Tom Mink’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: Newspaper Association Thinks FTC Should Force Readers To Be Subject To Godawful Ads And Invasive Trackers

Tom Mink ( profile ), 10 Jun, 2016 @ 10:41am

History repeating itself

News organizations are following the same path as dead tree papers, and inevitably to the same conclusion

First there were newspaper inserts that I promptly threw away

Then there were ads wrapped around the outside, and special sections interspersed throughout paper that quickly followed the inserts to the recycle bin

Then the actual news began being crowded off the page by ads... and I quit reading newspapers

On the post: Another Bad Ruling In California Threatens To Massively Undermine Section 230 By Exempting Publicity Rights

Tom Mink ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2016 @ 11:03am

Wow

If there's any way the ruling stands (or even if publicity rights end up being exempted from the safe harbor) there goes a big chunk of Facebook's business model. Copyright takedown notices are ever so slightly easier to adjudicate since there's at least some guidelines about what a copyright is and who owns it. Publicity rights can be stretched to include anything that has a picture, or name of ANYONE.

On the post: Ted Cruz Pushing Bill Protecting Large ISPs From Competition

Tom Mink ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2016 @ 03:12pm

Woohoo!

Thankfully the most hated man in Washington, "Lucifer in the flesh" has made this his pet issue. That might be the best news yet for getting a bipartisan consensus in shooting this kind of crap down

On the post: FBI Spent $1.3 Million To Not Even Learn The Details Of The iPhone Hack… So Now It Says It Can't Tell Apple

Tom Mink ( profile ), 29 Apr, 2016 @ 10:49am

What a cost

By not insisting they know the details of the crack, that means they were willing to risk the destructible/modification of this all important evidence. Even if they got any useful information, it would've not been useful from a law enforcement perspective since whether they had to turn over the phone or not to unlock it, the chain of evidence would be tainted.

That pretty starkly illustrates their motives in wanting the phone unlocked in the first place. They probably had to pay more to NOT find out the details of the vulnerability since just revealing its existence would lower its market value, and it's likely that they reflexively asked for plenty of safeguards like exclusive ongoing access and complete secrecy.

On the post: Law Enforcement's Nemesis — WhatsApp — Is Also Law Enforcement's Best Friend

Tom Mink ( profile ), 28 Mar, 2016 @ 12:55pm

Access to user metadata not enough?

As law enforcement and intelligence agencies monitor connections between suspects to establish cause for investigation (and membership no fly lists, detention, even assassination) does that mean that access to communications content will lead to exonerations and a greater evidence threshold for government sanctions against individuals? If you're the perfectly innocent cousin of a terrorist suspect and at most you've discussed lasagna recipes you'd be off the hook, no?

Haha... Of course not.

On the post: Netflix Reveals It Throttles AT&T, Verizon Customers To Save Them From Usage Caps, Overage Fees

Tom Mink ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2016 @ 02:55pm

Depending on licensing arrangements. ..

I don't know whether Netflix incurs greater costs when customers view more titles or use more data. If watching 5 episodes using the same amount of data as one HD play means that Netflix is on the hook for additional royalties then throttling may be more altruistic than it looks at first blush

On the post: Before We Even Know The Details, Politicians Rush To Blame Encryption For Brussels Attacks

Tom Mink ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2016 @ 01:30pm

Narrative expansion

The old model: these guys are lone wolves, isolated from society. Watch out for loners and antisocial people. Be afraid

The new model: these guys are organized and positively chatty with fellow travelers over encrypted communications. They're all around you and can be anyone (especially ethnic and religious minorities). Be afraid.

On the post: French Parents Face Fines, Lawsuits And Prison For Posting Pictures Of Their Own Children Online

Tom Mink ( profile ), 07 Mar, 2016 @ 02:40pm

Wow

I don't know if European courts work like in the US with respect to the ability of minors to enter into contracts... but I suspect it's at least as limited. So there's really no way for parents to avoid potential liability, since children couldn't even legally give permission. Worse, since most social media platforms require parental authorization (theoretically at least) that shifts the liability for liability for anything kids post to their parents as well.

What a mess

On the post: South Korea Embraces Ridiculous Right To Be Forgotten As Well

Tom Mink ( profile ), 29 Feb, 2016 @ 02:40pm

In other words

The right to be forgotten imposes the much more sinister sounding obligation to forget. We've always been at war with Eastasia

On the post: White House Asked Google & Facebook To Change Their Algorithms To Fight ISIS; Both Said No

Tom Mink ( profile ), 29 Feb, 2016 @ 10:34am

Weird Science

I'm waiting for the previously heavily redacted document to leak that features a postscript from senior policymakers requesting that tech companies provide the algorithm to generate a 1980s Kelly LeBrock

On the post: Guardian Tech Reporter: Apple Should Help FBI Break Into iPhone Because I Don't Consider Privacy All That Important

Tom Mink ( profile ), 18 Feb, 2016 @ 07:54pm

I'm stuck

As bad as her argument is, I'm stuck at the idea of having an Amazon Echo in the bedroom. What does she do when Amazon helpfully ships a stack of bibles or perhaps copies of the George Burns/John Denver classic 'Oh God!' after a particularly vocal performance in bed?

On the post: CIA Head John Brennan Says CIA Failed To Prevent Terrorist Attacks Because Of Encrypted Communications

Tom Mink ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2016 @ 09:13pm

Admission of defeat

The intelligence community wants backdoors to encryption not to gather more information but to narrow down the enormous feed they are already taking in. They're essentially admitting defeat in sorting through the haystack and assuming that the smaller amount of encrypted communication would be more manageable and still contain actionable intelligence.

That's their wish- reduce the workload. Kind of petty really considering the widespread harm that enacting even the half-assed proposals currently on the table.

On the post: French Politicians Pushing To Ban Linking To Any Website Without Permission

Tom Mink ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2016 @ 10:51am

The war on footnotes

I have no idea how you can write a law regulating links and distinguish that from academic use. French universities are about to lose their biggest measure of prestige.

On the post: Stupid Patent Of The Month: Sharing Your Hard Copy Documents, But On A Social Network

Tom Mink ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2016 @ 04:23pm

And 3...2...1

When does Xerox start sending threatening letters to libraries who figured out this circulating documents using a computer thing decades ago. Certainly, there's a tempting mix of large deep-pocketed companies like EBSCO who make circulation software and defenseless individual libraries who roll their own or depend on open source software. It's a target rich environment.

On the post: Writer Claims Libel, Copyright Infringement When Screencap Of Her Tweet Is Used In An Online Article

Tom Mink ( profile ), 27 Jan, 2016 @ 10:44am

Huh...

Here I was thinking that copyright infringement and libel were mutually exclusive. If you feel like someone is using your words precisely and completely enough that it rises to standard of an unauthorized copy, it's hard to make the argument that they are also misrepresenting you in a damaging way.

On the post: FBI Director Says 'Smart People' At Office Supply Companies Can Help Limit Terrorists' Access To Pen And Paper

Tom Mink ( profile ), 11 Dec, 2015 @ 10:48am

Comey wishes he could fall back on paper communications

It's especially funny because of government agencies' allergy to ever putting anything in writing.

I picture Comey sulking in a corner "You don't see the terrorists having to respond to those meddling kids and their FOIA requests!"

On the post: The Ridiculous Rush To Try To Patent Pot

Tom Mink ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2015 @ 11:15am

Hello? DEA? Please target me!

I wonder how many of these lawyers are going to offer defense services for people and businesses that register with the government as sole sponsors of criminal enterprises. No matter how things shake out on the legalization front, I'm sure the eventual status will be limited in some fashion. Whoever tries to patent a strain that falls outside of the guidelines is suddenly on the hook as the producer of any amount that's found in circulation.

Even if federal enforcement remains lax, who would want to take on the liability of taking ownership of specific strains? If cops in Nebraska test a shipment and find that it is your intellectual property, how much extra legal wrangling is it going to take to maintain that you aren't responsible for trafficking it?

On the post: Cable CEO Is Really Pissed That HBO Hasn't Cracked Down On Streaming Password Sharing

Tom Mink ( profile ), 05 Nov, 2015 @ 10:44am

Reaching an unreachable market

Generally, students in residence halls don't have a choice on their cable provider or package. If the school didn't sign up for HBO, then kids living in the dorm are out of luck (outside of torrenting individual programs of course). If anything, this HBO trying to keep parents as subscribers that might otherwise drop the service when their kids leave for college.

On the post: Steve Ballmer Shrugs Off $60 Million TV Offer For Clippers Games, Considers Streaming Instead

Tom Mink ( profile ), 28 Aug, 2015 @ 06:57pm

Subscription? How about a la carte per game?

If Ballmer is willing to brave the inevitable lawsuits... non-LA residents who want to see their team through a streaming service would probably pitch a couple bucks even if it's only to watch them play the Clippers. Even better if he can get access to away games. The local subscriber base would naturally make up most of the income but offering worldwide access online enlarges the market considerably.

On the post: Could A Hedge Fund Manager Trying To Short Stocks Of Pharma Companies With Bad Patents Derail Patent Reform?

Tom Mink ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2015 @ 07:14pm

Somebody needs to troll pharma

How can there not be a pile of overly general patents out there that instead of taking a well-known practice and adding "with a computer" it says "using a pill." Of course that ignores the huge number of new drugs that mimic existing drugs with little or no improvement in efficacy and only a slight change in mechanism. Pharma probably doesn't want the concept of prior art anywhere near their business.

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