Wyrm 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Marsha Blackburn Makes It Clear: KOSA Is Designed To Silence Trans People

    Wyrm ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2023 @ 09:43am

    "Think of the children", right?

    Anyone following a republican bill "for the children" should be extremely suspicious. Republicans have proved many times in recent months that "protecting children" is not in their priorities. At all. Think school shootings, child labor, child marriage... and probably more that I missed. So when they suddenly pretend to be sooo concerned about child safety, you should check, double-check and triple-check their bill. With a hazmat suit on.

  • On the post: Canadian Media Orgs Said That Meta Linking To News Was Anticompetitive; Now They Say NOT Linking To News Is Anticompetitive

    Wyrm ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2023 @ 03:52am

    and holy shit how does anyone take these media orgs seriously any more?
    To (sort of) quote a famous line: "You get a lot more from a kind word and a load of cash than from a kind word alone."

  • On the post: Masculine Policy: The GOP’s Plan To Outlaw ‘Porn’ And Suspend The First Amendment 

    Wyrm ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2023 @ 10:14pm

    Twisted definitions of "masculinity" and "freedom".

    Sen. Hawley has carved out a conservative persona built on how hard he pushes a depiction of the ideal example of classic American “masculinity.”
    More like on the toxic version of "masculinity". Not warriors, but bullies. Not protective, but possessive. Not assertive, but overbearing. And so on... Every positive aspect typically associated with masculinity is twisted in an extreme and harmful trait when they attempt to embody it. They are not the gold standard of masculinity, they are a caricature of it.
    “It has no claim to First Amendment protection.”
    Because First Amendment only applies to the right people, doesn't it? That's how they read the Constitution: some people have rights, others don't. I'll let you guess who, by their standards, gets to decide who can benefit from constitutional rights.
    Is that a free America?
    By their standards, yes it is. Their standards of "freedom" being the right to force their political, religious and... erm... "moral" beliefs on others. By force if need be. Second Amendment and all that. This is not all republicans, but it is nearly all republican politicians and media. And those republicans that don't embrace these extremist views pretty much tolerate them.

  • On the post: Lawsuit: Deputy Tried To Shoot ‘Charging’ Pomeranian, Shot Woman On Porch Instead

    Wyrm ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2023 @ 09:54am

    Barking Dogs spoil ‘surprise’ visits/raids of civilian homes
    Right, because the sound of a gunshot doesn't.

  • On the post: Techdirt Has Again Been Removed From Bing And (Mostly) DuckDuckGo

    Wyrm ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2023 @ 09:48am

    "site:techdirt.com" will return results from this site only. Which is the homepage, apparently. This is a url filter that all major search engine seem to support. "techdirt" will return a variety of results. Of these, Bing and DDG only return the techdirt.com homepage from this site. The other results are references to "techdirt", such as a Patreon or Twitter page with this name.

  • On the post: Everyone Makes Mistakes, But When Cops Make Mistakes, The Guns Come Out

    Wyrm ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2023 @ 04:40pm

    And this is exactly why I repeat this on occasion: if criminals don't have rights, then neither do you. Rights are not something cops can grant or deny you at will. If "criminals" can be treated as if they don't have rights, then it puts the whole judgement on the cop as to who benefits from said rights. Since cops way too often equate suspicion to guilt, and start acting like vigilantes instead of proper law enforcement officers, this is making them criminals and they should be treated as such. As if that was not enough, their hierarchy often supports them, sometimes to the point of rooting out good cops speaking against this "Judge Dredd" culture. Which entitle the bad cops even more. These bad cops need to be punished systematically. Even when, by some miracle, nobody died as the result of depriving people of their rights. Because the rights deprivation is enough of an offense.

  • On the post: Appeals Court Says A Cop Can Violate Another Cop’s Rights By [Squints At Ruling] Shooting At The Other Cop

    Wyrm ( profile ), 11 Aug, 2023 @ 04:22pm

    Panicked cop

    First, how did this rookie cop end up panicking at the mere sight of a gun pointed downwards? Is there no training for cops to face armed suspects? Or is the training telling them to shoot gun holders on sight? Ah wait, I've seen a documentary and that's exactly what they are told to do in some instances at least. Second, cop panicked, starts shooting completely at random, PD tries to frame the intended target and the rare good cop that actually got shot and speaks against railroading the suspect. That's one more example to the list of police departments rooting out the good cops rather than the bad ones. Third, the rookie better get psychological evaluation before being let back in the streets... if let back at all. He seems like the exact kind of individual that shouldn't be a cop. Except maybe in a comedy movie.

  • On the post: My Distaste For Your Solution Does Not Mean Disregard For The Problem

    Wyrm ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2023 @ 12:25pm

    Too often, these comments from supporters of these solutions are really a form of “we must do something, this is something, we will do this.”
    There is this, but let's not forget those for whom the "unintended consequences" are very much intended. At times, I'm not sure which is worse between willful ignorance and outright malice. The latter is obvious worse in individual cases, but the former seems so much more widespread.
    Well, in many cases not doing anything is a “better” solution than making things worse.
    Right. When your solution is literally worse than nothing, you must stop what you're doing. But some of these "caring" people don't actually care: the illusion of action is more important than the result. That's part of the problem with the political (and often economic) landscape in the world nowadays. Short-term actions are prioritized over well-planned long-term strategies. Show the public that you're doing something, and that there is an immediate impact. Be it for your ego, your next election, your connections. Then... "après moi, le Déluge."

  • On the post: Witcher Producer: Show’s Shit Viewership Is Because Of Dumb Americans And Social Media

    Wyrm ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2023 @ 12:12pm

    That's ultra common in "adaptations". (Air quotes really needed here.) They change characters that everybody loves to the point they are unrecognizable. There are times, they barely keep the name and change everything else. But they won't "write their own stories" because they want to capture some public on brand recognition alone. Saves up a lot on marketing costs. Even if they let down said public immediately. They got you to watch at least some of the content, and they will pretend that you are at fault if you don't like it. It's fan-baiting at its worst.

  • On the post: Witcher Producer: Show’s Shit Viewership Is Because Of Dumb Americans And Social Media

    Wyrm ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2023 @ 11:59am

    Insult your audience, what could go wrong?

    Seriously, this guy is just the latest in a long line of people involved in the making of shows... that just insult their target audience. Instead of reading through the criticism and trying to respond to it, he's basically raising a middle finger, telling us that he's better than the lot of us plebs. What he doesn't seem to realize - or willfully ignores - is that he will simply alienate his potential public and reduce interest in his show. He's burning his career for the sake of his bruised ego. Granted, social media grants access to more critics sources than during the era of centralized media. And some of these sources are brutally honest about what they think about certain shows. But that's not an excuse. Produce quality content and you'll find an audience, even in this era of social media. Maybe the plot was complex. Or maybe it was needlessly convoluted. Or maybe it was just bad and boring. There is only so much time, attention and intelligence the average public can dedicate to their few hours of entertainment after all. So you have to make it count. Pretending that the public is too dumb to follow a nuanced and complex narrative is simplistic and is no better than some, say, Disney executives that pretend that fans are just sexist because Rey has been called a Mary Sue. You're avoiding responsibility by pretending that "you are just too good for us". You won't be making friends this way.

  • On the post: Tennessee Teen Sues School For Suspending Him After He Posted Memes Mocking His Principal

    Wyrm ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2023 @ 11:27am

    Another in a long string of people with a modicum of power and zero ability to wield it responsibly. Such thin skin that their wrath explodes at the mildest embarrassment. He barely qualify as a proper adult, much less as the principal of a school. In particular, he's showing the very character flaws that someone responsible for education should have. Leading by counter-example, basically. Then again, some prominent public figures in the political landscape are showing this exact trait, so I'm not sure we'll see an improvement anytime soon.

  • On the post: By Making Its Porn Age Verification Law A ‘Bounty’ Law, Utah Able To Deflect Challenge To The Law’s Validity

    Wyrm ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2023 @ 06:13am

    There are so many reasons this kind of law is bogus. At this point, just passing a law like this should make the lawmakers who voted for it liable for any of the very obvious consequences that will happen. But this is not going to happen because personal responsibility is not the hallmark of the US government. That said, there would be an easy way to judge this law unconstitutional quickly. Just sue yourself (or get sued by a friend) for the bounty, then raise the question of the constitutionality of the law immediately. I think this was done relatively recently about an "abortion bounty" law.

  • On the post: French News Agency Sues ex-Twitter For Not Paying Snippet Tax

    Wyrm ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2023 @ 03:03pm

    Given France’s lack of a “fair use” as a concept...
    France does have exceptions to copyright, but it functions with an explicit list of allowed purposes (from memory: parody, commentary, press review, education) rather than generic (and often subjective) factors of what constitutes fair use. I don't quite like it as it's a very limited system, but it does significantly help those that do fall under these exceptions compared to the vague "fair use" concept where you never know what a judge will consider as such. (Lots of case law have helped define it, but you still have the occasional "WTF" judgement. Pretty sure there was one recently.) In a way, you can say that social networks serve a similar purpose as press reviews. Similar but not quite identical, so probably not part of the narrow list. And that's why the static list of exceptions is a problem: it doesn't change with the behaviors and norms. Not without a political will to update the list. It doesn't matter how much or how little of an impact the website has. Nor how positive or negative the impact is on the news source. It's not an exception, so it can be threatened.

  • On the post: Federal Judge Says State Troopers’ ‘Kansas Two Step’ Bullshit Violates The Rights Of Drivers

    Wyrm ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2023 @ 02:51pm

    Fake criminals

    A judge that calls cops on their BS. That's rare, but not quite unprecedented. I still remember one calling BS on other "probable causes" that basically amount to series of Catch-22. Like being too nervous, or being too relaxed. Like looking straight in the cops' eyes, or avoiding eye contact. Like driving too slow, or driving too fast... or driving just at speed limit. Whatever you do, when a cop stops you, you are suspicious. By virtue of being stopped by a cop. This kind of decision must be way more widespread in order for cops to do their job. But the whole justice system in the US is like this. What matters is not finding criminals, but making up criminals and "winning" the case against them, regardless of truth and actual guilt. Cops will lie, including in court. Prosecutors will lie. Evidence will be hidden or fabricated according to their needs. Witnesses will be pressured and sometimes made up completely. Suspects will be pressured and tricked. Because truth and justice don't matter, "winning" does. When they can, they try to get actual criminals. But that is clearly not the priority. They have prisons to fill, often literally by contract . So they need more criminals than there actually are or can reasonably be found. So it's just so much easier to just fabricate them.

  • On the post: Court: Injunction Blocking Florida’s Anti-Drag Law Applies To Everyone Affected By It, Not Just Venue That Sued It

    Wyrm ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2023 @ 11:11am

    The bad ideas — all of them unconstitutional — range from regulating social media via compelled speech to (omfg) mandating text books that claim slavery was a net good for slaves.
    And sadly, there is no recourse against the legislators and governor themselves. Except waiting for the next election and hoping that bigots (blind to the abhorrent and actually illegal bills from their various elected officials) don't outnumber more reasonable people. Hopefully, something will be done before propaganda machines like, for example, PragerU manage to sneak into schools... Oh wait.

  • On the post: ‘Pass It, Pass It, Pass It, Pass It, Pass It,’ The President Says About A Bill The GOP Says Will Be Useful To Silence LGBTQ Voices

    Wyrm ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2023 @ 10:58am

    Biden is definitely not a progressive. In many ways, he is a conservative, though far from being as extreme as republicans. And he is in many ways the same ancient kind of politician who is satisfied with being seen "doing something" about a problem rather than taking the time to understand the problem and its complexities before acting. His urge to "pass it, pass it, pass it" is a symptom of such people. Do something, no matter how useless or even harmless it is, because it's better than being seen as "doing nothing". Worse yet, this is playing into the highly hypocritical "think of the children" narrative that republicans have pushed for decades... while they bring back child labor, defend child marriage, and prevent any action against school shootings. Biden wants to be seen as "doing something" on the subject (which is harmful when done thoughtlessly), and he wants to be seen as "reaching across the aisle" (which will not get him any goodwill from the right-wingers anyway). It's pointless at best and extremely harmful at worst, but that's how Biden does politics.

  • On the post: Connecticut State Troopers Apparently Tried To Bury Biased Stop Data By Falsifying 26,000 Traffic Tickets

    Wyrm ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2023 @ 10:36am

    The problem is that, even if - say - only 10% are actually crooked, it is pretty obvious that there is a culture where at least 80% of the "non crooked" apples are willing to ignore the crooked ones. Which makes a 90% "crooked or complicit". Of course, these numbers are all made up. But if they are allowed to make up their own statistics, then so are we.

  • On the post: Have We Considered That Maybe Elon Musk Just Hated Twitter & The People Who Use It All Along?

    Wyrm ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2023 @ 01:53pm

    As a reminder, Musk already owned "x.com", which was merged with Confinity and later became Paypal. This is not a new obsession, he's just recycling an old one. Wikipedia

  • On the post: French Government Says Citizens Should Be Forced To Sacrifice Freedom For Safety Because Crime

    Wyrm ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2023 @ 01:50pm

    So basically, the only excuse they have is the old "it's not bad when we're the ones doing it." This is absolutely bottom of the barrel. If they don't understand why it's a terrible idea... particularly when we know that their extreme-right party has ranked 2nd in the last two presidential elections... then he simply is too short-sighted to be in a government.

  • On the post: Top Court In Illinois Says Compelling Password Production Isn’t A Fifth Amendment Violation

    Wyrm ( profile ), 18 Jul, 2023 @ 06:53am

    Wait, the court establishes in their fact-finding that there is not enough to go by the "foregone conclusion" doctrine, then continues on to admit that a password is testimonial evidence... ... only to conlude that the "foregone conclusion" applies and a password is " insufficiently testimonial"? Are they insane? Or is it simply a case of them writing the conclusion they like before writing the rest of their decision, not even paying attention to the conclusion they decided on at first?

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