Doug B 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (69)

• On the post: Why Music Is Not A Product & Three Reasons Why That's A Good Thing

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2012 @ 10:39am

  Re: meh

  Actually you're buying the bandwidth it takes to get the bits that comprise the file to your device. They are providing you with nothing in the way of a "product", at least as it is strictly defined. A transfer service is what they're providing. The sad part about the whole thing is that at $0.99 per song the industry makes a killing as the bandwidth to transfer said song costs next to nothing.
  
  If the owners of the songs sold them drm free for 10x the cost of the bandwidth I'd bet they would make a killing as it would probably be worth it for me to buy music that way than rip it from the CD I bought it on 20 years ago. However, at 0.99 per song it is cost prohibitive. Therefore I simply rip my old CDs. In fact, often enough it's cheaper for me to buy a used CD for $3 and rip the songs off of it than buy them as MP3s.

• On the post: MPAA Attacks Demand Progress With Ridiculous & Unsubstantiated Claims

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 10 Jun, 2011 @ 12:56pm

  From intelligently written blog post:
  

  
  Stagehands, makeup artists, and costume designers are only a few of the crafts served by IATSE. These hardworking, middle-class Americans are real people who are facing the all-too-tangible consequences of online theft: disappearing jobs, declining pensions, and diminished health and retirement benefits.
  

  
  
  Exactly how does "online theft" (whatever the hell that is) cause declining pensions, and diminished health and retirement benefits?

• On the post: RIAA Wants To Put People In Jail For Sharing Their Music Subscription Login With Friends

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2011 @ 11:53am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Ahh, OK. So you're saying that my wife, my 8yo son and my 6yo daughter all must buy separate accounts instead of just using mine? If my daughter wants to watch shaun the sheep in the morning she has to log off of my account and log in to hers else she's committing a felony, amirite? Makes perfect sense.

• On the post: Samsung Forced To Hand Over Unreleased Products To Apple In Patent Dispute

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 25 May, 2011 @ 08:44am

  Are you sure?

  From the article:
  
  

  
  She also limited the results of discovery to "Outside Counsel Eyes Only," meaning neither Apple nor its in-house counsel will get a peek at the phones or related marketing materials.
  

  
  
  Doesn't this mean Apple won't actually get to see/use the products?

• On the post: European Politicians Look To Ban WiFi In School… For The Children

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 20 May, 2011 @ 10:18am

  The Sun

  The sun does far more damage to kids than any radio waves ever will. And that's a proven fact. Maybe we should ban it or ban going outside. Europe could build a great big sun shield and protect everyone from the evil sun!

• On the post: Don't Try To Make Sense Of LinkedIn Share Price

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 20 May, 2011 @ 05:52am

  Re: This is the same reason...

  At one point in time you could find good deals and bargains on ebay (back when amateur and garage sale type sellers were mixed in with the volume sellers). These days that's rare because ebay has been overrun by the volume sellers. Most times I can find identical items on alternate sites for less than what I'd pay on ebay.

• On the post: Teen Who Used Facebook Images To Rank Looks Of Female Classmates, Arrested For 'Disorderly Conduct'

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 13 May, 2011 @ 10:46am

  Mike, you really need to quote the part of the original article that points out that he printed out the list and distributed it at the school.

• On the post: Teen Who Used Facebook Images To Rank Looks Of Female Classmates, Arrested For 'Disorderly Conduct'

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 13 May, 2011 @ 10:39am

  Re: Re: D.C.

  Maybe go read the original, linked article?
  
  

  The list ranked 50 female students and in describing them, rated their body parts and used racial slurs. The teen also is being accused of printing out the list and passing it around during lunch periods at the high school on Jan. 14 , the Tribune reported."

  
  
  Bolding is mine.

• On the post: Family Trying To Claim Ownership Of 'Urban Homesteading' Caught Plagiarizing After Moralizing On Plagiarism

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 04 Mar, 2011 @ 02:21pm

  Re: Re: Heh

  Nope.
  
  How dense do you have to be to plagiarize a blog post about plagiarism?

• On the post: Family Trying To Claim Ownership Of 'Urban Homesteading' Caught Plagiarizing After Moralizing On Plagiarism

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 04 Mar, 2011 @ 01:15pm

  Heh

  That post is copied verbatim from the link at the bottom which links sends you to this page:
  
  http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_what_is_plagiarism.html
  
  Is this considered proper citation?

• On the post: Why Is A Treaty For Letting The Blind Have Access To Books Too Difficult, But ACTA Is Fine?

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 04 Mar, 2011 @ 07:45am

  Re: Actually....

  http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090210/1014293724.shtml

• On the post: Musician/Comedian Faces 20 Years In Jail For Silly Video No Different Than Done On TV & In Movies

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 21 Feb, 2011 @ 12:13pm

  Did he get authorization from the parents?

  While I don't think he should be charged criminally here, seems to me the parents could have grounds for a civil suit against him. Did they authorize the use of their children in his video?

• On the post: Police Chief Tells Parents To Hack Kids' Facebook Accounts

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2011 @ 08:53am

  Re: Prove it? Does this count?

  I read the article. Is the connection to social media the fact that he met her through facebook? I'm confused as to how social media caused a deranged man to throw acid in a woman's face.

• On the post: US Customs & Border Patrol Protecting America From Chocolate Toy Eggs (And Charging You For The Privilege)

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 19 Jan, 2011 @ 12:05pm

  Re: Because folks use them for smuggling.. ?

  That was my first thought after looking at the picture.

• On the post: One Mentally Deranged Shooter Is No Reason To Throw Out The First Amendment

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 12 Jan, 2011 @ 10:21am

  Re: Re: Re:

  So am I safe to assume you'd be OK with Claire McCaskill being punished in this way for her call for Americans to take up pitchforks if tax cuts were extended?

• On the post: Report Claims Discredited Study That Linked Vaccines To Autism Wasn't Just A Mistake, But An Outright Fraud

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2011 @ 01:58pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  I have kids. Some days they're talkative and playful. Other days they're an absolute handful and seemingly downright evil. Still other days they're reserved and quiet and want to be left alone. They are, after all, human beings; not robots.

• On the post: While TSA Looks At You Naked, Child Finds Loaded Gun Magazine Left On Southwest Plane

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 24 Nov, 2010 @ 07:25am

  Re: CHILDREN ARE A THREAT!

  Agreed. And the child's parents should be arrested for allowing the child to use the seats as his own personal jungle gym.

• On the post: Gene Simmons Says Sue Your Fans, Take Their Homes; So Why Hasn't He?

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2010 @ 09:14am

  Re:

  He calls himself an asshole.
  
  http://www.genesimmons.com/pages/solo.html

• On the post: Orange Alert: Potentially Habitable Planet Found

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2010 @ 07:49am

  Re: Re: I thought the same thing

  So is that why we have a bunch of scientists trying to prove god doesn't exist?
  
  Proving a theory wrong can kill the theory sure. But do we have a theory about life in the universe? We've got a single observable instance of life arising on a planet. Based on that there's no way we can make a valid theory that says any temperate earth-like planet has life on it. There's not enough observable evidence to warrant the theory!
  
  Stating that another planet is sure to have life on it is an extraordinary claim that requires like evidence. If you're going to claim that there's a 100% chance for life on Gliese 561g, you've most certainly got to defend that with more than "where there's water on earth, there's life".

• On the post: Orange Alert: Potentially Habitable Planet Found

  

  Doug B ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2010 @ 07:38am

  Re: Re: I thought the same thing

  Good point. After re-reading the quote perhaps this is what they meant. At least I hope so. It's just when taken in context with the 100% claim makes me skeptical of anything they say.

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