Rico R. 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Missouri Governor Still Expects Journalists To Be Prosecuted For Showing How His Admin Leaked Teacher Social Security Numbers

    Rico R. ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2021 @ 01:50pm

    No lock picks required!

    That analogy is just dumb on multiple levels. They didn't pick any lock. They didn't intrude somewhere they weren't supposed to go. The website put the info on their computers in the HTML.

    Thus, a closer analogy for the situation is putting your working $1000 TV on your front lawn, putting a “For Free” sign on it, and then pressing theft charges against the people who picked it up. May not be a perfect analogy, but it’s a heck of a lot better and way more accurate to the situation than the governor’s lock picking analogy!

  • On the post: Oversight Board Overturning Instagram Takedown Of Ayahuasca Post Demonstrates The Impossibility Of Content Moderation

    Rico R. ( profile ), 30 Dec, 2021 @ 11:08am

    What I want to know is how many of these senators would be outraged if Instagram removed a photo of someone's child having their first communion on the grounds that it "promotes" underage drinking? Couldn't it be interpreted (as flawed as it may be) that such a post would run afoul of the same policy they're asking Instagram to crack down on?

  • On the post: Proctorio's Anti-Cheating Software Exposes Students To Hackers Say Dutch Education Officials

    Rico R. ( profile ), 22 Dec, 2021 @ 11:47am

    Re: Agreed. Proctorio, take notes from Sony BMG.

    If promoting your moral objectives is more important than stopping hackers and maintaining the security of the computers of your users, you're doing it wrong!

  • On the post: Canada Strikes Again: Allows Lawsuit Against Twitter To Proceed Over Speech Of Twitter Users

    Rico R. ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2021 @ 11:15am

    Re: Re: Hmmm...

    *Any federal court JUDGE It's times like this that I wish Techdirt allowed editing comments.

  • On the post: Canada Strikes Again: Allows Lawsuit Against Twitter To Proceed Over Speech Of Twitter Users

    Rico R. ( profile ), 16 Dec, 2021 @ 11:12am

    Re: Hmmm...

    The problem is that in Canada, judges are appointed by the government...
    That's also true in the US. Any federal court that would have jurisdiction for this kind of case in the US was appointed by the President of the United States at the time, and then confirmed by the US Senate. Unless you're somehow arguing POTUS and Senators are not a part of the US government, I'm not seeing your point here.

  • On the post: FAA Ignores FCC, Limits U.S. 5G Over Unsubstantiated Safety Concerns

    Rico R. ( profile ), 15 Dec, 2021 @ 08:57am

    The FAA has lost it...

    It takes a special kind of stupid for Techdirt to praise a letter that was co-authored by Ajit Pai.

  • On the post: Book Publishers Sue Maryland Over Law That Would Require Them To Offer 'Reasonable' Prices On Ebooks To Libraries

    Rico R. ( profile ), 10 Dec, 2021 @ 04:44pm

    Publishers: If it harms our bottom line, it's piracy!

    I cannot fathom in what world this could be construed as a state trying to run around federal copyright law. Copyright says, more or less, it's illegal to copy a work protected by copyright. Other rights and exemptions aside, copyright says nothing about how much a copyrighted work has to sell for. This state law simply says that they can't force libraries to pay more than a fair and reasonable rate just to get the ability to lend out a digital copy of a work.

    But heaven forbid a publisher can't maintain absolute monopolistic control over their market. To me, that sounds more and more like copyright misuse. Copyright might give owners exclusive rights, but copyright doesn't give the copyright holder the right to control the price for the work. I know, it's sort of implied in the distribution right, but states can regulate how high a particular good can sell for in the state, and that inherently has nothing to do with copyright. If this law is struck down by the courts on the grounds that US copyright law pre-empts state copyright laws (which this most certainly not), will people finally realize that copyright law has been distorted to the point that it's no longer defensible?

  • On the post: Senator Tillis To President Biden: How Dare You Nominate To The FCC Someone Prepared To Protect The Public

    Rico R. ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2021 @ 01:11pm

    Re:

    I raised a similar argument on Techdirt years ago when the EFF's suit to overturn section 1201 of the DMCA was allowed to move forward. Long story short, I believe the anti-circumvention provision, both on its face and as applied, cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny when looking at the "promote the progress of science" phrase. Why the EFF never argued that is beyond me.

  • On the post: Senator Tillis To President Biden: How Dare You Nominate To The FCC Someone Prepared To Protect The Public

    Rico R. ( profile ), 01 Dec, 2021 @ 12:53pm

    Is Sohn REALLY an anti-copyright activist?

    From Tillis's own letter to Biden:

    Ms. Sohn even opined that "advances in encryption technology may allow us to craft a framework to fully protect content." For those who depend on strong intellectual property protections for their livelihoods, "may" simply is not sufficient.

    There, it sounds like Sohn is advocating for some sort of DRM scheme. Tillis's comments aside, you can't be both pro-DRM and anti-copyright. Sohn may advocate for some good copyright policy (which Tillis would 100% be against), but that isn't exactly a shining example.

    And as far as "may" not being sufficient, I have two things to say. First, DRM as it currently stands is failing a mission it can never succeed at. It already isn't "sufficient" at stopping piracy. What it is good at is annoying paying customers for making something they paid for an inferior product. If people depend on DRM for their livelihoods, their livelihoods are already in trouble.

    Second, big copyright holders are on the cusp of getting everything they wished for. They got the EU copyright directive passed with Article 17 included. It's only a matter of time until they start lobbying for something similar to be passed in the US. And then, they still won't be happy. Even when they happily destroy the internet, will that still be short of sufficient?

    I just hope the duly elected copyright maximalist in the oval office doesn't back down from supporting this candidate. He already stood up to Hollywood when they were dead-set against allowing IP exemptions for COVID-19 treatment information. And it also helps that Tillis is also from the opposite political party. So, here's hoping he'll be 2 for 2 in this regard!

  • On the post: FAA Blocks 5G Deployments Over Safety Concerns Despite No Actual Evidence Of Harm

    Rico R. ( profile ), 23 Nov, 2021 @ 07:26am

    Re:

    Nah… The FAA is just upset that 5G deployment is interfering with their experiments to resurrect JFK Jr. from the dead!

  • On the post: Ridley Scott Blames His Latest Movie Bombing At The Box Office On Facebook And Millennials, Rather Than Pandemic And Poor Marketing

    Rico R. ( profile ), 23 Nov, 2021 @ 12:28pm

    SMH at this nonsense, but...

    At least I'm glad to see the old legacy players are branching out and blaming other so-called ills of the modern-day internet for a film's failure instead of just focusing on the boogeyman of piracy!

  • On the post: Is Protecting Copyright More Important Than Saving Lives During The COVID-19 Pandemic?

    Rico R. ( profile ), 18 Nov, 2021 @ 01:01pm

    You wouldn't steal a COVID-19 vaccine.

  • On the post: Missouri Admits It Fucked Up In Exposing Teacher Data, Offers Apology To Teachers — But Not To Journalists It Falsely Accused Of Hacking

    Rico R. ( profile ), 10 Nov, 2021 @ 12:55pm

    BREAKING NEWS: Schools Install Hacking Software

    Big Tech company Google was caught red-handed offering a hacking tool to schools and even the general public. The tool in question, Google Chrome, is known to decode HTML code and even display the source code of the content it displays with a simple right-click function. There are even reports that people can use an inspect tool to temporarily change what a webpage says without the authorization of the website owner. Google laughed off requests for comment, but Missouri's governor is insistent that it will hold all who downloaded and used the tool accountable as well as investigate schools that use the software in question.

  • On the post: Because Of Course: Trump's SPAC Deal May Have Broken The Law

    Rico R. ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 01:55pm

    Re: More pro-Trump trolls spewing nonsense!

    …radical leftist liberals…
    As opposed to what… radical leftist conservatives? And don’t get me started on how many “successful businessmen” had a brief yet tumultuous political career as a one-term, twice impeached former President who stoked a violent insurrection just because he couldn’t get over the fact that he lost a free and fair election!

  • On the post: Missouri Governor Doubles Down On 'View Source' Hacking Claim; PAC Now Fundraising Over This Bizarrely Stupid Claim

    Rico R. ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2021 @ 11:27am

    HTML for Dummies?

    Maybe the state officials wouldn't have made such a careless mistake if they had just learned to "nerd harder"!

  • On the post: Billy Mitchell Survives Anti-SLAPP Motion From Twin Galaxies A Second Time

    Rico R. ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2021 @ 09:56pm

    Re: Re: Count me among those at Techdirt who think this ruling i

    I do think that not every SLAPP will be automatically continued because of this case, but even if the facts merit it here, the fact that this case is precedential (based on the "Certified for Publication" language at the bottom of the document) should be concerning. This is another example of a lawsuit where the facts specific to the case may be beneficial for a particular outcome to play out, but in the process creates case law that's bad for everyone.

  • On the post: Billy Mitchell Survives Anti-SLAPP Motion From Twin Galaxies A Second Time

    Rico R. ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2021 @ 09:51pm

    Re: Count me among those at Techdirt who think this ruling is wr

    I completely agree, Mike! I'm not sure how different the standard and/or cost is for an anti-SLAPP motion compared to a motion to dismiss under 12(b)6 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, but simply saying "This statement is false and they didn't do enough investigation to confirm that it was false" sounds an awful lot like a mere legal conclusion and not a statement of fact. Under the motion to dismiss standard, that's below the standard and the case should be dismissed. And speaking of cost, I also think discovery will make things costly and can cause some parties to settle. Very few cases go to trial these days, so simply getting a full-fledged ruling on the merits is not always a given. And when the cases do ultimately settle, there's no guarantee that the same result would be rendered had the case gone to trial. The ComicMix v. Dr. Seuss Enterprises case comes to mind in that regard: Even though the judge wanted a jury to hear whether or not it met all the requirements for substantial similarity and therefore copyright infringement, the settlement reached by the parties also required ComicMix to more or less admit that Oh, The Places You'll Boldly Go is an infringing work. They might have even had to pay a pretty penny to Dr. Seuss for a book that was never sold! But I digress. Here, an entity like Twin Galaxies might have the legal resources to still defend the lawsuit on the merits throughout the appeals process, but the average, everyday citizen does not. When they are the defendants, it may be more financially feasible to chill their speech and pay the plaintiff in a settlement than it is to defend their rights in court. When that happens, everyone loses. The first amendment rights are weakened for everyone, and we as a society are deprived of someone else's otherwise lawful speech. If California, which has the gold standard anti-SLAPP provision, keeps the precedent on the books, that law is essentially dead for everyone in California, which is good for no one (regardless of where they live).

  • On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Tumblr's Approach To Adult Content (2013)

    Rico R. ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2021 @ 08:35pm

    Re: the algorithms...

    Even as someone who's asexual, I could tell the algorithmic censoring of NSFW content was doomed from the start. And it's not even inactive users that are affected... Somehow, this old post of mine was flagged. It had no notes, and I appealed it. It's still in limbo to this day, hence the screenshot!

  • On the post: Seuss Estate And ComicMix Copyright Case Settles In The Saddest Possible Way

    Rico R. ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2021 @ 04:20pm

    Re: Re: Re: Ode to the Wait For a New Circuit Split...

    Not true unfortunately… the Ninth Circuit’s decision has the phrase “For Publication” at the top of the first page. This means the legal finding is setting a binding precedent for the Ninth Circuit, and can be considered influential in other circuits. I live in the jurisdiction of the Seventh Circuit, for example, so while a plaintiff who might sue me over a fanvid could point to this case as persuasive in deciding the case, but any court in the Seventh Circuit is in no obligation to follow it. (But given this was the circuit that said transformative works could implicate the derivative work right in a fair use case, I’m not exactly hopeful.). Yet, within the Ninth Circuit, the court would be bound by its interpretation from this case.

  • On the post: Seuss Estate And ComicMix Copyright Case Settles In The Saddest Possible Way

    Rico R. ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2021 @ 07:42am

    Re:

    I mean, I believe there's a PDF online somewhere of The Cat NOT in the Hat, another book Dr. Seuss Enterprises shut down on copyright grounds. So, I guess anything's possible!

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