zegota 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (173)

• On the post: Woman Sues Match.com Because She Was Assaulted By Someone She Met On Site

  

  zegota ( profile ), 20 Apr, 2011 @ 05:44am

  While I agree Match.com is not liable, all the victim blaming ("You should take *personal responsibility* for being raped!") in the comments is really disgusting.

• On the post: New Zealand Politican Tweets How She's Violating Copyright Law Night Before Supporting Three Strikes Copyright Law

  

  zegota ( profile ), 14 Apr, 2011 @ 11:27am

  In a separate tweet, she says "lol, does it count if the [sharer] was the composer?" To which I say, it almost certainly does, as the composer probably does not have publishing rights. Still illegal.
  
  Also, big thumbs down to the random body-snarking in the comments here. Thought most of the TechDirt commenters (the non AC ones) were better than that.

• On the post: Amazon Insists No Licenses Needed For Cloud Player, Google Thinking Of Skipping Licenses As Well

  

  zegota ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2011 @ 11:42am

  Amazon kicks so much ass. For those who don't remember, they were the ones who fought for DRM-less music, and forced iTunes to do the same. Now it's standard.
  
  Yes, I wish they'd do the same for their ebooks. But Amazon does a pretty great job 99% of the time.

• On the post: Amazon Insists No Licenses Needed For Cloud Player, Google Thinking Of Skipping Licenses As Well

  

  zegota ( profile ), 13 Apr, 2011 @ 11:41am

  Re: Where do we send support?

  Shoot the executive customer service an email. Couldn't hurt:
  
  http://consumerist.com/2006/12/email-amazons-executive-customer-service.html

• On the post: Phone That Can Search The Internet & Display Ads Patented; Everyone Sued

  

  zegota ( profile ), 05 Apr, 2011 @ 05:44pm

  Re:

  "wherein said information received by said user of said IP phone comprises a variety of offers, wherein said user selects one of said variety of offers associated with said one of said merchants listed, wherein said selected offer is transmitted to said one of said merchants listed electronically; and"
  
  It should be invalidated for being obfuscated as all get-out.

• On the post: Big Media To Innovative App Maker: Stop Innovating Without Our Permission!

  

  zegota ( profile ), 31 Mar, 2011 @ 12:25pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  "Following your logic anytime a company is sold the employees should be paid a percentage of the profits."
  
  I like the way you think.
  
  "You can take your left leaning, entitled, socialist attitude some place else."
  
  I, for one, will keep my left-leaning (let's not beat around the push, it's not leaning, it fell over a long time ago), socialist attitude right here, thanks.

• On the post: If AT&T Puts A Meter On Your Broadband, But That Meter Is Grossly Inaccurate, Is That Meter Really There?

  

  zegota ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2011 @ 02:14pm

  Re: Re: Need for government oversight

  At least the government has to pay lip service to working for the general public. Companies *have* to screw you over in every possible manner. If they're not squeezing out every inch of profit, they're not running the business correctly. There's not even a facade that they're on your side.

• On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal

  

  zegota ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2011 @ 10:31am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Yeah, that's completely fair, especially where eBook revenue is concerned. But I think the worry that publishing companies are somehow sneaking in clauses to completely screw the author is overblown.

• On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal

  

  zegota ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2011 @ 10:22am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Yes, you sign over some rights, obviously -- some copy rights. But no one is "forcing" her to sign those over.
  
  There are some sneaky publishing contracts, but for the most part, contracts are pretty standard now. In any case, Hocking likely has an agent, and for someone with her kind of money, a lawyer, so it's extremely unlikely there's going to be some sort of sneaky fine print that screws her over.

• On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal

  

  zegota ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2011 @ 10:19am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Yes, but the author specifically hedges that by saying "not all of them may be good reasons," which, of course, is a tautology that doesn't really say anything, but makes it clear that the author thinks that a publishing contract is generally a bad idea.

• On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal

  

  zegota ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2011 @ 09:14am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Exactly which rights is she being forced to sign away? People are automatically assuming that a publishing contract is the devil, when I've rarely seen that to be the case. Should authors being making a higher percentage of profits? Maybe, but that's not really a case of rights.

• On the post: Crossing Paths: Published Author Goes Self-Published, As Self-Published Author Considers Big Publishing Deal

  

  zegota ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2011 @ 09:11am

  Publishing is in a weird flux right now. eBooks are still not the primary means of reading for most people, and as such, a traditional publishing contract still has a lot of benefits. That said, self-publishing has some benefits too, such as keeping a much bigger chunk of the profits.
  
  Really, what many people, TechDirt included, fail to realize is that one doesn't preclude the other, in most cases. You can publish some things with a traditional contract, and simultaneously put other things out into the eBook world. It's not mutually exclusive. I think the most successful authors are going to recognize that, and have a foot in both worlds.

• On the post: Best Selling Author Turns Down Half A Million Dollar Publishing Contract To Self-Publish

  

  zegota ( profile ), 21 Mar, 2011 @ 11:23am

  Can I call dibs on his contract?

• On the post: It Took The NY Times 14 Months And $40 Million Dollars To Build The World's Stupidest Paywall?

  

  zegota ( profile ), 17 Mar, 2011 @ 03:07pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  I don't really care about your argument, but what? 'Paywall' is the 'n-word' of the Internet? I think the n-word is the n-word of the Internet, asshole.

• On the post: Down To Just 3 Senators Who Refuse To Say If They Anonymously Killed Whistleblower Bill

  

  zegota ( profile ), 09 Mar, 2011 @ 03:40pm

  Certainly Jon Kyl. He's the biggest asshole in the Senate. Worse than McConnell, Graham or Sessions.

• On the post: Senator Schumer Says Websites Should Default To HTTPS

  

  zegota ( profile ), 01 Mar, 2011 @ 04:49am

  Re: Re:

  I'd be ecstatic if the government paid for infrastructure upgrades. Oh well, since that will never happen, let's instead cut women's health funding and libraries/public radio to pay for unnecessary tax cuts and WAR! U-S-A! U-S-A!

• On the post: While Texas Politicians Claim $600 Million 'Lost' In Uncollected Online Sales Tax… It Means $600 Million Texans Saved

  

  zegota ( profile ), 15 Feb, 2011 @ 08:54am

  As a Texan, let me say that I'm so glad I am able to save a few bucks while the schools here (annual contenders for the worst in the nation) are slashed even further. But that extra couple of hundred bucks is worth some stupid kids!

• On the post: How NBC Wanted Conan O'Brien Dump His Twitter Account

  

  zegota ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2011 @ 11:18am

  Re:

  Jay, I didn't know you were a fan of TechDirt!

• On the post: How NBC Wanted Conan O'Brien Dump His Twitter Account

  

  zegota ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2011 @ 10:39am

  You missed one of my favorite lines from the story:
  
  "This gives those sites content that they crave and also acts as a promotional tool, but more important, it distributes Conan content as quickly as possible, which is crucial to discouraging piracy. 'There's no need for some kid to become a bedroom programmer if the clips are already out there,' says Wooden. 'Our job is to give them the tools to share, so they don't have to rip.'"
  
  Instead of being afraid of piracy and sharing in general, they're taking ownership of it and embracing it.

• On the post: How NBC Wanted Conan O'Brien Dump His Twitter Account

  

  zegota ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2011 @ 10:38am

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  I guess, but saying "there are measures in the Constitution" to "kill your government" certainly raised my eyebrows.

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