jakerome 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Barnes & Noble Decides That Purchased Ebooks Are Only Yours Until Your Credit Card Expires

    jakerome ( profile ), 27 Nov, 2012 @ 02:30pm

    Re:

    How is this insightful? Listen what B&N did is crappy. But nothing was deleted off the device. The customer was simply not allowed to download copies of books he already bought. That's a shitty policy. But it's not at all the same thing as remotely deleting content from a device.

  • On the post: Barnes & Noble Decides That Purchased Ebooks Are Only Yours Until Your Credit Card Expires

    jakerome ( profile ), 27 Nov, 2012 @ 02:28pm

    Re:

    Just an FYI. The books already downloaded weren't disabled. It's just that when the customer went to download the books again he was prevented from doing so.

  • On the post: Australian Court: Google Must Pay Guy $200k Due To Image Search Turning Up Gangsters

    jakerome ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2012 @ 11:31am

    At least he's smiling

    At least he's smiling. Even if it is a creepy smile. I get glum Geithner.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Timothy_Geithner_official_portrait.jpg/220px-Timothy_Geithner_official_portrait.jpg

  • On the post: Copyright As Censorship: Author Removes Blog Post After Being Threatened For Quoting 4 Sentences

    jakerome ( profile ), 05 Oct, 2012 @ 02:03pm

    50 miles? I can do that.

    Well, it would be stupid to drag the whole group. But two people with about 4 liters of water each, sun protection, flashlight the compass and start hiking 2 hours before sunset. Yeah, if you got a couple marathoners or hikers, we'll get to Point B in 15 hours.

  • On the post: Yes: Breaking Web Articles Into Multiple Pages Is A Pain

    jakerome ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2012 @ 12:22am

    More irony than idiocy

    I think the pagination in the Slate article wasn't so much an "idiotically broken up version" as it was an "ironically broken up version."

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Make The Logos Bigger, Better

    jakerome ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2012 @ 09:50pm

    Big 10 + 2

    "The Big Ten collegiate conference logo has a little nod to the fact that there are actually eleven teams in its organization."

    Not anymore. They're up to 12 now.

  • On the post: The Daily Show's Awesome Re-imagining Of How Whistleblower Thomas Drake Was A Spy

    jakerome ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2012 @ 10:41pm

    Re: Re: Not a nickel

    Because I agree with Obama on about 80% of the key issues, such as tax policy, health care reform. He doesn't seem inclined to start new wars and has actually wound down one war (even if he wound one up at the same time). Because amongst all the candidates on the ballot, I believe he will be the best president. Because I'm not a one issue voter.

    I won't begrudge anyone for voting Garry Johnson, but nor will I humor their smugness & pride as they congratulate themselves for bucking the 2 party system while putting down citizens that support major party candidates.

    The system needs to be blown up, but it's more effectively done on the state & perhaps congressional level. Were there a middle-of-the-road candidate that put forth a great campaign and advocated for sensible reforms that matched my own instincts, I may well vote for that person. As would millions of others. Alas, that White Knight has been around the corner for a few hundred years, and will be for a few hundred more.

  • On the post: The Daily Show's Awesome Re-imagining Of How Whistleblower Thomas Drake Was A Spy

    jakerome ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2012 @ 09:43am

    Not a nickel

    President Obama will get my vote. But he won't get a nickel from me this year, unlike 2008 when I poured in a fair bit. And it's because of this-- lack of transparency, continued obsession with secrecy, SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, TPP. Etc. I think there were about 3 times when I said to myself, "now THAT'S the guy I voted for!"

    Wouldn't surprise me to see 4 years pass without it happening again.

  • On the post: When WSJ Flunks Internet History, Blogs Step In To Educate

    jakerome ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2012 @ 01:34pm

    Opinion journal is a wholly separate operation

    To be fair, this is the opinion pages, not the reporting pages, but the WSJ is supposed to have a pretty high bar for getting facts right, isn't it? And I would assume that applies to the opinion pages as well.

    It's just not true. The WSJ opinion pages are in line with the Washington Times and the very worst of the reactionary wing of the Republican Party. It's as bad as the WSJ news pages are good.

  • On the post: Even Obama Is A Pirate: BMG Issues New Takedown On Original Obama Singing Al Green Clip

    jakerome ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 04:59pm

    Re: Re: Ars Technica & other sites still don't get the DMCA

    I'm looking for the "sad but true" button.

  • On the post: Even Obama Is A Pirate: BMG Issues New Takedown On Original Obama Singing Al Green Clip

    jakerome ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 04:32pm

    Ars Technica & other sites still don't get the DMCA

    Left this on the Ars article. Mostly it's a good article, but nearly every tech apart from Techdirt continues to make this same error. It's a fine distinction, but a distinction nonetheless.
    -----------------
    "The notice-and-takedown procedure requires YouTube to leave an allegedly infringing work offline for at least 10 days."

    That, quite simply, is false. On a few levels. First of all, YouTube has special deals with the RIAA & MPAA that don't even require them to go through the DMCA process. Second, the DMCA requires YouTube to take down the video OR expose themselves to liability. An idiot in a hurry could've taken one look at the video and made the determination that there was no infringement, therefore no copyright claim, therefore no liability, therefore no reason to take it down.

    But in this instance, YouTube is acting as a spineless. Yes, the DMCA allows & even encourages the censoring of speech (political or otherwise) for vindictive purposes under the guise of copyright law and the DMCA needs to be updated to reflect all that we've learned in the past 1.5 decades. But no, the DMCA does NOT require YouTube to take down every video that has had a copyright notice filed against it. That's a misconception most people have, and great tech sites like Ars that repeat it so glibly have only reinforced this incorrect assessment of the law. I hope you can correct the article & avoid making this mistake in the future.

    http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/yes-video-of-obama-belting-out-im-so-in-love-with-you-is-fair-use

  • On the post: Even Obama Is A Pirate: BMG Issues New Takedown On Original Obama Singing Al Green Clip

    jakerome ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 03:55pm

    The real question...

    Why are we allowing a multinational conglomerate with ties to Nazi propaganda censor American political videos?

  • On the post: Insanity: Romney's Ad Featuring Obama Singing Al Green Shut Down Via Copyright Claim

    jakerome ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2012 @ 08:59am

    Oh Daily Caller, you really are a special kind of crazy.

    Preface by saying... it's a ridiculous system when a political ad is yanked for using 9 seconds of music (that's included in probably 10,000 other videos n YouTube). And whoever at BMG ordered the takedown is likely an idiot and probably a misguided Obama supporter.

    But, really? Really? Here's what The Daily Caller wrote:


    "But just imagine what they would be saying if Romney?s turnaround book had been published by a multinational conglomerate with ties to Nazi propaganda."

  • On the post: ACTA Failure Inspires The Most Clueless Column Ever

    jakerome ( profile ), 11 Jul, 2012 @ 08:07am

    How do you define piracy?

    The quote, "Over the last year, I've conducted surveys of the students I've lectured and 90-98% of them, between the ages of 18 and 32, are involved in daily acts of piracy." Really is the problem. We all commit technical copyright violations dozens of times daily. Maybe he's including anyone watching user-uploaded music on YouTube, or copying & pasting several paragraphs of an article (fair use be dammed). Recording something on the TiVo to watch later, or *gasp* borrowing a CD from a friend. Dig deep enough, and I'd be surprised if EVERYONE wasn't committing "piracy" a dozen times a day.

    That's a symptom of a broken legal system, it's not a symptom of some deranged culture. The laws are already out of whack with reality, and all ACTA fans want to do is declare by fiat more & more ethical, natural, moral behavior be classified as criminal.

  • On the post: Gov't Says They Requested 24,270 Wiretaps In Total; Sprint Alone Says They Received Over 50k Requests

    jakerome ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2012 @ 07:36am

    As above, I think it's likely the case that state & local police-- far more numerous than the Feds-- make far more requests for spying on customers. And I'd reckon with far less oversight and much less adherence to the law.

  • On the post: Lamar Smith Looking To Sneak Through SOPA In Bits & Pieces, Starting With Expanding Hollywood's Global Police Force

    jakerome ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 01:55pm

    Anyone see 60 minutes last night, the Jack Abramoff encore episode? Makes me wonder HOW MANY Lamar Smith staffers have had job offers from K-Street lobbyists. These congress critters are bought & paid for and they're too stupid to realize it.

  • On the post: Dear Angry Person: People Who Criticize You Likely Aren't Defaming You Or Infringing On Your Copyright

    jakerome ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2012 @ 09:20am

    Ricochet the surf dog...

    Has a massive following. That community has FREAKED OUT when discovering someone wrote a book including a story about Ricochet. You only need to get about 10 comments in to get the flavor.

    https://www.facebook.com/SurfDogRicochet/posts/318905054866395

  • On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

    jakerome ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2012 @ 12:12pm

    Those damn iSheep...

    Of course, webOS did both better first! I have an iPhone 4S now, and I think iOS 5 was the first time they had decent notifications. I still find myself using webOS gestures to conduct tasks.

    Hopefully Android continues to steal the best bits and maybe even bring back the Creepy Palm Lady as the Google Now spokeswoman.

  • On the post: Can't We All Get Along: Principles Over Policy; Ideas Over Ideology

    jakerome ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2012 @ 01:38am

    Short answer:

    No.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Who's Going To Clean Up All The Space Junk?

    jakerome ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2012 @ 09:57am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Techdirt ate the rest of my post! Regardless, while the collisions with smaller debris may occur with a higher frequency than more massive objects on a per gram basis, all objects will be effected. But if it knocks down debris & satellites in 20 years instead of 100, that may be a very sensible solution to clearing lower earth orbit with minimal impact on operations.

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