ThaumaTechnician 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (440)

• On the post: Study Suggests Shutting Down Filesharing Sites Would Hurt Music Industry, New Artists

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 05 Feb, 2018 @ 12:49pm

  Re: Re: It's not even an "update", it's a re-hash, using extreme "statistics".

  Rather than arguing with an AC about the study's methods, read it yourself:
  
  http://qed.econ.queensu.ca/working_papers/papers/qed_wp_1354.pdf
  
  I've just finished reading the Conclusion, it doesn't make bold/outlandish claims AFAICT, just moderate(d) ones. Now to plow through the paper to see when the Conclusions are justified.

• On the post: The Same FCC That Ignored Science To Kill Net Neutrality Has Created An 'Office Of Economics & Analysis'

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2018 @ 11:06am

  Maybe the FCC means 'Analysis'

  ..in the same sense that porn does.

• On the post: First Amendment Lawsuit Results In Louisiana Police Department Training Officers To Respect Citizens With Cameras

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2018 @ 04:27am

  I hope they'll make a hard copy of the roll call.

  So the cops can't claim that they didn't know, nobody told them, and anyway, it wasn't them.

• On the post: Harris Stingray Nondisclosure Agreement Forbids Cops From Telling Legislators About Surveillance Tech

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2018 @ 01:22pm

  Re: Re: I can't quite get my head around how this is legal.

  Individuals can do anything unless there's a law that specifically forbids something/that thing.
  
  Governments, on the other hand, can do nothing unless there's a law that specifically authorizes a particular action.
  
  The police shouldn't be allowed to sign contracts (especially with NDAs) unless there's a law that specifically allows it. Elected officials should be allowed to revoke signing authority that's been given.

• On the post: Harris Stingray Nondisclosure Agreement Forbids Cops From Telling Legislators About Surveillance Tech

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2018 @ 04:49am

  Re: Re: I can't quite get my head around how this is legal.

  Couldn't a case be made that the police officials aren't permitted to sign contracts that locks out elected officials?

• On the post: Sarajevo's City Government Says No One Can Use The Name 'Sarajevo' Without Its Permission

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2018 @ 04:47am

  Up next...

  A law about the pronunciation of "chowdah".

• On the post: Why Are The People Who Whined About Wheeler's Net Neutrality Rules Being '400 Pages' Silent About Pai's Being '539 Pages'

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 11 Jan, 2018 @ 02:04pm

  Re: Re: How does this guy get compensated?

  "They are probably *ock holders."
  
  There, fixed it for you.

• On the post: Jury Awards Couple No Damages For Bungled Marijuana Raid Predicated On Wet Tea Leaves

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2018 @ 05:18am

  Now that the jury has decided that the cops were incompetent

  Can we expect that they'll all get a cut in pay?

• On the post: NSA Denies Prior Knowledge Of Meltdown, Spectre Exploits; Claims It Would 'Never' Harm Companies By Withholding Vulns

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 09 Jan, 2018 @ 05:24am

  Well, given how the NSA mangles language...

  It could be a perfectly true statement.
  
  Except for the parts where every word in their statement means something completely different from what the rest of the world thinks it does.

• On the post: Indiana Legislator Wants To Force NFL Team To Hand Out Refunds To Fans 'Offended' By Kneeling Players

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2018 @ 05:09am

  Re:

  Actually, I came to say:
  So, when a church doesn't pay taxes, it means everyone else has to pay more taxes, so how about charging taxes back to a church when it says something that offends someone?

• On the post: DHS's New Airport Face-Scanning Program Is Expensive, Flawed, And Illegal

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 28 Dec, 2017 @ 06:29am

  Re: Re: it gets worse

  Uh, aren't those exceptions called "Amendments"? That and: for the government, isn't it the case that the government is allowed to do do nothing, unless there's a law specifically authorizing it to do something? Y'know, the reverse of the case for people.

• On the post: Top EU Court Says Uber Is A Transport Service That Can Be Regulated Like Traditional Taxis

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 21 Dec, 2017 @ 06:30pm

  More Europeans have read/studied Sartre.

  You are what you do, not what you say you do.

• On the post: FCC Boss Claims Net Neutrality Supporters Were Clearly Wrong Because Twitter Still Works The Day After Repeal

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2017 @ 09:11am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  At the start of the November 8th edition of Intercepted, the Podcast, Jeremy Cahill has an editorial comment about 'whataboutism'.
  
  https://theintercept.com/2017/11/08/intercepted-podcast-say-hello-to-my-little-hands/
  
  The whole episode is worth listening.

• On the post: Five Below, Trendy Retailer, Sues 10 Below, Ice Cream Seller, For Trademark Infringement

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 19 Dec, 2017 @ 04:49am

  Re: Look Out Below

  You forgot tupelo{w} honey.

• On the post: New Documents And Testimony Shows Officers Lied About Their Role In An Arrested Teen's Death

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2017 @ 01:48pm

  Re: I remember this story.

  Shouldn't the people who failed their duty so as to run the clock out on the statute of limitations be charged with obstruction of justice?

• On the post: Two Separate Studies Show That The Vast Majority Of People Who Said They Support Ajit Pai's Plan… Were Fake

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 14 Dec, 2017 @ 12:59pm

  Re:

  No, it's not the FCC that lies. It's the FCC's current administration. Important distinction.

• On the post: Canadian Supreme Court Says Privacy Protections Apply To Sent Text Messages Obtained From The Recipient

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2017 @ 01:51pm

  Re: Globe & Mail's clickable words policy

  D'oh... That sentence - Ff the Globe's article on this story, where the sentence- with the type should have read:
  
  Suppose that in the Globe's article, the sentence "In a potentially..." that the word "ruling" as a clickable link, it would be linked to a search page...
  
  Too early in the morning, apparently.

• On the post: Canadian Supreme Court Says Privacy Protections Apply To Sent Text Messages Obtained From The Recipient

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2017 @ 11:58am

  Globe & Mail's clickable words policy

  FTA: *[Note: Ruling not provided by the Globe and Mail for whatever reason. -1 to G&M's JOURNALISM skill.]
  
  Ff the Globe's article on this story, where the sentence "In a potentially significant 5-2 ruling" had the word "ruling" as a clickable link, it would be to a search page for the word "ruling" in all G&M articles (usually from ten years ago to fifteen ago, plus yesterday), not to the actual ruling itself as anyone familiar with the Web would expect.
  
  It's one of the main reasons I don't go to MSM news sites for information. It friggin' drives me bonkers.

• On the post: Why I Changed My Mind On Net Neutrality

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2017 @ 11:23am

  Re:

  Why not both?

• On the post: Navy Officer Working For The NSA Caught Trying To Search Her Boyfriend's Son's Phone

  

  ThaumaTechnician ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2017 @ 10:54am

  The son was displaying the indicia of terrorists.

  Y'know the one: breathing in and out. So she had to investigate.

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