Josh in CharlotteNC 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (2290) comment rss

  • On the post: Congress Trying To Regulate Certain Wireless Spectrum Issues… In A Payroll Tax Bill?

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2012 @ 07:16am

    Re:

    The problem with that idea is that one Congress cannot pass a law that limits a future Congress.

    The only way to limit the powers of Congress is with a Constitutional amendment.

  • On the post: The End Of The Global Internet? Google's Blogger Starts Using Country-Specific Domains To Permit Local Censorship

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 02:20pm

    Re: Publishing is global, viewing is local?

    So you can publish whatever you want, but the reader may not be able to see it depending on where they are.

    Possibly, but it may be easy to get around.

    Say something is censored in Australia, so when you get directed to whatever.blogspot.com.au you can't read it. Is there anything stopping you from then manually going to whatever.blogspot.com.uk and seeing the content (assuming it also isn't censored in the UK)?

  • On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 02:04pm

    Re: Buying signatures

    It only sounds bad if you didn't know that's the way it's done.

    I'll argue that it still sounds (and is) bad even if you know that's how it's regularly done. No matter which side is doing it.

    Copyright is not a typical liberal/conservative issue, as the SOPA protests demonstrated. Many issues aren't, either, but still end up covered that way, unfortunately.

  • On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 01:52pm

    Re: Re: Something about hammers...

    Yeah, that's probably better. I was trying for a quick one liner and had trouble finishing it off.

  • On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 01:51pm

    Re: Re: Sign Me Up

    Paying people to gather signatures is OK. Paying them based on the number of signatures they get is at the least ethically grey.

  • On the post: CreativeAmerica Literally Resorts To Buying Signatures

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 01:13pm

    Something about hammers...

    When the only tool you have is corruption, everything starts looking like a bribe.

  • On the post: Angry Birds CEO Explains How The Company Embraces Piracy

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 12:43pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    This is true, if a company does not protect it's IP the law clearly provides a case for abandonment. TechDirt really has never discussed this subject.

    We talk about this all the time. Look up any story involving Monster Cable. Or the Kellogg's toucan story. Or any story about a companysucks.com website. Most cases Techdirt covers involves a company overreaching far beyond what trademark law covers into situations where there is absolutely no consumer confusion. Monster Cable is not going to lose its trademark to abandonment if they fail to sue Monster Mini-Golf because there is no consumer confusion that the companies are related.

  • On the post: Channeling That Anti-SOPA Energy Into Getting Important DMCA Exemptions

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 08:14am

    Re: Re: Re:

    You can change any law you like, technically. However, you cannot change a law to satisfy your desires if the harm to the greater good is bigger than the benefit in general.

    My mind boggles at how you can say this and still support the the continual ratcheting of copyright law against the public good for the benefit of a few tiny companies.

    Even you cannot possibly be that short sighted. Really, what are your motives here?

  • On the post: Channeling That Anti-SOPA Energy Into Getting Important DMCA Exemptions

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2012 @ 08:07am

    Re:

    The issue of corruption is that the small minded children that populate corporate boards and legislatures can't control themselves. They are unable to restrict themselves just to passing good laws, they insist on passing ridiculously bad laws and spreading them around the world.

    Your rights are restricted by those who abuse the political process. Fix the abuse, and the system can be saved. But the public knows what happens when you hand out a free pass on bribery, you just have to go to Washington to see. So sorry, until you can stop the children from doing so much damage, we need to dissolve these political bonds.

  • On the post: Warner Bros. Just Keeps Pushing People To Piracy; New Deal Also Delays Queuing

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2012 @ 09:13pm

    Re:

    If people really, really want the movie now,

    Your definition of "now" is considerably different than mine.

    I went and saw a movie in a theater a few hours ago. If I want a copy of that movie now, I cannot get it legally - only illegally. It would be technologically easy for the studio to release a digital download of that movie at the same time it is in theaters.

    What about a DVD just released that isn't on Netflix. It's midnight here, so very few stores that sell new release DVDs are open. Well, again, I could choose to get it now, illegally (but convenient) without leaving my computer chair, and have it in a few minutes. I could order it from Amazon and have it in a few days (which is not "now"). Or I could wait 10 hours til some shop opens, which again is not the definition of "now".

    One way the studio would get money, the other ways they get zero. Why does the studio choose to get nothing instead of something? And why aren't their shareholders up in arms over the horrendously bad business decisions being made?

    It's 2012. Data travels around the world in a second. If you're waiting 2 months and expecting your data to still be valuable, you might as well be writing on clay tablets and baking them in the noonday sun.

  • On the post: Why Can't Europe Just Forget The Ridiculous Idea Of A 'Right To Be Forgotten'

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2012 @ 08:52pm

    Re: Re:

    For example, it's probably good practice to not retain certain credit card information for an extended period of time.

    You don't need a law for that.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_Card_Industry_Data_Security_Standard

    While I'll admit that some of the current standards are hopelessly insufficient, we don't need a law. A law like that becomes the standard, and will not be easy to change when technology or the market changes. A law saying something to the effect of "credit card information must be deleted 90 days after final payment" virtually guarantees that it will be kept for 90 days even in a decade when it may be much better to delete it 15 days later.

  • On the post: Misguided Twitter Protests… And Why Twitter Could Have Explained Itself Better

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2012 @ 05:29am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    That's how the game is played.

    Its not a game.

    These are our lives. Our freedoms. This is our country.

    So fuck you and lobbyist you rode in on.

    Also, you're wrong. The blackouts and protests were not paid for or organized by lobbyists, and they are what carried the day.

  • On the post: Senator Ron Wyden's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 28 Jan, 2012 @ 01:30pm

    Thank you!

    Thank you for all of your efforts on these issues, Senator. It really means a lot to me.

    I made a decision months ago, but never thought I'd have the opportunity to tell you in a way you might read it. I'm writing your name in for president on my ballot in 2012. I cannot think of anyone else I would rather vote for.

  • On the post: MPAA Exec Admits: 'We're Not Comfortable With The Internet'

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2012 @ 01:59pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Thanks to Karl. Originally posted here:
    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120120/14472117492/mpaa-directly-publicly-threatens-politicians-who-arent-corrupt-enough-to-stay-bought.shtml#c512

    http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/112-s-968/954311/total-contributions.table?party[D]=D&party[R]=R&party[I]=I&state=&custom_from=07%2F01%2F2005&custom_to=06%2F30%2F2011&all_pols=1&uid=3073&interests-support=C2200-C2100-C2000-C2400-C2600-C2300&interests-oppose=C5140&from=07-01-2005&to=06-30-2011&source=pacs-nonpacs&campaign=congressional

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68448_Page4.html

    http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/284618/20120119/lamar-smith-sopa-lobbying-campaign-finance-congress.htm

    http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-anti-piracy-lobbying-targets-fbi-110622/

  • On the post: MPAA Exec Admits: 'We're Not Comfortable With The Internet'

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2012 @ 01:48pm

    Re:

    Studios are not required to be a member of the MPAA. The MPAA is just a trade group/lobbying outfit.

    Just as there can be independent labels that are not part of the RIAA, there can be independent studios that are not part of the MPAA.

  • On the post: MPAA Exec Admits: 'We're Not Comfortable With The Internet'

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2012 @ 01:42pm

    Re:

    But remember, they did get the DMCA passed, with nearly everything they wanted in it. They just had to negotiate and have the immunity provision added, something that they've been trying for a decade to weaken in the courts.

    Why do you think they suddenly became willing to negotiate with Google and tech companies? All they see is a temporary setback in their long term strategy.

  • On the post: Polish Politicians Don Guy Fawkes/Anonymous Masks To Protest ACTA Signing

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2012 @ 03:02pm

    Re:

    says that the earlier comments about the government "not submitting to blackmail" are not being well-received by the public

    Go figure. Who could possibly have thought that calling it "blackmail" when the public tries to participate in the political process and voice their concerns would be well received?

  • On the post: Once More, With Feeling: It Wasn't Silicon Valley Or Google That Stopped SOPA/PIPA, It Was The Internet

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2012 @ 10:09am

    Re: Worldviews & Magical Thinking

    They've been in a corporate-run world for so long, it may not even occur to them that anything of political importance could possible come from any source other than corporate.

    This. What we had here was the first real grassroots (or "bitroots" as Larry Downes put it) movement in this country in possibly a generation with a very clear goal - killing SOPA/PIPA.

  • On the post: Judge Says Americans Can Be Forced To Decrypt Laptops

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2012 @ 06:57am

    Re:

    The other one causes the computer to melt.

    I'm going to assume you mean "wipe out the data on the drive" as opposed to the computer bursting into flames (typical movie nonsense). Those that wipe data when incorrect passwords are entered already exist, however you'll need to think about using it as that could get you a destruction of evidence charge. Also, it probably wouldn't be much use anyway, as any competent forensic computer tech wouldn't be using the real drive, but would have cloned it multiple times and be working on a copy (perhaps even in a virtual environment with the ability to restore back should something like that happen).

    A better option would be TrueCrypt with hidden partitions in which one password unlocks the operating system and nonsensitive files, and another unlocks the stuff you really want to be secret. If set up properly, it is virtually impossible to tell whether (or how many) hidden partitions exist.

  • On the post: New Market Research: Music Streaming Services Halve Illegal Downloads

    Josh in CharlotteNC ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2012 @ 07:46pm

    Re:

    Why are there never any US studies on this?

    Lack of quality streaming services available in the US make it difficult to get those kind of statistics here.

    Look, I had a Pandora subscription for awhile. And while it found me some good music on occasion, getting a station set up to meet my varying tastes was time consuming (a lot of having to pay attention and thumbing up or down tracks). There were some artists and tracks that it never had, and others that even when specifically searched for and added as a seed to a station it still would never pay.

    I'm using Grooveshark now. Again, its got some good features, but I still need to spend a lot of time to search for and select specific tracks to add them to playlists.

    If Spotify ever drops the mandatory Facebook integration, I might try it to see if its any better, but until they stop requiring Facebook info to even set up a paid subscription, I'll never know if its an improvement.

    So give me and all the other potential customers out there better services and then after some time we'll see if there's a corresponding drop in piracy.

Next >>