RickMan 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (13)

• On the post: Cannes Bans Netflix Films From Competition Because The Internet Is Bad (Or Something)

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 28 Mar, 2018 @ 06:11am

  TV and Film what's the diff

  In the end all movies go to the small screen.

• On the post: The Strange Fight Over Who Should Take John Conyers Spot Atop The Judiciary Committee

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2017 @ 06:30am

  The Intercept is wrong

  I hope Techdirt has larger readership than the Intercept!

• On the post: Police Camera Study Shows New Tech Having Little Effect On Misconduct And Excessive Force

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2017 @ 06:09am

  BWC study asks the wrong question.

  The question that this study should ask is; Are officers held accountable for actions recorded on BWCs? Has the footage been used to identify and punish bad acts or exonerate officers doing their duty to the public?

• On the post: The Cord Cutting The Cable Industry Says Isn't Happening, Keeps Happening

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2017 @ 06:47am

  Cable Companies Hide how big it is

  Comcast sells high speed internet for $70/month, but sells you the basic triple play for as low as 79.99. So for $10, Comcast can claim higher cable subscription numbers.

• On the post: Car Hack Demonstrates Why Security Researchers Shouldn't Have To Worry About Copyright In Exposing Weaknesses

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2015 @ 10:17am

  Section 1201 is Like Gun Control

  The device circumvention prohibition only stops the law abiding people, and does not stop the criminals from hacking the car software.
  
  So your choice, customers and researchers where your the first to know, or we all get surprised by the bad guys.

• On the post: Google Revamps Patent Search To Actually Do What Patent Office Should Do

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2015 @ 10:49am

  Revamped Patent Search

  This sounds great, but since it searches books and articles for prior art, I see Rights Corp sue patent holders for copyright infringement. A whole new area of Trolls trolling trolls.

• On the post: DOJ Says Americans Have No 4th Amendment Protections At All When They Communicate With Foreigners

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 15 May, 2014 @ 10:28am

  Communication with Foreigners

  So if this is truly what the policy is, then it should be the same for all government communications with Foreigners, Foreign Governments, etc. They have no idea what will be done with those communications so by default they are public information. Since they are public information how can they be classified.
  
  So by the DOJs own logic they prosecuted Ms. Manning under false pretenses and have no reason to deny any FOIA requests for document concerning communications with foreign entities.

• On the post: Stopping 23andMe Will Only Delay The Revolution Medicine Needs

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 27 Nov, 2013 @ 06:42am

  Stopping 23andMe

  Offer to share the DNA data with the NSA/FBI and FDA approval is assured.

• On the post: Signs Of The Times: Ohio School Hosts 'Counter-Terrorism' Bus Hijacking Drill

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2013 @ 09:33am

  The is a Promo

  This "drill" is not a waste of time but a promotion advertising that new show Starring Dermot Mulroney.

• On the post: Bad Lawsuit, Worse Timing: Beastie Boys Sued Over Infringing Samples On Seminal Albums

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 08 May, 2012 @ 10:29am

  What's the difference

  What's the difference between punitive and exemplary damages, since the definition of punitive and exemplary damages contains punitive or punishment to discourage a repeat or others from doing the same thing.

• On the post: Smallville Creators Sue Warner Bros, Say They Never Got Fair Market Price For Their Work

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2010 @ 08:05am

  Fair Market Value

  The jist of this argument is not that they are not getting the negotiated fee for the show, which is a percentage of what the product is sold for in the secondary market. The Hollywood Reporter (THR) explains this: Warner Brothers (WB) is under valueing the Smallville for foriegn markets by packaging it with several other less desirable products. Because WB owns the arm that creates and sells the package to others, then sets the value of each property in the package, the value of Smallville was valued at less then the fair Market value and the other properties were valued at a value higher than Market Value. This lowers the amount due Smallville's producers, and increases the value of the other shows, that are owned by WB. So WB makes more money at Smallville's Expense.
  
  Smallville's Producers feel that WB is taking advantage of their distribution power to unfairly keep revenue through an accounting trick, that artificially lowers the agreed moneys WB would pay to Smallville's Producers.
  
  Also it is time to End Smallville and the no tights no flight and start Metropolis in Flying in tights & a Cape.

• On the post: Bono: We Should Use China's Censorship As An Example Of How To Stop Piracy

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2010 @ 11:54am

  Bono is truely misinformed

  I must say after ready his article he truly is clueless. Even his last statement about the World Cup, 'Starting the New Decade in Africa'. Except that a decade is 10 years. this is the last year of the first decade of the 21st Century. Most people unfortunately don't seem to understand that this is the 21st century because the last year of the 21st century is 2100, which is not a leap year. Most people also believe that year 1 marked the end of the first year but was actually the beginning of the new calendar, there was no year 0.
  
  So not to harp just on the decade issue, I want to point out that like many of the other comments he makes in his top 10 list (polution, physics, isps, etc.) he is just pushing up the common line from people who a.)invented strawman arguements to push their version of the truth or b.) push a popular but incorrect belief without presenting proof. The other point is that mistakes or proven misconceptions put forth as fact, can destroy or minimize the credability of your whole arguement or all 10 points you try to make, especially if the mistakes are well known and due to the fact that you are too lazy to verify said facts and be able to support them with proof.

• On the post: How Toyota Is Using Patents To Slow The Growth Of Hybrid Vehicles

  

  RickMan ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2009 @ 10:34am

  Slowed Growth is Not Just Toyota's Patents

  This is actually an old story, because Tesla also holds many patents for electric car and Serial Hybrid technology. The real barrier to the growth of Hybrids, is the lack of inovation. Parallel hybrids are a flawed technology that does not really advance what a Hybrid was supposed to create, an electric vehicle with multiple power sources. The biggest pitfall with electric vehicles was the state of our technology for bateries and our ability to sustain a charge and recharge the batery. When people spoke of hybrids prior to the first prius and Insight sales, the focus was on serial hybrids. The trick with serial hybrids, is that you can plug in the care to recharge and the gasoline/diesel engine is used only to provide the charge for keeping the battery working. Until there is wide spread licensing of Tesla's hybrid and pure electric plug-in vehicle patents or the patented technology is re-invented, we will not see real hybrid/electric car innovation. That is not to say that all of Toyota's patents do not address serial hyrids, since I do not know the contents of Toyota's Patents.