Tanner Andrews 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (1404) comment rss

  • On the post: Disney, ESPN Sue Sling TV For The Crime Of Streaming TV Pricing Innovation

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 04 Sep, 2025 @ 04:00am

    motion to dismiss

    While Disney may or may not be legally correct (the exact terms of these agreements aren’t made public)
    Normally if you are suing on a contract, you attach the contract or at least the relevant portions to your complaint. If you do not do that, your complaint does not state a claim upon which relief may be had.

  • On the post: Kristi Noem Lies, Says National Guard Deployments To ‘Blue’ Cities Aren’t Politically Motivated

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 04 Sep, 2025 @ 03:56am

    they are not alone

    It’s a party of liars, cowards, bullies, and please-tread-on-me masochists. What this party lacks completely is integrity or credibility.
    The problem is that right now there is no credible opposition party.

  • On the post: From Book Bans To Internet Bans: Wyoming Lets Parents Control The Whole State’s Access To The Internet

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2025 @ 01:41am

    could run into some push-back

    Imagine a Wyomingite stumbling across an NSFW subreddit or a Tumblr fanfic blog and deciding it violates the law.
    I am also able to imagine a Wyoming resident typing something into Google that produced results that might be considered improper. For instance, a kid might ask for the definition of "sodomy" and Google might respond. Or he might ask some questions about parts of the bible, including descriptions of some people's occupations. Google has lots of money, and presumably that gives access to lots of lawyers. If some of them are willing to go to Wyoming to appear pro hac vice, they could provide some resistance. There are not a lot of private citizens who want to take that on. Yet it is also possible that someone could do a set-up, bringing a claim against Google and then taking the fall to establish precedent. That would require a lot fewer lawyers to travel to Wyoming, and might well lead to the effective death of the law.

  • On the post: With Intel, Trump Continues His Race To Violate Every Clause In The Constitution By Now Arriving At The Takings Clause

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2025 @ 01:20am

    update

    President Harry Truman seized the entire U.S. steel industry in 1952 ….
    Found improper, Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (02-Jun-1952).

  • On the post: OK Superintendent Plans To Give Transplant Teachers From NY, CA Woke Tests Developed By Prager U

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2025 @ 12:09pm

    not the best neighborhood

    Stephen T. Stone has the best test. [...]
    I hope he is paying rent for the space he occupies in your brain. Not that it is the high rent district, but still.

  • On the post: Federal Judge Delivers Judicial Smackdown To FTC’s Politically Motivated Attack On Media Matters

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2025 @ 01:09am

    already have something similar

    sit down for an hour with every lawsuit, give it the 1000ft sniff test
    Normally we call that a ``motion to dismiss''. The test is whether the allegations of the complaint, taken as true, state a winnable claim. If not, dismiss. Possibly give a chance to amend if it is missing some facts. If the facts show a non-viable claim then there is no need to allow amendment. This is a cheap motion that happens at the beginning of the investigation, even before the defendant needs to investigate anything.

  • On the post: Elon Says Teslas Drive Themselves. The Crash Data Tesla Tried To Hide From A Court Says Otherwise

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2025 @ 06:46am

    partly there

    The way to handle this is the same way that airliner data is handled: an onboard, highly tamper-resistant black box
    Evidently this is already mostrly in place. The problem is that the Tesla ``black box'' sends the data to the Tesla server -- then deletes it. A legitimate ``black box'' would not delete the data. This does not seem like a difficult change to what is already there.

  • On the post: Nestle Petitions To Cancel ‘Seattle Strong’ Coffee Trademark, Arguing It Owns Seattle

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2025 @ 03:37am

    good outcome

    Ideally, the name ``Seattle's Best Coffee'' would be found to be improviodently registered, and ordered stricken. Since someone appears likely to litigate anyway, maybe there would not be too much extra cost to accomplish this. It sounds both descriptive and puffy. It is as though I described a product as DeLand's Best Beer. Might be, but I ought not be able to trademark that, even if my product stood head and shoulders above the other brewers' products.

  • On the post: DOGE Cuts Turned A Predicted Disaster Into A Deadly Reality In Texas

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2025 @ 11:19pm

    thoughts and prayers

    response is thoughts and prayers
    At this point, they should be praying, offering up contrition for their bad act and omissionns such as eliminating the person in charge of coordinating disaster warnings and failing to install tornado sirens.

  • On the post: DOGE Cuts Turned A Predicted Disaster Into A Deadly Reality In Texas

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2025 @ 11:13pm

    some effect

    cuts probably had little impact in this event
    Not sure I can agree. Sacking the guy whose job it was to coordinate weather warnings might have had some effect on the distribution of weather warnings.\

  • On the post: UnitedHealth’s Response To People Cheering Their CEO’s Murder: Silence The Critics

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2025 @ 10:39pm

    not a good look for UH

    glorifying actual real world physical not-imaginary-or-hypothetical violence
    Note that the ``real world physical'' is not implicated in the videos subject of the story. Instead, UH is trying to squish criticism.

  • On the post: SCOTUS Porn Ruling A Boon For Age Verification Companies; 40% Of Americans Now Live Under Anti-Porn Age-Gating Laws

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2025 @ 12:55am

    anticipatory compliance

    If a web site isn’t in the United States American law has no juruadiction
    So one might think. However, according to the reports, at least the Pornhub family of web sites are complying despite being Canadian.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Rejects Jason ‘Pee King Of Facebook’ Fyk’s ‘But Muh Pee Videos’ Appeal

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2025 @ 08:47pm

    make it easy

    [many] major porn sites DO ban content like that involving scat, [&c.]
    They could make it easy. Have a link on the front page saying ``what is allowed and not allowed''. Going farther: if pisspot.com does not like fecal videos, they could even refer the potential user to their sister site shithole.com.

  • On the post: The Moral Imperative Of Clear Language

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2025 @ 04:47pm

    start at the beginning

    how can [Dems] be expected to do what’s needed to unwind these atrocities when (if ever) they’re back in power?
    At this ratge, they are unlikely to ever be back in power. They cannot even raise enough money to buy a back-bone for Sen. Schumer, much less for nearly fifty other senators, umpteen house members, and boatloads of state and local officials. Until they raise enough money to purchase spines, they are purely decorative.

  • On the post: Trump NHTSA ‘Investigates’ Tesla Robotaxis Failing To Adhere To Basic Austin Traffic Laws

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2025 @ 12:20am

    value of nipples on boar hog

    that [TSLA] stock tanks to a level it should always have been.
    Based on the dividends to date, I estimate that it should be around zero.

  • On the post: Musk’s ‘Priority #1’ Disaster: CSAM Problem Worsens While ExTwitter Stiffs Detection Provider

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2025 @ 12:11am

    easy pickings

    Assuming the twitter rules are clear on the subject, the material should be gathered under a hashtag (`#') CSAM. Automated tools should find it easily. If there is any sort of blocking, then those who do not want that sort of material can avoid viewing it. Think of the 10 commandment posters in Louisiana, except automated. I do not use twitter and so cannot speak to the effectiveness of any available blocking; neither do I attend grade school in Louisiana to verify effectiveness of governor's advice to not look at the offending posters. I presume that twitter can restrict users who post such material without including the hashtag, or who include the hashtag without the requisite material.

  • On the post: Fifth Circuit Blocks Louisiana Law Mandating Posting Of Ten Commandments In Schools

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2025 @ 01:19am

    some prohibitions

    If the poster is important to have in a math class, then the kids might want to ask some questions. Should the math teacher explain about not committing adultery means and how to (avoid) doing it?

  • On the post: CBS Execs Have Second Thoughts About Paying Trump Bribe Money After California Threatens Bribery Inquiry

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2025 @ 06:08pm

    still good law

    I do not recall any later opinions receding from Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857). There is now a birthright citizenship provision in the Constitution, but the general thrust of the case may still be good law. There is much in there. Note the originalist interpretation of the Constitution, pointing out that it was not intended to deliver blessings of liberty, or any rights, to negroes. Sandford at 411. The founding fathers intended to include only white men. Sandford at 410. Originalist interpretations, where they produce the desired results, are still offered today.

  • On the post: Mahmoud Khalil Finally Released Months After Being Illegally Kidnapped By ICE For His Speech

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2025 @ 06:44am

    hold your breath and turn blue

    will be one of the infamous, shameful moments in American history that kids are taught in schools about
    I would not want to wait for this teaching to happen. It would have to come after teaching of Bloody Sunday in Selma, or Jim Crow generally, and the Japanese being forced into concentration camps, and the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the deportation flights to El Salvador, and the ``black prisons'' for the War on Terror complete with the infamous Torture Memo, and myriad others cut from the same cloth. Then there are lesser humiliations like Gobitis v. Mindersville School District, 310 U.S. 586, if you want to talk about free expression as an American value. Likewise Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 and Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 616. And of course Barenblatt v. U.S., 360 U.S. 109. I would expect any future civics class to focus on the kids' freedom to praise the government and its officials. Think of the old joke becoming obsolete as criticism is muted and stomped out: * American: Here, we are free to critize even the president of the U.S. * Russian: Here, too, we can criticize the president of the U.S.

  • On the post: US Marines Witnessed Detaining A US Citizen In Los Angeles

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2025 @ 05:14am

    standard tort claim, does qualified immunity apply

    Restraining and moving the person probably fit pretty well within standard intentional tort claims. On the face of it, if the disgraceful Marines can be identified, they should have some liability exposure both in tort and under S:1983. I do not know of QI being extended to military fighting statecide against citizens, and Marines are supposedly trained * not to commit tortious acts against civilians * not to carry out war against the US * to uphold the Constitution The violation would seem clear cut enough that extending QI to cover the military on these facts might be a bit of a stretch.

Next >>