sehlat 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (722)

• On the post: More Examples Of How The House Intelligence Committee Limits Oversight, Rather Than Does Oversight

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 11 Oct, 2013 @ 12:30pm

  Regulatory Capture By Another Name

  Remember, the NSA has people who capture ALL phone calls, etc. etc. The implications, even for non-corrupt politicians, if there are any, are left as an exercise for the student.

• On the post: The Unintended Consequences Of The Shutdown Of Silk Road

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 11:39am

  Read the Warning on the Label

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernaean_Hydra
  
  Law enforcement of all kind has long forgotten what the Greeks knew.

• On the post: National Insecurity: How The NSA Has Put The Internet And Our Security At Risk

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 11:32am

  Did anybody think this through?

  Let's assume that the NSA buys an exploit via one of the online marketplaces.
  
  Case 1: Let us assume that the NSA can't crack the market and find out exactly WHO is selling a sploit and WHERE they are.
  
  NSA buys sploit. Pays premium "NOBUS" fee.
  
  Question: Just how does NSA enforce the contract if they can't find the seller OR find out whether seller has sold the sploit to world+dog?
  
  Case 2: Let us assume that NSA CAN crack the market.
  
  Question: Can NSA afford to disappear sellers? After all, if people who sell keep disappearing from the market, there will eventually be no market.
  
  Also, if NSA can crack the market, the sellers might be able to as well, in which case, "Don't sell to the NSA" becomes a new mantra.

• On the post: Two Bad Launches: Why Rockstar Is Succeeding Where EA Failed

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2013 @ 10:22am

  "The value you give."

  "The bottom line is the gain you get. The top line is the gain you deliver in return. If you provide the customer with a buy well worth having, you've taken care of the top line. That doesn't guarantee a profit, but Ford, Edison, Bell, Land, and a host of others have done right by the top line, and everyone was better off because of it. Naturally, the bottom line is important. But there needs to be something on the top line first!"

  Rockstar is clearly a top-line and a top-of-the-line company.

• On the post: The Trustworthy Government Officials Delusion: Eventually Any Program Will Be Abused

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2013 @ 09:20am

  Trust *REQUIRES* Verification

  Again and again we have been told, "trust us, we know what we're doing," but any evidence is withheld on grounds of "need to know" and "national security."
  
  Trust and verification are siamese twins, joined at the heart. If you cannot get feedback on the results of giving trust, you have no reason to give it in the first place.
  
  Schneier is right.
  
  

  Trust is essential for society to function. Without it, conspiracy theories naturally take hold. Even worse, without it we fail as a country and as a culture. It's time to reinstitute the ideals of democracy: The government works for the people, open government is the best way to protect against government abuse, and a government keeping secrets from is people is a rare exception, not the norm.

  
  
  He doesn't use the word, but given our ideal of government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," the NSA and their allies in the rest of the government are, in fact, committing treason.

• On the post: German Publishers File Criminal Complaint Against Two News Sites For Mentioning Name Of Unauthorized Ebook Site

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2013 @ 04:03pm

  Re:

  Godwin Loves You.

• On the post: German Publishers File Criminal Complaint Against Two News Sites For Mentioning Name Of Unauthorized Ebook Site

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2013 @ 03:51pm

  Jello Biafra already nailed this one...

  For every prohibition you create, you also create an underground.
  -- Jello Biafra
  
  Copyright is a prohibition...
  -- Me
  
  Any questions?

• On the post: Evangelist Adorns Biblical Child Rearing Book With 'Modern Family' Portrait He Found Via Google

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2013 @ 03:57pm

  Listing of Sehorne's Apparent Religious Principles

  1. What I want is God's Will.
  
  2. What you want is ... well ... God doesn't talk to the likes of you!

• On the post: Steve Jobs' Email Shows Apple Changed In-App Purchasing Rules Specifically To Retaliate Against Amazon

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2013 @ 02:44pm

  Well, what did anybody expect?

  It's been pretty plain for a long time that, in Mr. Jobs' mind, it was HIS world and the rest of us were born to rent it from him.

• On the post: Yet Another Newspaper Paywall Goes Bust: SF Chronicle Gives Up After Just Four Months

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2013 @ 10:18pm

  A Famous Publisher Once Commented On This

  Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.
  
  Benjamin Franklin

• On the post: Government Considers Dissatisfaction With US Policies To Be A 'High Threat'

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2013 @ 12:18pm

  Re: Re:

  What does human nature do on the bad days?

• On the post: Government Considers Dissatisfaction With US Policies To Be A 'High Threat'

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2013 @ 11:42am

  Giving Whistleblowers a Free Training Kit!

  This is great! The kit tells every potential whistleblower exactly what to avoid doing so they don't get caught before they tear the government a new one.
  
  Call it the Snowden Effect. :)

• On the post: Maybe The Answer To The $200 Million Movie Question Is To Not Focus On $200 Million Movies?

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2013 @ 11:51am

  Why $200 million dollar movies?

  Everybody overlooks the obvious reason: big budgets are a compensation for the size of executives' other equipment (wink, nudge).

• On the post: Judge Wright Denies John Steele's Motion, Says Any Problem Is Steele's Own Fault, Directs Him To Legal Clinic

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2013 @ 08:50pm

  Re: Re:

  Careful, remember, you're insulting our remotest ancestors here.

• On the post: Judge Wright Denies John Steele's Motion, Says Any Problem Is Steele's Own Fault, Directs Him To Legal Clinic

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2013 @ 08:51pm

  Memetic Suggestion

  The judge is always Wright.

• On the post: Shallow Surveillance Efforts Like PRISM Will Only Catch The 'Stupidest, Lowest-Ranking Of Terrorists'

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2013 @ 08:45am

  Catch Only the Most Inept?

  Wow! They're gonna be selecting for smarter terrorists! Charles Darwin is smiling in his grave.

• On the post: Epic Response To A Bogus Cease And Desist Letter: Bravo For Your Legal Satire!

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2013 @ 12:12pm

  My Take On the Response Letter

  It is so awesome that arguably it qualifies as modern art.

• On the post: The Next Time Someone Says Twitter Is Killing Deep Thinking With Short Quick Messages, Show Them This

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2013 @ 02:34pm

  Re:

  We don't have Kelvins etc.
  
  We have Hawking and Cerf and the modern era's Lavoisier, Aaron Swartz. Genius is STILL all around. All you have to do is look.

• On the post: The Next Time Someone Says Twitter Is Killing Deep Thinking With Short Quick Messages, Show Them This

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 19 Jun, 2013 @ 02:24pm

  Re: The Mouseover Quote

  Look up John Harvey Kellogg on Wikipedia. It's eye-opening about just how wise and learned people were in the 19th and early 20th centuries, from whence come the quotes used for the image.

• On the post: States Attorneys General Want Special Exception To Blame Sites For Actions Of Users

  

  sehlat ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2013 @ 04:26pm

  An Idea Obviously NOT Thought Through

  Because if they get that, it would only make sense to hold them responsible for every crime that happens in their jurisdiction, whether they even knew of it or not. After all, it's *their* jurisdiction...

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