JohnG 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (179)

• On the post: John Oliver: Stop Calling It Net Neutrality; It's 'Preventing Cable Company F**kery'

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2014 @ 05:02am

  Re: Re:

  but classifying broadband to a public utility won't fix the underlying issue - regional monopolies which largely prevent competition.
  
  If Comcast had a serious competitor or two in areas you'd see that if they started shaking down Netflix or throttling them, their competitor could use such actions in their own marketing to steal customers. There you go - problem solved without additional government

• On the post: Dick Cheney Lies: Claims Not A Single Case Of NSA Abusing Its Authority

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2014 @ 07:52am

  Dick Cheney lies? Hasn't this already been established?

• On the post: Animator Sues Disney For Allegedly Ripping Off Her Short Film For Its 'Frozen' Trailer

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 01 Apr, 2014 @ 05:55am

  "Hollywood accounting has shown over the years that some of the most successful movies have yet to show a profit."
  
  You would think a good lawyer would know this before making such demands.

• On the post: Rep. Mike Rogers Goes On National TV To Lie About NSA Programs And Snowden

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2013 @ 11:41am

  "But he set aside his own decision, as he said 'likely to be overturned'"
  
  I thought he said because it was likely to be stayed because of an appeal?

• On the post: Price Elasticity Can Work: Dropping Ebook Price To $1 Catapulted Year-Old Book Onto NYT Best Seller List

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 06 Nov, 2013 @ 05:54am

  Re:

  You'd like to read the book but won't pay the price. Doesn't that mean you don't value the book at the price they're selling it?

• On the post: Contractors Who Built Healthcare.gov Website Blame Each Other For All The Problems

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2013 @ 06:18am

  Re: This could have easily been avoided -- at very low cost

  There are laws against that kind of operation so the gov't couldn't just "open-source the entire thing".

• On the post: 9-Year-Old Sneaks Onto Flight; TSA Blames The Government Shutdown, Then Says It Did Its Job Just Fine

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 01:40pm

  Re:

  I have to provide ID and a boarding pass before I enter the security checkpoint. I then have to show the boarding pass as I walk through the metal detector and again when I go to board the plane itself.
  
  How long has it been since you've flown AC?

• On the post: Luddites Are Almost Always Wrong: Technology Rarely Destroys Jobs

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2013 @ 10:08am

  Re: It's not that simple

  Evidently you didn't read the article

• On the post: Luddites Are Almost Always Wrong: Technology Rarely Destroys Jobs

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2013 @ 10:06am

  Re: Re: Re: Operators vs call centers?

  Script-reading is a failure of the business operating the call center, not technology or call centers themselves. I started in Technical Support after I graduated college and we weren't given a script, we were given the tools and the authority to fix the customer's problems.

• On the post: NSA's Rules Allowing Warrantless Searches On Americans Came THE SAME DAY It Was Told Searches Violated 4th Amendment

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2013 @ 12:11pm

  Re:

  gov't employees have sovereign immunity. you'd have to eliminate that first, and that isn't going to happen

• On the post: EA Says It's Going To Keep Using Manufacturers' Guns In Its Games — It's Just Done Asking Permission

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 10 May, 2013 @ 05:05am

  Re: A tough sell

  These companies employ lawyers with brains, do they not? What am I saying, of course they do... the lawyers know this won't fly, legally speaking, but they're still getting paid so what do they care?

• On the post: Verizon Charging You More, As Bandwidth Costs Them Less

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2013 @ 06:46am

  Just wait... there'll be some congressman somewhere looking to make a name for him or herself that will introduce legislation to try to "fix" this.

• On the post: Blowback From Publication Of Gun Owner Data Continues — Threats, Lawsuits And Rejected FOIA Requests

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 04 Jan, 2013 @ 05:33am

  Re: Re:

  How is it "technically" illegal for the gov't to have a list of gun owners? If the State requires gun purchasers to register their property, how is that illegal? How is registering your gun different from registering your car?

• On the post: NRA: To Protect The 2nd Amendment, We Must Trample The 1st & 4th Amendments

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2012 @ 11:22am

  Re:

  The problems I see with a dedicated security person at a school are
  
  1. This security person couldn't cover every possible entry point
  2. Waiting around for something to happen will inevitably lead to complacency
  3. A dedicated security person could cost upwards of $100k (in total compensation) depending on what part of the country. With schools cutting after school programs and things of that nature, that's a tough pill to swallow.
  
  Your idea of trained volunteers or even training certain school administrators would be better.
  
  I have a feeling the anti-gun crowd wouldn't like the idea of removing the "gun free zone" signs, which is why I think more gun "control" is the more likely outcome.

• On the post: Fixing Copyright: Is Copyright A Part Of Free Market Capitalism?

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2012 @ 06:39pm

  Re: Right idea, wrong product.

  "The state of the browser market was an example of Microsoft abusing it's monopoly."
  
  MS wasn't preventing the user from installing a competing product. How could bundling 1 product with another be considered abuse?

• On the post: Fixing Copyright: Is Copyright A Part Of Free Market Capitalism?

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2012 @ 06:37pm

  Re: The fanboy excuses.

  In general, the class of companies that are "too big to fail" got there with government help. Those are businesses that would never have grown that large in the absence of gov't intervention. I'm talking about natural monopolies, companies that got they way they are because they were better than everyone else.

• On the post: Fixing Copyright: Is Copyright A Part Of Free Market Capitalism?

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2012 @ 06:27pm

  Re: Any color you want so long as it is black.

  It is rare a monopoly exists for very long because the market is constantly changing. Just because a monopoly exists today does not mean it will exist tomorrow. That does not mean there are no alternatives.

• On the post: Fixing Copyright: Is Copyright A Part Of Free Market Capitalism?

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 05 Dec, 2012 @ 05:23am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  AC -- during the IE5/6 days, IE had a market share north of 95%. That constituted a monopoly, or at least enough of a monopoly to get sued by the US gov't and the EU for Antitrust claims.

• On the post: Fixing Copyright: Is Copyright A Part Of Free Market Capitalism?

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2012 @ 05:15pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  I think Microsoft got railroaded. Netscape claimed MS was abusing its monopoly power by giving away IE and/or bundling it with Win98 (or whatever version it was). I'm sorry, but it was MS's OS. If they want to bundle an internet browser with it, that's their choice to do so. MS was not preventing people from installing a competing product.

• On the post: Fixing Copyright: Is Copyright A Part Of Free Market Capitalism?

  

  JohnG ( profile ), 04 Dec, 2012 @ 05:10pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "I didn't say there is something inherently wrong with a monopoly,"
  You're right. I have no idea where I got that from. My bad.
  
  I still don't see understand why you feel competition is broken. What aspect of competition does a monopoly break?

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