DB 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: California Court Dismisses Copyright Suit Against BBC Over Cosby Documentary Over Lack Of Jurisdiction

    DB ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2018 @ 12:51pm

    Re: Re: Re: Wait, I thought US jusrisdiction was world-wide.

    That's the way the court system works.

    The courts don't 'know' something until it appears in a filing. They can't take it as fact until a reply has been filed that doesn't challenge it.

  • On the post: California Court Dismisses Copyright Suit Against BBC Over Cosby Documentary Over Lack Of Jurisdiction

    DB ( profile ), 03 Mar, 2018 @ 07:21pm

    Re: Wait, I thought US jusrisdiction was world-wide.

    The BBC responded because they do have a business presence in California and were clearly subject to the jurisdiction of the courts. This show was not part of the business presence, but they still needed to respond.

  • On the post: Stanford Professor Drops Stupid SLAPP Suit Against Critics; Still Mad Online

    DB ( profile ), 27 Feb, 2018 @ 11:35am

    A fitting result would be for any publication or organization to immediately reject a paper where he is listed as an author. Make it clear to everyone that reading and commenting on the contents would unacceptably expose the organization and reviewers to legal expense.

    Really, I don't see how they could otherwise.

    Perhaps even extend the approach to requiring other Stanford-affiliated authors to sign a legally-binding pledge not to sue. Academic politics tends to be bi-modal: either apathy or extreme reactions. An embarrassment like a targeted pledge would definitely have a result.

  • On the post: Judge Tells Coal Boss Bob Murray The Judicial Equivalent Of 'Eat Shit, Bob'

    DB ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2018 @ 04:14pm

    Re: Re: Already being appealed?

    Do you have a cite on the appeal?

    Lawyers telling the press that they would appeal takes little effort.

    Writing an appeal takes far more effort. It's much more than writing "we want a do-over" and paying a filing fee. The weaker the case, the harder to find precedent that supports a claim of error.

  • On the post: Charter Spectrum Fails To Wiggle Out From Under State Lawsuit For Crappy Service

    DB ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2018 @ 10:31am

    Re: Re:

    That was a carefully chosen example.

    In real life the deployed modem wouldn't reach 56K, but the hardware with the right settings in the ideal conditions could reach that speed. The advertising claim was misleading, and well down a slippery slop, but was holding onto the truth by a fingernail.

    In this case Charter was selling a service with hardware that could never reach the advertised speed, even under ideal circumstances.

  • On the post: Rancher Sues CBP After Officers Install A Camera On His Private Property

    DB ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2018 @ 09:15am

    Re: Leaning on qualified immunity?

    Claiming 'Qualified Immunity' is an attempt to avoid review of either the CBP rules or the officers actions. It's a claim that the officers weren't necessarily allowed to do what they did, but they can't be prosecuted individually as they were acting in their official capacity.

    Normally it would be asserted by officials when prosecuted as individuals. Here it's the government asserting the right of agents to do anything they like without being prosecuted, and extending that to cover the CBP.

    It's somewhat of a circular argument, but the CBP is arguing that they have the precedents to hold the loop together. Or at least cost the other side more than they can afford to argue against.

  • On the post: Charter Spectrum Fails To Wiggle Out From Under State Lawsuit For Crappy Service

    DB ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2018 @ 08:47am

    I look forward to the day when it's generally accepted that there must be some truth in advertising.

    Saying 'up to 50Mbps' is a specific claim. It uses a actual number. The hardware infrastructure involved, every element along the path, should be able to deliver that performance. Perhaps only in ideal circumstances, but they must be achievable ideal circumstances.

    Selling a 300 baud modem as a "up to 56Kbps" modem would have been recognized as consumer fraud. cable companies shouldn't be able to get away with the same fraud just because the technology is much more difficult to understand and evaluate.

    It's a more challenging case when the performance isn't reached due to over-subscription, but even there it's a bright line if the performance is never reached.

  • On the post: Appeals Court: Handcuffing A Compliant Ten-Year-Old Is Unreasonable But Deputy Had No Way Of Knowing That

    DB ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2018 @ 07:14am

    Re:

    Growing up I frequently heard "it takes two to fight" as the excuse to punish all involved in a fight.

    That is, of course, wrong.

    It takes two to brawl. It takes only one for a beat down.

    It's usually one person that starts the fight. The target has the choice to fight back then or be assaulted over the long term until they do fight back.

    It's easy to forget that children in school or on the bus are forced to be there. They don't have luxury of avoiding the situation or walking away. The instigators know not to start the assault when an adult is watching. Adults rarely intervene in a just way, and are usually only there to punish the disruption.

  • On the post: Vice Media Goes After Vice Industry Token, A Porn Crypto-Currency Company, For Trademark

    DB ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2018 @ 11:01am

    Wait a second..

    How is Visegrips the "lesser of two vices"?

    They are awesome and powerful.

    I can see how Apple Computer feels they have strong claim on the word 'Apple' as applied to computer-related items, even though it's a common word and Apple Music was well known before they started. The word 'Apple' has nothing to do with computers.

    But when you name your company 'Vice' and you are engaged in vice... that's pretty much like naming your restaurant 'Diner' and expecting to have a valid trademark claim.

  • On the post: Shareholder Groups Say Apple Should Do More To Address Gadget 'Addiction' Among Young People: Should It?

    DB ( profile ), 11 Jan, 2018 @ 09:52pm

    There is currently quite a bit of hang-wringing over the amount of 'screen time' that kids get.

    That 3 hour number is suspiciously identical to the point where TV time was found to turn from a positive to a negative. That was based on a broad study, rather than someone's guesses.

    But a closer examination showed that the study was very misleading. Kids that watched more than 3 hours of TV a day were vastly more likely to have a single parent, or both parents working much more than 8 hours a day. Watching TV in place of other activities was a reflection of their economic situation, not a cause of lower academic or social performance.

    We've created an astonishing world where a person with internet access and a tablet has vastly more resources to learn from than the largest library of a generation ago. Yet it's considered 'better' or more noble to be reading paper than looking at a screen. Why?

  • On the post: Charter, Disney Execs Pledge To Crack Down On Streaming Password Sharing 'Piracy'

    DB ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2017 @ 11:26am

    "when they can least afford it"

    Is right now a tough economic time for pay TV companies?

    Or is the phrase "when they can least afford it" used because the price of upper-end customized Gulfstreams has increased?

  • On the post: Appeals Court Can't Decide Whether It Should Protect Critic's Anonymity, Boots Free Speech Case Back To Lower Court

    DB ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2017 @ 08:57am

    Extra-judicial punishment?

    I can't come up with any other reason to expose the identity of the defendant except directly or indirectly enabling additional punishment.

  • On the post: Appeals Court: Forcing A Teen To Masturbate So Cops Can Take Pictures Is A Clear Violation Of Rights

    DB ( profile ), 06 Dec, 2017 @ 12:45pm

    Re: Re:

    Is it really true that the police resisted this order?

    The first time the police took pictures of his penis, and told him to make it erect. That didn't happen, so the prosecutor filed for and received a warrant.

  • On the post: Appeals Court: Forcing A Teen To Masturbate So Cops Can Take Pictures Is A Clear Violation Of Rights

    DB ( profile ), 06 Dec, 2017 @ 12:54pm

    Following the link to the Abbott story, it appears that he solicited sex from multiple 13- and 14-year-old boys. That usually happened in person, with multiple years of electronic messages providing confirming evidence.

    This wasn't a case of pursuing 17-almost-18 year olds, this was unambiguous pedophilia. Something like that isn't usually kept hidden. His fellow officers must have suspected or even known about it. Even if they thought that the 'evidence gathering' passed constitutional muster, why would they let him be involved?

  • On the post: No Shit: Groundbreaking Study Shows That Giving People 12% Of The Video Content They Want Doesn't Magically Stop Piracy

    DB ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2017 @ 08:44am

    Major flaw in the study

    If I'm offer a 45 day 'Free Subscription', I don't go any further. I've been throughly educated that I'll be locked into an expensive subscription that is nearly impossible to cancel.

    I try to avoid such 'free subscriptions', but some are really difficult. Recently I had to deal with OnStar, which makes it trivial to subscribe, renew or increase your service online. But if you want to cancel or reduce your service you have to call, wait on hold for a long time, and be subject to a sales pitch before they will cancel the service.

    This is a nearly universal experience, and most people learn to treat 'free' offers with justified suspicion. The researchers must have a strong bias to ignore the effect.

  • On the post: Court Says Cop's Theft Of Evidence Shouldn't Have Any Effect On Man's 15-Year Drug Sentence

    DB ( profile ), 28 Nov, 2017 @ 07:52pm

    And the police officer got...

    This guy was guilty, but was really just an uninformed mule. He was sentenced to 15 years.

    It appears that the dirty police officer, who stole and handled the drugs, as well as committing many other crimes using his badge, was sentenced to only 5 years and 10 months in total.

  • On the post: 3 Million Dish Customers May Miss Thanksgiving Football In Latest Example Of TV Industry Dysfunction

    DB ( profile ), 22 Nov, 2017 @ 08:54am

    Re: Free OTA

    The reason cable companies pay for 'rebroadcast' rights is because the FCC explicitly allows the broadcasters to charge.

    The broadcasters actually get a choice of 'must carry' for free, or they can negotiate a rate and risk not being carried.

    It's an absurd situation. Local stations spend millions on powerful broadcasting equipment, carefully situated towers and electricity in the hopes of reaching the maximum number of viewers. But when the cable company will carry the signal for free, to otherwise-unreachable viewers, and report the exact number of customers, the broadcaster expects to be paid.

  • On the post: Sheriff Thinks He Can Use Bogus Disorderly Conduct Charges To Shut Down Speech He Doesn't Like

    DB ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2017 @ 06:23am

    Re: DA and Arrest

    At first that seemed off-topic, but it (and the following comments) provided a great deal of additional info.

    The sheriff went to Liberty University, the far-right university founded by Jerry Falwell. It's not known for high academic standards. It is known for its political and religious stance. They make it clear to incoming students that free speech takes a back seat to religious belief.

    The truck owner worked for the Sheriff Dept until relatively recently.

    The arrest was for an offense in March and April 2014 (when she worked at the Sheriff's Dept?).

  • On the post: Good Ruling: Court Affirms Fox's Victory In Trademark Suit From Empire Distribution Over Its Hit Show 'Empire'

    DB ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2017 @ 10:47pm

    Re: First paragraph condescending as if member of the bar,

    I assume that you think that your comment was coherent, rational and added to the discussion.

    It doesn't read that way.

  • On the post: Don't Cheer For The Twitter Employee Who Deleted Donald Trump's Account

    DB ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2017 @ 03:48pm

    Re: Re: Why would a rational person want to delete Trump's account?

    Here a question to ponder.

    A person is displaying a Nazi flag in their window. Should that be banned? Why?

    Isn't it better to know the attitudes of the person up front? Especially when they aren't... typical.

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