Skeptical Cynic 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (846)

• On the post: Senators Tell The Obama Administration To Reveal Its Secret Interpretation Of The Patriot Act

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 19 Mar, 2012 @ 06:30am

  Further evidence that today Politicians are pretty much the same.

  Everyone railed against the Bush Administration for the passing of the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act. But this shows that there really is not much difference between the two parties in the US.
  
  Both want to monitor you.
  Both want to hide what they are doing.
  Both want no oversight of what they are doing.
  Both just want more power to reside with them and their party.
  

  In a democratic society -- in which the government derives its power from the consent of the people

  
  One correction I would like to add to the article and it is something we all seem to forget. We in the US are NOT in a DEMOCRACY. We ARE in a Representative Republic. The founding fathers hated Democracies and felt that they are nothing better than Mob-rule. In a Representative Republic the government derives its power from the consent of the people. In a Democracy the people vote on everything and it is Mob-Rule meaning that the Politician that can best insight the crowd holds the power.

• On the post: 'Don't Get SOPA'd' Is The New Mantra On Capitol Hill

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2012 @ 08:58am

  What is missed

  What is missed is that it wasn't the tech industry it was people, just average people that saw what was going to happen if the law was passed and did not like it. The internet is not for Nerds or Geeks anymore. It is for everyone. The average person uses the internet in the US 32 hours a month.
  
  And Everyone is what they need to worry about. Not just the Nerds.

• On the post: Rather Than Speaking Out Against Domain Seizures, ICANN Provides A 'How To' Manual

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2012 @ 08:51am

  ICANN

  ICANN help your government violate your lawful rights and take from you what you own without due process or even telling you why.

• On the post: Why Isn't ICANN Speaking Out Against ICE/DOJ Domain Seizures?

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 01 Mar, 2012 @ 10:01am

  If a domain is registered outside the US

  I would like to say that the US should take a flying F**K if they think they should be able to shut it down.

• On the post: Patent Aggressor Microsoft Files EU Complaint Against Google/Motorola For Charging Too Much To License Patents

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 27 Feb, 2012 @ 06:53am

  Microsoft the great improver.

  Microsoft hates OPP (other people's patents) because what they do and they do it well is take what other's have done and improve on it by throwing lots of money at it.
  
  Think Office, Every OS, All of their Development tools.
  
  Hell they even like to take a great Product like Aloha Bob's PC Relocator (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/the-return-of-pc-relocator/163) and then strip it of features and call it Windows Easy Transfer.

• On the post: Indiana Court Says Anonymous Commenters Deserve High Standard Before Being Exposed, But Aren't Necessarily Protected By Shield Laws

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 27 Feb, 2012 @ 06:44am

  Re: Re: But could the comment be fighting words?

  Damn typos

• On the post: Indiana Court Says Anonymous Commenters Deserve High Standard Before Being Exposed, But Aren't Necessarily Protected By Shield Laws

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 27 Feb, 2012 @ 06:37am

  But could the comment be fighting words?

  Just wondering in type. Could the comment be considered fighting words which is an exception to the 1st amendment?
  
  

  In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), the Supreme Court held that speech is unprotected if it constitutes "fighting words".[28] Fighting words, as defined by the Court, is speech that "tend[s] to incite an immediate breach of the peace" by provoking a fight, so long as it is a "personally abusive [word] which, when addressed to the ordinary citizen, is, as a matter of common knowledge, inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction".[29] Additionally, such speech must be "directed to the person of the hearer" and is "thus likely to be seen as a 'direct personal insult'"

  
  
  I would consider it fighting words if someone called me a embezzler. Just saying.

• On the post: Online Technology Entrepreneurship Class At Stanford Postponed… Because Of Copyright

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 10:16am

  Re: Re: It was postponed by refusing to share the revenues with the workers

  Yes you are correct. People would learn so much by seeing educational material created before the world went copyright crazy.

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 08:07am

  Re: Re: A few problems...

  Also just want to say that filings are not facts until they are "in law" they are opinions as to how the law should be applied.
  
  (Of course I could just be talking out my butt and completely wrong)

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 08:05am

  Re: Re: A few problems...

  Define facts?
  
  Definition of FACT
  
  1: a thing done: as
  a obsolete : feat
  b : crime
  c archaic : action
  
  2 archaic : performance, doing
  
  3 : the quality of being actual : actuality
  
  4 a : something that has actual existence
  b : an actual occurrence
  
  5 : a piece of information presented as having objective reality
  ? in fact
  : in truth

• On the post: Did Universal Music Try To Expense The Costs Of Eminem's Producers Suing Over Unpaid Royalties… Back To Eminem's Producers?

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 08:01am

  All I can say is...

  This should be a wake up call to artists. Find alternatives.

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 07:57am

  Re: Re: A few problems...

  I agree with you. The case is unique. But the arguments for or against that are put forth in most cases are basic reiterations of other's work.
  
  And reconsidering unique. I say no. I would bet that 95% of cases are only unique in terms of the people involved and the dates and times. Not unique in terms of the process to fight or defend the case.

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 07:52am

  Re: Re: A few problems...

  I did not even try to delve in to the actual issues with copyright. But the legal works are still works. Written for the purpose of expressing the opinion or thoughts of the mind involved.

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 07:50am

  Re: Re: A few problems...

  I didn't really ignore it. Original Legal filings required creative thinking. What does it take to write a book?

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 06:59am

  Re: A great idea...

  I agree that I don't want them to limit access. But I have not seen any reduction in cost because they spend 5 minutes copying text from other's work. So limiting access or making it more expensive in not an argument.
  
  As for making legal services "simple, accessible and cheap as possible" the lawyers will make sure that doesn't happen. They are the architects of artificial scarcity.

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 06:41am

  Re:

  Nice thought. Doubt it, but nice thought.

• On the post: Westlaw And Lexis-Nexis Sued AGAIN Over Claims That They're Infringing On Copyrights Of Legal Filings Themselves

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 24 Feb, 2012 @ 06:26am

  A few problems...

  Mike, I agree with you on a lot of the article.
  
  But this is my take. First what lawyers write in the legal briefs and legal filings are in some cases a creation of their education, training, and experience. While other lawyers take what someone else wrote and pretty much copy it verbatim when they file a similar lawsuit. So although we don't consider it a written work like a book or a screenplay; the filings are original written works.
  
  As you state "the purpose of copyright is to incentivize the creation of the work". Well if you are a lawyer and a lazy one using Lexis/Westlaw you can pretty much prepare any legal filing without actually doing much work. Thus creating nothing new.
  
  So I can understand why a (no facts related to the people involved) non-lazy, legal expert would not want his writing just copied by someone else and they get to charge the ridiculous fees.
  
  PS. We also know very well that a lot of legal filings can be great works of fiction. Also I am not now nor have I ever been a lawyer.

• On the post: NSA: 'Anonymous Might One Day Hack Power Grids!' Anonymous: 'Huh?!?'

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2012 @ 10:27am

  All I can say is this... Crisis

  In every case where freedoms have been abridged it always starts with a Crisis. Period.
  
  So it appears as if this is another case of the Government creating a Crisis to further abridge freedom and control the people.
  
  I can list the crises that we have been subjected to but it would take up at least 5 or 6 websites like Techdirt.
  
  A few examples:
  Drug War
  Terrorists
  Piracy
  Cyber-hacking
  Identity theft
  etc
  etc
  etc...

• On the post: FTC Reminds EPIC That Suing The FTC To Get It To Investigate Google Might Not Be The Best Idea

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2012 @ 08:34am

  Re:

  Hey AC- Are there any other articles you would like to fail to read?

• On the post: Entertainment Industry Embraces New Business Model: Suing Google For Third-Party Android Apps That 'Promote Piracy'

  

  Skeptical Cynic ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2012 @ 08:22am

  Why don't we sue more lawyers?

  I think it is time that companies start suing lawyers for costing them millions (?billions?) in legal expenses for filing BS lawsuits.
  
  Of course they will have to pay a lawyer to handle the suit. Crap, forget that. Just take all lawyers out to the Pacific and dump them with heavy bundles of legal papers attached to their feet.

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