OldMugwump 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Fuck This Cheer In Particular Says The Supreme Court In Decision Upholding Students' Free Speech Rights

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2021 @ 10:48am

    Re: Re: Liberalism vs conservatism?

    I'll accept your nitpick - that's fair. I think there are more never-Trumpers in the GOP than you think - at least 35 or 40%. Most of them are cowed into silence by the Trumpists but they're there. Plus a lot of independents have similar views to the GOP never-Trumpers. I think the D party is equally internally fragmented and dysfunctional, tho, just in different ways. A healthy democracy needs at least two reasonably sane parties - they have to keep each other reasonably honest.

  • On the post: Researchers: 2G Connection Encryption Deliberately Weakened To Comply With Cryptowar Export Restrictions

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2021 @ 01:11pm

    Re: Re: "standardization of weakened encryption by the RSA"

    The algorithm discussed in the article is GEA-1, which was defined by ETSI in 1988. (ref: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/06/intentional-flaw-in-gprs-encryption-algorithm-gea-1.html) As far as I can tell, RSA had nothing to do with it. A private organization can propose a standard, but it can't enact it. The article refers to "the RSA", which is not the usual way to refer to a private firm - in the singular (think "the Apple", "the Google"). So I'm still not sure what Tim was trying to say there.

  • On the post: Fuck This Cheer In Particular Says The Supreme Court In Decision Upholding Students' Free Speech Rights

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2021 @ 01:00pm

    Liberalism vs conservatism?

    We're in a strange period in which a largely conservative Supreme Court (nominally, anyway) is issuing a series of decisions taking what were recently considered liberal positions.

    And being applauded by large sections of both Right and Left for them (including me).

    There's a subset of the Left that cares about limits on police powers of the state, and a subset of the Right that cares about human rights and limiting the scope of government power.

    And somehow these subsets are in agreement with each other and with the current Supreme Court. It's a strange alignment between nominally-opposed sections of the American political scene.

    Given the tensions inside both major parties (liberals vs. woke in the D party, Trumpists vs. never-Trumpers in the R party) I wonder if we're approaching a major restructuring of US politics.

    It would be a good thing if both major parties broke up and reformed into a pair of new parties with less internal tension. It seems we're closer to that happening now than any time since the Civil War (when the R party was born).

    Too bad Justice Thomas isn't on board.

  • On the post: Researchers: 2G Connection Encryption Deliberately Weakened To Comply With Cryptowar Export Restrictions

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2021 @ 07:42am

    "standardization of weakened encryption by the RSA"

    What? RSA is a private firm, founded by some of the inventors of public-key cryptography. RSA doesn't standardize anything. Nor does the NSA, if "RSA" is a typo for "NSA". Not sure what you were trying to say here.

  • On the post: FCC Gives ISP $8,000 To Deliver Broadband Five Feet From Apple's $5 Billion Campus

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 17 Jun, 2021 @ 01:43pm

    Big fat woman

    Suppose there's a big enormously obese woman walking down the street, with dozens of overstuffed pockets filled with $20 bills, which randomly fall onto the street.

    You follow along behind and observe this. People go up to the woman (who looks remarkably like FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel) and try to tell her she's dropping money on the ground, but she angrily brushes them away and continues as before.

    Wouldn't you, at some point, start picking up those $20 bills and putting them in your pocket? If you don't, surely other bystanders will.

    This appears to be a part of Elon Musk's modus operandi - he did it with EV credits, he's doing it with space launches and CO2 credits, and now with RDOF money.

    I find it hard to criticize Elon for this - it's hardly his fault. At least he spends the money doing important stuff.

  • On the post: FCC Gives ISP $8,000 To Deliver Broadband Five Feet From Apple's $5 Billion Campus

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 17 Jun, 2021 @ 01:30pm

    Never attribute to malice...

    ...that which is adequately explained by incompetence.

  • On the post: High School Responds To Student's Prank By Asking Local Law Enforcement To Step In And Investigate

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2021 @ 05:16pm

    Hitler quote

    For those wondering, the awful Hilter quote in the yearbook was “It is a quite special secret pleasure how the people around us fail to realize what is really happening to them.”

    Yeah, it's kind of Snidely Whiplash-y (evil snicker) but also worth a second thought.

    People these days...

  • On the post: Supreme Court Says The Community Caretaking Exception Doesn't Apply To Warrantless Searches Of People's Homes

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2021 @ 06:36am

    Liberalism vs conservatism?

    We're in a strange period in which a largely conservative Supreme Court (nominally, anyway) is issuing a series of decisions taking what were recently considered liberal positions.

    And being applauded by large sections of both Right and Left for them (including me).

    There's a subset of the Left that cares about limits on police powers of the state, and a subset of the Right that cares about human rights and limiting the scope of government power.

    And somehow these subsets are in agreement with each other and with the current Supreme Court. It's a strange alignment between nominally-opposed sections of the American political scene.

    Given the tensions inside both major parties (liberals vs. woke in the D party, Trumpists vs. never-Trumpers in the R party) I wonder if we're approaching a major restructuring of US politics.

    It would be a good thing if both major parties broke up and reformed into a pair of new parties with less internal tension. It seems we're closer to that happening now than any time since the Civil War (when the R party was born).

  • On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Google Removes Popular App That Removed Chinese Apps From Users' Phones (2020)

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 08 May, 2021 @ 09:51am

    Mixed feelings

    I have mixed feelings about this.

    As long as Google (or Apple..., etc.) is running an app store, and to any extent at all exercising discretion about what apps are offered, they're - to that limited degree - endorsing the apps and app developers in the store.

    I guess they need to have a firm policy about the grounds for excluding apps - is it ONLY about security, or are there other factors involved?

    Suppose it was a KKK app, to help you find local KKK meetings and communicate with your fellow Klan members?

    Suppose it was an app that "cleans" your phone of all apps developed by Black-owned companies? By Jewish-owned companies?

    Lots of people would complain if Google allowed such apps to remain in their store.

    I don't see this as any different - it removes apps from Chinese companies, solely because they're from China. Not because there's anything known to be wrong with the apps. Demand for it is driven by anti-Chinese nationalism.

  • On the post: Salesforce Asks Appeals Court To Say It's Protected Under 230; After Its Own CEO Said We Should Get Rid Of 230

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 04 May, 2021 @ 01:28pm

    There really needs to be an "edit comment" option

    Some sites allow it for 5 minutes. That's usually enough.

    Title about should be "It's not hypocrisy to benefit from laws as they are".

  • On the post: Salesforce Asks Appeals Court To Say It's Protected Under 230; After Its Own CEO Said We Should Get Rid Of 230

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 04 May, 2021 @ 01:26pm

    It

    People criticize one another for hypocrisy far too easily.

    It's perfectly reasonable to advocate for a change in the law, while benefiting from the same law.

    Do you think tax rates should be higher? Do you pay more than you're legally obligated to?

    We're all entitled to benefit from the law as it is, even if we think it ought to be changed.

    Of course, Section 230 is pretty important and shouldn't be changed. But that's another matter altogether.

  • On the post: China Pushing Explicitly-Biased Facial Recognition Standards And Local Tech Companies Are Pitching In To Help

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2021 @ 08:35pm

    Re: mandate all homes to have the gov's cameras in all the rooms

    Hm. I recall a novel where they did that... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

  • On the post: Nike Sues MSCHF Over Its High Profile Satan Shoes, Claiming Unsafe Blood May Dilute The Exalted Nike Swoosh

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2021 @ 11:19am

    Um. They didn't say it was *HUMAN* blood, did they?

  • On the post: Man Sues Hertz For Not Turning Over A Receipt That Would Have Cleared Him Of Murder Charges Until After He Spent Five Years In Jail

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2021 @ 11:34am

    Re: I'm probably naive

    • If the prosecution really paid for testimony, somebody should be going to jail for that alone, whether they told the jury about it or not (of course, yes they should)
    • Many companies (esp. larger ones) have "data retention policies" that make them erase/destroy all data older than X years - mostly so if they get sued (a) discovery will be less costly and (b) the data can't be used to prove they did something wrong. I'm kind of amazed Hertz still had 7 year old records at all.
    But this case will be fun to watch. I hope everyone gets what they deserve.

  • On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Google 'Removes' German Residences From Street View By Request (2010)

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2021 @ 12:34pm

    Re: Re: Re: Likely being mistaken for license plate

    Maybe. Or, perhaps the areas you're looking in were simply processed with more recent (smarter) software.

  • On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Google 'Removes' German Residences From Street View By Request (2010)

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2021 @ 06:34pm

    Re: illegal to film anyone or anything in public

    In most countries this is settled law - if you can see it from a public place (street, sidewalk) - you can take and publish a photo of it. As it should be. (Don't like it? Build a fence.)

  • On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Google 'Removes' German Residences From Street View By Request (2010)

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2021 @ 06:33pm

    Re: Likely being mistaken for license plate

    Maybe. I notice they blur A LOT of commercial signs, names of shops, etc. A lot - maybe 80%. But not all. Strange. I wonder if it's some silly worry about "using" somebody else's trademark. And I know their software today is smart enough to tell the difference between those and license plates. (But maybe not 10 years ago when they started doing this, and maybe they're still using the old software).

  • On the post: Annoyance Builds At Elon Musk Getting A Billion In Subsidies For Starlink Broadband

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 12 Feb, 2021 @ 06:59am

    Re: Re: Fact check please

    He is at the top. The fact that his business (primarily Tesla) has been wildly successful, leading to a high market value, does not change Musk's moral status. As if being the 20th wealthiest person of the world is fine, but moving to the #1 spot somehow makes him evil. Way too many people assume that wealth comes from theft. This is obviously false - the world is filled with wealth, yet 1000 generations ago it was not. Somehow that wealth got CREATED, not simply moved around. People create wealth. Billionaires are especially good at it. Without that wealth, we'd still be living in caves. People shouldn't let envy cloud their view.

  • On the post: Annoyance Builds At Elon Musk Getting A Billion In Subsidies For Starlink Broadband

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 12 Feb, 2021 @ 06:51am

    Re: Re: Annoyance at Musk is misdirected

    The food kitchen analogy is inappropriate here. SpaceX (which owns Starlink) is a corporation with many owners, of which Musk is merely the largest. For the investors to forego picking up money on the table to which they are legally entitled merely because the largest investor happens to be very wealthy, would be kind of crazy. These subsidies are offered for the purpose of influencing business decisions - to get firms to make investments the government would like them to make. Not because the firms that will receive the subsides are "needy". As such, SpaceX is as entitled as anyone to receive the subsidy, if they follow the rules as set out by the government. If you think those rules are stupid (they often are, IMHO), your beef is with those who made the rules, not those who play the game. As I said, annoyance at Musk is misdirected.

  • On the post: Annoyance Builds At Elon Musk Getting A Billion In Subsidies For Starlink Broadband

    OldMugwump ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2021 @ 04:02pm

    Annoyance at Musk is misdirected

    It's perfectly reasonable for people to be upset that our broadband subsidy schemes aren't working and are poorly designed.

    But I don't think it's reasonable to be annoyed at Musk, or anybody else, who follows the rules-as-written and picks up the money we the public, thru our elected representatives, foolishly left on the table.

    Esp. if those picking up the money didn't lobby for the rules to be written that way in the first place.

    FWIW, Starlink is in fact solving much of the problem with rural broadband access - not just in the US, but worldwide.

    The "digital divide" is a separate problem - for the most part, the problem is that there are lots of people who can't afford broadband. And if you think subsidy is justified to fix that, then give them money - not subsidized broadband.

    (If people choose to spend that money on things other than broadband, well maybe they need those other things more than they need broadband.)

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