Tom 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (137)

• On the post: UK Culture Secretary: Search Engines Must Magically Stop Piracy Or Else!

  

  Tom ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2014 @ 08:38am

  “technology companies should be the partners of rights companies, not their masters” he says, while implicitly wishing for rights companies to become the masters of tech companies.

• On the post: Former CIA Director Michael Hayden Trying To Pretend CIA Torture Report Is Just A 'Democrat' Political Ploy

  

  Tom ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2014 @ 11:31am

  That's so wonderfully scummy, trying to make it a partisan issue. Let's hope Republicans leap to the defense of torturing human beings to death.

• On the post: Justice Dept. Official: We Could Get Lois Lerner's Emails From Backups, But It's Too Hard So Naaaaaah

  

  Tom ( profile ), 27 Aug, 2014 @ 07:21am

  Too hard?
  
  Heck, I'll do it for them. Dear IRS, I volunteer. I'll do it pro bono.

• On the post: Police Officers Facing Potential Felony Charges After Using Government Databases To Screen Potential Dates

  

  Tom ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2014 @ 11:38am

  "Police officers facing potential felony charges."
  
  HAHAHAHAHA, good one.

• On the post: There's A Reasonable Debate To Be Had About Showing The James Foley Beheading Video, But Claiming Its Illegal To Watch Is Ridiculous

  

  Tom ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2014 @ 02:16pm

  Re: Re: "I'm usually the first person to stand up against censorship..."

  Personally, I think ISIS should get their message out. The world should see the Foley execution video, and hear ISIS' message.
  
  That message being "you should unite to kill us all as quickly as possible, with giant bombs and missiles, because we're beheading-prone psychopaths and monsters."
  
  I'm cool with that message getting wide play.

• On the post: Government's Response To Snowden? Strip 100,000 Potential Whistleblowers Of Their Security Clearances

  

  Tom ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2014 @ 02:48pm

  “No unauthorized leak is routine,” he said. “It’s a criminal act that has us very concerned. In the intelligence community’s view, every disclosure is a problem because it betrays the people who collected that data. There’s a rationale on why it was classified,” he added, citing a need to protect “both the collection methods and lives.”
  
  ... what if the leak is, in itself, reporting a criminal act by the government? Is that still a crime? :)

• On the post: Police Militarization Escalates Even As Violence Declines — And There's A Good Chance It's Going To Get Worse

  

  Tom ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2014 @ 01:44pm

  Well, it's obvious. If reduced violence leads to increased police militarization, then *ultra-violence* will do away with it.
  
  Right?

• On the post: From The Unsealed 'Jewel v. NSA' Transcript: The DOJ Has Nothing But Contempt For American Citizens

  

  Tom ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2014 @ 10:16am

  The National Security Agency makes us less secure. The Department of Justice gives us injustice. The Central Intelligence Agency is the opposite of intelligent.
  
  Remember this pattern, the next time you hear the US referred to as "the land of the free."

• On the post: Newly Released Documents Show NSA Abused Its Discontinued Internet Metadata Program Just Like It Abused Everything Else

  

  Tom ( profile ), 14 Aug, 2014 @ 09:03am

  I have an idea.

  How about Techdirt implements a sign counter - the kind you see on construction sites, boasting "X days since last accident" - except listing the number of lies the NSA has been caught in.

• On the post: Snowden: NSA Was Building 'Automated' System To Hit Back At Perceived Cyberattacks

  

  Tom ( profile ), 13 Aug, 2014 @ 03:54pm

  Check this out, fellas:

  It seems Cisco has started hemorrhaging employees. It fired 6,000 of them, and is now burning operating funds on stock buyback schemes to keep their value up.
  
  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-13/cisco-quarter-nutshell-terminating-6000-while-buying-back-15-billion-stock
  
  I wonder why Cisco is having problems? Could it be no-one trusts their products any more, for some strange reason?
  
  Just another hint of the economic damage being done by the NSA to the US economy.

• On the post: About Freaking Time: New York Times Will Finally Start Calling CIA Torture Practices 'Torture'

  

  Tom ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2014 @ 05:10am

  Re:

  I do not feel that this is a narrow definition of torture:
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilawar_(torture_victim)

• On the post: Nearly 40% Of Those On The Government's Terrorist Watchlist Have 'No Affiliation With Recognized Terrorism Groups'

  

  Tom ( profile ), 05 Aug, 2014 @ 01:09pm

  I'm guessing that 40%-ish figure is mostly comprised of US critics.

• On the post: DOJ Drone Memo: AUMF Trumps All And Rights Are Subject To Arbitrary Revocation In Times Of 'War'

  

  Tom ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2014 @ 12:35pm

  So, when does USGov start bombing itself?

  Because right now it's "terrifying" me far more than Al Qaeda or ISIS.

• On the post: Reps. Goodlatte And Ruppersberger Admit That NSA Is Warrantlessly Spying On Americans' Communications

  

  Tom ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2014 @ 01:15pm

  I want to see Ruppersberger behind bars.

• On the post: House Overwhelmingly Votes To Slam The Backdoor Shut On The NSA!

  

  Tom ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2014 @ 07:48am

  A needed piece of good news

  Now if only similar protections can be extended to people outside the US...

• On the post: Did US Send CIA Rendition Jet To Europe In The Hope Of Grabbing Snowden?

  

  Tom ( profile ), 14 Jun, 2014 @ 08:49am

  Wow...

  The US government is pretty goddamn evil.
  
  Those rendition aircraft of theirs have an amusing tendency to crash with a bunch of cocaine aboard.

• On the post: Mike Rogers Says Google Is Unpatriotic For Not Wanting NSA To Spy On Its Users

  

  Tom ( profile ), 13 Jun, 2014 @ 06:01pm

  Hey Mike?

  From the bottom of my heart...
  
  ... fffffFFFFFFffffuck you.

• On the post: Judge Reminds Vexatious Human Being That Ideas — Even Techno-Dragons With Guns — Are Not Protected By Copyright

  

  Tom ( profile ), 10 Jun, 2014 @ 07:29am

  Terra Malatora.

  If you know what this means, congratulations. If you don't, it's best you not try to find out.

• On the post: Guardian Installed SecureDrop Outside The UK, Due To Legal Threats

  

  Tom ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2014 @ 05:28am

  Shame on the UK and its government.

• On the post: Marc Andreessen Thinks Snowden, Administration Are To Blame For Backlash Against US Tech Industry

  

  Tom ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2014 @ 05:24am

  I have a simple rule I live by nowadays.

  If I hear someone call Snowden a traitor, I begin considering that person a traitor, and my enemy.

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