Bergman 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (3321)

• On the post: Citizens, Sheriff Force County Judge To Withdraw Unconstitutional Order Forbidding Filming In Front Of The Courthouse

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2022 @ 09:21pm

  Nothing in any city, county, state or federal law renders a judge immune to arrest for violating the Constitution - in fact, judges have been arrested and prosecuted for it in the past. Federal statutes define a conspiracy to violate civil, statutory or constitutional rights to be a felony, and unless a judge is carrying out his orders in person, a judge issuing an unconstitutional order is conspiring to do so by default. Any city, county or state law enforcement officer, while not compelled to enforce federal laws (this is how sanctuary cities happen) can do so if they choose - so why do they just stand around wringing their hands when something like this happens? If police will do nothing, it falls to the citizens. A citizen’s arrest for a federal felony is lawful in about 99% of the USA - in 48 states and all federal areas, according to the US Supreme Court (US v. Di Re (1948)).

• On the post: The Most Famous Blunder Of Content Moderation: Do NOT Quote The Princess Bride

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2022 @ 08:05pm

  Regarding that Paul Chambers guy mentioned in one of the linked articles, since it is apparently the opinion of the UK courts that it is illegal to transmit the movie quote he uttered over the internet… wouldn’t it follow that it is illegal to stream that movie to any UK address?

• On the post: Colorado Residents Lose Control Of Their ‘Smart’ Thermostats, Swelter In 88 Degree Heat

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 14 Sep, 2022 @ 12:26pm

  I had severe heat exhaustion when I was 20. Just a few minutes from actual heat stroke (and not the hyperbolic kind) when I got treated for it, though the treatment wasn’t up to par, and I had lasting damage from it. If I am exposed to too high heat for too long, I will literally die. What feels like a pleasantly warm day to you will see me in considerable distress. What feels like a hot day to you, will see me in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. 78 doesn’t seem like much to you, but how would you fare at 108? That’s my lot in life, everything feels hotter than it is, with corresponding potential harm, because my body doesn’t regulate internal heat properly anymore. I have measures in place to prevent that, but a utility company reaching into my home and disabling those measures would literally be attempted murder, if it happened on a sufficiently hot day.

• On the post: Copyright Troll In Taiwan Accused Of Uploading Movies Itself To Entice, Sue, And Threaten ‘Pirates’

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 08 Sep, 2022 @ 05:33pm

  What amuses me about it is that if the rights holder gave the site the media, then the rights holder licensed it to them by doing so. The ONLY way the rights holder could sue and win, given how ALL internet traffic is logged and traceable, is to prove they’re not the rights holder.

• On the post: Law Firm, Families Send Texas School Districts C&D Over ‘God’ Posters

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 08 Sep, 2022 @ 01:52am

  I defy even Texas to prove gay secks causes more gay people to exist! 🤣

• On the post: Law Firm, Families Send Texas School Districts C&D Over ‘God’ Posters

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 08 Sep, 2022 @ 01:51am

  You gotta love a well-tailored Messing With Texas campaign.

• On the post: Your Law Enforcement Dollars At Work: Deputies Drive 500 Miles To Seize A Young Girl’s Pet Goat

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 07 Sep, 2022 @ 09:19am

  It doesn’t take an army. Especially when the target doesn’t have an army either. As any professional bodyguard can tell you, if someone is willing to do whatever is necessary to kill a specific target, that target will die, no matter what their bodyguards do about it.

• On the post: Your Law Enforcement Dollars At Work: Deputies Drive 500 Miles To Seize A Young Girl’s Pet Goat

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 07 Sep, 2022 @ 09:15am

  Given how cruelty to and killing of animals is a warning sign of a serial killer, I think the fair official who was obsessed with killing this particular goat at all costs, no matter how many laws needed to be broken, needs a closer look ASAP!

• On the post: Age Verification Providers Say Don’t Worry About California Design Code; You’ll Just Have To Scan Your Face For Every Website You Visit

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2022 @ 01:21pm

  A better system dates back to the old Greek democracies - in some cases, people could be elected against their will, with penalties for refusing to serve. That would neatly solve the problem of anyone smart enough to serve not wanting to.

• On the post: Age Verification Providers Say Don’t Worry About California Design Code; You’ll Just Have To Scan Your Face For Every Website You Visit

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2022 @ 01:18pm

  Yup. And all the methods of defeating those workarounds require an online facial recognition database - the easiest being to scan an unexpired ID against the state’s ID database.

• On the post: Age Verification Providers Say Don’t Worry About California Design Code; You’ll Just Have To Scan Your Face For Every Website You Visit

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2022 @ 01:10pm

  I know I would choose to install a geographic filter rather than have to hire five extra people just to do California’s paperwork!

• On the post: Age Verification Providers Say Don’t Worry About California Design Code; You’ll Just Have To Scan Your Face For Every Website You Visit

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2022 @ 01:08pm

  Future AI 911 ‘Live’ Chat Operator: “We’re sorry, but you cannot call for help without a facial ID verification. Please try again.”

• On the post: Fifth Circuit: It’s Very Fucking Definitely A Rights Violation To Arrest A Journalist For Asking Questions

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2022 @ 02:22am

  Texas Constitution, Article 1, Section 1

  “Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United. States, and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local self-government, unimpaired to all the States.” How, precisely, does the dissenter on the 5th circuit court get the idea that the US Constitution does not prohibit the state legislature from enacting statutes that blatantly violate it?

• On the post: Horrifying: Google Flags Parents As Child Sex Abusers After They Sent Their Doctors Requested Photos

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2022 @ 08:26pm

  You mean the contract that says Google can terminate service for any reason or none at all?

• On the post: Horrifying: Google Flags Parents As Child Sex Abusers After They Sent Their Doctors Requested Photos

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2022 @ 08:25pm

  There is no requirement in contract law that the contract specify that they obey the laws they are required to. In fact, any contract term that violates the law is unenforceable, null and void. Their user agreement says they can revoke access for any reason or none at all, which certainly covers revoking service to those accused of trafficking in CSAM.

• On the post: Kansas Police Officer Who Killed Innocent Man During A Swatting Denied Qualified Immunity

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2022 @ 09:13am

  If you attack someone with a weapon you know for a fact is a deadly weapon and they die, you don’t get to claim later on that you didn’t intend their death. To anyone who hasn’t spent several decades living under a rock and/or in a carefully constructed pro-police echo chamber, sending US police after someone, especially someone you convince the cops is a major threat, is well understood to be deadly force. The proper sentence for premeditated murder is 20 years to life imprisonment, with an option for execution. The fact that this piece of human garbage sent assassins instead of wielding the weapon himself doesn’t make his act any less murderous or premeditated.

• On the post: Why Meta’s Project To Translate Automatically Between 200 Languages Will Be Stymied By Copyright

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2022 @ 03:04pm

  Last I checked, rules such as for games could be patented but not copyrighted. How exactly can languages - which are nothing but a set of rules for speaking - be copyrighted?

• On the post: More Horror Stories About Hertz’s False Theft Accusations Pile Up As Class Action Suit Moves Forward

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2022 @ 10:05am

  One false report is a crime, Hertz has made hundreds, possibly thousands

  So why is it, that if the criminal penalty for filing ONE false report can be as high as 6-12 months imprisonment in most states, or even be a felony in a few, that none of the people following Hertz’s official policy to file false reports has been arrested, charged or prosecuted? Last I checked, an organization that makes it official policy to commit crimes is classified as a criminal organization under the RICO Act. Why is Hertz still in business after showing a pattern of crimes being official policy?

• On the post: Why Is Media Lamenting Disney’s ‘Loss’ Of Copyright Instead Of Celebrating The Public Domain?

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2022 @ 06:38pm

  I’ve run into that attitude a fair amount as an on-again, off-again amateur photographer. When I take a photo, the copyright on that photo is mine. But if I do an especially good job on it, I won’t be able to get it printed at any professional copy or print shop that doesn’t offer self-service machines, because the professional shops will all inform me that they cannot print copyrighted material without permission from the rights holder - and nothing I say will convince them that I am the rights holder to my own work. Even a copy of a copyright registration won’t sway them. Because copyrights are for companies, not individuals, apparently.

• On the post: TikTok Sued Again By Parents Whose Children Killed Themselves Participating In A ‘Blackout Challenge’

  

  Bergman ( profile ), 14 Jul, 2022 @ 12:52am

  You’re new to Techdirt, aren’t you? Go back into the site archives and look up the dozens of articles about how automated content moderation is the only way to do it, but at the same time automating the job doesn’t work. The biggest and best funded companies in the world routinely fail spectacularly at automated content moderation, and they can afford the absolute best tools for it. It doesn’t help them surpass the level of a dumpster fire in their content moderation efforts. TikTok is not the biggest and best funded company in the world by a long shot. It’s really easy for you to SAY they should be able to do this easily, but the reality is that of the first rate companies can’t, there’s no way a third-rate company like TikTok has any chance at all.

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