Gwiz 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Once Again Top Downloaders Are Top Spenders, According To UK Gov't Study

    Gwiz ( profile ), 14 May, 2013 @ 08:28am

    Re: Results of Wall Street stock traders survey:

    Point is that people KNOW how surveys work and give self-serving answers.


    Probably true.

    Ya know what is also true? The surveyors usually know that people know how surveys work and give self-serving answers so they adjust the questions accordingly.

    That's why the methodology and survey process itself are just as important as the results on ANY survey. As long as all the background information is available, any intelligent person can decide for themselves how much weight to give any results. It's surveys that attempt to hide the process (legacy gatekeepers - I'm talking about you!) that aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

  • On the post: Once Again Top Downloaders Are Top Spenders, According To UK Gov't Study

    Gwiz ( profile ), 14 May, 2013 @ 08:09am

    Re: NOT "a valuable contribution to the field" -- IT'S A SURVEY.

    The biggest pirates are STILL just freeloading at a fraction of the sum honest people would pay for as much content.

    Not sure how true that really is Blue. This metric is relatively easy to measure. There are a lot of factors of your so called "honest people" that can't be measured. Loan a DVD to a friend, listen to the radio, watching a movie with a group of friends, wait for the movie to come out on TV, borrowing books from family, etc, etc. All consuming content without directly paying for it.

  • On the post: Once Again Top Downloaders Are Top Spenders, According To UK Gov't Study

    Gwiz ( profile ), 14 May, 2013 @ 07:57am

    Re:

    Once Again Top Downloaders Are Top Spenders, According To UK Gov't Study = Once Again Top Shoplifters Are Top Shoppers, According To UK Gov't Study

    Who cares?


    Umm...store proprietors who wish convert shoplifters into paying customers maybe.

    Or they could waste more money on security and the alienation of this group of people and still be in lose-lose situation if they want, I guess. Doesn't make much business sense to me, but whatever.

  • On the post: Once Again Top Downloaders Are Top Spenders, According To UK Gov't Study

    Gwiz ( profile ), 14 May, 2013 @ 07:20am

    Oh Noes!

    Sometimes Tricky Rabbits without Crystal Ball access (like me) can comment early on some of the articles too, Blue.

    (That ought to keep Blue busy with his conspiracy theories for awhile)

  • On the post: Former DHS Head On Google Glass: Intrusive Surveillance Is Bad — If It's A Corporation Doing It

    Gwiz ( profile ), 13 May, 2013 @ 11:47am

    Re:

    Oops.

    Supposed to be response to out_of_the_blue, May 13th, 2013 @ 11:22am

  • On the post: Pretending That Instructions To Print A Gun Aren't Out There Won't Change The Reality That They Are

    Gwiz ( profile ), 13 May, 2013 @ 11:07am

    Re: Board note: fanboys now get in FIVE hours early!

    Board note: fanboys now get in FIVE hours early!


    Laughing my ass off at you, Blue. Too funny.

    This one is so simple I think even you can understand it. Stop whining, register an account and buy one of the packages that includes the Crystal Ball feature and Ta-Da! you can spout your inane, useless crap before an article goes live too. I'm pretty sure Mike will take anyone's money, whether it's from a fan, a critic or anyone else for that matter.

  • On the post: Former DHS Head On Google Glass: Intrusive Surveillance Is Bad — If It's A Corporation Doing It

    Gwiz ( profile ), 13 May, 2013 @ 11:46am

    There's NO justification under common law for uploading to the internet all images in your vicinity, it's a HUGE invasion of privacy.


    Care to back up that assertion with some citations?

    AFAIK there has never been a reasonable expectation of privacy in public spaces.

  • On the post: Prenda Lawyer Says Judge Wright's Order Is Inapplicable In Georgia Because California Recognizes Gay Marriage

    Gwiz ( profile ), 11 May, 2013 @ 06:55am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Death Throws

    nasch -- keeping Techdirt down to earth and grammatically correct since 2009....


    PS: Kudos on hitting the 5k comment mark, dude.

  • On the post: There Is No Logic To The Argument That Zach Braff Shouldn't Use Kickstarter

    Gwiz ( profile ), 10 May, 2013 @ 01:27pm

    Re: Re: The FIVE PERCENT that Kickstarter skims is reason!

    Anyone who makes money in any fashion that Blue cannot understand is a grifter.

    At least that is my takeaway from his inane ramblings.

  • On the post: Silliest Argument Ever: Just Because A YouTube Paywall Launches It Means More Money Is Made

    Gwiz ( profile ), 10 May, 2013 @ 11:10am

    Re: Video problems

    I can't get the embedded video to play. Is there a copy on YouTube?

    It's on the "Stuff We Really Don't Want You To See" channel. The subscription price is only a mere $10,000/month.

  • On the post: Blogger Issues DMCA Notice To Take Down Posts Infringing His 'How To Infringe' Post

    Gwiz ( profile ), 10 May, 2013 @ 10:31am

    Re: Re: You just admitted the basis of copyright:

    You keep repeating this lie about common law copyright when it is demonstrably false. Stop it



    He won't stop. Blue has been bestowed with this wonderful gift of willful ignorance when it comes to anyone countering him with facts. If he simply ignores any counter-arguments to his statements, then it's like they never existed and he continues on his merry way. Kind of like the not-so-bright cat who thinks if it doesn't look at you, you can't see it.

    It keeps his life simple, I guess, but it undermines everything he posts here. I've gotten to the point where I simply toss everything he says right into the bullshit pile.


    Karl rebutted his "common law copyright" theory here:

    https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130412/16073622693/julie-samuels-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c618

    And still he keeps tossing that theory out like it's the gospel truth, Crazy.

  • On the post: When Startups Need More Lawyers Than Employees, The Patent System Isn't Working

    Gwiz ( profile ), 07 May, 2013 @ 08:18am

    Re: Mostly it proves

    It still takes actual lawyers to do the work.

    No, not correct. Remove the legal hurdles and the lawyers and progress would still continue. It only "takes actual lawyers to do the work" that isn't really necessary in the first place.


    And an additional note: Leaving the advancement of human culture to the whim of lawyers is a really, really stupid idea in my opinion.

  • On the post: The Fight Over DRM In HTML5 Should Represent The Last Stand For DRM

    Gwiz ( profile ), 06 May, 2013 @ 06:18pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: A Bit Upset With Netflix Here

    "No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title." It's that simple. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201


    I'd argue that 17 USC ? 1201 (f) gives me the right to circumvent the technological measures for the purpose of creating interoperability between Netflix and my "independently created" Linux operating system as long as my acquiring the content from Netflix was licensed and legal to begin with.

  • On the post: Angry Patent Lawyer Still Angry, Claims PatentlyO's Dennis Crouch Is Both A 'Dickhead' And Violated CFAA

    Gwiz ( profile ), 06 May, 2013 @ 02:28pm

    Re:

    What an amazing man!


    I don't always web design, but when I do, I prefer it to be sucky.

  • On the post: Moral Panic Over Google Glass: White House Petition Asks To Ban Them To Prevent 'Indecent' Public Surveillance

    Gwiz ( profile ), 06 May, 2013 @ 06:52am

    Re: "the technology is coming one way or the other"?

    Ah, Monday. Back to the inane yapping of ankle-biters, the skimming of prior comments to see whether my valuable screen name has been mis-appropriated again! -- And to answer a question the fanboys have, the name is valuable for the effect on you! -- Last week it produced a fine bunch of irrational yapping...


    I have only three words for you Blue:

    Narcissistic personality disorder

  • On the post: Mike Masnick's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week

    Gwiz ( profile ), 05 May, 2013 @ 12:42pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Typical

    Bit Torrent helps to take away artists rights, by making their work widely available without cost or constraint, often against their will and desire.

    It's pretty much the exact same thing. Bit Torrent and copyright are both tools, and when misused, cause harm. Trashing copyright for those who misuse it is about the same as trashing bit torrent because it's used by pirates. You guys would laugh at the latter, but support the former. How silly is that?


    Not silly whatsoever. Nor is it even a close comparison.

    Your "artist rights", as you put it, are important. Just not anywhere near as important as the rights of Free Speech. Not even in the same universe important, let alone in the same ballpark important. Your "right" to monetize your creations falls many miles short of the basic human right to Free Speech.

    That's just the way it is. Sorry.

  • On the post: Copyright Claims Lead To Removal Of Popular Pebble Watch Faces

    Gwiz ( profile ), 03 May, 2013 @ 06:55am

    Re:

    I noticed that you forgot to mention that Apple did end up licensing the design of that clock face from SBB (for $21M US). Apparently, even on the receiving end, they didn't find the claim ridiculous.


    Settling doesn't necessarily mean they didn't think the claim was ridiculous at all. It indicates to me that they felt the claim to be an annoyance and threw chump change at it to make it go away.

  • On the post: Jaron Lanier And Gobbledygook Economics

    Gwiz ( profile ), 02 May, 2013 @ 02:27pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: price vs value

    Fiduciary responsibility applies regardless of whether a contract exists.

    Ok. I get what you are getting at here. You are talking about what is called the "business judgment rule" here in the US and is based on case law.

    But those rulings really don't have all that much teeth in reality. Basically, US courts have pretty much tried to stay out of these issues and will dismiss the cases fairly readily if the CEO has some marginally rational reason for his actions. The case needs to be blatantly egregious for it go much further than that.

    So your statement of "It's the law, the CEO CANNOT do anything that the shareholders don't want." still doesn't ring all that true in the real world.

  • On the post: TV Syndication Company Attempts To Take Down Public Domain Content By Abusing Trademark Law

    Gwiz ( profile ), 02 May, 2013 @ 12:30pm

    Typo Alert

    Unfortunately, its archival efforts have drawn some attention from a company wishing to take back no longer belongs to it.


    That sentence doesn't make much sense. I think you meant ...take back [content that] no longer belongs to it.

  • On the post: ICE Starts Raiding Mobile Phone Repair Shops To Stop Repairs With Aftermarket Parts

    Gwiz ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2013 @ 02:23pm

    Re: Re:

    Sorry. My bad. Should have kept reading this thread before responding. My entire comment was already covered above.

    Oh crap. Did I just violate someone's IP rights by inadvertently coming up with the same analogy independently? Oh, well. Sue away. Like they say: you can't get blood from a turnip.

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