madasahatter 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Snowden's Constitution vs Obama's Constitution

    madasahatter ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2013 @ 12:05pm

    Fourth Admendment

    Summary:

    Unless there is a reason for you to be suspect in the commission of a crime or be suspected of actively planning a crime your personal information or property can not be siezed. If there is reason for you to be a suspect then a warrant is required unless certain narrow and specific exceptions can be applied.

  • On the post: Clueless State AGs Attack Google Over YouTube Videos Instead Of Pursuing The Criminals Who Made Them

    madasahatter ( profile ), 03 Jul, 2013 @ 09:28am

    AG idiocy

    Their excuse is probably "protecting the children". As Mike noted the real problem not the service provider but with the users who posted the content. If the content shows a crime or is itself illegal it is the user/poster who is responsible not a third party such as Google.

    This smells like someone blaming the messenger (Google) and not the sender for the message. Also, most of the posters have modest means and pursuing each one is very laborious and not likely to net much. Suing Google theoretically has the potential of a large payout relative to the costs and is not very time consuming compared to suing thousands or millions of individuals.

  • On the post: Appeals Court Tells Universal Music: You Lost The Veoh Case, Get Over It

    madasahatter ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2013 @ 06:25pm

    Re: Re: Universal didnt lose

    On the key legal issues they set a precedent and lost. Thus another Veoh will not face the same litigation strategy. Ultimately Universal lost in the long term.

  • On the post: Kim Dotcom's Lawyer Says DOJ 'Blessed' Destruction Of Evidence In Megaupload Case

    madasahatter ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2013 @ 07:45am

    Re:

    I have not seen reports were Leaseweb's servers were ever copied by anyone to preserve the evidence. Evidence was destroyed without the US intervention to preserve it. Basically this gives KDC's legal enough ammunition to destroy the case. Evidence destruction is a big mistake because the argument can be made that the government cherry picked what they wanted preserved. I do not doubt there is enough "evidence" that when cherry picked could convince a jury of guilt.

  • On the post: Joel Tenenbaum Loses Again; Bad Cases With Lying Defendants Make For Bad Law

    madasahatter ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2013 @ 07:49am

    Re: Award Size

    I think the court is saying to Tennenbaum because you were such a lying idiot you deserve to get hammered. The real issues appear to by the scope, his refusal to change, and apparently committing perjury. Courts do not like the appearance of perjury and it is a fool-proof method to get hammered.

  • On the post: NSA's Response To Snowden Leaks Isn't To Stop Spying, But To Make It More Difficult To Blow The Whistle

    madasahatter ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2013 @ 09:39am

    Rotation

    Will the NSA rotate working pairs like the Stasi did at the Berlin Wall?

  • On the post: IRS Targeted Open Source Groups Seeking Non-Profit Status

    madasahatter ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2013 @ 03:20pm

    Income Taxes

    With the IRS fiascos may be the solution is to scrap all income taxes replacing them with sales/excise taxes. Then who cares about the non-profit/profit status because income is not taxed. There would still need to be proper accounting records kept to document the expenditures were appropriate for the group's mission and goals. Some major details would need to be worked out.

    There are a couple of proposals floating around to do this.

  • On the post: Shallow Surveillance Efforts Like PRISM Will Only Catch The 'Stupidest, Lowest-Ranking Of Terrorists'

    madasahatter ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2013 @ 09:16am

    Effeciency

    It is safe to assume that many governments are monitoring Internet, email, cellphone, etc. traffic both domestically and internationally. The only questions are the scope of these programs and what methods cause problems for the spooks. Intelligent terrorists are using techniques to hide their activities from easy monitoring. So what is the real purpose behing these programs?

  • On the post: Copyright Troll Lawsuit Ends Badly Because Very Dumb Defendant Lied To Court, Destroyed Evidence

    madasahatter ( profile ), 17 Jun, 2013 @ 04:50pm

    Stupdity

    The only lesson here is not to tamper with evidence especially. It will make you look a slime and cause a harsher sentence.

    When I read that the harddrive was wiped the verdict does not surprise me.

  • On the post: Is The US Using Prism To Engage In Commercial Espionage Against Germany And Others?

    madasahatter ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2013 @ 07:15am

    Re: Blackmail

    One of the issues with Bradly Manning was that apparently he passed classified documents that had this type of information.

    One of the best ways to turn someone in to a traitor is blackmail. Few people turn traitor for political reasons so your good fill-the-blank citizen who can be blackmailed is often the best access to the information.

  • On the post: Is The US Using Prism To Engage In Commercial Espionage Against Germany And Others?

    madasahatter ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2013 @ 07:09am

    Re:

    I suspect they are already spying on us, like everyone else. Technical and commercial information is extremely valuable.

  • On the post: Perhaps The NSA Should Figure Out How To Keep Its Own Stuff Secret Before Building A Giant Database

    madasahatter ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2013 @ 12:02pm

    Keystone Kops

    It is not dawned on the darkbulbs in Washington that massive amounts of data are a target in of themselves. Hackers attack large banks and companies routinely because that is where large amounts of financial data is. The Chinese (or whomever you wish to fill) are at a minimum as smart and technically capable as the hackers are and have more resources.

  • On the post: Despite Spending $50 Billion Per Year In R&D, Pharma's New Drugs Less Effective Than Drugs Developed 40 Years Ago

    madasahatter ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2013 @ 11:27pm

    Drug effectiveness

    Some of the newer drugs are very effective as noted in the article. But many drugs seem to be for ailments that are more annoyances (erectile dysfunction) than serious medical problems (epilepsy, migraines) that can be disasterous for the patient. Drug companies seem to going after drugs that can make massive profits rather than drugs that can actually help patients.

  • On the post: No, You Don't Need Patents To Raise Money

    madasahatter ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2013 @ 06:20am

    Venture Capital

    A point that is very clear is that smart venture capitalists are not interested in patents per se as much as in the business plan and model you have to implement your idea. If you have a good product or service idea and a reasonable business plan they are willing to listen. Patent rights and issues are a secondary issue. If your business plan is unworkable the patent status is irrelevant.

  • On the post: Dan Brown: Video Games Lead To Violence

    madasahatter ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2013 @ 06:00am

    Video Game Violence

    Is anyone old enough to remember playing "Cowboys and Indians" or "Cops and Robbers" as a kid with toy guns? This argument that violent games produce violent adults has been around before video games.

    My opinion is the two main factors affect whether a child grows up to be violent: what moral upbringing was the child given and the mental stability of the individual. People who have not been given a good moral grounding are likely not to have good morals (murder is bad, etc.). And some individuals unfortunately suffer for mental illnesses that mean do have a good grasp of reality and their actions are based on a false premise.

    These problems preexisted video games or toy guns because they are inherent in problems with one raising a child and the fact some have a very grasp of reality.

    Blaming video games is convenient because is absolves those who have a parental type responsibility (not just the parents) in a child's life from any blame for either not teaching morals or not paying attention to the signs of mental illness. I know both are difficult.

    The problem is eliminating violent video games, guns, etc. will not stop violence. The flaw is not dealing with human frialties when you see them.

  • On the post: Once Again, Courts Struggle With Whether Or Not Forcing You To Decrypt Your Computer Is Unconstitutional

    madasahatter ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2013 @ 01:17pm

    Re: Could very well be different decryption schemes

    I have wondered if the problem is they are assuming NTFS format and have Linux format such as ext4. Windows is notorious for having trouble reading Linux formats.

    Also, if they are claiming a login password as encryption I can provide a number Linux live CD/DVD probably would allow access to the data.

  • On the post: Once Again, Courts Struggle With Whether Or Not Forcing You To Decrypt Your Computer Is Unconstitutional

    madasahatter ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2013 @ 01:11pm

    Re: Re:

    That is the DO(in)J's problem with laziness or ineptitude. If they what method worked on the first drive then set a battery to decrypt each drive starting with "known". Is there any technical reason the drives must be decrypted serially?

  • On the post: Utah Sheriff Claims Copyright On Mugshot Photos To Avoid Releasing Them

    madasahatter ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2013 @ 08:47am

    Re:

    Interesting, but I understand if there is a copyright it is created when the work is made and I am not sure about copyrights for something mugshots. So, as Mike noted, there may be an enforcable copyright claim here unless there is a law specifically stating Utah state and local governments (or state and local governments) documents are automatically public domain. Mike is citing federal law which appears to vague on this point and I do not if Utah has any law concerning this.

  • On the post: Once Again, Courts Struggle With Whether Or Not Forcing You To Decrypt Your Computer Is Unconstitutional

    madasahatter ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2013 @ 11:39am

    Decryption

    If one drive was decrypted I would expect about the same level of difficulty in decrypting the other. I am assuming whoever did each drive is the same person and would probably use the same level of encryption on both drives wiht a different key.

  • On the post: White House Also Releases Report On Patent Problems

    madasahatter ( profile ), 04 Jun, 2013 @ 03:51pm

    A Harsh Solution

    If a shyter for a troll loses a the case and associated principals:

    1. They personally liable for all the defendants costs; if they cannot pay then a minimum 10 years for fraud.

    2. Permanent disbarment without an reinstatement possible.

    3. Invalidation of all patents owned by the troll - directly or indirectly through bogus shell companies.

    4. Refund all money collected with 15% year interest. If unable to pay all the principals are personally liable and if unable to pay each gets 10 years for fraud. Permanent forfeture of any professional licenses (MD, PE, CPA, etc) with no reinstatement allowed.

    5. The only "exemption" is in the case of a company/person actively producing a product using the patent in their products. This is needed to define trolling.

    Harsh penalties with real hard prison time might convince some that risks are not worth it and convince more defendants to fight.

    However I doubt the 9 Seniles aka US Supreme Court would let these proposed penalties stand.

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