Matt T. 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (70)

• On the post: Chris Dodd Extends SOPA 'Olive Branch' To Silicon Valley… And Proceeds To Bash Them Over The Head With It

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 23 Feb, 2012 @ 10:42am

  Re: Re: Re:

  One more time, with feeling:
  

  "Free speech" is not short for "consequence-free speech".

• On the post: Polish Prime Minister Steps Up His Anti-ACTA Efforts After Hosting 7-Hour Open Q&A Via IRC

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2012 @ 05:03pm

  Re:

  Only it didn't work, at least not how the MAFIAA wanted it to.
  
  For them, "working" would be letting them voice their misguided, unsupported views without having to worry about interference or the other side questioning them and resenting actual facts. In that sense, IRC definitely didn't - and couldn't - work.

• On the post: Australian Government Holds Secret Anti-Piracy Meetings; The Public Is Not Invited

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2012 @ 05:18pm

  Re: Re: Gee... anything else you'd like with your plate of everything?

  You're right, congress members aren't Obama's cronies.
  
  Both congress and Obama are the corporations' cronies.

• On the post: NY Times: RIAA & MPAA Exaggerate Piracy Impact Stats… But We're Going To Assume They're True Anyway

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2012 @ 07:49am

  But...But...$100 Million Movie!

  But how can I /make/ a $100 million movie and have a profit on it? That's the problem with your new /business/ model /idea/.
  
  I never thought I'd miss OOTB...

• On the post: DailyDirt: Teaching Technology

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2012 @ 06:35pm

  Re:

  "...they know where to find the information they need and how to implement what they find."
  
  "There is a need for a standardized something to put on ones resume in order to get an interview..."

  
  The question here is whether these two goals are satisfied by universities, or only the second one. IE, whether they are more concerned with education or credentials.
  
  For the most part, autodidacts can handle the first on their own, but once online learning can supply reliable credentials, the second will be in reach of a lot of people at a very low cost. We might even see big universities react the same way that Hollywood studios are reacting to this loss of control.

• On the post: Megaupload Indictment Shows That Google Does Actively Police Against Its Ads Showing Near Infringement

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2012 @ 07:33am

  Double Dipping

  Of course the entertainment industry won't stop claiming that Google profits off of copyright infringement, but that doesn't mean that they won't use this evidence to say, "See? Even Google dropped Megaupload because they are such a den of piracy! Clearly this proves their guilt!"

• On the post: Jonathan Coulton Destroys The Rationale Behind The Megaupload Seizure With A Single Tweet; Follows Up With Epic Blog Post

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 23 Jan, 2012 @ 07:20pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  You don't play many video games, do you?

• On the post: Actress Who Wished To Remain Anonymous And Under 40 Is Now Officially Neither

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2012 @ 07:51am

  Re: Re: Telling

  Looks like Jay's argument was...
  
  *puts on sunglasses*
  
  Dead on arrival.

• On the post: Why Adversarial Hearings Are Important: Rulings Change When The Other Side Is Heard

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 06 Dec, 2011 @ 07:41am

  But...but piracy!

  If we don't abandon all of our civil rights, the pirates and terrorists have WON!

• On the post: Mike McCurry Once Yelled 'Hands Off The Internet,' And Now Embraces Massive Internet Regulations In SOPA?

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2011 @ 07:27pm

  Why don't we ask him?

  Mike, have you emailed him or linked him a copy of the article? I'd be interested to see what (if anything) he has to say about this.

• On the post: Free To Play Video Game Makes Over $2 Million Selling Just One Item [Update: Or Not]

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2011 @ 03:51pm

  Re:

  The article didn't make it clear whether the item was cosmetic or practical in-game, but as a video game player I find it extremely objectionable to give people a pay-to-win advantage.
  
  (I put all the blame with the developer in these situations, as I can relate to people who would rather buy an item than grind for hours to unlock it).

• On the post: Free To Play Video Game Makes Over $2 Million Selling Just One Item [Update: Or Not]

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2011 @ 03:11pm

  Disappointing

  Damn, I was hoping for an article about Team Fortress 2 Hats...

• On the post: Ubuntu's Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator For Life: 'Whole Patent System Is A Sham'

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2011 @ 08:40am

  Re: Bah

  Sure, this open source business model may work for a developer with half a million dollars to burn and a passion for free software, but it would never work for a patent troll who can't innovate his way out of a wet paper bag (patent pending)!

• On the post: Learning From Beethoven: Speeding Up The Exchange Of Scientific Knowledge

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2011 @ 06:04am

  Patent Case?

  I can see them getting sued for violating quite a few vaguely-worded, unused patents with this plan.

• On the post: Microsoft Convinces Yet Another Company to Cough Up 'Protection' Money

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2011 @ 12:45pm

  I'd just like to interject.

  What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
  
  Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
  
  There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

• On the post: Pirate Party Takes 9% Of The Vote In Berlin Elections, Wins A Bunch Of Seats In Parliament

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2011 @ 11:57am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Were you here back in 2008 or so when angry dude weird harold trolled Techdirt? Those were the days...

• On the post: Owners Of Old, Abandoned Hotel Threaten Guy Who Photographed It With Copyright Infringement

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2011 @ 08:15pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: The Architect, not the owners, hold the copyright monopoly here.

  Just like how it's illegal to violate copyrights and therefore there are no people violating copyrights?

  
  Only that's not illegal, dumbass.
  It's a civil offense.

• On the post: Court Says Sending Too Many Emails To Someone Is Computer Hacking

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 09 Aug, 2011 @ 12:07pm

  Why has no one compared this to the idea of a sit-in? In the same way that a sit-in overloads normal operating procedures to inhibit business as a form of protest, this block emails from coming in (albeit unintentionally). The way I see it, this is just another form of protest.
  
  Also, I remember a post that was probably on techdirt, but maybe not, that compared DDoS attacks to digital sit-ins.

• On the post: Understanding The Decline And Fall Of The Major Record Labels

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2009 @ 04:03pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  All I've ever heard of Hegel was his Dialectic...something about the thesis/antithesis-synthesis...

• On the post: A Look Behind The Curtain: How A Patent Hoarder Makes Money

  

  Matt T. ( profile ), 26 Oct, 2009 @ 04:44am

  "...promise the ones who settle quickly a cut of what they can get from the others."
  
  It's like a Macon's Bill #2 from Hell...

Next >>