E. Zachary Knight 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (1445)

• On the post: We've Entered The Age Of 'Fiber To The Press Release'

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2014 @ 08:16am

  Re: look at what is messing up our current situation

  The problem with Telco competition is that it is not a startup friendly business. The costs associated with creating a telco are so insurmountable that you need a very large upfront investment to do it.
  
  There are some solutions to this, but few are going to result in cheap internet for communities.
  
  One possible solution, and probably the best solution at this time, is for communities to pay for the costs to lay the fiber, then contract access out to any company that wants to set up service. All the local government would be doing in that case is maintaining the integrity of the lines. Private businesses would be handling the actual service. This scenario is much more friendly to telco startups.

• On the post: Joe Biden Tells Chinese Citizens To 'Challenge The Government,' Neglects To Mention His Administration Doesn't Like Being Challenged

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 06 Dec, 2013 @ 11:14am

  Biden isn't the only one in the administration

  Biden isn't the only one in the administration making hypocritical statements like this to other nations. John Kerry had this to say to Iran over its election practices.
  
  ?The Council narrowed a list of almost seven hundred potential candidates down to the sort of?officials of their choice, based solely on who represents the regime?s interests,? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters during a visit to Israel.
  
  ?That is hardly an election by standards which most people in most countries judge free, fair, open, accessible, accountable elections.?
  
  Not really a smart thing to say when the US's presidential elections are stacked against everyone but the two duopoly candidates.
  
  http://okvoterchoice.org/2013/05/john-kerry-needs-to-direct-his-anger-at-the-united-states/

• On the post: Sandy Hook Video Game Prompts Everyone To Get Everything Wrong

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 21 Nov, 2013 @ 01:51pm

  Re: Lacking

  There is a level where teachers have guns. It is unlocked after playing the level with the sword. Unfortunately, the game is programmed insomuch that the teachers are worse than Stormtroopers when it comes to shooting things. I was shot at twice and both times the teachers missed at close range. Seems that the designer was making a political statement with that too.

• On the post: 'Attribution Troll' Issues DMCA Notice To Remove Critical Posts From Techdirt, Boing Boing And Popehat

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 14 Nov, 2013 @ 10:45am

  Re: Why?

  Considering the number of registrars that offer complimentary private registrations, it is hilarious that he wouldn't pick one of those.

• On the post: Once Again, If Copyright Enforcement Doesn't Improve The Bottom Line, What's The Point?

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 10:20am

  Re: Re: Re:

  It's simple. If sales are declining, and you pass a new law making it even more illegal to infringe copyright. If then sales continue to decline, your new law did absolutely nothing for you.

• On the post: Gym Thinks New Member Isn't A Real Person; Drains Nearly $1,000 From Her Checking Account To 'Verify'

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2013 @ 10:35am

  Re:

  The sad thing is that the scenario you describe happens on a regular basis. It is called civil asset forfeiture. Cop pulls you over. Asks to search your car. Finds a wad of money. Takes it because the money must have been part of a drug deal. You are free to go.

• On the post: More And More Research Showing That The Assumptions Underpinning Copyright Law Are Fundamentally Wrong

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2013 @ 01:50pm

  Re:

  Just from reading that blurb, I get the idea was that the selling of the haiku was to a buyer who would submit it to the contest. So it was a value/risk assessment.
  
  For the seller/creator, the risk was enter the contest and potentially make $0 or sell it to someone else to risk and make a smaller amount of guaranteed money.
  
  For the buyer, the idea was to get the haiku for the lowest possible amount in order to potentially gain the highest possible return on investment.
  
  It may be a flawed study that doesn't reflect the actual creative marketplace we have.

• On the post: Officer Brings Security Flaw To Army's Attention; Army Threatens Him With Jail If He Talks About It

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 09:04am

  Re:

  You would be lucky if they were even using a recent version of Windows. The pace of military modernization is on par with a snail in molasses on a cold winter's day.

• On the post: Two Key Points: Copyright Isn't The Only Business Model; And When Done Wrong Makes Other Models More Difficult

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2013 @ 11:36am

  Re:

  You can still watch it at Ustream. Ij looks like they have disabled embedding or at least white-listed specific sites that can embed it.

• On the post: Amash Amendment Narrowly Rejected After Heated (And Partly Ridiculous) Debate

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2013 @ 04:08pm

  Do we have a link to the actual votes cast. I want to see where my Rep sits.

• On the post: In What World Is Having Three Judges Set The Price Of Streaming Music 'Free Market Capitalism'?

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2013 @ 01:55pm

  Michael Pachter

  Pachter is such an idiot. He keeps getting trotted out by the games industry as the know it all analyst but it is statements like the one above that reinforce my belief that he isn't worth his weight in lead.

• On the post: Game Creator Finds That Knockoffs Can't Match His Awesome Game

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 02 Jul, 2013 @ 08:52am

  Re: Re: Too Bad Vlambeer Hasn't Learned Anything

  In a twitter response to me, he basically said that getting cloned was demoralizing to the effect of nearly shutting down development on the game and killing the company.
  
  Not even this experience has fully turned him from that.

• On the post: Game Creator Finds That Knockoffs Can't Match His Awesome Game

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 02 Jul, 2013 @ 06:08am

  Too Bad Vlambeer Hasn't Learned Anything

  This is a great story and highlights an important lesson in game development. Create the better game experience and you will win. Sadly, Vlambeer has not learned at all from this experience.
  
  http://randomtower.com/?p=909#comment-13382

• On the post: Rep. Peter King Says Reporters Should Be Prosecuted For Reporting On Government Leaks

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2013 @ 01:06pm

  Re: So what amendment will be next to go Peter King?

  I like to argue that income taxes are a violation of our 3rd Amendment rights. The 3rd Amendment guarantees the government will not force us to house soldiers in peace time. Taxes we are forced to pay go toward housing soldiers during peace times.

• On the post: Senator Russ Feingold Correctly Predicted How The Patriot Act Would Be Abused; Too Bad He Got Voted Out Of Office

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2013 @ 09:02am

  Re: Re: Libertarianism isn't sounding so bad now, huh?

  So you would rather have the government placing 24/7 surveillance on you and your home rather than have the government leave you alone as long as you aren't hurting someone else?

• On the post: Leaked Document Shows The NSA Is Harvesting Call Data On Millions Of Verizon Subscribers

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2013 @ 06:26am

  Re: Re: Demand Impeachment

  How about we start with the entire NSA. The whole setup is a violation of the constitutional rights of US citizens.

• On the post: Utah Sheriff Claims Copyright On Mugshot Photos To Avoid Releasing Them

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2013 @ 11:44am

  Re: Re:

  Perhaps you are not aware of what a scarlet letter is. There was a book about it once. It involved a woman who was caught in an adulterous relationship and was forced to wear a red A on her at all times so that everyone knew she committed adultery. This resulted in her to be ostracized from society.
  
  Putting someone on a lifetime sex offender registry or labeling them a felon does much the same thing. Felons have trouble getting jobs. Sex offenders have trouble finding housing. Both labeling systems result in undue hardships and ostracizing of the person labeled.
  
  If ind it hard to understand how a "compassionate society" would endorse either scenario. I find it hard to understand how someone could advocate against a site that publishes mugshots, claiming that it is a form of scarlet lettering, while supporting a "justice" system that does far more damage.

• On the post: Utah Sheriff Claims Copyright On Mugshot Photos To Avoid Releasing Them

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2013 @ 08:44am

  "A compassionate society does not utilize the scarlet letter," he said"
  
  So is this guy an advocate for ending sex offender registries and felony labeling? If not, he is a hypocrite and needs to rethink his position.

• On the post: Filmmaker Behind The Pirate Bay Documentary Says Bogus DMCA Takedowns Take Away His Free Speech

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 23 May, 2013 @ 01:12pm

  Re: Re:

  I think he may be referring to the constant wave effect happening. The image appears to wave at parts. Some more intensely than others.

• On the post: VP Joe Biden Believes There's 'No Legal Reason' The Government Can't Slap A Sin Tax On 'Violent Media'

  

  E. Zachary Knight ( profile ), 16 May, 2013 @ 06:36am

  Re: Re:

  I do believe that the MPAA filed a brief or two in the Brown vs EMA suit in support of the games industry. If not, they at least showed support of the final Supreme Court ruling.

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