Upstream 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: FCC Will Take A Closer Look At ISP/Landlord Broadband Monopolies

    Upstream ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2021 @ 08:49am

    Trying to regulate regulatory capture

    This is where Biden's failure to appoint a permanent FCC boss and third Democratic Commissioner enters the picture. Without a voting majority the agency can't pass any reform that's even remotely controversial, and the telecom industry will lobby hard to, as usual, keep this broken status quo intact.

    At this point, the FCC making noises about trying to reform the bought-and-paid-for FCC is just a distraction from kicking the status quo can down the road.

  • On the post: Dallas PD Hid Massive Data Deletion For Months From City Officials, District Attorney's Office

    Upstream ( profile ), 14 Sep, 2021 @ 03:53pm

    Accident?

    This is another one of those situations where one should look long and hard before applying Hanlon's Razor. It is difficult to see how this could truly be accidental, and just the result of incompetence or ignorance. The concepts of backups and copy-verify-delete are just too basic, and too easy.

    It would be interesting to see just what data was lost, and what the results are, ie who winds up not getting prosecuted for what crimes as a result of this, but I am not going to hold my breath waiting for this information to surface. Whoever benefits from this data loss (and their accomplices) should, of course, be the prime suspects in "arranging" for it to happen.

    But since it is the PD, it is more likely that "just fire the IT guy and sweep the rest under the rug" will be the outcome.

  • On the post: Forfeiture Case Shows Cops Don't Even Need Drug Dogs To Alert To Engage In A Warrantless Search

    Upstream ( profile ), 14 Sep, 2021 @ 05:35am

    Re: Re: 'Honestly the dog is usually much more well trained...'

    The "Drug War" has been the most active and most destructive front in the larger war on our rights. The 20 year undeclared war in Afghanistan is being called "America's Longest War" all over the news. It does not even hold a candle to America's many-generations-long war on the rights of Americans.

  • On the post: Apple Patches Up Devices In Response To The Exposure Of Yet Another NSO Group Exploit

    Upstream ( profile ), 14 Sep, 2021 @ 11:31am

    More hipocrisy

    If the NSO Group were located in a different country, or perhaps were of a different religion, they would surely have been designated terrorists themselves by now. In any case, it still seems like the NSO Group might be more deserving of a drone strike than other recent recipients.

    Not that anyone should hit them with a drone strike, just that they might be considered more deserving.

  • On the post: DOJ Says Federal Agents Will Start Wearing Body Cameras

    Upstream ( profile ), 14 Sep, 2021 @ 05:29am

    More performative BS

    And it will accept these cameras begrudgingly, ensuring they're turned off any time agents perform a "custodial interview" or engage in anything it considers to be national security related.

    As is noted in the "custodial interview" link above, the FBI in particular has no credibility. The fact that the courts still treat their word as gospel demonstrates that the courts have no credibility, either.

    BWCs have had very little positive effect on local or state policing. Again, they are little more than a PR stunt and an extra cost to taxpayers. There is really no reason for anyone to think they will have any significant positive effect at the Federal level.

  • On the post: Malwarebytes Conclusion Shows Section 230's Best Feature: Killing Dumb Cases Before They Waste Everyone's Time And Money

    Upstream ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2021 @ 02:00pm

    The whole point

    Section 230's Best Feature: Killing Dumb Cases Before They Waste Everyone's Time And Money

    The title says it all. As noted, Section 230 was nothing new, in terms of rights or responsibilities. It did make it much cheaper / easier to defend meritless attacks on those existing rights.

    We need more of the same in other areas.

  • On the post: GAO's Second Report On Facial Recognition Tech Provides More Details On Federal Use Of Clearview's Unvetted AI

    Upstream ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2021 @ 05:44am

    Bad in several ways

    Tim points out a couple of the particularly bad aspects of facial recognition technology use in this article: that it is unvetted (he's being polite, since actually it is known to be very unreliable) and that it's use by Federal agencies is often via the proxies of state or local law enforcement agencies.

    These aspects are particularly bad, since unreliable tech can only make a bad law enforcement system worse, and the Federal / local "partnerships" are very effective in thwarting what little accountability may exist in either realm.

    But there are other bad aspects of the tech, as well. It is known to have significant racial / ethnic "issues." Facial recognition AI essentially says "Those [insert non-white racial / ethnic group here] all look alike to me." This has horrible implications for a criminal legal system that is already biased against non-white racial and ethnic minorities. Now the cops can just blame it on the "computer," again thwarting what little accountability may exist.

    Another big problem with the facial recognition AI is the base rate fallacy, which is a somewhat complex and completely non-intuitive concept in probability. It basically means that even some system with an ostensibly high accuracy rate can still be wrong very often. This is completely unacceptable in a law enforcement situation, where people's rights, freedom, and even lives, are on the line. It is also easily and completely avoidable: just don't use the crappy facial recognition AI.

    It is good that this GAO report came out. It would be better if it were used to stamp out the malignancy of facial recognition AI everywhere it is being used.

  • On the post: Police Department Caught Falsifying Evidence Logs Used In Trial Of PD Employee Who Was Caught Falsifying Evidence Logs

    Upstream ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2021 @ 04:49am

    smoke . . . fire

    I know that Miami Beach is different from Miami, and the dates do not coincide directly, but the physical / temporal proximity deserves this mention:

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/miami-police-chief-ok-hand-gesture

    this slime was slithered into the position of Miami Police Chief under the cover of night, and all of South Florida is the worse for it.

  • On the post: Impossibility Of Content Moderation: Scientist Debunking Vaccine Myths Gets A YouTube Strike For Medical Misinfo

    Upstream ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2021 @ 03:53pm

    Re: Re: Re: Just making a point

    I quite intentionally did not refer to any specific medications, treatments, or other medical procedures, advice, or recommendations that either the WHO or the CDC may have addressed in the recent or distant past. You did that. And in doing so, missed my point entirely. I referred to the "checkered histories" of both agencies (and I believe I was being rather polite, there) which stretch back decades, in both cases, and to the dubious wisdom of suggesting that people follow the advice of any agencies with such questionable track records.

  • On the post: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Announces On Twitter The Livestreaming On Facebook Of His Signing Of A Bill That Removes 1st Amendment Rights For Both

    Upstream ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2021 @ 04:00pm

    In the center ring . . .

    It seems that Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are in an epic battle to see who can be the biggest horse's ass in this performative authoritarian shit-show.

    The shame of it all is that so many people are buying into their nonsense instead of writing it off as the natural fertilizer that it is.

  • On the post: Impossibility Of Content Moderation: Scientist Debunking Vaccine Myths Gets A YouTube Strike For Medical Misinfo

    Upstream ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2021 @ 01:41pm

    Just making a point

    follow @WHO and @CDCgov

    While I completely agree with Masnick that moderation is impossible at scale, and I do not think Youtube should issue a strike or take down these videos, the above could legitimately be considered questionable advice. The history of both agencies is checkered, at best.

  • On the post: Documents Show NYPD Has A Secret Surveillance Tech Slush Fund

    Upstream ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2021 @ 05:10am

    Not holding my breath

    Hopefully this national exposure will prompt the city to shred its memorandum of understanding and start over with some accountability measures in place.

    Why do I no longer see this sort of reform as even a remote possibility? Instead, if anything happens I think it will probably be some form of "doubling-down," along with some serious persecution, or even prosecution, of whoever let this cat out of the bag.

  • On the post: New York Congresswoman Thinks It's Too Hard To Be A Good Cop, Offers Up Bill That Would Codify Qualified Immunity

    Upstream ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2021 @ 05:56pm

    Re: Immunity

    It IS a protection against frivolous law suits that any cop would be forced to spend 1000's of dollars to defend against.
    That was the excuse the SCOTUS used to create it. That is not what it is. It is an incentive for bad cops to do bad things by protecting them after they do those bad things. It is one of the cornerstones in the foundation of an authoritarian police state.

  • On the post: New York Congresswoman Thinks It's Too Hard To Be A Good Cop, Offers Up Bill That Would Codify Qualified Immunity

    Upstream ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2021 @ 06:41am

    Re: Re: Rights v privileges

    1) I am saying that rights and powers / privileges / immunities are profoundly distinct things, and if you do not understand the difference then you are not qualified to participate in any meaningful discussion of them. It is not simply a semantic distinction without a meaningful difference, by any means. 2) I am also saying that if these "Police Officer's Bill(s) of Rights" were called by more accurate and correctly descriptive names, such as "Government Thug's List of Absurd Privileges and Immunities That Only Serve to Encourage Egregious Criminal Behavior by Said Government Thugs," that there could also be more appropriate and meaningful discussions about them. Calling them a "Bill of Rights" intentionally and propagandistically distorts and distracts from any serious discussion of them, at least for many people.

  • On the post: New York Congresswoman Thinks It's Too Hard To Be A Good Cop, Offers Up Bill That Would Codify Qualified Immunity

    Upstream ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2021 @ 03:17am

    Rights v privileges

    their own set of rights

    I know this is the terminology used by those who support such affronts, but the rest of us must always be mindful of the very important distinction between rights versus powers, privileges, and immunities.

    Rights are things that we all have, in equal measure, simply by being human. Powers, privileges, and immunities are things that certain people are granted by other people. Whether the powers, privileges, and immunities that are granted are justifiable, and whether the granting itself is justifiable, can be topics of valid debate on a case by case basis, but the essential distinction always applies.

    Misuse of words, such as in this instance, can lead to faulty thinking, pointless discussion, and erroneous conclusions by those who are misled, confused, or distracted (intentionally or not) by said misuse.

  • On the post: Florida Sheriff's Office Now Notifying People It Will Be Inflicting Its Pre-Crime Program On Them

    Upstream ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2021 @ 05:23am

    FTFY

    But is it sincere? All evidence points to "no."

    But is it sincere? All evidence points to "Hell no! Are you freakin' kidding me?"

  • On the post: Biden Executive Order Disrupts Hot DC Trend Of Pretending 'Big Telecom' Doesn't Exist

    Upstream ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2021 @ 05:32am

    Point of view matters

    the whole thing was dressed up as "serious policy" by press and policy wonks who should have known better.

    If you view the purpose of the press and the policy wonks as providing generally neutral coverage and objective analysis, then yes, they should have known better.

    If you view the purpose of the press and the policy wonks as propaganda tools which exist to give credence to whatever nonsense the government puts out, then they did their jobs admirably.

  • On the post: Biden Executive Order Disrupts Hot DC Trend Of Pretending 'Big Telecom' Doesn't Exist

    Upstream ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2021 @ 05:26am

    "urge" = puffery, or worse

    Ignoring the whole presidential power overreach problem, where presidents view themselves as authoritarian dictators who can "rule" as they please, in this article I saw one "requirement" (service details transparency), one "encourages,"and three "urging / urges."

    Anything not required will be ignored, or worse, the lack of a requirement to fix a bad practice will be taken as tacit approval of that bad practice, and that practice will continue to flourish and grow.

  • On the post: Juul Rented A Scientific Journal For a Month To Spread Glorified Marketing

    Upstream ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2021 @ 10:59am

    Corruption vs corruption

    When we have a corrupt government f̶i̶n̶a̶n̶c̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶a̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ robbing (or even legislating out of existence) successful, deep-pocketed corporations who happen to make products disfavored by said corrupt government, it is not at all surprising that some of these companies will resort to equally corrupt countermeasures as a means of fighting back, particularly after they have seen the lack of success of companies who tried fighting back using more conventional means.

    Granted our apathy to the steadily eroding line between expertise (journalism, academia, science) and marketing and lobbying is certainly nothing new.

    This aspect of the situation is a separate issue, and is only involved here because it happens to be Juul's (barely legal) weapon of choice in this instance. Juul could have also chosen other corrupt means of fighting back, such as bribing or blackmailing government officials, but those are much harder to "mouse print" into (barely) legal status.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Rejects Another Questionable Qualified Immunity Decision By An Appeals Court

    Upstream ( profile ), 07 Jul, 2021 @ 01:35pm

    Re:

    According to the SCOTUS current view of QI, it must make a new decision for each and every possible way a cop might violate someone's rights, specifying every conceivable detail in each and every case. This would obviously be an infinite number of decisions, which is clearly an impossible task. Which is precisely what is wrong with the whole QI situation as it currently stands.

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