Robin Hoover 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (228) comment rss

  • On the post: ACTA Raising Serious Constitutional Questions

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 26 Mar, 2010 @ 06:02am

    End Run

    the whole thing is an end run around the constitution, from beginning to end. to wit:

    chapter 2, section 4, article 2.17, paragraph 3, option 1 wants to condition any safe harbor of service providers on:

    on the online service provider's monitoring its services or affirmatively seeking facts indicating that infringing activity is occurring


    which guts and changes the dmca and the cda

    but wait, there's worse!!

    chapter 2, section 4, article 2.17, paragraph 3, option 3ter:

    Each Party shall enable right holders, who have given effective notification to an online service provider of materials that they claim with valid reasons to be infringing their copyright or related rights, to expeditiously obtain from that provider information on the identify of the relevant subscriber.


    which is a direct assault on american due process and any number of privacy and information protection laws.

  • On the post: Full ACTA Draft Leaked… EU Wants Injunctions Against The Possibility You Might Infringe

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2010 @ 06:32am

    goodbye due process, it was fun

    some more whoppers:

    section 4, Para 29(Option 3ter) wherein the u.s. states that any service provider of any sort's safe harbor is conditioned upon:

    Each Party shall enable right holders, who have given effective notification to an online service provider of materials that they claim with valid reasons to be infringing their copyright or related rights, to expeditiously obtain from that provider information on the identify of the relevant subscriber.


    and

    section 2, para 28(option1):

    on the online service provider's monitoring its services or affirmatively seeking facts indicating that infringing activity is occurring


    goodbye due process, guilty until proven innocent.

    Section 4, Para 28-III wherein the u.s. states it's belief that rogue service providers are those who:

    the provider referring or linking users to an online location


    which as mike mentioned, is outlawing google.

  • On the post: Full ACTA Draft Leaked… EU Wants Injunctions Against The Possibility You Might Infringe

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2010 @ 06:13pm

    Re: Re: Re: "This clause would outlaw Google"

    delighted to cede to you years of experience in law practice.

    what concerns us outside the gates is the law of unintended consequence to your "...cannot see how it would be possible...".

    loosening the quotidien restrictions you've seen, at an international level, is playing with fire, again to those of us outside the bar (who do believe that when presented with an additional opportunity to increase billable hours, lawyers will not hesitate to do so).

  • On the post: Social Networking Rants Against Exes Turning Up In Court

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2010 @ 10:06am

    Re: Re: communication is communication

    But the lawyers stand to benefit most if everything gets more and more into the realm of surrealism.


    to quote the esteemed nina paley, yes.

    their "trade" has nothing to do with resolution and everything to do with conflict. no conflict = no fees.

  • On the post: Social Networking Rants Against Exes Turning Up In Court

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2010 @ 08:11am

    communication is communication

    ...it does seem like there's a bit of a clash going on between how people view social networking (as a communication system, like talking, where you can make extreme statements in the heat of the moment) when they communicate, and how it's then used in courts -- as more of an "official statement of record."


    nothing new here. i remember years ago my divorce lawyer telling me "oh yeah, e-mail has completely changed our profession, no more fighting out illusory he-said-she-said scenarios", and then watching it in action as wads of accusatory emails were submitted as evidence and examined ad nauseum.

    lawyers just love shit that's written down, doesn't matter if it's 1910 or 2010.

    personally i wouldn't call it a "clash" but rather the maturation of a communication platform in unintended (to us non-lawyers) directions.

  • On the post: How Much Of That All Important Journalism Is Really PR?

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 16 Mar, 2010 @ 04:36pm

    Re: I refere to them as -

    press release parrots it is :-) :

    http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_12/b4171038593210.htm

    actually, this is a good one for you to deconstruct mike (the whole thing is actually a hagiography for the ceo's of time-warner and comcast), for instance the gentleman who runs the amc channel is glowingly quoted as saying:

    Why would I license my channel to someone and give them Mad Men the day after it shows up on AMC?


    uhm....because your fans/customers want it, and if you don't deliver then they/we/i will look, and very quickly find it, elsewhere.

  • On the post: Italian Pirate Bay Block Leads To Massive Traffic Boost For Competing Torrent Sites

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2010 @ 07:05am

    Re: Ignorance is truly bliss

    They don't care if it stops piracy at all. My guess is that their worst lawyers are even the ones assigned to the game.

    As long as they keep playing and keep piracy in the press they spend lots less on lobbyists for the politics. The press keeps talking about the game, the politicians keep seeing the press, and when someone comes to them and says "this is out of hand we need to do something" it's easier to justify the position there-fore costing less in lobbyists and bribes and time etc...


    probably maybe even very true. big content's cynicism knows no boundaries, nor does their lack of respect for customers and potential customers.

    The REAL problem is idiots keep downloading the music and movies illegally. By downloading the music illegally the idiots not only add fuel to the anti-piracy cases. In the end the movie and music people just turn around and use the fact that someone downloaded their product as proof that there is a demand for the product.


    a hint of understanding: "piracy" is actually market intel (well done sir!). One of techdirt's premises is that what kind of company actively fights against what their customers are telling them they want. oh yeah, one that believes it's customers are "idiots".

    BUT instead little mikee m cry's about how these companies need to embrace the free market with their "free infinite goods" and just accept that the billions in production costs are not really a part of the cost of those infinite goods, and settle for selling t-shirts (oh by the way little mikee m says you shouldn't protect your brand name or trademarks either on those t-shirts and anyone should be able to sell them too, making it even harder to make your money back).


    strawman, meet haystack, you guys should be good friends.

    ...all the while he feels that the world is "entitled" to everything for free...


    seriously??? c'mon, now you're just making things up.

    ...talks about infinite goods all off the very advertising money given to him...


    seriously??? c'mon, now you're just ignoring facts: techdirt's been very open in describing how advertising space is a terrible way to make money, and in fact is not at all how the firm makes money.

  • On the post: Grateful Dead Always Knew How To Connect With Fans

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 15 Feb, 2010 @ 04:50am

    Greybeard

    what's old is what's new again. princess phones and cassette tapes have become tweets and utorrent. the economics haven't changed, nor have any sound strategies, nor have big content's abhorrence of customer service.

  • On the post: Google Music Blog Mess Highlights Why Three Strikes Will Not Work

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 13 Feb, 2010 @ 06:44am

    Re: Re: Chilling Effects

    ...If you want to run a blog without issue get your own domain, pay for your hosting, and be your own boss. if you work off of platforms that other people use, particularly free blog hosting, you are pretty much committing suicide up front. You are almost entirely assured of a failure somewhere along the line.

    Take responsibility for your site, take ownership, and then they will have to deal with your directly. That would change everything.


    i'm going to quite strongly agree with this one. for normal folks out there, despite the added hassles and expense, it really is the better decision.

    better never means perfect of course, as most commercial hosts will collapse like a wet paper towel when in receipt of a dmca notice, regardless of how bogus.

  • On the post: Former Music Exec Tells Book Publishers They're Acting Just Like The Recording Industry 10 Years Ago

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2010 @ 12:15pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    or change their direction in life thru and thru. :)

  • On the post: Former Music Exec Tells Book Publishers They're Acting Just Like The Recording Industry 10 Years Ago

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 10 Feb, 2010 @ 12:13pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    As for the main article, all I can say is "former". Perhaps there is a small axe to grind here?


    tam-tam pr/lobbyist/shill strategy #4:

    denigrate first then sort through the counter arguments to ruin a lively discussion. job accomplished.

  • On the post: Understanding What's Scarce And What's Not…

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2010 @ 05:46am

    Re: Re: Re:

    what did someone once say?.........don't suck.

    any advancement, experience, abstraction, discussion, etc etc is a dead end if you the artist suck.

    it also appears to me mike that after initially stating your slight disagreement with jeff jarvis, you then went through and commented on things demonstrating an agreement with him. just my impression.

  • On the post: Remix Culture Is About The Culture As Much As The Remix

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 09 Feb, 2010 @ 05:28am

    Re: Re: Re: Moh Oh Oh Ron.

    As for my comments here, the intent is to point out....


    as any well-versed pr/lobbyist/shill professional will note, your point is to disrupt, derail, create turbulence. constructive discussion has nothing to do with your mission.

    hearteningly, this community is surely beginning to just talk past your baiting as inevitably happens to such persistent agitators.

  • On the post: Wal-Mart, Target Trying To Block Redbox From Purchasing DVDs?

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 04 Feb, 2010 @ 04:15pm

    Re:

    Its not just Redbox, there are a TON of small rental businesses that come in and buy 10-20 copies at a time...


    i'm certain walmart knows this full well even at the corporate level. it's called market intelligence, and walmart lives and breathes such information.

    very curious why they collapsed vs. the studios instead of turning to these idiots and saying "well, just give us more discs. we'll sell 'em all for you!"

    after all, fighting market intelligence is the studios forte, not that of a successful retailer........

  • On the post: iiNet Wins! AFACT Has To Pay. Australian Court Says ISPs Not Responsible For Infringing Users

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 04 Feb, 2010 @ 09:41am

    Re: Re: Re:

    But gee, without the internet connection.... ;)


    tam-tam fails again.

    (classic pr/lobbyist language: first agree, then hint at the opposite of your agenda, denigrating it so that by implication your agenda appears reasonable. source: go read "thank you for smoking".)

    the judge pointed out expressly this point:

    More importantly, Justice Cowdroy said that the "mere provision of access to internet is not the means to infringement".

  • On the post: iiNet Wins! AFACT Has To Pay. Australian Court Says ISPs Not Responsible For Infringing Users

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 03 Feb, 2010 @ 06:50pm

    Re:

    it seems to me that this judge understands that bittorrent is just a communication protocol (a computer to computer standard) much like http or ftp.

    iow, a tool, and how folks use that tool is up to them.

    smacking down big content's efforts to criminalize a communication standard is a huge victory.

  • On the post: Of Course Most Content Shared On BitTorrent Infringes; But That's Meaningless

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 02 Feb, 2010 @ 07:39am

    Re: "legal" torrent sites

    ...why doesn't Floor64 man up and run a torrent tracker for only legal stuff? Why not be a leader...


    http://wiki.vuze.com/w/Legal_torrent_sites

    uhm...because he actually wouldn't be a leader, but rather a market follower.

    all kinds of fun stuff going on out there behind your blinders.

    People have to learn to respect others.


    oh really? you mean like this:

    Sorry loser,
    You are an idiot troll, aren't you?
    asspick troll.
    troll
    ...and your an arsepick.
    Have a nice day troll.
    liar.
    Ooo, look, stinky troll bait.
    nice comeback, son.

    (n.b. i know full well that wasn't the gist of your statement, but it does suck when someone else twists your seemingly innocent words around no? People have to learn to respect others. is,as we know, code for i believe big content must continue to earn as much as they have and in the exact same manner )

  • On the post: Bev Stayart Sues Yahoo Again For Violating Her Privacy Rights

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 26 Jan, 2010 @ 06:48pm

    family ties

    anyone else notice that the papers referenced above:

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/25492283/Stayart-v-Yahoo-Amended-Complaint-January-2010

    (which is the suit in question) all the way at the end is ms. stayart's lawyer before the court:

    [b]gregory a. stayart, esq.[/b]

    father? brother? husband? cousin? whatever, they are certainly well placed to verify, as per the complaint:

    [blockquote][i]23. Stayart has never engaged in a promiscuous lifestyle or other overt sexual activities.[/i][/blockquote]

    LOL

  • On the post: France's Three Strikes Enforcement Agency… Pirated A Font For Its Logo

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2010 @ 04:44pm

    Re: Re: TAM Fails Again

    "It would be much more helpful if you can read french, as the story in french is significantly different from the rather slanted "ding" post from torrent freak."


    en fait, l'article d'origine au pub numerama.com est fidelement decrit par les mecs chez torrentfreak. l'agence creatif est reduit a se defender avec une admission de "erreur de manipulation".

    ce que veut dire, that the articles, even in english, are accurately describing the hypocrisy and arrogance of an elite class.

    nice try bud.....

  • On the post: France's Latest Plan: Tax Google, Microsoft And Yahoo To Fund Record Labels

    Robin Hoover ( profile ), 07 Jan, 2010 @ 05:05pm

    record industry lifer

    note mike that the author, patrick zelnick, is a record industry lifer:

    http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Zelnik

    briefly translated: '73-80 w/polydor, '80-'97 virgin france, '97-present naive (which has a 5% market share of disks sold in france).

    as well, his brief from the gov't has been under attack since the day it was announced last year:

    http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2010/01/07/le-rapport-zelnik-prone-une-taxe-google_1288659_651865.html

    but wait, there's more!! coming soon is another such recommendation concerning e-books. get this, led by the same chick who was in charge of the 3-strikes nonsense:

    http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-technologie-internet/2009-12-01/gouvernement-christine-albanel-revient-pour-une-mission-sur-le-livre-numerique/1387/0/400527

    it's an effing train-wreck over there.

Next >>