tom 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (374)

• On the post: Because Of Course There Are Copyright Implications With Confederacy Monuments

  

  tom ( profile ), 19 Aug, 2017 @ 09:26am

  So the vandals that tore down the Confederate statue after the Charleston rumble might be guilty of a copyright violation in addition to destruction of public/private property charges? Interesting. Stupid but interesting.

• On the post: Wall Street Merger Mania Is Driving Us Toward One Single, Horrible ISP – Probably Named Comcast

  

  tom ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2017 @ 06:38pm

  Why keep spending money contributing to elected officials to create monopoly like rules when you can just buy the competition and have the real thing?
  
  Both AT&T and Cox were advertising Gig speed service here until Google announced we were no longer on their build out plans. Gig speed advertising disappeared almost overnight and extra added service charges started showing up. Both for Internet service and classic/substitute TV service.

• On the post: FCC Begins Weakening The Definition Of Quality Broadband Deployment To Aid Lazy, Uncompetitive ISPs

  

  tom ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2017 @ 09:31am

  For those in the US, expend a little energy and attend your Congress critter's town halls. Ask about ISP speeds and privacy policies. Since most folks are asking "asked and answered" questions about ACA, budget, recent events, N Korea,etc, expect to get either a deer in headlight look or political babble. Bring up that the US is well behind much of the world in speed and data availability and why does your Congress critter support our poor ranking? For those with Twitter accounts, post on Trump's account. Ask why he supports our 'poor poor ISP speed offerings.' During the 2018 election cycles, if there is a debate, try to ask the same questions of the assembled candidates. Squalling about it on TD does little good. Most critters and appointed officials don't look here.

• On the post: How The DMCA's Digital Locks Provision Allowed A Company To Delete A URL From Adblock Lists

  

  tom ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2017 @ 11:00am

  This also seems to infringe on the 1st Amendment protected right of freedom of expression. The authors of Easylist are expressing opinions about which sites should be blocked by users of software provided by other authors. Easylist itself blocks nothing. It is merely a compiled list of domain names.
  
  I have expressed my opinion about the domain functionalclam.com by adding it to the list in my edge firewall device that blocks all traffic.

• On the post: ACLU Sues DC Metro For Banning 'First Amendment' (Literally) And Other Controversial Content

  

  tom ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2017 @ 03:29am

  The WMATA claims they ban advertisements “intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions”.
  
  Isn't the WHOLE point of advertising to influence public opinion on issues where there are varying opinions? Do I buy Cheer or Tide? Bran flakes or Count Chocula? Ford F150 or Tesla Model 3?
  
  If they fully implemented their own policy, they would ban all ads.

• On the post: Jeff Sessions Suggests He's Steering The DOJ Towards Prosecuting More Journalists

  

  tom ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2017 @ 09:49am

  Journalists used to report verified facts and followed a story to ground regardless of where it led or who it embarrassed.
  
  What passes for journalism today is often printing a bunch of opinion pieces backed up by supposition and slanted toward whatever result the 'journalist' supports. Most of today's journalist could better be described as political operatives.
  
  True journalists should have great latitude and protections while they carry out their tasks. Political operatives, not so much. The trick is figuring out when someone has switched from journalist to operative.

• On the post: Psychiatrist Files Lawsuit Over Wordless One-Star Review

  

  tom ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2017 @ 02:30pm

  If you offer a site with a rating system, either you accept the results or your site is nothing more then meaningless advertising.
  
  I would be worried about anyone that had all max high ratings. Anyone doing real work is going to have some less then optimal results.

• On the post: Canadian Man Somehow Gets Trademark On His Own County's Name, Govt. Says Legal Action Is The Only Remedy

  

  tom ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2017 @ 02:19pm

  Such an important and well meaning person needs full time escort by law enforcement to ensure that no laws are violated in his presence.

• On the post: MLB Mulls Over Opposing Trademark For New Overwatch League Logo

  

  tom ( profile ), 21 Jul, 2017 @ 05:16pm

  The NFL logo has a similar simplistic design with similar colors.
  
  Not sure how a running silhouette with a gun is close to confusing with a static silhouette with a bat watching a ball.
  
  Unless MLB is planning on creating a 3rd league called Overwatch and have already filed that application, don't see any confusion there either.

• On the post: Disney Feels The Heat As Children Lead The Cord Cutting Revolution

  

  tom ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2017 @ 08:20am

  One big problem with the current system is the splitting of programming across a family of channels. Program X is on Disney channel, Program Y is on Disney JR, Program Z is on Disney XD. The cables companies then set their tiers up so that the only way to get all the Disney channels is to buy the top tier. Same for ESPN.
  
  If Disney and others really think this cord cutting trend is an aberration, they deserve to fail.

• On the post: Court Says Gov't Has To Do More Than Say It Doesn't Believe The Property Owners If It Wants To Keep The Cash It Seized

  

  tom ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2017 @ 08:10am

  Recent studies reveal that dogs in general are far smarter then most folks give them credit for. Even if a drug dog is 100% accurate when it comes out of training, it will soon figure out that it gets a treat for an alert and that there is no punishment for a false alert, just a treat. Doesn't take the smart dog long to figure out how to play the treat game.
  
  In this case, even if the dog correctly alerted to a smell of drugs, the smell could have been residue left from a previous passenger's bag full of coke, or leftover smell from the kid's recent pot party in his house.

• On the post: Bob Murray Demands John Oliver Be Silenced… While HBO Moves Case To Federal Court

  

  tom ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2017 @ 11:26am

  One of the few ways this could be more entertaining would be to add some Zebras to the proceedings.

• On the post: Colorado Legalizes Another Vice: Texting While Driving

  

  tom ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2017 @ 03:35pm

  If someone is found guilty of reckless driving due to texting or other misuse of tech gizmos, they should be banned from owning or using both a car and the gizmo in question for at least a year if not longer. Distracted driving is on par with randomly firing a gun while blindfolded. It is easier to lose the right to own a gun(despite the 2nd amendment baring infringement) then to lose the right to drive a car or own a cell phone.

• On the post: Sheriff Defends Deputies' Lies In Court By Saying Officers Didn't Know They Were Supposed To Tell The Truth

  

  tom ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2017 @ 03:27pm

  Since there seems to have been a repeating pattern and obvious intent by much of the DA's office and Sheriff's office, charges such as false imprisonment(if anyone served time due to false testimony), and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, theft(if any fines were collected due to false testimony), conspiracy to commit theft, and maybe RICO charges should be considered.
  
  Plus a hearing should be held on stripping the officials involved of their qualified immunity so the victims can bring civil suits.

• On the post: Court: State Not Justified In Seizing Grandmother's House After Her Son Sold $140 Of Marijuana

  

  tom ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2017 @ 08:35am

  Re:

  We do tend to be a laid back folk about a lot of things that don't directly impact us personally. But when enough of us get pissed off about something, stuff happens. The problem is "Stuff happens", often makes the situation worse. When the number of folks worried about drug use in the 70's got large enough, we got the "War on Drugs." One weapon in that war was civil forfeiture, which was at first targeted at billionaire drug lords living out of country. But govt officials figured out there was more money to be had targeting normal people in the US that couldn't afford the best lawyers that billions in cash can hire.

• On the post: TV Cord Cutting Poised To Smash Records During Second Quarter

  

  tom ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2017 @ 08:24am

  Re: On-Demand vs On-Supply

  Oh they get it. And charge you a DVR rental fee + a DVR service fee. And if you want to keep more then 30 hours of recordings, you get an Enhanced DVR fee.

• On the post: Frontier Fires State Senate Leader (Who Also Worked For Frontier) For Supporting Attempts To Improve Broadband Competition

  

  tom ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2017 @ 11:45am

  I don't think WV is the only one with this issue. OK has a part time legislature as well. The session in OK ends in May so the legi-critters have 7 whole months to do other things.

• On the post: Theresa May's Plan To Regulate The Internet Won't Stop Terrorism; It Might Make Things Worse

  

  tom ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2017 @ 11:41am

  Years ago, using the public "Fight Against Child Porn" as the excuse, Politicians pressured ISPs and others to drop support of Usenet news groups. The behind the scenes reasons included pressure from media groups to stop the free xfer of files.
  
  The result was child porn traffickers moved to encrypted servers and as a result, are much harder to discover, gather evidence on and convict. So much so that the Federal government is dismissing cases rather the reveal in court how they gathered the evidence.
  
  So the knee jerk "Do Something" about child porn results in the crippling of the fight against child porn.
  
  Likely the same thing will happen here if these "Do Something" to fight terrorism suggestions become law.

• On the post: Reporter Indicted For Covering Trump Inauguration Protests

  

  tom ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2017 @ 11:29am

  Seems like the defense has video showing the suspect off to the side with other reporters. Wonder what the prosecution presented to the grand jury?
  
  One of the more dangerous things in the US is a politician, elected or appointed, that is under pressure to "Do Something" about an issue. Sounds like the case here.
  
  The prosecution will still have to convince 12 folks in a public trial.

• On the post: Court Says Password Protection Doesn't Restore An Abandoned Phone's Privacy Expectations

  

  tom ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2017 @ 05:30am

  Re:

  Better would be to charge him with improper disposal of electronic equipment into a public waterway. His own testimony states that he disposed of the phone because it didn't work. Should make for a fairly easy case. Where's the state version of the EPA when you need them?

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