Tice with a J 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: The Aereo Ruling Is A Disaster For Tech, Because The 'Looks Like Cable' Test Provides No Guidance

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2014 @ 09:03pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    The "safety valves" are failing. "Fair use" has nearly been defined out of existence and negated by DRM, the "idea/expression dichotomy" is impossible to define (leaving it open to massive abuse), the public domain has been continuously shrunk (sometimes retroactively!) and the penalties for disobeying have grown. Meanwhile, the resources used to police copyright have massively expanded. The more we need safety valves, the less they work.

    The only principled exceptions to free expression are against threats and against lies. Exceptions for the sake of profit are only good for protectionism.

  • On the post: The Aereo Ruling Is A Disaster For Tech, Because The 'Looks Like Cable' Test Provides No Guidance

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2014 @ 02:07pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    My argument is that the Supreme Court made the wrong decision, both against Aereo and in Eldred & Golan. I call myself a "Free Culture fanatic" because I don't see any way to reconcile copyright with free expression. The law, as it is written and interpreted, is not to my liking, so I'm trying to change the law by publicly pointing out the injustice in it.

  • On the post: The Aereo Ruling Is A Disaster For Tech, Because The 'Looks Like Cable' Test Provides No Guidance

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2014 @ 12:14pm

    Re: Re:

    Ah, shucks, I screwed up the link in my name. Could someone fix that?

  • On the post: The Aereo Ruling Is A Disaster For Tech, Because The 'Looks Like Cable' Test Provides No Guidance

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2014 @ 12:12pm

    Re:

    SCOTUS realized (by 6 to 3, I may point out) that the real answer was found by standing back a few feet and watching the how things worked as a whole.

    Alright then, let's step back a few feet and watch how things work as a whole.

    The First Amendment specifies that Congress cannot limit freedom of speech or freedom of the press.

    Copyright law prevents me from saying or printing certain things without permission, therefore it limits my freedom of speech and press.

    Therefore, copyright law is unconstitutional.

    You're right, Whatever. Stepping back and looking at results really does help us make the right decisions. But are you wise enough to accept the results of your own logic?

  • On the post: Study: Half Of All Young People In UK Think Digital Content Should Be Free To Download

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2014 @ 08:48am

    Re: Re:

    Get serious, Michael. Grocery stores relying on IP? Now, if you were talking about trademark, I could see where you were coming from, but this isn't a trademark-like situation. Since we're talking about downloading, this clearly has to do with copyright, and most grocery stores don't rely on copyright at all.

    Until the day comes when I can get my bread and cheese off of Bittorrent, Winco can count on my continued patronage, and the retailers will do just fine.

  • On the post: FAA Says Drones May Be Used For Fun… But Not For Profit

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2014 @ 07:34am

    CC-NC drones?

    It sounds like the FAA consulted Creative Commons on this one: "You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation."

    See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode

  • On the post: Of Course Tesla Wasn't Just Being Altruistic In Opening Up Its Patents: That's The Whole Point!

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2014 @ 09:59am

    In A.D. 2014, lawsuit was beginning

    HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN

    ALL OUR PATENT ARE BELONG TO YOU

    YOU ARE ON THE WAY TO INNOVATION

    YOU HAVE EXCELLENT CHANCE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME

    HA HA HA HA...

  • On the post: The FLOK Society Project: Making The Good Life Possible Through Good Knowledge

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2014 @ 09:51am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I agree; the GPL made GNU/Linux possible, and I believe it is why GNU/Linux has surpassed the various flavors of BSD in popularity.

    The sad fact is that our modern predatory commercial and legal systems are perfect for enclosure. Powerful interests, looking to lock up as much as possible for themselves, have remade the world in their image. If you want something to be truly free and open to the public, you can't just say "This is public!", because someone will just waltz in, fence it off, and say "Now it's private, and it's mine!" Just look at what's happened to the very concept of public domain; it shouldn't take a 52-page process to figure out if something is public, and yet it does. The public domain has been replaced by the plundered domain.

    Stallman, via the GPL, created a new kind of domain, which I'll call the protected domain. Whereas the public domain is free to be plundered, the protected domain is kept free, by force if necessary. This approach made Wikipedia possible, first through the GFDL and later through the superior CC-BY-SA license. These licenses are a bother, but they are a necessity, and until copyright and patent are dead, we will need the licenses to keep a protected domain of truly free knowledge.

  • On the post: If The NSA's System Is Too Big To Comply With Court Orders, Court Should Require It To Change Its System

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2014 @ 10:12am

    The NSA is Too Big to Jail. See also: HSBC
    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/gangster-bankers-too-big-to-jail-20130214

  • On the post: How Do You Know The Public Domain Is In Trouble? It Requires A 52-Page Handbook To Determine If Something Is Public Domain

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2014 @ 09:09am

    This ought to be ridiculously simple

    To determine whether or not something is "public domain" (that is, in the control of the public), we should only have to ask two questions:

    1. Is it private? - In other words, is this information that shouldn't be made public, and/or has the originator of this information taken steps to keep it private? Passwords, trade secrets, and (some) nude photos fall in this category.

    2. Is it an identifier? - In other words, is this information that people use to specifically identify someone or something, such that your using it could create confusion or outright deception? Names, trademarks and trade dress fall in this category. See also: passing off.

    You will notice that neither of these cover copyright and patent. That's because the concepts are inherently incoherent. Making something public - in other words, publishing it - and then asking everyone to treat is as private is a dumb idea, and humanity should have given up on the concept centuries ago.

    See also:
    http://blog.ninapaley.com/2011/07/09/culture-is-anti-rivalrous/

  • On the post: EU Commissioner Says 'Right To Be Forgotten' Compliance Will Be Just As 'Easy' As Fighting Piracy

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2014 @ 12:13pm

    Piracy: so easy, even an EU commissioner can do it

    Haven't these people noticed that "fighting piracy" isn't trivial at all? I happen to know that you can get unauthorized copies of books, music, movies, TV shows, comics, console games, PC games, software, porn, scientific articles, and even classified documents off the web, and you can do it without using P2P services, file lockers, or seedy warez sites. The sites that offer these things are fast, free, easy to use, reliable, and safe, and they have excellent selections of material.

    And that's just the easy stuff. If you're a little more adventurous, there are Bittorrent and eMule, private forums and darknets, even meshnets and "sneaker nets". And almost nothing ever disappears; when a search result gets pulled, you can find it by looking through the DMCA notice, and if a site goes down, you can get a backup copy off the Internet Archive, among other places.

    The War on Piracy is going about as well as the War on Extramarital Sex. It saddens me to see people so ignorant of this fact.

  • On the post: German Court Rules Ex-Lovers Must Disappear Consensual Previously Taken Nude Pictures Of The Other

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2014 @ 02:41pm

    Re:

    We've finally found a force that stronger than copyright. Free speech wasn't, privacy wasn't, but this is. Behold the copyright killer: censorship!

    Figures. Freedom never seems to win in these matches.

  • On the post: Glenn Beck Claims Watch Dogs Is Teaching Children How To Hack The Public For Realz

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 03 Jun, 2014 @ 08:23am

    We should introduce Glenn Beck to SlaveHack. It would be hilarious.

    http://www.slavehack.com/

  • On the post: Trademark Holder Sends Cease-And-Desist To Zazzle Over Products Using 3,000-Year-Old Greek Letter

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2014 @ 07:31pm

    Another species of IP to add to my naughty list?

    I'm an IP abolitionist, dedicated to the destruction of patent, copyright, database rights, and other aspects of IP. But I was willing to spare trademark. Though I wanted to see it reformed and reined in, I believed that trademark contained an essentially good idea (establishing identity and preventing confusion), and I was in favor of keeping trademarks.

    In light of this new evidence, I am reconsidering my position.

    Could someone point me to a good defense of trademark law, or at least a thorough analysis of it? If I can't find one, I may have to add "abolish trademark" to my itinerary.

  • On the post: MakerBot Files For Patent On A Design Derived From Work By Its Community

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 29 May, 2014 @ 12:50am

    DPL

    Makerbot can still redeem themselves. They just need to get a Defensive Patent License.


    http://www.defensivepatentlicense.com/

  • On the post: WIPO's Development Agenda At The Crossroads: Does IP Or Development Take Priority?

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 29 May, 2014 @ 12:42am

    A modest proposal

    We should rename the World Intellectual Property Organization to the Association for Spreading Support for Worldwide Intellectual Property Enforcement.

  • On the post: Blizzard Still Twisting And Distorting Copyright To Go After Cheaters

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 22 May, 2014 @ 04:46pm

    Re: Re: Isn't there any other way?

    So, if I'm understanding you correctly, Blizzard is trying to prevent cheating... by using DRM?

    Tell me there's a better way. Somebody please tell me.

  • On the post: Shameful: American Society Of Civil Engineers Issues DMCA Notices Against Academics For Posting Their Own Research

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 22 May, 2014 @ 11:17am

    Re: Re: as a scientist...

    Who cares about killing ASCE's business model? They may care, sure, but why should we? They don't add any value anymore.

    In my experience, the "final versions" are rarely, if ever, more elegant or polished than the manuscripts. It seems quite likely to me that neither the researchers nor the ASCE could tell the difference, leading to the dispute here. So, the only value the ASCE adds is distribution... and now there are better ways to distribute, so they're obsolete! There's no longer any good reason to give ASCE the sole power to distribute (or Elsevier, or anyone else). Open Access does just fine.

  • On the post: Vimeo Pressured Into Setting Up Its Own Content ID

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 22 May, 2014 @ 04:40pm

    Freedom was nice while it lasted

    Well, folks, it looks like Internet 2.0 has officially become a tool of The Man. Time to start building version 3:

    http://irdial.com/blogdial/?p=1106

    I don't know if we can make a better Internet, but I know it's worth trying.

  • On the post: Blizzard Still Twisting And Distorting Copyright To Go After Cheaters

    Tice with a J ( profile ), 22 May, 2014 @ 03:12pm

    Isn't there any other way?

    Is copyright the only mechanism they have, or just the only one they understand? It seems to me that, since Blizzard is the one hosting the multiplayer services, they should have the power to define what constitutes "fair play" on their services and to simply eject anyone who fails to meet those standards. Do they not have the power to do this?

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