Sneeje 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (572)

• On the post: Misleading Rasmussen Poll Helps Prop Up Bogus Net Neutrality Partisan Divide

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 24 Nov, 2014 @ 09:06am

  Re: Well, it depends...

  "Oblate's comment had heart, but Football-In-The-Groin had a football in the groin."

• On the post: Roca Labs Story Gets More Bizarre: Senator Threatens Bogus Defamation Lawsuit, While Nevada Quickly Rejects Bogus Bribery Charge

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2014 @ 10:46am

  Re:

  Perfect 10 --> Righthaven --> Prenda --> Roca -->
  
  Can anyone else add to this lineage of laughable incompetence?

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 05:18pm

  Re: Re: Re: Disregard illegal laws

  And your exact example shows what you may be missing. The nuance here is not as stark as you describe. Observations that "end at people's noses" in public may be one thing (and still arguable), but observations of behavior around which people have an expectation of privacy are entirely different.
  
  You do not have unrestricted free speech rights on my physical private property, for example. In fact, I can engage in prior restraint should I so choose.
  
  That is the nuance being discussed here, where digital boundaries are exchanged for physical ones.

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 05:06pm

  Re: Re: First we kill...

  I haz a sad.

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 05:05pm

  Re: Re: Re: Disregard illegal laws

  For the record, you said Godwin first.

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 10:55am

  Re: Disregard illegal laws

  Ummmm... you may not understand what the boundaries or intent of the first amendment is. The crux of this issue is that the research or experiments are performed on and involved others without their express consent.
  
  No researcher can claim protection under the first amendment for experiments that have an impact on others. Your first amendment rights end when they impinge on others' natural or constitutional rights to health and welfare.
  
  At the extreme, a "Dr. Mengele" cannot claim that the horrific experiments he/she performed on others without (or with) their consent are protected by the first amendment.

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 10:16am

  First we kill...

  the lemonade stands, and next on the block is the science fair...

• On the post: Reuters Tries To Explain Away Its Refusal To Call Torture 'Torture'

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2014 @ 07:14am

  Thanks for pushing this Mike...

  I think it is important to be clear about what you mean by "When reporters like Zengerle take the cheap way out, they actually make things even worse."
  
  What's worse:
  
  When those associated with widely disseminated sources of information don't follow rigorous critical thinking themselves (disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence), they support the view that any perspective is legitimate. This is how we get governments that can define words, how presidents can dissemble over "is" and how sports organizations can allow women to accept responsibility for their own beatings.
  
  The other point, which is more debatable, is whether or not you believe that journalists are making it easier for people to engage in torture. This is the age-old ethical dilemma--is using negative and evaluative language an opinion or is it reporting the issue?
  
  I agree with Mike, the first point, at least in this case, eliminates consideration of the second. What constitutes torture is not up for debate and therefore cannot be considered opinion or subjective inflammatory language.

• On the post: Fact Checking Is Dead: Mainstream Media Goes Nuts Repeating Debunked Claims By The Fake 'Inventor Of Email'

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2014 @ 12:55pm

  Re: Re: This will go on forever

  No, not the legal system. It is far more fundamental than that.
  
  It has more to do, I believe, with the way people develop (and are educated) their critical thinking skills. One dictionary defines it as, "disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence"
  
  For some reason, our society does not reinforce this behavior, "particularly the informed by evidence part." I think we could make a career out of explaining why.
  
  But it is really frustrating, no? When people (public servants, entertainers, corporations, etc.) make claims, especially important ones, no one demands any evidence nor holds that evidence to any standards of quality or provenance.
  
  As a result, we've established that argumentation by emotion or reputation is simply enough.
  
  It makes me sad.

• On the post: Former Senator Scott Brown's Staff Sends Larry Lessig A Letter Demanding He Stop Referring To Brown As A 'Lobbyist'

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 08 Sep, 2014 @ 08:51am

  Re: Re: Re: I hope that isn't the actual ad because...

  Yeah, strict configuration control is for losers... ;)

• On the post: Former Senator Scott Brown's Staff Sends Larry Lessig A Letter Demanding He Stop Referring To Brown As A 'Lobbyist'

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 08 Sep, 2014 @ 06:54am

  I hope that isn't the actual ad because...

  it desperately needs an editor.
  
  "Former MA Senator who sold his influence a DC lobbying firm"

• On the post: Can We Create A Public Internet Space Where The First Amendment, Not Private Terms Of Service, Rules?

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2014 @ 08:06am

  Really struggling with this one... "a space on the Internet?"

  How would that even work. If it is a defined space, wouldn't it follow that it would be walled and therefore have a barrier to entry?
  
  Also, will it include existing app and website content infrastructures or require new ones? Meaning, would Facebook exist in this new space, but be subject to certain rules/expectations or would an entirely new app infrastructure be required?
  
  Maybe I'm not understanding the suggestion.

• On the post: License Plate Reader Company Sues Another State For 'Violating' Its First Amendment Right To Build A 1.8-Billion-Image Database

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 18 Jun, 2014 @ 05:10am

  Seems to me the solution is...

  For the laws not to address collection, but to address *access*. If the companies cannot use the collections freely and the collections can only be accessed via warrant, they may not have such an incentive to create them in the manner they wish.

• On the post: General Keith Alexander Is An Opportunistic Coward

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2014 @ 01:05pm

  Re: Re: Re: Cowardice can be described as taking the easy road

  That's an important point. I was just reducing the argument to the basic elements: "If I don't succeed, its because I didn't have the right tools."
  
  It is a shallow rationalization and shows a commitment to ass-protecting rather than a commitment to the ideals in the oaths he has given.

• On the post: General Keith Alexander Is An Opportunistic Coward

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2014 @ 11:27am

  Re: Re: Cowardice can be described as taking the easy road

  Of course, but the basis of that particular saying is that the tools are available and appropriate.

• On the post: General Keith Alexander Is An Opportunistic Coward

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2014 @ 10:28am

  Cowardice can be described as taking the easy road

  "It is a poor tinker that blames his tools."
  
  I think it is completely reasonable to define cowardice in this way. Fighting terrorists and catching criminals is undeniably HARD.
  
  So are many things: being a doctor, maintaining healthy marriages, parenting kids, teaching, yada, yada, yada. These are all hard because they contain some core values, principles, ethics, etc. that are believed to be fundamentally important to our society.
  
  "Do No Harm" is not a platitude and neither is "Defend the Constitution." It isn't "Defend the Constitution except when it gets challenging to do so."
  
  So in my opinion, in all of these efforts choose the easy thing over the RIGHT thing, it is an act of cowardice because it is almost certainly a rationalization to justify a personal lack of fortitude to fight for the social ideal.

• On the post: Ex-Wife Allegedly Using Copyright To Take Down Husband's Suicide Note

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 25 Apr, 2014 @ 01:40pm

  Re: Re:

  Or, to add to your question, how exactly is whining about posted stories not childish and argumentative on its own?

• On the post: Former CIA, NSA Boss Says Senator Feinstein Is Too Emotional To Judge CIA Torture Fairly

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2014 @ 07:25am

  Sexist!

  Senator Feinstein should take Hayden to the woodshed for such blatantly misogynistic remarks. That is a common, out-dated method for dismissing the positions or opinions of women. That along makes him sound like a dinosaur.

• On the post: Team Prenda Slammed Again, Found In Contempt; Judge Blasts Their Attempts To Plead Poverty

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 28 Mar, 2014 @ 06:49pm

  Re: How the mighty have fallen...

  Amazing how the word schadenfreude can be spelled so many ways... P-R-E-N-D-A, R-I-G-H-T-H-A-V-E-N, and so on.

• On the post: Kid Bullied For My Little Pony Backpack Told Not To Bring It To School Anymore

  

  Sneeje ( profile ), 19 Mar, 2014 @ 01:29pm

  Wait.

  Does no one at that school realize the message that's being sent? Do we not recognize the parallels?
  
  Isn't that the typical answer from abusers? I wouldn't [insert abuse here] if you didn't make me. Or, if you didn't do [insert thing here].
  
  Nice. Let's tell kids that the solution to abuse is to lay down.

Next >>