Nemo_bis 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (336)

• On the post: Misquoting Einstein Is Fast And Stupid, But Not Accurate

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2021 @ 12:24am

  Misattributed Albert Einstein quotations

  It took me approx 30 seconds to find all the information I needed about this false quotation from the English Wikiquote:
  https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Misattributed

  When curious about a quotation there's just too much junk around the web (and often in books too). My first stop is always at Wikiquote.

• On the post: Italy Vows To Bring Entire Government To Bear To Oppose Croatian 'Prosek' Trademark

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2021 @ 11:38pm

  Re: Government

  No, the military is part of the state. "Government" in that statement means the Council of Ministers (the cabinet, the executive) and "whole government" means the entire spectrum of the parties represented in the governing majority.

• On the post: Sixth Circuit Reaffirms It's A Fourth Amendment Violation To Chalk Car Tires For Parking Enforcement Purposes

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2021 @ 11:10pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: parking plainly does not pose a clear and si

  And how do you think the car got there? By teleporting? The city argued it needs some leeway in managing cars, by means of managing their parking. The judge answered that it doesn't get to have it, because "liquor sales" are clearly more dangerous and not comparable.

• On the post: Sixth Circuit Reaffirms It's A Fourth Amendment Violation To Chalk Car Tires For Parking Enforcement Purposes

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2021 @ 12:59am

  Re: Re: Re: parking plainly does not pose a clear and significan

  Have you read what I linked? Providing the parking directly causes car traffic.

• On the post: Sixth Circuit Reaffirms It's A Fourth Amendment Violation To Chalk Car Tires For Parking Enforcement Purposes

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2021 @ 03:35pm

  Re: parking plainly does not pose a clear and significant risk

  Of all the arguments one could use, claiming that cars aren't a clear and significant risk is really the most tone deaf possible.

  They cut speed limits, changed street design, removed space for cars and generally made life harder for motorists.

  Now it appears the work is paying off. Two of Europe’s smaller capital cities – Oslo and Helsinki – are reaping the rewards of committed action on making their roads safer, reducing pedestrian fatalities to zero last year.

  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/how-helsinki-and-oslo-cut-pedestrian-deaths-to-zero

  vehicular violence should be an urgent target of action both within and outside of academia, and that it should be more widely addressed within broader struggles for the just, sustainable, and livable city

  https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1580

• On the post: Biden Has Wasted A Year Failing To Fill Top Telecom Oversight Spots

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 08 Sep, 2021 @ 03:28pm

  Re: Oh I can think of a few reasons...

  Maybe after all the lobbyists have received a cushy ambassadorship, and there's nobody left to complain, the FCC will get a good nomination!

• On the post: Biden Has Wasted A Year Failing To Fill Top Telecom Oversight Spots

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 08 Sep, 2021 @ 07:53am

  Pending Nominations on the Executive Calendar (Civilian)

  To be fair, it's not like the US Senate seems in a hurry to handle the pending nominations either.

  Pending Nominations on the Executive Calendar (Civilian)
  117th Congress.
  Total: 74 Nominations

  https://www.cop.senate.gov/legislative/nom_cal_civ.htm

  A couple other nominations with the Commerce committee seem to be pending still:

  Nomination of Ms. Carol A. Petsonk, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of Transportation (PN438)
  Nomination of Ms. Karen J. Hedlund, of Colorado, to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board (PN535)

  https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2021/8/executive-session

• On the post: Google Has Been Paying Wireless Carriers Billions To Not Develop Competing App Stores

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2021 @ 07:07am

  European Commission and Google Android case

  See also https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_18_4581 :

  In particular, Google:

  has required manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search app and browser app (Chrome), as a condition for licensing Google's app store (the Play Store);
  made payments to certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively pre-installed the Google Search app on their devices; and
  has prevented manufacturers wishing to pre-install Google apps from selling even a single smart mobile device running on alternative versions of Android that were not approved by Google (so-called "Android forks").

  https://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/cases/dec_docs/40099/40099_9993_3.pdf :

  Fifth, hardware manufacturers must place on the device's default home screen the icons which give access to the Google Search app, the Play Store and a folder labelled "Google" ("Google folder") that provides access to a collection of icons for a number of mandatory Google apps. Any other pre-installed Google apps should be placed no more than one level below the home screen.
  Sixth, hardware manufacturers are required to "set Google Search as the default search provider for all Web search access points, [...]".

• On the post: Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Keeps On Losing In Court

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2021 @ 12:53am

  1995 catalog

  its counsel sent Liebowitz authenticated photos of a catalog with the allegedly infringing buckles dated 1995—seven years before Berg created his designs. Docket No. 37 at 7–8. Liebowitz’s only justification for pursuing these claims in the face of such fatal evidence was his unsupported speculation that the 1995 catalog “easily could have been fabricated.” Docket No. 30 at 8. And realizing this was a losing argument, [...]

  Congratulations to M&F Western (or their lawyers) for being so diligent in preserving (or finding) their catalogs (and sharing them early on). This was an open and shut case, but only because one of the parties had extensive documentation of their products.

  I remember having to hunt down photos of communications materials and fair booths from a previous decade in order to support a claim of prior use of a logo... it's not fun. Most such ephemera has no use after a short time and might go directly in the trashbin.

  All this to say that these two collections at the Internet Archive, if further expanded, could save many millions in legal fees in the future:
  https://archive.org/details/catalogs
  https://archive.org/details/supermarketcirculars

  Idea for future compensation from Liebowitz & Co. in a losing case: a substantial donation to the Internet Archive or other non-profit committed to collecting and uploading such materials.

• On the post: Techdirt Is Now Entirely Without Any Google Ads Or Tracking Code

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2021 @ 11:15am

  Well done

  I'm sorry to hear about the bumpy ride, but congratulations for this decision! It makes all your readers safer. Hopefully it's also going to end up proving your point about behavioral advertising being actually useless, apart from being terrible: I wish Techdirt to make good money from this decision in the end, even though the beginning will certainly be hard.

  I think there must be a market for what you're offering here: there are very few spaces like Techdirt where one can reach a broad population of netizens interested in wonky policy matters for technology.

• On the post: As Cuba Tries To Block Internet Messaging, A Reminder Of Why The Open Internet Is So Important

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 14 Jul, 2021 @ 02:51pm

  Dislike for encrypted communication

  Oh, so there's something Cuba and the USA three-letter-agencies agree on. How comforting.

• On the post: Trump Notifies Attorney General He's Challenging The Constitutionality Of Section 230 On The Dumbest Grounds Possible

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2021 @ 02:28pm

  Social media

  I'm pretty sure social media existed in 1996. It was called IRC, or Usenet, etc.

• On the post: Police Union Sues Kentucky City's Mayor, Claiming New No-Knock Warrant Ban Violates Its Bargaining Agreement

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2021 @ 12:11am

  National Tactical Officers Association

  As John Oliver pointed out, former police also argue that drug raids are pointless: https://www.cato.org/blog/no-knock-warrants-war-drugs (conveniently quoting the New York Times).

  “It just makes no sense,” said Mr. Chabali, a SWAT veteran who retired as assistant chief of the Dayton, Ohio, Police Department in 2015. “Why would you run into a gunfight? If we are going to risk our lives, we risk them for a hostage, for a citizen, for a fellow officer. You definitely don’t go in and risk your life for drugs.”

  It will be fun if the police union is forced to present some evidence of their claims...

• On the post: Biden Executive Order Will Try To Address Some 'Right To Repair' Harms

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2021 @ 12:28pm

  Rules of practice and "unfair method of competition"

  It can't be a coincidence that this comes out few days after the first meeting of the FTC where major decisions were taken https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/01/ftc-lina-khan-antitrust-chair-497764 :

  One of the most important actions Thursday — a project of Democratic Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter — sets the stage for a return to active rulemaking. [...]
  Khan also said the FTC would probably consider writing its own definition of what conduct amounts to an “unfair method of competition” — an idea that could allow the agency to sue businesses for bad behavior not covered by traditional antitrust law.

  https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/federal_register_notices/2021/07/rules_of_practice_parts_0_and_1_proposed_text.pdf

• On the post: Did The Supreme Court Just Take A Sledge Hammer To Copyright's Statutory Damages?

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2021 @ 11:57pm

  Re: Creative Commons BY-NC

  Why NC? What do you use your commercial monopoly for?

• On the post: After Eight Years And Three Reviews Of The Case, Indiana Supreme Court Rules Police Must Return Seized Car To Its Owner

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2021 @ 11:52pm

  Re: Re: Car value and costs

  Is the next step for Timbs to ask damages?

• On the post: Map Of The Internet Exposes The Lie That 'Big Tech' Controls The Internet

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2021 @ 01:32pm

  Re: Techdirt on the map

  Even in the original, Techdirt would probably one of the peaks in the north of the peninsula east of the Bay of Flame https://xkcd.com/802_large/

• On the post: Oatly Sues PureOaty For Trademark And Trade Dress Infringement

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2021 @ 03:07pm

  Re: Usage of term milk

  Can we also address the false advertising inherent in calling a mixture of water, grain, and sugar "milk" when it doesn't come from a mammal.

  They don't (in EU), after a barrage of lawsuits from the dairy industry, recently copied by the animal-based meat industry.
  https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/10/17/after-angering-swedish-dairy-industry-oatly-brings-controversial-ad-campaign-the-uk
  https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/meps-save-veggie-burger-from-denomination-ban/

  The cartons are emblazoned with slogans such as “No milk. No soy. No badness.”

  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-14/swedish-oat-milk-producer-benefits-from-dairy-industry-lawsuit Funnily, trademark protection was deployed to defend some of the slogans the dairy industry doesn't like.
  https://www.taylorwessing.com/en/insights-and-events/insights/2021/04/oatly-milk-made-for-humans-decision-confirms-that-a-memorable-slogan-can-be-a-trade-mark

• On the post: Crime-Reporting App Citizen Apparently Attempting To Get Into The Law Enforcement Business

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 26 May, 2021 @ 03:58am

  Brilliant

  Soon Republicans will propose to defund the system and instead give citizens vouchers to buy the required services from their own preferred provider. Oh wait, was that only for education?

• On the post: eBay To Let Governments Pull Down Listings Automatically; What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

  

  Nemo_bis ( profile ), 19 May, 2021 @ 12:26am

  Reasons unknown

  Reasons unknown, or quite well known. TERREG was approved and will become active in one year. Whatever any official in any EU member states bother to declare "terrorist content" will need to be removed within 1 h. So Europol and friends will gain a "delete" button on most of the web.
  https://edri.org/our-work/european-parliament-confirms-new-online-censorship-powers/

  Of course authorities would never abuse this power to work around the pesky criteria of other processes for counterfeit items, copyright infringements and whatnot.

Next >>