PopeHilarius 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (48) comment rss

  • On the post: The Number of People Giving Up TV for the Web Is Slowly Gaining Pace

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2010 @ 06:20am

    "but to embrace the positive features enabled by the web and apply them to the rest of their business."

    I think this is the key point. I haven't had a TV subscription in eons- in college I got used to watching it on the web and now I see no reason to go back.

    Online, be it from Hulu, Netflix, or infringing sources, you can watch anything ever, at any time. I don't have the patience to keep track of broadcast schedules and set some DVR. I like to come home, and watch whatever I want to. I would pay for a television subscription, but (a common problem discussed here) I'm not going to pay for a service that's less useful to me than something available for free.

  • On the post: Columnist Claims Anonymity Is Bad For Our Country

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2010 @ 10:30am

    I think her problem isn't actually with anonymity per se, just community management:

    It makes for many an ugly day, discouraging thoughtful discussions and repelling readers who don't have the stomach for the daily dose of vitriol. The Plain Dealer's John Kroll leads the heroic effort to keep the site civil, but it's an ongoing challenge.

    Some argue that allowing anonymity is a way of outing the bigots among us. But reading multiple posts, often by the same person using a variety of identities, amplifies voices and exaggerates numbers. The haters are small in number, but they are tenacious, and the resulting echo chamber fuels a growing climate of fear and rage born of false impressions.

    Her problem is that (allegedly) anonymity leads to trolling and sock-puppeting. Both of those are problems TechDirt has resolved quite well (in that trolls here just make poor arguments, instead of "u r retarded" Youtube fare).

    Mike, you ought to be referring to several of the great posts you've written about developing a good commenting community, not pointing out the Federalist Papers were written anonymously.

  • On the post: Solicitor General Tells Supreme Court That First Sale Shouldn't Apply To Foreign-Made Goods

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2010 @ 11:12am

    Wait, what?

    I know common sense and the law don't mix, but how could this ruling possibly stand?

    This seems like it has immense problems for all commerce. Especially with how Omega snuck in the copyright. Honda could do the same thing and claim used car lots can't sell their cars. Would foreign book importers need permission from each author to stock the books? What about a small record store purchasing and reselling music or movies from abroad?

    I'm not that knowledgeable on the specifics here, so maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't this create huge problems in just about every sector?

  • On the post: Where's The Outrage Over The Gov't Brushing Mass Privacy Violations Under The Rug?

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2010 @ 09:48am

    I think the risk/reward is misaligned for politicians on this issue. Let's say someone came out very publicly and very strongly against these abuses and for oversight, safeguards, etc etc. At best, they're doing a service to the American people, but not in a way that particularly moves voters. At worst, a terrorist attack occurs they'll be blamed for making America less safe.

    So instead, it's easier to just keep status quo.

    There are exceptions, but for most politicians job security is their top concern. Unless voters start caring about privacy abuses, they don't have the incentive to either.

  • On the post: Ubisoft's 'You Must Be Connected To This Server' Annoying DRM Servers Go Down

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 08 Mar, 2010 @ 07:09am

    I really think this story gets funnier and funnier. It really is like a policy from a bizarro world where Ubisoft is following Mike's advice to Piss Off Fans + Reason To Pirate ('PoF + RtP' for short).

  • On the post: Domino's Turns A Loss In A Lawsuit It Wasn't Involved In Into A TV Commercial

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 12 Feb, 2010 @ 06:33am

    You have to hand it to Domino's ad team, though, for taking a lawsuit that didn't even involve itself, and then creating a TV ad about it, which doesn't even mention how the competitor they're mocking won that lawsuit. That's bold.

    I'm not sure I understand your emphasis on Papa John's winning the lawsuit. They didn't win that suit because their pizza actually had better ingredients and was better, they won because the statement is subjective, not a declarative fact, and not deceptive in advertising.

    So Domino's is pointing out that Papa John's claim of 'Better Ingredients, Better Pizza' is admittedly a subjective advertising claim, not a factual statement. I don't see why it matters if Domino's was involved in the suit or not, or if Papa John's won.

  • On the post: BioShock 2, Loaded Up With Annoying DRM That Pisses Off Fans, Cracked Immediately Anyway

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2010 @ 03:48pm

    I imagine it's just an ass covering mechanism to placate corporate higher-ups. If they didn't include a DRM, and it was available to download for free, then there would be lots of angry meetings. By slapping a DRM on it, even if it gets cracked immediately, they can just wave their hands and say they tried.

    That still isn't sensical, but I imagine the general way it goes. Eventually video game DRMs will have to go the way of music ones. You can't sustain selling a product that is demonstrably worse than one that is free. It's some sort of bizarro RtB, where they package their product with a Reason to Pirate.

  • On the post: Billboard Gets Snarky; Not A Believer In CwF + RtB

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2010 @ 02:34pm

    Re:

    I am sick and tired of corporate whores acting like me and people like me who are copyleft advocates are trying to destroy the modern world. We aren't. All we want is to be free of corporate influence at every turn.

    I definitely agree with you that the 'Digital Barbarism'-style characterizations are tiresome, but I think you're making too sweeping statement here, and may be conflating 'copyleft' with just 'left'. I'm strongly pro-capitalism and pro-corporation, but that's why I'm also strongly in favor of copyright/trademark/patent reform. Government enforced artificial monopolies are antithetical to a healthy capitalist marketplace. I imagine there other reform supporters who feel similarly.

  • On the post: Be Careful Challenging Others To Read 100 Books, As You Might Infringe On Someone's Trademark

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 14 Jan, 2010 @ 02:43pm

    If you want to tell American Reading's CEO Jane Hileman how you feel about a company whose goal is to encourage reading threatening a community group that encourages reading, you can share your thoughts with her here: jhileman (at) americanreading.com

  • On the post: Bakery Claims Trademark On Smiley Face Cookies; Sues Competing Cookie Firm

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2010 @ 12:41pm

    Would making a wink-y face be considered transformative?

  • On the post: Billboard Model Sues Filmmakers, Because Her Billboard Appears For 12 Seconds In The Movie

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2010 @ 03:11pm

    This could also just be some good ol fashioned racism. Maybe she's not mad her billboard is in a movie, but that it's in a movie that black people(!) will see.

    On the flip side, for example, if in a film a sign promoting Techdirt with Mike's photo on it is easily seen in the background of a scene depicting graphic child rape and murder, you would likely have an excellent case that such use of your trademarked name (assuming for the moment it is trademarked) and your image has caused you damage in the community by associating it with an image of an heinous crime.

    I know you didn't intend it this way, but you are comparing one's image being in the background of a movie about a black artist... to being in the background of graphic child rape. Yeah... those totally sound just as bad to me...

  • On the post: Billboard Model Sues Filmmakers, Because Her Billboard Appears For 12 Seconds In The Movie

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2010 @ 01:44pm

    There's also the obvious point that it's a billboard. It’s an advertisement whose entire purpose is getting incidental views. Wouldn’t appearing in a movie be making it more effective? The mind boggles.

  • On the post: Can You Copyright An SQL Query?

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2009 @ 01:29pm

    SELECT entitlement.waste_of_everyone's_time

    FROM Pointless.Legal entitlement

    WHERE net_societal_gain = 0

  • On the post: Future Of News? Newsroom As A Cafe

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 16 Oct, 2009 @ 03:19pm

    Looks like we've come full circle- the modern newspaper has its roots in the coffee houses, cafes, and clubs of the 16th and 17th century where people would congregate to read and discuss current events.

  • On the post: BPI Unhappy With Techdirt, Seeks To Correct The Record… But Still Gets It Wrong

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2009 @ 11:20am

    You can argue the actual content of the article without resorting to "Mike lied!" If you disagree with the points raised, argue those. Silly attacks are not needed. Besides:

    Mike summary: "BT broke the law in not stopping file sharing"

    Actually said: "If you operate a commercial service and know it is being used to break the law, taking steps to ensure it is used legally is a cost of doing business."

    C'mon now. There's no "Mike made stuff up".

  • On the post: Following Your GPS Over A Cliff Is No Excuse For Bad Driving

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2009 @ 08:35am

    When questioned about its actions, the GPS system admitted it provided bad directions "for the lulz"

  • On the post: Court Says Demanding Settlement To Avoid Clearly Baseless Lawsuit Is Extortion

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2009 @ 03:04pm

    How would this work in practice, as it stands it's something along the lines of big group with lots of lawyers says:
    "I'm suing you over something baseless! But it is more costly to defend yourself in court than just settle! I have made a mockery of justice!"

    The NH law changes it to:
    "As above, except now you could try to prove to a court my claim is baseless. But it will cost you more to try and allege that in court than just settle. I win again!"

    Unless I'm missing something.

  • On the post: More On Deserving To Get Paid

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2009 @ 03:20pm

    @DoctorStrange

    If you create something valuable, and which other people want, should you be able to charge them for it? I think many people, even here, would say yes.

    You can -try- to charge for it. But if the supply is infinite, and you even acknowledge the price ought to be zero, why should anyone pay more than its worth?

    I think you're concerned that a) If content creators don't get monopoly rents from copyright, they will make no money. And b) If they can't make money no one will create content.

    I strongly disagree with both of those suppositions.

  • On the post: More On Deserving To Get Paid

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2009 @ 02:50pm

    @PixelPusher220... again.

    I don't think we're really disagreeing over much. I think the labels are fighting basic economics, I agree infringement is still illegal, and I'm not for the abolishing of copyright, just getting rid of the excesses of the 'abusive territory' you agree its been wildly defined into.

    "it clearly and specifically their right to sue people who don't abide by the current law of the land."

    A response to this though:
    We're a bit off topic now- the original post was whether they -deserve- payment. I think entitlement and economics don't mix, and they don't -deserve- anything. But that's not saying they can't sue for it as the law allows. Do you feel they -deserve- the money though?

  • On the post: More On Deserving To Get Paid

    PopeHilarius ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2009 @ 02:21pm

    @PixelPusher220

    @PopeHilarius wrote:
    "I think the point is that music is now free by default".

    This is the crux of the issue. The music in question here is decidedly *not* free. There is a quite specific price attached to it by the Label who is selling it.

    Should it be free? that's an entirely different question.

    Should has nothing to do with this- it's not that music should be free, it's that it IS. And the music in question here decidedly IS free- I can go and download whatever I want, right now, for free. The labels are offering that same free product, with a plastic disc bundled into the package, for cash.

    This is just economics- I agree that the law hasn't caught up with the marketplace yet. But law is just creating artificial barriers.

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