misterdoug 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (98) comment rss

  • On the post: Senator Wyden Calls Out Content Companies For Wanting To Censor The Internet

    misterdoug ( profile ), 18 Jan, 2011 @ 09:57pm

    Why would it be free if it was legalized?

    Because anybody who wanted it could grow it.
    And if they didn't want to do that they could buy it from an American grower. The only thing that makes marijuana cost effective to import is the fact that it's illegal.

  • On the post: Senator Wyden Calls Out Content Companies For Wanting To Censor The Internet

    misterdoug ( profile ), 18 Jan, 2011 @ 09:47pm

    Like other freedoms, freedom of speech is great as long as the people with the most money get the most of it.

  • On the post: Mimi & Eunice: Ye Olde Technologie Killing Culture, Scribes

    misterdoug ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2011 @ 10:57pm

    Oops, my bad. My rant should have been directed the Idiot Student, not Nina.

  • On the post: Mimi & Eunice: Ye Olde Technologie Killing Culture, Scribes

    misterdoug ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2011 @ 10:55pm

    Apparently Nina is unaware of the amount of non-commercial entertainment out there that is way better than "cell phone images edited on toy computers." Or maybe Nina has been taking black-and-white worldview lessons from Bill O'Reilly.
    - Either you're for unrestricted free trade or you're a Marxist!!
    - Either you're against gay marriage or you want everybody to turn gay!!
    - Either we give movie and record companies whatever they want or we won't have any entertainment!!

    It's nice to know that a typical computer geek has a richer life than Nina.

  • On the post: The Amazing Ability Of People To Simply Ignore Data That Proves What They Believe Is Wrong

    misterdoug ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2011 @ 10:21pm

    Or politics, especially in the United States of Cognitive Dissonance.

  • On the post: New Newspaper Business Model: Create Compelling Graphic, Wait For Others To Use It… And Then Sue

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 11:57pm

    WTF?

    Registered DMCA agent?

    You're saying that filling out some forms gives you rights that people who don't fill out the forms don't have? I guess I should have known this, living in the United States of Litigation as I do.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Many Hands Make Light Work… Prove It For $1M?

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 11:47pm

    The hospitalization one is obvious

    Prize #1 is sponsored by an HMO trying to minimize its hospitalization claims. The stated goal is "to change health care delivery as we know it ? from an emphasis on caring for the individual after they get sick to a true HEALTH care system."

    Sorry, a "true HEALTH care system" knows what doctors have been saying forever, that the best way to prevent unnecessary hospitalization is to cover checkups and other preventative care.

    "But then people will run to the doctor every time they get a sniffle!" Fine. A thousand 10-minute checkups that uncover no problems cost far less than one major illness that isn't diagnosed soon enough, which is what happens when people put off going to the doctor because they can't afford it. My best friend of 30 years died from a highly treatable form of leukemia for that exact reason. She always worked at shit jobs for low pay and no health benefits, and she put off going to the doctor until she felt terrible. By that time it was too late and she was dead in 3 weeks.

    So yeah, I've got an attitude about this issue.

  • On the post: Congresswoman Threatens To Sue Newspaper For 'Liable' Over Critical Column

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 11:15pm

    She has a bright future in the private sector

    Her campaign slogan proclaims "Corrine Delivers!"

    Good news! Pizza Hut is hiring.

  • On the post: JFK On Secrecy And Censorship

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 11:11pm

    And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment - not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"

    Somebody should clamp headphones on Rupert Murdoch's head and force him to listen to that over and over for about a month.

  • On the post: New Newspaper Business Model: Create Compelling Graphic, Wait For Others To Use It… And Then Sue

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 04:02pm

    Yes it does seem like this would benefit them

    I wonder if the newspaper's server logs could be used to show that the number of hits they received from the sites using the image represent a net gain over the claimed damage.

    Sometimes damage amounts in lawsuits are like real estate depreciation. Legal, but not based on fact.

  • On the post: Will Visa, MasterCard, Paypal, BofA & Apple Terminate Relationships With The NYTimes For Revealing Military Secrets?

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 11:39am

    My guess: 1) the people who make decisions at those companies probably haven't thought much about it yet since it only happened the day before yesterday, and 2) terminating their relationship with WikiLeaks probably costs them little or nothing, whereas the NYT is a valuable advertising platform.

    There's no such thing as business ethics. There's only business.

  • On the post: More & Bigger Mistakes Discovered In Homeland Security's Domain Seizures

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 10:51am

    Where do all the Anti-Big-Government types stand on this?

    It's strange that the people who stomp their feet and foam at the mouth against Big Government are usually cheerleaders for the Dept of Homeland Security. It was marketed by Bush-Cheney Inc.? as being not another big government bureaucracy, but a small department that would coordinate and consolidate the efforts of existing agencies, improve communication and information sharing, reduce redundancies and make them more efficient and effective. That sales pitch was soon forgotten as it turned into a huge, bloated, money sucking monster that continues to reach deeper and deeper into people's lives, doing things that are clearly not aimed at public safety (or defending what Bush somewhat creepily called, "the homeland"). When are the people who go full retard when welfare moms use food stamps to buy candy going to wake up and smell the boondoggle?

  • On the post: Discussing The Music Industry Comically Speaking, With Mimi & Eunice

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 10:22am

    Re: Anonymous blatherer

    The artist could sell their CDs on the spot, produced by the "faceless corporation" and nobody would know the difference. -- The difference would be that the artist would still control the rights to the music on the CDs. With a record contract, a musician can never again perform any of those songs in any venue that's being recorded (such as on a TV show), unless the record company grants permission and gets paid a fee. Second, well, again - They band might make less money on theory, but in reality, out of that 25 cents they probably spent $1 to get there if they self produced and self-manage and self distribute. Is there really any more money? -- As per my other comment, bands don't tend to make significant money from CD sales, either self-produced or record-company-produced. From a money standpoint CDs are just a marketing tool (unless you're a record company). Third again is a strawman, because is shows only the "you are stealing" as the only alternative. The real alternative is that you aren't willing to be a consumer of something commercial, you shouldn't also expect to get the rights to it. -- "Should" is a funny word. It can mean morally, logically, legally or some other thing. "Should" someone expect to pay money to be a consumer of advertising? Probably not. "Should" someone get permanent control over the rights to something because they sell copies of it for a while? In my opinion, no.

  • On the post: Discussing The Music Industry Comically Speaking, With Mimi & Eunice

    misterdoug ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2010 @ 09:54am

    Usually they don't even get the dime

    Cartoon #2 is funny, but the real irony is that musicians usually don't get ANY money from CD sales. In a standard recording contract all expenses are deducted from the musician's royalties before any actual cash is paid out. This includes production, manufacturing, packaging, shipping, warehousing, advertising, promo tour expenses, accounting -- you name it -- which adds up to a lot more than a dime per CD. Even the most popular musicians seldom get any royalty money from CD sales unless they manage to negotiate a better contract. The real benefit of releasing CDs is exposure, which leads to more fans, bigger gigs and higher performance fees, which is where musicians actually make their income -- just like they have for thousands of years, record companies or no record companies.

  • On the post: Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over Turkey Cooking Instructions

    misterdoug ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2010 @ 12:04am

    I don't know if I want to live in a world where turkey cooking instructions aren't considered substantial literary expression. How can we expect to make progress if people have no motivation to write high quality product instructions? Oh wait, it works for IKEA. Nevermind.

  • On the post: Piracy Is Over Like The Web Is Dead

    misterdoug ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 11:59pm

    The web isn't dead.

    But it did call in sick for a couple days just because, you know, it needed a break.

  • On the post: Wikileaks Says Its Site Has Been 'Killed'

    misterdoug ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 11:56pm

    Spoiler alert!

    The butler did it! In the hall, with the subpoena.

  • On the post: Government Drops Xbox Modding Trial

    misterdoug ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 11:53pm

    Here's how dumb IP can become

    I'm a woodworker. Some time ago I bought a jig for making dovetail joints with a router. The jig is essentially a thick piece of plastic with a zigzag edge similar to the top of a classic castle wall. One immediately obvious use for it would be for making a copy of itself out of better material, such as thin plywood or sheet aluminum. But no! A piece of paper enclosed with the jig stated that in buying the product I was not "licensed" to use it to make another dovetail jig, nor could I use it for commercial purposes.

    So apparently I'm a pirate woodworker. Somebody better taser me and put the cuffs on me before I do any more damage to the economy.

    The more the legal system legitimizes control over the end use of products, the more ridiculous and ugly the can of worms will become. For example, why couldn't a steel company dictate what can and can't be made with the metal it sells? What really hits me is the hypocrisy of the businesses world, on one hand being against Big Government while on the other hand wanting it to impose contrived restrictions on the public.

  • On the post: Embracing New Opportunities Is Being Defeatist?

    misterdoug ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 01:14am

    Right on, Mike

    Lindvall uses weak, Rush Limbaugh-esque techniques that are effective only in preaching to a choir, which might very well be what she intends. Flimsy arguments always seem solid to people who are looking for a cheerleader to affirm what they already believe. Being that cheerleader is a good way for a pundit to build a market for books and speaking engagements. Somebody famous said it doesn't matter what people say about you as long as they spell your name right.

  • On the post: Are Companies Scanning Open Source Commit Logs And Patenting What They Find?

    misterdoug ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 01:05am

    It isn't simply a case of having had an idea before. These are cases in which someone has invented something and then made a deliberate decision to make the invention public, which is their right. Patenting things like this is analogous to cutting down trees in a city park to start a Christmas tree business.

Next >>