Pen 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (78) comment rss

  • On the post: What A Coincidence! Same Day Senator Burr Dumped His Stock, So Did His Brother-in-Law!

    Pen ( profile ), 08 May, 2020 @ 02:11pm

    Re: Insider?

    How, pray tell, is a high level senator receiving classified warnings, but saying in public that everything is fine, not the definition of an insider? And no, everyone didn't know that travel stocks were going to tank.

  • On the post: World's Worst Copyright Trolling Lawyer, Richard Liebowitz, Files Lawsuit Against Ellen Barkin For Posting Photo Of Herself

    Pen ( profile ), 03 Apr, 2020 @ 11:07am

    "Right of privacy. A person, firm or corporation that uses for advertising purposes, or for the purposes of trade, the name, portrait or picture of any living person without having first obtained the written consent of such person, or if a minor of his or her parent or guardian, is guilty of a misdemeanor."

    One of THE first things budding photographers are told is that if you're doing street photography and plan to sell your photos to others, as Steven Hirsch apparently does, you need to get a model release contract signed to cover your bases. Based on the wording of the above law I'd argue that such laws are exactly why. And IANAL, but I'd argue that a professional photographer selling their works to a newspaper without a proper and signed model release, then suing the subject of the photograph for using said photo on social media, may wish they'd never done so by the time this is all over.

  • On the post: Greyhound Finally Bans CBP, Border Patrol From Suspicionless Searches Of Its Buses And Passengers

    Pen ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2020 @ 03:37am

    It's even worse when you remember that, as far as the CBP is concerned, "100 miles from a border" included not just physical borders but also international airports. They've effectively claimed jurisdiction over the vast majority of populated areas in the country. Greyhound doesn't just need this policy for what goes on at the southern border, but nationally.

  • On the post: Arizona Legislator Wants To Strip Platforms Of Section 230 Immunity If They're 'Politically Biased'

    Pen ( profile ), 12 Feb, 2020 @ 09:58am

    OK, so I'm usually well versed in US state and federal jurisdiction and law, but how exactly does a state level politician even have grounds for enacting laws like the proposed ones here? Last I checked, states don't have the authority to rescind or alter federal law like he seems to think he does.

  • On the post: Tracking College Students Everywhere They Go On Campus Is The New Normal

    Pen ( profile ), 31 Dec, 2019 @ 07:09am

    Re: I don't get it...

    And that's how it should be. When I went to university as a 28 year old non-traditional student literally the ONLY time I accepted any form of tracking was when I was working in the lab or as a TA. Why? Because that was when I was serving as a university employee. Every other second I spent on campus was as a paying customer, and I wasn't afraid to push back against anyone who tried to tell me otherwise. Luckily, apparently, I attended prior to school tracking apps and if they tracked my wifi it wasn't linked to any grades. The idea that a paying university student needs to meet mandatory attendance metrics, though, is infuriating. We go into debt for years to pay for the "privilege" of a university education. We don't owe them anything, and if we want to waste our money not attending classes (and getting poor test grades as a result) that's on us. If we can skip classes and still do well on the tests? That's on the professor.

  • On the post: Cable Giant Spectrum On Quest To Outlaw 'Insane' Streaming Password Sharing

    Pen ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2019 @ 08:47am

    Re:

    ""the issue has absolutely nothing to do with my ISP" The ISP side? No. But, you miss the point of this kind of whining." No, I'm not missing anything. At the end of the day I have a contract and ToS with them as an ISP customer that dictates the terms I connect to the internet with, and another contract and ToS with my streaming providers that dictates and and when I can connect to their service. All this whining about "it should be illegal" shows is that Spectrum desires to be able to re-write the terms of contracts they are not a party to. Bully for them.

  • On the post: Cable Giant Spectrum On Quest To Outlaw 'Insane' Streaming Password Sharing

    Pen ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2019 @ 07:30am

    The part that ticks me off the most about this is that I explicitly pay for streaming services based on the number of concurrent streams I pay for. As long my account is only logging in on that many devices, which can be and is controlled on the platform level at log-in, the issue has absolutely nothing to do with my ISP. I have Spectrum as the only broadband ISP in my area. Last I checked, they aren't co-parties to my Pandora, Prime, or Netflix account and can keep their nose out of contracts that don't concern them.

  • On the post: Another Bad PR Sign: Indie Developer Shuns Epic Store, Saying 'My Word Means Something'

    Pen ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2019 @ 04:04am

    Re: '... And lemme tell you, they are great bridges, the best.'

    Do you like indie games? Do you want to be able to keep playing games made by the developers you enjoy? If so, supporting them by purchasing their games on whatever platform supports them best IS in your interest. The developers being railroaded into Epic's exclusives are small team or single developer studios. If you can't look past a single purchase and recognize that supporting a developer supports your ability to play more of their games that's just short-sighted.

  • On the post: Nintendo Hates You: Company DMCAs Over 100 Videos Celebrating Nintendo Game Music

    Pen ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2019 @ 04:03am

    "I didn't read the article"

    Come back when you have. You might actually say something worth reading then.

  • On the post: Nintendo Does The Nintendo: 'Mario Royale' Fan Game Becomes 'DMCA Royale'… And Is Now Dead

    Pen ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2019 @ 12:46pm

    "Uncle Nintindie's lawyers have informed me that, despite my best efforts, the game still infringes their copyright.
    They refused to give me specifics (I asked multiple times)"

    They refused to give specifics because it's plain as day that, without using Nintendo art assets, nothing in the game in question actually infringes their copyrights. What they're doing is essentially a SLAPP throw down.

  • On the post: Guy Pushing Hawley's 'Viewpoint Neutrality' Concept In The Media Used To Write For White Supremacist Site

    Pen ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2019 @ 06:51am

    These are the same idiots who killed off the fairness doctrine and claim to have the only fair and balanced news source in the world.

    They aren't getting the ratings or influence they want anymore because their demographic is dying out, so now they want to have the right to force others to host their content? Sounds about par for the course.

  • On the post: Google CEO Admits That It's Impossible To Moderate YouTube Perfectly; CNBC Blasts Him

    Pen ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2019 @ 07:15am

    Re: Re: I Can Fix YouTube Kids Content Problem

    Your solution to a "moral panic of the week" problem is to make parents watch every crappy Let's Play and pop culture analysis video their kids could consume on a daily basis? Good luck with that.

  • On the post: As Google Ponders Making Ad Blockers Less Useful, Mozilla Ramps Up Tracker Blocking

    Pen ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2019 @ 07:33am

    This is simple: the moment Chrome actually weakens ad blockers on purpose is the moment I migrate to their competitors. It's not like there aren't other options available.

  • On the post: Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible: Some Republican Politicians Are Indistinguishable From Neo Nazis

    Pen ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2019 @ 11:01am

    The issue here isn't that it's impossible to differential ban white supremacists and not conservative politicians. It's that there's effectively no difference between the two and they wield enough power that companies are afraid to enforce their own ToS for fear of retaliation.

  • On the post: Records Requests Show Even More California Police Departments Started Destroying Records Before The Public Could Get Its Hands On Them

    Pen ( profile ), 26 Apr, 2019 @ 08:26pm

    Re: Re: Might as well print 'We are SUPER corrupt' shirts at thi

    They're destroying conduct records the moment it looks like they may have to release them to the public. Your trolling is going to fall on deaf ears here, because pointing out that such conduct is a giant corruption red flag is hardly "bias".

  • On the post: EU Parliament Takes Up Its Next Attempt To Wipe Out An Open Internet: Terrorist Content Regulation Vote On Wednesday

    Pen ( profile ), 17 Apr, 2019 @ 10:33am

    Re: Re:

    My site is run from a server in Washington state in the US. I'm in Wisconsin, and have absolutely zero physical or business presence in the EU, Russia China, or the Middle East. If someone from the any of those locations accesses my site that's their prerogative, and they can do so by connecting to my US-based server. Them coming to me doesn't make me subject to their laws any more than if they flew to the server and connected to it directly. They're welcome to think otherwise all they want, but this is a basic jurisdiction matter and without being able to threaten my non-existant local assets it's all bluster.

  • On the post: EU Parliament Takes Up Its Next Attempt To Wipe Out An Open Internet: Terrorist Content Regulation Vote On Wednesday

    Pen ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2019 @ 04:13am

    So what's stopping those of us who aren't in the EU from just raising our middle finger at the whole endeavor and ignoring any demands we get from them? I have no physical presence in the EU, no plans to ever have one, and if they keep going down this road no plans to ever visit them in the future. I don't see how they have any legitimate or enforceable jurisdiction over site operators outside of their borders.

  • On the post: EU Continues To Kill The Open Web: Massive Fines For Sites That Don't Censor Within An Hour

    Pen ( profile ), 14 Sep, 2018 @ 10:32am

    Re: Re: "The Open Web" should be killed if YOU uncivil get to control.

    I sincerely hope this is just a bot commenting, because if not... Wow. I wasn't aware people couple be that dumb.

  • On the post: Streaming Video Sees Wave Of Price Hikes In Apparent Bid To Mimic Cable & Embolden Piracy

    Pen ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2018 @ 02:39pm

    Re: Bit of a disingenuous comparison

    My family of three has had nothing but Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and Twitch-like services for the last decade of our video watching needs. Broadband internet IS a given, and I can assure you that the price I pay per month for the pay services I have now is a fraction of what my cable TV bill was a decade ago.

  • On the post: Court Says Probation Violations By Teen Don't Justify On-Demand Warrantless Searches Of His Electronics

    Pen ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2018 @ 05:45am

    Re: the flip side

    Since when is "falling asleep in class" probable cause for a weapons search?

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