Ehud Gavron 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Copyright Self Censorship Denies Us Another Updated Version Of An Abandoned Game

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2023 @ 04:00pm

    When the owner won't step up...

    "That’s because the rights for the game are a complicated mess, somewhat akin to the whole No One Lives Forever fiasco. That same tangled rights mess is also likely why the game, despite calls for a remake or updated version for modern hardware, isn’t happening either."
    Then someone (who has more IT skills than I do) pirate it and release it. After all, nobody is going to be able to claim clean ownership. They fucked with it till nobody knows who owns it and that same they can no no longer have standing to sue.

  • On the post: Misunderstanding Locks Amazon User Out Of ‘Smart’ Home Voice Control For A Week

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2023 @ 01:21pm

    So if you "act inappropriately" your house turns against you?

    “In this case, we learned through our investigation that the customer did not act inappropriately..." What the ex-customer did with what they purchase is none of Amazon's business and provides ZERO justification to disable ANYTHING. The excuse that [para] "We found out he did nothing wrong so we turned his house on" suggests Amazon "thinks" it can turn off your house if you say the wrong this (whatever words that is this week.) Outrageous and probably a breach of contract. I actually read EULAs but don't own any IoT stuff but maybe someone else can see if there's a contract clause that says "...and later on if you upset someone then you're cut off." E

  • On the post: Starlink Service Starts To Slow Down As Limited Capacity Rears Its Head

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2023 @ 11:27am

    Short answer

    I have posted a longer answer but it is awaiting moderation and lacks paragraph breaks. Short answer: The government COULD but it has no incentive to do so. Oversell (write once sell many) is how lawyers make money, and lawyers hire lobbyists. The US Congress is currently ineffective and its agency, the FCC, is beholden to those lobbyists. Expect no changes. E

  • On the post: Starlink Service Starts To Slow Down As Limited Capacity Rears Its Head

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2023 @ 10:57am

    Government roles in oversell

    is there no way the government can stop internet providers from over selling
    TL;DR Karl has spoken on this many times. The oversell model is how they make a lot of money from a few people. The government doesn't want to step in because lobbyists. E --long version-- KB has opined on this many a time but I don't think he's ever taken a stance for/against government regulation. He has made it a point to discuss Starlink bw and availability limits. The US government can do a lot. Unfortunately passing legislation is not something they seem able to do in the last few years. That leaves promulgation of rules by agencies, and the FCC has been hamstrung, first by "are ISPs common carriers" and then "But we don't have a majority" and overall "but AT&T lobbyists keep giving us money not to do stuff." That really begs the question (yes I mean "beg the question") of whether government regulation is the answer to the question. This leads to "oversell" being a regular thing done by ISPs, lawyers, authors, musicians, coders, etc. WRITE ONCE -- SELL MANY. Provide a circuit. Sell 10x on that circuit. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That's the oversell model. We could hypothetically answer the question in this way: 1. Yes the US Government could remove the oversell model 2. Yes it can force companies to provide 1:1 (or 100%) of the product to each customer they sell to. This works with consumer goods (buy 4 tires, get 4 tires, and you always have 4 tires). It fails when IP maximalists try to pretend every copy is the same as the original... so buy 4 tires get 1 tire and a right to copy 3 but sometimes not and maybe we yoink that back. 3. The cost of WRITE-ONCE SELL-MANY which in the lawyer world is "selling boilerplate" allows <-- see that word there? -- them to charge MANY clients for doing MANY times the actual work they do. If you think the "oversell model" can be fixed despite lawyers everywhere screaming... please do tell how.

  • On the post: Submitting Post Ideas Or News To Techdirt

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 15 Jun, 2023 @ 07:13am

    Dead link: story submission page

    The link to "story submission page" leads back to TD's homepage. I found it by Google-searching "techdirt article submission." There's the meta-comment. original: TX just passed kiddie social website law which is incredibly overbroad and will hopefully be struck down (see below for my thoughts on why) or cause lots of content hosting sites all over the world to employ a lot more Tums or Zantac or whateverPrazole for stomach acid treatment. Link (original): https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/14/23760975/texas-ban-social-media-kids-louisiana-utah Also covered on /. I'm going to guess Ms Harding will chime in on Ars as well. E Now the opinion: Those in the United States who have not yet reached the ages of majority are provided less rights. Sometimes "rights" are couched as "privileges" to allow easier demarcation of "the State giveth and the State taketh away" without consequence. I'll list some examples below. The point is that a minor OUGHT to be allowed the constitutional rights granted to ALL denizens (yeah, think citizen but also resident and also tourist... and anyone subject) to the laws of the United States. So here along comes Texas, and in between busing migrants to California, while suing Florida for... busing migrants to California... and says that minors ARE NOT ALLOWED to participate on social media (broad) without parental consent. Let's ignore that subtleties of requiring EVERY SINGLE SITE that hosts ANY CONTENT on the ENTIRE INTERNET to have to keep track of "who is a minor in Texas", and then AUDIT AND VERIFY that some person claiming to be their parent/guardian authorized access. Just go with the "Hey why can't someone WHO CAN WEAR WHATEVER SHIRT THEY WANT TO JUNIOR HIGH not be able to post that picture of them doing exactly that on e.g. FB, IG, YT, etc.? Minors have rights. I won't speak as to curfews because that extends more deeply into civil righs than I --as a nonlawyer-- feel comfortable going into, and those differ dramatically across the US, EU, and other areas. So, here you go as to where minors get a raw deal BUT IN REALITY should have the full rights under the US Constitution. Examples include: Can't get a learner's permit for driving on public roadways under the age of 16 (14 in Arkansas and other states where marrying your cousin is legal). https://www.iihs.org/topics/teenagers/graduated-licensing-laws-table Can't purchase a "long gun" (that is a real term unlike "assault rifle") under the age of 18 (16 in some states where spitting tobacco is "cool". Can't purchase a pistol (laws differ on what THAT is...) under the age of 21 (18 in some states where if you shoot yourself in the foot you can still claim workmen's comp.) Can't purchase alcohol under the age of 21 (Utah, Alaska, all fine states but don't try underaged drinking there!) Can't purchase or possess marijuana (ob disc: I do not but my lack of choosing to shouldn't prevent others from doing so) at any age.

  • On the post: FTC Moves For A Restraining Order Stop Microsoft, Activision Blizzard Merger From Consummating

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2023 @ 10:07am

    When you're an idiot...

    Welcome to techdirt. It's not about me or you.

    At least you were able to point to the spot in the article hurt you. Perhaps you're missing a word or two there that would make this a sentence, Captain Dunsel.

  • On the post: FTC Moves For A Restraining Order Stop Microsoft, Activision Blizzard Merger From Consummating

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2023 @ 09:37am

    When you mean one thing but say your mother

    “Everybody else is dumb and wrong except for me” every single time.
    Well yes, you are certainly stupid. Dumb is the inability to speak.

  • On the post: FTC Moves For A Restraining Order Stop Microsoft, Activision Blizzard Merger From Consummating

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2023 @ 01:18am

    Fool me once

    It wasn't George Bush and it wasn't Bojack Horseman. Back to 1967 we go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al2z7t3M9Og&ab_channel=jonasgrumby Wikipedia suggests a biblical source: 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Book of Proverbs, 26:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. In either case... if your memory can serve, Microsoft is evil incarnate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish. If you forget who your enemies are, and allow them to thrive, well, see quotes above. -Ǝ

  • On the post: Elon Musk Says Twitter Is Going To Get Rid Of The Block Feature, Enabling Greater Harassment

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2023 @ 04:15pm

    Docking

    I've docked a boat once or twice. One good knot deserves another. E

  • On the post: Elon Musk Says Twitter Is Going To Get Rid Of The Block Feature, Enabling Greater Harassment

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2023 @ 07:22am

    Pffttht

    Have a nargilla? No, thanks. I don't smoke.

  • On the post: Elon Musk Says Twitter Is Going To Get Rid Of The Block Feature, Enabling Greater Harassment

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2023 @ 03:38pm

    The Musk Effect is real

    It takes a special kind of genius to take a $45B investment and turn it into a $15B liability. It takes a special kind of genius to fail to learn from any of the last six months and continue to "double down on stupid." The Musk Effect is just a tribute to what kind of an utter dysfunctional narcissist Elon Musk is. I'd say he's way off the spectrum, but I don't want to insult people who work hard to overcome the difficulties of life while being on the spectrum.

  • On the post: Twenty Years Ago Today: Barbra Streisand Sued A Photographer And The Streisand Effect Was Born

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 23 May, 2023 @ 03:06pm

    Evil will always prevail...

    Unluckily for them, reason prevailed.
    That's the problem with Good vs Evil. When the Good Guy wins he and the girl ride off into the sunset and that's the end of the story. However, the Bad Guy has friends and they are on a neverending quest. There's the TL;DR. E If TL;DR is not enough... you may think you won something in 1973, but look, Evil elected President NASCAR and he put up some evil people who lied to all of us and Congress and then made that 1973 "Good won" thing go away. The same is true of copyright maximalism, and yes, TD and Mike have done a lot to make people aware of it, fight against it, and each victory is only temporary because the maximalists continue. The same is true of duopolist telcos. Hat tip to KB who has been loudly ringing that bell and warning people. Finally President Biden has found someone else to fill the missing seat at the FCC, but don't expect Good to win there, and if it does, Evil will be along in 4-8 years to undo it all. American Exceptionalism is a purposeful self-blinding that leads to equivocations about our industry (weaker in goods, weaker in novelty), our communication infrastructure (more expensive than all other modern nations), our healthcare (more expensive, harder to access, and shamelessly pursuing profit over healthcare while pretending oppositely) than any other modern nation. Our unhomed masses, our mass shootings, our police brutality, our prison system are all WORSE than the exceptionalism-thought that there are worse places. Britney Griner is lucky she spent time in a Russian prison instead of a US Federal Maximum Security facility. She didn't get Epstein'd. (NOTE: I'm not saying she's luck to GO TO PRISON, just that the conditions in the US prison system are worse than those "horrible" other countries.) Finally elections. We go to other countries, let the CIA overthrow prime ministers (various like Iran), install dictators (various, like Noriega), and then tell them we're there to OVERSEE FAIR DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS. However, we seem unable to have those FAIR DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS here in the exceptional US of A. (2000 Gore, 2020 Trump, Kari Lake, etc.) Good on Mike and TechDirt for bringing many of these actions to our attention, allowing response and discourse, and perhaps change. Sadly though, Evil will win. Nobody will be riding off into the sunset here.

  • On the post: Twenty Years Ago Today: Barbra Streisand Sued A Photographer And The Streisand Effect Was Born

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 22 May, 2023 @ 12:28pm

    Silicon Valley Mogul

    See: https://www.californiacoastline.org/ for a lot of details including court docs, actual filings, and things not covered in this story. Ken Adelman owns a Robinson R44-II amongst other aircraft. He and his wife Gabby are awesome people who put help, support, and philanthropy above their own needs and wants. They did the coastline (beach) photos to document rich scumbags like Barbra building up their coastline (beaches) because they can. The stories have been aired for decades... celebs bringing in sand and rock... closing off public beaches with signs indicating trespass which unlawfully limit public access... etc. Ken put his own money into this. You and I, we read TechDirt, and it costs nothing. (But we do contribute because of Mike and Tim and Tim, and everyone else, and the occasional EFF or ACLU or other valuable input.) Ken spends $500-$1000/hr flying. The time spent documenting the California Coast line MANY TIMES and the post time and all that is in the HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars. In return for his and Gab's work they were handed a lawsuit, and didn't back down and thus we have not only documentation of this effort, but The Streissand Effect. E P.S. Ken and Gab have also transported endangered animals from continents not friendly to such... to save and prevent the animals from coming to harm. There are 9 billion people on earth. Some make no contribution (President NASCAR for example). Some contribute cash (Bill/Melinda Gates Foundation). Some contribute their own time, effort, resources, finances, and they make this a better earth. I'd not say this to Ken or Gab... they don't seek praise. It's true. OB DISCL: I have flown Ken and Gab on their helicopter, and Ken on his jet. They are always generous and conscious and this anniversary of them teaching Barbra she's out of her league was magnificent.

  • On the post: German Legislator Sends Cops To Literally Police Twitter For Porn

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 22 Apr, 2023 @ 07:08am

    "America"

    So, America isn’t the only democratic nation...
    Right, America are three continents. Of those, one, North America, has three countries. All are democratic. Go get your spinny ball with map thingies on it and study up. E NB "But everyone thinks the United States IS Americker" doesn't cut it.

  • On the post: Montana Passes Laughably Unconstitutional Law Banning TikTok

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2023 @ 03:56pm

    Bill of attainder.

    Diogenes wrote:

    The law says tiktok is guilty of various unproven allegations. Thats bill of attainder.
    Maybe you should point it out to Mike Masnick... as all he said about it was this: "First off, it’s a clear bill of attainder, which is explicitly barred by the Constitution..."

  • On the post: Montana Passes Laughably Unconstitutional Law Banning TikTok

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2023 @ 01:55pm

    Accountability

    Bobson Dugnut wrote: ... if lawmakers would have to answer to voters, they would be ousted. First, please stop giving them that honorrific that the media has bestowed They are sleazy lying thieves that perform theater. They are not "lawmakers" other than in --as in this case-- performative passing of stupid incendiary laws. Second, these heinous politicians have worked tirelessly to be beyond the reach of any censure or accountability. Judges sell their soul for a private jet flight to a yacht or an Adirondack vacation home. Congressmen sell their souls for millions of dollars "to pay for speaking" engagements. Sometimes they don't even show up to speak. The solution would be to have accountability: 1. Candidate platform published with filing for candidacy, subject to amendment in public and with notice. 2. Candidates who violate their platform are removed and new ones elected. In the process all pension, healthcare, etc. is restored to pre-candidate status (you know, the rest-of-us kind of financial world.) 3. Those members of the government (any branch) who aid, abbet, conspire, or support these bad actors in their bad actions shall also suffer similar castration. Let me know when that's all tee'd up because until then we're just blowing smoke up a dress of a very very ugly horse.

  • On the post: Daily Deal: 500GB Ultra-Slim Portable External Hard Drive

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2023 @ 11:25am

    Or... USB stick delivered tomorrow with 30 days return and a full 512GB not 500GB.

    Upgrade to a USB stick that barely sticks out of your device, needs no cable, delivers all 512GB (not 500GB), and can be in your hands tomorrow with AMZ Prime instead of in 10 days like this one. Same price but with free 1 day shipping courtesy of Prime. Check AMZ for "SanDisk 512GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive." I'm all in supporting TD... but not by encouraging obsolete hw.

  • On the post: French Court Smacks Remote Learning Software Company For Pervasive Surveillance Of Students In Their Own Homes

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2023 @ 08:29pm

    What's stupid about recitation by rote?

    There are three types of knowledge, and possessing "anything that can be trivially looked up" isn't anything to be proud of, yet so-called "educators' think this represents "successful education." It is not, nor is memorizing facts easily looked up. The second is the "how" which is teaching how to resolve something. Long division, D=RT, MPG, etc. BUT WITH ONE HAND TIED BEHIND YOUR BACK. That means "Sure, solve this problem but don't use that tool in your backpack or your pocket. It's ok to DERIVE the slide-rule and then use it but don't dare pull out a fully functioning calculator. Can't use that tool. The excuse of ineffective "educators" is that if stranded on a desert island you won't have your calculator with you. Fortunately on that same island I won't have some self-important "educator wannabe" giving me tasks like calculating amortization tables or integrating areas under fencepole lines. Finally there's real knowledge, which can't be easily looked up, nor calculated by that machine in your machine. That knowledge, when provided by an educator changes the student in a process called learning. It can't be bypassed by "cheating", rewards nothing to the so-called "educator" who can't help the student achieve this learning, and is harder to test for. THIS is where real education happens, and WHY real educators (not "people employed as such" but rather those who "cause and help cause that") thrive. If a student can't use a tool in his/her pocket, an "educator" shouldn't get to use an all-seeing spy video surveillance system. Education has been around for thousands of years. So has cheating. Yet despite all that, the Einsteins of the world manage to succeed. Our standards are wrong, and allowing the idiots to surveil the bored in order to keep their jobs while doing less and less isn't going to fix that. "Oh but teachers make hardly any money." Yes, and for failing to educate perhaps that's where the solution should start impacting the problem, not changing the system to reward ineptitude.

  • On the post: Man Loses Maine Vanity Plates Describing His Love For Bean Mush

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2023 @ 05:44am

    Southwest Flight

    I think the man is telling us what he wants to do on vacation! Looking at it "without context" I see a guy in a BMW that longs to take Southwest Airlines flights for some FUN in the SUN -- not unusual for someone living in a dreary cold grey state. Let's break it down: LUV - Southwest's informal name and stock ticker symbol TO- An indication he wants to fly Southwest (Luv) TO somewhere, like FROM only the other way FU - Ran out of characters on a plate when he wanted to put in FUN (or maybe Funafuti Atol, IATA airport code FUN...) Other than his obsession with his upcoming vacation to New Guinea to have FUN in the SUN after his flight on LUV all I can say is the people in the Maine DMV/MVD are jealous of his plan and want to ruin it so they can sit at home huddled in fear from their cold grey clouds and inhospitable weather longing for that one month of orange leaves when the tourist comes by. With his dog.

  • On the post: Another German Court Says The DNS Service Quad9 Is Implicated In Any Copyright Infringement At The Domains It Resolves

    Ehud Gavron ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2023 @ 03:52pm

    Redactio ad absurdum

    BGP? Sure. Coal is dug from the ground in Joe Manchin's state of West Virginia. Some of that goes to be burned in power plants to provide electricity. That electricity DIRECTLY FACILITATES the operation of datacenters, data servers, Internet routers, proxies, VPNs, content delivery networks, source content management systems, the people (writers, editors, managers, etc.) who use them, and the readers like us who read that content. Some of that content is data that are claimed to be part of someone's copyright, leaving aside the to-be-determined-at-court issues of fair use/fair dealing and other carvouts to the US's 17USC rules. Time to sue the coal miners. Obviously if they would stop then the Internet -- at least in West Virginia -- would be DOA. Wind and solar are alternative power sources, so time to pass a law against air movement and hot light sources, and likely also the companies that use them. Banks lend lots of money so normal people like you and I can afford to buy these solar thingies, so clearly THEY are also facilitating copyright infringement. So, let's eliminate banks, coal miners, PC producers, electricity producers, datacenters, server users, authors, editors, and FINALLY, let's not forget the lawyers who defend these scofflaws are ALSO encouraging it, so off them too. Like the Terran 1 LD said today "Thanks for playing."

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