thornintheside’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: Zuckerberg Eats His Openness Dog Food; De-Privatizes His Own Profile

thornintheside ( profile ), 11 Dec, 2009 @ 10:38pm

Zuckerberg already made changes

He has already pulled off all his images from being public. I wouldn't be surprised if he uses another profile than his public one.

On the post: Australia Moves Forward With (Weakened) System To Have Artists Paid Multiple Times For Same Artwork

thornintheside ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2009 @ 12:25pm

very easy to get around the law

You have a painting you want to sell for $100,000. Instead of selling it for this price, sell it to them for $1, along with $99,999 fee for the shrink wrap you put around it.

Or simply take the art, transform it by adding a brush stroke, and claim it as new art. this is no different than artists taking garbage and transforming it into art. You can then sell the piece as original art, and the original artist has no claim to resale.

Finally, don't sell your artwork commercially. This will lead to new enterprises selling art offshore from Australia.

One last thought - just destroy the artwork in an accidental fire and claim back the insurance value. You get all the money, the artist gets $0.

On the post: UK Man Jailed For Refusing To Decrypt His Files

thornintheside ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2009 @ 07:33pm

not a surprise

The UK is quickly headed to a society as depicted in V for Vendetta. Don't want to have thought police cameras in your house? Are you a terrorist? You have encrypted files? Are you a terrorist? Question the government? You are a terrorist. The people in the UK seem to be happy with putting in place laws that one would see had Germany won the war.

On the post: Warner Music's Royalty Statements: Works Of Fiction

thornintheside ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2009 @ 07:22pm

Congress investigate music companies

I think this sounds like outright fraud, and should be investigated by Congress. I'd love to have an external firm do an audit of their record keeping and provide an unbiased report of what really happens, and where the gaps are in the revenue streams/reporting of income.

On the post: Facebook Photos Coming Back To Haunt Users In Surprising Ways

thornintheside ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2009 @ 04:15am

Reward for shots of cops in criminal acts

I suggest someone set up a website where people can post pictures/video/details of LaCrosse Wisconsin police who are incriminating themselves, such as by having too many beers after a night out at the bar. I have been at a number of police-related social events, and can tell you some drive home intoxicated. some have even gone back to work after having a couple of beers 'with the guys'. I'd like to know what the police are doing in their off-hours, and perhaps we the public should demand the police get urine tested on a weekly basis, and cameras installed inside their homes to show us, the regular citizen, how police lead exemplary lives. They have nothing to fear, do they?

On the post: Why Do Some Politicians Want To Ban You From Putting New Software On A Prepaid Mobile Phone?

thornintheside ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2009 @ 12:53am

Isn't that the purpose of elected representatives?

Isn't that their job to make laws based upon the interests of the companies that supported their election campaign? Tell me one Senator or Congressman that hasn't put in similar laws to protect some business within their area - again, isn't this how it works in the USA?

On the post: North Face Goes After South Butt Over Trademark Infringement

thornintheside ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2009 @ 02:03pm

boycott north face

I have some of their products, look and work quite well. however, I have a choice and will look at alternatives the next time I need some gear. Maybe North Face should change their name to Red Face.

On the post: UK IP Minister Defends Kicking People Off The Internet, As Rockstars Come Out Against It

thornintheside ( profile ), 04 Sep, 2009 @ 06:11pm

bogus

One would think some enterprising people would find out the IP addresses of the people passing these laws, then flood them with infringement notices. Or simply start putting in requests for every IP address out there.

On the post: Biologic Drugs Likely To Get Separate 12-Year Monopoly Protection Beyond Patents

thornintheside ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2009 @ 01:37pm

Business as usual with politicians

Isn't this how the American political system works? Big firms hire lobbyists and these lobbyists attempt to manipulate laws through whatever means posslble. Typically this would involve large sums of money being donated to politicians to further their political careers. Said politicians then get directions from their puppet masters who fund them, and pass laws that are sympathetic to their interests. Then use pork barrel spending and "wink wink" deals to get these laws passed. Isn't this how it works?

On the post: Only ISP In Town Pulling Plug On Suspected File Sharers With No Recourse [Update]

thornintheside ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2009 @ 01:55pm

Get their subscriber list

Get their subscriber list, submit multiple claims of copyright infringement. They kick all their customers off and you start a competing ISP.

On the post: Is Germany Following Australia Down The Slippery Slope Of Internet Censorship?

thornintheside ( profile ), 17 Jun, 2009 @ 03:26pm

Heil Hitler

The brown shirts will be coming next. Nazi's are alive and well in Germany.

On the post: Will Journalists Bail On Newspapers That Put Up A Paywall?

thornintheside ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2009 @ 02:36pm

Compare your local news site

I was just browsing the sites of my two local newspapers, Toronto Sun and Toronto Star. The Sun has very little in terms of content, while the Star pretty much has the entire paper online. Guess which one I go to "all the time" and which one I barely read. I believe that when some newspapers move to a pay model, traffic will go to the news sites that are "free" and shortly thereafter you will see the pay model disappear.

On the post: Former Conference Board Author Explains How Lobbyists Influenced Plagiarized Reports

thornintheside ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2009 @ 02:19pm

paid shills at Conference Board of Canada

So much for their reputation as impartial. I hope someone goes back and reviews their previous reports, I expect they will find numerous examples of bias in favor of the company/organization that funded their reports. What a crock!

On the post: Orlando Police Chief Threatens Critical Blogger, Saying Truth Isn't A Defense

thornintheside ( profile ), 01 May, 2009 @ 12:52am

better

The guy posting the info should stop using her name, but beyond that, I don't see why she should be upset at someone posting the truth. If anything, the FBI should be investigating her. Good luck to her suing him for posting the truth. the truth hurts.

On the post: More Swedish ISPs Decide To Keep No Logs To Protect Users

thornintheside ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2009 @ 12:48am

Here is the path

Next, the government will enact legislation to force them to keep logs. Then the ISPs will change their logs so they don't keep user information. Then the govt enacts legislation to force them to keep detailed records. Then they allow anonymous proxies, and the govt. enacts legislation to ban the use of anonymous proxies. Next the govt enacts legislation for you the citizen to keep logs of your online activities, in order to comply with their other new legislation that you identify yourself as a non terrorist and child molestor.

On the post: UK Drops Plan For Government Internet and Phone Database; Tells ISPs and Operators To Retain The Data Instead

thornintheside ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2009 @ 01:35am

Who will pay?

So are they going to provide funding for ISP's to retain this data, put in place safeguards, people, etc to protect and support their requests.

Anyone living in the UK should be questioning who is running their government and the direction your country is headed in. We are seeing a real life example of the society depicted in the book "1984" being created in front of us. the society depicted in "V for Vendetta" is looking quite possible. wake up people.

On the post: Spanish File Sharing Admin Sent To Jail… Despite Not Breaking The Law

thornintheside ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2009 @ 02:03pm

Spain blows

Stay away from Spain and boycott it. I watch the shows on TV about brits moving to Spain and it looks to be a gigantic dump full of swindlers. No surprise to me. Boycott Spain, don't buy spanish wine, spanish olive oil, spanish olives. To do so would support a country that allows human rights to be trampled.

On the post: Judge In Pirate Bay Case Appears To Have Ties To The Copyright Lobby

thornintheside ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2009 @ 01:56pm

Sweden blows

Thank you Mr Judge Man. You have just made a mockery of the Swedish judicial system and give new meaning to the word biased. I plan on boycotting Ikea, lingonberries and everything else Swedish. Imagine if you had to face a judge in Sweden - is this what to expect, a judge who can't even sees the world through rose-colored glasses? Boycott Sweden.

On the post: Want To Know Why Newspapers Are Dying? Maureen Dowd Shows Us

thornintheside ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2009 @ 02:43am

recommend this to Murdoch

HI Maureen,
if you and Robert Murdoch feel so strongly about Google stealing your work, why don't you simply stop them from indexing your sites? I'm sure your competitors would love to have more traffic coming to them, and Google will continue to provide traffic to their websites.

Good luck with that business model and see you in the unemployment lines.

On the post: How Does Taking Away A Popular Feature 'Improve Netflix'?

thornintheside ( profile ), 21 Jun, 2008 @ 05:20pm

netflix

netflix=dead business model. next article please.

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