tom 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (374)

• On the post: Pennsylvania Prosecutor Built A Surveillance Network Using Forfeiture Funds And Compromised Chinese Cameras

  

  tom ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2019 @ 02:55pm

  So the DA has used stolen money and compromised cameras to setup a camera network to increase the haul of stolen money? And invited his nearby friends to get in on the action? Nothing to see here, move along Citizen.

• On the post: Chuck Yeager Sues Airbus For Mentioning That Chuck Yeager Broke The Sound Barrier

  

  tom ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2019 @ 03:53pm

  While Gen Yeager might own some rights to his name, any rights to the event probably belong to the US Air Force which was funding the program when Yeager flew the X1 faster then sound.

• On the post: Ninth Circuit Upholds Its Previous Declaration That Cops Stealing Your Stuff Doesn't Violate The Constitution

  

  tom ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2019 @ 03:35pm

  Since the victims in this case now have a court ruling that a theft did happen, the names of the Officers committing said theft, and a list of the items stolen, the victims should file a theft complaint against the officers with the state's version of the FBI.

• On the post: New Mexico City Starts Crowdfunding Effort To Pay For Its Stupid Defense Of Constitutional Violations

  

  tom ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2019 @ 05:09am

  So 10 years qualifies as Permanent for placing a statue but Life + 75 years for Copyright qualifies as Limited? What are these judges smoking and why are they not sharing with the rest of us?

• On the post: Appeals Court Says An IP Address Is 'Tantamount To A Computer's Name' While Handing The FBI Another NIT Win

  

  tom ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2019 @ 08:14pm

  For most ISP setups, the IP address the ISP hands out goes to the modem/router. The modem/router then hands out a NATed address to any devices on the customer side. If you have the IP address AND a Time, you should be able to find the MAC address of the modem/router in the DHCP server log(assuming such was kept). With that you might be able to tie to a particular modem/router and derive the account using that device. Unless the ISP can read the DHCP logs from the modem/router, you can't identify any of the devices that received private IPs from the modem/router. Gets even harder if the customer has the ISP modem in bridge mode and provided their own router.

• On the post: Power Outage For Federal Court Computer System Screws Up Three Months Worth Of Job Applications?!?

  

  tom ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2019 @ 11:02am

  To be fair, TFA does mention 'service provider' as the one suffering the outage and loss. But all that really does is add questions about who's responsibility it is to make sure the service provider has proper backup/recovery processes. Also maybe a FIOA request to find out who said service provider is so we know who to avoid using.

• On the post: Epic Accuses Cheating Minor Of Continuing To Promote Cheat Software Even After Lawsuit

  

  tom ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2019 @ 10:46am

  Re: Sue the Mom

  ^^ This. Mother can no longer claim she didn't know. Might have worked for the first claim Epic made, but no longer. She knows her kid is doing this and appears to be making no effective effort to shut him down. IMO - Epic is going about this all wrong. They should file a report with the IRS claiming the kid likely isn't filing Income Tax returns for his sales. The IRS does have jurisdiction to investigate and bring charges for failure to file + penalty and interest on unpaid taxes. As a bonus, Epic might get a percentage of all tax recovered. Also likely that when Mama gets an IRS audit notice she will get somewhat more interested in the legal mess her kid is getting her into.

• On the post: Federal Gov't Gives Customs Officers Permission To Break Social Media Platform Rules Forbidding Fake Accounts

  

  tom ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2019 @ 10:51am

  Stock up on popcorn. This could turn into an entertaining event as several entities with deep pockets argue over just how enforceable TOS are and the penalties for deliberately violating them.

• On the post: Indiana Appeals Court Decides Badmouthing A Cop On Facebook Is A Crime

  

  tom ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2019 @ 12:31pm

  She is lucky they didn't charge her with some type of threatened domestic terrorism. She didn't just threaten the officer that arrested her son but everyone that works in the jail. Some poor janitor that works there could read that threat and feel some degree of concern. Same for a contract electrician there to fix a problem.

  In today's world, you can't assume that this is the harmless rantings of a pissed off grieving mother.

• On the post: Judge Wants To Know Who's Behind Devin Nunes' Cow's And Mom's Twitter Account

  

  tom ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2019 @ 10:13am

  Re: Re:

  Actually have a pretty good idea. Handed out by a DHCP server that keeps a log of the MAC address and a time/date record of when it was handed out and how long the lease has left. Baring the end user spoofing the MAC, it does tie it to a specific device. If it is a PTD, likely could be cross referenced to a SIM card and thus to a specific user. Given that all modern PTD include a GPS module, with a time/date stamp, you now can get a location down to the accuracy of the GPS unit, likely a few feet. Close enough to determine what state someone is in. A desktop probably won't have a GPS module but that hasn't kept Google from having my location to within a block or so in a urban location and a few miles in a rural setting. Not enough to prove specific end user for MPAA purposes but maybe enough to determine venue for a lawsuit. IMO - Nunes is a idiot for even trying this. If you go into politics, best plan on growing a thick skin.

• On the post: TSA's Expensive Scanners Can't Figure Out Afros Or Turbans, So Guess Who's Getting Searched More Often

  

  tom ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2019 @ 10:16am

  The scanners also have problems with the difference between a colorful empty glass container and a steel sphere full of high explosive. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/28/tsa-bans-star-wars-galaxys-edge-thermal-detonator-coke-bottles.html

• On the post: Judge Wants To Know Who's Behind Devin Nunes' Cow's And Mom's Twitter Account

  

  tom ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2019 @ 05:53am

  I would be surprised if Twitter doesn't know who the account holders are and where they were when each tweet happened down to the accuracy of the GPS in the Personalized Tracking Devices used to make the tweets. Even if they came from a desktop, IP address + time stamp would likely give a close location. Again, something a company profiting from targeted advertising would know. A VPN might allow for anonymous tweeting but many of those have proven less then truly anonymous.

  As far as venue, all the judge needs is a binary Yes the tweets in question came from Virginia, No they didn't. Based on that answer either dismiss for lack of venue or allow to proceed to discovery where the Constitutional questions could be argued.

• On the post: Woman Complains About Trooper's Behavior, Ends Up Getting A Whole Bunch Of Cops Fired For Timecard Fraud

  

  tom ( profile ), 26 Aug, 2019 @ 04:26pm

  If Officer Casamassima was of retirement age, very likely he had enough hearing loss that he wasn't hearing a lot of what she was saying. If she had an accent and the normal higher pitch that most women do, even if her English was perfect, he might well only hear enough to register it as some incomprehensible gibberish. Still not an excuse to yell at her. And one would think that after that many years on the job, he would have attended a few seminars on "How to deal with folks you can't understand." Maybe there should be a further investigation into the overall training the Troopers receive.

• On the post: Federal Elections Committee Chair Is Sick Of Donald Trump's Bullshit: Put Up Or Shut Up About Voter Fraud

  

  tom ( profile ), 26 Aug, 2019 @ 06:27am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  The system isn't broken. The rules were well known to all concerned and have been in place since 1787. Hillary chose to campaign in California which by all accounts, she had wrapped up even with no campaigning. Her husband, Bill, the guy who had won 4 executive level campaigns, begged her in early October to campaign in many of those states where she lost by a few thousand votes. She ignored him and instead listened to her overpaid advisors. The rest is history.

• On the post: Federal Elections Committee Chair Is Sick Of Donald Trump's Bullshit: Put Up Or Shut Up About Voter Fraud

  

  tom ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2019 @ 08:22pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  But he did win the election. The question no one has been able to answer is: Did he win because of or in spite of the meddling of those Russian kids?

• On the post: Rogue 'Smart' Ovens Again Highlight How Dumb Tech Is Often The Smarter Choice

  

  tom ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2019 @ 04:36am

  Re:

  Worse. You have to worry that you might accidentally turn the oven on while checking menu options in the Hawaiian hotel where you are enjoying a week long vacation. One might think that if the thing was so smart, it might include a 'notify owner I am turning on' option.

• On the post: What3words Is A Clever Way Of Communicating Position Very Simply, But Do We Really Want To Create A Monopoly For Location Look-ups?

  

  tom ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2019 @ 04:42am

  The real answer is to make sure the 911 system(or local equivalent) can automagically obtain the GPS location from the calling device. No app needed. Call 911, the GPS location pops up on the screen.

  Oddly, this was the reason given for mandating that all phones had to have GPS capability. Then the mandating authorities failed to update the 911 systems to take advantage of the GPS data.

• On the post: As The NSA Declares Phone Record Program Dead, Trump Administration Asks For A Permanent Reauthorization

  

  tom ( profile ), 19 Aug, 2019 @ 08:17am

  I find it hilarious that folks are worried about the NSA and saying nothing about the phone company's data collections. From TFA, the NSA isn't collecting data anymore,(at least that is being admitted), they are/were asking for subsets of the data the phone companies have on every phone user. We already know the phone companies are using said data themselves and selling it to anyone willing to pay the asking price. Time to quit worrying about government agency data collection and start worrying about private corporation data collection.

• On the post: Attorney General William Barr Declares War On The General Public

  

  tom ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2019 @ 02:12pm

  Its all about the budget. You don't get law enforcement increases if you say overall crime is going down, violent crime is going down, shooting crime is going down, etc. The moment a govt agency says 'Mission Accomplished', their budget gets cut. The moment Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, NASA's budget got slashed. When the Cold War was declared won, the defense budget was slashed. Other agencies noticed and learned. Now a mission is never accomplished. The moment the old goals are being achieved, new more expensive goals are set, requiring more money and more people.

• On the post: With Tumblr Sale, Verizon Continues To Stumble In Bungled Pivot Away From Telecom

  

  tom ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2019 @ 08:56am

  Wonder how much Pornhub's rumored bid was? Of course, they may have figured that by now, damage done and too much time passed to recover even if they bought Tumblr and allowed porn back.

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