JohnG 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (179) comment rss

  • On the post: Why The DMCA Is An Unconstitutional Restriction On Free Speech

    JohnG ( profile ), 06 Apr, 2010 @ 08:11am

    Re: Re: How does this happen?

    so what you're saying is basically it's unfeasible (is that a word?) for an individual to bring suit. To start with the lower federal courts and move up would take years and millions of dollars. The better choice would be to prevent the laws from getting passed in the first place.

  • On the post: Why The DMCA Is An Unconstitutional Restriction On Free Speech

    JohnG ( profile ), 06 Apr, 2010 @ 06:39am

    How does this happen?

    This is why our country is going down the toilet - these laws are so blatantly unconstitutional, yet they are allowed to continue unabated and unchallenged.

    Does this issue (and many others like healthcare) not highlight one of the largest flaws in our Constitution? Nothing truly prevents Congress from passing laws which directly violate the rules set forth in the Constitution. I know it would never happen, but should their not be an amendment which forces all would-be-legislation to be reviewed for Constitutional legitimacy? Is that even feasible?

  • On the post: Federal Gov't Mostly Ignoring Obama Directive To Be More Transparent

    JohnG ( profile ), 17 Mar, 2010 @ 05:45am

    Buck Stops at the Top

    Unfortunately for Mr. President, the failures of those beneath him to honor his campaign promise are his fault. Fair or not, the failures of subordinates are the failures of the managers.

  • On the post: Obama: We Must Move Forward On ACTA

    JohnG ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2010 @ 02:09pm

    I wish I could say I was surprised

    but unfortunately I'm not. Obama is showing himself to be very much the same kind of politician we're sick of in Washington - misleading and outright lying to the American public on a near daily basis.

  • On the post: Once Again, Be Careful What You Wish For With Net Neutrality Once The Lobbyists Get Done With It

    JohnG ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2010 @ 07:14am

    This is what happens

    when the government tries to regulate anything. They pass out favors to their big donors which stamps out competition and innovation. This should surprise no one, yet it will be paraded as "protection for the people". What they don't tell you is that it's protection for their people.

  • On the post: Obama Quietly Issues Ruling Saying It's Legal For The FBI To Break The Law On Accessing Phone Records

    JohnG ( profile ), 23 Jan, 2010 @ 09:01am

    Re: Reboot

    The problem with abolishing this gov is that the Strong Arm of the Gov (military/police, whatever) would be on you like white on rice so quick that we would not be able to overthrow this gov, no matter how bad it got. That's why our founding fathers fled Britain - they couldn't overthrow that gov there either.

    Abolishing government is easier to write than it is to execute.

  • On the post: Openness? Transparency? Not When Biden Gets To Hang With Entertainment Industry Lobbyists: Press Kicked Out

    JohnG ( profile ), 15 Dec, 2009 @ 02:01pm

    Success!

    the administration will probably call this meeting a great success, and millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent arresting Peggy Sue for inadvertently taping 8 seconds of the next Harry Potter movie.

  • On the post: FCC Doesn't Think The Lack Of Competition Is A Major Barrier To Broadband?

    JohnG ( profile ), 23 Nov, 2009 @ 07:29pm

    RE: Rural America

    If people choose to live in rural areas, then they get everything that goes along with it, including limited access to certain things. I don't care how much "competition" you have, if a company cannot make money selling a good or service, they're not going to sell it.

    Only our gov would be dumb enough to mandate to the local cable or telco company that they have to lay down fiber to each farm in Kansas in order to increase broadband adoption, a "problem" which the FCC created so it can legislate a fix to show that it's actually doing something. Is it possible it's not being adopted now because those people just aren't clamoring for it?

    Who really cares what the adoption rate is of broadband in this country? So what if Taiwan and Japan have broadband to X% of the population. That sounds like the FCC is playing "keeping up with the Jones" if you ask me, and isn't that a lot of what got us into this credit mess in the first place?

  • On the post: FCC Poised To Let Hollywood Break Your TV And DVR

    JohnG ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2009 @ 01:58pm

    It's the Golden Rule

    He who has the gold makes the rules... MPAA is probably brokering some backroom payouts to smooth out this process.

    No one in their right mind could possibly think that this is necessary. Unfortunately government regulation offices are chock full of former special interest group members put there specifically to get special treatment for their old employers.

  • On the post: Oh Look: Hollywood Doesn't Need To Break Your TV To Release PPV Movies Early

    JohnG ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2009 @ 10:43am

    Will the FCC Care

    MPAA will still claim it's impossible, even in the face of this evidence, and somehow I think the FCC will still find that SOC DRM is needed "to protect the jobs of thousands of people"

  • On the post: Go To The Olympics? Take Photos? Put Them On Flickr? Await Olympic Committee Legal Threat Letter

    JohnG ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2009 @ 08:14am

    Gotta Wonder

    who's idea is it anyway to go after these people... the lawyers or management?

  • On the post: Want Healthcare Reform That Works? Get Rid Of Patents

    JohnG ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2009 @ 02:35pm

    Doesn't make sense

    I see the argument, however it appears that he's making it specifically because tax payers fund the R&D. Although my google skills forsake me at the moment, I know that not all drugs are paid for by tax payers.

    I agree that if tax payers pay for the drug research, drug companies should not be able to patent it and reap all the benefits. But along that vein, why are those companies allowed to make a dime on something they didn't pay to create? He didn't go that far in the article, but it is the logical next step. Drug companies essentially become arms of the gov't, and since they have no skin on the line, why should they benefit?

    However, if a company invests 100% of the funds into a project, then they deserve all the benefit, and I can't argue against patents there. I invest money in creating something. The second it's on the market, someone's reverse engineering it so they can sell it for far less money then I can (if I ever want to earn a profit). I would have no incentive to invest or create if I wasn't afforded some protection.

    I don't buy the author's argument that patents don't work. I have to agree with the above commenter... when private companies invest 100% of the money, they should be awarded a patent. You can make an argument for shorter patents, but not abolishing them.

  • On the post: Digiprotect Admits It Shares Files Just To Find People To Demand Settlement Money From

    JohnG ( profile ), 31 Aug, 2009 @ 05:52pm

    It's not Entrapment

    First, let's get off entrapment... only Police Officers can be guilty of entrapment.

    2nd... even if they're offering something for free to anyone who downloads it, they are not giving up their distribution rights. That said, if it was free from the distributor at the time of said infringement, I can't see a jury having much option other than to award a penalty of $1,000,000.00 as a way to deter future infringement.

  • On the post: Are Copyright Holders Seeding Own Files To Find, Sue Downloaders?

    JohnG ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2009 @ 11:26am

    How does this work?

    The've send C&D letters to printers, so anything is possible from that end.

    If the distribution aspect of the copyright law is what these people are supposedly breaching, then it makes no difference whether or not the content was authorized, because at the end of the day, copyright owners are allowed to distribute.

  • On the post: Judge In IsoHunt Case Tells MPAA It Needs To Actually Prove Infringement By US Residents

    JohnG ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2009 @ 06:35am

    Wow

    A judge not drinking the kool-aid? Incredible

  • On the post: Premier League's Fear Of The Internet A Case Study In What Not To Do

    JohnG ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2009 @ 05:53am

    I'd buy

    I love watching Fox Soccer on Sundays, but it's limited to which games they want to show. I'd love the option of being able to watch any game (no local blackout issues) that's being played that day.

    There's a market and yet again their solution is to sue that market out of existence instead of monetize it.

    Stupid Brits.

  • On the post: Hollywood Kills More Innovation; Judge Overturns DVD Jukebox Ruling

    JohnG ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2009 @ 05:06am

    Re: Not enough.

    Wrong. The issue at hand is the fact that the DMCA prohibits the courts from interpretation. The DMCA was passed by our idiots in Congress.

    That's not to say that Big Media lobbyists aren't hounding these Congressmen every time the public can submit DMCA exception requests, but ultimately it is Congress who passes the laws, not lobbyists and corporations.

  • On the post: Google Maps Charged With Unfair Competition In France For Daring To Be Free

    JohnG ( profile ), 02 Aug, 2009 @ 07:30am

    What about Yahoo and MapQuest?

    Why isn't France suing those companies? both of them provide free map services? Oh, it's because Google has deeper pockets. I get it now.

  • On the post: Trainwreck From Team Tenenbaum

    JohnG ( profile ), 29 Jul, 2009 @ 12:18pm

    I was hoping for more

    I had a great deal of respect for Nesson and the Berkman Center at Harvard, and I'm sure the RIAA did as well (hence no lawsuits were ever filed against harvard students). Unfortunately after the way his team has handled this trial and Jaimmie's, my respect for them has taken a big hit. I assumed he would take a very methodical approach to opening holes in the RIAA net, however it appears he has gone all buckshot and just bouncing around from idea to idea. Very unfortunate for his clients