Arthur Moore 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: How Java's Inherent Verboseness May Mess Up Fair Use For APIs

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 16 May, 2016 @ 11:33am

    Re: Serious question:

    Lets see here, if Oracle wins any re-implementation of an API would be illegal.

    Dennis Ritchie, and Bjarne Stroustrup probably never transferred parts of the C and C++ API copyright to the standards body. Mostly because they, like everyone else, assumed it doesn't exist. A straight reading of an Oracle win is those two could hold almost the entire software world hostage. Almost, everyone uses C and C++. Microsoft, Google, Oracle, the US Government.

    I really wish they would too, just to prove the absurdity of such a ruling.

  • On the post: Revenge Porn Creep Kevin Bollaert's Appeal Underway… And Actually Raises Some Important Issues

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 09 May, 2016 @ 03:28pm

    Re:

    The only problem is the legal term for protection racket is extortion. The Yelp ruling says it's not extortion to say, "Suck a pity this (possibly true) information is there for anyone to see, why don't you pay us some money/buy some ads and we'll make it go away."

  • On the post: Revenge Porn Creep Kevin Bollaert's Appeal Underway… And Actually Raises Some Important Issues

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 09 May, 2016 @ 01:05pm

    Yelp seems like a horrible decision

    The quote from the Yelp case is pretty horrifying. I can certainly see the similarity between the cases, but it seems clear that both are extortion.

  • On the post: Washington Redskins Appeal To SCOTUS On Trademark And Seek To Tie Their Case To That Of The Slants

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 26 Apr, 2016 @ 04:06pm

    Obscenity laws are a mess

    Restricting obscene speech or actions is a quagmire of laws that might be on the books, but may or may not be legal. Take for example indecent exposure laws. If a woman goes topless in the NY library it's not allowed. Unless, she notifies the media that she's protesting. Then it's all legal....

    You get the same things with these trademark laws. Let's say the KKK comes up with a new slogan. It's obviously protected speech, but if a sports team used it then it's no longer protected?

  • On the post: Court Tells Cops They Can't Open A Flip Phone Without A Warrant

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2016 @ 03:27pm

    Re: Exigent Circumstances

    Ehh, I like the decision but this was probably more of an issue with policy and training than anything else. I'm perfectly willing to believe the officer was following poorly written instructions or not even thinking about how he turned the phone off.

    I'm glad the court didn't go with a 'just this one time' it's ok decision though.

  • On the post: French Police Report On Paris Attacks Shows No Evidence Of Encryption… So NY Times Invents Evidence Itself

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 21 Mar, 2016 @ 09:36am

    Re:


    Terrorists communicate via personal conversations. Therefore, we must make it illegal to have personal conversations without a representative of the government present.

    The word you're looking for is Telescreens.

  • On the post: How Apple Could Lose By Winning: The DOJ's Next Move Could Be Worse

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 17 Mar, 2016 @ 09:30am

    Re:

    It's already started. Cisco saw a drop in sales after the pictures of the NSA intercepting their boxes in transit were released. If the FBI goes that route and wins, then the NSA don't even need to intercept shipments. They can just modify the source code and secretly demand Cisco sign it. Same goes for Windows.

    It's been shown before that they can man-in-the-middle just about any network traffic. The next over the air, or mandatory windows update might contain all sorts of goodies from the NSA.

  • On the post: Different Brazilian Judge Orders Facebook Exec Released After Arrest

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 02 Mar, 2016 @ 06:24pm

    Long term consequences

    Like the Italian case against Google execs this is going to have a long term effect.

    My bet is FB is going to move everything they can out of Brazil, and they won't be the only ones doing so.

  • On the post: Google Fiber Expanding Faster, Further — And Making Comcast Very Nervous

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 23 Feb, 2016 @ 11:25pm

    Re: Don't fall for the hype, indeed

    But it's the "fastest Wifi" that made me laugh the loudest.

    It made you laugh, it made me ask when the FTC is going to get their act together and sue Comcast for deceptive advertising.

    I doubt it will actually happen though, they've been able to get away with their claims of "Up To" speeds so far.

  • On the post: After Failing To Use Copyright & Trademark Law To Stop Printer Ink Resellers, Lexmark Finally Scores A Victory With Patent Law

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2016 @ 01:09am

    Re:

    The interesting thing is this is about a laser printer. The laser printer segment has typically not actually run using the razor blade model. That's why a laser printer with the same features as an inkjet costs several hundred more dollars.

    Thing is, these printers are typically bought by businesses or prosumers. While some businesses might stick to buying only brand name, everyone else who hears about this might re-evaluate if Lexmark is someone they want to continue doing business with. Brother makes some pretty good and inexpensive lasers after all.

  • On the post: No, A Judge Did Not Just Order Apple To Break Encryption On San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone, But To Create A New Backdoor

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2016 @ 01:03am

    Re:

    Well yeah, but you run into the same issue that self encrypting drives have. The data in flash memory is encrypted with a huge key which is kept on the encryption chip. There's no way to read the key without de-encapsulating the chip, and that carries with it significant risk. Those things are meant to be tamper proof after all.

    If apple did this correctly, the encryption chip is a separate component, that can not have its firmware changed. It can even still be in the same package as the CPU. By tightly defining the security element's inputs and outputs you can create an extremely hard to crack system, even if it can't receive firmware updates.

    My fear is that the checks, including the counter for number of retries is handled by upgradable firmware. That would mean not only could apple crack any phone, but the next time a bootloader jailbreak is found everyone else could too.

  • On the post: After Failing To Use Copyright & Trademark Law To Stop Printer Ink Resellers, Lexmark Finally Scores A Victory With Patent Law

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 16 Feb, 2016 @ 04:05pm

    Supreme court power

    It really makes me wonder just how much power the supreme court has. I mean if the CAFC keeps doing so badly, does SCOTUS have any options aside from continually smacking them down?

    To be fair, SCOTUS is powerful enough that they could wipe out entire categories of patents or copyrights with a pen stroke. The question is if CAFC keeps it up can they just explicitly say that they don't consider anything that court does as binding?

  • On the post: NHL Streaming Service Descends Into Blackout Hell; NHL Threatens Anyone Trying To Circumvent Blackouts

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2016 @ 11:38pm

    FTC, FCC legality

    Thing is, these leagues are by definition monopolies.
    The US Government allows them to exist because in some situations having a monopoly is advantageous to many competitors. In theory, the government heavily regulates these monopolies. In practice, lobbying dollars tend to speak louder than voters.

    The thing is, that breaks down when a large issue causes the population to band together. In this case, either the Federal Trade Commission, or the Federal Communication Commission could change their rules to disallow blackouts.

    They have a pretty big case for deceptive trade practices if someone paid for something, and are then being threatened if they attempt to obtain what they paid for.

    Looks like the NHL is about to lose quite a bit of money. Either through lost subscriptions, or from lawsuits and regulation. Heck, it will probably face all three.

  • On the post: Software Company Asks Users For Input On DRM; Goes Ahead And Institutes It Anyway Over Their Objections

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 05 Feb, 2016 @ 02:18pm

    Re:

    People don't like steam because of the DRM. I was actually annoyed at how my physical copy of Skyrim is essentially just a steam code.

    What people like about Steam is it's convenience. Want to buy a game, or give one as a gift? Super easy via Steam. Downloading and installation are easy as well.

    If you make buying something easier and more convenient than pirating then people will buy. The thing is companies think DRM does this, but most DRM actually makes it harder to buy then pirate.

  • On the post: TV Station Educates Public On Dangers Of Teen Sexting By Exposing 14-Year-Old's Name… And Penis

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 05 Feb, 2016 @ 02:05pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What is the big effing deal??

    In other news, people can be assholes, but still be correct.
    We all hate it, but you have to look past the messenger to the actual message.

  • On the post: Former DHS Boss Puts University Of California Employees Under Secret Surveillance

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2016 @ 12:52pm

    Legality?

    The big question is if this is even legal.
    Sure it might be for a private institution, but it's been found by multiple courts that public schools have the same restrictions as the government does. I mean, these universities get there own sanctioned police force for crying out loud. That' means they're bound by the U.S. Constitution.

    It'll be interesting to see if there is a lawsuit. I can just see campus lawyers cringing. Especially given the likelihood that FERPA was violated.

  • On the post: Ares Rights Gets EFF Lawyer Suspended From Twitter For Posting Mild Criticism

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2016 @ 10:16am

    Twitter done goofed

    Yeah, pick a fight with the EFF. That's how good publicity is made.

    I'd be surprised if the mod that suspended the account doesn't at least have a reprimand quietly put in his/her file. The stupidity isn't quite to the level of suspending Trump's account, but in terms of possible backlash it's pretty close.

    See, for example, T-Mobile's CEO bashing the EFF for what could happen.

  • On the post: EU And US Come To 'Agreement' On Safe Harbor, But If It Doesn't Stop Mass Surveillance, It Won't Fly

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2016 @ 03:26pm

    That's funny

    Remember the EU policy on cookies. That's the kind of craziness we're talking about.

    For those who don't remember. That's where the first time you visit a site it says it's going to set a cookie. The idea was for people to be able to say "no thanks". What instead happened is anyone with browsers set to not remember cookies couldn't visit those sites anymore. The exact opposite of what the EU was trying to accomplish.

    This is the NSA stealing data from foreign data centers because it's not on US soil. The EU reaction is to make sure that data stays off US soil.

    It's doubly funny because the EU doesn't like geo-blocking, but the only way to make sure data stays inside the EU is to use geo-blocking and geo-redirecting.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Those Who Can, Write Textbooks…

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 22 Jan, 2016 @ 12:02pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: "Out of print" textbooks

    The publishers can make more money if students have to buy all new textbooks. It's greed pure and simple.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Those Who Can, Write Textbooks…

    Arthur Moore ( profile ), 22 Jan, 2016 @ 12:10pm

    One gets reprimanded, the other gets $$

    I know that one about textbooks is somewhat old, but I'm still amazed by it. I mean, it's hard to imagine more of a conflict of interest for the department chair to mandate his own book.

    I know at my university they had signs saying to call if we spotted this kind of "fraud, waste, or abuse."

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