the point where they exceed what was once a capped amount -- otherwise what's the appeal of this offering?

  • On the post: T-Mobile Still Doesn't Understand (Or Simply Doesn't Care) That Their 'Music Freedom' Plan Tramples Net Neutrality

    David Muir ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2014 @ 02:11pm

    Re: Utility

    I just realized I said "over the wires" when we're talking about T-Mobile wireless. Trust me, it was just a figure of speech. :-)

  • On the post: T-Mobile Still Doesn't Understand (Or Simply Doesn't Care) That Their 'Music Freedom' Plan Tramples Net Neutrality

    David Muir ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2014 @ 02:08pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    "(I don't know of a major streaming service not already whitelisted)"

    Irrelevant. Net neutrality comes into play when music streaming is treated preferentially over other kinds of data. That point is missing in most of the discussion I have seen. The argument against "Music Freedom" is not related to one existing music streaming service getting a leg up on another existing music streaming service, but new and innovative services that deliver data in as-yet unknown ways being discriminated against.

    I'd also like to remind people how this "Music Freedom" thing kind of proves that data caps are bogus.

  • On the post: T-Mobile Still Doesn't Understand (Or Simply Doesn't Care) That Their 'Music Freedom' Plan Tramples Net Neutrality

    David Muir ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2014 @ 02:03pm

    Utility

    ISPs own infrastructure that make them essentially a monopoly in a particular area. "Duopoly" is a term often used. In any case, consumers usually don't have much choice about who delivers water, gas, sewer, electricity, and data to their homes. Many people don't believe that internet provision is a utility. Apparently JohnG is one of them. The NFL is not a utility, thus the examples are similar enough for him. I personally believe ISPs ARE equivalent to utilities but that REAL competition would still make net neutrality rules unnecessary. However, that competition does not exist and therefore we must have a level playing field for ALL data travelling over the wires.

    I notice that this issue has sidetracked to music streaming specifically... and how it's not a problem because it is "positive discrimination", but now is the time to hammer home the idea of what net neutrality really means.

  • On the post: New Zealand Police Raid Home Of Reporter Who Embarrassed Gov't Officials & Was Working On Snowden Documents

    David Muir ( profile ), 17 Oct, 2014 @ 10:38am

    Seriously?

    It is very nice that the authorities had a proper search warrant. But look at the suspected offense: "Accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes". Is that even a thing? Don't they have anything like AshleyMadison in New Zealand?

    How could anyone put that on a search warrant with a straight face?

  • On the post: Law Enforcement Still Defending ComputerCOP: Says They'll Keep Distributing It Until After Someone's Been Hurt

    David Muir ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2014 @ 01:17pm

    Re: Re:

    Sadly, the massive breeches at Target and other retail chains in the last several years are actually related to the obesity problem.

  • On the post: Another Story Of A 'Fake' Brilliant Inventor? Is 'Scorpion Walter O'Brien' A Real Computer Security Genius?

    David Muir ( profile ), 25 Sep, 2014 @ 10:33am

    I don't understand how "Based on a true story" adds value to a television show or movie. Fargo completely destroyed that idea by having such a statement at the beginning of each episode when it is clear the show is pure fiction.

    In Scorpion (the TV show) the jet's ethernet connection to the laptop in the Ferrari was crazy and illogical but it was just the most obvious example of how they're going for a "cartoon" reality level. I won't take it seriously, but I can still enjoy it.

    The bogus claims about real life accomplishments though... those are not enjoyable at all, even though they are a complete joke.

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