saulgoode 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (351) comment rss

  • On the post: Judicial Problem: Defending Free Speech Is More Likely When Justices Agree With The Speech

    saulgoode ( profile ), 07 May, 2014 @ 04:18pm

    My disillusionment with the Supreme Court came with the appointment of Clarence Thomas; not because of his political views or the harassment scandal that arose during his confirmation, but owing to the fact that his entire judicial career included just 18 months as a sitting judge. Up till that point I hadn't realized that Supreme Court Justice was basically an entry level position.

  • On the post: John Kerry Claims US Is On The 'Right Side Of History' When It Comes To Online Freedom And Transparency

    saulgoode ( profile ), 05 May, 2014 @ 09:20am

    As President Obama has made clear, just because we can do something doesn?t mean that we should do it. And that?s why he ordered a thorough review of all our signals intelligence practices.
    The time to decide whether you should do something is before you do it, not after ten years of doing it (without telling anyone, and then getting caught).

  • On the post: Find Two Hours To Watch Glenn Greenwald Debate Michael Hayden

    saulgoode ( profile ), 04 May, 2014 @ 07:24am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Advocating or asserting that many, many of these communications are confidential simply denies that they are necessities of life ...
    I fail to see a connection between whether something is confidential and whether it is a necessity of life; certainly not so as to make them mutually exclusive.

    Again, posting a letter is not the same as walking out the door into the street. If I ask Fred to give a letter to Mary, that is not a public transaction -- Fred is acting as my agent per what agreement we've arranged. He is not a third party to the transaction and, though he may be a third party to the message, he is certainly not the "public". If he requires that I provide him with certain information to assist him in his duties, that information is still between him and me; there has been no public disclosure.
    Taken to its logical conclusion, much of what you seem to want declared confidential would bring social interchange to a virtual halt, and I certainly see how that would bode well at all. Quite the contrary.
    I am not saying such "pen data" information should be completely off limits to the government, merely that it should require a warrant.

    The same technology that facilitates recording and accessing such information also facilitates rapid obtaining of proper warrants. If there is current not the capability for law enforcement or government agents to obtain a warrant in a matter of minutes then I would say it'd make more sense to spend money implementing such an infrastructure, rather than spending billions of dollars building facilities and employing personnel to intercept and record the particulars of every communication that ever takes place on the entire planet.

  • On the post: Find Two Hours To Watch Glenn Greenwald Debate Michael Hayden

    saulgoode ( profile ), 03 May, 2014 @ 11:07pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    The exterior of an envelope contains information specifically enabling a communication contained in the envelope to be routed correctly. Much the same can be said for internet addresses, telephony data, etc. They are all necessary predicates for the correct routing of the communication.
    Yet the information is being provided to the postal service as part of the transaction of sending the communication, it is not being published in the local newspaper or posted on a litfass column. It should be considered private between the customer and service, and a warrant should be required from outside parties to access that information.

  • On the post: Censorious Parent Calls Cops On Teen Giving Away Books In A Local Park

    saulgoode ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2014 @ 07:12am

    Best if served by

    The disgruntled parents should have contacted the City of London Police.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Discussion In Aereo: At Least The Justices Recognize The Harm They Might Do

    saulgoode ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2014 @ 07:48am

    Re: Re: Questionable Arguments

    Let me add one more point: the idea that each subscriber has his own antenna, and that the antenna is the sole source of the signal he receives is pure smoke and mirrors.
    The issue is not whether the antenna is the sole source of the signal (though it is), the issue is whether the signal from the antenna ends up going to anybody other than the antenna's owner (renter, actually).

  • On the post: Police Raid Apartment, Seize Electronics Related To A Long-Suspended Twitter Account Parodying Town's Mayor

    saulgoode ( profile ), 21 Apr, 2014 @ 07:35am

    How many Twitter users would have believed the following was issued by the Mayor or his office?
    I'm thinking the ones from Toronto might not be so incredulous.

  • On the post: Find The Big Fib In The NSA's Lack Of Concern For Foreigners

    saulgoode ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2014 @ 06:54am

    While I think the NSA's targeting of non-citizens outside the U.S. is misguided and generally amounts to gross incompetence in performing their job, I disagree that it violates the Constitution.

    The Supreme Court has ruled that Constitutional protections do apply to non-citizens*, but they still need to be within the jurisdiction of U.S. law to fall under those protections.


    * http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=163&invol=228

  • On the post: A New Animated Web Series About Copying And Copyright

    saulgoode ( profile ), 09 Apr, 2014 @ 05:52am

    Re: Re: Public Records, Privacy

    I'm not familiar with the story about which you speak (a link would be appreciated), however, the New York Public Library (about a week ago) released scans of their collection of public domain maps, for no fee.

    http://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/03/28/open-access-maps

  • On the post: A New Animated Web Series About Copying And Copyright

    saulgoode ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2014 @ 10:04pm

    Your point is well-taken for the sense of copying in a manner that might qualify as infringement under current laws. But in the broader sense of copying, it is undeniable that "we all do it". You see, I just copied from your post ("we all do it"), and you copied it from the video. Would such copying qualify as infringement? Probably not*, but it is copying.


    * But then, some courts have found that a single-line poem, or a 13-second performance, is deserving of copyright protection. So who knows for certain?

  • On the post: Mike Rogers Still Pushing His 'Snowden Is A Russian Spy' Delusion, Citing Every Single 'Counterintelligence Official' In Support

    saulgoode ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2014 @ 11:05am

    Re:

    It would appear that he plans to become a radio talk show host.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/the-retirement-of-mike-rogers-national-security-statist/360016/

  • On the post: State Department Official Freaks Out That Declassifying CIA Torture Report Might Make The World Angry

    saulgoode ( profile ), 05 Apr, 2014 @ 12:17am

    "Come to its milk" is an old dairy farming phrase that means the calf has been weaned and will drink milk out of a bowl. The sooner a calf could be trained to "come to its milk", the sooner its dam (mother) could return to production.

  • On the post: Dick Cheney Lies: Claims Not A Single Case Of NSA Abusing Its Authority

    saulgoode ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2014 @ 09:19am

    George W's greatest accomplishment as president was not dying while Dick was the VP.

  • On the post: Here's Hoping The Supreme Court Does Not Blow Another Opportunity To Fix The Software Patent Problem

    saulgoode ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2014 @ 03:36pm

    Re:

    What I don't understand is this: how did software ever get patented in the first place
    I attribute it to a combination of things, starting with the unfortunate wording of the Patent Act which says that "processes" can be patented, and then defines processes as follows:

    The term "process" means process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.

    Ignoring the inane circularity of a "'process' means process", the act was amended to employ the word "process" in the 1930s, back when "information processing" was virtually non-existent. So the term as intended by the legislators of the time obviously only referred to processing associated with mechanics, chemistry, and manufacturing for which granting of patent protection is arguably reasonable (or at least the processes are not abstract).

    With the advent of computers, and the ability of machines to "process" information, the term took on the connotation of performing manipulations upon purely abstract concepts -- something that has traditionally been rejected as deserving of patent protection.

    Unfortunately there are many misguided folk who fail to grasp that no matter how much you process an abstract concept (such as information), that concept is still going to be abstract.

  • On the post: Fluke Gives Sparkfun A Bunch Of Multimeters In Response To Trademark Mess

    saulgoode ( profile ), 21 Mar, 2014 @ 01:13am

    We also do so because it is a matter of safety for our customers. Our tools are used in high-energy industrial environments, where precision and safety is an absolute necessity.
    It is not the purpose of trademark law to protect people from misusing items they've purchased; it's purpose is to protect them from being misled in their decision to make the purchase.

    That an electrician, engineer, or hobbyist might grab the wrong DMM out of the toolbox because of similar schemes is not an issue to be addressed with trademark law. If there is a concern that the CAT II, III, and IV markings on the device are not sufficient then a more conspicuous standard (such as color coding) should be mandated.

  • On the post: Senate Republicans, Trying To Score Political Points, Claim Democrats Revealing Spying Scandal Puts Lives At Risk

    saulgoode ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2014 @ 02:37pm

    By mentioning the fact that the CIA searched the network of the Senate Intelligence Committee staffers, it means people will die?
    I don't see where Sen. Udall even mentioned that much. All he stated in his letter was that the CIA had taken unprecedented action of some sort. Hardly revealing at all (perhaps they refused to serve meatloaf in the cafeteria).

  • On the post: Government Employees Suddenly Worried About Surveillance As New Plans To Stop The Next Snowden Strip All Privacy

    saulgoode ( profile ), 11 Mar, 2014 @ 02:25pm

    Now you've got two problems

    Exactly.

  • On the post: The Aereo Case Isn't About Aereo, But About The Future Of Cloud Computing And Innovation

    saulgoode ( profile ), 07 Mar, 2014 @ 03:03am

    Re: Re: Re: Copyhype

    You will note that Karl, first and foremost, addressed specific points of the Copyhype weblog article; only afterward noting possible reasons for skepticism.

    Would that those who disagree with Karl's counterpoints (or or those of Techdirt) should do the same.

  • On the post: Commercial Drones Declared Legal; Release The Tacocopters

    saulgoode ( profile ), 07 Mar, 2014 @ 05:21am

    That's crazy talk!

    The judge notes that while the FAA had some internal memorandum about these issues, it did not put forth a full rule, and thus it is not an actual policy.
    What?! Wait... you mean a law needs to be publicly made public before the public should be expected to follow it? That can't be how it works.

  • On the post: International Music Organizations Claim Aereo Must Be Illegal Because Of International Trade Agreements

    saulgoode ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2014 @ 05:56pm

    It makes me cringe to see Aero described as "innovative". It is a horrendously inefficient means of receiving broadcasts, with the one redeeming quality being that it is less horrendously inefficient than most other means imposed by the monopolistic regime of copyright.

Next >>