Prashanth’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: Hollywood Keeps Breaking Box Office Records… While Still Insisting That The Internet Is Killing Movies

Prashanth ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2015 @ 05:50am

Warning before movies

I saw a movie on DVD a few days ago. It had the warning "piracy is not a victimless crime" (I might have gotten the exact wording slightly off). I actually agreed with that warning, though for an entirely different reason: Hollywood assumes that it isn't victimless and is therefore a crime, whereas from what I've seen, it is victimless and therefore shouldn't be a crime.

On the post: Boston Police Commissioner Wants Cameras Further Away From Cops, Criminal Charges For Not Assisting Officers

Prashanth ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2015 @ 05:13am

Door-to-door policing

I was in the Boston area when the Marathon attacks happened over 2 years ago, and the police response then was to go door-to-door, without a warrant, demanding any and all possible information on the whereabouts of the suspects from ordinary people. (The city and surrounding areas were basically shut down on that Friday too.) If something like that were to happen again (specifically including the detail about going around without a warrant), can the police arrest someone in their own home for "not cooperating with an investigation"? I'm getting the sense that unfortunately the Boston police forces got a bit drunk with power after the Marathon attacks (though I do commend their bravery through the ensuing firefight against the suspects). Plus, on a more topical note, after last night's spate of shootings, I think Boston police should probably focus on doing their own jobs as best as they can instead of trying to pull citizens into the line of fire.

On the post: Obviously, No One Ever Would Have Thought Of Remote Controlled Sex Toys Without This Patent

Prashanth ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2015 @ 05:10am

Remote careless approval

Let me guess: if the patent examiner who approved this is a man, then sitting from the comfort of his home, without even reading the patent application, with a wave of his wang, he granted the patent.

On the post: With 'Pregnant Woman Mode,' Chinese Router Maker Begins Marketing To Paranoids

Prashanth ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2015 @ 05:47am

Obligatory XKCD

Qihoo implicating Xiaomi as unsafe reminds me of this: https://xkcd.com/641/.

On the post: Apology Legislation In Hong Kong? What Kind Of A Stupid Law Is That?

Prashanth ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2015 @ 05:04am

So sorry, HK

Hong Kong, I am SO SORRY that you have to deal with stupid crap like this.

On the post: Sun-Owning Lady Sues eBay Because They Wouldn't Let Her Sell 'Plots' Of 'Land' On 'Her' Sun

Prashanth ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2015 @ 04:59am

Tatooine

It's a good thing we don't live in Tatooine, otherwise things could have gotten dicier.

On the post: Judge Throws Out Lawsuit From Redditor Who Found An FBI Tracking Device On His Car

Prashanth ( profile ), 07 May, 2015 @ 05:22am

Appeal

Is there any possibility of an appeal? (I am not a lawyer, which is why I ask.)

On the post: Barbie Joins The Growing Chorus Of People And Devices Spying On You

Prashanth ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2015 @ 06:01am

Math is hard

So Barbie is now a "smart" doll? And this coming from the doll that once notably said "match class is tough"?
This seems incredibly two-faced of Mattel. Hey, there's an idea: a monster Barbie with two faces!

On the post: Why Even Justified Criticisms Of GNU Privacy Guard Miss The Point

Prashanth ( profile ), 06 Mar, 2015 @ 04:50am

If only dissidents use GPG

I can sort of see why the author of that piece is upset though. Isn't the point of encryption to make sure that email originating from political dissidents and activists cannot be distinguished from email going between ordinary people? I don't doubt that it has already proved its worth with people like Snowden, but I can't help but feel it would be far more useful if everyone was using it (and not just Snowden and others like him); in that context, the criticism seems even more understandable.

On the post: Google Gets Prude: Says No More Adult Content On Blogger

Prashanth ( profile ), 25 Feb, 2015 @ 05:07am

As a blogger who uses Blogger

I find this particularly disturbing for a couple of related reasons. Last year in January, my blog was made private because a third-party extension I was using had become infected. It took several weeks to figure out what the bad extension was and to appeal to have my blog become public again. In the meantime, I lost a significant chunk of my readerbase.
I blog about science and technology. I have absolutely nothing that anyone can consider to be adult content. Yet, now I'm scared that Google might mis-flag some of my content as being "explicit" and take down my blog, and that I will then have little to no recourse whatsoever. This goes doubly for other bloggers who write about somewhat more "controversial" (according to Google) topics.

On the post: Reminder: Fair Use Is A Right — And Not 'An Exception' Or 'A Defense'

Prashanth ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2015 @ 04:53am

Recent article mentioning "quirk"

I remember reading a relatively recent article mentioning how many popular works are in the public domain or have been used through fair use; that article mentioned such uses as "quirks" of copyright law. I found it sad to think that people don't realize that the default state is actually free public access, not intellectual monopoly.

On the post: Linux Developer Who Issued Bogus YouTube Takedowns Threatens Techdirt With Legal Action For Publishing His 'Private Information'

Prashanth ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2015 @ 05:03am

From someone who used to kind of like Pinguy OS

From someone who used to kind of like Pinguy OS (though I have always used Linux Mint full-time since switching to Linux), I find this behavior deplorable.

On the post: Comcast CEO Still Pretending His Company's Horrible Satisfaction Ratings Are Just A Normal Part Of Being So Huge

Prashanth ( profile ), 19 Nov, 2014 @ 06:30am

Customer serv...ales

I remember reading on Cracked (http://www.cracked.com/article_21756_5-reasons-working-comcast-worse-than-you-think.html) recently that there is no true customer service, only sales and more sales divisions. Maybe that's what the CEO meant when claiming this is a "normal part of being so huge"...?

On the post: Feds Indict Another Person For Teaching People How To Beat Polygraph Tests

Prashanth ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2014 @ 04:59am

George Costanza's response

I'll just post a Seinfeld quote, made by George Costanza, as it seems quite relevant regarding the federal government's stance on polygraph effectiveness. (Plus, it was George's own advice on beating the polygraph.)
"Jerry, just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it."

On the post: UK's Home Secretary Says Terrorists Will Be The Real Winners If Country's Cell Coverage Dead Zones Are Fixed

Prashanth ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2014 @ 05:09am

Road and mail

These arguments could exactly be applied to not expanding road networks or [snail] mail service to more rural areas. Why again does anyone believe this type of argument?

On the post: DOJ Finally Tells Short List Of People That They Are Officially Not On The No Fly List

Prashanth ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2014 @ 07:01am

Short people

For a moment I read the headline as saying that short people are no longer on the no-fly list (implying that they were before). That would have been bizarre, but knowing the DOJ, well, it wouldn't have been totally unexpected I guess.

On the post: If You're A Copyright Maximalist 'Piracy' Must Be The Answer To All Problems

Prashanth ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2014 @ 07:06am

Think tank

He's thinking...about combating the "problem" of piracy with tanks (i.e. heavy-handed government intervention), rather than coming up with any real business solution.

On the post: Patent Troll Intellectual Ventures Claims Its Layoffs Are Because It's Invented A New Way To Buy Patents

Prashanth ( profile ), 21 Aug, 2014 @ 06:05am

Patenting layoffs

I think layoffs may have been patented already...by JCPenney. Unless IV bought that patent from them too...?

On the post: LAPD Officer Says Tragedies Could Be Prevented If Citizens Would Just Shut Up And Do What Cops Tell Them To

Prashanth ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2014 @ 06:50am

LAPD Disclaimer

I thought it was interesting how there was a disclaimer at the top of the article saying that his views were his alone and not meant to be representative of the LAPD's general stance. The sad part is that those views probably are representative.
Regardless, I was quite disgusted upon reading this article. He paid some lip service to the ACLU and its "types", yet promptly undermined said lip service with the rest of his article.

On the post: Turns Out When Police Act Cordial, Rather Than As An Oppressive Military Force, Things Work Out Better

Prashanth ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2014 @ 06:48am

Causal effect with the police

Is it really the case though that people would have been *so* much more cooperative if the police acted cordially all along? I mean, I'm sure that if the police had acted cordially all along, things would certainly have been better than what they were when the SWAT teams were in place, but I'm wondering how much of the current positive interactions with the cordial police are more just relief at the SWAT team now being gone.

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