vivaelamor 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: US Response To Massive Decline In Foreign Travelers: Keep Crazy Policies, But Set Up Ad Campaign

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 17 Dec, 2010 @ 09:15am

    Re:

    Oh, I forgot, it's much cooler to be "pro-civil-liberties" than "pro-not-being-blown-up-on-a-plane".

    I find it funny that you think Mike writes here in an effort to be cool. Most of his critics seem to argue that his opinions represent a minority.

  • On the post: 'Her Morning Elegance' Artists Create Elegant Reason To Buy

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 17 Dec, 2010 @ 09:01am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Average Techdirt poster:

    "Every person that disagrees with Techdirt's agenda works for the RIAA or is a troll".

    Presumably this puts me above average? You're so kind to me.

  • On the post: Record Labels Angry That Hadopi Isn't Kicking People Off The Internet Fast Enough

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 17 Dec, 2010 @ 08:51am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Kick 'em all off!

    "Somehow I doubt the numbers in this report. They surveyed just under 6,000 people and used that tiny, tiny number to calculate that 15% (7.7m of 51.1m) are illegally downloading music."

    A sample size of just over 1,000 may be sufficient for the entire world's population depending on what you're doing statistically.

  • On the post: How Denial Works: Library Of Congress Blocks Wikileaks

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 05 Dec, 2010 @ 12:25pm

    Re: Are you kidding me

    "Everyone one of you would probably be up in arms and demand that cyber bullying, that results in the suicide of the victim, should be taken down and the offender prosecuted. You would applause anyone that blocked, removed or in anyway stopped the offending material from being displayed!"

    Is this your first visit to Techdirt? Mike has written consistently in support of free speech on such issues and I would bet that many regular commenters agree with him, as I do. So, nice straw man. I think you have 'everyone' of us confused with a flawed stereotype.

    "Saying that the government should change so that they are not afraid of wikileak's is like saying the person being bullied should change so the person committing the bullying would have no reason to bully them."

    Saying that the government should change so that they are not afraid of Wikileaks is like saying the person getting bad reviews for their standup performance should change so the reviewer would have no reason to give them bad reviews.

    I can think up random similes too.

  • On the post: Mainstream Press Seems To Think Fighting For Civil Liberties Is Childish

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 03:21am

    Re: Re: Re: Complaining is fine, but how about a solution?

    "Until then, what do you suggest?"

    Training their personnel would be a good start.

  • On the post: Mainstream Press Seems To Think Fighting For Civil Liberties Is Childish

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 03:19am

    Re: Re:

    "You have successfully scared me."

    Terrorist!

  • On the post: Mainstream Press Seems To Think Fighting For Civil Liberties Is Childish

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 03:18am

    Re:

    "That's because half the population is below average intelligence."

    You vastly overestimate the value of intelligence. Intelligent people can consistently make bad decisions and dumb people can make consistently good decisions. It doesn't matter how fast or efficiently you can run if you're facing the wrong direction.

  • On the post: Mainstream Press Seems To Think Fighting For Civil Liberties Is Childish

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 02 Dec, 2010 @ 03:07am

    Re: Re: A motion

    "If a word bothers you SO MUCH that you have to write a proposition to beg people off of using it, perhaps you should look inside and ask yourself why you are letting a few letters get under your skin."

    I can just hear you chanting 'sticks and stones will break my bones..'. I can't possibly imagine any reason why we shouldn't let people go around insulting others without challenge. I guess that's the best way to fight vocal racism, homophobia and sexism, by ignoring them.

  • On the post: Why The TSA's Searches Are Unconstitutional

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 30 Nov, 2010 @ 04:34am

    Re: Re: Re: Oh, so NOW you like the Constitution...

    "Israel doesn't use racial profiling. They use behavioral profiling."

    Unless I missed some news stories where they changed policy and banned racial profiling then I believe they use both. El Al were recently caught trying to do so on US soil. I don't imagine every airline operates the same policies and it may be that racial profiling isn't even the official policy, but we keep hearing about it happening.

    "And how would that work anyway? The people who want to blow up Israelis look like Israelis. :)"

    Especially if they're trying to blend in. Like I said, I don't agree with racial profiling, not least because it wouldn't seem to work.

  • On the post: Why The TSA's Searches Are Unconstitutional

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 03:33pm

    Re: Oh, so NOW you like the Constitution...

    "I find it funny seeing people (not all, but a distinct number) that try to twist and mold the First amendment to their own liking and are just as determined to eliminate the second amendment"

    Whom are you referring to? You say a distinct number, which implies some degree of certainty. I guess you meant significant number, but I'd have to question how you know that.

    "Gee, freedom of speech. It only matters with only the speech they want to hear. Ban all others (like eliminating FoxNews, or Rush Limbaugh, or Glenn Beck), no they can't hear opposing views, it interferes with their "tolerance" mantra."

    While many proponents of free speech may not agree with Fox News, or Rush Limbaugh, or Glenn Beck, I have never heard a proponent of free speech talk about banning them. Again, whom are you referring to?

    "Gee, freedom of religion. No, they say religion must be banned. They don't believe in it, so nobody else can."

    Have I spotted a pattern? Oh wait, I spotted it last paragraph. Third time lucky: whom are you referring to?

    "They only want freedom of assembly for themselves. Yes, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Jon Stewart, etc. are the only legitimate public voices."

    Ahah! I can now deduce that the mysterious people you refer to are supporters of those public figures. Hmm, that doesn't narrow it down a lot.

    "They decry "profiling" and sue to their hearts content about the audacity of a law enforcement agency to use racial profiling to solve crimes. You know, common sense is a violation of "civil rights"."

    I still don't know who you're talking about. Please tell me, it's important.

    "Now, when the very system they have twisted to conform to their ideals starts to feast upon not only those they redesigned it to feast on, but now turns on its creator and becomes the very beast the original Constitution was designed to protect against, they cry foul and invoke the very document they despise."

    Did I nod off and wake up in a game of Dungeons and Dragons? 'The cursed scrolls of The Constitution'.

    "I call that karma (or you reap what you sow) and now perhaps these idiots will understand why liberty is so much more important than political correctness or so-called "social justice"."

    You forgot to add 'unless you're racially profiled'. Wait, are you trying to sell me a new brand of liberty?! I'm happy with the one I have, thanks.

    "Government's cause problems, they never solve them, no matter the good intentions."

    You're an anarchist? You sure don't sound like one. 'More law enforcement! No government!'.

    "The TSA should be dissolved. Leave security up to each individual airline, and make appropriate legal penalties for not making reasonable attempts to protect their consumers. Take examples from El Al Airlines."

    I think someone else's paragraph got mixed up with your post. That one actually made sense. I still don't agree with racial profiling though (and I don't believe it is the be all and end all of Israel's success at security).

    "A society willing to giving up liberty for safety, ends up having neither, and deserving neither. I believe Benjamin Franklin said something similar."

    I wonder what he would have said about racial profiling.

  • On the post: Why The TSA's Searches Are Unconstitutional

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 03:00pm

    Re:

    'Moreover, if all you can offer is circular logic (i.e. "Israel is effective, so America should be like Israel", then I guess I am looking in the wrong place for these answers.'

    That statement about Israel may not be logically sound (on its own, anyway), but it is most definitely not circular logic unless you can explain how being like Israel fulfills the premise that Israel is effective. Hilariously (to me, at least), you seem to be going for the informal use of 'begging the question' and ending up with 'circular reasoning', which are two very different things.

  • On the post: As The Pirate Bay Guys Lose Their Appeal, When Does Google Regret Not Coming To Their Defense?

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 02:03pm

    Re:

    "Anyone wonder why TPB is still online?"

    Obviously so the powers that be can track the 25 million peers and sue them all. What a flawless plan.

  • On the post: As The Pirate Bay Guys Lose Their Appeal, When Does Google Regret Not Coming To Their Defense?

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 01:59pm

    Re:

    "Specialized search engines where user searches and uses are for pirated content (see top 100 on tpb) has no standing as a search engine. Googles zeitgeist otoh clearly shows most searches are for legal purposes. You can have torrent filters on google but if it's only a fringe activity, google will have no problem. It's only if user searches show torrent searches superseding other searches would there be a case that riaa could actually win."

    So, by your logic, Google can serve 100% of the people currently using The Pirate Bay in a practically identical way and there should be no problem. If that is the case then what is the point of shutting down The Pirate Bay? If it's for being pro 'pirating' then shouldn't Torrentfreak also be targeted, despite the fact that they don't directly identify infringing material?

  • On the post: Who Needs COICA When Homeland Security Gets To Seize Domain Names?

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 01:47pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Toe in the water?

    'I want the TLD .local so I can make it respond to requests for *anything*.local with a message "your IT guy didn't setup your network properly". If a network is setup correctly, this can not affect it.'

    Even this well written article on the issue presumes for the 'best option' that you have a domain name. Buying one for the sole purpose of Active Directory seems rather silly.

  • On the post: Who Needs COICA When Homeland Security Gets To Seize Domain Names?

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 01:06pm

    Re: It is time

    "Someone needs to create a P2P DNS system"

    You may be interested in alternative DNS roots as another option.

  • On the post: French Author Plagiarizes Wikipedia; Does That Mean His Entire Book Is Now CC Licensed?

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 12:45pm

    Re: Re: Decent chunks?

    'I don't think France have "fair use".'

    I found something similar under exceptions on the French copyright law article on Wikipedia:

    3. In cases where the name of the author and the source are clearly indicated,

    a) Analyses and short citations justified by the critical, polemical, scientific or pedagogical nature of the work.

    I hope that clears it up; no attribution equals no exception.

  • On the post: French Author Plagiarizes Wikipedia; Does That Mean His Entire Book Is Now CC Licensed?

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 12:34pm

    Re: Re: Re: No it wont mike, CC is not GPL

    "3) The usage of the passages from wikipedia constitute fair use, and the cc license need not be invoked."

    Does French law even recognise fair use?

  • On the post: Why The TSA's Searches Are Unconstitutional

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2010 @ 12:25pm

    "No one here has *any* evidence for the gov't version of 9/11 except what the gov't *says* about it."

    You mean, apart from Popular Mechanics and their sources? Oh sorry, you meant *here*.

  • On the post: The Problems With Letting Child Porn Victims Demand Cash From Those Caught With Their Images

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 24 Nov, 2010 @ 04:44am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Sorry for the late reply.

    "First: No, I don't. Second, BDSM isn't based on someone being incapable of giving consent. That's actually a cornerstone of healthy expressions of kinky sexuality: safe, sane, and consensual. "

    I wasn't specific enough. I'm not talking about consensual acts of BDSM, but the fantasies behind them. You were talking about the sex drive, not the actions of the person. To give an extreme example, if a person gets off on fictional stories of non consensual acts of harm then they might be considered weird, or even sick, but are unlikely to be singled out as a threat to society in the way that those attracted to children are. Then again my own government is already pushing legislation against realistic depictions of sexual violence (violence is OK, sex is OK, just don't mix the two for some undisclosed reason).

    "If one has sex with someone who did not or is not able to give consent, then one has committed rape. Statutory or otherwise."

    Did anyone suggest otherwise?

    "A pedophile who does not act on their urges by assaulting children but instead keeps pornography is still complicit in the abuse of the child in question, assuming we're looking at pornography involving actual children and not drawings or photomanips."

    That did not appear to be the argument you were making. You seemed to be claiming that the mere attraction to children makes that person a danger to all children around, as evidenced by your analogy of a non pedophile in a bar.

    "Again, no. Because there is actually a line between fantasy and reality!"

    Then draw it. As I said, 'by your logic'. You keep refining your arguments, which is fine, but you do so while not acknowledging that you are.

  • On the post: Historical Note: The Day Steve Jobs Dissed CDBaby

    vivaelamor ( profile ), 24 Nov, 2010 @ 04:03am

    Re: CDBaby looked like it was profiteering

    "I wonder if the lack of contracto arose because it may have appeared that CDBaby was trying to profit from the iTunes deal by charging all their artists $40 to be included in the upload."

    Funny how Steve Jobs was emphasising how cheap $40 is then.

    "We know that is not the case with hindsight (although $40 to rip a CD - Really?)"

    The article says $40 per artist. Considering one album can cost $20 just to buy a copy, $40 to properly format shift an artists entire collection seems potentially cheap.

    "As soon as CDBaby offered to return the $40 they were in."

    Is Apple really that passive aggressive? 'We'll penalise you but won't tell you what we're doing or why, maybe you'll get lucky and guess'.

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