saulgoode 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (351)

• On the post: Judge Mocks Public Interest Concerns About Kicking People Off Internet, Tells Cox It's Not Protected By The DMCA

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 21 Nov, 2015 @ 08:42pm

  Re:

  "They are both rights guaranteed by the constitution."
  
  Copyrights are not guaranteed by the Constitution. It only states that Congress has the authority to implement a copyright regime. There is no requirement that Congress actually do so -- just as Congress is not required to legalize privateering even though the Constitution empowers them to.

• On the post: AT&T Lawyers Want You To Know That AT&T's CEO Will Never Listen To Customer Suggestions

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2015 @ 07:40am

  Re:

  It doesn't say much for your legal department if they aren't competent enough to fend off a claim that "unlimited data" somehow qualifies as intellectual property.
  
  Think about it for a sec. If "unlimited data" qualifies for IP protection then were some other company to ever have previously offered it, AT&T themselves would be prohibited from legally doing so lest they infringe on that other company's IP. If such trivial concepts are protected by copyrights/patents, AT&T has bigger things to worry about than some suggestion letters tendered by satisfied customers.

• On the post: James Comey Says 'Dozens' Of Terrorists Have Eluded The FBI Thanks To Encryption

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2015 @ 08:58pm

  Was he misquoted (or paraphrased)?

  When they find a live one, they will move them off Twitter, and move them to an end-to-end encrypted messaging app,” Comey said. He said without a court order, the FBI could not read such encrypted message traffic.

  Without a court order, the FBI should not be reading message traffic whether it's encrypted or not.

• On the post: Just About Everything About Twitter Suspending Deadspin And SBNation Accounts Is Ridiculous

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 13 Oct, 2015 @ 04:58am

  The 512(i)(1)(A) policy is to suspend repeat infringers -- not repeat "targets of infringement allegations". Were there any court rulings that these postings were actually instances of copyright infringement?

• On the post: LMFAO The Beer Survives LMFAO The Band's Lawyers To Keep Its Name

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2015 @ 01:37am

  Peace Of Mind

  I guess this means Tom Scholz won't be suing the makers of Boston Lager.

• On the post: French Regulating Body Says Google Must Honor Right To Be Forgotten Across All Of Its Domains

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 22 Sep, 2015 @ 09:02am

  YACY

  It's already been created.

• On the post: Appeals Court: It Is In The Public's Interest That Samsung Not Be Allowed To 'Slide To Unlock' Devices

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 18 Sep, 2015 @ 10:02am

  As a result, the public interest nearly always weighs in favor of protecting property rights in the absence of countervailing factors, especially when the patentee practices his inventions.

  Were this true, patent protection should not expire after 20 years.

• On the post: Carl Malamud's Response To Georgia's Lawsuit Over The Copyright Of Its Annotated Code

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2015 @ 05:01pm

  Speaking of secret laws

  Along the same lines as this annotated code, it is not uncommon for courts at all levels to reference "Nimmer On Copyright" for interpretation and analysis of copyright law. This treatise costs about $4000 on Lexis/Nexis and it does not appear to be available in my local (Michigan) library system.

• On the post: Techdirt Podcast Episode 42: Adblocking Wouldn't Be A Problem If Ads Didn't Suck So Much

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2015 @ 03:24pm

  Re: Re:

  Where does one find this MP3?

• On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2015 @ 12:29pm

  Frog dissecting

  For the younger members of the audience who may not be familiar with the reference, MattShow's post alluded to the self-appointed title of '70s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

• On the post: More Experts Realizing That The TPP Is A Horrible And Dangerous Deal On Copyright

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2015 @ 08:49am

  As we've discussed in the past, the entire "problem" of orphan works is really a problem created by the automatic application of copyright, rather than requiring registration ("formalities.")

  I don't see the distinction. If copyright protection is not to be "automatic" then what "manual" mechanism would be used -- other than registration -- to identify that the author desires protection apply to a specific work?

• On the post: FTC CTO: Full Disk Encryption Is Important In Preventing Crime

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 01 Sep, 2015 @ 07:39am

  Hmmm...

  Given that their role is investigating crime, why would they be interested in preventing it, and putting themselves out of a job.>/i>

  That must be why the United States Trade Representatives have been such failures at negotiating trade agreements -- job security.

• On the post: Boston Public Broadcaster WGBH Files Bogus DMCA Notice On Public Domain Video Uploaded By Carl Malamud

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2015 @ 08:56am

  Re: TOO MANY TO CHECK! -- If that excuse is valid for Megaupload, then it's valid for WGBH.

  By the way, this is an example of monetizing the public domain that should be explicitly outlawed in statute: for no more effort than uploading valuable content made long prior, this whoever nor Youtube shouldn't get a cent, but should pay to public treasury.

  You forgot to provide the link to the website where you are hosting the video and ensuring that the public gets access to their valuable content.

• On the post: Boston Public Broadcaster WGBH Files Bogus DMCA Notice On Public Domain Video Uploaded By Carl Malamud

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2015 @ 12:29am

  A "good faith belief" that a posted video is infringing should at a minimum involve actually viewing the work. It would be nice to see some kickback on this issue by both Mr Malamud and Youtube suing for damages under DMCA's §512.

• On the post: Why Everyone's Totally Overreacting To Spotify's Privacy Policy (Which Isn't As Bad As You Think)

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 21 Aug, 2015 @ 03:01pm

  Will do.

  “If you don’t agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, then please don’t use the Service.” – Spotify
  
  Done, and done.

• On the post: Yes, The Appeals Court Got Basically Everything Wrong In Deciding API's Are Covered By Copyright

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2015 @ 12:15am

  Re: APIs aren't a "computer program"

  The definitions in Section 101 are just that, definitions. Defining what should be considered a "computer program" says nothing with respect to the actual jurisprudence of copyright presented in subsequent sections.
  
  In fact, nowhere in Title 17 is it explicitly asserted that "computer programs" are protected; such a conclusion is implicated from §102(a) and their being considered "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression". (Also, their copyrightability is attested by limitations being set forth in §117.)
  
  On a side note, the term "software" does not appear anywhere in Title 17 (other than as part of the name of a cited amendment).
  
  It is not particularly relevant whether or not an API satisfies the §101 definition for a "computer program" (or for "software"), as long as it qualifies as an "original work of authorship".

• On the post: Could A Hedge Fund Manager Trying To Short Stocks Of Pharma Companies With Bad Patents Derail Patent Reform?

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2015 @ 12:53pm

  Re:

  Could you explain what you might find detestable about Mr Bass' methods?

• On the post: News Corp's CEO Bizarre Obsession With Made Up Lies About Google

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2015 @ 02:36pm

  The words Intellectual Property don’t appear in the Google alphabet.

  
  Unless Google fails completely at grammar, the only words that do appear in their alphabet are "a" and "I".

• On the post: Vimeo Should Take Some Of The Blame For Simply Accepting Massive Bogus DMCA Takedown Over The Word 'Pixels'

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 10 Aug, 2015 @ 09:21pm

  Re: Re: Insanity rules

  It is an allusion to Orwell's 1984 wherein the names of the Ministries are the opposite of their actual function: the Ministry of Peace wages war, the Ministry of Plenty rations food, the Ministry of Truth rewrites history, and the Ministry of Love tortures people.

• On the post: NSA Apologist Offers Solutions To 'Encryption' Problem, All Of Which Are Basically 'Have The Govt Make Them Do It'

  

  saulgoode ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2015 @ 01:33pm

  Re: Re: The debate they're avoiding

  Alternate problem - other governments will want their magic key, too. What then?

  Director Comey addressed this in his recent statements before Congressional Committees by assuring that only the service providers would retain the backdoored-encrypted data, not the government. Presumably these corporations would not be compelled to respond to warrants from other nations, but would be for US-issued warrants.
  
  But then, as Jamie Zawinski would say, "now you have two problems".

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