Dan 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (425)

• On the post: Court Says It's Unconstitutional For Trump To Block People On Twitter, But Doesn't Actually Order Him To Stop

  

  Dan ( profile ), 24 May, 2018 @ 06:51pm

  FOIA vs. CFAA

  This ruling makes me wonder what would happen if the FOIA and the CFAA had a deformed child, out of wedlock?

• On the post: President Trump Thinks Basic Phone Security Is Simply Too Inconvenient

  

  Dan ( profile ), 22 May, 2018 @ 04:53pm

  Re: Re: Mountain or molehill?

  I just question how much usable stuff someone could get, that isn't already available via other means. I could imagine, that's how Trump sees it. I know the GPS would be a non issue. And I have never seen anything done on how much a mic picks up while pocketed.
  
  There is also the other issue, how long it takes to upgrade things. I seem to remember Obama using an outdated Blackberry, because they couldn't "secure" an Android or iPhone. Trump would see having to wait, as ridiculous. I would agree with him on that.

• On the post: President Trump Thinks Basic Phone Security Is Simply Too Inconvenient

  

  Dan ( profile ), 22 May, 2018 @ 04:39pm

  Re: Re: Mountain or molehill?

  The mic is a good point. Taken. The camera and GPS, not so much.

• On the post: President Trump Thinks Basic Phone Security Is Simply Too Inconvenient

  

  Dan ( profile ), 22 May, 2018 @ 02:39pm

  Mountain or molehill?

  Serious problem? I don't see it from a practical standpoint (for any president). The President goes from the White House, to Marine One, to Air force One, to the presidential limo, rinse and repeat. Any one of those vehicles has a secure link. And we are worried about the chance he might use a cellphone for a fleeting moment in-between? Methinks they are more worried about his ability to tweet in general, not so much the security level of said tweet. What secret could he give away in a 30 second walk, that he doesn't give to the press already, just to show he can?

• On the post: L.A. Lawmakers Looking To Take Legal Action Against Google For Not Solving Long-Running City Traffic Problems

  

  Dan ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2018 @ 12:24pm

  Re: Re: The easiest solution is not a technical one

  As an additional note, I can see where a city might say that an app has made congestion worse. But it's all about perception for those side streets, not even close to an actual analysis of overall traffic flow, pre and post app. By their very function, nav apps distribute traffic more evenly over more routes to achieve the best travel times. That being the case, streets once not traveled so often fill up a bit, and [in theory] the traffic on the main through-ways is lessened. But of course, not everybody is using the apps to get around, so there's that.

• On the post: L.A. Lawmakers Looking To Take Legal Action Against Google For Not Solving Long-Running City Traffic Problems

  

  Dan ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2018 @ 11:47am

  The easiest solution is not a technical one

  Seems to me, the easiest solution is for the city to make Baxter Street one way going uphill. Drivers won't have to deal with gravity to maintain control. The apps will update themselves with the change.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:53am

  Re: Shoot first, issue commands... eh, eventually

  But had one of the other officers already issued an order to disarm? That is the piece we don't know. I find it unlikely that those officers trying to deescalate the situation, would not have said, 'put the knife down' as a first step.
  
  The fact that Kisela did not repeat a command already given, is something the court would be willing to overlook.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:44am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Not my usual stance, in this case.

  Thans for clearing that up.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:35am

  Re: Non established rights

  I see the exception, "except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger;". That seems clear. Police are a civilian militia.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:26am

  Re: With friends like these...

  Hi Guy,
  
  I agree that the present environment as a result of other cases is not a good one. But we can't allow that to influence an individual ruling, just because it happens to give legal ammunition to the other side. That would be implying that the one side is always wrong.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:17am

  Re: Re: With Apologies

  At issue would be, if the suspect was given time to comply. Not something we know from this post.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:15am

  Re: Re: Not my usual stance, in this case.

  "Also, the lack of tactical command often exhibited by the US police probably also made matters worse, how many of the three officer there were screaming commands at the suspect."
  
  Yes, there are a lot of facts about this case that are not evident in this posting, hence my original disclaimer pointing that out.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:12am

  Re: Re: Not my usual stance, in this case.

  I thought derivation of rights could incur criminal liability. I guess it depends, which rights.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:09am

  Re: Re: Not my usual stance, in this case.

  I stand corrected.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 11:08am

  Re: Re: Not my usual stance, in this case.

  Agreed. The other two officers had a different assessment. That is a job performance issue. The court was not deciding on that.

• On the post: Supreme Court Says Shooting A Non-Threatening Person Without Warning Is Just Good Police Work

  

  Dan ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2018 @ 09:54am

  Not my usual stance, in this case.

  Ordinarily, I look at police use of deadly force with an extreme amount of skepticism. I always side on the principle that public safety, trumps officer safety (perpetrators included). That is their job, after all. In this particular case, as described by this posting (big 'IF' here), my opinion is the Supreme Court was correct. The officer was trying to protect another civilian, not himself.
  
  If an officer orders you to drop a weapon, gives you a chance to do so and you don't, all bets are off. Even if you are not brandishing said weapon.
  
  Having said that, it is a valid point that this decision will embolden some officers to act as unprofessionally as this one did. Could he have handled this better? Most certainly. But the issue before the court, was not his job performance, but rather criminal liability. I don't see any, if the weapon holder was in a mental state to comply. The very arguments given by Mr. Cushing, indicate this was indeed the situation.

• On the post: Wired's Big Cover Story On Facebook Gets Key Legal Point Totally Backwards, Demonstrating Why CDA 230 Is Actually Important

  

  Dan ( profile ), 20 Feb, 2018 @ 12:31pm

  I seem to remember some case law...

  Somebody help me out here. I seem to remember some case law that implied that if a service provider was completely ignorant of forum content they were blameless, and that if they knew of the content and didn't take it down [fast enough], they were liable. The effect being that it was legally better to not moderate.

• On the post: Verizon Folds To Government Pressure To Blacklist Huawei Without A Shred Of Public Evidence

  

  Dan ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2018 @ 06:37am

  Evidence, schevidence

  Technically, there is also no public evidence that the NSA intercepts and modifies shipments of Cisco routing equipment either. But I seem to remember some photographs...
  
  https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/photos-of-an-nsa-upgrade-factory-show-cisco-router-getting-implant/

• On the post: Epic Sues 14 Year Old It Accuses Of Cheating In Videogames After He Counternotices a DMCA On His YouTube Video

  

  Dan ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2017 @ 08:22am

  Why isn't this considered a derivative work?

  I can see the case of violating the EULA, but not copyright. Patching [any] code should classify the modified code as a derivative work, thus not a copyright violation. Not saying that the new code would then be eligible for a new copyright, for the one doing the patching. That would be a bit of a mess.

• On the post: Cop Loses Immunity After Shooting, Headstomping Gravely-Injured Suspect

  

  Dan ( profile ), 06 Nov, 2017 @ 05:12pm

  Aren't 9 bullets enough?!

  If we are going to pass laws limiting magazine capacity, maybe it should include those used by law enforcement.

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