DannyB 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (5934) comment rss

  • On the post: First Look At UK Piracy Alert System: Mostly Benign, Except ISPs Are Requesting Filesharing Software Be Removed By Clients

    DannyB ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2017 @ 05:51am

    Re: Foot in the door

    It starts with the bit torrent software.

    First they came for the torrents.
    I did not use torrents, so I remained silent.

    Then they came for the SSH.
    I did not use SSH, so I remained silent.

    Then they came for the HTTPS.
    I figured I could live without SSH like in the 90's, so I remained silent.

    Then they came for the Linux, the open source, the creative commons.
    By this point Windows 10 and government approved culture was everywhere, and there was nobody left to speak up.

  • On the post: Get Ready For 'Leak Investigations' In The Trump White House

    DannyB ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2017 @ 12:42pm

    What if?

    Imagine if a president were so unpopular to have the unpresidented (sic) bad luck that his top officials put out these leaks rather than saving them years and years for their memoirs. Now imagine that anyone investigating these leaks would not feel it necessary to do a through and complete job for the same reasons as the leakers leak.

    Some bad world leaders of the past were hated by pretty much everyone within and outside of their administration.

  • On the post: Get Ready For 'Leak Investigations' In The Trump White House

    DannyB ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2017 @ 12:34pm

    Leaks dealing with North Korea?

    > Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?

    Oh, now that's hilarious.

    Protip: when you deliberately (or stupidly?) decide to make your dealings with N. Korea a public spectacle for the entertainment and amusement of your private club members, who paid $200,000 membership for the unstated but understood opportunity for photo ops, you may discover that you have unexpected leaks.

  • On the post: FCC Commissioner Thinks Ultra-Fast Broadband Just a 'Novelty'

    DannyB ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2017 @ 08:07am

    Fast broadband *IS* a novelty

    It is a novelty in a country that only has slow broadband. Why would you need such a novelty?

    These new fangled auto mobile thingies are also a novelty. Nobody really needs those. And they frighten the horses!

  • On the post: A Little Something Called Competition Forces Verizon To Bring Back Unlimited* Data

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 01:09pm

    Re: Re:

    That is an interesting idea. Charge for speed rather than data cap.

    One could even define a "speed" plan as:
    XXX megabits / second for first 22 GB of data, then
    YYY megabits / second for next 10 GB of data, then
    ZZZ megabits / second for as much data as you can use

    And you could qualify it with "subject to availability" because you cannot guarantee that data rates might drop due to unexpected crowding -- but I don't want to open the door to abuse by ISPs.

    But remember AOL almost got in serious trouble with state AGs back in the day, with one AG saying it is as if AOL sold 10,000 theater tickets to a theater with only 3,000 seats. The problem being AOL didn't have enough inbound phone lines to not get a busy signal.

  • On the post: Court Orders Small Ohio Speed Trap Town To Refund $3 Million In Unconstitutional Speeding Tickets

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 09:09am

    Re: Uncollectible debt?

    Hey, there are some great lines the town can use:

    We're being treated so UNFAIR by a so called judge.

    Hey judge, we'll see you in court!

    Trust me! I promise!

  • On the post: Court Orders Small Ohio Speed Trap Town To Refund $3 Million In Unconstitutional Speeding Tickets

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 09:06am

    Re: Want to make a million$?

    Wrong business model.

    If you want to make milliion$, become a speed camera vendor and approach a mayor gullible enough to pay you 35 percent of the scam.

    It is the TOWN not the speed camera company that has to pay restitution. Speed camera company is off the hook. Probably looking for the next sucker.

  • On the post: Court Orders Small Ohio Speed Trap Town To Refund $3 Million In Unconstitutional Speeding Tickets

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 09:03am

    Re:

    I think the saying is: those who do not learn HISTORY are doomed to repeat it. (Usually repeated during summer school.)

  • On the post: Court Orders Small Ohio Speed Trap Town To Refund $3 Million In Unconstitutional Speeding Tickets

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 09:00am

    Re: No need to screw the residents

    That gives the town zero incentive to hold their officials accountable.

  • On the post: Court Orders Small Ohio Speed Trap Town To Refund $3 Million In Unconstitutional Speeding Tickets

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 08:59am

    Re:

    Our constitutional protections were already paid for. With blood.

  • On the post: With So Much Public Interest In Our Judicial System, It's Time To Free Up Access To Court Documents

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 01:34pm

    Free up access to court documents?

    Isn't that the wrong business model?

    I'm assuming you mean Free as in troll booth, not free as in 'free to go away empty handed without court documents'.

    If the courts say its okay to charge for access to laws, the least they could do to make up for it is also charge for court documents.

    Times are tough. Budgets constrained. This revenue could at least help fund more asset forfeiture operations.

    (I think I'll be sick now)

  • On the post: A Little Something Called Competition Forces Verizon To Bring Back Unlimited* Data

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 01:15pm

    Tethering vs Phone

    As I understand it, you get unlimited data "for the phone" but limited data for tethering.

    Now just what is "for the phone" vs "tethering".

    We all know what they *WANT* it to mean.

    But tethering is nothing more than an app that creates a hotspot and routes packets.

    What if I had my own app that would talk over bluetooth or USB to my laptop? Is *that* tethering? I didn't use the built in tethering feature of my phone. And it is just a custom app using data on the unlimited data plan for the phone.

    What if I didn't use either bluetooth or USB. Suppose I drop the phone into a gadget with an Arduino board. (This is hypothetical) The arduino has a sensor that watches the bottom right corner of the screen for blinking to represent bits received, and it has an LED emitter right in front of the camera port to represent bits sent. Then this arduino has an ordinary USB cable or WiFi hotspot for my laptop to work with. So all that is on the phone is an app that blinks pixels and reads light signals from the camera port. Oh, and the custom app uses the internet.

    Can you tell me now if I'm tethering or not?

  • On the post: UK Police Spy On Journalists At Small Town Paper, Gather One Million Minutes Worth Of Call Data

    DannyB ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2017 @ 05:50am

    It is ONLY a mere one million minutes of call data

    That works out to a measly 1.9 years of call data. Since people, most people, aren't continuously on the phone, this probably represents quite a few more real time person-years of call data.

    The police are just being extra careful in case more criminal activity occurs. To protect us all. Can't you imagine horrible threats to our way of life? It's like the potential monster under the bed. You need to wake up the police to come check under the bed and install permanent surveillance. In every bedroom, just in case.

    Somewhere in that 1.9 years of call data, there might have been a call to a terrorist. Of course, to be sure, everyone contacted during that time needs to be investigated, and their contacts as well. Because terrorists.

  • On the post: Cyberbullying Bill Would Grant Power To Strip Online Anonymity Before Legal Proceedings Begin

    DannyB ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2017 @ 08:44am

    How to strip someone's online anonymonity

    Step 1: accuse anonymous doe of cyber bullying. Waaaaah!
    Step 2: once anonymity is unmasked, do not pursue further litigation.

    Gee that recipe has a familiar sound to it? I wonder where I've seem something like that before where the court is used to discover someone's identity for a fraudulent extortion purpose?

    Step 3: send extortion letter demanding money.

  • On the post: President Trump's White House Reaching New Lows In Accountability And Transparency

    DannyB ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2017 @ 11:30am

    Re: No tax returns, no presidency... You're fired Mr. Scrotum...

    He could just be hiding his teeny tiny hands.

    For someone supposedly so wealthy, Trump sure frowns a lot. If it's not a frown it is a feigned smile. Or an evil grin. Never a genuine smile of happy emotion.

    Maybe he is not so wealthy as he would like everyone to think.

    PURE SPECULATION follows since we are in a vacuum of facts.

    What if he is in debt to many investors? What if the latest of those investors (foreign?) didn't understand how indebted he already was.

    Imagine if his house of cards could come crashing down if it were to become known how in debt he is.

    Maybe. Maybe not. Something is being hidden by not releasing the tax returns. The something might not be illegal, but could cause major trouble. Towers might not literally come crashing down. But loans might be called in.

    Who knows what is hidden in those tax returns.

    Or maybe the only thing to be revealed by the tax returns is that he really is extremely wealthy and it proves that wealth does not bring happiness. Or peace in the heart.

  • On the post: UK Search Engines Will Sign Up To A 'Voluntary' Code On Piracy — Or Face The Consequences

    DannyB ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2017 @ 02:17pm

    Voluntary -- or face the consequences?

    Wouldn't Extortion be a more concise description?

  • On the post: GOP Senate Streisands Elizabeth Warren And Coretta King In Attempt To Silence Her

    DannyB ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2017 @ 11:35am

    Re: Re:

    When McConnell's line is played and re-played next election season, Republicans will scream how unfair it is to use their own words against them.

    Assuming there is a next election.

  • On the post: Australian Guy Demands Techdirt Story Be Blocked In Australia Over Comments

    DannyB ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2017 @ 11:43am

    Australia should Build A Wall !!

    Australia should build the biggest best wall there ever was!

  • On the post: New FCC Boss Kills Zero Rating Inquiry, Signals Death Of Net Neutrality Enforcement

    DannyB ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2017 @ 01:31pm

    Re:

    If you are suggesting that ISPs may be cutting off poor people to save money, that may not be so.

    1. It might cost an ISP less than $10 a month to provide basic service that poor people could get a $10 subsidy for.

    2. Even if it doesn't save the ISPs money, they might just want to cut off poor people for pure simple spite. Because they are poor. This would not conflict with the corporate values of most big ISPs.

  • On the post: New FCC Boss Kills Zero Rating Inquiry, Signals Death Of Net Neutrality Enforcement

    DannyB ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2017 @ 01:25pm

    Re: Re:

    It would be better to say "appointed by". It implies that some corporate power behind the scenes is doing the appointment and that the orange clown is really a puppet whose strings are pulled from behind the stage.

    Ajit Pai, the Verizon appointment to the FCC.

    In general:

    ${paid-lobbyist}, the ${corporation} appointment to the ${office}.

Next >>