Vidiot 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (907)

• On the post: New Hampshire Politicians Want To Make 'Satellite View' On Maps A Criminal Offense

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2013 @ 09:07am

  Go for broke

  Why limit it to aerial? Let's add in "... the land-based creation of graven images, such as may be shown to purloin the divine soul of a Citizen of the Great State of New Hampshire."

• On the post: Illinois Politician Seeks To Outlaw Anonymous Comments (But Allow Anonymous Gun Ownership)

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2013 @ 01:27pm

  Moving target practice

  My DHCP address is 69.252.80.66. Oh, wait... no it's not any more. Hey, look... now it's your address, Senator!

• On the post: 'Attribution' Troll On Press Inc. Now 50% Less 'Troll-like!' Also: NOT Yelling At People Sells More Books!

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2013 @ 01:18pm

  Addictive

  If this was a reality show... and I guess it is... I'd head for the DVR menu and hit "Record Series". It's riveting!
  
  I still think that the antagonist is a non-native-English speaker. Sounds perfect when I read the tweets aloud in any of several insulting, ethnic-stereotype cartoon accents...

• On the post: Copyright And The Harlem Shake: Selective Enforcement

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2013 @ 08:57am

  Cordial Twitter exchange?

  Whole lotta LOL'in goin' on.
  
  
  At least they can laugh. Or LMFAO, as it were.
  

• On the post: European Copyright Society Says Hyperlinks (And Framing) Should Not Be Infringing

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2013 @ 05:15am

  Maximalist opportunity

  Never thought of it that way... that every footnote ever written could be considered infringing. True, it would be a radically maximalist viewpoint, but hey, those folks file specious lawsuits every day of the week.
  
  
  Growth industry here! Virgin territory! Set up shop as a footnote troll, and find riches beyond your wildest dreams!

• On the post: Judge Dumps Lawsuit Claiming Copyright Infringement Over Legal Filings

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2013 @ 01:22pm

  "... and the legal databases win."
  
  
  Bravo. Now, if the legal databases could only lighten up about people using their collections of publicly-filed documents...

• On the post: Bizarre 'Attribution' Troll Bullies Twitter Users Into Compliance With Baseless Legal Threats

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2013 @ 01:19pm

  Don't apologize

  Long posts that tell riveting tales of idiocy are nothing to apologize for.
  
  And am I the only one who thinks that most of those threatening tweets smack of ESL?

• On the post: New Book About Data Mining To Find Love Online Has Author Admit To Possible CFAA Violations

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 14 Feb, 2013 @ 09:02am

  Funny... I heard the author interviewed, and wondered the same thing; although more from an ethical/creeper-factor standpoint.

• On the post: Monster Cable Finds Itself On The Other Side Of A Trademark Case (But Still Losing)

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2013 @ 10:08am

  Re: Wait....

  "...are Monster HDMI cables so ridiculously overpriced..."
  
  They prefer to say "premium branded". That's code for "electrically equivalent, but with a cooler (purloined) brand name."

• On the post: CT State Representative Proposes 10% Tax On Mature Video Games

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 08 Feb, 2013 @ 07:01am

  10%... BFD

  I won't go out of my way either for a 10% discount or to avoid paying 10% more... it's a trivial amount, at least in terms of game prices. And that 1% proposal is even wackier.

• On the post: Patent Troll Says It Owns Podcasting; Sues Adam Carolla, HowStuffWorks

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2013 @ 07:32am

  Re:

  It would be interesting to hear a judge construe these very broad, non-specific claims. And, no doubt, we'll get an opportunity to hear just that.

• On the post: Patent Troll Says It Owns Podcasting; Sues Adam Carolla, HowStuffWorks

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2013 @ 07:29am

  Re: I'm still unclear

  My take on this... from a non-attorney viewpoint: Although there are, no doubt, suites of podcasting software available, as there are podcasting services, the patent is so broad that simply offering serialized recordings, without the use of any inventor's technology or devices, would infringe. The act of embedding the audio content, even using open-source HTML, would be, under these definitions, podcasting; and, apparently, Mr. James Logan invented it! (Right.)

• On the post: Patent Troll Says It Owns Podcasting; Sues Adam Carolla, HowStuffWorks

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 07 Feb, 2013 @ 07:15am

  Who is "Personal Audio"?

  From a Personal Audio press release, via PRWeb:
  
  "Personal Audio, Inc., a predecessor to Personal Audio, LLC, was founded in 1996 with a mission of offering personalized audio to listeners using portable players downloading content and playlists from the Internet. The self-funded company worked to develop such an audio player that could download, store and manipulate audio files and related data. That system, described in patent applications filed in October, 1996, pioneered techniques now commonly used today in MP3 players, smartphones, tablets and other products that store and play audio and video files and work with downloaded playlists and podcasts.
  
  The founder of the company was James Logan, an entrepreneur who previously had been a pioneer in the touch screen industry. He founded MicroTouch Systems, which became a public company and leader in the industry, and later Gotuit Media, a pioneer in the video metadata field.
  
  In 2009, Personal Audio, LLC was founded by Logan and Call to market the innovations described in the patents."

• On the post: More Prenda Insanity: Lawyer Claims Defendant Erased Infringing Activity Using A Registry Cleaner, Citing A Single EHow Submission

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 05 Feb, 2013 @ 03:05pm

  Re: Re: By that logic...

  Don't forget open WiFi!

• On the post: DEA Circumventing Oregon State Law To Grab Medical Records Without A Warrant

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 04 Feb, 2013 @ 11:03am

  Re: Re: Legal Drugs for Terminal Patient

  I think it's safe to say that the pharmacy is happy to see you when it's time to make a purchase, but at any other time, just go the hell home.
  
  A friend tried to bring a sharps collector full of small, used syringes (fertility drug) to the pharmacy for disposal, and they all but called the police. "You can't bring those in here!" they said, despite having sold them. I can imagine the reception for carrying in vials of CDS's that have someone else's name on them...

• On the post: DEA Circumventing Oregon State Law To Grab Medical Records Without A Warrant

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 04 Feb, 2013 @ 08:58am

  I would think HIPAA laws would come into play here... disclosing healthcare information is difficult at best, usually when you want or need to pass it to others involved in your care... whack 'em with the Hipaa Hammer, I say.

• On the post: Truly Stupid Ideas: Adding DRM To HTML5

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2013 @ 08:34am

  Side note

  The folks that are pirating content... have acquired a non-DRM stream from somewhere else, like Mega or The Pirate Bay, and are watching that.
  
  
  It's often noted around here that TPB and Mega have "legit"(non-infringing) users, too; but even an enlightened, insider writer, when in need of a villainous example, will cite them as a den of infringers. Can you blame the lay pundits for making them into pirate poster children?

• On the post: Richard Marx And How Not To Act In The Internet Era

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2013 @ 02:20pm

  Re: Re:

  But if you care that much about what just ANYBODY says about you -- strangers, passers-by -- you actually must have a pretty highly-developed sense of shame... one that goads you into threats, intimidation and childish name-calling. He's not shameless, he's shame-fearing.

• On the post: Prenda Tries Yet Another Loophole; But Entirely Plagiarizes Someone Else's Failed Attempt

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2013 @ 12:42pm

  Re: Re: Uh...

  Ironically, Prof. John Kettle is an IP Law specialist at Rutgers University Law School. Go figure.

• On the post: Redditor Points Out The Flaws In SimCity's Online-Only DRM, Gets Banned By EA For His Troubles [UPDATED]

  

  Vidiot ( profile ), 29 Jan, 2013 @ 08:07am

  It's like magic

  "We are now updating the Beta Agreement to remove this point.?
  
  Yup. I have a bell I need un-rung, too, if you have a minute.

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