John85851 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Sony Thinks It Can Charge An 'Administrative Fee' For Fair Use

    John85851 ( profile ), 24 May, 2016 @ 10:26am

    Re:

    I'm sure most customer service reps go through training to make sure they never say "Sorry about that, we messed up" or to admit guilt in any way. Instead, like you said, they act like they're doing the customer a favor for things like reversing fees that shouldn't have been charged in the first place.
    I wonder if this because the legal department figures that admitting guilt could leave them open to some kind of lawsuit.

  • On the post: Paramount Apparently Going To Drop Lawsuit Against Axanar Fan Film, Produce 'Guidelines' For Fan Films

    John85851 ( profile ), 23 May, 2016 @ 10:37am

    Re: Re:

    Axanar was trying to capture the ideas of what Star Trek is about.
    But Paramount was trying to argue that Axanar was trying to do more than just "capture the ideas": they claimed that Axanar was trying to position itself as official, canon Star Trek.

    That's why there was the whole argument over terms like "red shirt", "warp drive", "transporter", Klingon, etc. Sure, Paramount can't own these individual concepts, but when all of them are put together, they form what fans recognize as Star Trek.

    The Axanar people could have taken the "50 Shades of Grey" approach and changed all the names so it would be Star Trek in spirit, but without using any of the specific names.

  • On the post: You're Entitled To Your Own Opinions, But Not Your Own Facts About Copyright, NY Times Edition

    John85851 ( profile ), 23 May, 2016 @ 10:20am

    Re:

    Why was I paying $16 for a CD where 8/11ths of the tracks were junk?
    Because the news media conveniently ignores the fact that there was price fixing and collusion in the 1990's to keep CD's at a set price. Like people said then, if all electronics fell in price, why were CD's consistently sold at $19.99?

  • On the post: You're Entitled To Your Own Opinions, But Not Your Own Facts About Copyright, NY Times Edition

    John85851 ( profile ), 23 May, 2016 @ 10:24am

    Can someone write a op-ed piece in response

    While your response is 100% factual, the problem is that the original article was an op-ed piece in the New York Times, which means it carries a certain level of prestige. This means that more people will believe this nonsense simply because it's printed in the New Your Times, and irregardless of whether it's news or an op-ed piece.

    Can you write your own op-ed piece to debunk all these claims? Or would the NYT not run it because it doesn't support their RIAA sponsors?

  • On the post: Photojournalist Being Sued For Publishing Image Of Aftermath Of Paris Attacks

    John85851 ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 12:27pm

    Re: Re: Re: Money or dignity?

    then we are entering cloud-cuckooland, where ANYONE can get 'offended' by ANYTHING when they get a whiff of moneies to be extorted...
    Yes, we do live in that kind of society.
    If I think this comment offends me and I can find a lawyer who's willing to take the case (either because he wants money or attention), then I can sure.
    Whether I win or not is another issue, though it may not even get to the point if I can get a lawyer who can hound the other party into a settlement.

  • On the post: Dallas Buyers Club Demands Accused Pirate Take Polygraph, Asks For Judgment When He Agrees Anyway

    John85851 ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 02:01pm

    The other problem: the lawyer

    The other problem is the lawyer who took this case: I'm sure he keeps coming back to and court only to say "I went to my client and doesn't agree to the terms [and he wants to keep paying me to fight for him]".
    At what point do we hold lawyers responsible for putting billing hours and income before what's right?

    What does Voltage Picture really have to gain by going after this one guy? Is he the head of a Chinese cartel that's selling millions of bootleg DVD's? Is he part of a North Korean smuggling ring that's trafficking millions of DVD's? If not, then why spend all this time and effort to get a few thousand dollars from the guy?

  • On the post: Why Is Twitter Sending Legal Letters Warning People About Tweeting About The Gagged Topic Of A 'Celebrity Threesome'

    John85851 ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 01:48pm

    What about the reverse?

    Can people say, "Please don't talk about John Smith because there's an injunction about talking about him"? That way, people know you're talking about him, but you're actually telling people not to talk about him, so you're following the law.

  • On the post: Once Again With Feeling: Cord Cutting Is Not A 'Myth'

    John85851 ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 12:16pm

    The boiling frog analogy

    I'm sure people have heard this before, but it's the boiling frog analogy: as the water slowly heats, the frog gets used to it, then all of sudden, it boils to death and it wonders what happened.

    So, sure, a loss of 5 million subscribers over a few years isn't too bad. And another 10 million next year still isn't too bad. And another 10 million after that isn't too bad.
    But, wait, that's now 25 million out of 100 million or 25% of the total. Is that still considered not too bad?

  • On the post: Court Says Google Doesn't Have A First Amendment Right To Drop A Site From Its Search Results

    John85851 ( profile ), 20 May, 2016 @ 10:42am

    Real world example

    Here's a real world example:

    Me: I run a shady business and I want to place an ad in the Yellow Pages.
    Yellow Pages: Sorry, we see that you've scammed people and we choose not to run your ad.
    Me: Fine, then I'm suing you for anti-competitive behavior and because my right to run an ad supersedes your right to reject ads in your own book.

    When has this ever happened? Can someone find me a case where someone was able to push a lawsuit against the Yellow Pages for not running their ad?
    Then how is this any different besides the usual "on the computer"?

  • On the post: Brewery Changes Name For Second Time In Two Years Because Trademark

    John85851 ( profile ), 19 May, 2016 @ 10:28am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Just to be clear: do you mean Apple Music (the Beatles' record label), Apple Computers, or Apple Music (formerly known as iTunes)?

  • On the post: IBM Wants To Patent A Printer That Won't Let You Output Unauthorized Copies

    John85851 ( profile ), 19 May, 2016 @ 10:58am

    Save the trees

    Now that I think about it, IBM is doing us all a service: by not letting people print things, people won't use as much paper. And by using less paper, think about all the trees we'll be saving.

    Society was supposed to be paper-less years ago, so now IBM is enforcing it. Most documents can be filled out and signed online, so why should anyone be printing anything?

  • On the post: Government Argues That Indefinite Solitary Confinement Perfectly Acceptable Punishment For Failing To Decrypt Devices

    John85851 ( profile ), 19 May, 2016 @ 10:47am

    Would this happen in the physical world

    For example, would someone be held in solitary confinement because he refused to open a safe that someone said might, maybe, contain something illegal? Then shouldn't a phone be treated the same as a safe, as in: people have the 5th Amendment right not to incriminate themselves.

    But I think a previous poster is correct and the guy (or his lawyer or both) aren't "playing the game", which is causing the judge to get upset and make this kind of ruling.

    I mean, come one, it's just a 4-digit code to the phone. If he has nothing to hide, then he should have no problem unlocking it. So what if that's against the constitution- he's been accused of having child porn, so he must be guilty of something.
    *sarcasm off*

  • On the post: UK Queen's Speech: More, Faster Broadband… But It Will Be Censored And Spied On

    John85851 ( profile ), 19 May, 2016 @ 10:24am

    Extremist activity

    If they want to censor all extremist activity, then they need to be fair and across the board about it. We all know their goal is to cut down on ISIS recruitment, but how about radical Christians who want to burn down mosques because brown people are different?

    Will these rules censor people like Kim Davis? Like what was said so often back then, if her beliefs won't let her do the job she's being paid to do, then she should quit.

    Can someone please explain the real difference between how Iran is ruled by the teachings of Islam and how so many "Christians" want the US to be ruled by the Bible? Oh, right, one is a "good" religion and the other is "bad".

  • On the post: Heart Surgery Stalled For Five Minutes Thanks To Errant Anti-Virus Scan

    John85851 ( profile ), 16 May, 2016 @ 11:28am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I was just about to say this.

    Maybe the hospital or doctors were talked/ bribed/ convinced to get this software from this vendor.
    And if the vendor knows they have a monopoly on the market, will they do their best to make robust software? Or will the developers say "There's no chance a virus scan would interrupt the process, but even so, let's just tell the users not to do it instead of adding code to handle the error".

  • On the post: Appeals Court Shoots Down ACLU, Says Full CIA Torture Report Is Beyond The Reach Of FOIA Requesters

    John85851 ( profile ), 16 May, 2016 @ 11:16am

    Re: Here's the plan to fix this oversight on our part...

    And what, exactly is your plan to do this?

    The main problem is that the politicians who get elected into office have the money to run for office in the first place.

    Then we have such polarized politics that the public will never agree on which candidate should be elected. Just look at who we have running for president:
    A socialist who will take money from the rich and give to the poor.
    A woman(!) who might be indicted by the FBI. A woman!
    And a reality-show real estate mogul with no political experience.

    Given these choices, who would you vote for? Sorry, but those are the only choices.

  • On the post: Local Fox Affiliate's Reaction To Brutal Police Beating Is A Dereliction Of Its Duty

    John85851 ( profile ), 16 May, 2016 @ 10:33am

    Re: Fox 25's response

    I think a more accurate statement to explain the actions would be:
    "Well, we would have kept zoomed in, but the police told us over the radio that if we didn't zoom out we wouldn't be invited to any more press conferences and the other local stations would get the news before us. So we need to be polite to the powers-that-be lest we find ourselves shut out of other press junkets."

  • On the post: Analyst Uses NYPD's Open Data To Uncover Millions Of Dollars Of Bogus Parking Tickets

    John85851 ( profile ), 16 May, 2016 @ 10:28am

    Parking in beach towns

    This a little off-topic, but:
    I still remember when I went to a beach town for Senior Week after high school. The parking rates were something like $5 an hour at a lot or 25 cents an hour a meter, but with a 2-hour maximum.
    And if the meter expired, you could get a ticket that might cost $25. The ticket was a no-points, no-reporting to insurance type of ticket, so it didn't go on your record if you paid it.

    The catch? If you stayed all day, it was cheaper to park illegally and pay the ticket than to park in the paid lots!

  • On the post: Judge Says Copyright Case Against Star Trek Fan Film Can 'Live Long' And Possibly 'Prosper'

    John85851 ( profile ), 11 May, 2016 @ 11:57am

    Re:

    That's what a lot of people think, especially since Paramount's "Star Trek Beyond" probably costs $200 million to make but the trailer looks like "Fast and Furious". Yet "Axanar" was made for a few million and has a lot more fan support.

    How else can Paramount/ CBS explain why they went after Axanar? So no other production tried to make money? What about productions made before crowdfunding websites? Were there really no movies made in the 1980's that went around the convention circuit and slipped below Paramount/ CBS' radar?

  • On the post: Congress Questions Facebook About Something It Probably Didn't Do With A Feature That Barely Matters

    John85851 ( profile ), 11 May, 2016 @ 10:28am

    Conservatives complaining again

    I hate to generalize, but it seems like this is simply conservatives complaining that their point-of-view isn't getting pushed out as much as they want.

    I don't see them complaining about FOX News' bias towards conservative Republican causes, yet that channel has the word "news" right in its name. Facebook doesn't claim to be a news network. And in the case of FOX News, they absolutely control what's news and what isn't by what they decide to talk about.

  • On the post: The Saratoga Conundrum: Is It Water, Or Is It Juice

    John85851 ( profile ), 10 May, 2016 @ 10:29am

    It's also a Walt Disney World hotel

    Does anyone know if Walt Disney World got a license of any kind to name their hotel Saratoga Springs? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that hotel was owned by the water bottling company. ;)

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