Tanner Andrews 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Florida Steps Up To Defend Its Unconstitutional Social Media Law And It's Every Bit As Terrible As You'd Imagine

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2021 @ 05:52am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Let me ask one question, why do you think Trump is banned from social media?
    Question assumes the premise. In fact, Trump is banned only from certain social media platforms, but is free to use others. As to those from which he is banned, I need not discern a reason; it being their soapbox, they may lend its use to whom they please. Likewise, my living room shall not contain rude people who offend my other guests. While I may not discern the reason for Trump's ouster from particular platforms, I suspect that it comes down to a totality of factors:
    • telling many lies
    • harmful covid disinformation
    • leading armed rebellion against U.S. govt
    • endorsement of ``proud boys'' and similar hate groups
    But, really, I am just guessing. The platforms which do not choose to have him as a user are free to choose on that basis or on the basis of coin flips. Their platform, their choice. If I do not like it, I can go to Parler or Stormfront where I can have all the Trump promotion I want.

  • On the post: Florida Steps Up To Defend Its Unconstitutional Social Media Law And It's Every Bit As Terrible As You'd Imagine

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2021 @ 11:08pm

    Re:

    I think the last paragraph highlights something that can sometimes be overlooked — the attorneys drafting this response aren’t necessarily die-hard advocates for the positions they’re asserting
    Perhaps, but observe that the paper is signed by the chief deputy AG, who presumably has read it and has likely shown it to the AG, who is a defendant. I am guessing that a chief deputy is chosen for political alignment, and probably gets sacked if he steps far out of line. The Florida AG is generally considered strongly supportive of the entire mess. In fact, a stunningly large portion of Florida govt is thus aligned. In a one-party state, you tend to find officials with toes firmly planted on the line. An hundred miles south of Florida, the one-party state substitutes Castro'' forTrump'' but the results appear similar.

  • On the post: DOJ Seizes Iranian News Org Websites; Raising Many Questions

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2021 @ 04:30am

    Take Your Business Offshore

    prohibited from obtaining services, including website and domain services, in the United States without an OFAC license

    Naturally, this prohibition does not apply to competing website and domain service providers located outside of the U.S. The prudent tech services purchaser may want to be sure that his vendor is located elsewhere in order to reduce his exposure to the risk of having U.S. government interference with his contracts.

  • On the post: Fuck This Cheer In Particular Says The Supreme Court In Decision Upholding Students' Free Speech Rights

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2021 @ 11:35am

    Re: Re: Re: Liberalism vs conservatism?

    A healthy democracy needs at least two reasonably sane parties
    The problem is when you wind up with just two parties. The chances of them remaining reasonably sane are limited because the leadership starts defining their respective parties so as to distinguish them from the other. For instance, one party dislikes pollution as an economic externality, so the party dislikes govt regulation of polution. One party now dislikes overt racism, the other party embraces nazis and proud boys and says there are good people on both sides. One party endorses a living wage, so the other party wants tax credits for exporting jobs to the slave labor plants in Red China. I could go on. The problem is that, with but two parties, you may wind up with two idiots feuding instead of any realistic choice.

  • On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Instagram Takes Down Instagram Account Of Book About Instagram (2020)

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2021 @ 11:18am

    Re:

    And no ignoramus who hasn't walked far enough in your moccasins to wear holes--has a right to an opinion on how well your job has been done
    I think this demonstrably false. I am such an ignoramus, having done essentially no content moderation at all. Yet truly I can say that Twitter, in suspending people who mention the county seat of Shelby, did a really crummy job of moderating. And, I suspect, others would agree with me.

  • On the post: You Don't Own What You've Bought: Peloton Treadmill Edition

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 24 Jun, 2021 @ 07:03am

    Re: [miles away]

    $4,295??!! Geez!! For that price, when I got off that thing, I'd want to be somewhere else miles away.
    Sure, we can do that. We have the technology, at least around the City. We call this sort of tech ``sidewalks'',. How it works: I get on them in the morning and start a walking motion. I continue for a little less than a half-hour. When I get off the sidewalks, I am at the office. For two-a-days, I can start up in the evening, with similar body motions,and wind up at the house. And believe me, it is expensive. You should see my quarterly property tax bills if you have any doubts.

  • On the post: Chinese Government Now Using National Security Law To Censor Art Being Displayed In Hong Kong

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2021 @ 07:38pm

    Re: [history of HK]

    sad cos hong kong used to a beacon of freedom and open democratic culture
    Actually, no. For roughly an hundred years prior to the hand-over, HK was a British colony, run by a governor and bureaucrats appointed from London. The citizens were free to do as they were told. For the last few years of British rule, they were given some nominal freedom to hold elections. That was largely a stick in the eye of Red China, to whom HK was to be handed over. With the handing over, HK retained the form of elections, though obviously the candidates had to be approved from Peking. What HK had going for it was its location and ability to handle incredible amounts of trade. So long as that continues, HK retains some advantage over the rest of Red China. It provides some insulation and deniability for entities who prefer not to deal directly with the ``butchers of Beijing'', but who still would like access to the mainland's slave labor plants. Banking in HK may eventually fail if it winds up behind the Great Firewall of China. Other tech industries may suffer similarly. But there was never any real tradition of freedom and democracy in HK. It was taken over by the Brits as a convenient base of operation during the opium years, and now HK can serve as a caution to Taiwan as to what awaits if it unifies with the mainland.

  • On the post: High School Responds To Student's Prank By Asking Local Law Enforcement To Step In And Investigate

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 16 Jun, 2021 @ 07:46pm

    I don’t doubt for a second if if the quote stolen was MLK it would have a different reaction

    I do not doubt it either. Many people think much more favorably of MKL than of Adolf Hitler. So a quote from the one would be generally better received, outside of GOP circles at any rate.

  • On the post: FBI, Australian Police Ran A Backdoored Encrypted Chat Service For Three Years

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2021 @ 05:11am

    Re: For once, a smart move by law enforcement

    narrowly circumvented by loopholes just to remain legal
    Do not count on it. The FBI does not have a history of carefully remaining legal. Rather, they have a history of trying not to get caught. That, combined with AUSAs who do not prosecute the guys on ``their team'', generally provides adequate safety for the FBI operatives.

  • On the post: DOJ Says It's Time To Add Ransomware Attacks To The Ever Expanding 'War On Terror'

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2021 @ 09:45am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Lets be honest here......

    So far, having a DoJ take the threat seriously isn't a real problem for me.
    Then you may not have been paying attention. When DOJ takes this threat seriously, you get enforcement of CFAA, meaning that screen scrapers and givers of false names and disposable mailboxes are suddenly felons.

  • On the post: Conservatives Want Common Carriage. They're Not Going to Like It.

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2021 @ 06:39am

    the modern public square

    effectively the modern public square that shouldn’t have moderation practices

    Such a view is not well taken.

    The ``classic'' public square had moderation practices. While any goof could bring a soap-box upon which to orate, the public very effectively moderated. Williams Jennings Bryan drew huge crowds interested in hearing about the basis for currency, such that he traveled from town to town in a private car and spoke from the rear platform.

    Contrast: A guy in the vaguely yellowish pants and obviously unwashed shirt, ranting about how there is a satanic ring of child molesters operating out of a pizza parlor basement, and how the election was stolen, and perhaps even how the Jewish space laser affects all this, draws fewer people. By which, I mean that people avoid that area of the public square. He speaks to a very small crowd, perhaps a few local party executive committee bosses and aspiring bosses, not a crowd of ten thousand.

    This is effectively moderation, where people are choosing and avoiding speakers.

    In modern times, I can go to Parler, or Twitter, or Facebook, or 4Chan, or donaldjtrump.com, or even techdirt, all as I will. I choose the section of the electronic public square where I will hear the orators. Maybe I do not hear much from the odoriferous gent with the interesting theories, but that is my choice. The guy is speaking freely there in his part of the electronic public square, and surely enjoys his audience of proud boys and Illinois nazis. I am in my part of the square, occasionally downvoting the proud boys and Illinois nazis who pop up here.

  • On the post: Ohio Files Bizarre And Nonsensical Lawsuit Against Google, Claiming It's A Common Carrier; But What Does That Even Mean?

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2021 @ 01:05am

    don't want a search engine designed by Ohio's Attorney General

    You and pretty much everyone in Pennsylvania and Indiana prefer non-Ohio-oriented search results. The same is probably true of California residents.

    From the perspective of someone who has offered internet hosted services in a previous life, I see this as a possible interstate commerce problem. It may also be that Ohio is too business-hostile to support a Google presence in that state.

    From a lack of offices in Ohio I would expect a lack of state taxes to follow.

  • On the post: Ohio Files Bizarre And Nonsensical Lawsuit Against Google, Claiming It's A Common Carrier; But What Does That Even Mean?

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2021 @ 12:58am

    Google favors its own products over others isn't a common carriage issue

    It might be, if Google were a common carrier. It would not, however, be fatal to Google's case.

    Historically railroads charged less if you rode in their coaches (which typically carried 48 or 52 seats), rather than the third-party Pullman cars (standard 10/6 carries 22 people). This was reasonable since they could carry a lot more people in the coaches, and they were typically lighter than the Pullman cars to boot.

    Google may be able to argue that they have better access to index their own products, making it in some electronic sense cheaper to collect and display own results.

    All of which only kicks in if, in fact, Google can somehow be contorted into the position of a common carrier. So far I do not see it happening, unless the Ohio courts are even more stacked by their governor than ours have been through decades of one-party rule.

  • On the post: Ohio Files Bizarre And Nonsensical Lawsuit Against Google, Claiming It's A Common Carrier; But What Does That Even Mean?

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2021 @ 12:48am

    better description

    [google are] delivering search results and ads

    I think it might be better phrased as ``answering questions'' and displaying advertisements. Delivery sounds more like a common carrier function, where it is handed search results (or boxcars) and delivers them impartially to the browser (or siding) of the intended recipient.

    The service is not ``delivery'', but rather the provision of search results.

  • On the post: Following DC Circuit Ruling In Public Records Case, New Request Demands Senate Intel Committee Reveal Full CIA Torture Report

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2021 @ 03:39am

    Re: Re: [moving beyond]

    believing that we had moved beyond that
    We like to think so, at any rate. That is why we have those ghost flights'' and secret prisons on foreign soil. The intent is to be able to say,we do not do that here'', and mean it.

  • On the post: Florida Man Signs Blatantly Corrupt And Unconstitutional Social Media Bill, Cementing Florida As Tech Laughing Stock

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2021 @ 07:29pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    why "no way" would ever be used in favor of "hell, no"
    I can say ``no way'' in court.

  • On the post: Obnoxious Repair Monopolies Keep Turning Farmers Into Activists

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2021 @ 07:24am

    Re:

    Don't expect discount oil changers to know how to do work on a new Bentley
    I don't. But I do expect a discount oil changer to know how to put it up on the lift, pull the plug, drain the oil, and replace the old filter. It may be that there are specialized systems in the Bentley that require factory information, but I expect that in a good quality machine, most of the parts are going to be comprehensible to someone skilled in the field. The firmware lock-out from Deere damages their buyers and ultimately their reputation. At one time, people said Nothing runs like a Deere.'' Now, it isNothing limps to the repair shop like a Deere.''

  • On the post: Rachel Dolezal's Copyright Follies: Sues CBS For Copyright Infringement In Case That Won't End Well

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 31 May, 2021 @ 06:39am

    Re:

    I'm aware of no authority that defines any specific level of melanin that makes someone black
    Varies from state to state, but generally ranges from 1/8 to 1/32; it is less important now because Jim Crow is at least nominally no longer in effect. As an easy test in the Dolezal case, you might check and see if both parents were ``white''. So, if, for instance, in 2015 she acknowledged that she was "born white to white parents", that might help you evaluate her claims.

  • On the post: High School Teacher's Copyright Suit Against Netflix Gets Dismissed Because Coincidence Isn't Protectable

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 30 May, 2021 @ 01:58am

    Re:

    If it's really a valid complaint then they should be able to find at least one case that's still good law with a set of facts close enough to theirs
    Such a rule would prevent novel or new issues and really rank older decisions from being litigated. Pace v. Alabama, 106 U.S. 583, would still be the law, the appeals leading to the decision thereof being sanctionable. And of course the Lovings' [Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1] attorney and the McLaughlins' [McLaughlin v. Florida, 153 So.2d 1, rev'd, 379 U.S. 184] attorney would likely have been subject to sanction under your rule. At least you would not have to share public facilities with uppity darker-complected persons, such as Homer Plessy. It should also be noted that Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393, has not been overturned, though there are some cases suggesting that the central language of that case may no longer be good law. Would that be enough to avoid sanctions under your proposed rule? It probably depends on the judge.

  • On the post: First Legal Challenge To Florida's Unconstitutional Social Media Moderation Law Has Been Filed

    Tanner Andrews ( profile ), 30 May, 2021 @ 12:50am

    Florida was a mistake

    Says New Jersey.

    More correctly, Florida made a mistake in allowing so many out-of-state visitors and transplants. There, NJ, I fixed that for you.

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