Dave 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (306)

• On the post: James Clapper Thinks That NSA Employees Will Sell Out Our Nation After A Few Days Without A Paycheck

  

  Dave ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2013 @ 09:26am

  The Fun's about to start

  Keep in mind that Snowden (NOT an NSA employee) managed to acquire his document stash unbeknownst to the NSA until he released it. If he could, so can a bunch of others with far less benign intentions. Considering Clapper's opinion of his own workers, I expect a whole lot of revelations to occur shortly. Popcorn, anyone?

• On the post: How A Telecom Helped The Government Spy On Me

  

  Dave ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 01:02pm

  Washington's Farewell Address

  http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

• On the post: Once Again, If Copyright Enforcement Doesn't Improve The Bottom Line, What's The Point?

  

  Dave ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 09:08am

  Absolutely brilliant. Thank you.
  .

• On the post: Once Again, If Copyright Enforcement Doesn't Improve The Bottom Line, What's The Point?

  

  Dave ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 09:00am

  Vested Interests

  The answer is obvious. Lots of people are making lots of money in support of the anti-piracy industry. Exactly the same as anti-drug or for that matter, anti-anything. Someone is ALWAYS willing to pay someone else to fight their battles for them. And the fighters are doing a great job of conning the payers into paying. Never mind that most of it is nowhere near the truth (you listening anti-terrorist industry?). Truth might interfere with profits.
  .

• On the post: The Unintended Consequences Of The Shutdown Of Silk Road

  

  Dave ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 08:48am

  Legalize it!

  What this government and Congress needs to do is step WAY back and compare this "War On Drugs" fiasco with the effect of Prohibition. There's little effective difference between the drug cartels and Al Capone, except a little more violence. The answer is exactly the same - Legalize it. Collect taxes, regulate purity, AND STOP THIS BEDAMNED FARCE. We didn't need it then and we don't need it now. Has Congress learned NOTHING in 80 years? Apparently being able to stand on a soapbox and rail against drugs is more important than kid's lives. You're never going to stop the use of drugs by declaring it illegal. That only raises the profits for the cartels and ruins lives needlessly.

• On the post: That Anonymous Coward's Second Techdirt Favorites Post Of The Week

  

  Dave ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2013 @ 12:50pm

  Totally brilliant, TAC, keep up the great work. Now if we can just get those idiots in DC to read and heed. Wouldn't that be something??
  .

• On the post: London School Of Economics Study Shows, Yet Again, That The Music Industry Is Thriving, Not Dying

  

  Dave ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2013 @ 10:04am

  Re: Re: Re: Copyright maximalsit

  Fine. Then they need to get into musical instrument and electronic equipment sales, and quit whining about how they're being cheated out of their entitled profits.
  .

• On the post: Former NSA Director Jokes About Putting Snowden On A 'Kill List,' Says He 'Hopes' NSA Is Involved In Targeted Killings

  

  Dave ( profile ), 04 Oct, 2013 @ 05:32am

  I sort of hope the US government is stupid enough to try a capture or killing in Russia. They will likely get caught in the attempt (the ex-KGB guys are a whole lot sharper than ours). Russia will have a field day with the ensuing trials. In addition, the Russians would be perfectly justified in declaring the attempts as acts of war. Good luck, folks.

• On the post: Mayor Bloomberg Uses Private Email To Avoid FOI Requests; Has No Plans To Retain Archive Of Office, NYPD Emails

  

  Dave ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2013 @ 04:59am

  Why is everyone so surprised at Bloomberg's shenanigans? He's only emulating his heroes in the Federal Gummint, and thinks New York should act like DC. No mystery there.
  .

• On the post: Police Chief Charged With More Than 130 Violations Has Collected Over $115,000 Without Working A Day This Year

  

  Dave ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2013 @ 03:54am

  How does I gets in on a scam like that???

• On the post: Prenda Soap Opera: Steele Contradicts His Own Previous Claims, Lutz Disappears Again… And The Mother-in-Law Surprise

  

  Dave ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2013 @ 03:09am

  Hang 'Em

  We go back to the basic question of why the courts allow these shenanigans to proceed. We all know that any court in the land would issue a bench warrant if one of us failed to appear as ordered. Why do they get away with it?
  .

• On the post: Judge Takes On Patent Troll With 'Sham Employee'; Forces Troll To Defend Practice Before A Jury

  

  Dave ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2013 @ 10:35pm

  Every time I read about the judges response to one of these cases, I can just hear Aunt Bea in the background:
  
  "Now, Boys, play nice!"
  .

• On the post: Judge Takes On Patent Troll With 'Sham Employee'; Forces Troll To Defend Practice Before A Jury

  

  Dave ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2013 @ 10:31pm

  Whence Trolls?

  Mike: one thing has always bothered me. Why do people like Prenda, Righthaven, and these guys get away with the crap they pull for so long (years even)? I'm sure you'll agree that, if we common citizens tried this stuff in court, even once, we wouldn't see daylight for years. We'd get slapped with contempt charges and jail time till Hell froze over. Why do they get away with it?

• On the post: Cosplayer Sent Cease & Desist By Carpet Company For Hotel Carpet Camouflage

  

  Dave ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2013 @ 01:06pm

  OK, I agree the carpet could have been perhaps a little more sedate, I mean REALLY! However you have to admit those costumes are absolutely spectacular and blend in pretty well.

• On the post: Another Reason The NSA Can't Prevent Terrorist Attacks: Protecting Its Methods Is More Important Than Protecting The Public

  

  Dave ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2013 @ 05:35pm

  Methods Leak

  Let's see. Snowden is in Russia. The Russians may or may not be aware of the NSA methods and procedures. Snowden certainly is aware of them. Will The Russians get the info from Snowden? We'll see.

• On the post: Former NSA Officer: Wikileaks Is A Front For Russian Intelligence And Snowden's (Probably) A Spy

  

  Dave ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2013 @ 01:29pm

  What bothers me, a lot, is not that the Russians might get the whole cache of documents. As was stated above, they probably already had them before Snowden sent them out. And, I firmly believe Snowden in that he no longer has access to them.
  
  No, what bothers me is his knowledge of the NSA system and it's procedures. If our ex-KGB friends don't already have that knowledge, Snowden could be an excellent source.
  .

• On the post: Orders To Destroy Guardian Hard Drives Came Directly From PM David Cameron

  

  Dave ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2013 @ 03:47pm

  Re:

  {in a buzzy monotone} "As you command".

• On the post: Another Reason The NSA Needs To Go: It's Been Doing What It Explicitly Was Told Not To Do

  

  Dave ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2013 @ 04:47pm

  In order for an elected or appointed public official to violate the Constitution, it is first necessary for him to violate his oath of office - which in itself is punishable. So, he violates his oath, and gets fired for cause. If he has also violated the Constitution in the process, he gets jailed and fined the total of his profits plus 50%.
  .

• On the post: CA School District Announces It's Doing Round-The-Clock Monitoring Of Its 13,000 Students' Social Media Activities

  

  Dave ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2013 @ 03:32pm

  One step closer

  That's one (more) small step toward a police state. By the time these kids get out of college, if they go, the battle will be essentially over. Orwell was right, just a few years early.

• On the post: Another Reason The NSA Needs To Go: It's Been Doing What It Explicitly Was Told Not To Do

  

  Dave ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2013 @ 02:12pm

  Follow the Money

  This situation bears all the earmarks of the cold-war era weapons programs. Somebody wants a bunch of money and convinces the Government to fund them on a development program. After a few successful demos, they get a contract for Billions.
  
  Now someone wants a bunch of cash and convinces the Government we need to spy on everyone in the world. So they do a little research, devise a plan, and get the government to fund it. After a few successful demos, they get a contract for Billions to build many high-tech facilities. Problem is, eventually contracts get completed, the money tap turns off, and people start wanting another go at the trough. SO, they come up with ever more complicated and improbable scenarios to justify the spending that they have caused to happen by paying off the congresscritters that vote for it.
  
  It may take a while, but eventually, perhaps with the assistance of folks like Snowden, the general public WILL wake up and put a stop to it. In the mean time, several corporations have raked in hundreds of billions building facilities and supplying equipment, which will, of course, become obsolete and need replacement - not to mention maintenance and personnel.
  
  Who are these companies? How much have they taken in so far? How much have they paid out in "campaign contributions" and to whom? All of this should be public knowledge. Why are we not seeing the records? Answer these questions and we can start to get to the bottom of all of these boondoggles.
  
  The only reason I can see for the lying and cheating is that too many people are making too much money to even think about stopping. Inquiring minds want to know.
  .

Next >>