Keith 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (47) comment rss

  • On the post: Berkeley High School May Dump Science Labs For Favoring White Kids?

    Keith ( profile ), 28 Dec, 2009 @ 09:36am

    Next comes the handicapping

    Is this school really choosing to genericize and homogenize to the lowest common denominator?

    Science is the foundation of technical mastery and is critical to the strength of a society.

    I hope I am speaking to the choir when I say that I lament for the minds that will suffer for a lack of education, and for the businesses, families and communities that will never see those undeveloped talents take hold and bear fruit.

  • On the post: Less Than Expected Sales Of Beatles Rockband Shows It's Not Just About The Music

    Keith ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2009 @ 02:25pm

    All the other bands...

    All of the other bands mentioned have been willing to release their music for Rock Band 1 and 2.

    I recall reading a statement along the lines that the whole point of the Beatles Rock Band was "to protect the integrity of the music." Translated into English: "We're too vain to become just another bunch of tracks in the core game."

    The joy of Rock Band is in (a) gameplay and (b) the broad selection of music. Rock Band is loaded with great music. I personally have lost count of how many songs I have in my library - songs from great artists spanning 4 decades of music.

    So now the promoters of the Beatles come along and DEMAND that users swap disks to play just them. Vanity is what killed sales.

  • On the post: Court Says No To Feds Attempt To Delay Handing Over Lobbying Info On Telco Immunity

    Keith ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2009 @ 08:33am

    Piece of Cake

    "State Secrets"

  • On the post: Another Court Says Police Don't Violate The Law In Putting A GPS Device On Your Car

    Keith ( profile ), 11 May, 2009 @ 03:51pm

    Seems legal ... with limits

    I'd challenge that this should be treated like phone tapping, and require a court order.

  • On the post: The Straight Dope On Why Charging For News Online Is A Bad Idea

    Keith ( profile ), 06 May, 2009 @ 02:00pm

    Kindle

    Amazon's recent release of the latest Kindle may be print media's only hope for charging.

  • On the post: 20th Century Fox Sends Takedowns Over Its Own YouTube Mashup Contest

    Keith ( profile ), 06 May, 2009 @ 12:56pm

    Something's fishy

    I smell a lawsuit...

  • On the post: Australian High Court Says Electronic TV Guide Isn't Copyright Infringement

    Keith ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2009 @ 02:41pm

    Re:

    Exactly

  • On the post: More Congress Critters Want To Track And Tax Your Driving Habits

    Keith ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2009 @ 12:51pm

    Re: Re:

    Not entirely:

    Has anybody checked to see if Oberstar is owner/investor in a GPS manufacturer?

  • On the post: Newspapers, The Recording Industry And A Misplaced Sense Of Entitlement

    Keith ( profile ), 27 Apr, 2009 @ 10:49am

    History repeats itself ... again

    I'm sure the Buggy Whip Holder manufacturers thought they were an important part of the transportation industry, but look where that got them.

  • On the post: Suggestion: Engineers Go On A Patent Strike

    Keith ( profile ), 22 Apr, 2009 @ 09:02am

    Not gonna happen

    There are too many engineers looking for an edge to promote themselves. Even if some went on stike, the rest would continue swooping in like vultures, cutting out the ethical engineers in the ongoing Patent land grab.

  • On the post: Court Rejects Plan To Broadcast Tenenbaum Trial

    Keith ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2009 @ 09:29am

    Film Project Opportunity

    The broadcast has been canceled, but the transcripts and evidence presented will still become public at the conclusion of the project.

    Anybody interested in a film project?

  • On the post: Just As We Need More Economics Education, Why Is California Looking To Limit It?

    Keith ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2009 @ 09:25am

    Missing the Bigger Picture

    Sadly, both sides of the issue miss a more important point: Most of us learned very little from the programs that were given in high school.

    High school economics is a joke: very little is covered and examples frequently have little to do with the real world. Furthermore, the direct association between Economics and Politics is completely ignored.

    Shifting the focus from economics to personal finance isn't going to hurt the problem because the current approach doesn't actually help.

    It strikes me that the right answer is to teach both ... much more of both. Oh, and take a hint from college programs around the country: Use real world case studies to help students see the real picture.

  • On the post: NBC Universal's Great Idea: Let's Make It Harder And More Expensive To Watch The Olympics

    Keith ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2009 @ 02:19pm

    Don't worry about it...

    I'm sure plenty of "pirates" will start looking for more new and creative ways to "infringe" by making coverage freely available after the fact.

    Truly, I am looking forward to how this one plays out.

  • On the post: Going Too Far In Kowtowing To Copyright Holders

    Keith ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2009 @ 10:22am

    Re: Re:

    CST: You assume people actually adhere to the law in this situation. All it really takes to file a DMCA takedown notice is to file the DMCA takedown notice. The application of this segment of law has devolved into "ask [for the takedown] and you shall receive", regardless of actual legality. Fair use and other tests are often not performed until after the content has already been taken down.

    In other words, you can use fair use to fight a DMCA takedown request, but that will never prevent an asshole from filing it or from dragging you through the legal hassle.

  • On the post: Overly Aggressive Automated Takedowns Hit Scribd

    Keith ( profile ), 09 Apr, 2009 @ 08:10pm

    Better than ...

    An occassional, easily repairable software glich is better than participating in a shambles like the one going on in the music industry.

  • On the post: Facebook Overreacts: Decides All Of The Pirate Bay Is Illegal

    Keith ( profile ), 09 Apr, 2009 @ 09:28am

    I normally don't side with WH, but ...

    I'm gonna side with WH on this one.

    First, all of you who claim that TPB does not infringe are correct. TPB does not infringe: they create an infrastructure that facilitates file sharing. Some users of that infrastructure have chosen to share files which, according current legal definitions, do infringe.

    Second, I read a report (here? somewhere else? sorry no reference) that basically showed that link popularity is frequently exponention, with only a small percentage of content commanding a large percentage of hits. As WH notes, all of the Top 100 links on TPB are "infringing copies" (again legal definition, not mine). This just supports the well established fact that a LARGE PERCENTAGE of content linked by TPB is infringing (again, current legal definition).

    All Facebook is doing is proactively protecting themselves from potential litigations. Sure this means the bad guys' lawyers are winning, but it doesn't mean the war is over. For all you guys out there with legit content, why not focus on the next workaround?

    As Facebook is demonstrating here, TPB's reputation is starting to cause legal concerns for big companies. So what? TPB is not the only torrent provider, nor are torrents the only solution.

    Are all of you legitimate content providers going to use this whole situation as a reason to get even more creative, or are you going to sit around complaining about your problems like the RIAA and print media?

  • On the post: The Contrarian Banker Who Avoided Bad Loans… And Is Now Buying Up The Scraps

    Keith ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2009 @ 11:33am

    Gotcha TA. Spot on. The CMO assets were grossly overvalued when they hit the street. In the current market, they are now grossly undervalued, even after accounting for future expectations of defaults and foreclosures.

    "i don't think you guys get it"? We, and especially Andy, do get it. The wikipedia entry on Andy is thin but still accurate.

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

    As it shows, he's absolutely willing to invest in debt, when it is priced right.

    Investors are now so afraid to hold these assets that they are a good, cheap investment for those willing to buy them. As you suggested, he will buy them at a discount, although probably for more on the order of 60 cents on the dollar.

  • On the post: The Contrarian Banker Who Avoided Bad Loans… And Is Now Buying Up The Scraps

    Keith ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2009 @ 11:03am

    Seen it before

    This isn't the first time Andy has bet on the bust, nor is it likely to be the last. He has a trademark personality for spotting the bubble, protecting his business on the front end, and then profiting on the back end. It's a shame the a-holes that caused the problem get to compete with him.

    BTW, TA, when you say [Andy] will "start to try to collect on these bad loans", what do you mean? That kind of a question makes me think you have no idea what you are talking about.

  • On the post: Journalistic Regulatory Capture

    Keith ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2009 @ 07:17pm

    Astute Observations

    One more reason online journalism is destroying print media...

  • On the post: Those Who Surf Facebook And YouTube At Work Are Often More Productive

    Keith ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2009 @ 01:45pm

    Busy, busy, busy

    You mean reading Techdirt doesn't count as work?!? Now I have to come up with a new excuse!

Next >>