Bergman 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (3321)

• On the post: Man Who Sued Over His Tattoo Kinda Appearing On A Cardi B Cover Loses, Pays Legal Fees

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2023 @ 04:42pm

  Even if it was an exact copy, if the tattoo artist gave it to them, it would still be legit.

• On the post: Misunderstanding Locks Amazon User Out Of ‘Smart’ Home Voice Control For A Week

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2023 @ 01:37am

  The worst part is he never said a word to the person who was offended - it was an automated greeting from a smart doorbell to someone who had walked onto his porch. There was nothing offensive about it, but an overly sensitive person who expected to be insulted 'miraculously' heard an insult where there wasn't one, and reported the insult to their employer. The driver was lying one way or another - they didn't clearly hear anything and just assumed AT BEST. But they reported clearly hearing the insult, and THAT was a lie.

• On the post: Music Label Demands Google Delist A Wikipedia Page With Info It Doesn’t Like

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2023 @ 10:55pm

  I have a mailbox. It has a locked door in it that I use a key on to get my mail. As I am the rightful recipient of anything deposited into that box, how I access it is not particularly relevant. If I lose my key but am still the rightful recipient, it would not be illegal for me to use lockpicks to access my mailbox - even though that circumvents a security feature. Likewise, making my own key to replace a lost one is not illegal, even though it too circumvents a security feature. Because it is my mailbox. Obviously, accessing mailboxes that are not mine that way would be illegal, but not mine, because it is mine. The idea that it might become illegal for me to do so if the lock were electronic instead if mechanical is utter insanity.

• On the post: Google Finally Restores ‘Downloader’ App To Store

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2023 @ 09:41pm

  I wonder…

  Given how Chrome can be used to load pirate websites too, I wonder if we could DMCA Google itself to get them to stop pushing Chrome st everybody, at least for a short time?

• On the post: Locked Out Of NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware, DEA Purchases Exploits From Its Non-Union, Israeli Equivalent

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2023 @ 08:48am

  The DEA is basically the longest-running moral panic in US history.

• On the post: Locked Out Of NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware, DEA Purchases Exploits From Its Non-Union, Israeli Equivalent

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2023 @ 08:45am

  It is. There is no exception for government agents in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act without a warrant - something the DEA seldom bothers with when using malware attacks.

• On the post: Blizzard’s ‘Diablo 4’ Q&A With Fans Got Real Weird, Real Fast

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2023 @ 08:44pm

  Who the heck is Future Game Show?

  I’ve never even heard of them before, let alone that they were hosting a D4 Q&A, so there’s zero chance I’d have submitted any questions - and I did have a few about the game.

• On the post: Twitter Briefly Pretended To Take A Stand Against Hate, But Then Elon Admitted It Was All A Mistake (Or A Marketing Campaign?)

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2023 @ 11:07am

  Cancel culture often takes it much further though - cancelers aren’t content to just boycott something, they want to ensure no one can see it, so they do things like go after the payment processors that allow what they want to cancel to exist at all.

• On the post: Meta Warns That It Will Remove News From Facebook & Instagram In California, Rather Than Pay Buffy Wicks’ Bribes

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2023 @ 12:33am

  Exactly. Not negotiating with terrorists only works if the terrorists all know you actually mean it.

• On the post: Texas Age Verification Bill Would Plaster Health Warnings On Porn Sites

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2023 @ 11:56am

  I don’t see how they’d have jurisdiction

  Cigarettes are physically located in the state they’re sold in. A porn site without any servers or CDN nodes physically located in Texas doesn’t have that physical nexus. Imagine a blue state passing similar laws about gun advertisements, and expecting Texas companies to comply - how would Texas react?

• On the post: Leaked Document Shows Spain Is Fully On Board With The EU Commission’s Plan To Criminalize Encryption

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 26 May, 2023 @ 09:42pm

  Governments, of course, will be exempt

  Governments will keep using encryption, naturally. After all, national security is important, your banking information is not.

• On the post: Cop Actually Admits He Was Wrong To Brutalize A Man Who Thought He Was Being Assaulted By Criminals

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 19 May, 2023 @ 09:23pm

  This one’s utterly astounding. What would you or I be charged with if we were to arm ourselves with some of those non-lethal rubber bullet launching weapons and roam the streets doing drive-by shootings with them on random pedestrians? It’d actually be LESS illegal for you or I to do it than it is for police to do it, yet none of the cops involved have been prosecuted for shooting people like that. None have even been reprimanded by the department! And the most astounding part: all out of court settlements arranged after a lawsuit has begin must be approved by the presiding judge, giving them the force of a court order. This means that a court has, technically, ruled that police committed no wrongdoing by pulling random drive-by shootings on people, when the judge approved the settlement wherein the city said no wrongdoing was committed! I’m kinda glad I don’t live in Minneapolis, because I’d be really tempted to pull a drive[by on the mayor using those same sort of rubber bullets - after all, doing that isn’t illegal in Minneapolis!

• On the post: Court Suppresses Breathalyzer Results In 27,000 DUI Cases After Years Of Being Jerked Around By The State Crime Lab

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 18 May, 2023 @ 12:13pm

  While it wouldn’t cover all of the cases, there is a 7 year statute of limitations for the federal crime of conspiracy against rights under color of law. Each count punishable by ten years in prison. Absolute immunity doesn’t shield a prosecutor from federal criminal charges.

• On the post: Automakers Are Making Basic Car Functions A Costly Subscription Service… Whether You Like It Or Not

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 18 May, 2023 @ 11:20am

  Simple solution: third party aftermarket onboard computer or custom OS. Replace the existing system that nickel & dimes you to death with one that has all features unlocked for one up-front purchase. Modding their software violates your license, but just like they can’t stop you from installing Linux on your home computer or replacing the monitor they sold you with a better one, hardware is subject to first sale doctrine.

• On the post: Colorado’s Top Court Seems Reluctant To Give Judicial Blessing To ‘Reverse’ Keyword Search Warrants

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 15 May, 2023 @ 06:08pm

  I play and GM tabletop RPGs. Judging me based on my search history alone would make me out to be the scariest man on Earth.

• On the post: Clearview Fined Again By French Government For Failing To Pay Fines Already Owed To French Government

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 13 May, 2023 @ 02:55pm

  If a wholly US company can be sued in France for violating French laws…

  Then it would naturally follow that you could sue a French company, or even France itself, in a US court for violating US laws - France has done quite a few things that violate US laws, after all, and some have affected US citizens.

• On the post: Appeals Court Tosses Another Dumb FOSTA Lawsuit Against Twitter

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 11 May, 2023 @ 12:03pm

  That same logic would allow you to sue the government for building roads.

• On the post: Mozilla Wonders What Social Media Could Look Like If It Started With A Clear ‘No Assholes’ Policy

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 11 May, 2023 @ 07:43am

  Democrats are no better. I’m a conservative democrat, and I’ve been banned from democrat forums before for pointing out uncomfortable truths and unpopular facts - essentially for talking like a conservative democrat (AKA a liberal) instead of a progressive democrat.

• On the post: Mercedes Locks Better EV Engine Performance Behind Annoying Subscription Paywalls

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 07 May, 2023 @ 06:46am

  Yes and no. The software running the onboard computer in a car cannot be legally modded because you are only licensed to run an as-is copy of it, you aren’t sold a copy. Likewise, running your own software on the onboard computer that came with the car would be a digital circumvention device, under the DMCA, and therefore also illegal. But there wouldn’t be anything stopping you from ripping out the stock onboard computer and installing a third party aftermarket computer that unlocked all the paywalled or unavailable-in-this-model features, providing the aftermarket computer complied with pollution standards set by the government (not so much an issue in an EV). Doing this in the USA wouldn’t void your warranty due to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975, unless the car company could prove that your aftermarket parts or their installation damaged the part of the car you are seeking warranty coverage for - the burden of proof is on the car company, not the car owner. The creator of mods to car company software or hardware would face legal liability, but a third party that makes a replacement computer in its entirety would not.

• On the post: Mercedes Locks Better EV Engine Performance Behind Annoying Subscription Paywalls

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 07 May, 2023 @ 06:39am

  Fairly simple solution - replace the stock onboard computer with an aftermarket one that doesn’t lock features. And you can bet once this new locked feature model hits the market, people will start selling them!

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