Not That Chris 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Are There Any Politicians Who Know What PROTECT IP Is About? Senator Hutchison Thinks It's About Net Neutrality

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 05:11pm

    My Reply

    Here's the reply I got from my Senator, who at least seems to have a little bit better of an idea what the deal is:

    Dear Mr. [NTC],

    Thank you for sharing with me your opposition to S. 968, the Protect IP Act of 2011. I appreciate having the benefit of your views.

    The widespread use of digital media is still a relatively new phenomenon, and the law has not caught up with all the capabilities available to anyone with a computer and Internet access. This has prompted a vigorous debate on how digital copyrights should be protected, particularly with respect to the ongoing conflict between the rights of artists and producers to protect their intellectual property versus the recognized right of consumers to make recordings for personal use.

    While I believe that we must ensure the continuing integrity of our important copyright laws both domestically and abroad, I agree that enforcement must take place in a manner that protects the rights of all parties involved. I will closely follow consideration of S. 968 in the Senate Judiciary Committee with your concerns in mind.

    Again, thank you for contacting me. Knowing your concerns is helpful to me.

    Sincerely,
    Richard G. Lugar
    United States Senator

  • On the post: Connecting With Fans: Paul Simon Invites Fan On Stage To Play Song After She Yells That She Learned Guitar To It

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2011 @ 05:01pm

    Forever ago I went to see a Reel Big Fish concert with a few friends, and for one of their more popular songs (I suppose maybe their only popular song depending on your taste in music), they let people come up for each of the instruments (drums, guitar, etc.) and let them play as an impromptu band. I don't recall it going so well (as some of them may have exaggerated their ability to play their selected instruments), but it was still wildly amusing and a great example of how to get fans involved and make sure they know how much the band appreciates them.

  • On the post: Judge Orders Unmasking Of Wikipedia Users; Fails To Follow Standard Anonymity Protections

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2011 @ 07:47am

    Re: Re: Grammar Nazi Alert

    Agreed. Hopefully no one looses any sleep over it.

    (...and yes, I cringed typing that, regardless of the intended humor)

  • On the post: UFC Claims Copyright On Video Of The Crowd At Its Events?

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 04 May, 2011 @ 04:30pm

    Fight at UFC 91

    The other interesting thing to note is that there appears to have been another fight at UFC 91 a few years ago that's still readily available on YouTube. It seems to not be quite as nasty as the one at 129, but you can see the ring for a couple of seconds. But still, these videos have obviously been on YouTube for years now, so why the sudden change of heart on the most recent?

  • On the post: Brazilians Ask President Not To Throw Out Years Of Progress Towards A More Reasonable Copyright

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 02 May, 2011 @ 07:33am

    First thought...

    "How many is a brazilian?"

  • On the post: Australian Trade Minister Says That Releasing IP Enforcement TPP Treaty Text Would Be 'Problematic'

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2011 @ 06:18am

    Re: This sounds familiar.

    Kind of reminds me of the Pelosi informing the nation that we really won't know what's in the health care bill until it's passed.

    This isn't quite the same. Pelosi's full comment that so many people love to take out of context was "But we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy."

    That second half of the sentence is actually quite important. She wasn't saying (as the trade minister is stating) that you have to pass it so you can see what's in it because we're not going to tell you (the healthcare bill itself was available to read for several months, iirc) and no one really knows what's in it (the healthcare bill was picked apart by damn near everybody). In the case of that bill, the common person had been told it was full of language intended to fund abortions with tax money, kill your grandparents with "death panels" and make it legal for the FBI to strip search your pets. The implication with her statement was once it was passed, it would become apparent what was real and what was made up by scaremongers to keep you in line and feeding at the teat of shock media.

    This, like ACTA, is another instance of "We're totally committed to making this transparent, but really, shut up, stop asking questions, and accept it because we say its good for you, and by good for you, we mean great for the people that bought us in the last election. HEY, LOOK OVER THERE!"

  • On the post: Appeals Court Still Says 'Down Under' Infringes On Decades Old Folk Song

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2011 @ 06:07pm

    Re: Re: grammar FAIL

    Muphry's Law strikes again!

  • On the post: Some In The Press Realizing That Copyright Industry Claims Of 'Losses' From 'Piracy' Are Bunk

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2011 @ 06:53am

    So should we now expect Australia to find themselves at the top of the next Special 301 Report?

  • On the post: The Changing Way That Math Is Taught To Children

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2011 @ 08:41am

    Re:

    Order of operations seems to elude a lot of people. At one point in time my father had taught some statistics classes for engineers and had so many people get the order of operations stuff wrong he started including it as a refresher for the class.

    I can't even being to guess what the issue behind this is (poor teaching methods, over reliance on parenthesis for denoting order, etc.). Really, I'm not sure which one is scarier: teachers in charge of teaching the concept to our kids, or engineers in charge of designing parts for things like cars and airplanes.

  • On the post: Major Record Labels Agree To Pay $45 Million For Copyright Infringement In Canada

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 11 Jan, 2011 @ 10:53am

    Precedent?

    I'd seen a comment elsewhere on this and wondered also if, since the labels settled for $150 per infringement, this case could be used as precedent for future cases to set penalties for infringement at the $150 mark, as opposed to the outrageously high one noted in previous, still in process cases? Or would it not matter since this is a settlement (as opposed to a judgement) and it's really seen more as the artists' attorneys accepting the $150 and not the RIAA?

  • On the post: One Congressional Loss That Hurts: Rick Boucher

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2010 @ 07:09am

    Re: No...

    I think at this point the best way to be optimistic is look at it one of these ways:

    1) Who you voted for won! Hooray!
    2) Who you voted for didn't win, but the ones that did win make positive changes. Better than nothing.
    3) Who you voted for didn't win, things get worse, and you get to say "I told you so!"

    So see, everybody wins...or loses...I'm still not sure which...

  • On the post: The Difference Between Ideas And Execution — And What's Missing From 'The Social Network'

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2010 @ 07:48pm

    Spoiler Alert

    Snape kills Facebook...

  • On the post: Anti-Violence Video Game Group Conducts Study Getting Parents To Ask For Anti-Violent Video Game Law

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2010 @ 05:36am

    Better Loaded Question

    I think a better poll question here would have been:

    "Do you need a law to do your job as a parent because you're such a failure?"

    BTW, am I the only one whose first thought regarding "ultraviolent" video games was one where the objective was to beat someone to death with a giant plaster art deco penis? Yeah, just me...sorry bout that...

  • On the post: IBM Patents Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Movies

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2010 @ 05:58pm

    I knew I'd seen something like this before, and it took a minute to find it: Mr. Payback, released in 1995.

    Not a game, an actual theater-based movie where the audience was given an electronic pad and "voted" on the action the characters would take. According to the trivia blurb, the audience was even allowed to see the movie several times to pick different paths.

    My question at this point is: When you get to be a patent examiner, do they provide it for you or do those heartless government bastards make you buy your own?

  • On the post: MPAA And Its Priorities: Asks US Gov't To Stop Soldiers From Buying Bootleg DVDs

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 18 May, 2010 @ 06:49am

    How long...

    before the MPAA uses this to try and posit that bootleg DVD sales are contributing to terrorism? Or have they already and I'm just late to the party?

  • On the post: Overwhelming Majority Of EU Parliament Votes Against ACTA

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 10 Mar, 2010 @ 06:10am

    Go USA!

    I think my favorite quote from the article is:

    NGOs, academics and trade bodies that have studied leaks from the trade talks say the agreement would pave the way for network providers to introduce "US-style draconian" ways to penalise piracy.

    I'm thinking we need to see about patenting this "US-style draconian" method before someone comes along and tries to steal it...but perhaps I've said too much...

  • On the post: Damages Possible, But Limited, For Bogus DMCA Takedowns

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 03 Mar, 2010 @ 06:48am

    Re: publishers used UNpublished[copyright] cover-design,for,

    It seems that tl;dr doesn't emphasize enough how much you wasted your time typing that...

  • On the post: Students Given Detention Just For Becoming 'Fans' Of A Page Making Fun Of A Teacher

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2010 @ 06:58am

    Re:

    huh-wah?

    I guess I missed the part where "Becoming A Fan" on Facebook was some sort of binding contract stating that you apparently agree with every comment posted in the group. To fix your analogy, becoming a fan is like coming into the classroom every day and reading what's on the blackboard/paper on the wall and adding your name to the list of "People who've read this."

    Having been in a similar situation as this before (except my friends and I were suspended for it), I'd be interested to see what comments the superintendent felt were libelous. IANAL but from what I understand opinion, so long as it is not expressed as fact, is not libel. "I think Mr. Teacher is a knob-gobbling pedo" is hurtful and mean, but its an opinion and would likely not hold up in court. "Mr. Teacher likes little boys" probably falls into libel. But, that libel only applies to the person making the statement. Making that statement surrounded by a group of ten people does not in fact make those 10 people guilty of libel (or in this case slander). As far as I can tell with regards to the law, there's no "huge difference." Making a verbal statement over lunch is slander, writing it down is libel. The only difference is the context of the statement.

    Also, last I checked, there's no asterisk by freedom of speech in the Constitution. There's no rider that says none of this applies until you're 18. Schools would like to think differently, and most of the time, everybody gives in because 1) somehow "it's for the good of the children." and 2) wasting a few afternoons sitting at school is cheaper than going to court to prove a point.

  • On the post: Google Routes Around App Store On The iPhone… Others Can Too

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2010 @ 05:19am

    Re: Was this story about Google Voice? Why Yes, it is!

    Mike might want to be careful with that edge. If it gets too loose, he might accidentally lose it!

  • On the post: Don't Blame Facebook For Some Kids Beating Up Another Student

    Not That Chris ( profile ), 24 Nov, 2009 @ 10:49am

    Re: Readheads?

    I just want to go on record that Pickle Monger's note on the subject makes me sic...twice...

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