Thomas 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Georgia Lawmaker Claims 'Making Fun Of Someone' Isn't Protected Speech; Seeks To Outlaw Vulgar Photoshopping

    Thomas ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2013 @ 01:12pm

    People expect...

    a member of the Georgia legislature to understand the Constitution? Or even cares for that matter... Many politicians, especially the less honest ones, get satirized regularly. Maybe he can try his luck in court or getting the legislature to pass a law making insults a crime.

  • On the post: Court Forces Activist Objecting To Questionable Class Action Settlement To Shut Up And Promote The Settlement

    Thomas ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2013 @ 04:41pm

    How much..

    money did they pay the judge to shut the objector up? Judges need the cash.

  • On the post: FBI 'Stops' Yet Another Of Its Own Terrorist Threats

    Thomas ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2013 @ 02:15pm

    Just shows...

    that it's a lot easier to find fake terrorists than to find real ones. After all, fake terrorists aren't going to shoot you or blow things up. Has the FBI and DOJ become too cowardly to find actual terrorists or are there actually too few terrorists for the FBI to find? I keep thinking the DOJ doesn't really care about keeping Americans safe anyway; only about promoting their own "success".

  • On the post: NJ State Trooper Feels The Best Part About The Required Dashcam Is The OFF Button

    Thomas ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2013 @ 05:51pm

    Just goes to show..

    that the states always side with the cops. The cops firmly believe that they are above the law and should be able to do whatever they d*** well please. They always say "if you have nothing to hide..", but they firmly believe that doesn't apply to them. The "internal affairs" departments exist solely to absolve cops of misbehavior and/or recommend mild punishment for criminal action. Plus the police unions are even more firm that cops do no wrong.

  • On the post: DEA Circumventing Oregon State Law To Grab Medical Records Without A Warrant

    Thomas ( profile ), 04 Feb, 2013 @ 01:44pm

    Surprise?

    Why is anyone surprised at all? None of the federal spooks care whether their actions are legal or not; they fully believe the end justifies the means. DOJ, DEA, CIA, and all the others routinely break the law and get away with it. They know full well that no one can punish them in any meaningful way.

  • On the post: Police Department Rewards Officer Caught By An Online Pedophile Sting With Full Retirement Benefits

    Thomas ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2013 @ 12:31pm

    Protecting their own..

    is far far more important to police departments than protecting citizens. The big reason for having internal affairs departments is to do anything possible to shield officers from the consequences of their own misconduct, while supposedly making sure that officer misconduct is not tolerated. It's a fact of life in our world.

  • On the post: Carlos Miller Arrested (Again) For Perfectly Legal Photography

    Thomas ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2013 @ 11:30am

    Police departments..

    have a group called "internal affairs" which in theory is supposed to investigate police misconduct. In the real world the internal affairs people do everything they possibly can to cover up police misconduct.

    In Boston, the police lost a big case for seizing and arresting a man simply taking video of cops beating someone. The police lost and the governor told the cops to stop doing that. Two days later, the police again arrested someone for taking video of a cop. They simply do whatever they want to do, regardless of the law.

  • On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation

    Thomas ( profile ), 25 Jan, 2013 @ 12:08pm

    Just what...

    the content industry is PAYING the government to do - block anything that they think is copyright violation. The industry steals a fair amount themselves, but they think it is all right for them to do it.

    The industry has so many attorneys undercover at the DOJ it should be no surprise that citizen's rights are ignored in favor of copyright industry money. I wonder if the DOJ knows how many of their attorneys secretly collect money from the copyright people?

    Or how many members of Congress are owned by the content industry?

    Bribery can get you a LOT.

  • On the post: Pharma Companies Try 'DRM' For Drugs As A Ploy To Stymie Generics

    Thomas ( profile ), 16 Jan, 2013 @ 05:41pm

    Pharma companies...

    are all about making the most money possible, NOT about curing disease or improving people's lives. If they could make $ 10 million saving 100,000 lives OR 8 million saving 1,000,000 lives, they would definitely choose to make $ 10 million since that is what their their stockholders demand. Profit rules.

  • On the post: World Economic Forum Warns That Patents Are Making Us Lose The Race Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

    Thomas ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2013 @ 04:34pm

    Drug companies..

    are far more interested in PROFITS than in curing disease. They would much much rather make 10 million saving 5,000 lives than make 5 million saving 50,000 lives. Profit is the only thing they care about

  • On the post: Hulu Continues To Wobble Along That Fine Line Between Success And Failure As CEO Bails

    Thomas ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2013 @ 04:31pm

    The studios

    don't want Hulu to be successful.

  • On the post: Nokia Running A Man In The Middle Attack To Decrypt All Your Encrypted Traffic, But Promises Not To Peek

    Thomas ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2013 @ 12:25pm

    Glad.

    that I don't have any Nokia products. And I'll take them off my list of possible things to buy.

  • On the post: Police Use HIPAA To Justify Charging Citizen For Recording Them

    Thomas ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2013 @ 11:17am

    Just goes to show..

    that cops don't want people to know about the beatings that ordinary people get when they annoy an officer. Cops always say "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about", BUT when it's the other way around it is a very different story. Too many cops think they are above the law and beating the crap out of innocent people is just a perk of the job.

    Heck, Boton lost a big lawsuit about recording, BUT they still harras and arrest people for taking videos of the cops.

  • On the post: Danish Court Orders Spanish Site Blocked Because It Uses Trademarked English Word 'Home' As Part Of Its Name

    Thomas ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2013 @ 09:11am

    What about

    Home Depot?

  • On the post: The CIA's 'Hollywood Myth' Debunking Doesn't Stand Up To Even The Slightest Scrutiny

    Thomas ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2013 @ 10:02am

    The CIA...

    IS made up of torture happy thugs, no question. And it's nothing new either. They totally ignore the U.S. Constitution, all laws, and consider themselves completely immune from any prosecution for anything. Anyone who crosses them or points out that they have broken the law is considered a terrorist who should be shot. They believe the end totally justifies the means and they believe they can do whatever they want if they think it will solve some problem.

  • On the post: Congress So Dysfunctional, It Can't Even Fix The Errors It ADMITS It Made In Patent Reform

    Thomas ( profile ), 03 Jan, 2013 @ 04:45pm

    Congress...

    is just plain corrupt. "Patent reform" won't work because too many companies own too many members of Congress. There's no way congress will offend the people that give them money to buy votes.

  • On the post: Megaupload Tells Court That DOJ Deliberately Misled Court In Getting Warrant

    Thomas ( profile ), 03 Jan, 2013 @ 06:25am

    The DOJ..

    is controlled by the content companies; they are just doing what they are told to do by the studios. Legality has never been an obstacle to the DOJ; who can possibly rein them in? Congress doesn't dare. And just look at the number of attorneys formerly working for the content industry who were "hired" by the DOJ in the last few years. How many of them are still being paid under the counter by their former employers? Or do they try to get around the law by having members of their families "employed" by the content industry? when agencies get as big as the DOJ, it is inevitable that they will become corrupt to some degree, just as Congress, the White House, and the SCOTUS are corrupt.

  • On the post: Megaupload Tells Court That DOJ Deliberately Misled Court In Getting Warrant

    Thomas ( profile ), 03 Jan, 2013 @ 06:25am

    The DOJ..

    is controlled by the content companies; they are just doing what they are told to do by the studios. Legality has never been an obstacle to the DOJ; who can possibly rein them in? Congress doesn't dare. And just look at the number of attorneys formerly working for the content industry who were "hired" by the DOJ in the last few years. How many of them are still being paid under the counter by their former employers? Or do they try to get around the law by having members of their families "employed" by the content industry? when agencies get as big as the DOJ, it is inevitable that they will become corrupt to some degree, just as Congress, the White House, and the SCOTUS are corrupt.

  • On the post: Police Chief Deploys Officers With Assault Rifles To Stop & ID Everyone; Says Local Crime Stats Give Him Probable Cause

    Thomas ( profile ), 24 Dec, 2012 @ 07:12am

    Don't forget...

    that Arizona passed a law allowing cops to stop anyone they don't think is a citizen and demand papers.. not driver's licenses..but citizenship papers. This was just to find illegal immigrants. Just think..you are 3rd or 4th generation Hispanic American citizen from New Mexico...you drive to Arizona..cops stop you...your New Mexico DL is NOT a valid ID, so you get "detained" until you can prove you are a legal citizen. How the heck do you do that? The only way I could think would be to carry a U.S. passport.

  • On the post: Police Chief Deploys Officers With Assault Rifles To Stop & ID Everyone; Says Local Crime Stats Give Him Probable Cause

    Thomas ( profile ), 23 Dec, 2012 @ 06:47pm

    Re: What an idiot

    Just goes to show that there are some sensible police officers who know what they are doing.

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