Upstream 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (654)

• On the post: Minneapolis Pays $1.5 Million Settlement To Man Who Accidentally Shot At Cops During George Floyd Protests

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 24 May, 2022 @ 11:23pm

  Addendum

  P.P.S. Apparently the Preview of the Subject line of the Comments doesn't handle apostrophes well. It displayed correctly once I posted it.

• On the post: Minneapolis Pays $1.5 Million Settlement To Man Who Accidentally Shot At Cops During George Floyd Protests

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 24 May, 2022 @ 11:22pm

  Settling with OPM doesn't count

  Paying settlements with Other People's Money (OPM) really doesn't cut it. The city is paying the victims with the victims money! And the thugs are laughing all the way back to the station house while reloading their 40s. Unless and until the thugs start going to prison on a consistent basis for these kinds of violent assaults, and for all of other serious crimes they regularly commit, there will be no end to this violent, corrupt, third-world-style police state we live in. P.S. Apparently the Subject line of the Comments doesn't handle apostrophes well.

• On the post: $100 Bluetooth Hack Can Unlock All Kinds Of Devices, Including Teslas, From Miles Away

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 21 May, 2022 @ 10:46am

  Re: Insurers

  It seems to me that there are many problems that insurers could mitigate by refusing to provide insurance. They could go a long way toward solving the police accountability problem by refusing to insure municipalities that hire, or refuse to fire, out-of-control cops. But for whatever reason, insurers rarely take such actions. They will refuse homeowner's insurance (or raise the rates prohibitively) if you own the wrong breed of dog, and they will drop your auto insurance for too many claims (like >2) even if they are through no fault of yours, but they won't drop cities with cops who have a proven track record of costing them big $$ in the form of settlements with their victims. I don't know the details about why they won't, but I am sure it somehow boils down to $$ in the end.

• On the post: $100 Bluetooth Hack Can Unlock All Kinds Of Devices, Including Teslas, From Miles Away

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 21 May, 2022 @ 06:05am

  Re: NOTHING TO DO WITH IOT.

  I think that one of the ACs is correct in that significant financial considerations will be the proximate cause for changes in device security, and I think Ehud Gavron is correct in that the problem is not limited to IoT devices, but is found in many areas of electronic device access situations, and other situations, as well. For instance, the Boeing case was neither an IoT issue nor an access issue, but rather a much more general "really bad design" issue. But I think those financial considerations will not arise until there is significant loss of life due to lack of proper security, or, more generally, a lack of proper design standards. That would make the loss of life the "cause in fact" (in legal parlance) of the changes in device security measures or design standards.

• On the post: $100 Bluetooth Hack Can Unlock All Kinds Of Devices, Including Teslas, From Miles Away

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 20 May, 2022 @ 03:50pm

  What will It take?

  For people to start taking the absurd lack of security in IoT devices seriously? I fear it will take people getting killed due to lack of security on their IoT devices. And not just any people, but lots of "people who matter" will need to perish. No one will care about a few peons here or there. I fear it will take much more than that. I mean, it took 2 plane crashes and 347 people getting killed for the FAA and the other national aviation authorities to start taking the problems with Boeing's 737 Max seriously, and they basically had to ground all the planes for Boeing to start taking the problem seriously, and there was very big money involved in that situation. I think it will likely be much more difficult to get countless manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, to take relatively cheap IoT device security seriously.

• On the post: PlayStation Boss Addresses Abortion Concerns From Staff With Jaunty Email About His Cats

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 18 May, 2022 @ 05:36am

  Worth re-reading

  This has been posted on Techdirt before, and it got the award for most insightful comment of 2021 (via That One Guy), so I won't repeat it here. Just go to the link. https://www.techdirt.com/2022/01/02/funniest-most-insightful-comments-2021-techdirt/ These are some very good ideas to keep in mind whenever the topic comes up.

• On the post: Court Dismisses Case After Prosecutors Make It Impossible For Defendants To Access Evidence

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 08 May, 2022 @ 01:04pm

  Preview

  When I do Preview, it doesn't work like before, but it still works: When you click Preview, the Add Your Comment section turns into the Edit Your Comment section, then you may need to scroll up a bit past the Edit Your Comment section to see the preview. Depending on your browser, window size, font size, or zoom level, this can be a bit counter-intuitive, as the preview may be out of the window (up) and not immediately viewable, but it is there.

• On the post: Court Dismisses Case After Prosecutors Make It Impossible For Defendants To Access Evidence

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 07 May, 2022 @ 03:20am

  they tossed the idea of ‘justice’ into the dumpster a good while back and are treating the legal system as a game

  As That One Guy has done here, we must all strive to make the clear distinction between a "justice system," which we do not have, and the "legal system," with which we are cursed.

• On the post: Alabama Police Chief Sued Over His Response To Anti-Police Brutality Protests

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 06 May, 2022 @ 12:58pm

  Long run?

  Being terrible and shortsighted may win the admiration of your comrades-in-arms, but it hurts in the long run.

  It seems we have not yet been running long enough, but we may get to that point soon, and I have a feeling it won't be pretty.

• On the post: Judge: Clemency Board With Three Cops On It Doesn’t Violate Rule Against More Than Two People From Same Profession

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 06 May, 2022 @ 12:49pm

  We don’t have a justice system. We have a legal system.

  This^, as I have said many times before. There is a big difference between a system that attempts to achieve justice, and one that attempts to justify it's predetermined result by any means necessary, no matter how nonsensical.

• On the post: No, Software-Bricked Tractors Thwarting Russian Looters Is Not A Sign That Either John Deere Or Copyright Is Good

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 06 May, 2022 @ 05:17am

  RE: the article sub-head

  from the enemy-of-my-enemy dept

  I have always thought that the idea of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" was highly suspect, at best, and just plain evil at worst, as it so often involves aligning oneself with just another villain. I think we are seeing an example of the worst-case scenario here. This sort of thing might be appropriate for military hardware that might fall into actual enemy hands, but there is no place for non-consensual remote bricking of products one owns in the civil world.

• On the post: Field Drug Test Turns Diesel To Meth, Takes Away Six Weeks Of The Truck Driver’s Freedom

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2022 @ 08:45am

  Every time I make a comment, the display reverts to "View in Chronology" That is a bug.

• On the post: Field Drug Test Turns Diesel To Meth, Takes Away Six Weeks Of The Truck Driver’s Freedom

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2022 @ 08:43am

  Maybe "View in Thread" needs to be the default, instead of "View in Chronology"

• On the post: Field Drug Test Turns Diesel To Meth, Takes Away Six Weeks Of The Truck Driver’s Freedom

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2022 @ 08:42am

  Yeah, there seem to be some bugs in where posts and replies get located. I had a similar problem, on another article comment thread.

• On the post: Field Drug Test Turns Diesel To Meth, Takes Away Six Weeks Of The Truck Driver’s Freedom

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 28 Apr, 2022 @ 08:38am

  Of course I am assuming stupidity instead of actual malice here which may be too much of an assumption

  When it comes to cops and other government vermin, that is almost always too much of an assumption.

• On the post: Florida Republican Gov’t Officials Bend Over Backwards To Tell Everyone That, Yes, Absolutely, They Are Punishing Disney For Its Speech

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2022 @ 03:51pm

  Now it is not last anymore...

  Maybe I did not refresh the page, but it is still in the wrong place.

• On the post: Florida Republican Gov’t Officials Bend Over Backwards To Tell Everyone That, Yes, Absolutely, They Are Punishing Disney For Its Speech

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2022 @ 03:49pm

  Comment in wrong place!

  I am not sure how it happened, but my comment with the subject "Re: This^" wound up a long way from where I posted it. Either I did something very wrong, or the new comment system behaves a bit differently from the old one. Or maybe the blue tint means someone made it the last word? If this is the case, I am not sure whether to feel honored or insulted. Anyone care to enlighten me?

• On the post: Florida Republican Gov’t Officials Bend Over Backwards To Tell Everyone That, Yes, Absolutely, They Are Punishing Disney For Its Speech

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2022 @ 11:20am

  This ^

  the social media bill is dumb and unconstitutional, but the theme park exemption was just the unconstitutional icing on an unconstitutional cake, which only served to highlight just how unconstitutional the whole thing was, so stripping it away is performative nonsense.

  So it sounds to me like DeSantis' supporters will get to eat the unconstitutional cake of DeSantis' performative nonsense, and Disney will sue, and win, and get to eat the unconstitutional icing of their bizarre benefits, too.

• On the post: Devin Nunes Loses Appeal Of SLAPP Suit Against Liz Mair

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2022 @ 07:46am

  Problem with anti-SLAPP laws

  The way I see it, even in states with anti-SLAPP laws, when the victims eventually wins, all they get is attorney's fees. There is no compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, etc. For these laws to really be effective, they need to make it much more painful for people filing the SLAPP lawsuits.

• On the post: Minneapolis Cops Who Watched Officer Derek Chauvin Kill George Floyd Convicted On Federal Charges

  

  Upstream ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2022 @ 11:59am

  From your comments it is clear you have never been a victim of a cop, and do not know anyone who has been a victim of a cop. Before you expound on the virtues of cops, make an effort to get to know someone who has been a victim of a cop, and get their perspective. If you have an open mind, it will be illuminating. I am not asking or wishing that you become a victim of a cop, because the experience is often non-survivable, and therefore no illumination would be forthcoming.

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